Merciless/Hard 5 Walkthrough

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 17x:

The recruitable character here is Etzel. There's probably but he's easy to use, comes with a B on Tomes and a D on Staves so he can get a C easily and be your 3rd warp user for the cheap strategies in the last few chapters. Longbows, indirect attack weapons and Wyrmslayer/Dragonpike, Pole Axe and Ridersbane are recommended. There are 5 rooms to open here and only some of them have treasure chests while the others have traps. To open the Boss' chamber, just move past the red arrow behind Etzel (adjacent to him).

The bottom room on the right contains a Bolganone Mage and a Pole Axe.

The middle room on the right contains a Firestone Manakete.

The top room on the right contains the 4th Warp Staff.

The top left room contains a Bolganone Bishop and a Longbow.

The bottom left room contains an Armor Knight with a forged Javelin (right behind the door), a Bolganone Bishop 3 spaces behind the Knight, a Swarm Bishop on the bottom left corner of the map (he's capable of hurting the person who opened the door and may have an attack of 17 which will kill a base stat Julian) and a Wo Dao.

Save point use:

Use the first one after taking care of the right side of the map (if you're doing that) or after dealing with the Horseman. Use the 2nd when you reach it or before opening the Boss' chamber.

Reinforcements: Three Paladins will appear from the east during Turns 10, 14 and 18 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. - Chapter Data with Merciless mode correction.

Start with the right if you're going for either the Warp Staff, Firestone Manakete or Pole Axe and taking out the Armor Knigths, Cavalier and Horseman as they come. Then proceed to the left. Carefully walk through the narrow pathway, making sure that no two enemies are able to attack one of your units as this likely results in death. Be careful with the Manakete, Killer bow Sniper and the Hero. Lure each one by one and take them out as you can.

Etzel will not move but he will attack if you're in his range. The Boss' chamber contains 2 Mercenaries, a Firestone Manakete, a Sniper and a Wing Spear.

Boss (Dactyl):

A general with a Silver Lance and a forged 11 MT, 90 Hit Javelin.

Notes on my playthrough:

Catria reached level 20. Recruited Etzel.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 18:

The recruitable character here is Est. She sucks, it would've been much better if she had come along with her sisters since she's really underleveled. I do not recommend using her but if using underleveled units is your thing, go for it. She shows up on turn 6 of the enemy phase, recruited by letting her talk to Marth.

This chapter has nothing but Cavaliers, Horsemen, Paladin and one Curate with Fortify. I recommend use of the Longbow, Pole Axe/Ridersbane and Rapier/Wingspear. Watch out for Ridersbane and Armorslayer in this chapter.

Reinforcements: A Paladin, two Cavaliers and a Horseman will appear from the south-western Forts during Turns 8, 10, 12, and 14 of the Enemy Phase. Similarly, a single Paladin will appear from the central Fort during Turns 14, 16 and 18 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. - Chapter Data and the usual H5 correction.

This chapter is pretty self-explanatory, your party has to cross the bridge, fend off enemy attacks and conquer. Move slowly across the bridge, keeping your most durable units upfront with indirect attackers right behind them.

First, take out the incoming cavaliers which consists of 3 forged Javelin users, 2 Silver Lance and 1 Killing Edge. Then, go for the group near the shops by positioning a unit to counter-attack the Paladin. Be aware that the Silver Lance Cavalier adjacent to him will probably attack first and if your counter-attacker kills him, he'll be attacked by the Paladin as well, resulting in serious damage. A General is best suited for this. Once that team is has been lured, take them all out and position someone in the fort adjacent to the save point to avoid reinforcements.

Your next enemies are a Paladin and a Horseman adjacent to a fort, they'll move once you're in their range. Once they're done, you can either rush the remaining enemies or sit and wait to take out the reinforcements first and then go for what remains. "Sit and wait" is easier.

Boss (Sternlin):

A Silver Lance Paladin with 17 attack speed.

