NekoKnight

In addition to what Ice Dragon said, I'd just get rid of the bonus units. Bonus units are good for Arena to keep the meta alive and interesting, but in TT, it really just rewards players who happened to draw one of the characters. The mode was a chore even with the bonus, I wouldn't want anyone to have to suffer through TT without it. Also, with survival rated as it is, you don't even need to use the bonus character seriously. You just put them on your first team, surrender and continue with your real team.

I think Rudolf showed a callous disregard for Berkut, basically throwing him under the bus for Alm's sake. Had Berkut been privy to Rudolf's plan, he could have handled the transition with more grace but he was raised to think he should defeat Alm or die trying. There is no way Rudolf couldn't have known that this would end in tragedy. Rudolf was able to tell a random amnesiac (Zeke) about following the barer of the brand but he couldn't tell Berkut.

I meant to say that like the Phantom Menace, SoV isn't just one or two flaws in an otherwise great story. There are major flaws all throughout, from start to finish.

Special skills with an actiom based cooldown, reposition and pivot, and Blade/Raven/Wolf tomes.

I think your impression is correct. We know for a fact that Celica was in Ram village for at most 3 years and left when she was 10 years old. Grey's comment might not be specific but "just moved here" is not going to to mean several years. I'd place my guess at her being in Ram for less than 6 months. This is merely speculation but Celica's immediate and grave acceptance that her discovery means she needs to leave makes me think this isn't the first time she's had to abruptly leave a home. She's probably been on the run for quite a while before she got to Ram. I can agree that there is some greater class mobility seen through other characters but it's a serious problem when the person championing this cause is secret royalty. Yes, Tobin gets his castle, but that's because he is a childhood friend of the emperor. Valentia traded it's classism for nepotism. While most FE protagonists aren't directly criticized, they aren't constantly praised either. Alm has people telling him he's amazing and should be their king, all the time. Eliwood is generally liked by people he deals with but it's not like people are constantly saying how he should be the next leader of Lycia or that he has innate qualities that make him better than the average person. Robin was a main character since the start of the game, being Chrom's right hand man. Chrom's importance wanes after the first act but Robin didn't "steal the spotlight" any more than Eliwood did for Lyn. A secret royal, who grows up sheltered, is given the reigns of an army despite his inexperience, and is destined to slay a mad dragon with his unique sword. He's generally adored and the only people who don't like him are not people you should take seriously. People note that he was greater than the average person since childhood. Am I talking about Alm or Corrin? There is a difference in that Corrin is constantly excused for his faults instead of just not having them, like Alm. There is also the difference that Corrin is a self-righteous hypocrite, but I didn't say they were identical, just similar.

Maybe in real life one should be skeptical of everything, but for these fictional worlds, sometimes you (and the characters) just need to trust information given. How many times has a FE character been told that they'll be able to slay the evil thing if they get the plot sword without having any proof the plot sword is indeed capable of doing that? People usually just go along with it. If people needed proof to back up every mystical claim, we'd never get anything done in this series.

I don't think this is too important. Jedah was presumably telling the truth about Celica's soul being able to save Duma, as he still goes through with the ritual. What he lied about was being able to return Mila.

I'm going to disagree with you on your first point. Alm gets praised just for existing, such as when he's given the most credit for the retaking of Zofia castle despite being newly elected as leader of the Deliverance and not really being an essential piece in their victory. The Deliverance takes many victories while Alm is the leader but besides rescuing Delthea, few of their initiatives were specifically from Alm. I don't think a hero or military leader should go without praise, but few other non-avatars were so consistent in making the protagonist the greatest thing since sliced bread. The closest example I can think of is Ike, but even he faces opposition, and not just from laughably wrong people like Fernand. I did like Clive's words to Alm if Mathilda dies. It added a lot of realism and emotion, similar to how Alm was pissed off that Mycen manipulated him into killing his own father. The problem is, Mathilda dying is something that isn't supposed to happen, so the 'canon' events have Alm be a flawless superman. I would have loved to see Alm have some early failures (give Berkut a chance to be intimidating!) that he's criticized for, which allow him to grow into a better person. Instead it's one victory after another and Alm is treated like the upcoming king even before anyone knows he's a prince.

