H5 playthough log, pseudo-efficient run

[Interceptor]

This thread is just a log of my H5 playthrough, including stats/levels/deployments and my general impressions of units. I call it "pseudo-efficient" because even though I am pushing my army hard and taking risks (aka, not turtling my way across the map), I am also Routing instead of Warp-scumming. Also, I did kill a few reinforcements that were not strictly necessary, and my class spread is based on flexibility with weapon types rather than overall efficiency. The reasoning for this: this is my first run of the game, so I'm not entirely certain what to expect, and I want to be prepared.

Anyway, I don't play this game all that often, so this will take some time. The purpose of gathering this stuff is to add my data to the pile, for whatever reasons people will find it useful. Without further ado, a quick recap of Chapter 1 through 8, where I did not track levels/stats, but I do remember my deployments and basic strategy:

Chapter 1

Standard strategy, using all available units. Lure pirates into Draug on a Fort, Jagen uses his Silver Lance where possible, etc. Bought a bunch of javelins in this chapters for future use.

Chapter 2

Another standard clear, with putting Ogma on a Fort and Marth in range of Darros, so that I hurt pirates and recruit D on Enemy Phase. I killed the north guys first, followed by dealing with the cavs to the west as they came (with Rapier and Wing Spear). This chapter is where I started intentionally killing people for efficiency purposes: Darros perished, as did Castor.

Chapter 3

I focused the majority of my forces to the north, to recruit Navarre quickly and kill off the people chasing Julian/Lena. I sent Jagen to the west, with a javelin, and he played keep-away with the Hunters and kited them back to the east. Using the *ord brothers as meatshields, I crushed the Hunters/Fighters, mopped up what was left, converged both armies at the boss, and killed him using the standard Ogma-crit + Devil Axe deal. Casualties: Bord, Cord, Navarre.

Chapter 4

Reclassed Jagen to Draco, Draug to Hunter, and forged some +mt on the Wing Spear. Sent a couple guys north to deal with that pocket of enemies, my two cavs to the northwest to cut off the Thief and his buddy, and the rest of my forces to the west to kill everything else that was coming (Caeda got a lot of kills from insta-blicking the cavs). Converged the army south of the bridge (drew out the Archers, killed the Armor, baited a Horseman and then killed it with Caeda), stomped the boss at 2-range and took his Ridersbane. Casualties: Matthis, Wrys.

Chapter 5

Reclassed Merric to a Curate, and forged the Rapier with some +mt. Hid the Coyotes as far southeast as I could, and positioned Marth and Caeda so that enemy cavs would impale themselves on PRF weapons during Enemy Phase, whilst pushing the rest of my army north, out of range. After the cavs died (Marth needed help from Ogma killing his, Caeda just blicked hers), army intercepted the enemies going for the north town, and took out the Peg and recruited Wendell shortly thereafter. Final assault on the boss led to mass deaths in Coyote. Casualties: Hardin, Wolf, Roshea, Vyland.

Chapter 6

Reclassed Sedgar to General. Warped Caeda to the north, where she blicked the Silver cav, killed the other one on Enemy Phase, and then ran down the thief with javelins. Rest of this chapter was a straight-up roll toward the boss with my army. Julian opened two chests and unlocked the Rickard door (Caeda killed him for EXP), the other chests I just killed enemy thieves to get the items back. Casualties: Wendell, Rickard. From this point on, whenever I get generic faceless units as replacements, I use them in the chapter they join as a expendable meatshields (aka I won't mention them from here on out).

Chapter 6x

Reclassed Caeda as a Mage, forged her a decent Fire tome. This chapter was uneventful, I just used it to train Sedgar a little bit and pick up my final army member. Sword-users did well here, and I was able to split my army into two squads (Marth went north in order to recruit Athena) without causing problems.

Chapter 7

Forged a bit of +mt onto Ridersbane, reclassed Jagen as a Sniper. Sent a bare minimum of units to the east in order to recruit Bantu (Sedgar and anyone who wouldn't get doubled by the Mercs), while everyone else moved towards Minerva and crew. I did have to backtrack slightly to allow the generic fliers to impale themselves on my army (aka Jagen and Draug). After Bantu was up, and the fliers were all dead, I moved just above the pass. I stayed here for a few turns killing Cavalier reinforcements, since I wasn't confident I could handle them all (keeping Caeda as a Mage in this chapter was a mistake), then moved on and wiped the boss. Casualties: Jagen.