Notes on my playthrough: Gave Marth the boots and still had some uses from that Forged Rapier I made in chapter 4. He reached level 15 and Abel got promoted to Sniper. I killed Horace for access to Chapter 20x later.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 19:

The recruitable character here is Tiki, a Manakete that can use the Divine Dragonstone which is extremely effective against enemy Manaketes of all types (its base damage is 54 against Manaketes). Good unit and her recruitment is vital for the late game cheap methods. Recruit her with Bantu. The enemies visible consist of Mercenaries, Heroes (one has a forged Killing Edge), Mages and three Thieves. There's 2 items you may or may not need to obtain here, the Starsphre and Lightsphere.

There's a total of 9 locked rooms in this map, one of them will probably be opened before you reach it. I'll number them from top to bottom (1 being top, 4 being bottom). The contents are:

The top room contains a Mage, Hero, empty chest and Starsphere. A thief will probably open this room before you get to it.

Room 1 on the left has a Speedwing and a Master Seal

Room 2 on the left has a Hunter.

Room 3 on the left has a Bullion (XL) and a Bolganone tome

Room 4 on the left has a Hunter.

Room 1 on the right has a Sniper (with Master Seal dropped).

Room 2 on the right has a Seraph Robe and a Geosphere.

Room 3 on the right has a Killer Bow Hunter.

Room 4 on the right has a Spirit Dust and Pure Water.

Start by taking out the Mercenaries and Thieves. Then kill the rest of the enemies, recruit Tiki and go for the rooms as you wish.

Boss (Tiki):

Recruit her if you've got Bantu. Otherwise, finish her with indirect attacks.

Notes on my playthrough: Catria promoted and Tiki was recruited.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 20:

Recruitable character here is a Lorenz. He's the General standing on the castle Gate. He's a mediocre unit... like a weaker Horace that comes late but with better weapon ranks. The village holds the Hammerne Staff which is pretty useful and as stated before, the best reason to keep Lena alive since she's the only one that can use it. The enemies took an interesting upgrade, from Silver to Brave weapons which is bad news for you. Your Magic users are even more likely to die in 1 assault now (a 7 DEF and 46 HP Merric is put to 6-8 HP in just 1 assault). The Brave weapons are precisely the reason why a General is quite useful in H5.

As usual, Longbow, Ridersbane/Pole Axe, Rapier/Wingspear are highly recommended. Also, Thunderbolt would be useful here if you still have it and since you get the Hammerne staff in this chapter, you can fix it for more uses later.

Save point use: Use the first one after killing all reinforcements or before taking on Camus. Use the 2nd when you reach it if you're taking that path.

Reinforcements:

* Two Knights will appear from the southern Forts during Turn 7 of the Enemy Phase. They wield Brave Lance.

* A Paladin and three Cavaliers will appear from the western Forts during Turn 9 of the Enemy Phase. 2 of them are from the 4 forts close together on the southwest corner of the map and they wield Brave Lance. The Paladin wields Brave Sword and the cavalier wields a forged Killing Edge.

* Two Horsemen and a Cavalier will appear from the north-western, western and south-western Forts during Turn 10 of the Enemy Phase. The Cavalier wields a forged Javelin and the Horsemen wield Brave Bow (their attack is 18 though so they're not much of a threat).

If you're getting the Hammerne Staff, forget the bridge and just send your team left to save the village. 2 of the Paladins in the Hoistflamme group will move while the other 2 will stay until you move in their range. The 3 Brave Sword Paladins are also incoming enemies. They'll move through the mountains if you didn't raise the bridge.

After the saving the village, retreat back to your starting and wait for the reinforcements to come to you. Focus mostly on the strong Brave weapon users and don't worry much about the Horsemen (unless you've got flying units on you).

When the reinforcements are done, raise the bridge and go for Camus and the remaining enemies.

Boss (Camus):

42 ATK and 21 attack speed, definitely a force to be reckoned with. He'll attack once you're in his range and his weapon's range is just like the Javelin's so be careful. Lure him with a durable unit who can take a hit from both him and the Pachyderm Ballistican. Hit him with Longbow and Cavalier effective weapons. If you managed to kill him and have a strong fighter capable of taking on the nearby generic General, you can warp said fighter to kill the Pachyderm Ballistican and avoid a likely death.

