Do you like having accessories/non-weapon equipables in Fire Emblem?

[Corrobin]

Rings, shields, bands, and the like have hopped in and out of Fire Emblem for a while. Boosting growth rates, giving skills, boosting stats... they've had a lot of uses.

Do you like them? Do you want them to keep being in Fire Emblem?

[eclipse]

Depends on the inventory system.  Tellius had the right idea of multiple item pools.  Otherwise, it's a matter of having a weapon, then something else that could've been, say, a healing item.

[FlyingKitsune]

38 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Depends on the inventory system.  Tellius had the right idea of multiple item pools.  Otherwise, it's a matter of having a weapon, then something else that could've been, say, a healing item.

My thoughts on the topic are basically the same as this.

[Fabulously Olivier]

I like the way FEW handles things, where you have a dedicated healing slot. Perhaps you could also add a dedicated equipment slot.

[Benice]

Heck yeah! I didn't like how shields themselves functioned in TH, but having a weapon and equipment slot is something I really liked.

Something a little further than that that I'd want is bow-using units being able to use different arrows of different mights and effects.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Sure, but maybe have more accessories tied to certain classes. For instance, giving a mage or archer a shield is goofier than giving it to an armor knight. Meanwhile a magic staff is not much use to a physical fighter. And then rings could be something anybody would wear, but isn't as useful as something available to a more specialized class. Prf accessories could certainly add to unit variety too. Three Houses did that a little with its relics, but the bonus for having a matching crest was often just 5 HP at the start of each turn.

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

For instance, giving a mage or archer a shield is goofier than giving it to an armor knight.

I agree about giving a shield to an archer since they're using a two-handed ranged weapon, though a pavise might actually be a cool idea for an archer-only shield (a pavise being a shield used by crossbowmen in the Middle Ages; it was built so that they carried it and then planted it in the ground in front of them as a wall to protect them while they loaded their crossbows).

As for a mage, why wouldn't a shield be a good idea for them? It's certainly goofy in terms of gameplay, but, if you think about it, they don't necessarily need both hands for casting spells and since they're completely without armour, a shield would be a good idea for them to have from a realism point of view. Ironically, an armour knight least needs a shield; their full suit of armour basically is a shield that they're wearing, and most knights in the 15th and 16th Centuries didn't use shields at all and instead used two-handed weapons like longswords and poleaxes. 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

23 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

It's certainly goofy in terms of gameplay, 

That's what I'm talking about. In the GBA games, the Armor knight's shield is a detachable chest plate. None of this has to make sense. I just want more gameplay consideration to go into accessories than flat boosts that anybody can take advantage of. 

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

That's what I'm talking about. In the GBA games, the Armor knight's shield is a detachable chest plate. None of this has to make sense. I just want more gameplay consideration to go into accessories than flat boosts that anybody can take advantage of. 

I see. That makes sense.

What do you think then of the idea of pavises as an archers-&-mages-only shield?

[Use the Falchion]

I like it. I don't have any complex feelings about it, but I like it.

I guess if I was to modify it, I'd treat it more like it was in Echoes (IIRC), where the items could gain experience and skills as they are used. In that sense, it reminds me of Disgaea where weapons can be modified and leveled up. I could actually see that being pretty cool...Imagine if mages could have spells that had added effects. Like having your Elfire tome give damage to adjacent enemies? Or having Flux or a heavier Dark Magic spell give enemies the poison status? Or being able to cast "runes" on weapons in order to buff them outside of just forging them. They may weaken the integrity of the metal so the weapons would have fewer uses, but they could also do more interesting things...hmm...

[Armchair General]

19 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

As for a mage, why wouldn't a shield be a good idea for them?

It barely saves them, and it slows down their attack speed. SoV gets away with it by the effects of the Blessed Shield.

[vanguard333]

9 minutes ago, Armchair General said:

It barely saves them, and it slows down their attack speed. SoV gets away with it by the effects of the Blessed Shield.

I didn't mean strictly in terms of gameplay and numbers; I thought that was clear with the very next sentence being, "It's certainly goofy in terms of gameplay, but, if you think about it, they don't necessarily need both hands for casting spells and since they're completely without armour, a shield would be a good idea for them to have from a realism point of view."

