The Road to S+ - Best Way To Achieve this

[ApocaLips]

In an effort to put this thread back on track, I usually do hit S+ with a few units near the very end of the game without sacrificing anything. For me, usually the lords and Byleth will get it in the last month or so of the 22-chapter routes. 

Remember that setting two different skills as goals will net more total exp than setting one skill as a goal. You should have two set for most of the game. Except for when you’re gunning for promotion requirements, it helps to always have your main weapon set (a good investment anyway, the prowess skills are good), and have your second be authority or any side skill you’re trying to pick up (heavy armor for weight-3, riding for move+1, etc).

For Byleth in particular, during the last stretch of the game, once you finish paralogues, you’re going to have 10 activities per explore session. Once you’ve finished feeding your team to restore motivation, there’s not much use for these activity points other than leveling byleth’s skills, so that’s a chance to crank out his/her weapon skill.

You definitely do NOT want to wait on qualifying for promotions or hitting other key skill tiers, so if you’re in crunch time for those, it’s well worth switching even if it means you might not get S+ in the last chapter. Authority also takes precedence, as +5 damage is significantly worse than the numerous stats the good battalions give you.

IMO, S+ rank is worthwhile as a side goal for physical weapons and reason. You’re going to want S in those anyway, so keeping them at pace is a good idea as long as you’re not delaying promotions, authority, or certain important skills. S+ in faith gives you white tomefaire which no one wants all that badly. S+ in flying/riding/heavy armor gives null weakness, which sounds nice but really isn’t good enough to warrant the investment, especially considering the 0 weight shields that do the same thing. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by ApocaLips

[Eltoshen]

2 hours ago, charcoalswift said:

Imagine having to grind from E to E+, then D, D+, C, C+, B, B+ and finally A while having a disadvantage in Authority?

It will be tedious without statues and NG+ battalions that are already lvl 5 and carried over from another run

I already did the paralogues and rare beast sightings aren't worth my time with my already "invincible" Dimitri and Lysithea (NosTank with 61 MAG)

Hard classic btw

That means 3 or 4 times Explore then Instruct every month, S+ rank is no big deal

You don't even have to train Felix in Authority so idk why you're even using that argument...you can just slap an E rank battalion on him that is better than his personal without any penalties. You can focus sword all you want for his goals, putting a batallion on him doesn't prevent him from earning sword skill or am I wrong? You gain skills in both when he fights. Eventually, he'll get to D+ if not C, where he can equip batallions that obliterate his personal.

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And battalions are only used on monsters 9 out of 10 times. (I do use them on bosses lol)

This is just...not even up for debate. The stat boosts are there regardless of if you actually use their Gambits. I feel like you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how batallions actually work. Am I right in assuming that you thought the stat bonuses only activate when you use a gambit? Because I don't think anybody can be this obtuse by mentioning this specific point about only using battalions on monsters..

Edited September 3, 2019 by Eltoshen

[charcoalswift]

9 hours ago, Eltoshen said:

Am I right in assuming that you thought the stat bonuses only activate when you use a gambit?

Nope I know they are always active, yeah I can actually slap an E on Felix but hey, that means he can just spam Battalions and make full use of them until he depletes all of them and still get a boost from his personal

I forgot to replenish a battalion once and Dimitri got a crit boost due to that, he soloed that Lonato fog chapter by himself on hard classic lol

[freewaffles]

20 hours ago, charcoalswift said:

I heard people give Felix a battalion as they claim it pays off in the end, I don't agree of course because he has a weakness in Authority and it will take a lot of investment

Seiros Brawlers, which are E-rank give +4 might and +10 avoid at level 5. 

Kingdom Archers (D-rank) give +4 might, 10 hit, and 3 protection

Kingdom Knights (C-rank) give +5 might, 10 hit, 4 prot, and 1 res.

The purpose of Felix's ability is to allow him to maintain power when he loses the Batallion.  It's very powerful early on, but as the game progresses, the benefits of even weak batallions out-weighs.  Also, you can choose not to replenish his Batallion if it is in red HP to still gain the +5 might.