Boss (Lorenz):

Recruit with Marth or Sheeda, or kill him with Magic, indirect attacks and Armor effective weapons. He wields a Silver Lance and nothing else.

Notes on my playthrough: Catria was a Dragon Knight for this chapter for some extra DEF against the Brave weapons. I got the Hammerne Staff and Gradivus. Killed Bantu to bring my unit count to 15 so I can go to Chapter 20x.

Now that you have the Hammerne Staff, let's talk "cheap lategame". If you have the following:

* Class A set or Female unit who can achieve 30 SPD as a Swordmaster.

* 4 Warp staves and 3 Warp staves users at the end of this chapter.

* Tiki recruited (she can be dead right now but it is much better if she's still alive, otherwise you may require better fighters).

* A good amount of money... like the 30K from Bullion (XL).

You can beat the game in a few minutes. All you do is just finish the following chapters in 1 turn and with the rest of the requirements, you can pretty much take on the final chapter right now. I'll elaborate more as I post the next chapters.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 20x:

Recruitable character here is Ymir. Reclass him to Hero so that he may be of use with C rank axes and not get doubled by Dragon Knights. To recruit him, first have Marth talk to him so that he leaves them map and he'll join in the end.

Divide your team into 2 groups. Send 1 group to the left to deal with the Armor Knights (1 holds a forged Ridersbane of 12 MT and the other holds a Forged Javelin) and Cavaliers (1 holds a forged Killing Edge). Your thief should be in this group.

Send your other team north to deal with the Generals and Paladins. Have Marth in this group so that he may talk to Ymir and open the chests. All other enemies hold Silver Weapons so think of it as a small EXP bonus to help out with the next chapters.

Boss (Larissa):

A Silver Lance General that's weaker than the previous ones due to standing on Plain terrain and inferior stats.

Notes on my playthrough: Recruited Ymir and got all treasure chests.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 21:

No recruitable characters. Your enemies consist of more Brave weapon wielders and nearly every enemy is promoted and mobile (Dragon Knights, Cavaliers, Pegasus Knights and Paladins). Mages now wield Thoron, which is more accurate and packs a critical hit rate (it's only 10 but it still means trouble for your low luck units). Anti Cavalier weapons and Bows are highly recommended.

Save point use: Use the first one after or between the reinforcement spawns. A Brave Lance General will attack and the other 2 will follow so be ready.

Reinforcements: Three Dracoknights, two Cavaliers and two Pegasus Knights will appear from the northern Forts during Turns 5, 10 and 15 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. -Chapter Data

Start by getting your party closer together near the bottom of the map. You'll have 2 Paladins and 2 Dragon Knights approach you, take them out on turn 3 or through counter-attacks on enemy phase turn 2. Then, simply sit and wait to take on all reinforcements. I find it's better to sit and wait for the reinforcements than to rush because these reinforcements appear early and would be difficult to deal with when you're near the boss. As for the reinforcements...

The right side reinforcements of 2 Forged Javelin Pegasus Knights and 1 Forged Javelin Cavalier. Have a durable Hand Axe user (preferably Hero) stand in range of the Pegasus Knight that will be near the 2nd save point to counter-attack. Have another Hand Axe/Javelin user to finish that Pegasus and the unit you used to counter-attack that Pegasus move in a forest terrain in range the next Pegasus Knight and the Cavalier. A 14 DEF, 23 STR and 24 SPD Barst was capable of defeating all 3 on the counter-attack.

The rest of the reinforcements consists of a Ridersbane Dragon Knight on the far left, a Dragonpike Dragon Knight around the middle with a Brave Lance Cavalier and Dragon Knight to its left. To deal with this bunch, have someone counterattack the Dragonpike Dragon Knight and the Brave Lance Dragon Knight (if possible... if it isn't, then just move near their range). When they move in, take them out and leave only units capable of taking an assault from that Ridersbane Dragon Knight in its range. Once they're done, have your units retreat a bit for healing and then repeat until the reinforcements are done.

The rest of the enemies move when you're in their range. Take them out slowly and proceed on to the boss.