[Shadow Mir]

23 hours ago, eclipse said:

Depends on the inventory system.  Tellius had the right idea of multiple item pools.  Otherwise, it's a matter of having a weapon, then something else that could've been, say, a healing item.

Pretty much this. Path of Radiance and Old Mystery both had two dedicated inventories, while Radiant Dawn, as well as some other games, had more than 5 inventory slots. But in, say, the GBA games, I'd find opportunity cost to be a real concern, especially with regard to multi-weapon classes.

[lenticular]

One thing that I don't want to see come back is accessories that are just small stat boosts. Bonuses like +2 speed or +10 evasion can be pretty powerful, but I don't find them interesting to use.I'd much rather see off-hand items that give skills or abilities of some sort.

[Yexin]

no matter in what form they appear, be it PoR's bands, Thracia's scrolls or Genealogy's rings, including things like Grani, Fili and the likes, as well as 3H's other accessories, namely the shileds, i generally always love them: i adore playing around with the many secondary effects, and even hidden values such as Growth Rates, that they grant, and nromal equipments can't always let me do that

[X-Naut]

On 5/12/2021 at 9:08 PM, Glennstavos said:

Sure, but maybe have more accessories tied to certain classes. For instance, giving a mage or archer a shield is goofier than giving it to an armor knight. Meanwhile a magic staff is not much use to a physical fighter. And then rings could be something anybody would wear, but isn't as useful as something available to a more specialized class. Prf accessories could certainly add to unit variety too. Three Houses did that a little with its relics, but the bonus for having a matching crest was often just 5 HP at the start of each turn.

Rather than classes, shields being equippable with only certain weapons could be a thing. Like, swords, lances and the shorter axes can equip them; but blades, bows and poleaxes are too much of a handful. I can see mages using shields but only when head-casting, balancing an open tome and a shield seems impractical.

As others have said before, it really depends on the inventory system. Having items get their own inventory space or having a decent inventory size is preferable, and I like the equipment slot. That way you can't just stack Leg Ring/Iron Rune/Iote's Shield/statboost ring all on one unit - no they haven't all existed in the same game, but my point stands.

Also, please only have Boots as an accessory. It would make them a lot more flexible (and fun) to use and I just don't like them as a statbooster.

[GodSejeong97]

Certainly don't mind, as long as the accessories aren't "abusable".

If anything, having played Berwick Saga made me realize just how amazing things like Shields could be.

[eclipse]

On 5/14/2021 at 1:21 AM, X-Naut said:

Also, please only have Boots as an accessory. It would make them a lot more flexible (and fun) to use and I just don't like them as a statbooster.

I like this!  If there's other accessories that have good abilities as well (say, something that combined Iote's Shield with the Iron Rune), then it might cut down on how powerful flat extra movement is.

[Interdimensional Observer]

On 5/14/2021 at 7:21 AM, X-Naut said:

Also, please only have Boots as an accessory. It would make them a lot more flexible (and fun) to use and I just don't like them as a statbooster.

One minor issue with this- I move with Boots equipped, I get next to enemy, I swap to a +200 Crit accessory to kill them, next turn, I equip the boots again and move with their benefits again. You have to create a way to prevent this from working.

I've toyed with the idea of having multiple equipment slots. Accessories are small enough you can swap mid-battle, as you can weapons, but I thinking of adding a third- armor. Now, unless you have magic bolts of lighting come out of an item that causes you to disappear for a few seconds, you're not going to take you clothes off mid-battle and swap them for something else. Armor would be equipment that can only be adjusted before battles, not during them. The benefits they provide would be appropriately large, but possibly accompanied by drawbacks that are as big. Chain Mail that offers a hefty +8 Def against Swords -countered by a malus that causes you to take +8 damage from Thunder magic. -Battalions do meet the criterion of "unswappable mid-battle equipment" now that I think about it.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

One minor issue with this- I move with Boots equipped, I get next to enemy, I swap to a +200 Crit accessory to kill them, next turn, I equip the boots again and move with their benefits again. You have to create a way to prevent this from working

Haha yep, this is how I use the March Ring in Three Houses. One way to prevent this would be to make equipping items an "end-of-motion" action, like Trading is now. That way, if you ended your last turn with anything but the Boots equipped, you couldn't get the movement boost before moving.

