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Chapter 10 stealth for 1080 bexp (Hard Mode) or 865 bexp (Maniac Mode)


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Sorry if this is too wordy, TLDR at bottom of post. Links are to YouTube videos of my strategies for HM and MM stealth runs of Ch 10 Prisoner Release

Chapter 10 Hard Mode Stealth in 12 turns for 1080 bexp

I’ve seen a few other strategies for stealthing this chapter but I wanted to try to make one that a) retained the turncount bonus and b) didn’t require a promoted Oscar. I managed to complete this chapter with all treasure, all recruits, and 1080 bexp in 12 turns on hard mode. I used lots of rescuing, trading, and shoving to get as many units as I could to escape by the 12th turn. 

This strategy requires Ike, Volke, all mounted units, both laguz, and 2 other units (X and Y). X must be light enough for Ike to rescue and Y must be a 6-move unit. I used Soren and Boyd. You also need one chest key from chapter 7.

I killed the enemies in the upper left chamber with a combo of Mordecai, Lethe, Titania, Ike, and Soren. I’m not sure how replicable killing the enemies would be with different units and stats. I’d use save states if playing on an emulator to try out slightly different unit placement or weapons if you’re struggling. If you just need more rounds to defeat the boss, you can use units on the 12th turn and just lose out on 10 bexp/unit left behind. 

 

Chapter 10 Maniac Mode Stealth in 15 turns for 865 bexp

The first method can be used on easy, normal, and hard, but NOT maniac mode. The strategy for MM is mostly the same at the beginning, but then you need to direct around allied units to the escape points. The fastest I could manage to get Kieran out was 15 turns so I based my strategy around that timeframe. While the boss room is filled with armor knights, you have a few extra turns to fight them so I actually think defeating all the enemies has a little more leeway on maniac than on hard.

You can see me load save states a couple times in the video. That was me forgetting to direct Kieran around the map before ending Ike’s turn. If y’all are attempting a stealth run and using an emulator with save states, I’d recommend using the save states. It’s really annoying to be almost done and having one little misclick make you need to start over  

Was the bexp worth the effort to stealth in the end? On hard mode, I ended up getting only slightly less cexp when playing this chapter the non-stealth way. Considering that 1 bexp<1cexp the higher leveled your units are, it might not be worth it in a pure numbers game. If you’re doing a transfer run or training characters like Nephenee, Marcia, or Jill who might struggle most right when you get them, the bexp is probably worth it. 

I don’t have much experience on Maniac Mode. This was my first time playing it and I only started it so I could figure out how to stealth this map. From what I can tell, the bexp is worth it because you hardly get any and it helps units that struggle at combat initially. Also, the normal version of this map is swarmed with enemies (like in all maniac maps), so I found the stealth method way less tedious once I had a strategy figured out.

TL;DR: 1080 bexp on HM or 865 on MM. Use rescues and shoves to get as many units as you can to the escape point quickly. USE SAVESTATES! Worth it if training units with bad initial combat or for transfer runs.

Edited by ltra043
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  • 2 months later...

Excited to see an improved strategy of chapter 10 after I managed one five years ago (also on my first run, this chapter doesn't require much knowledge and you can just solve the puzzle on your own). Now I can have a playthrough without Oscar and still get that stealth chapter 10 clear.

I don't recall everything after all those years, so how exactly was this possible? Watching it three times, I guess it had to do with having Lethe available to push Kieran. I didn't had her in the southern area, because I needed her to carry Brom. But the crux of the matter is that you managed to let Brom escape through other methods.

And how did your first maniac playthrough turned out to be?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Are you Exkalipoor on YouTube? I agree the main difference was probably Lethe’s placement. You used Mordecai to shove Kieran, but I couldn’t do that because I couldn’t rescue him without Oscar promoted. I needed Lethe in the south to shove Kieran, rescue/drop Brom, and be rescued to the north afterwards. The parts of my strategy that let me use her for this were having Ike talk to Brom and Volke stealing keys.

If Ike goes north early, he has plenty of time to take out the treasure room enemies. I can’t send him up without promoted Oscar though, so he stays south a few more turns. This has the added bonus of being able to make Brom an ally unit.  

Volke stealing keys gave me more freedom on when to open doors and where people moved. Giving Oscar keys made it so that he’s the only one that had to enter the southeast prison cell in order to recruit Kieran/rescue Brom. This frees up both Mordecai and Lethe to direct wherever you want.

The timing of unlocking Nephenee’s cell is also different between our strategies. I waited until the end because I didn’t want to have to worry about keeping her out of the guards’ sight lines. This way, the turn you used to rearrange units in Nephenee’s cell could instead be used to help a couple more units cross to the north. 

I think maniac mode toed the line between challenging and tedious, but I had a fun time with it. Sadly, I never finished it because my pc crashed and I lost my save. The serenes forest chapter was the last chapter I played. I think I might come back to maniac sometime though. I had a pacifist strategy for trying to max bexp and max treasure in the laguz desert chapter but I lost my video and most of the notes I had on it. I’ll want to try to redo that one in the future 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, Exkalipoor.

I would tackle it again, even if it takes a few years. After I recorded my chapter 10 video, I interrupted the game as well for 1-2 years. I also took a one year break for FE5 (around chapter 18). Maybe my breaks took even longer.

You missed out the part of the game that starts having only prepromoted enemies (with the exception of some Wyvern Riders, Priests and Knights). But actually not as challenging as the earlier part of the mid-game, if you have all your units promoted and reached certain stat tresholds. ORKOing everything gets more and more difficult, but on the defense side it is more lenient, as enemies still use steel weapons and ranged weapons in the late game. Even avo tanking is partly possible. Recommend to experience this some day, it is disgustingly different from the early game and mid game. You can still dominate the enemies, but you actually have to utilize your many trained units to do that (in Hard a single unit with a forged 1-2 range weapon should do the trick). The higher amount of status staves (and physics) and long distance magic also avoid to make this an easy walk in the park. Chapter 21, 25 and 27 come to mind. The infamous chapter 26 is manageable if you rush with rescue to avoid the reinforcements, but routing this map is its own thing and I did it once with a weak non mounted group.

If I'm not mistaken, there is no mayor difference in the desert chapter between Hard and Maniac, so I don't expect an improved chapter. The flyers are more annoying, but manageable if they get weakened, so that they retreat instead of killing someone like Sothe. With the usual approach of transporting Lethe with unpromoted Jill to Stefan and simply having Marcia beating Muarim, it is pretty easy to get everything in 3 turns with a bit of planning.  Though the White Gem and Statue Frag require luck and I don't recall anyone bothering with the two coins. Maybe a strategy without promoted Marcia is possible, but someone has to kill the boss. So unlike chapter 10, this chapter requires trained units.

Chiki got it here, my approach wasn't much different.

 

Edited by Aircalipoor
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