My progress on Blue Lions Maddening so far

[Barren]

At the moment I am on chapter 17 on my Blue Lions run. I've managed to overcome the fights so far with Dimitri's B.Vantage + B.Wrath more or less but it's still really damn potent. Byleth on my run is right now a War Master. He already mastered Enlightened One and War Master so I have Sacred Power and Quick Riposte. I'm not sure if there is anything else he should go for. I feel like War Master is the ultimate goal for him. I could pick up Brawl Avoid from War Monk or maybe give him Fierce Iron Fist for Grappler. Here's a pic down below. Let me know what you think. This picture is from Imageshack so I'm hoping that people can see it

 

Spoiler

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Barren
adding spoiler for picture

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

He looks pretty good already. I don't see going Grappler for Fierce Iron Fist as particularly valuable, if War Master is your end goal. It does also grant Tomebreaker, so that's a consideration. But if your principal weapon type is Swords, then the skill's effect will be limited at best. Same with Brawl Avoid +20 from War Monk. Sword Crit +10 (via S Swords) might be the next thing to aim for, but it's hardly essential.

[Barren]

I'm actually really close to sword crit +10. Plus if anything I can always swap around abilities to my liking as I go. Sword Prowess, Death Blow and Quick Riposte are my main three abilities for sure. Sword Crit +10 is a nice bonus. He's also very close to axe rank A so he can equip the Axe of Ukonvasara along with something else. Maybe an evasion ring or something. I would definitely want to give him a battalion that will jack up his hit rate. But good to know that he is already set. Now it's just a matter of juggling around with I got and see what works for me.

[Barren]

Okay I am at chapter 20 on the Blue Lions route maddening and I think I may have come up with a final team here. One of which I'm not 100% sure about but I do have other characters ready even if they are a little under leveled. 

I already mentioned previously that Byleth is going to be War Master for me but I did also find myself switching back to Enlightened One if I ever needed any sort of extra healing. So I guess it depends on what the situation calls for but I am happy with how male Byleth turned out for my run.

As for the rest of the group. I do plan on putting on some final touches soon but for now this is what I have decided

Spoiler

Dimitri as a Paladin for me provides him some flexibility in combat. The 9 move is thanks to Shoes of the Wind stat booster btw. But yes, B.Vantage + B.Wrath is the bread and butter for him as we all know. From my experience using this set, it is extremely reliable but there was always that off chance where he doesn't crit. Even with somewhere around 90 crit he just wouldn't land the crit. Granted that is bad luck and it didn't happen that often but I noticed it potentially ruining the strategy for me at times. So I went with Lance Crit + 10 to basically ensure myself the OHKO on EP. Otherwise he's been excellent as we expected him to be. Hit +20 also helps out. The 5th ability slot is actually quite interchangeable. He could also go Lancefaire if you want higher damage, movement +1 incase you want to further take advantage of Canto, Sword Prowess for more accuracy when using swords. Plus I gave him Windsweep for free damage on PP. Great Lord does grant him a 4 point speed advantage over Paladin which is nice but if he's got B. Vantage + Wrath combo then the speed disadvantage is irrelevant. Chalice of Beginnings is the icing on the cake. But it is possible without it. I have done it where I used Retribution on him and gave him a Critical Ring.

 

Spoiler

Felix as a Bow Knight similar to Dimitri also can play hit and run. Brave Bow+ plus his major crest of Fraldarius allows him to inflict pretty major damage from afar. Considering that he was a War Master on my Golden Deer maddening run, it's no surprise that he's also great in this role too. Aegis Shield I could always unequip in case I want to use a different weapon but not a combat art. I sometimes use combat arts if I really need to. Curved Shot and Heavy Draw serves their purpose. I could always turn him into a Sniper incase I need Hunter's Volley more. I've been happy with Felix as a Bow Knight. I could have gone Assassin with him because on this route only, you can get the Sword of Moralta which has Felix's crest and it would allow him a nice chunk of HP back every turn which does combine well with Aegis Shield should the procs occur. Of course I would probably had to work towards Weight -3 along with Speed +2 so he can at least not get doubled as often. Or work on Swords, Bows, Brawling and Axes to get Quick Riposte to Assassin. That is quite a lot of work to justify that build. 

