1st Blue Lions Playthrough: Who to Recruit?

[paladin21]

17 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

I'm probably not going to recruit Lysithea (a bit of extra challenge), so probably not. 

Thanks. Is it any good?

By the way, what did you think of my plan involving Caspar?

The Gloucester boy I meant was Lorenz, not Lysithea. And you'll be facing him either way, so there's no reason not to get his relic if you want as many named enemies as possible in part 2.

[vanguard333]

4 hours ago, paladin21 said:

The Gloucester boy I meant was Lorenz, not Lysithea. And you'll be facing him either way, so there's no reason not to get his relic if you want as many named enemies as possible in part 2.

I knew you meant Lorenz; I just misunderstood why you were suggesting getting his relic. I thought you meant get the relic to give to Lysithea. I didn't know that Lorenz leaves your party before Part 2 in the Blue Lions route. Thanks for letting me know. 

Wouldn't Thrysus be useless though if I have no intent on using someone with the Gloucester Crest?

[paladin21]

37 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

I knew you meant Lorenz; I just misunderstood why you were suggesting getting his relic. I thought you meant get the relic to give to Lysithea. I didn't know that Lorenz leaves your party before Part 2 in the Blue Lions route. Thanks for letting me know. 

Wouldn't Thrysus be useless though if I have no intent on using someone with the Gloucester Crest?

You can use it with anyone for the extended range. The crest determines additional things that happen to the user. Gloucester crest gives Pavise+Aegis, any other crest has no effect and no crest causes recoil damage to the user after combat.

[Shadow Mir]

54 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Wouldn't Thrysus be useless though if I have no intent on using someone with the Gloucester Crest?

No. Relics can be used by anyone, with one caveat: crestless units will take damage after combat, as happened with Miklan in chapter 5.

[vanguard333]

47 minutes ago, paladin21 said:

You can use it with anyone for the extended range. The crest determines additional things that happen to the user. Gloucester crest gives Pavise+Aegis, any other crest has no effect and no crest causes recoil damage to the user after combat.

Ah; okay. Thanks. 

 

34 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

No. Relics can be used by anyone, with one caveat: crestless units will take damage after combat, as happened with Miklan in chapter 5.

That I knew; I just didn't know if it was only the Aegis + Pavise that was Crest-specific or the increased magic range as well. 

[CyberNinja]

On 3/28/2020 at 1:48 PM, vanguard333 said:

So, I started with a Crimson Flower playthrough, now I'm doing a Golden Deer playthrough, and, after that, I'll be doing a Blue Lions playthrough. I don't have any DLC, and I try to recruit at most two students in each playthrough. 

I try to make sure everyone can get a good paired ending if I can, but I mainly have chosen recruits based on either usefulness or what part 2 paralogues they unlocked. In my Crimson Flower playthrough, I recruited Lysithea (for beating the Death Knight), Leonie (for the paralogue with Linhardt), and Ashe because I felt sorry for him after Lonato's death. This meant I accidentally left Hubert without a paired ending. For my Golden Deer playthrough, I recruited Linhardt for Leonie's paralogue, and Ferdinand for Lysithea's paralogue, with no intent to actually use Ferdinand. For this playthrough, the only person without a paired ending is Ferdinand, but I only recruited him for the paralogue, so that doesn't count. 

With planning out my Blue Lions playthrough, however, I've run into a problem: I have to recruit Caspar for Mercedes' playthrough (though I'm more than happy to have him end up alone as I'm only recruiting him because I have to), and the Blue Lions team comes with enough lance-wielders (and therefore knight-kneeler) that I might not even need Lysithea to bring down the Death Knight, nor am I really sure who I would even use the Dark Seals on once I beat him. So, I could go the whole playthrough without recruiting anyone (except Caspar). However, I currently plan to pair Byleth with Ingrid, and Sylvain with Mercedes. This leaves four guys (Dimitri, Dedue, Felix and Ashe) and two girls (Annette and Flayn).

 

Who should I recruit?

