Borrowing A Copy Of Conquest For A Few Months. Any General Tips/Advice?

[Hawkwing]

2 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I like to wait for 20 with my main units, as you can reach 20/20 with a lot of the conquest crew, but I think sometime after level 15 is fairly normal. Backpacks are an exception as you don;t expect them to see combat so promoting at 10 is the norm for them.

I see. I thought that it was odd that some of my units were at such a high level, but considering how important skills are in the game, I wasn't too surprised. Thank you.

3 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

honestly as someone who has been recently been replaying through fates myself. I gotta say the story is actually not bad or at the very least the story has a lot more depth to it than what you might think. Seriously playing through birthright has really begun to open my eyes to lot of the thematic depth that this story actually has. There's a reason why there is so much water symbolism in this game I'll tell you that. The premise is actually quite different from what was advertised or at the very themes differ a little bit. When playing through conquest specifically take note of how deception and lies are used within the plot. Every single major plot point revolves around that idea. The same is true of birthright except in conquest instead of trying see through deception Corrin is actively using it. It's a very interesting thematic narrative idea that the story plays around with. The lyrics really do play into it as well though conquest's are a lot more explicit. Again this game's story has a lot more depth to it than what may seem on the surface

I haven't gotten too far into the story, so I'm willing to give it a chance, even if I admit that my hopes aren't very high. I'll try to pay attention to the themes to see how well they're done.

I'm also curious if outside factors affected the games quality. I get the sense that part of the reason cliches are used so frequently is because they bit off more than they could chew with having to create three separate plots, and thus didn't have enough time to go in-depth with certain tropes as they could/should have. I know when replaying Echoes several months ago that I noticed how it seemed like the writers wanted to improve certain aspects of the games story, but lacked the time and resources to make edits, since voice acting added an extra cost and complication that wasn't present in the previous games. I wonder Fates is a similar, if different case of this.

[Shadow Mir]

46 minutes ago, Hawkwing said:

Since other people have commented, I have something I want to ask:

I've noticed that a lot of my units are near level 10 despite only having them for a short time. Is there a recommended time to promote or reclass? I probably won't do it for a while, but I'm curious if it's wiser to do so earlier or later.

Personally, I'd do it at 20. While it's possible to keep leveling up after 20, it's also extremely expensive.

[Zoran]

12 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

So you admit that she needs a specific mother (and one I don't even consider her best mother, at that), among other things that aren't guaranteed, to do it (Nyx is one of the absolute worst Nohrian units, so her getting enough kills to get her statue up is unlikely unless I intentionally shoot myself in the foot by fielding an awful unit, let alone upgrading it. And what if I decide to run something other than a Magic boon?). Good going there.

I showed that you can even pull this off with a first-generation unit who has noticeably worse stats. Do you think I didn't notice that Odin requires an extremely specific setup to get there, and that requirements like three silver statues are real obstacles? Ophelia has a bunch of wiggle room because she's just better, and if you read carefully, you'll observe that you can in fact do her whole thing without Corrin, or with a slightly worse mother.

Elise!Ophelia's the best one*, so she's the go-to test case whenever the question is, "Can a magic unit one-shot this enemy?" And for her, against every enemy that doesn't have Dragonskin, the answer is always yes.

*Corrin!Ophelia can have a better natural cap, but has an appreciable chance of failing to reach her statue-boosted cap even with all five Spirit Dusts. Elise gives a better growth rate, and she is probably the only mother who has a reasonable chance of getting her own Magic stat high enough to pass +1 or +2 to Ophelia via inheritance.

12 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Or inherited from Elise.

On a related note

 26	Mozu Average Strength at level 15/15 (switched to archer at level 5) 
+ 4	Quick Draw
+ 5	Bow Faire
+ 2 A Rank Bow
+ 1 A Rank WTA
+ 8 Crecent Bow
-19 Defense
x2 Brave Effect
 54 Damage

This is a very easy kill for a Sniper. And if you are worried about the reduced damage effect don't worry the only other enemy in the room with the specific enemy mentioned is a harmless healer you can use to wipe the debuffs away with.

Yeah, but that's annoying because then you can't recruit Elise!Ophelia until after chapter 20 or so.

The one-shot kill is also trivial for any self-respecting axe unit with access to both Fighter and Wyvern Rider thanks to +12 damage stack. They usually don't have access to Vantage, though, so they can't mow down the entire map by themselves.

