A few questions for a Hard/Classic run

[Riddleflip]

So, I'm thinking of starting a Conquest playthrough once I'm done with Awakening. I want to ask a few questions, though. So, to get straight to the point:

1. I'm going to play as (F)Corrin, who should I try to S-support?
2. What boon/bane should I have? I'm flexible with how I'll play Corrin.
3. What secondary class should I pick and on the subject: should I reclass with Corrin?
4. Is there anything I should know? Like, what characters to look out for, what characters I should drop, any vital tips?

Since I can't reply "thanks" to any replies, since one line posts is breaking the rules of posting, I just want to say "thanks in advance."

[Shadow Mir]

1) That depends on your talent.

2) Personally, I'm fond of Robust/Clumsy.

3) In general, people would recommend a Hoshidan class.

4) This game has children like Awakening before it. However, unlike in Awakening, the units in the Paralogues will level up as you progress through the story. This is bad news for Benny's son Ignatius if you wait too long since the enemies that rush him will kill him before you can get to him. That being said, I would recommend against using Arthur (too inaccurate and too likely to cause random resets) and Odin unless you get lucky with his early level ups.

[Riddleflip]

1 minute ago, Shadow Mir said:

In general, people would recommend a Hoshidan class.

4) This game has children like Awakening before it. However, unlike in Awakening, the units in the Paralogues will level up as you progress through the story. This is bad news for Benny's son Ignatius if you wait too long since the enemies that rush him will kill him before you can get to him. That being said, I would recommend against using Arthur (too inaccurate and too likely to cause random resets) and Odi

If I go for Robust/Clumsy, then who should I S-support?

[Eltosian Kadath]

1. Whomever you want to. What you chose as her secondary class option can help you decide, as whomever she marries (and their children) get access to that class (even if it is normally a Birthright only class), and there are so many wild and interesting options you can go with.

2. The two most common options for bane are either Luck or Skill, and there is a good argument to be made for most of the Boons (barring Luck). Its hard to go wrong with Corrin, as she can make almost anything work, so choose which ever strikes your fancy. I have always been partial to Speed Boon, Luck Bane, but Magic Boon, Luck Bane is fun build to have a magic Corrin.

3. There are two ways of thinking about the choice of secondary class, do you want to pass it along to someone else, or is this class for Corrin. Picking up an exotic Birthright class that is hard to get otherwise is generally a good idea, but it depends on what you want to do. Again there are so many ways you could take it that it is up to however you want to play. As for class changing her, she can do perfectly well in her base class, but again its hard to go wrong with Corrin (unless you are trying) so if you want to you can have fun in other classes, feel free to do so. One thing to think about is whether or not you want to dip into a class simply to grab some skills from it, it costs double to get her back to whatever final class you want, but it can be a worthwhile venture if you want some specific skills.

4. Here is a list of some tips

• First and most important tip, CHECK ENEMY SKILLS.
• Weapon triangle now includes Bows, Magic, and Knives/Shuriken with  Sword=Magic > Axe=Bow > Lance=Knives/Shuriken > Sword=Magic. There is a color indication on weapons to make things easier to keep track of visually.
• Pair up has been changed in Fates, when not paired, and adjacent to an ally (you can chose which if multiple on player phase, but it defaults to highest support level on enemy phase), that ally gets a half damage attack  after your first attack, and the main unit gets bonuses to hit, avoid, crit, and dodge (crit avoid) based on support levels; while paired up you gain stats based on support level, block enemy attack stance hits (the half damage attacks from adjacent allies) and a gauge that once filled blocks an attack.
• Try to save some of your Rescue Staff uses for endgame (you don't need to hoard them all, but a few on the last map goes a long way).
• You will have the choice to recruit or kill Shura between chapters, note that if you kill him you get an early pair of boots.
• As for some units that make things easier on your first run, Camilla is brokenly good, Elise is one of the best support units (and can hit like a truck once promoted), once you find a way to fix Xander's speed (a berserker backpack plus tonics/meals or a speed wing usually does the trick) he does extremely well, reclassing Jakob makes him amazing, Odin's daughter Ophelia is the best mage of Fates if she has a magic oriented mother (barring perhaps a magic Corrin).

[Shadow Mir]

6 minutes ago, Riddleflip said:

If I go for Robust/Clumsy, then who should I S-support?

Whoever you want.

Also, I would echo the part about checking enemy skills and weapons. And note that pair up got nerfed - you can only have either a dual strike or a dual guard chance (incidentally, dual guards got reworked, and second, if you're paired up, you'll always have enemy dual strikes blocked). Also, the weapon triangle is Red (Sword/Tome) > Green (Axe/Bow) > Blue (Lance/Dagger) > Red. Though that should be familiar if you ever played Pokemon.

[LoneStar]

For an S-support if you're using +Def-Skill I'd say pick from: Kaze, Laslow, or Keaton since they give +20 to Hit rate at S rank.