Boss (Orridyon):

A 19 attack speed Paladin wielding a forged Javelin. Ordinarily a good boss but your units are probably strong enough to take him out in 1 turn.

Notes: You can skip this Chapter through warp staff use if you've got the requirements for the "cheap lategame" listed in Chapter 20 or you can do it the normal way for EXP. "Keep all units alive" players should do this one for the EXP.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 22:

No recruitable characters. Have Marth visit the village with both Lightsphere and Starsphere to get Starlight if you're going to get Falchion. Bows are highly recommended. Enemy weapons are forged Javelins, Killing and Anti unit weapons as well as Brave.

Reinforcements: A Dracoknight and Paladin will appear from the central Forts during Turns 8 to 14 of the Enemy Phase. In addition, two Dracoknights, a Bishop and a Horseman will accompany them from the central Forts during Turns 11 to 14 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. - Chapter Data

Method 1: Warp 2 units to kill Michalis and Marth to conquer. Do this if you have no intention of getting Falchion.

Method 2: Have a 25 DEF (23 or 24 may suffice but you'd need to use Physic/Fortify more often) General with...

* A forged Ridersbane to kill the Armorslayer Paladin in 1 assault.

* A 1-2 range Lance (preferably Gradivus if your General has 25 DEF or less).

* Starsphere in his inventory.

* His inventory full.

Warp this General to adjacent to the Armorslayer Paladin to nuke him. Then, simply have the General switch to Gradivus and kill everything (go for the thief as well if possible, otherwise just have someone else protect the village). If the forts are not healing his HP well, use the item effect of Gradivus or Physics/Fortify staves to help him out. You can speed up this massacre by removing those 2 Fortify Curates using your Ballistican and Xane. Once the enemies are done, have your General kill Michalis and send the Starsphere to the convey so Marth can quickly grab it and get Starlight.

Send your entire army to right for the village. Have your Ballisticans and Xane take care of the Fortify Curates (or thief if possible). Lure enemies slowly, taking as many attacks as you can handle.

Once you've got the Armorslayer Paladin and incoming flying units out of the way, warp a General or durable unit on the village to protect it if you're not able to reach it in time (the thief will reach it on turn 5 of the enemy phase).

To deal with the reinforcements, either wait for them outside or block the stairs with 2 high DEF Generals and decent MOV units to block the forts (and warp staff). The leftmost fort on the right side is the one with the Bishop and he carries a Swarm spell.

Boss (Michalis):

A 19 attack speed Dragon Knight with a Forged Javelin and a regular Brave Lance. He carries the Iote Shield so arrows aren't effective against him but he's still weak against Excalibur and takes heavy damage from magic attacks.

Notes on my playthrough: Saved with the traditional method done. Got Starlight.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 23:

This map consists of many Thoron users, 3 Swarm Bishops, a few Brave weapons, Curates with Physic and Fortify (one of them is dropped) and Gharnef and his 2 Clones. There's 2 thieves but they're nothing to worry about since they'll come to you. The location of the real Gharnef is always random, restarting the chapter may switch his location. Longbows are highly recommended.

Save point use: First one after the reinforcements are done. Use the 2nd one as soon as you reach it.

Reinforcements: Two Bishops and four Mages will appear from the north during Turns 7 and 15 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. - Chapter Data

Method 1 (No Falchion): Kill the generic Bishop on the throne and have Marth conquer.

Method 2 (Falchion): This one's a 2-3 turn strategy to skip the chapter with Falchion obtained. For this to work, the real Gharnef must be the one adjacent to a Physic Curate. You need:

* 1 or 2 Magic users who can wield Starlight. The sum of their attack power with Starlight equipped must equal 64. Xane can play the role of the 2nd magic user if your first one's attack power is 32. In my case, It was Merric with A rank tomes, and 17 Mag and Xane imitating Merric.

* 2 Warp staff users other than the ones you're sending to fight Gharnef. Mine were Lena and Etzel.

* The Magic users fighting Gharnef need good durability. The one that's attacking Gharnef first must be able to survive Gharnef's counter-attack and the 2 nearby Swarm Bishops. The one attacking Gharnef second just needs to be able to survive the 2 Swarm Bishops. Gharnef's attack speed is 23 so if your first attacker has less than 20 attack speed, he/she will get doubled. The Swarm Bishops have an attack of 23 and Gharnef has an attack of 29.