12 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

Since other people have commented, I have something I want to ask:

I've noticed that a lot of my units are near level 10 despite only having them for a short time. Is there a recommended time to promote or reclass? I probably won't do it for a while, but I'm curious if it's wiser to do so earlier or later.

Units that are doing well in combat duty probably don't need to be promoted super early. You want the people who are doing your main combat duties to continue gaining stats so they can maintain that role for the whole game, so in their case you shouldn't consider promoting until at least level 17 or so. But on the other hand, you shouldn't be afraid that you're going to lose something important if you promote some of your units a few levels early. Some examples of what I've done in my current run:

• Promoted Nyx to Dark Knight at 11. I wanted her to have the big boost to Defense and mobility so that she would stay useful for a few more chapters in the early game.
• Promoted Charlotte to Berserker at 13. It was pretty easy to feed her some experience when she joined up because she was under-leveled, but after that point, an early promotion gave her a huge power boost and also made her better at supporting her teammates.
• Promoted Kaze to Mechanist at 15. Like Nyx, this gave him large bonuses to Def and Mov. Unlike Nyx, I actually planned to keep using him in a big role for a while. However, he was already ahead of the level curve when he re-joined my team. Early promotion didn't have a huge downside because he was gaining reduced experience anyway, and I wanted him to get some nice promoted-class skills earlier.
• Promoted Mozu to Merchant and Laslow to Hero, both at level 19. These were okay combat units, but I knew they would probably get close to their caps in the classes I planned for them to end in, so there was little downside to skipping level 20.

Early promotion gives you instant stat bonuses (and sometimes access to new weapons) in exchange for reduced experience. However, the experience reduction is temporary, and in a certain sense, it reverses itself later on. The way the game works is that when you've promoted, it bases the experience gain formula on a secret "internal level." Normally, for promoted units, their level is effectively their listed level plus 20. If you promote early, instead of adding 20, the game takes the average of 20 and your actual level at promotion, rounded down.

For instance, let's say you promote Selena from a level 13 Mercenary to a Bow Knight. At Bow Knight level 1, instead of counting as level 21, she will count as being level 1 + floor{(20+13)/2} = 17. That's four levels lower, and that can make a big difference for the experience scaling system.

One effect of this is that it's easier for early-promoted units to reach the powerful level 15 skills in promoted classes. I don't know the exact experience scaling for lower diffculties, so I'll talk about Lunatic. There, a normal level 14 Bow Knight would have to kill a lot of level 10 promoted enemies to hit level 15, because when you're four levels ahead, you only gain 9 Experience per kill. However, our early-promoted Selena who's also at level 14 would get 30 Experience for the same kills, because she counts as a level 10 unit herself. This might translate into having Shurikenbreaker two maps early, while there are only six or seven chapters left in the game. That can be a big deal!

I keep mentioning early promotions at odd levels for a reason: the internal level formula rounds down. That means a level 11 early-promotion carries the same internal level (namely 15) as a level 10 one, whereas if you delayed until level 12, that would bump up your internal level by one to 16. In summary:

• Going up to an odd level: +1 level's worth of stats, -100 EXP
• Going up to an even level: +1 level's worth of stats, -100 EXP, +1 Internal Level

All that said, your very best combat units should just hang on until level 20 before promoting. Since you're using them all the time, they'll get to the high-end skills anyway, and they'll appreciate all the stats they can get along the way.

Edited July 13, 2019 by Zoran

[starburst]

19 hours ago, Zoran said:

Never underestimate Ophelia [...]
As always: kill threshold achieved.

Just for fun, here's Odin [...]

The one-shot kill is also trivial for any self-respecting axe unit with access to both Fighter and Wyvern Rider thanks to +12 damage stack. They usually don't have access to Vantage, though, so they can't mow down the entire map by themselves.

 

18 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

This is a very easy kill for a Sniper. And if you are worried about the reduced damage effect don't worry the only other enemy in the room with the specific enemy mentioned is a harmless healer you can use to wipe the debuffs away with.

