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What do you guys think about the routes in this game?


Sengu
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I recently played twice through The Binding Blade and I found the B route (both Elphin and Sacae) much more enjoyable than the A route I did on my first playthrough. 

Maps and storyline are not that different but I found them to be a bit less bullshit in B route than A route (aka enemy placement and enemy unit choice). I have to say I was not particularly intrigued by this game's storyline, but the B route was also a little more interesting (although just slightly, I mean... it only adds minor nuances to it). 

What do you people think? What are your favourite routes in this game and why?

Also:

Elphin >>>>> Lalum

and

Dayan >>>>> Juno 

IMO

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Not gonna lie, I am surprised to see someone say that.

Not merely someone saying that Ilia is more BS, but that both A and Ilia are worse.

What about the unit choices did you find worse?

As for the units, Lalum/Elphin barely matters in gameplay though Elphin is considered deeper that's for sure, while Dayan is considered the better unit and from what I remember of his conversations he does get a bizarre one with Yodel about affinities while Yuno gets mostly team mom of the Iklian units.

Also, are you Bartre > Echidna?

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Yeah, I prefer Lalum route and Ilia as well :lol: For the former, it's really all about chapter 11 - even though the Lalum version is really tough as well, I absolutely hate the "ballista surrounded by mountains gimmick. As for Ilia vs. Sacae, enemy pegasi are easy to kill, enemy nomads are not. And honestly, I just prefer the overall map design in Ilia by a pretty big margin.

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2 hours ago, Sengu said:

I recently played twice through The Binding Blade and I found the B route (both Elphin and Sacae) much more enjoyable than the A route I did on my first playthrough. 

Maps and storyline are not that different but I found them to be a bit less bullshit in B route than A route (aka enemy placement and enemy unit choice). I have to say I was not particularly intrigued by this game's storyline, but the B route was also a little more interesting (although just slightly, I mean... it only adds minor nuances to it). 

What do you people think? What are your favourite routes in this game and why?

Also:

Elphin >>>>> Lalum

and

Dayan >>>>> Juno 

IMO

i dont think theres much difference between Lalum and Elphin route. since Elphin still appear occasionally in story matter even tho we didnt recruit him. But does lalum appear when choosing Elphin? (i cant remember, someone answer please)

As for the map itself nothing really bad aside from brigand that appear behind enemy line to raze village and blocking you from completion bonus reward. the first reinforcement only appear on horse by far end of map, and 2nd appear below when the enemy boss already said they will come. so its not that bad if you pay attention, keep your weaker unit between stronger, or just make sure no one falls behind.

also i prefer picking Echidna (lalum route) for additional unit with higher reliability in hitting enemy. interestingly somehow my  dieck also turns out bad, so echidna can fill his shoes as hero

never pick dayan to know which is better, but its so late in the game those two wont make a difference, and definitely not Athos, so i pick which map is better over which unit (you get on the route) that is better

Edited by joevar
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1 hour ago, Dayni said:

Not gonna lie, I am surprised to see someone say that.

Not merely someone saying that Ilia is more BS, but that both A and Ilia are worse.

What about the unit choices did you find worse?

As for the units, Lalum/Elphin barely matters in gameplay though Elphin is considered deeper that's for sure, while Dayan is considered the better unit and from what I remember of his conversations he does get a bizarre one with Yodel about affinities while Yuno gets mostly team mom of the Iklian units.

Also, are you Bartre > Echidna?

Actually I'm more of a Echidna >>> Bartre in this case.

Anyway, what I meant about the enemy choice unit and placement is: in the fog map I just hated the mass of flying pegasus knights in the A route. They are weak, true, but they seem to storm you endlessly. The nomads on the other hand are more powerful but they can always bottlenecked in many ways and dealt with in many ways. Pegasus knights are (almost) always about having archers or other flying units that can reach them. On the other hand you got ballistae literally EVERYWHERE so using flying units in those chapters is not a viable options (or, at least, can get pretty obnoxious). 

Also, chapter 19B and 20B were much more interesting in my opinion because of the map design and enemy choice, due to the forementioned reasons I find nomad and nomad troopers really engaging and fair to battle with. Didn't really like 18B though, too straigthforward I think. 

Chapter 11A also was my least favorite in the entire game: trying to recruit everyone in that map while stopping the bandits felt like a chore. I found 11B to be way easier to do. Also for some reason my Gonzalez in B route was stronger, but I'm not sure if it was just my impression.

As stated in previous topics I'm relatively new to the Fire Emblem internet community so I didn't really know that the B route is generally disliked. That's interesting.

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1 hour ago, Sengu said:

Actually I'm more of a Echidna >>> Bartre in this case.

