Looking for some information/answers to some questions relating to Radiant Dawn. Any response is super appreciated!

[Arevir Wehttam]

Hello!

I am rather new to FE series as a whole, with my first game being Path of Radiance. I’m rounding out the game now, I’m at chapter 25 as I type this up. When I complete PoR (which should be tonight if I have time), I am without a doubt going to be continuing the story and jumping right into Radiant Dawn.. as I am absolutely in-love with the world, story, lore, characters and everything else related to PoR (seriously this is one of the few video game stories that actually has me very intrigued and I love all the twists and turns!).

Now with that said, and with me being incredibly new to the series, I have a handful of questions in regards to Radiant Dawn. I apologize in advance if these are all well known, or I could’ve found this information (I did try googling and searching through here for answers) elsewhere.
 

Well, onto my questions:

1) First is difficulty. I found Path of Radiance incredibly easy (played on hard mode), and I really hope Radiant Dawn presents more of a challenge. I am the type of person who does a lot of thinking/strategizing each turn and takes my time to make sure my units will be protected/not die (I inspect enemy units and compared AS to see if I’m going to get doubled among other stats, check enemy attack ranges to see how many enemies will be able to hit me and so on), as if I lose even one unit, no matter who it is, I reset. 

So how does Radiant Dawn difficulty compare to PoR, in regards to someone who found PoR hard mode incredibly easy (like really easy as I’m sure most people did). Plus I really enjoy difficult games, as long as the difficulty is “fair” and not nonsensical and headache inducing. What is a good starting difficulty for RD? 

2) Next is how stats work. Like I said, I’m rather new to the FE series, and it took me sometime to figure out what each stat does and how they affect my units and the battle. More or less what I want to know is, do stats function the same from one FE game to the next, and more importantly from PoR to RD? For example; Is it always 4 or more attack speed to double? Does Luck/Skill have the same function as providing avoid/hit and bonus critical stats? And so on and so forth.

3) Now I’ve been doing some looking into Radiant Dawn, and I’m a little confused as to how the game plays out. From my understanding, there is 4 separate “parts” or sections, and each section only has specific units that are playable? If that’s so;

- How does BEXP, money, weapons, stat boosters, and other items work when going from part to part? Is it ideal to just use everything up before going to the next part or do the items/BEXP carry over?
- Is it even worth getting attached/investing into certain units? Meaning do you get full access to all the units by the end of the game, and if not does the game let you know beforehand that you won’t have access to the certain units later on.. so you don’t waste resources on them? 

4) Lastly, and I’m sorry if this isn’t the place to ask for this, but does anyone have a working iso/wtsb (or whatever else works for dolphin) of FE: Radiant Dawn? I’ve been looking literally everywhere (vimmrs lab, reddit, other forum posts, and so on) for a functional copy of the game. Every copy I find does not work with Dolphin, as I got error messages that pop that say I’m missing files, and when I open the game it just stays on a pure black screen. Also in the emulator itself, no artwork image appears and I have just a giant X for the artwork image instead.

If anybody knows any work around in the settings to get the game to work that I can try, I would truly appreciate it, same goes for a functional iso download as well.

 

So yeah.. I’m pretty sure that’s it. My main concern is honestly getting Radiant Dawn to work in the first-place, but if anyone can answers my other questions I’d really appreciate it. Also any general advice for Radiant Dawn would be awesome as well, such as good units, skills to use, good supports, and/or any tips and tricks would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help with the above! Really regret skipping past FE over the years, and I’m really looking forward to catching up and playing all of them eventually!

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

Glad you're looking forward to Radiant Dawn! I hope you enjoy your time in the Tellius continuation! As my first FE game it remains my favorite.

