Chindar

To balancing: Heh, Indeed (see: FE10 and free instant-kill Occult skills with high activation rates). By gameplay balance I mean that the late-game recruits have the functionality of completing a late-game map and most/all enemies therein. Let's say you lost all your characters that were not mission-critical, the late-game recruits add either a new distraction from your mission critical units (that might die if overwhelmed on the later maps in a single turn) or add the supplemental killing power you may require at that point. Granted this type of balancing is more of a concession for what one would consider a very bad player of FE (the "casual player" that games often are balanced towards). I would agree that there is a much greater feeling of accomplishment having raised up your lowly characters than the prepromotes. To have characters that could barely take two hits and otherwise could have been replaced by sending a duck to nibble the enemy to death and then later on they are trouncing even the strongest... such a great feeling. As to babying requirements I would say that falls outside the area of "proper" leveling as maps should be completed within a reasonable number of turns... not 20+. Granted, in the later replays it is fun to see how crazy late-game characters can get with a little extra time.

Late-Game Recruits: Characters (usable in battle) that are added to your roster within the last 25% of the game either by automatic or manual recruitment processes. -What do you think of late-game recruits as a gameplay balancing tool? Given the permutations of previous character deaths, poor RN level-up growths, insufficient funds for stronger weapons, powerful weapons having their durability depleted etc., which factors do you think are being considered when deciding the class, base stats and level, weapons etc.? -Do you find late-game recruits have an significant influence on the game's story/plot progression or are they flavor text and supplemental information sources? -Are there any trends concerning late-game recruits? -Is there typically enough time to "properly" level those characters to match that of your current forces? Note: My personal FE experiences are FE4, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Please use specific examples in replies if possible.