[Interceptor]

Chapter 8

Reclassed Caeda back into a Peg, not doing that Mage shit again any time soon. Sent Julian east to go shopping for Silvers, Javs, Hand Axes, and a Rapier/Wing Spear. Everyone else went north, to swing around east for the boss after dealing with the incoming enemy units. Sedgar is pretty ridiculous at this point. Found out to my surprise that Horseman can move over mountains, that turned into a reset. I dealt with the enemies that started on the map, and left a few people behind to kill Armor reinforcements to farm EXP while my boss-killers and Marth headed to the castle. I've decided that Horsemen are pretty scary. Casualties: Caesar, Radd, Roger. A little sad about Roger, he seemed like a cool guy. But there's no room in my army, so he's fodder.

I will start tracking deployment, levels, and stats at this point.

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  9.56  24 8  0  4  10 14 8  0
Caeda  12.16 21 5  2  14 20 17 8  6
Cain   10.50 27 10 0  9  11 6  11 0
Abel   10.70 27 10 0  11 11 3  8  0
Draug  13.77 28 11 0  9  14 3  5  0
Ogma   12.14 28 12 0  15 15 9  7  0
Barst  14.25 33 18 0  8  13 7  9  0
Sedgar 6.01  35 11 1  7  7  4  19 2
Athena 12.1  26 10 0  13 14 8  7  0

Merric 13.58 25 0  3  10 16 11 6  10
Lena   12.85 18 0  6  8  10 14 3  11

I've decided that I am spreading EXP too thinly, so I will be dropping Abel in Chapter 9. I'll also drop Cain if that's not enough (I don't find either of them super-useful aside from Ridersbane). People are in their base classes unless otherwise noted above.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Interceptor

[Don Draper]

I'm impressed that you kept up an average level of 11.5 (excluding healers/Sedgar) when you're using 8 combat units (again excluding Sedgar). I'm in agreement with Caeda Mage being mediocre, she really has a rough start right after reclass. Too bad Caeda's strength had to suffer even more because of it.

[Interceptor]

I think if I had to attribute the levels to anything, it would be, in no particular order:

• no kills or minimal kills for people who are not meant to be part of the final army. Jagen did a lot of weakening, but not much else.
  
• reinforcements in Chapter 7, I must have blasted over a dozen of those guys before I got it under control. This is probably why Barst is level WTF. Next run, Caeda will be a Peg, so I can shut down 2 of those forts immediately (her on the one over the mountain, and a cav or something on the other). That'll cut the EXP gain.
  
• I'll kill reinforcements in general when it doesn't hurt my turn count to do so. Such as in Chapter 8, where units like Draug were not part of the boss assassination team, but stayed behind to fight the Armor reinforcements for free EXP.
  
• I drag out kills when it doesn't matter. AKA, if there's one enemy in an area, and Ogma can barely ORKO him with a Steel Sword, I use an Iron instead. Ogma is going to take a counter anyway, but now he gets hit EXP and someone else can finish off the guy for kill EXP. Basic weapons are cheap enough for justify this.
  
• I deliberately let people take counters that I have no intention of healing when it's near the end of the chapter (everyone uses weak/accurate weapons, which increases total army EXP).
  
• When it's the Seize turn, I have everyone but Marth whip out their butterknives and tink the boss to death, making sure that the last person to swing is guaranteed to kill.

I just noticed that Barst's STR is ridiculously blessed. He has more than he would at level 20, and he's only 14 at the moment. I also haven't yet decided who is going to promote first, nor have I given out the Robe to anyone (leaning towards Caeda).

Edited November 24, 2009 by Interceptor

[Don Draper]

Which is pretty much what an efficient playthrough does, maximizes experience without sacrificing turncount. Not that your levels are higher then normal, they're around the same as mine usually are by then.

Your Barsts's strength is pretty blessed, which makes it all the more enticing to make him a Hero after promotion (as he's really only losing out on strength and a bit of HP)

[Interceptor]

Chapter 9

I class-changed my generics into Pirates, and positioned Julian so that he could open the door on the first turn. Marth and Caeda went east towards the Silver Bow Jeorge, followed by Lena. Julian nabs the door, and most of the rest of the army piled through behind Sedgar. Caeda flew east ahead of Marth, countered the shit out of a Pirate with a Silver Lance, and then finished him off on Player Phase. Marth beat the thief to village, who died next turn in a Marth/Caeda combo attack. Meanwhile, Julian finished cleaning out the chests, the Sedgar-led push across the bridge is putting the finishing touches on their stomp of the remaining Hunters and Pirates.