 

Spoiler

I did initially struggle with who to make a Dancer for this run. I was heavily considering Ingrid and benching Ashe altogether. But I then was pointed out that Azure Moon is quite mage heavy and Ingrid fills the role as a flier with good res and can actually kill mages and warlocks without any issues. I could have gone with Leonie or Petra as my fliers if I did Ingrid as a dancer but then they wouldn't quite get their res as high as I would like it to be. So I went with Ashe as a Dancer instead. He didn't get doubled early on when using a sword against other sword and axe users and that is thanks to his good speed growth. Once he went Dancer, he instantly became that much more viable. But even then, there were better Dancers out there. But this was to me the best option for him. He could have gone Sniper, Bow Knight or Wyvern Lord. Even Paladin while being a stride bot. In most of those, he would have been outclassed. Poor guy. Still, he's been a good boy this run. 

 

Spoiler

Mercedes I've used somewhat less than the rest of the group, but she was good this run. It was a last minute decision on my part to work on her bow rank, but this proved to be a lifesaver for me on a number of instances. Particularly when I was doing the Leonie/Linhardt paralogue she helped me clean up the Wyvern Riders that were hiding in the fog. She one shots them as a matter of a fact thanks to her Magic Bow+. Otherwise, she's your typical hybrid offensive mage with bow and healing capabilities. Nothing to special but hey, Physic, Ragnarok and Fortify. Can't go wrong there.

 

Spoiler

Annette as a Wyvern Lord I know would get a mixed feelings from people. This one was honestly up and down. She doesn't quite one shot Paladins on her own but she does at least provide strong chip damage. She destroys Fortress Knights and Great Knights with a Hammer+ and Lightning Axe. She can also one shot Snipers, Warlocks and Dark Bishops if given the right weapon. I do have Death Blow on standby just in case. Alert Stance+ plus Battalion Wrath gives her a way to OHKO enemies with a Killer Axe+. This required a lot of work but she is good in this role. I could done Valkyrie and fuse axe, reason and faith together having Excalibur, Recover, Movement +1 and Lightning Axe all in one but I was really curious about this build because of Battalion Wrath. Still, I like this class for her, it's different and a good kind of different. But it's not to be overhyped whatsoever.

 

Spoiler

Sylvain has been really good in this role. While I acknowledge that Paladin is probably better depending on how you feel about either maximizing Swift Strikes damage or if you want better mobility. Or even Dark Knight which provides him more flexible and Physic, Wyvern Lord I felt was his best way to utilize him. I do have Defiant Crit learned incase maybe I want Sylvain to clean up enemies on PP so I could always ditch the Ochain shield I have for him. I could even give him Lance Crit + 10 along with Defiant Crit if I would rather have him not dodge tank but just survive one round of combat. I'm still thinking about that if it's worth it or not. But I like this build for him otherwise.

 

Spoiler

Ingrid pulls off the Falcon Knight typically well and I guess this is why people would just make her a flier regardless if it's Falcon Knight or Wyvern Lord. I've Hit and Run more than I should but if I need her to chip and dip she can do it so well that her contributions actually impact my chances of winning. She is certainly replaceable to some extent but also salvageable when put in enough effort. Considering that her strength is actually passable, I ended up using her more and more as my primary dodge tank. I might plan on getting her sword rank up a little more to get to rank B, equip the Cursed Ashiya Sword and Defiant Avoid and pretty much wreck the units on the final two maps. I am going to need Retribution in order for it to work. But I think it's worth a try.