Exactly! Thank you both for the numbers. I do not usually go deep into calculations, but in my experience it had always been doable, even without specific planning. You were also kind enough to omit that Sorcerer Ophelia lands a critical hit about every four battles, which breaks any calculation.
And one does not have to go that far into the game to try it: A Sniper always goes into an intoxicating killing frenzy in the Ninja Cave, specially with a Killer Bow. It trivialises the map after holding one attack wave (or two, depending on where you position your barricade.) And Ophelia or Odin can go full zombie as early as Ch 11 or wipe the entire east side of Ch 13.

 

17 hours ago, Zoran said:

Elise!Ophelia's the best one*, so she's the go-to test case whenever the question is, "Can a magic unit one-shot this enemy?" And for her, against every enemy that doesn't have Dragonskin, the answer is always yes.

I understand your argument, but sill think that +Magic Cornflakes is a better mother, if anything because at that point (around Ch 12) she can pass any L1or L10 skill, and, even without re-classing, Dragon Fang is far more useful than anything Elise could give then.
Ophelia already has natural access to some very useful early skills, but +5 Speed (from Pegasus), +4 Attack (from Sniper) and +3 Attack (from Cavalier) are some other godsend early skills for a Player Phase unit.

And, yes, Ophelia most likely has enough power to one-shot any enemy in the game. Her damage output is so overkill that one does not even need her full potential to attest how overpowered she is.

 

17 hours ago, Zoran said:

I keep mentioning early promotions at odd levels for a reason: the internal level formula rounds down. That means a level 11 early-promotion carries the same internal level (namely 16) as a level 10 one, whereas if you delayed until level 12, that would bump up your internal level by one to 17. In summary:

• Going up to an odd level: +1 level's worth of stats, -100 EXP
• Going up to an even level: +1 level's worth of stats, -100 EXP, +1 Internal Level

Ah! This is very useful to know, mate. I had noticed some levelling differences empirically and have already been promoting at L17 or L19 while still reaching my desired thresholds late game. Now I know that I should definitely choose odd levels instead of even ones for testing.

Edited July 13, 2019 by starburst
Grammar.

[joshcja]

*scrolls up, see's Levant questioning VLaD users again*

On a productive note any decent Ophy can take Srioposte from Soliel very quickly to hit every kill that isn't a double crunchwrap supreme at +15 (where we actually want full cap and +17-+20 or a proc).

@starburst

Elise gives lunge early. Which on ophy is essentially free boots that go through walls. It's pretty good.

Since Ophy has natural access to perfect stack from birth, Corncob is only really passing +1 mag cap.

Edited July 13, 2019 by joshcja

[Shadow Mir]

17 hours ago, Zoran said:

I showed that you can even pull this off with a first-generation unit who has noticeably worse stats. Do you think I didn't notice that Odin requires an extremely specific setup to get there, and that requirements like three silver statues are real obstacles? Ophelia has a bunch of wiggle room because she's just better, and if you read carefully, you'll observe that you can in fact do her whole thing without Corrin, or with a slightly worse mother.

 Elise!Ophelia's the best one*, so she's the go-to test case whenever the question is, "Can a magic unit one-shot this enemy?" And for her, against every enemy that doesn't have Dragonskin, the answer is always yes.

 *Corrin!Ophelia can have a better natural cap, but has an appreciable chance of failing to reach her statue-boosted cap even with all five Spirit Dusts. Elise gives a better growth rate, and she is probably the only mother who has a reasonable chance of getting her own Magic stat high enough to pass +1 or +2 to Ophelia via inheritance.

As I see it, that stuff's much easier to make happen on paper than in actual practice. Like I said, I honestly consider Nyx so terrible that I'd have to grind her kills via DLC to get her statue upgraded, because her poor stats make her insufferably unreliable.

Frankly, I'd consider Felicia a more practical mother because she can actually pass down a noteworthy skill without waiting until the game is nearly over (two units with Inspiration less than halfway through the game? That's a sweet deal. In comparison, Elise requires me to put in more effort for nothing of note gained for the extra effort).

[joshcja]

Levant making the argument that shurikenbreaker reverse gate Ophelia isn't a MN hose with 0% hitrate in 25

(Felecia!Ophelia still hits kill numbers consistantly)

Edited July 13, 2019 by joshcja

[starburst]

22 minutes ago, joshcja said:

Elise gives lunge early. Which on ophy is essentially free boots that go through walls. It's pretty good.
Since Ophy has natural access to perfect stack from birth, Corncob is only really passing +1 mag cap.