Turn 1:

Have Xane imitate the magic user you'll use to attack Gharnef first (I'll refer to this as Merric). Heal Xane and cast barrier on Merric if possible (this may also make the Swarm Bishop attack Xane instead of Merric).

If you're using a 2nd magic user and not Xane, ignore this and consider turn 2 as your first turn.

Also, you can use the Geosphere to quickly find out if the real Gharnef is the one adjacent to the Curate. If he isn't, restart.

Turn 2:

Warp Xane and Merric. Merric stands adjacent to Gharnef and attacks. Xane uses the trade command to get Starlight and finishes Gharnef. If this isn't the correct Gharnef, restart and try again.

Turn 3:

Warp someone to nuke the Bishop on the throne and have Marth conquer.

To do this one the normal way, start by killing the thieves. Then, lure the Swarm bishop on the easternmost group of enemies close enough for you to kill him. A Swarm Bishop from the top will also come towards you... I recommend you lure and kill this one as well. While you're at it, you can also go for the eastern group if you wish, just make sure that Swarm Bishop moves closer to you to kill him when he's near.

To deal with the reinforcements, you can either sit and wait for them at the bottom or you slowly take them out with ranged counter-attacks. I would suggest the "sit and wait" since there's another Swarm Bishop and this one won't be lured like the other one. Try not to let a unit get attacked twice by Thoron because this will likely result in death unless, that unit has really high RES.

To deal with the Gharnef clones, counter-attack with Starlight (optional, but recommended if your Starlight users can't kill Gharnef on the next turn) and follow-up with a Longbow. If the Longbow does damage, save your Starlight use and kill the clone through regular weapons.

Notes on my playthrough: Saved with the normal/traditional way. Got Falchion.

[Rodykitty]

Alternative Chapter 22 strategy: Have your Ballistians take out the thief first turn so that you don't have to rush recklessly to the village.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

I already hinted that (sort of):

Have your Ballisticans and Xane take care of the Fortify Curates (or thief if possible). Lure enemies slowly, taking as many attacks as you can handle.

(the thief will reach it on turn 5 of the enemy phase).

[Rodykitty]

Oh. You asked for advice on your guide, so I figured I would mention that. Other than that, you have better lategame strats than I did.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Oh. You asked for advice on your guide, so I figured I would mention that. Other than that, you have better lategame strats than I did.

I see. I'm hoping I come up with something good for the final chapter because I can't seem to think anything other than Akairyu's strategy for that monstrosity (playing it the normal way). Well, there's forging Thunderbolt to quickly take out those monstrous Ballisticans but that seems limited =\

[Rodykitty]

I ended up warping every character I brought into the upper right corner of the map, and let the door lock in front of them. Elice ended up dying due to this, but unless Aum still only works on Ch. 24, you can probably use that to revive the fallen character.

After the door locks (I chose upper right corner of the map because there are far less ranged units on that side), I waited out the reinforcements. The enemy movements will not move from the spawn points as long as the doors lock you in. After waiting out the turns, start luring enemies through the walls and begin sniping them with Worm. You will have to do some fights before the door locks, but it shouldn't be that bad if you know what you're doing.

Edited December 19, 2008 by FE3 Player

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Aum staff worked in chapter 24x and Final, tested. That's a pretty decent strategy, works for the "keep all units alive" players who aren't bitchy about using a 1-time use staff.

[Rodykitty]

My strategy had to be come up because my units weren't strong enough to use Akairyu's strat (he was able to camp doors with 20/20 units. Even my Katua you saw on WiFi was capable of dying).

