How hard is FE4?

[Guest Kwopp]

(Disclaimer: I’m at the beginning of chapter 4)

so I have this reoccurring problem in a few FE games where I make it far, but then have to restart my whole playthrough for a multitude of reasons, but usually because my units suck, I know now that usually you want to focus on only a handful of units and scrap the rest but for genealogy I haven’t really been doing that, I’ve been using everyone (and Sigurd a ton), and my only other “strong” units are Ayra, Lex, Lewyn, and Holyn. The rest of my units are mediocre, they aren’t weak but they can’t ORKO any enemy units. So far I’ve only beaten the prologue, chapter 1, 2, and 3. I haven’t had any trouble beating the previously mentioned chapters, how hard is the remainder of the game? I really want to beat this game so I can move on to FE7 and FE8.

[Slumber]

It's really not too hard of an FE. It has some of the easiest one-on-one encounters, and most units that get a Holy Weapon are nearly unkillable.

[Jave]

Once you get the hang of it, it's super easy.

It does have a couple of pretty bad beginner's traps, though, which can put you in an unwinnable situation if you're not prepared.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

17 hours ago, Guest Kwopp said:

(Disclaimer: I’m at the beginning of chapter 4)

so I have this reoccurring problem in a few FE games where I make it far, but then have to restart my whole playthrough for a multitude of reasons, but usually because my units suck, I know now that usually you want to focus on only a handful of units and scrap the rest but for genealogy I haven’t really been doing that, I’ve been using everyone (and Sigurd a ton), and my only other “strong” units are Ayra, Lex, Lewyn, and Holyn. The rest of my units are mediocre, they aren’t weak but they can’t ORKO any enemy units.

So far I’ve only beaten the prologue, chapter 1, 2, and 3. I haven’t had any trouble beating the previously mentioned chapters, how hard is the remainder of the game? I really want to beat this game so I can move on to FE7 and FE8.

speaking about units in general: basicly any unit can be decent, as long as they're geared up properly with the right weapons and rings.

just like in every other FE game, there will always be units that may be better than others in terms of starting stats and items, but with the right builds and some dedication, even average units can do quite well.

the weapons triangle mechanic also plays a good part during the whole game, however once a unit is promoted and gets to level cap, usually it becomes just a secondary factor.

the difference in utility is pointed out often in the 1st generation, but with the correct pairings, the children in 2nd generation can have fewer flaws or even no flaws at all depending on their parents. then again, just like in 1st generation, there will be units that are stronger than others by class standards and roles.

 

the game overall isn't hard. or to be more specific, it's not hard if you play it safe without rushing.

part of the difficulty also comes from available items, wich can eventually make some encounters harder if they're not obtained and/or managed properly.

another thing that will influence the difficulty is how you plan to play the game. usually there's 3 main ways to play FE4:

- for background stories, mainly out of curiosity. mostly for people who like characters lore a lot;

- for building top units, and have fun with one-man armies. for people who prefer stacked builds and godlike units;

- or for creating a good and well balanced army with very few flaws, in order to enjoy the game with every unit. for people who want to see/have a bit of everything.

 

however, to each way there's of course pros and cons as well:

- background stories may reveal more lore about specific characters, and eventually unlock special items, but that way you may not be able to obtain all the best combinations in terms of skill builds;

- building godlike units means stacking them to the max with the best items while using specific pairings, wich in turn will make other units weaker and less viable, along with revealing less background stories in some cases;

- having a balanced army will help in most if not all situations, with a chance to obtain even a decent amount of background stories too. however, as the saying goes, "jack of all trades, but master of none". basicly, it will be a trade-off between power and utility depending on skills inheritance and class roles.

 

if it's your first time, it will probably be a tough ride.

however, once you'll learn all the mechanics, the game will become a bit easier the 2nd time around, and if you'll learn about all the other secret stuff too, it will be just like a walk in the park.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Fenreir

[omglmaowtf]

On 3/13/2019 at 10:09 AM, Jave said:

Once you get the hang of it, it's super easy.

It does have a couple of pretty bad beginner's traps, though, which can put you in an unwinnable situation if you're not prepared.

Please advice how do you handle Chapter 7 then?

-Shannan: he's in the middle of dark mages+myrmidons army. That Balmung can only help him dodge so much before he gets ganged up to death.

-Patty: Is Lex a wrong father for her? Seems her only usefulness is giving Shannan the Balmung sword. She can't arena (or survive combat in general) UNLESS Sleep Sword's effect procs

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

30 minutes ago, omglmaowtf said:

Please advice how do you handle Chapter 7 then?

-Shannan: he's in the middle of dark mages+myrmidons army. That Balmung can only help him dodge so much before he gets ganged up to death.

-Patty: Is Lex a wrong father for her? Seems her only usefulness is giving Shannan the Balmung sword. She can't arena (or survive combat in general) UNLESS Sleep Sword's effect procs

you'll need to escape to the south-east area while keeping Patty out of danger. you'll have to play around terrain tiles and enemy reach.

if you just stay in the upper area near the castle to fight enemies with Shanan, you're bound to die soon or later. you're supposed to run from there, not to stay and fight all the enemies.

 

as for Patty, she can be a good unit eventually, but there's specific pairings and items that will be needed in order to let her become a decent Thief fighter.

in terms of sword skills, she can only inherit either Sol from Dew, or Luna from Holyn.

however, Holyn will also give her his Odo Holy Blood, plus a B rank in swords by default, so overall she'll get better stats and deal more damage with Holyn as father, compared to Dew.

a magic sword will also help her a lot due to ranged damage, since she'll start with weak stats and will not have the luxury of dodge-tanking enemies until higher levels.

the Sleep sword may be useful in some situations, but it's not very reliable since the debuff doesn't always trigger on contact. there's also other units such as Arthur or Tinny that will become better candidates for the Sleep and Berserk sword after promotion.

on a side note, in case you'll want some more data about units in general:

 

 

[Forseti Spaghetti]

On 3/12/2019 at 9:15 PM, Guest Kwopp said:

(Disclaimer: I’m at the beginning of chapter 4)

so I have this reoccurring problem in a few FE games where I make it far, but then have to restart my whole playthrough for a multitude of reasons, but usually because my units suck, I know now that usually you want to focus on only a handful of units and scrap the rest but for genealogy I haven’t really been doing that, I’ve been using everyone (and Sigurd a ton), and my only other “strong” units are Ayra, Lex, Lewyn, and Holyn. The rest of my units are mediocre, they aren’t weak but they can’t ORKO any enemy units. So far I’ve only beaten the prologue, chapter 1, 2, and 3. I haven’t had any trouble beating the previously mentioned chapters, how hard is the remainder of the game? I really want to beat this game so I can move on to FE7 and FE8.

It's a genuinely good Fire emblem game, one of the best actually. And you shouldn't just be playing it to move on to other fire emblem games, if you don't want to play it then don't. Come back later to the game because you should make sure you enjoy it.