Oh, Lunge! I totally forgot it. While I only go through walls in specific maps (like Nina's), I agree with you in that it is a Free Boots on Player Phase units.

And, yes, Ophelia's innate stack is wonderful, but I sometimes like to give her +5 Speed or +3/+4 Attack from Corrin and re-class Ophelia until late game. (I must concede that this may be overkill, and that Corrin's talent actually grants more to Odin than to their daughter.)

[SRPG Tryhard]

Don't train up anyone more than those you are going to deploy at all times. You don't really have to recruit the children but their paralogues are much needed opportunities to gain exp and items. But absolutely don't leave them for later than chapter 17 because the scaling enemies get insanely powerful. 

Only buy weapons you don't have at least one of their type already. Despite what newbies that rely on enemy phase say, silver weapons are great and just like every tier in Fates they have their specific applications, even bronze weapons.

Obviously don't listen to AnonymousSpeed because he is either trolling or has absolutely no idea what he is talking about.

[Hawkwing]

Took a computer/electronics fast last week, so I haven't played the game for a while. Made up for it last Monday, where I beat chapter 10. I've heard some people call the level a pain, but I actually had a lot of fun with it. The fire orb and ballistas were a joy to use, I managed to get to every house in time, and while it was far from a cakewalk I didn't have much trouble defending. Even when I said "oh crap!" as the water dried up, I found the change to be manageable ,and it put a nice spin on the map.

While the map design isn't the make-it or break-it factor for me in strategy games, I see why people praise Conquests levels. They bring back old mechanics like breakable walls in ways that feel natural, there are stated and unstated side objectives that add flair to the normal "rout" and "defeat leader" maps, and they manage to have great gameplay without sacrificing the aesthetic. It's not always the case, but I can see a fort functioning as a fort, a port as a port, a town as a town, and so on. The zoom-in to specific locations on the map is also neat, and along with battle damage helps keep the fights visually interesting.

I'm fine with the unlimited durability right now, although I also get the sense I haven't seen the more ridiculous examples yet. Limiting the amount of certain weapons you can have is a fair way to balance out the mechanic, and things like javelins and hand axes being unable to double and Nosferatu being unable to crit are solid changes in my honest opinion. Don't know what to think about forging at the moment. While I find it interesting that you have to have two weapons of the same type in order to forge, as you have to decide between buying a weapon for that purpose or sacrificing a limited resource to make a more powerful one, I don't know I'd want to see this repeated in any other game.

I do wish that the game was more clear about what stats weapons affect, though. Sure, telling out right that a weapon can't crit or double is nice, but I noticed that the Yato decreased Corrin's defense, and Naginatas also raised and lowered certain stats, and I don't see where the game warns about this. I have similar sentiments towards some of the skill descriptions.

Onto MyCastle; I didn't think much of the mechanic at first, but it grew on me pretty quickly. It feels like a natural extension of the barracks in Awakening while still being its own thing. I love how the customizability means that you can be as efficient and/or as creative as you want, and the overhead view is a nice prelude to Echoes dungeons. I do have a few questions regarding MyCastle, however:

• Since I'm only borrowing Conquest, I'm not doing any of the online or spotpass stuff. When I got the accessory shop, I thought that the stat boosts mentioned would be small yet helpful in the main game, but it turns out that they only affect castle battles, which I won't be doing much. Are there any other buildings that I should avoid if I want just the ones that affect gameplay?
  • On the side, is the bath towel really the only costume in the game? If so, I'm going to be slightly miffed that IS didn't add things like alternative armor or tuxedos or anything like that.
• When does it become important to save up for upgrades? I noticed that a statue was upgradeable, but required 3 points to do so, and was slightly annoyed that I couldn't refund any of the buildings I bought.
• I noticed that there was a castle battle option against level 10 mercenaries before starting level 10. I didn't know why this was an option, but I decided to go for it to see what would happen. I had fun with fight, even though I realized my castle was built more for efficiency than for defense, and I got several points for new buildings. What activated this fight? Is it limited in how many times they can occur? If I decide to skip them, would the opportunity be lost permanently?
• Does feeding Lilith do anything in the long run, or is she only helpful in castle battles?