Oh, and I do use the Earth Orb. In my strat, wait until all of the reinforcements come, then use the Earth Orb. The healers will be taken out, and pretty much everything will be weakened, with no reinforcements able to come at full health.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 24:

You have Elice in this chapter's Battle Prep screen. Her usefulness lies simply in her Staff A rank (more specifically... Recover, Warp and Aum staves). If you're going to deploy her, you should promote her right away for a small durability boost. The enemies here are mostly Firestone and Magestone with a few Snipers and Bishops. The speed caps on the Manaketes are lies, Firestone type are supposed to have 20 + 4 from the Firestone while Magestone types have 20 - 1 from the Magestone. Direct your attention to their avoid rate for the real attack speed rates.

Reinforcements: A Bishop, Hero, Pegasus Knight and three Manaketes will appear from the surrounding Forts during Turns 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46 and 49 of the Enemy Phase. You can prevent these reinforcements from appearing by defeating the boss. - Chapter Data Add +1 to each number for H5.

Start off by having your Ballisticans and Xane kill the thief. There's an opening in the mountains where the enemies will try to get to you through, block this with a good durable unit (probably a Hero, also remember to look at the enemy's avoid for the real attack speed), kill the nearby enemies (avoid counter-attacks) and rush for the boss if you wish to avoid the reinforcements. Those that can't cross the mountains should just head right to taken on the other enemies. After getting rid of the boss, take out the remaining enemies and get the Aum staff.

Use a Dragon Knight to lure a few enemies away if you're having trouble with the ones coming to you through the mountain.

If you still have Tiki and wish to go to Chapter 24x, have her hold Falchion if you have it and let her die. With 4 C rank staff users, you can have Tiki suicide against the boss, warp a fighter to finish him, get the Aum staff and have Marth conquer on the first turn. You can have a Dragon Knight replace that warped fighter so you'd need only 3 warp users.

I highly recommend buying Seraph Robes and Shields (Arm Scrolls too if it helps) from the Secret Shop here.

Now for the reinforcements. The Bishop wields Thoron and comes from the left fort of the ones near the boss. The Hero wields a Brave Axe and comes from the other fort near the boss. The south easternmost fort spawns a Dragonpike Pegasus Knight and the rest are just Firestone Manaketes. You can nuke the Bishop with Ballistican shots and a flying unit (or any unit that can attack the Bishop). Indirect attack units are good against the Hero due to his Brave Axe.

The Manaketes and the Pegasus Knights will come to you, take them out when you can. Make sure that you don't have units near the forts if you're taking on the reinforcements... If the Bishop and Hero spawn and you've got a unit nearby, he/she is dead. The Bishop moves 5 spaces from his fort, keep this in mind and stay away from his range.

Boss (Xemcel):

A Magestone Manakete with 24 attack speed. Kill him with indirect attacks, Divinestone and anti-Manakete weapons. To take him out early, you can use a Longbow to snipe him from the Mountain terrain 3 spaces above him and counter-attacks from a flying unit.

Notes: Made 2 save files, one for Final chapter with Gotoh and one for Chapter 24x. Didn't take on the reinforcements for either save.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Boo

[Mekkah]

Playing HM5 right now, and those Hand Axe bosses are incredibly cheap. I'd say your safest bet is wearing out their Hand Axes - anything else risks death or running out of weapons (seriously).

[Dr. Tarrasque]

That is an option but quite the slow one... It's pretty much why I recommend counter-attacks to bring the HP low enough for you to kill those bosses. Like I said for Reynard for the "keep every1 alive" players, you'll need Ogma to critical and the Devil Axe to hit if you wanna kill him (before his hand axe runs out).

Forged Javelin/Hand Axe enemies and Mages are probably what I hate most... that's why I like having 1 or 2 Longbow snipers.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Chapter 24x:

If you got the Aum Staff, feel free to revive Tiki. It's possible to revive Tiki and beat this chapter in 1 or 2 turns. The main reason you'd wish to come here is for Nagi and I only recommend this for Gaiden players doing the 1 turn final chapter strategy. If you're doing the final chapter the normal way, you're better off keeping Tiki alive for Gotoh.

Like with the other Gaiden chapters, the enemies have been downgraded (they use Silver weapons and Bolganone) and they consist of every promoted male class except for Sage, General, Horseman, Paladin and Dragon Knight.

Divide your team into 2 groups and take out everything that stands in your way. Beware the forged Killer, Anti weapons. The Swarm Bishops' attack is only 17 and the highest attack speed number is 21 and comes from the Swordmasters.