Don't recruit anyone from Black Eagles barring perhaps Caspar (needed for Mercedes Paralogue), You should avoid recruiting most Golden Deer barring Marianne and maybe Hilda. This allows you to maintain the stakes in the timeskip and should keep the game a bit less boring fighting Generic replacements.

 

So for your two, Marianne (nice supports w/ Dimitri) and Caspar (required to complete Mercedes' story). Likewise for Golden Deer Ferdinand should be an auto recruit to finish his and Lysithea's story but an other one is strictly optional there.

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, CyberNinja said:

Likewise for Golden Deer Ferdinand should be an auto recruit to finish his and Lysithea's story but an other one is strictly optional there.

I'm in the middle of part 2 of my Golden Deer route, and I recently did the Battle of Gronder Field. And yes, I recruited Ferdinand, and only for the paralogue. 

 

1 hour ago, CyberNinja said:

Don't recruit anyone from Black Eagles barring perhaps Caspar (needed for Mercedes Paralogue), You should avoid recruiting most Golden Deer barring Marianne and maybe Hilda. This allows you to maintain the stakes in the timeskip and should keep the game a bit less boring fighting Generic replacements.

That's the reason for my two-recruit limit (to be clear, it doesn't include knights, Cyril, Flayn and the other two professors). 

I know I need Caspar for the paralogue and the scythe, but I don't want to use him, as it means I have 2 units that suck at authority. For that same reason, plus it not really making much sense story-wise, I'm not going to recruit Hilda either. 

 

Since I've decided who Ingrid and Mercedes will end up paired with, I guess it would help to know what pairings (among Dimitri, Dedue, Felix and Ashe) are good for the remaining two girls: Annette and Flayn.

Edited April 6, 2020 by vanguard333

[CyberNinja]

2 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

I'm in the middle of part 2 of my Golden Deer route, and I recently did the Battle of Gronder Field. And yes, I recruited Ferdinand, and only for the paralogue. 

 

That's the reason for my two-recruit limit (to be clear, it doesn't include knights, Cyril, Flayn and the other two professors). 

I know I need Caspar for the paralogue and the scythe, but I don't want to use him, as it means I have 2 units that suck at authority. For that same reason, plus it not really making much sense story-wise, I'm not going to recruit Hilda either. 

 

Since I've decided who Ingrid and Mercedes will end up paired with, I guess it would help to know what pairings (among Dimitri, Dedue, Felix and Ashe) are good for the remaining two girls: Annette and Flayn.

I wouldn't recruit Hanneman or Manuela for Blue Lions. You can, and they add to the story, but if you aren't going to use them, don't.

 

Felix x Annette

Dimitri x Flayn

Dedue x Dimitri

Flayn x Felix

Dedue x Ashe

are all good combos

Edited April 6, 2020 by CyberNinja

[vanguard333]

28 minutes ago, CyberNinja said:

I wouldn't recruit Hanneman or Manuela for Blue Lions. You can, and they add to the story, but if you aren't going to use them, don't

Yeah; I wasn't planning on doing so. 

28 minutes ago, CyberNinja said:

Felix x Annette

Dimitri x Flayn

Dedue x Dimitri

Flayn x Felix

Dedue x Ashe

are all good combos

Thanks. I've noticed that a lot of pairing suggestions I've gotten have been about Dimitri, Felix or Ashe, but the only one I hear more than once for Dedue is Dimitri. Is there something about Dedue that makes few of his pairings stand out as particularly good or something?

Oh; don't get me wrong, I'm fine with paired endings being non-romantic (I think Dimitri should have one simply because the royal line needs to continue and his uncle dying off-screen in Verdant Wind is making me think the same thing happens in Blue Lions); I paired Ignatz and Raphael in my Golden Deer route after all. I'm just curious. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by vanguard333

[CyberNinja]

5 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Yeah; I wasn't planning on doing so. 

Thanks. I've noticed that a lot of pairing suggestions I've gotten have been about Dimitri, Felix or Ashe, but the only one I hear more than once for Dedue is Dimitri. Is there something about Dedue that makes few of his pairings stand out as particularly good or something?