The chapter wraps up with Caeda killing the SE thief who helpfully opened the chest for her, banking the Wyrmslayer in the Convoy with her full inventory, Lena Warping Marth near seize, a bunch of generics suiciding on the boss, and Ogma closing the deal by taking the Wyrm from the Convoy and finishing Mannu for good. Fin.

Levels/stats of my units at chapter end (minus Abel, who is now retired):

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  10.02 25 8  0  4  11 15 8  0
Caeda  12.74 21 5  2  14 20 17 8  6
Cain   10.65 27 10 0  9  11 6  11 0
Draug  14.20 29 11 0  10 15 3  5  0
Ogma   13.01 29 12 0  16 16 9  7  0
Barst  14.25 33 18 0  8  13 7  9  0
Sedgar 6.35  35 11 1  7  7  4  19 2
Athena 12.39 26 10 0  13 14 8  7  0

Merric 14.00 26 0  4  10 16 12 7  11
Lena   13.18 18 0  6  8  10 15 3  12

Barst missed all of his attacks, and ended the same way he started. Oh well.

[Interceptor]

Chapter 10

There were a couple of tricky spots in this chapter, since I decided to clean out the castle and rescue Maria. The initial rush of four cavs might have been an issue, except I happened to have enough firepower to take them all out on Turn 2 Player Phase (combination of 2-range attacks, Rapier, and Wing Spear). Draug was the only unit to take any damage. I took everyone inside, killed off the thief/armor, and attracted the archers and other armor over with Sedgar. Once he pulled them, I had Athena/Ogma soften the archers up for everyone else to finish off, and Caeda blicked the wounded Armor. Julian grabbed the other chest, and I sent Sedgar back outside with a Steel Bow and plenty of lances.

At this point, the only enemy units left on the map are the dracos/pegs that are flying at the entrance to the castle, the Hero in the back, Minerva, and the three units at the Seize tile. Long story short, suffice it to say that Sedgar stood just outside the entrance (so he could have three facings), with Merric nearby for heals as necessary, and partook of the massive EXP he got for holding the line. He killed all of the dracos/pegs, and nearly killed both sets of reinforcements (I Seized before he finished).

While Sedgar was busy gaining four levels in one chapter, everyone else wound their way through the castle, and ganged up on the Hero out back. I positioned Marth so that Minerva would be recruited and die to a Horseman during Enemy Phase. Barst and Ogma avenged her. Then it was just a matter of getting to the boss, plopping Marth next to him with a Rapier equipped to weaken him on Enemy Phase, and then whittling him down before the kill and the Seize. Julian did some more shopping with his free time. Casualties: Jeorge, Minerva

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end (Sedgar is a brick house at this point):

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  10.35 25 8  0  4  11 15 8  0
Caeda  13.43 21 5  2  14 20 18 8  6
Cain   11.85 28 10 0  9  11 6  11 0
Draug  14.28 29 11 0  10 15 3  5  0
Ogma   13.41 29 12 0  16 16 9  7  0
Barst  15.48 34 18 0  8  13 8  9  0
Sedgar 10.12 44 15 1  12 8  5  25 2
Athena 13.91 26 11 0  13 14 8  8  0

Merric 15.46 27 0  4  11 16 12 7  12
Lena   13.74 18 0  6  8  10 15 3  12

Barst is the best Master Seal candidate at this point, I think, at least from a level perspective.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Interceptor

[Interceptor]

Chapter 11

I gave the Seal to Barst, and reclassed him into a Hero (EDIT: I also reclassed Caeda into a Myrm, which is why she got no EXP in this chapter). The next Seal will probably be Merric's.

When the chapter started, for lulz, I teleported Sedgar next to the Manakete boss, and had him solo the entire northwest corner. Then I restarted for serious, and did things the old-fashioned way. The entire army except for Draug and Maria went northeast towards Linde and the Mercs. I used Maria as bait to attract both Pegs over so that Draug could insta-blick them with a Silver Bow. He did so.

Strategy for this chapter was 1) throw Sedgar into the middle of a cloud of guys, 2) End Turn, 3) clean up the leftovers with the people that were standing behind him. I have a feeling that this is going to be my primary method of killing things for a while, except in cases where a rushing offense is more efficient. I cleared the Mercs, got Linde, and then cleared the cavs/ballistas/boss and recruited Jake.