Anyway, what I meant about the enemy choice unit and placement is: in the fog map I just hated the mass of flying pegasus knights in the A route. They are weak, true, but they seem to storm you endlessly. The nomads on the other hand are more powerful but they can always bottlenecked in many ways and dealt with in many ways. Pegasus knights are (almost) always about having archers or other flying units that can reach them. On the other hand you got ballistae literally EVERYWHERE so using flying units in those chapters is not a viable options (or, at least, can get pretty obnoxious). 

Also, chapter 19B and 20B were much more interesting in my opinion because of the map design and enemy choice, due to the forementioned reasons I find nomad and nomad troopers really engaging and fair to battle with. Didn't really like 18B though, too straigthforward I think. 

Chapter 11A also was my least favorite in the entire game: trying to recruit everyone in that map while stopping the bandits felt like a chore. I found 11B to be way easier to do. Also for some reason my Gonzalez in B route was stronger, but I'm not sure if it was just my impression.

As stated in previous topics I'm relatively new to the Fire Emblem internet community so I didn't really know that the B route is generally disliked. That's interesting.

I can see why that map could be a pain, but to me it matches up with 17S, a map with FoW, Ballistae and and mountains you have to work around and a Bolting sage. How did you do with 18S, considering the yurts do spawn reinforcements.

Engaging I can understand, but Fair? Which difficulty were you playing?

I'm actually really a fan of 11A, but it's also tight in terms of getting everything done, I can get finding it to be too much.11B worries me because of Bartre to be honest, I feel like I'm in less control there sometimes. B route Gonzalez being better is bizarre, unless you early promoted because you can't do that on A as for some reason he's level 11 on B and 5 on A.

Generally disliked wouldn't be the right word, just that people have a preference for the A route.

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2 hours ago, Sengu said:

Actually I'm more of a Echidna >>> Bartre in this case.

Anyway, what I meant about the enemy choice unit and placement is: in the fog map I just hated the mass of flying pegasus knights in the A route. They are weak, true, but they seem to storm you endlessly. The nomads on the other hand are more powerful but they can always bottlenecked in many ways and dealt with in many ways. Pegasus knights are (almost) always about having archers or other flying units that can reach them. On the other hand you got ballistae literally EVERYWHERE so using flying units in those chapters is not a viable options (or, at least, can get pretty obnoxious). 

Also, chapter 19B and 20B were much more interesting in my opinion because of the map design and enemy choice, due to the forementioned reasons I find nomad and nomad troopers really engaging and fair to battle with. Didn't really like 18B though, too straigthforward I think. 

Chapter 11A also was my least favorite in the entire game: trying to recruit everyone in that map while stopping the bandits felt like a chore. I found 11B to be way easier to do. Also for some reason my Gonzalez in B route was stronger, but I'm not sure if it was just my impression.

As stated in previous topics I'm relatively new to the Fire Emblem internet community so I didn't really know that the B route is generally disliked. That's interesting.

I'd say the Sacae maps all suck ass, but chapter 20 Sacae in particular is one of the worst designed maps in the entire game, owing to two Bolting Sages, which are already a massive pain in the ass normally, an iron ballista, and a Berserk staff... All of which are in positions where you can do nothing about them. Especially the former, because resistance is shit for just about everyone, and because of their position (in the center of the map), it's very very easy for them to double team and kill a unit.

Edited by Shadow Mir
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18 hours ago, Christmas Dayni said:

I'm actually really a fan of 11A, but it's also tight in terms of getting everything done, I can get finding it to be too much.

I find 11A to be one of the better-paced maps in the game. Ironically, trying to take it too fast leads to headache. The first time I attempted the map, I dropped Rutger and Fir (both of whom had fair levels) over the wall by the shops as a way to try and move through the map more quickly. All this did was anger the fighters and archers early, and they swarmed Echidna's village.

 

21 hours ago, joevar said:

But does lalum appear when choosing Elphin? (i cant remember, someone answer please)

She shows up in the "fortune telling" screen of battle preparation.

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19 hours ago, Christmas Dayni said:

I can see why that map could be a pain, but to me it matches up with 17S, a map with FoW, Ballistae and and mountains you have to work around and a Bolting sage. How did you do with 18S, considering the yurts do spawn reinforcements.

Engaging I can understand, but Fair? Which difficulty were you playing?

I'm actually really a fan of 11A, but it's also tight in terms of getting everything done, I can get finding it to be too much.11B worries me because of Bartre to be honest, I feel like I'm in less control there sometimes. B route Gonzalez being better is bizarre, unless you early promoted because you can't do that on A as for some reason he's level 11 on B and 5 on A.

Generally disliked wouldn't be the right word, just that people have a preference for the A route.

I played both of the runs at Normal! I already had tons of problems on the first run so I didn't even consider doing it at Hard. Gonzalez being 11 in B route must be the reason. I didn't remember him being at level 5 in A route, so it must mean he was weaker and I could use him less in the latter.