Oh; don't get me wrong, I'm fine with paired endings being non-romantic (I think Dimitri should have one simply because the royal line needs to continue and his uncle dying off-screen in Verdant Wind is making me think the same thing happens in Blue Lions); I paired Ignatz and Raphael in my Golden Deer route after all. I'm just curious. 

Dedue (and Marriane) both have extremely good supports with Dimitri and paired endings that show how close the characters are. Felix also has a good paired ending with Dimitri and Dimitri does have a wife in said ending, but Felix has a very good paired ending with Annette and in all non BL routes you want to pair Felix with Annette or Flayn to give him a good end. Given you already have some options prepicked I'd suggest paring Annette and Felix, Dedue and Ashe, and Dimitri with Marriane. If you don't get Marriane, Flayn is (imo) a good choice for Dimitri too, but some people don't like Flayn so your taste may differ.

[garrisoncade_3576]

For this run if you don't want to "kill" anyone or want most of the students to survive in the timeskip...

Spoiler

Other than Hubert and Edelgard

...then recruiting every single possible student and faculty is a must. But don't worry too much about Hilda though since:

Spoiler

You do fight her in later chapters but does not die and later returns as a green ally. She can survive in the chapter where you have to defend Claude if you keep healing her by using Physic. It will not be a good idea to let her get killed by the enemy since they will easily reach Claude and you will fail the objective. So it is somehow best to leave Hilda out of the BL run that way you have a strong unit protecting Claude for the objective. Also, I don't remember which chapter this was but it is after Gronder Field as well as the scene where Claude retires and bestows the player with his divine weapon.

Edit: I noticed the first page that vanguard is only limiting to some students.

But anyways, this is could be an option for other players who want to save as many students as they can.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Cron

[paladin21]

1 hour ago, Cron said:

For this run if you don't want to "kill" anyone or want most of the students to survive in the timeskip...

  Hide contents

Other than Hubert and Edelgard

...then recruiting every single possible student and faculty is a must. But don't worry too much about Hilda though since:

  Hide contents

You do fight her in later chapters but does not die and later returns as a green ally. She can survive in the chapter where you have to defend Claude if you keep healing her by using Physic. It will not be a good idea to let her get killed by the enemy since they will easily reach Claude and you will fail the objective. So it is somehow best to leave Hilda out of the BL run that way you have a strong unit protecting Claude for the objective. Also, I don't remember which chapter this was but it is after Gronder Field as well as the scene where Claude retires and bestows the player with his divine weapon.

Edit: I noticed the first page that vanguard is only limiting to some students.

But anyways, this is could be an option for other players who want to save as many students as they can.

You can easily reach Claude with a flying squad through the ocean, one of which can get an Aurora shield from the Pegasus knight that comes as a reinforcement. If you recruited Hilda, she can go as a wyvern, with Ingrid as a Falco. Byleth can join as either type, while Marianne, if recruited, can go as a Falco or dark flyer if the dlc is available.

You can have the rest of the army rush to save the other green lady-lord and take on Arundel.

[vanguard333]

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. I think I've narrowed it down to two plans:

Plan 1:

Recruits: Petra, Caspar (for paralogue), Knights of Seiros

Characters I will use: Byleth, all the Blue Lions students, Flayn, Petra, Catherine

Pairings: 

• Byleth x Ingrid
• Dimitri x Catherine
• Dedue x Flayn
• Felix x Annette
• Sylvain x Mercedes
• Ashe x Petra

 

Plan 2:

Recruits: Marianne, Caspar (for paralogue), Knights of Seiros

Characters I will use: 

Pairings:

• Byleth x Ingrid
• Dimitri x Flayn (maybe swap with Marianne)
• Dedue x Shamir
• Felix x Annette
• Sylvain x Mercedes
• Ashe x Marianne (maybe swap with Flayn)

What do you guys think?