Boss (Generic Magestone Manakete):

Basically a weaker Xemcel. You can kill him in 1 hit with Tiki.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Final Chapter:

You get Nagi if you went to 24x and Gotoh if you didn't on the first turn. Gotoh comes with Swarm, Thoron, Recover and Fortify Staves while Nagi has only a Divinestone. If you're tackling this chapter the normal way, I suggest you avoid C24x and get Gotoh. Nagi is the better choice for the 1 turn strategy. Thorons and Brave weapons are now forged with more Hit and more MT.

Closing doors: Get a load of Door Keys and Master Keys ready, because the doors in this chapter magically close themselves(!). It's hard to do much when you're locked in...

* The north-western and north-eastern doors will close during the end of Turn 2 of the Enemy Phase.

* The south-western door will close during the end of Turn 4 of the Enemy Phase.

* The western door will close during the end of Turn 5 of the Enemy Phase.

* The eastern door will close during the end of Turn 6 of the Enemy Phase.

from Chapter Data

It's the same for H5.

Reinforcements: A Bishop, Ballistician, Hero and Manakete will appear from the western and central stairs during Turns 3, 5, 7, 9, 14 and 19 of the Enemy Phase. Similarly, two Dracoknights, a Paladin, Manakete and Hero will appear from the eastern stair and south-eastern Forts during Turns 4, 7, 10, 14 and 19 of the Enemy Phase. - Chapter Data

Add +1 for the H5 turn number. The weapons are basically the same, just replace Silver with forged Brave weapon. Thorons are forged as well, packing 17 MT.

One turn win method 1: You need or could use...

* A Swordmaster with 30 SPD. Forge a Wyrmslayer so that the Swordmaster defeat the manakete adjacent to Medeus in 1 round of combat.

* 3 or 4 Staff C rank units and at least 2 Warp staves with 2 uses each. Follow this

if you have 2 Warp staves.

* Nagi and/or Tiki

* Falchion. This can be replaced by having both Tiki and Nagi and with an extra damage unit. Optional requirement.

* Extra damage unit. This can be a Sniper (or 2) or a General (wielding Gradius). Optional requirement. The Sniper(s) simply needs 27 SPD and enough HP and DEF to take survive a counter-attack power of 50. The General simply has to follow this formula to live:

HP + (DEF x 2) = 101. The General dies if it's less than that. Keep in mind that this is just if you want them to survive the counter-attack, if you don't mind them being dead, ignore it and just focus on damaging Medeus.

Nagi deals 45/60 damage to Medeus so if one of your extra damage units can do 15 to Medeus, Nagi won't need to suicide. Tiki would need 8 STR to do the same as Nagi, if it's lower, your extra damage unit will need to do more damage to make up for it.

To do it, first you Warp the Swordmaster and have him kill the Manakete. After this, your choices are:

1. Use 1 or 2 extra damage units.

2. Have Tiki/Nagi suicide attack Medeus.

If you took choice 1, attack with Tiki/Nagi to finish Medeus. If you took choice 2 have Tiki or Nagi (the one that didn't suicide) finish Medeus. If you only had 1 of Tiki/Nagi, your final choice is Falchion.

One turn win method 2:

Sell everything you have. Use energy drops and forge a Silver Bow to bring up a Sniper's attack power to 47. Spend the remainder of your funds to add critical for that Silver Bow. A critical from this Sniper means 1 hit KO for Medeus. If 1 hit KO isn't possible, you'll have to throw in 1 or 2 more indirect attack units to finish Medeus.

Here's one way to do the chapter without the 1 turn kill:

In here, Akairyu uses the Geosphere to kill off the 2 Curates and weaken the Ballisticans as well as all enemies.

If you intend to beat this chapter without the 1 turn methods and keep all characters alive, you will need to either:

1. Be able to do Akairyu's method.

2. Have a Warp staff user on the 3 man team and warp the other 2 to one of the other 3 groups. This warp staff user will die, revive him/her with Aum staff later (Credit to FE3 Player on this one).