18 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

I'd say the Sacae maps all suck ass, but chapter 20 Sacae in particular is one of the worst designed maps in the entire game, owing to two Bolting Sages, which are already a massive pain in the ass normally, an iron ballista, and a Berserk staff... All of which are in positions where you can do nothing about them. Especially the former, because resistance is shit for just about everyone, and because of their position (in the center of the map), it's very very easy for them to double team and kill a unit.

While I do agree that the bolting sages can be infuriating at times, I found map 20 to be a breeze after a couple torches, luring the axe wielders in the bottleneck and send the mages (namely Niime, promoted Lugh, promoted Raigh and promoted Lilina) in the vanguard and let them take (or dodge) the boltings, thanks to their high resistance.

Although it doesn't have anything to do with the routes, I found Chapter 16x to be the worse in regards of boltings and casters.

 

14 minutes ago, OriginalRaisins said:

I find 11A to be one of the better-paced maps in the game. Ironically, trying to take it too fast leads to headache. The first time I attempted the map, I dropped Rutger and Fir (both of whom had fair levels) over the wall by the shops as a way to try and move through the map more quickly. All this did was anger the fighters and archers early, and they swarmed Echidna's village.

 

She shows up in the "fortune telling" screen of battle preparation.

I can see why people find that map to be well-paced. When I have to do everything mechanically just to recruit everyone and visit the villages it doesn't work for me. It also doesn't really help that I'm the kind of guy that HAS to recruit everyone and gather all the items ^^" Chapter 11B while being less inspired in regarding of design it was way easier to get everything done without too much of a hassle.

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27 minutes ago, Sengu said:

I played both of the runs at Normal! I already had tons of problems on the first run so I didn't even consider doing it at Hard. Gonzalez being 11 in B route must be the reason. I didn't remember him being at level 5 in A route, so it must mean he was weaker and I could use him less in the latter.

.....Actually that's the weird part as he has the exact same bases, the only difference is his level and for some stupid reason he has a lower Axe rank on B route as well.

29 minutes ago, Sengu said:

Although it doesn't have anything to do with the routes, I found Chapter 16x to be the worse in regards of boltings and casters.

16x is one of those maps for me too.

Not helping is the map gimmick.

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23 hours ago, Sengu said:

Anyway, what I meant about the enemy choice unit and placement is: in the fog map I just hated the mass of flying pegasus knights in the A route. They are weak, true, but they seem to storm you endlessly

no, they already there in the fog, not endlessly, since i just sent Tate and Melady to scout ahead, and they can stop the pegasus troop from flanking my troop so its much bearable than siege tome out of nowhere that you cant reach, and thats in Hard Mode ofc.

 

2 hours ago, OriginalRaisins said:

She shows up in the "fortune telling" screen of battle preparation.

might as well just say no then (in terms of story relevant). elphin still does talk in 2 chapter despite not chosen.

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That’s definitely an unusual opinion. To clear things up a bit, there are two separate route splits. Chapters 10-11 are split between A and B routes. Then Chapters 17-20x are split between Ilia and Sacae. These are separate. You can do A-Ilia or A-Sacae or B-Ilia of B-Sacae.

Anyway, I don’t dislike B route but I prefer A route. I like 11A. It’s a map that encourages you to play fast and challenges you to get all of the villages and recruit the other units. This is one of the maps that I have noticed the biggest difference with as I have gotten better at the game which is neat. Compared to 10B, I find the small corridors make it very difficult to recruit Tate without killing her squad, making you miss out on her Elysian Whip. The timing also makes it very difficult to get Klein up to Tate to recruit her quickly. I don’t particularly mind or care for 10A or 11B.

Ilia vs Sacae is very much in Ilia’s favor. They both have a fog map, I don’t see how that works against Ilia more than Sacae. Ilia’s has Long Ballistas and flying enemies, but those Can both be dealt with safely. Meanwhile 18S has ambush spawn Nomadic Troopers that constantly appear around the boss and can insta kill your frail units. How are you supposed to handle this map? And then 20S is really annoying too. And 20Sx. Ilia isn’t nearly as bad.

For units, Elphin and Lalum are basically identical mechanically. Elphin is more relevant to the plot so I can why you might prefer him for that reason. I like Echidna but haven’t used Bartre enough to actually compare them. Dayan is useful for his ability to double Wyvern Lords with a Silver Bow, but Yuno is useful just for being able to fly. I do wish that both of these two started with S ranks so that they could actually use the Divine Weapon from their country.