[eclipse]

1. Whoever the hell you want.  "No one" is also a viable option.
2. Unless you have a specific physical/magical build in mind, +Spd/-Lck rarely goes wrong with me.  Some of the enemies get stupid fast later-on.
3. Do you want a magical or physical Corrin?  What role will she fill on the team?  For example, if you want a bunch of iron weapons from Hoshido, grab Oni Savage, and promote to Blacksmith.  If you plan on chugging tonics every chapter, get Apothecary.  If you want a strong Bow Knight, take Archer for several useful skills.
4. If you want to break the game in half, use Camilla as soon as you get her, reclass her to Wyvern Lord before Chapter 19, and feed her an Arms Scroll.  Despite the controversy around her, she's absurdly powerful as a unit.

[starburst]

• +Magic Cornflakes is a super easy build. You do not even need to class-change her, for Nohr Noble is powerful enough to nuke enemies with tomes, the Dragon Stones (which are magical) let her tank during the whole game and one-hit numerous enemies later in the game, and its mid-game skill (Draconic Hex) is a godsend on a front-liner. It is a no-brains pick. As bane, choose -Luck because it is the easiest to patch.

• If you go +Magic, Corrinette does not care about her secondary class. Thus, you can either pick something useful for her husband (her children only inherit Nohr Princess) or ignore it completely (one less thing to worry about.)

• I usually marry Cornflakes to Odin. He is a tricky unit who requires some investment at the beginning, but who can solo entire maps later on. And even if you dislike him, his daughter, Ophelia, is the most overpowered Player Phase unit, like, ever. Her recruitment map also has unique, powerful magical items that are useful for any other spell caster.

Since the mad sorcerers are not for everyone, an easy pick is Silas. He and his daughter are self-sufficient, are available by Chapter 11-12, and remain useful during the whole campaign. Silas in particular can be your main front-liner with minimal or no investment (and the only reason why you might replace him with Xander is the latter’s broken divine sword.)

Or, you know, just marry whomever you fancy, or no one at all.

• Embrace the dark.
Conquest on Hard is challenging but it is always fair. If something feels impossible, you are doing it wrong. Either your approach needs some tweaking or your formation is not adequate or you need specialised weapons.

Other members in this very thread and myself have beaten this game numerous times on Hard and Lunatic with only ten units, no pre-promoted (so, no Xander and no Camilla), no grinding, no Internet or path rewards, no “backpacks” (units whose only purpose is to provide bonuses to a “main” unit), no nothing. This means that every and all offensive and defensive thresholds are reachable with fewer resources than what you believe.

Yes, you will die and you will have to plan your moves. No, the game does not hate you. Enjoy the restarts!

I just started a new campaign on Hard last night, so, feel free to ask.

[joshcja]

19 hours ago, starburst said:

• +Magic Cornflakes is a super easy build. You do not even need to class-change her, for Nohr Noble is powerful enough to nuke enemies with tomes, the Dragon Stones (which are magical) let her tank during the whole game and one-hit numerous enemies later in the game, and its mid-game skill (Draconic Hex) is a godsend on a front-liner. It is a no-brains pick. As bane, choose -Luck because it is the easiest to patch.

• If you go +Magic, Corrinette does not care about her secondary class. Thus, you can either pick something useful for her husband (her children only inherit Nohr Princess) or ignore it completely (one less thing to worry about.)

• I usually marry Cornflakes to Odin. He is a tricky unit who requires some investment at the beginning, but who can solo entire maps later on. And even if you dislike him, his daughter, Ophelia, is the most overpowered Player Phase unit, like, ever. Her recruitment map also has unique, powerful magical items that are useful for any other spell caster.

Since the mad sorcerers are not for everyone, an easy pick is Silas. He and his daughter are self-sufficient, are available by Chapter 11-12, and remain useful during the whole campaign. Silas in particular can be your main front-liner with minimal or no investment (and the only reason why you might replace him with Xander is the latter’s broken divine sword.)

Or, you know, just marry whomever you fancy, or no one at all.

• Embrace the dark.
Conquest on Hard is challenging but it is always fair. If something feels impossible, you are doing it wrong. Either your approach needs some tweaking or your formation is not adequate or you need specialised weapons.

Other members in this very thread and myself have beaten this game numerous times on Hard and Lunatic with only ten units, no pre-promoted (so, no Xander and no Camilla), no grinding, no Internet or path rewards, no “backpacks” (units whose only purpose is to provide bonuses to a “main” unit), no nothing. This means that every and all offensive and defensive thresholds are reachable with fewer resources than what you believe.

Yes, you will die and you will have to plan your moves. No, the game does not hate you. Enjoy the restarts!

I just started a new campaign on Hard last night, so, feel free to ask.

Pretty much this. Hard isn't nearly as restrictive as lunatic so just have fun with it