3. Be able to kill at least the Ballistican near Marth's group and the Swarm Bishop near the eastern group. To kill this one, you can either forge Thunderbolt to have 18 MT, critical with Swarm or warp a really durable unit to kill/deal damage to finish it off with Swarm. This unit will then be attacked by nearby enemies and will need to join the 3 man group. You'll need quickly take out the other Ballistican as well. The person killing the Swarm Bishop will need to be able to survive an assault from the nearby General and Dragon Knight.

If you can't, your units will have to be high above average in durability for you to be able to avoid any casualties. After taking out the Ballisticans, focus on blocking all reinforcement spots. The 3 man group will need to join the western group if possible or they will have to stay alive where they are until all reinforcements stop (turn 21). Try to have someone from the other groups join this team if necessary.

On turn 21, start opening the locked doors and proceed to kill every enemy you have to and go for Medeus.

Boss (Medeus):

HP: 60

Atk: 50

Hit: 100

Spd: 30

Avo: 50 (+20 from throne)

Def: 27 (2 from throne)

Res: 23

He's not a challenge if you've got Divinestone and Falchion on you. All you have to do is bring his HP low enough for your Divinestone or Falchion to kill him. If you lack those 2, it's still possible to beat him. You'll need to make use of the "Extra damage units" I mentioned earlier before you can try any direct attacks on him.

Simply position your Snipers and General for indirect attacks and have a Recover staff user behind each and he'll go down in 2-3 turns.

Edited December 20, 2008 by Boo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Done. I'm planning to make an arena abuse team for wifi but I'll keep the saves with Chapter 24 and Final in case I need to look into those a little more. Any questions? Did I miss something on the Final chapter?

[VincentASM]

Kept forgetting to pin this ^^;;;

[Seph]

I think you exaggerated the difficulty of the boss in Chapter 3. You have like a 20% chance to crit with Ogma while the boss can only hit you less than 50% of the time. He's pretty easy to beat and you can finish him off with the Devil Axe user.

The moment you get a crit, you have a high chance of winning. Just pray the Devil Axe doesn't miss or kill yourself and you win. This is easy because of save points.

He's definitely easier than Chapter 1 and 2 bosses, because you have access to the Killing Edge and Devil Axe.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Julius

[Dr. Tarrasque]

I think you exaggerated the difficulty of the boss in Chapter 3. You have like a 20% chance to crit with Ogma while the boss can only hit you less than 50% of the time. He's pretty easy to beat and you can finish him off with the Devil Axe user.

The moment you get a crit, you have a high chance of winning. Just pray the Devil Axe doesn't miss or kill yourself and you win. This is easy because of save points.

He's definitely easier than Chapter 1 and 2 bosses, because you have access to the Killing Edge and Devil Axe.

You can deal with the chapter 1 boss through indirect attacks and you have no fear of any counter-attacks through that method. Plus you could heal a direct attack unit and keep adjacent to the boss. Chapter 2 boss is like chapter 3 but you can have more units capable of fighting this one without fear of death. You have the Silver Lance here and your axe users could deal some decent damage.

Chapter 3 boss... his hit rate can be low true, but he's doubling most of your units and they'll end up dead either by the boss' counter-attack or by the boss' turn. You said it yourself, there's access to the Killing Edge and Devil and they're practically your only options. Silver Lance won't help you here (well, it will as your final direct attack but that's assuming that it hits).

Edited December 26, 2008 by Levin

[Seph]

I was challenging your claim 'toughest boss in the game'. Is that really true?

Chapter 3 boss... his hit rate can be low true, but he's doubling most of your units and they'll end up dead either by the boss' counter-attack or by the boss' turn. You said it yourself, there's access to the Killing Edge and Devil and they're practically your only options. Silver Lance won't help you here (well, it will as your final direct attack but that's assuming that it hits).

Chapter 1 boss is harder because of the lack of save points.

Chapter 2 boss is harder because of the lack of the Killing Edge and Devil Axe.

Chapter 3, you have great access to a save point which you can rely on. Instead of a Silver Lance, you have a Killing Edge, which is more useful, and a Devil Axe, a good finisher..