 

Spoiler

Shamir's usefulness should not be ignored since she joins you as a Sniper as early as chapter 6. This is basically Ignatz copied and paste except that she doesn't have Ignatz's Watchful Eye. Still, Survival Instinct combos well with Dance so I would just have Ashe dance for her and she can KO things with HV. This is your typical Sniper set but it works. Crit stacking Snipers are always great even if not using Killer Bow+.

 

Spoiler

Yuri has been quite helpful this run. Yes, his reason skillset is exactly the same as Annette's and he doesn't quite hit as hard as her. But he's faster so yes he could still reliable double a  few enemies, excluding Assassins, Swordmasters and Falcon Knights. I could forsake Axebreaker for speed +2 which can be nice with Weight -3. Or I could just give him magic +2 for extra oomph for his spells and Levin Sword. Mortal Savant gives him slightly better defense and res but the -4 speed when not Swordmaster or Assassin definitely hurts. But MS gives him healing capabilities thanks to him having Recover. I know this is far from his best class, Assassin would be better if you give him Hit +20 and Death Blow. But at least as an off beat but interesting option he can do it. He's the only unit I can think of in the game that can afford the -10% speed growth, and no one wants that whatsoever unless they have a way to double. He's also rocking Blue Lion Dancers so he's one of the two units I have in mind to use Dance of the Goddess.

 

Spoiler

I like Constance in this class for sure. Uncanny Blow with Bolting and having 2x uses of Reason Magic is a godsend. Plus she has 6 uses of Rescue and that is really helpful. Magic Staff obvious helps out. Not too much else to say except for she kicks ass in this class. She could have gone Dark Flier I guess and have her fly around. Still, I am glad I chose to make her this.

 

Spoiler

Hapi also kicked ass in this class too. She's almost at faith rank A so she can get Warp. But my god, her dark spells are so useful. Banshee, Death and Hades are really powerful on her. And she's also another physic user. Healing staff makes her phsyics really good. I do need to get her authority up to B hopefully in time for the Opera Co. battalion to have two units with Dance of the Goddess. Once she's there, I think she would be set to go.

 

I also plan on using Dedue, Gilbert, and Catherine as adjutants most likely. Dedue was really helpful at the start especially with tempest lance and later vengeance. And while he is leveled up enough, I do plan on making him a guard adjutant for Dimitri. He actually managed to become a Great Knight with a 30% chance to pass. Gilbert was fine at sponging damage but I didn't have any long term plans for him as well. I got him to Paladin for Aegis, Fortress Knight for Pavise and then Great Knight in case he can be a guard adjutant. I also made him a Wyvern Rider for him to be a follow up adjutant for Annette. Catherine I used here and there in part 2 but I think she might be better off as a adjutant for Shamir since it will give Shamir an attack boost, like Gilbert and Dedue gives to Dimitri and Annette respectively.

 

I do also have other units in my back pocket in case you guys think I should replace someone else. Like Holy Knight Bernadetta, Paladin Seteth, Wyvern Lord Petra, Dark Knight Lysithea, Bow Knight Cyril and Falcon Knight Leonie. So I could always make those changes in case one of them is better than the other. Let me know what you all think. And thanks for taking the time to read my thought process when building this team.

[drattakbowser]

16 hours ago, Barren said:

Yuri has been quite helpful this run. Yes, his reason skillset is exactly the same as Annette's and he doesn't quite hit as hard as her. But he's faster so yes he could still reliable double a  few enemies, excluding Assassins, Swordmasters and Falcon Knights. I could forsake Axebreaker for speed +2 which can be nice with Weight -3. Or I could just give him magic +2 for extra oomph for his spells and Levin Sword. Mortal Savant gives him slightly better defense and res but the -4 speed when not Swordmaster or Assassin definitely hurts. But MS gives him healing capabilities thanks to him having Recover. I know this is far from his best class, Assassin would be better if you give him Hit +20 and Death Blow. But at least as an off beat but interesting option he can do it. He's the only unit I can think of in the game that can afford the -10% speed growth, and no one wants that whatsoever unless they have a way to double. He's also rocking Blue Lion Dancers so he's one of the two units I have in mind to use Dance of the Goddess.