Speaking of MyCastle and questions, I also have two about supports:

• I noticed that supports in this game unlock very quickly, at least when compared to Awakening. I don't know if it means that I'm better at pairing two character up in this game than that one, or is support growth actually higher/faster than in previous games? I just want to know if this is a fluke or if something is actually different.
• Quality of the writing aside, are the support conversations themselves usually this short? It seems like most of the ones I've read so far are over before I know it. I know several of Echoes were also quick, but voice acting was a factor there, so I don't believe that that's a fair comparison.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, Hawkwing said:

I noticed that there was a castle battle option against level 10 mercenaries before starting level 10. I didn't know why this was an option, but I decided to go for it to see what would happen. I had fun with fight, even though I realized my castle was built more for efficiency than for defense, and I got several points for new buildings. What activated this fight? Is it limited in how many times they can occur? If I decide to skip them, would the opportunity be lost permanently?

That was an invasion battle, which pits you against Invaders (AKA the Vallite Army; you'll have to play Revelation to know more about them). There are three such battles in the game.

1 hour ago, Hawkwing said:

Does feeding Lilith do anything in the long run, or is she only helpful in castle battles?

She only helps in castle battles.

 

[Eltosian Kadath]

Quote

I do wish that the game was more clear about what stats weapons affect, though. Sure, telling out right that a weapon can't crit or double is nice, but I noticed that the Yato decreased Corrin's defense, and Naginatas also raised and lowered certain stats, and I don't see where the game warns about this. I have similar sentiments towards some of the skill descriptions.

This is a bit easier to figure out if you played through Birthright first, but the Hoshidan versions of weapons have some stat buff attached to them in an attemt to differentiate them from their Nohrian counterparts. Unless the description mentions otherwise all Katana get +1 Speed, -1 Defense, and -1 Resistance; all Naginata get +1 Defense, and +1 Resistance; all Shuriken get +2 Speed;  and all Yumi get +2 Resistance;

 

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

Since I'm only borrowing Conquest, I'm not doing any of the online or spotpass stuff. When I got the accessory shop, I thought that the stat boosts mentioned would be small yet helpful in the main game, but it turns out that they only affect castle battles, which I won't be doing much. Are there any other buildings that I should avoid if I want just the ones that affect gameplay?

Don't bother upgrading the Record Hall, Dusk Dragon, Traveler's Plaza, or getting any of the Golems then. The highest level of Accesory Shop does offers accessories that do have some game impact by letting you equip them to give characters priority with which buildings they will run, which lets you have some control over who runs the armory (and thus which weapons are discounted), and who runs the Mess Hall (to target better buffs), or who is most likely to win you the Arena, etc.

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

On the side, is the bath towel really the only costume in the game? If so, I'm going to be slightly miffed that IS didn't add things like alternative armor or tuxedos or anything like that.

...Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Bath Towel is the only one I know of.

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

When does it become important to save up for upgrades? I noticed that a statue was upgradeable, but required 3 points to do so, and was slightly annoyed that I couldn't refund any of the buildings I bought.

I seem to remember completing chapter 20 has a lot of upgrades unlock, but most things cost 1 so not too much hoarding is needed. The statue upgrades are the only things that cost more than 1; to get them to level 2 it costs 3 DV, and to max them it costs 9 DV. If you aren't doing online Castle Battles for DV or support points they are probably too expensive to go after, and their effect that raises characters stat caps (only the specific stat mention for that character by 1 at level 1, everyone they have a support with at level 2, and everyone at level 3) is more of a late (possibly mid) game benefit anyway.

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

I noticed that there was a castle battle option against level 10 mercenaries before starting level 10. I didn't know why this was an option, but I decided to go for it to see what would happen. I had fun with fight, even though I realized my castle was built more for efficiency than for defense, and I got several points for new buildings. What activated this fight? Is it limited in how many times they can occur? If I decide to skip them, would the opportunity be lost permanently?

There are three that unlock throughout the game, and they stick around until you complete, so the only thing you miss is the xp and loot they offer (the first has a goddess icon, the second a master seal, and the third an energy drop).

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

Does feeding Lilith do anything in the long run, or is she only helpful in castle battles?

Every three levels she gives you a gold bar that can be sold for 300 gold (or used by the Merchant Class's final skill).

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

I noticed that supports in this game unlock very quickly, at least when compared to Awakening. I don't know if it means that I'm better at pairing two character up in this game than that one, or is support growth actually higher/faster than in previous games? I just want to know if this is a fluke or if something is actually different.