As to your questions:

1. Radiant Dawn is overall much harder than PoR. However the translation was messed up when labeling the difficulties. So in RD Easy = Normal, Normal = Hard, Hard = Lunatic. Honestly it's up to you which one you'd like to try your hand at but know that the early game is notably harder than the later game.
2. I'm no LTCer or big math person but from my experience the stats work similarly to PoR. Someone else can probably give you exact numbers. Of note, you can take skills off units in RD and move them to other units without losing the skill like you do in PoR.
3. You switch armies several times throughout RD. For the most part your convoys are kept separate but there does come a time where the convoy is merged between all the characters. So long as no character dies you do eventually regain access to all of them but there are some that have such low availability overall that they're not worth using. Those units include Tormod, Vika, Muarim, and a few of the Part 2 characters but everyone is able to be worked with if you give them enough babying thanks to BEXP.
4. Sorry no clue, I have a physical copy.

I would give you more advice and tips but I find that RD is the most fun to play through when you go into it pretty blind. Others will probably tell you more though. I wish you luck!

[Benice]

1 hour ago, Arevir Wehttam said:

What is a good starting difficulty for RD? 

Definitely play normal; Hard gets rid of QoL mechanics, (I.E you can no longer see enemy ranges) and you won't get to play around with suboptimal units as much. RD is a hard gake IMO and I find Path of Radaince to have be incredibly easy.

[Shadow Mir]

1. Radiant Dawn is much harder than Path of Radiance. Especially in the earlygame. Also, I'd avoid hard mode like the plague. 

2. Not really; some games change up the AS formula. In this game, as well as Path of Radiance and Shadow Dragon, AS is determined by speed - (weapon weight - strength).

3. You swap armies in RD. While the armies and convoys stay separate for the most part, you'll eventually get to a point where the convoy is merged. Also, some characters swap armies, and some others are screwed over by availability being all over the place. There are also times where you get an obviously overpowered unit. Of course, they tend to leave eventually, so don't rely on them too much!

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Silver-Haired Maiden said:

Glad you're looking forward to Radiant Dawn! I hope you enjoy your time in the Tellius continuation! As my first FE game it remains my favorite.

As to your questions:

1. Radiant Dawn is overall much harder than PoR. However the translation was messed up when labeling the difficulties. So in RD Easy = Normal, Normal = Hard, Hard = Lunatic. Honestly it's up to you which one you'd like to try your hand at but know that the early game is notably harder than the later game.
2. I'm no LTCer or big math person but from my experience the stats work similarly to PoR. Someone else can probably give you exact numbers. Of note, you can take skills off units in RD and move them to other units without losing the skill like you do in PoR.
3. You switch armies several times throughout RD. For the most part your convoys are kept separate but there does come a time where the convoy is merged between all the characters. So long as no character dies you do eventually regain access to all of them but there are some that have such low availability overall that they're not worth using. Those units include Tormod, Vika, Muarim, and a few of the Part 2 characters but everyone is able to be worked with if you give them enough babying thanks to BEXP.
4. Sorry no clue, I have a physical copy.

I would give you more advice and tips but I find that RD is the most fun to play through when you go into it pretty blind. Others will probably tell you more though. I wish you luck!

Spoiler

Well all but one. *cough* *cough*

 

[Dark Holy Elf]

1. If you found PoR incredibly easy, I'd recommend starting on Normal. RD Normal is actually tougher than PoR Hard by a notable amount. I agree with Benice and Shadow Mir that RD Hard's changes are more annoying/frustrating than they make the game actually harder (to the point where if I'm looking to get more challenge out of the game, I still prefer to play Normal and then add challenge restrictions).

2. The effect of stats is nearly identical between PoR and RD. AS is now visible on the status screen (yay) but it works the way it did in the previous game, with strength mitigating weapon weight. The biggest damage formula introduction is height differences which offer +50 hit and +2 damage if you attack from high ground.

3. As others have mentioned, you switch between different parties, who each have their own convoy, though eventually they do meet up and the convoys merge. There's only one true temporary character who leaves and never returns, though there's also an already referenced trio of units who leave at the end of part 1 and don't rejoin until extremely late (though BExp lets you salvage them or anyone if you are so inclined).