Casualties: Maria, Abel, Linde

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  10.44 25 8  0  4  11 15 8  0
Caeda  13.43 21 5  2  14 20 18 8  6
Cain   13.13 28 10 0  10 13 7  12 0
Draug  14.88 29 11 0  10 15 3  5  0
Ogma   14.58 30 13 0  17 16 10 7  0
Barst   1.76 36 19 0  17 18 8  13 3
Sedgar 10.54 44 15 1  12 8  5  25 2
Athena 14.73 27 11 0  13 15 9  8  0

Merric 16.63 28 0  4  11 16 12 7  13
Lena   14.86 18 0  6  8  10 16 3  13

I am thinking of keeping Jake as a reserve, Arrowspate seems cool.

Edited November 26, 2009 by Interceptor

[_____]

Forge some accuracy for Stonehoist if you're going to use Jake as utility.

[Dat Nick]

He has Shiida and Lena. He's good.

[Interceptor]

I'll keep the Stonehoist thing in mind. I was thinking of just using him for taking out fliers, though.

Chapter 12

This chapter was really easy. I had to restart once, when Julian got shot through a solid wall (!?!?) by a Horseman. My army configuration lent itself pretty well to an efficient clear of this chapter. I killed the thieves on the first turn, did the pull/weaken thing with Sedgar and the Armors, and from there I split my army into three groups.

First one (Sedgar, Marth, Julian) took to the treasure chest room to deal with the Armor/Sniper, open everything up, and backdoor the boss. The second one (Barst, Athena, Ogma, Draug) went wide west to kill off the mages, cavs and Paladin boss, and the Manakute. The last group (Caeda, Cain), flitted around the rear to kill reinforcements as they caught up to me. Everything went pretty smoothly.

Barst is absolutely ridiculous at this point. He does so much damage that I have trouble using him to weaken anything, he often kills even with an Iron Sword. Sedgar continues to be a defensive powerhouse, with decent damage output. Cain (who still cannot double) had some significant use for once, thanks to Ridersbane. Draug is a solid unit: he does not ORKO very much, not even with Silver, but he does great damage and doubles almost everything. Caeda remains good for what she does, but now her 20 SPD cap is preventing her from doubling some units here and there, seeing as how she's still weighed down by good weapons. Also, she still refuses to proc STR.

Ogma is losing more of his luster, as he's no longer ORKOing tougher units (still good with the Slayer, though). Athena is disappointing, I'm a little bit boggled by a Myrmidon who has doubling problems, gets 2HKO'ed, and can't dodge for squat. If there was a Namingway in this game I'd call her Eddie. Merric is still on heal duty, but one look at his stats tells me he's going to be a nice Sage soon enough. Lena is a bit of a joke, I don't think I'll even bother promoting her.

Casualties: Dolph, Macellan, Tomas. I have no idea why I saved those other two units, I have no intention of using them anyway.

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  11.45 26 8  0  5  11 16 8  0
Caeda  14.36 21 5  2  15 20 18 8  6
Cain   14.42 29 10 0  11 14 7  12 0
Draug  15.28 30 11 0  11 16 4  5  0
Ogma   15.37 31 13 0  17 16 11 7  0
Barst   3.73 38 20 1  18 20 10 13 3
Sedgar 11.70 46 16 1  13 9  5  26 2
Athena 15.80 28 11 0  13 16 10 8  0

Merric 18.20 30 0  4  11 17 13 7  15
Lena   16.14 18 0  7  8  10 17 3  15

I wasn't expecting two Seals in this level, so I have to think about who I want to promote. Merric is getting a Seal for sure, if for not other reason than that he's almost capped in tier 1 anyway. I am tempted to promote Ogma, just for the SPD boost, but it's not as though his growths improve. I could promote Athena, for a similar benefit. I'm not sure I want to promote Cain yet. Caeda would benefit somewhat from uncapping her SPD, but I haven't even decided what class to go with -- I suppose Draco would be nice to maintain my flier.

I also have the stat boosters. Icon is lol, but Speedwing/Drop/Dust/Robe still sit unused.

[Don Draper]

Fun fact: Your Barst can ORKO the boss of 12x with an Iron Axe.

It looks like Cain could use the Speedwing the most right now, unless you're hellbent on using Marth seriously. Drop on Caeda, Dust on Merric, and Robe on whoever.