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On 12/25/2020 at 2:38 AM, Sengu said:

When I have to do everything mechanically just to recruit everyone and visit the villages it doesn't work for me. It also doesn't really help that I'm the kind of guy that HAS to recruit everyone and gather all the items ^^"

I guess the way you beat it then is game knowledge. Here are some key facts:

  • Brigands only come out of the two doors to the east
  • Brigands will prioritize attacking your blue units over razing villages
  • Klein's archers and Tate's pegasi go straight to the escape point at the top-right of the map once green.

With these facts in mind, you should be able to consistently get all items. In case you need additional help, however, spoilers below:

Spoiler

Go south and then east, ignoring the villages on the south side of the map for the moment. Focus on reaching Klein's group first. You should be able to recruit him before brigands start appearing. Once you've recruited Klein's group, head north to kill the merry band of archers and axefighters. With all your forces in one area (remember, you ignored distractions such as the northern villages and southern villages) you should have enough firepower to defeat the enemies, recruit Echidna, and rescue Tate's units. Once you've accomplished all those objectives, you're in position to stop future brigands, and only have to complete the main objective and rescue southern villages.

 

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On 12/25/2020 at 1:38 AM, Sengu said:

I can see why people find that map to be well-paced. When I have to do everything mechanically just to recruit everyone and visit the villages it doesn't work for me. It also doesn't really help that I'm the kind of guy that HAS to recruit everyone and gather all the items ^^" Chapter 11B while being less inspired in regarding of design it was way easier to get everything done without too much of a hassle.

I don’t know what you mean by “do everything mechanically”, but there are ways to get everything in this chapter. Playing quickly makes it a lot easier. Like OriginalRaisins said, but I’d also add to watch out for the Fighters that appear around Echidna. Is 10B* easier to get everything? I’ve always found it harder to get Tate’s Elysian Whip on that version.

You say you’re the type of person that “HAS to get everything”, but why? That’s in you. I used to try to get everything too but realized that game becomes a lot less stressful and, for me, more fun when I realized that you don’t have to get everything. If you miss something, it’s probably not even a big deal most of the time. Next time you play that map, now that you have more knowledge of it and the game in general, you should be able to do better and get everything that time, which becomes satisfying by making you feel like you’ve improved. Of course I understand wanting to get everything, but not if it makes it more stressful for you. Although again, there are ways to get everything. You just need to know the chapter well and play quickly.

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I personally prefer A route and Ilia to B route and Sacae, map wise I'm not a particular fan of 11b, nor am I a fan of fighting all the Nomads, Nomad Troopers and Swordmasters Sacae throws at you

Unit wise Lalum and Elphin are functionally the same unit, the minor stat differences between them are irrelevant

Echidna>Bartre, all Bartre really has going for him is his very high Str base, unfortunately he has Spd issues and due to having pretty meh Skl and using axes, he will also struggle with hit rates more than Echidna will. Sure bows give him a niche that Echidna doesn't really have but Shin, Klein and Igrene all do bows better and you have limited deployment slots

Juno and Dayan are a bit more debatable, Dayan def has the better combat, and has some use against the Wyverns in Chapters 21 and 23, on the other hand, Juno flies, which sure so do Shanna, Tate, Miledy and Zeiss but flying is still nice (I personally like to have Juno go to the Secret Shop in 21 so I can have Miledy and Shanna focus on other things)

Also Niime joins one map earlier on Ilia than on Sacae and Ilia has one less fog map than Sacae

Edited by Weeping Dalek (MK)
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my solitary only problem with 11A is the 10% chance of klein and thea not moving with their squads, makes recruiting them while also keeping their stupid squads alive for the promotion items a bitch. last time i just didn't restart when one of klein's archers died because meh, orion's bolt. i was just gonna sell it anyway. now, i did restart to keep that elysian whip and basically every time i needed to it was because thea was a lazy bum and i couldn't recruit her before one of her squad killed themselves on basically anyone. one of them attacked my wolt with a javelin once. top notch AI right there.

i don't remember 10B being quite as stupid with klein and thea because i haven't played B route in so long, but also echidna can actually kill a manakete sometimes because of wyrmslayer, so i never go B route anymore.

also ilia always and forever. i don't even think the sacae maps are that bad, i just don't see much of a reason to give more experience to sin and specially sue lol (yes i just said i was using wolt i am aware. keep scrolling.)

Edited by Axie
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14 minutes ago, Axie said:

i don't remember 10B being quite as stupid with klein and thea because i haven't played B route in so long

Yes, it happens in B route too. I think it’s worse because of the narrow corridors that make it hard to reach Tate without killing her squad.

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On 12/27/2020 at 9:22 AM, OriginalRaisins said:

Klein's archers and Tate's pegasi go straight to the escape point at the top-right of the map once green.

Minor quibble but it's actually more nuanced than that if I recall correctly. If you turn Tate's squad green by talking to her with Shanna, they''ll actually still fly around and attack enemies. You have to recruit her to get them to head for the escape point.

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