I just beat Conquest Lunatic for the first time

[Alistair]

In all fairness, I did it with some DLC stuff: not the EXP or gold grinding, but stuff like the free Paragon scroll or Vanguard Dawn. It obviously impacted my play experience but I doubt it broke the game in half, especially with regards to the late game. I already beat the game twice beforehand, so I mainly did this for gameplay reasons. 

Anyways here are my general impressions:

- The Hexing Rod is bad from a design standpoint, especially at the end when it's coupled with Staff Savant. I get the idea that it makes you more careful of positioning and incentivizing you against turtling, but it feels overly punishing. I feel like including the Restore staff would have helped with this, or for the effect to subside like other debuffs.  

- Wyvern classes, Malig Knight especially, is very good, not just because of its movement and flying trait, but skills like Savage Blow and Trample further heighten its combat ability. It also helps that Camilla is one, but then again she'd be an amazing combat unit regardless.  

- I love the weapon level bonuses and especially their integration with the weapon triangle.

None of this is a cohesive review or overall picture of the game, these are just things that I thought of as I finished the game.  

[SSJDennis]

For me, Fates is all about fun. What you did sounds exactly like that, so I would say you did a great job.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Congrats. Conquest Lunatic is quite a challenge so good on you for completing it.

I see where you're coming from on the Hexing Rod, but overall I ended up liking it. I like that Fates did away with the Restore Staff, which was always a pretty dull solution to status, and instead made you work with the penalties. The Hexing Rod penalty is quite brutal but its used sparingly - just Azama, Hayato (on Lunatic), Iago (on specific turns only), and some enemies in Endgame IIRC - and I liked that hexed allies could still perform, just at an obvious penalty. It made me be careful about who I was sending in rather than just blindly throwing in my best unit(s), e.g. I had to think in advance of who I was going to need to defeat Hinoka and then send others to stop Azama. The last map is probably the only time I think it goes a bit too far - Lunatic Endgame is rather brutal if not cheesed - but seeing as it's the final map and you don't need to keep allies alive for later maps, it's a bit more acceptable than it otherwise would be.

[starburst]

Congratulations, mate! Conquest is a challenging game, and completing a campaign on Lunatic is always commendable.

Honestly, many of my Lunatic campaigns have been declared as "complete" right after killing Garon. I think that I know what to do, but Endgame requires specific builds which would compromise my party composition (ten units, no royals), and I prioritise the campaign flow over Endgame.

 

18 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

The Hexing Rod penalty is quite brutal but its used sparingly - just Azama, Hayato (on Lunatic), Iago (on specific turns only), and some enemies in Endgame IIRC -

I do not have problems with the mechanics of the Hexing Rod, but I hate Azama. God, the insolence of that wanker to always hex Elise is unbearable. And she has like 97 Luck and 75 Resistance!

 

On 6/27/2020 at 9:03 PM, Alistair said:

Wyvern classes, Malig Knight especially, is very good, not just because of its movement and flying trait, but skills like Savage Blow and Trample further heighten its combat ability. It also helps that Camilla is one, but then again she'd be an amazing combat unit regardless. 

In my opinion, Savage Blow and Trample are the reasons to choose Malig Knight. The class is not powerful enough (magically or physically) to one-hit, nor fast enough to double consistently. It has rather low caps and those two skills almost feel compensatory. Remember that Camilla is the overpowered unit for great part of the campaign. But try it on other units and you will see.

Beruka, Percy, Elise and Xander have all access to wyverns, but only Elise has the growths to go Malig Knight. From those who have indirect access to the Wyvern class tree, Odin, Leo, Nina and Ophelia are candidates for Malig Knight. But Odin's offensive growths are even shakier as a Malig Knight than as a Sorcerer, Leo has enough Magic but no Speed, and Nina and particularly Ophelia have the Magic and the Speed but will match the caps too soon. I like Malig Knight Elise bombing maps with the Bolt Axe, but she has considerably more Magic and more Speed as a Strategist.

In more numerous parties, a Malig Knight is a great "filler", but on smaller parties with more defined roles, the class may not be as effective.

Edited July 1, 2020 by starburst

[Shadow Mir]

Congratulations!

On 6/27/2020 at 7:03 PM, Alistair said:

- Wyvern classes, Malig Knight especially, is very good, not just because of its movement and flying trait, but skills like Savage Blow and Trample further heighten its combat ability. It also helps that Camilla is one, but then again she'd be an amazing combat unit regardless.  

I disagree - honestly, Malig Knight feels more like an afterthought. Axes and tomes are not a great combination, especially when due to statistical leanings, one or the other tends to be rendered pointless for most units. Savage Blow is hardly amazing, and while Trample is good, it's a level 15 skill in a game where those skills probably won't be relevant for very long. It's why I seal Camilla to Wyvern Lord, which is actually worth calling good, and never look back.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Shadow Mir