EDIT: Maybe the drop on Draug, now that I think of it. That drop isn't really going to make much of a difference on Shiida, she'll still be Wing Spear utility regardless.

Edited November 27, 2009 by IOS

[Interceptor]

I don't give a crap about Marth, really, he's just awful. As mediocre as Athena is, she rocks him like a hurricane on anything that's not a cav, and I'm not even sure about that last one. I might toss the Boots on him to make Seizing easier. I used to use him for random potshots, but his Rapier fails to threaten Armors now, and lately I've just been using him as a second Julian that can't open doors (well, not for free, anyway).

It's tempting to put the Drop on Caeda since I noticed that she missed a few clean OHKOs with her forged Wing Spear on the cavs (it was an easy kill on the Horseman, but still that bodes sort of ill for her that she'd have to take a counter otherwise). I think that a promotion will keep that one at bay, though, so maybe it would be more efficient on Draug. As long as she can use Lances, I'm fine with what she's capable of. I don't mind spending the cash on Silvers to keep her non-Wing offense respectable.

I'll take a look at my opponents in 12x and see about that second Seal and Speedwing. I may go with the Cain idea, I'd like him to be more than just a Banebot, since Caeda's better at it than he is.

[Interceptor]

Vacation's over, back to work.

Chapter 12x

Promoted Merric, reclassed to Sage. Promoted Draug, reclassed to Warrior. Gave the Drop to Draug, the Robe to Caeda, and the Dust to Merric.

This chapter was another cakewalk, I can't believe how much easier the enemies here are compared to what I've grown used to. The time that Marth spent walking to Seize, I used to get a nice amount of CEXP for a few people. I also made some headway on Draug's new Axe rank. I split my army between both paths, sending Marth east (village duty), and there really wasn't any pressure. Funny moment for this chapter was Athena finishing off an Armor with the Levin Sword.

Casualties: Boah, Horace.

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  11.57 26 8  0  5  11 16 8  0
Caeda  15.08 28 5  2  16 20 19 8  6
Cain   14.84 29 10 0  11 14 7  12 0
Draug   1.90 38 14 0  9  18 4  7  1
Ogma   16.56 32 14 0  17 16 12 7  0
Barst   4.47 39 20 1  19 20 10 13 3
Merric  1.76 36 3  9  12 17 13 7  14
Sedgar 12.11 48 16 1  14 10 6  27 2
Athena 16.85 29 11 0  13 17 10 8  0

Lena   17.18 18 0  7  8  10 18 3  16

Cain was OK doubling in this level, so I didn't Wing him. Caeda still won't proc STR... I'm considering dropping the Icon on her when she promotes and taking my chances with a Devil Axe when near save points.

[Don Draper]

Just going to do a breakdown of your average levels right now, for reference. I'm going to divide it into both Combat/Healer sections, and Marth/Sedgar won't be included (or Abel in Chapter 8). Levels assume end of the level, and promoted units level's will just be level they promoted at+any levels gained when promoted (Barst is 19 at the end of Chapter 12x for example). Experience won't be included.

Chapter 8: 12.17 Combat; 12.5 Healer

Chapter 9: 12.5 Combat; 13.5 Healer

Chapter 10: 13.16 Combat; 14 Healer

Chapter 11: 13.83 Combat; 15 Healer

Chapter 12: 15.17 Combat; 17 Healer

Chapter 12x: 15.67; 17.5 Healer

I'm glad that you're levels are more or less where mine are in H5, and I wasn't exaggerating any during tier debates. Only difference was that 14 was usually the magic number by the end of Chapter 10, but most of my characters were around 16 by the end of Chapter 12x, so it ends up being consistent at least. Your team is a good size too, with 6 main combat units, 2 healers, Sedgar and Marth. I'm glad we don't have too many discrepancies, although I'm interested to see what your levels are for both Chapter 16 and Chapter 20 (which are often comparison chapters in debates).

[Colonel M]

Just curious as to why you chose Warrior over General. Not that Warrior is a terrible choice if you have the AS to back it up (which Draug does).

[Interceptor]

I think that on a subsequent play-through, I would use fewer people, so perhaps my levels would be different. Then again, I am not heavy on warp-skipping, so that would change things considerably for real efficiency purposes. Anyway, I'll get to 16 and 20 eventually, I am sure. I just don't play my DS very much when I have something else I could be doing.