Kinda, but its complicated. The support gain for healing, and fighting adjacent is higher in Fates, although the gains for fighting while paired is lower. Awakening also had more variety in the number of support points needed for each level, Fate has 2 rates, Fast and Medium, where as Awakening also has a Slow rate, as well as a same gender rate (which is slower to B and A rank than the Medium rate, and skews it to make its A rank have comparable requirements to S rank supports) , and Fate's fast rate hits B and A rank a little faster than Awakening.

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Eltosian Kadath
wanted to add more.

[starburst]

14 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

I do wish that the game was more clear about what stats weapons affect, though. Sure, telling out right that a weapon can't crit or double is nice, but I noticed that the Yato decreased Corrin's defense, and Naginatas also raised and lowered certain stats, and I don't see where the game warns about this. I have similar sentiments towards some of the skill descriptions.

Like other buffs and de-buffs, weapons bonuses and reductions change the colours of the statistics. And if you click on the affected statistic, all bonuses and reductions are described, even if it takes various lines. This is not optimal information, but it is something.
Like you, I played Conquest many times before trying Birthright and thus never really knew that all Hoshidian weapons had different bonuses. And other than one or two Scrolls, I use Nohrian weapons almost exclusively, though, since they can be forged (there is no Hoshidian ore in Conquest.)
Eltosian Kadath already mentioned the bonuses, but I am pretty sure that Clubs provide a Critical Hit bonus.

About the skill descriptions, you can check this page: https://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-fates/nohrian-classes/class-skills/
Having only played the game in German and Spanish, I can tell you that there are some skill descriptions which were mistranslated and may even describe the opposite effect. Thus, checking a "guide" was necessary for me.

 

15 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

Are there any other buildings that I should avoid if I want just the ones that affect gameplay?

In my opinion, you should focus on the Armoury and the Staff Store (each upgrade provides more and better weapons and items), then on the Lottery (to increase the "tier" of the gifts) and on the Mess Hall (to increase the bonuses or the units which can receive these bonuses.) At Level 2, the Arena is enough for me to multiply my items (and I always end with extra ore and ingredients.)
Upgrading the statues is only useful late game, where your units are reaching their caps.

It is worth mentioning that the Forge and the Lottery cannot be destroyed in Castle Battles, including Invasions. This is important because they let you block paths (specially the centre in the default Nohrian castle) and divert enemy Invaders towards a section of the map.

And I am pretty sure that the Lottery prizes are also affected by the Luck of the drawn unit. This is, at any given Lottery Level, Azura or Elise will always deliver better prizes than Kaze or Nyx.

 

16 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

I noticed that supports in this game unlock very quickly, at least when compared to Awakening. I don't know if it means that I'm better at pairing two character up in this game than that one, or is support growth actually higher/faster than in previous games?

Do not bother about optimising supports on your first play through. As long as you let two units fight together in Guard or Attack Stance a couple of chapters, they will build supports.
That being said, you can check these pages about Supports:
https://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-fates/nohrian-characters/supports/support-basics/
https://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-fates/nohrian-characters/supports/support-growth/

Basically, two compatible units can get up to 3 Supports Points per map. And you need, in total, 3 Points for Support Level C, 7 Points for B, 11 Points for A and 16 Points for S. This means that you would need at least one map for C and at least two more maps for each further level (seven maps in total) to reach S Support.
The item Seed of Trust and random conversations in My Castle add 1 extra Support Point.
With a little more planning, your Ch 7-8 units can start reaching S Support right by Chapter 12 (considering Mozu's map and one Invasion.)

 

17 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

[...] I beat chapter 10. I've heard some people call the level a pain, but I actually had a lot of fun with it. The fire orb and ballistas were a joy to use, I managed to get to every house in time, and while it was far from a cakewalk I didn't have much trouble defending. Even when I said "oh crap!" as the water dried up, I found the change to be manageable ,and it put a nice spin on the map.

Cheers, mate! Chapter 10 is like an early test for Conquest. Not because of its difficulty (it is tricker than it is difficult), but because of its effect on the player. Some get frustrated after one or two tries, while many others like the challenge and have fun re-playing the map and trying different approaches. In my opinion, these perceptions define one's view of Conquest.