The one extra hint I will give you (minor spoilers):
 

Spoiler

if you encounter a character playable in another party as an enemy, you never need to worry about killing them; they'll always safely retreat if you do. My first playthrough I didn't know this and contorted myself trying to avoid killing certain units on certain maps so I was very glad to learn you don't have to do this.

 

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

1. If you found PoR incredibly easy, I'd recommend starting on Normal. RD Normal is actually tougher than PoR Hard by a notable amount. I agree with Benice and Shadow Mir that RD Hard's changes are more annoying/frustrating than they make the game actually harder (to the point where if I'm looking to get more challenge out of the game, I still prefer to play Normal and then add challenge restrictions).

2. The effect of stats is nearly identical between PoR and RD. AS is now visible on the status screen (yay) but it works the way it did in the previous game, with strength mitigating weapon weight. The biggest damage formula introduction is height differences which offer +50 hit and +2 damage if you attack from high ground.

3. As others have mentioned, you switch between different parties, who each have their own convoy, though eventually they do meet up and the convoys merge. There's only one true temporary character who leaves and never returns, though there's also an already referenced trio of units who leave at the end of part 1 and don't rejoin until extremely late (though BExp lets you salvage them or anyone if you are so inclined).

The one extra hint I will give you (minor spoilers):
 

  Hide contents

if you encounter a character playable in another party as an enemy, you never need to worry about killing them; they'll always safely retreat if you do. My first playthrough I didn't know this and contorted myself trying to avoid killing certain units on certain maps so I was very glad to learn you don't have to do this.

 

On, on this point Bonus EXP does work differently in Radiant Dawn. In Path of Radiance it just gives you unit a regular level up, but in Radian Dawn if you level up by BEXP then you will get exactly three stat gains. This can be good or bad. On one hand it completely proofs you against a zero stat gain, on the other hand you really want to be gaining more than three stats levelled up per level. But the real value comes in abusing it when your units cap certain stats. So if your sword master caps strength and skill, levelling them up with bonus exp means they will definitely level up three stats, and since they can't level up speed and skill anymore, they stand a much higher chance of levelling strength or defense. So it's reccomended to use bonus exp in the later range of levels before you promote. You can still make good use of it before then though by giving a unit enough exp to hit the 99exp mark and then they'll get a level up as soon as they enter combat on the map.

[Blaze The Great]

Since most of the other questions have been answered already, I'll just respond briefly to your last one regarding ISOs for the game.

Strictly speaking, it's against forum rules to ask for/supply ISO/ROM files to other users. This holds true on most major forum sites, not just SF. So, the best advice I'd have on that front would just be to keep using your search engine of choice to try to find the appropriate file for RD.

Best of luck with finding it; RD is arguably my favorite Fire Emblem game, so it's always fun when somebody starts it!

[Arevir Wehttam]

On 7/26/2020 at 10:21 PM, Silver-Haired Maiden said:

Glad you're looking forward to Radiant Dawn! I hope you enjoy your time in the Tellius continuation! As my first FE game it remains my favorite.

As to your questions:

1. Radiant Dawn is overall much harder than PoR. However the translation was messed up when labeling the difficulties. So in RD Easy = Normal, Normal = Hard, Hard = Lunatic. Honestly it's up to you which one you'd like to try your hand at but know that the early game is notably harder than the later game.
2. I'm no LTCer or big math person but from my experience the stats work similarly to PoR. Someone else can probably give you exact numbers. Of note, you can take skills off units in RD and move them to other units without losing the skill like you do in PoR.
3. You switch armies several times throughout RD. For the most part your convoys are kept separate but there does come a time where the convoy is merged between all the characters. So long as no character dies you do eventually regain access to all of them but there are some that have such low availability overall that they're not worth using. Those units include Tormod, Vika, Muarim, and a few of the Part 2 characters but everyone is able to be worked with if you give them enough babying thanks to BEXP.
4. Sorry no clue, I have a physical copy.