Just curious as to why you chose Warrior over General. Not that Warrior is a terrible choice if you have the AS to back it up (which Draug does).

I decided not to go with General Draug for a few reasons:

- I only have one other Axe user in the party: Barst. Caeda might eventually use Axes, but she won't be great with them. I'd rather fill this hole in my lineup than add a fourth lancer.

- I don't really need another tank at this point. Sedgar is almost unkillable and does decent damage. Barst and Cain are good enough to do the random walling that I need, and most everyone else can take a hit in emergencies when needed (I used Merric to tank a few hits in 12x). So I prefer Warrior's offense prowess over an additional meatshield.

- Draug needs STR for better offense, and 45% is way better than the 20% I'd get from General.

If Draug caps SPD and it becomes a problem for his offense, I'll reclass him to something else. But for now, he has what I need him to have: WTA on Lances, an effective 1-2 range weapon, and a highly accurate 2-range weapon. Before long, he will have Hammertime. His STR isn't where it needs to be for reliable ORKO'ing, but he does solid damage regardless.

[Colonel M]

Capping Spd shouldn't be a major problem. The only times where it might hurt is C23's Heroes and Snipers, C24 IIRC have 20 AS, and C25. So capped Warrior isn't bad.

[Interceptor]

Chapter 13

This chapter was irritating, but only the middle, and only because of speed. I sent Cain/Athena/Ogma to deal with the north (no problem), and Barst to deal with the south (he ORKO'ed everything with a Steel Sword, christ), but the center path was a huge pain in the ass. Sedgar is the only unit in the army that can take attacks from so many ballistas at once, but he's only moving at a 6, won't counter anything on Enemy Phase, and can't kill the ballistas in one go, so I can't do an efficient clear of this map with just him.

I ended up using the time-tested strategy of throwing useless units into range, deliberately. That allowed me to get Merric, Draug, and Caeda (sort of, Arrowspate really limited her in this chapter) into melee range. After that, it was just a matter of keeping people topped off and not facing too many attacks at once. I moved Marth at full speed, but paused to recruit Beck along the way (he's slightly better than Jake, so Jake is getting dropped). The rest of the chapter was straightforward once the north/south ballistas went down and I broke two in the center. Beck was useful for weakening. Only the boss was a threat at that point, and Merric gave him what-for.

Casualties: Midia, Astram

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  11.57 26 8  0  5  11 16 8  0
Caeda  15.65 28 5  2  16 20 19 8  6
Cain   15.03 30 10 0  11 15 7  12 0
Draug   2.35 39 14 0  9  19 4  7  1
Ogma   16.75 32 14 0  17 16 12 7  0
Barst   4.83 39 20 1  19 20 10 13 3
Merric  2.31 36 3  9  12 18 14 7  14
Sedgar 12.43 48 16 1  14 10 6  27 2
Athena 17.16 30 12 0  13 17 10 9  0

Lena   17.70 18 0  7  8  10 18 3  16

Not much level-up action in this chapter, the ballistas didn't give out too much and the EXP was too dispersed anyway.

[dondon151]

If you keep on using Shiida and Lena, Jake gets a hit bonus from them, while Beck only gets hit bonus from Marth.

[Interceptor]

Good point about the supports, however I don't see Jake being anywhere near the two of them for any period of time. I'm going with Beck, since he has better innate accuracy.

Chapter 14

Nothing too special in this chapter. First turn had me Warping Marth to the NW village, dropping the drawbridge with someone, killing the ballista with Merric, and making my way across the river. Barst and Caeda duoed the east side, with Julian tagging along, everyone else ran south towards the main area. I used Beck to chip away at the Fortify priest, since he doesn't heal himself. The timing went pretty well: I got both chests, recruited the two pegs, and converged on the boss around the same time.

Casualties: Palla, Jake

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  11.57 26 8  0  5  11 16 8  0
Caeda  17.41 29 6  2  18 20 20 8  6
Cain   15.74 30 10 0  11 15 7  12 0
Draug   2.67 39 14 0  9  19 4  7  1
Ogma   17.22 33 14 0  17 16 12 7  0
Barst   5.48 39 20 1  19 20 11 14 3
Merric  3.23 36 3  9  12 18 15 7  15
Sedgar 12.96 48 16 1  14 10 6  27 2
Athena 17.51 30 12 0  13 17 10 9  0

Lena   18.75 18 0  8  9  11 19 3  16
Beck    1.92 20 6  0  4  3  5  14 0

Caeda finally procced STR. I wasn't sure that it was actually possible. Other than that, level-ups were meh and stat-ups were lame in this chapter.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Interceptor

[Interceptor]

Chapter 15

I took a few shots at this chapter, trying to efficiently grab the chests whilst killing as many things as possible on the way to Seize. The final strategy had a generic Curate tanking Gharnef whilst Barriered by Lena. Once he died, Draug stepped in. Caeda flew up the west side with Catria, killing as she went. I am overflowing with Warp uses as this point so I also teleported Merric up near the Seize spot, to assassinate the Draco and generally raise hell.