[Hawkwing]

On 7/24/2019 at 7:46 PM, Shadow Mir said:

That was an invasion battle, which pits you against Invaders (AKA the Vallite Army; you'll have to play Revelation to know more about them). There are three such battles in the game.

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

There are three that unlock throughout the game, and they stick around until you complete, so the only thing you miss is the xp and loot they offer (the first has a goddess icon, the second a master seal, and the third an energy drop).

I see. Is there some kind of prerequisite in order for them to appear, or do they simply become available after you complete a certain chapter?

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Don't bother upgrading the Record Hall, Dusk Dragon, Traveler's Plaza, or getting any of the Golems then. The highest level of Accesory Shop does offers accessories that do have some game impact by letting you equip them to give characters priority with which buildings they will run, which lets you have some control over who runs the armory (and thus which weapons are discounted), and who runs the Mess Hall (to target better buffs), or who is most likely to win you the Arena, etc.

Huh, I didn't know that the accessory shop had items that affected who will appear in buildings. How do I know what units are best at each station?

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

...Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Bath Towel is the only one I know of.

Well, that's disappointing, but it wasn't something I was begging for anyway. It's a missed opportunity at the end of the day. Come on, IS. There are more interesting costumes than swimsuits, you know!

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I seem to remember completing chapter 20 has a lot of upgrades unlock, but most things cost 1 so not too much hoarding is needed. The statue upgrades are the only things that cost more than 1; to get them to level 2 it costs 3 DV, and to max them it costs 9 DV. If you aren't doing online Castle Battles for DV or support points they are probably too expensive to go after, and their effect that raises characters stat caps (only the specific stat mention for that character by 1 at level 1, everyone they have a support with at level 2, and everyone at level 3) is more of a late (possibly mid) game benefit anyway.

8 hours ago, starburst said:

Upgrading the statues is only useful late game, where your units are reaching their caps.

I see. Awakening was the only game where I had a unit hit a cap, and even then that was late game, so I won't worry about it too much.

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Every three levels she gives you a gold bar that can be sold for 300 gold (or used by the Merchant Class's final skill).

On 7/24/2019 at 7:46 PM, Shadow Mir said:

She only helps in castle battles.

Ah, so she's not completely useless, but the mess hall is a better use for the food. 

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Kinda, but its complicated. The support gain for healing, and fighting adjacent is higher in Fates, although the gains for fighting while paired is lower. Awakening also had more variety in the number of support points needed for each level, Fate has 2 rates, Fast and Medium, where as Awakening also has a Slow rate, as well as a same gender rate (which is slower to B and A rank than the Medium rate, and skews it to make its A rank have comparable requirements to S rank supports) , and Fate's fast rate hits B and A rank a little faster than Awakening.

Ah, that makes sense. Pair up is a lot more important in this game than in Awakening (where it actually feels more balanced without the mechanic). That, and getting most of your units after chapter 6 means you don't have as much time to gain support points.

8 hours ago, starburst said:

Do not bother about optimising supports on your first play through. As long as you let two units fight together in Guard or Attack Stance a couple of chapters, they will build supports.
That being said, you can check these pages about Supports:
https://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-fates/nohrian-characters/supports/support-basics/
https://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-fates/nohrian-characters/supports/support-growth/

Thanks for the links! At the moment, I'm just pairing up units that have great synergy on the battlefield. On a second playthrough, once I have a good idea of which unit does what and what the children are like, I will probably optimize more.

23 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

This is a bit easier to figure out if you played through Birthright first, but the Hoshidan versions of weapons have some stat buff attached to them in an attemt to differentiate them from their Nohrian counterparts. Unless the description mentions otherwise all Katana get +1 Speed, -1 Defense, and -1 Resistance; all Naginata get +1 Defense, and +1 Resistance; all Shuriken get +2 Speed;  and all Yumi get +2 Resistance;

Thank you. I take it that the Yato is a katana?

8 hours ago, starburst said:

In my opinion, you should focus on the Armoury and the Staff Store (each upgrade provides more and better weapons and items), then on the Lottery (to increase the "tier" of the gifts) and on the Mess Hall (to increase the bonuses or the units which can receive these bonuses.) At Level 2, the Arena is enough for me to multiply my items (and I always end with extra ore and ingredients.)
Upgrading the statues is only useful late game, where your units are reaching their caps.