I would give you more advice and tips but I find that RD is the most fun to play through when you go into it pretty blind. Others will probably tell you more though. I wish you luck!

Thanks a ton for the information! I finally found a working copy of the game, and I’m planning to start it tonight.

I’m going to more than likely start on normal just to feel the game out first. And aslong as most things work similar from PoR to RD, I’m more than happy to jump in blind and experience everything firsthand.

 

Thanks again!

[Arevir Wehttam]

On 7/27/2020 at 10:02 AM, Blaze The Great said:

Since most of the other questions have been answered already, I'll just respond briefly to your last one regarding ISOs for the game.

Strictly speaking, it's against forum rules to ask for/supply ISO/ROM files to other users. This holds true on most major forum sites, not just SF. So, the best advice I'd have on that front would just be to keep using your search engine of choice to try to find the appropriate file for RD.

Best of luck with finding it; RD is arguably my favorite Fire Emblem game, so it's always fun when somebody starts it!

Thank you for the heads up. I’m just recently getting into dolphin and what not, so this is good to know for future reference.  

[Arevir Wehttam]

On 7/26/2020 at 11:09 PM, Benice said:

Definitely play normal; Hard gets rid of QoL mechanics, (I.E you can no longer see enemy ranges) and you won't get to play around with suboptimal units as much. RD is a hard gake IMO and I find Path of Radaince to have be incredibly easy.

Ahh that does not sound fun (losing the enemy attack ranges, that is). I will definitely take your advice and give normal a shot first as I tend to heavily utilize highlighting the enemy attack ranges.

Thanks a bunch for the info!

[Arevir Wehttam]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:34 AM, Dark Holy Elf said:

1. If you found PoR incredibly easy, I'd recommend starting on Normal. RD Normal is actually tougher than PoR Hard by a notable amount. I agree with Benice and Shadow Mir that RD Hard's changes are more annoying/frustrating than they make the game actually harder (to the point where if I'm looking to get more challenge out of the game, I still prefer to play Normal and then add challenge restrictions).

2. The effect of stats is nearly identical between PoR and RD. AS is now visible on the status screen (yay) but it works the way it did in the previous game, with strength mitigating weapon weight. The biggest damage formula introduction is height differences which offer +50 hit and +2 damage if you attack from high ground.

3. As others have mentioned, you switch between different parties, who each have their own convoy, though eventually they do meet up and the convoys merge. There's only one true temporary character who leaves and never returns, though there's also an already referenced trio of units who leave at the end of part 1 and don't rejoin until extremely late (though BExp lets you salvage them or anyone if you are so inclined).

The one extra hint I will give you (minor spoilers):
 

  Hide contents

if you encounter a character playable in another party as an enemy, you never need to worry about killing them; they'll always safely retreat if you do. My first playthrough I didn't know this and contorted myself trying to avoid killing certain units on certain maps so I was very glad to learn you don't have to do this.

 

This info has been most helpful, greatly appreciated! Especially the minor spoiler information, as knowing me, I’d probably assume that killing them would mean removing them from the game, so that’s really good to know.
 

I’ll take your advice, and I’ll be doing a normal play-through first. Thanks a ton! 

[Arevir Wehttam]

On 7/26/2020 at 11:19 PM, Shadow Mir said:

1. Radiant Dawn is much harder than Path of Radiance. Especially in the earlygame. Also, I'd avoid hard mode like the plague. 

2. Not really; some games change up the AS formula. In this game, as well as Path of Radiance and Shadow Dragon, AS is determined by speed - (weapon weight - strength).

3. You swap armies in RD. While the armies and convoys stay separate for the most part, you'll eventually get to a point where the convoy is merged. Also, some characters swap armies, and some others are screwed over by availability being all over the place. There are also times where you get an obviously overpowered unit. Of course, they tend to leave eventually, so don't rely on them too much!

Exactly what I needed to know!

Thanks a bunch!