Mortal Savant is a horrible class and Yuri is not very strong in Maddening because terrible growth stats.

16 hours ago, Barren said:

like Constance in this class for sure. Uncanny Blow with Bolting and having 2x uses of Reason Magic is a godsend. Plus she has 6 uses of Rescue and that is really helpful. Magic Staff obvious helps out. Not too much else to say except for she kicks ass in this class. She could have gone Dark Flier I guess and have her fly around. Still, I am glad I chose to make her this

I think you should stay her as a Dark Flier, make her Gremory for many spell ok but Constance is extremely powerful mage (2nd high magic stats after Lysithea) in maddening it's recommended more powerful magic. Dark Flier Constance make sense to me.

16 hours ago, Barren said:

Hapi also kicked ass in this class too. She's almost at faith rank A so she can get Warp. But my god, her dark spells are so useful. Banshee, Death and Hades are really powerful on her. And she's also another physic user. Healing staff makes her phsyics really good. I do need to get her authority up to B hopefully in time for the Opera Co. battalion to have two units with Dance of the Goddess. Once she's there, I think she would be set to go.

It's really good Hapi as Gremory ? I have tested Valkyrie/Dark Knight and it's correct for her class but Gremory can not increase her power magic.

 

16 hours ago, Barren said:

Like Holy Knight Bernadetta, Paladin Seteth, Wyvern Lord Petra, Dark Knight Lysithea, Bow Knight Cyril and Falcon Knight Leonie

Lysithea make sense in Azure Moon because she is the best powerful mage in the game and more if you make her Dark Knight. But remember for Wrap. More magic more range in Wrap.

Exemple : 60 Magic = 15 range

[Barren]

@drattakbowser

While I do acknowledge that Mortal Savant is a bad class for the most part, one thing I pointed out was that Yuri is probably the only one that can make the class somewhat decent. He has a 65% base speed growth, 40% strength growth and 35% magic growth. With Mortal Savant he’ll then end up with 55% speed growth. Yes it’s a downgrade for sure but even then he can still get a speed level up every so often. It’s about as much as Felix in that regard. Yuri will also end up with a 50% strength growth and a 45% magic growth. Plus if anything Swordfaire plus Levin Sword still makes him pretty good. He can still double Warriors, Snipers and Wyvern Riders. I do admit that Assassin/Sniper with Death Blow and Hit +20 would be better choices for Yuri. But I wanted to try something different since he’ll functionally be a sword/tome unit with 6 move. 7 and canto if you count his hero’s relic.

Constance is a good Dark Flier I agree. The thing about Gremory you got to remember is that while yes they don’t get a tomefaire as a class ability, they do get a +5 magic as a modifier. Dark Flier while yes has Black Tomefaire, has no magic growth or a magic stat modifier. Flight is always great however, I do not deny it. Only thing however is that the Nuvelle Flying Co. is the only magic flying battalion in the game. And I gave it to Annette since she’s my Bolt Axe Wyvern Lord. Having 4 uses of Bolting for me was better than having 2 uses. And ground battalions do give constance a higher magic attack and accuracy which is in particular she’s lacking in. Constance’s only high stat growth is in magic.

 

Hapi is another solid Gremory. 2x of physic and warp are always useful. Yes she can also still Valkyrie or Dark Knight if you wanted to. Like with Yuri, I wanted to try something different.

 

If anything, Lysithea could be a good back up replacement if I ever need to take someone out. Her authority rank is at A and she is already a Dark Knight so she could in theory use the Blue Lions Dancer gambit as well.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Looks great! With how far in you are, I'm sure you're set for the endgame, and don't need my commentary. But screw it, I'll offer it anyway.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Dimitri

Loved him as a Paladin in AM! I'm curious, though - have you found much use for swords on him? With Lance Crit +10, I imagine the Scythe of Sariel, or Killer Lance+, will perform similarly to Wo Dao+ on enemy-phase. As for dealing more damage on player phase, I found the Brave Lance extremely good on him (basically a player-phase delete button). A ranged lance, or a bow, could also be good options. That said, I'm sure he'll do great either way.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Felix

Looks really solid to me. Is he taking hits often on enemy-phase? If not, the Aegis Shield may not be doing that much for him (an Accuracy or Critical Ring may be more help).