It is worth mentioning that the Forge and the Lottery cannot be destroyed in Castle Battles, including Invasions. This is important because they let you block paths (specially the centre in the default Nohrian castle) and divert enemy Invaders towards a section of the map.

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking of focusing on those buildings, and it's nice to get a second opinion on the idea.

8 hours ago, starburst said:

Cheers, mate! Chapter 10 is like an early test for Conquest. Not because of its difficulty (it is tricker than it is difficult), but because of its effect on the player. Some get frustrated after one or two tries, while many others like the challenge and have fun re-playing the map and trying different approaches. In my opinion, these perceptions define one's view of Conquest.

Yeah, I remember being caught off guard by one of the reinforcements (I moved Silas paired with Beruka into the katana retainer guy's range to knock him out early, only to have a bunch of enemy units spawn right behind him) but I managed to get out of that one (Beruka jumped to being one of my favorite units through not only surviving but dominating the enemy forces during that moment). And while I literally said "Oh crap!" when the water was dried up, the change added more to the strategy and didn't have any of the bullcrap I thought it would have. I can see how it can be challenging to some, but I had a lot of fun. Defense chapters in most strategy games tend to be my favorite moments, so that undoubtedly helped.

I do admit that if it weren't for casual mode, it probably would be a near Corrin-and-a-select-few-other-units run. I will man up and say that every "death" was my fault, even an enemy critical since I should have saw that coming. I won't let the game entirely off the hook, though, since while I shouldn't have put my units into certain circumstances, there were times when a skill or weapon and the like did X when I thought it would do Y.

I don't want to jinx it since I still have quite a bit of the game to go through, but the limited funds and experience gains aren't as taxing as I was expecting them to be. The unlimited durability helps with the former, as it means I have to prioritize what I buy but I don't have to worry about my purchases eventually breaking later down the road. As for the limited experience, I honestly rarely grinded in Awakening and Echoes (mostly to get a move on and a challenge out of the games), so the inability to do so isn't a drastic change of pace for me. I can see it being an issue later on, as units that fall behind will have little way to catch back up, but I'll judge that when the time comes.

[Shadow Mir]

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

 Thank you. I take it that the Yato is a katana?

That it is. Though it doesn't look much like a katana at all. Except in Birthright, and even then, it's very late in the game.

2 hours ago, Hawkwing said:

I see. Is there some kind of prerequisite in order for them to appear, or do they simply become available after you complete a certain chapter?

They unlock through story progression. The third one comes right at the end of the game.

[starburst]

Hawkwing, mate, I am on mobile now and quoting is a mess here. Thus I will address themes in paragraphs. 

Invasions will appear after certain chapters. But other than the first one (which is useful to build supports), I think that they are not worth completing. Play them once for the challenge, but since the map will use your chosen castle style and building disposition, the design of these battles cannot be interesting, by definition.

As long as you have a Level 2 Food Resource, you always have enough food for Lilith. You do not need to upgrade her building.
By mid game (Ch 15) the game will  have already provided you with enough random ingredients, and you can increase their quantities in the Arena.

A good cook will always be a good cook, just pay attention to their “flair.” And even the bad cooks (which, surprisingly, are all in character) only prepare meals with negative effects for a couple of consecutive tries (It may still not worth spending ingredients on them, since their “good” meal may give a neutral bonus anyway.)
The chef hat increases their chances of appearing in the kitchen (I do not even know if it is obtainable in Conquest, for I have never used accessories.)

Remember that only the bonuses of the last meal given to the army apply, and that these bonuses are not cumulative: If you prepare a dish with berries to increase Magic and then another dish with cabbage to increase Resistance, only the cabbage bonuses will be used on your next battle.

I am glad to know that you are enjoying Conquest. Chapters are trickier than they are difficult, and the game's difficulty is very balanced (bar one map on Lunatic.) It also gives you more money, ingredients, ore and Experience than you need.
One is supposed to lose in this game sometimes; that is where the fun lies! One becomes a better player by losing and retrying.

Some chapters take me about an hour to complete, and sometimes I lose a unit in the very last battle because of an improbable miss, an improbable critical hit, a miscalculation… And I just laugh at it and restart. It is a game after all.
Life is a succession of probabilities and decisions, we simply do not see the percentages. He he.

Edited July 27, 2019 by starburst
Clarity and format.