They could actually do multiple Boot-style equippables, that each affect something different. Like a "Wingtip Shoe", that grants flying mobility while it's equipped. Or a "Steel-Toe", that grants the user immunity from terrain-based damage. 

[X-Naut]

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

One minor issue with this- I move with Boots equipped, I get next to enemy, I swap to a +200 Crit accessory to kill them, next turn, I equip the boots again and move with their benefits again. You have to create a way to prevent this from working.

Well, don't let a unit equip more than once per turn. Pete's 1st Mate already alluded to this.

And also what they alluded to, multiple Boots items would be neat. You could have variants with extra effects, or even give different movement types a different movement booster, like Horseshoes for cavalry.

[Samz707]

It'd definetly be cool. (even if I admit my main reason for wanting a non-weapon inventory is so Mines are actually useful.)

I do think if a "two inventories" system is used, then the actual default inventory should be shortened, since it was always balanced around healing items and other items having to be juggled too in the same space. (I guess only 3 slots?)

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

19 minutes ago, Samz707 said:

I do think if a "two inventories" system is used, then the actual default inventory should be shortened, since it was always balanced around healing items and other items having to be juggled too in the same space. (I guess only 3 slots?)

Path of Radiance did four slota of each type, which seemed reasonable. Maybe on the generous side, admittedly, when it came to consumables. Maybe a 4-3 systen? Or 4-2, even? I'd rather not cut below 4 weapons available. Can you imagine Ike only bringing three Iron Swords into battle? He doesn't wanna look like an idiot.

[Samz707]

1 minute ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Path of Radiance did four slota of each type, which seemed reasonable. Maybe on the generous side, admittedly, when it came to consumables. Maybe a 4-3 systen? Or 4-2, even? I'd rather not cut below 4 weapons available. Can you imagine Ike only bringing three Iron Swords into battle? He doesn't wanna look like an idiot.

It seems like it'd add a reason to not give everyone one weapon of all the best types for a reason other than "Because they'll all vanish into the void if he dies." if it's actually impossible to do so.

[Jotari]

On 5/14/2021 at 2:40 PM, GodSejeong97 said:

Certainly don't mind, as long as the accessories aren't "abusable".

If anything, having played Berwick Saga made me realize just how amazing things like Shields could be.

It's probably the same for Berwick, but what I really like about Tear Ring Saga is that Shields actually have durability. Which makes a tonne of sense, but also makes them way more interesting than Shadows of Valentia or Three Houses. It makes it much more cost effective analysis to decide whether you want to use the shield against certain enemies. Should I put my shield on my bulky unit and let them solo a portion of the map but burn through the shield really quickly due to the amount of attacks they're getting? Or would it be better to put it on my squishier unit for the occasional attacks they have to tank where it will make a difference between life and death? If we're going to have shield, make them shields with durability.

On 5/15/2021 at 10:40 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

One minor issue with this- I move with Boots equipped, I get next to enemy, I swap to a +200 Crit accessory to kill them, next turn, I equip the boots again and move with their benefits again. You have to create a way to prevent this from working.

I've toyed with the idea of having multiple equipment slots. Accessories are small enough you can swap mid-battle, as you can weapons, but I thinking of adding a third- armor. Now, unless you have magic bolts of lighting come out of an item that causes you to disappear for a few seconds, you're not going to take you clothes off mid-battle and swap them for something else. Armor would be equipment that can only be adjusted before battles, not during them. The benefits they provide would be appropriately large, but possibly accompanied by drawbacks that are as big. Chain Mail that offers a hefty +8 Def against Swords -countered by a malus that causes you to take +8 damage from Thunder magic. -Battalions do meet the criterion of "unswappable mid-battle equipment" now that I think about it.

It is literally possible to do that in Three Houses with the movement ring. Which is exactly what people want to see with equable boots, just less visually interesting.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Jotari