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Still, he's been a good boy this run.

Ashe is, indeed, the goodest boi.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Mercedes

Combining Magic Bow+ with her innate spell list (limited to 1-2 spells) is definitely an interesting direction to take. It's a shame the game didn't give her (and Hanneman, and Hubert) a magical-damage bow combat art. Or make her "personal" Tathlum Bow deal magical damage. Still, it sounds like she's working out well for you.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Annette

Nice, this is very close to how I built Annette on AM Maddening! For my part, I basically forsook her enemy-phase, and (rather than Battalion Wrath and Alert Stance+) retained Rally Speed and one out of Rally Res, Axe Crit +10, Authority Lv. X, and Lancebreaker. Had a lot of fun with her!

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Sylvain

It's a certified shame that he (and Ferdinand, and Dimitri, and Seteth) didn't get access to Falcon Knight. That said, I've hear Wyvern Lord is one of the best ways to use him.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Ingrid

This is close to how I used her on AM. I actually got her Falcon Knight mastery for Defiant Avoid, then gave her a Devil Axe to drag herself down into defiant range. Then, I had her master Wyvern Lord for Defiant Crit, just in time for the endgame. This made for an incredible crit-dodge enemy-phase build.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Shamir

Getting her to S+ Bows is quite impressive! As is achieving both Brigand and Archer masteries. I just got her Fighter mastery on my current (GD Maddening) playthrough, and I'm enjoying her, but imagine she'll really pop off when Hunter's Volley arrives.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Yuri

I agree about the weaknesses of Mortal Savant, but also that Yuri is one of the few units who can make it work. That said, he can probably perform similarly in Assassin - depending on how you value better speed and mobility, versus spell access.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Constance

I've been using Constance in Dark Flier, and I'm quite happy with her. That said, Gremory has obvious advantages, in getting more charges of Bolting. Seeing Dex +4 on her is pretty funny - I'd probably favor Bowbreaker, but that could vary with a given map's enemy composition.

On 7/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Barren said:

Hapi

Gremory sounds great for Hapi as well. I've used her in a more traditional Valkyrie -> Dark Knight build, previously. I like the idea of combining the Seiros Shield with her Monstrous Appeal ability. I do wonder, though - are any of your units using the Caduceus or Thyrsus? I found these to be incredibly potent tools on Mages.

Anyway, your team looks great! I don't foresee any issues going into the endgame. Good luck!

[SumG]

On 7/11/2021 at 2:34 AM, drattakbowser said:

It's really good Hapi as Gremory ? I have tested Valkyrie/Dark Knight and it's correct for her class but Gremory can not increase her power magic.

The differences between Gremory, Dark Knight, Dark Flier, and Valyrie in terms of how they impact magic attack are actually very small.  Gremory sits in the middle of the pack in terms of Magic strength bonuses.

The important thing to remember is that the attack bonuses for Advanced and Master classes (and DLC classes) are spread across raw stat boosts and inherent class abilities (i.e. Weapon-faire).  For the mage classes it goes:

Dark Knight - +7 (+2 Magic, Black/Dark Magic Tomefaire)

Gremory - +5 (+5 Magic, no Faire abilities)

Dark Flier - +5 for Black Magic, +0 for Dark Magic (+0 magic, Black Magic Tomefaire)

Valkyrie - +4 (+4 Magic)

Really the only thing you need to be aware of is you probably should not to put a Dark Magic user in the Dark Flier class.  To your specific question, the difference in magic power between Gremory and Dark Knight is only 2 magic, which isn't that huge when it comes to the damage numbers endgame mages will like be dishing out per attack (30s-40s).