[Zelgius]

I finished my first playthrough of 3H today and it was on Blue Lions Maddening. I recruited a few students, but the most notable recruits from other houses were Lysithea and Dorothea (Dancer class), though Hilda performed quite well as a Wyvern Lord. For the Church Knights, I recruited Catherine and Manuela when they were available (though I thought they would automatically join you eventually so I didn't get the other professor). I didn't field Manuela, but Catherine was a great unit for most of the playthrough until she started to taper off towards the end, though she still did well.

[drattakbowser]

Sorry to say that but Caspar and Lysithea is obligatory for me in Blue Lions.

[vanguard333]

19 minutes ago, drattakbowser said:

Sorry to say that but Caspar and Lysithea is obligatory for me in Blue Lions.

Caspar I understand for Mercedes' paralogue and getting the scythe. But why Lysithea? Blue Lions is the only route without a character (outside Byleth and Hanneman, the latter of which has to be recruited) who can save Lysithea's life. 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

On 4/12/2020 at 9:54 AM, vanguard333 said:

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. I think I've narrowed it down to two plans:

Plan 1:

Recruits: Petra, Caspar (for paralogue), Knights of Seiros

Characters I will use: Byleth, all the Blue Lions students, Flayn, Petra, Catherine

Pairings: 

• Byleth x Ingrid
• Dimitri x Catherine
• Dedue x Flayn
• Felix x Annette
• Sylvain x Mercedes
• Ashe x Petra

 

Plan 2:

Recruits: Marianne, Caspar (for paralogue), Knights of Seiros

Characters I will use: 

Pairings:

• Byleth x Ingrid
• Dimitri x Flayn (maybe swap with Marianne)
• Dedue x Shamir
• Felix x Annette
• Sylvain x Mercedes
• Ashe x Marianne (maybe swap with Flayn)

What do you guys think?

Between these two, I favor Plan 2. Namely because I like symmetry in recruitment (i.e. 1 from Black Eagles and 1 from Golden Deer, rather than 2 Eagles and no Deer). Also, Marianne grants a post-skip paralogue, while Petra does not (unless Bernadetta is recruited as well). While you miss out on the charming Ashe x Petra support chain, you get the heart-tugging Dimitri x Marianne chain (which you can still fulfill without necessarily pairing them).

[vanguard333]

7 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Between these two, I favor Plan 2. Namely because I like symmetry in recruitment (i.e. 1 from Black Eagles and 1 from Golden Deer, rather than 2 Eagles and no Deer). Also, Marianne grants a post-skip paralogue, while Petra does not (unless Bernadetta is recruited as well). While you miss out on the charming Ashe x Petra support chain, you get the heart-tugging Dimitri x Marianne chain (which you can still fulfill without necessarily pairing them).

Those are good points. Thank you. I think I'll go with Plan 2 then. 

[kittykatie]

for blue lions I would recommend caspar as his paralogue with Mercedes is important for the plot (no spoilers) although he is a meh unit he can be trained as a wyvern lord or war Master. his authority is weak so make sure u give him a good gambit because he and mercedes are stuck on the other side of the map during the paralogue unless u warp and stride ur way to them lol. he has support with ashe and annette.

for the second character I would recommend petra since she is a pain to deal with as an enemy but is also a really good character if u want another felix 2.0 but proficiency with flying. she has a support with ashe as well. but since u already have good sword bow user (felix) u might want someone else for the diversity in skills.

obviously lysithea is number one recruit that everyone loves. but she is really useful if u recruit Lorenz and get the thyrus so these two are also good recommendations. lysithea gets an ending with felix and lorenz gets one with Mercedes. while lorenz is definitely a bench character lol he is worth it for the thyrus.

also I recommend getting the dlc as yuri is super broken especially if u make him a dancer and give him sword avoid. but I'm biased by i love my lil ashen wolves 

[drattakbowser]

He is my first run ending in Blue Lions with paired.

Byleth x Lysithea

Dimitri x Dedue

Ashe x Mercedes

Sylvain x Ingrid

Felix x Annette

Caspar x Catherine

Seteth x Flayn

Gilbert alone