By the time that Julian grabbed the second chest, Caeda has finished going shopping with the silver Card and I was ready to Seize. I hate desert maps.

Casualties: Catria

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  12.17 27 9  0  6  12 17 8  0
Caeda  18.02 30 6  2  18 20 20 8  6
Cain   16.52 31 11 0  12 15 7  12 0
Draug   3.77 40 14 0  9  19 4  7  1
Ogma   17.70 33 14 0  17 16 12 7  0
Barst   5.61 39 20 1  19 20 11 14 3
Merric  4.25 37 3  9  12 18 15 7  15
Sedgar 13.33 50 17 1  15 10 6  28 2
Athena 17.65 30 12 0  13 17 10 9  0

Lena   20.00 18 0  10 10 12 20 3  16
Beck    2.29 21 7  0  5  3  5  14 0

I'm probably going to promote Caeda with my next Seal, mostly because she's going to be wasting EXP soon and she'll benefit from the +STR and uncapped SPD of a promo.

[Don Draper]

Ok, so I always thought that 20/1 or 15/6 was a suitable level for entering Chapter 16. Including 18/4 Merric, your's is 17.86. I guess I was about two levels off then, but I'm sure the absence of someone like Athena would probably bring it up to 20.

Edited December 7, 2009 by IOS

[Interceptor]

Well, Athena has only gained about 8 levels, stealing EXP from the rest of the team since Ch 7, which realistically means about ten chapters. Given how I milk EXP, I'm not sure I could raise my average level by very much. Maybe combined with what I put in Abel perhaps, but he was low level compared to everyone else, one of the reasons that I dropped him in the first place. I think on my next play-through I will definitely be using one fewer person on average, since the extra unit at this point doesn't really give me much in the way of advantages.

Heck, I may even drop Ogma or Athena after this next chapter, because I'll be getting Xane (whom I have never used, but from reading about him it seems like a good fit for my team). I guess probably Ogma will get dropped, even though he is slightly better statistically, mostly because he can't go Swordmaster, and I don't have a lot of Male Set A's to play with (Merric is staying as a caster, and I will probably make Cain a Paladin).

[Interceptor]

Chapter 16

Surprisingly easy. The most difficult part of this chapter was breaking the logjam of my own units as they tripped over each other trying to squeeze through doorways. I just went down the east side, killing things along the way. Things died in groups: first the dracos, then the heroes, then the first set of mounted units, then the General, then the second set of mounts, etc. I have enough Player Phase offense now that I could kill everything in one shot, as long as I had a unit to attract attention first.

Caeda went shopping again, and picked up a few Recover staves.

Casualties: None.

Levels/stats of my units at chapter's end:

Unit   Lvl   HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS

Marth  12.89 27 9  0  6  12 17 8  0
Caeda  19.01 30 6  2  18 20 20 8  6
Cain   18.66 32 11 0  12 16 8  12 0
Draug   4.30 41 15 0  9  19 4  7  1
Barst   6.45 39 20 1  20 20 12 14 3
Merric  5.40 38 3  9  12 18 16 7  15
Sedgar 14.16 52 18 1  16 11 6  29 2
Athena 18.59 31 12 0  13 17 10 9  0

Lena   20.00 18 0  10 10 12 20 3  16
Beck    2.95 21 7  0  5  3  5  14 0

I won't kill him yet, but Ogma is dead to me. I didn't use him in this chapter at all.

Any thoughts on stat-ups? I have: Drop, Wing, Icon, Draco, Talisman. I'm planning on hitting Caeda with the Icon when she promotes, but the rest are up in the air. I was thinking Draco for Barst, since he's already tanky enough that +2 DEF might make a difference. Same with the Talisman and Caeda, to make her a better mage-killer. As retarded as it sounds, I might end up Winging Athena, since I can see the boss of this next level has another one.