Different people have different preferences when it comes to the utility of all of these classes, but I view them all as fairly interchangeable.  They all have their benefits to hang your hat on.

[Barren]

I finally beat the Blue Lions maddening run. I got to say the chapter 21's battle is easier than Golden Deer's and presuming Silver Snow's mission on the assault on Enbarr. Not counting Dimitri's B. Vantage and B. Wrath for a minute, getting rid of the armored units was easy enough and luring out the bow knight isn't too hard either. The ballista Snipers and magic orb Warlocks were a bit of a concern for approaching them but in eventually after dome dancing and striding I was able to send someone after them. The Warlocks with bolting and meteors were annoying to take down though because they usually have a good hit rate with them.  The flying monsters weren't too bad either since they have really low HP. The reinforcements on Azure Moon wasn't as threatening as I feared they were. Two Mortal Savants and one War Master only showed up for me. I think I might taken out some other enemies to prevent more reinforcements from showing up. Shamir and a couple of others were able to pick them off quite easily. Eventually after making my way over to Hubert, he got one rounded easily with Atrocity. I had no problem using it for an easy KO.

 

The final boss for this one is the most challenging for me by far. I'm assuming that Silver Snow's is harder though. Anyways, Edelgard's long range attacks can be annoying because she actually got a couple of crits on me forcing me to use divine pulse early on. One interesting note I can bring up is that the Seiros Shield actually reduces the damage done since Edelgard is in her monster form. So Hapi was the target for that one. I actually picked up a strategy from a youtube playthrough by NumeNume where where I gave Ingrid the Cursed Ashiya Sword+ along with Defiant Avoid, Accuracy Ring and Sword Prowess in order to help her hit rate with it. But she cleaned up the vast majority of enemies with reliable critical hits. The weapon actually broke and she still managed to land a few more hits. I had to use Retribution, Stride and Warp to get her there. I gave Sylvain Defiant Crit for some other easy KOs as well thanks to his Killer Lance+. I also had a priority on killing Myson turn 1 but sending over Dimitri towards him. I don't actually know if Myson gives Edelgard the long range or not but I do know that after killing him, some of the enemies retreat making it easier for me to approach the other enemies. What else made it harder though was the positioning of the magic orbs and ballista. They made it difficult for me to go near them without getting hit so I had to some another use of Stride and Dancing to safely take them out. Constance's Bolting was helpful in this regard. Yuri didn't do too much but he at least was a dodge tank against the Warlocks and Dark Knights that were in his way. He kills them in 2 rounds of combat and doubles them which was useful. I eventually had Ingrid to help him out a bit. I finally made it to the end where I can confront Edelgard. I gave Byleth Sacred Power to boost Dimitri's attack. I made him Dimitri a Great Lord for this battle because I felt the 4 extra points of speed would make a difference. Felix had the Failnaught for more major damage. Basically I got pretty lucky with nailing critical hits on Edelgard since her health bars are huge. I was worried that I might have been losing some units along the way because she also had Vantage + Wrath so I couldn't risk fighting her on player phase during her last form. Thankfully though during that last health bar, she was targeting Ingrid who had used up her gambit earlier. Then she decided to take on Dimitri who had the Wo Dao+ equipped for free chip damage thanks to it's high crit and Wind Sweep. He got 2 crits in a row while doubling her which is a huge win for him and that's what won me the entire thing.

 

Overall, this was definitely harder then the Golden Deer final boss IMO because on GD, you can easily approach Nemesis with some plays using high damage/crit combat arts while ensuring that I survive one hit from him. Edelgard I had to ensure that I don't risk bring critted due to Wrath. Battalion Vantage and Wrath is busted even on Maddening which is the biggest god send for me. I am going to take another break until I can muster the insanity in me to go for Black Eagles Maddening. Though having the chance to spam Raging Storm at the very end of the route will be satisfying.