I wouldn't say most Fire Emblem stories are bad. Flawed yes, but few are so flawed as say the likes of Fates and SoV. SoV is a lot better than Fates because it has many good things in addition to the bad (Fates is forgettable at the best of times and infuriating at its worst). In regards to Celica, I could go along with her hiding her intention to sacrifice herself if it were only for Alm's sake. That would be disregarding the feelings of all her friends for one person. But if sacrificing herself could save Zofia? Well, that is something they'd all have to sit down to consider (and if they couldn't agree with it, Celica could leave for Duma tower without them). I think there is greater ire reserved for avatars because of the misteps of past avatars. To give one example, people don't give Robin a hard time for being bland so much as being frequently praised and without flaws. Alm is equally guilty of being the nigh universally beloved and flawless hero. The greatest double-standard I see is people saying Robin "stole" the spotlight of Chrom as if being a player avatar required he take a back seat to the blue-haired sword lord. No one would say that if Robin had a set appearance and name. I understand what you mean by liking Alm for his personality, but if people who like Alm can forgive him for the things I mentioned, then they'll have to stop criticizing avatars for doing similar things.

Hello everyone, It’s NekoKnight, your friendly wet-blanket, parade-rainer and the general reason why we can’t have nice things. Today, I’d like to discuss the story of FE: Shadows of Valentia. SPOILERS AHOY! You have been warned. In a number of threads I heard people bring up their individual questions and complaints about the writing but as a whole, people say it’s a big improvement over Fates. And it IS a big improvement over Fates (thank the gods) but it also has similar elements that made Fates so bad in the first place. First I’ll do a review of the story and then discuss why it’s actually more like Fates than some people realize. Keep in mind that there are a lot of things to love about SoV, especially the excellent world-building endeavors, but this review and analysis are to discuss just the plot. The Review Analysis Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is kind of like the Phantom Menace for Star Wars. You thought Jar Jar was annoying, and that bit with the midichlorians was kind of dumb, but overall it was an entertaining story. But on closer inspection, you find it's not just a few things wrong with the plot, everything is wrong. The heroes, the villains, the plot devices, the themes and the overarching plot are just nonsensical. I don't hate the story or world of SoV. It has some interesting themes, great world-building and more than a few cunning bits of dialogue. I'm glad the game was made and would recommend it to others, but at the same time, as someone interested in storytelling, I can't ignore its flaws. What did you think?

Hello everyone, It’s NekoKnight, your friendly wet-blanket, parade-rainer and the general reason why we can’t have nice things. Today, I’d like to discuss the story of FE: Shadows of Valentia. SPOILERS AHOY! You have been warned. In a number of threads I heard people bring up their individual questions and complaints about the writing but as a whole, people say it’s a big improvement over Fates. And it IS a big improvement over Fates (thank the gods) but it also has similar elements that made Fates so bad in the first place. First I’ll do a review of the story and then discuss why it’s actually more like Fates than some people realize. Keep in mind that there are a lot of things to love about SoV, especially the excellent world-building endeavors, but this review and analysis are to discuss just the plot. The Review Analysis Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is kind of like the Phantom Menace for Star Wars. You thought Jar Jar was annoying, and that bit with the midichlorians was kind of dumb, but overall it was an entertaining story. But on closer inspection, you find it's not just a few things wrong with the plot, everything is wrong. The heroes, the villains, the plot devices, the themes and the overarching plot are just nonsensical. I don't hate the story or world of SoV. It has some interesting themes, great world-building and more than a few cunning bits of dialogue. I'm glad the game was made and would recommend it to others, but at the same time, as someone interested in storytelling, I can't ignore its flaws. What did you think?

Probably Armads for the effect because it synergizes so well with Hector's stats and natural Distant Counter. Design-wise, I think the Mystletainn is pretty darn cool.

A variety of objectives is always nice, but if I have to name one, I'd say Defend. You are required to hold a position but a good defense map will give you additional rewards for being bold.

I didn't think it was even possible to get to tier 20 without a lot of merges. I had a deathless run with my armor team last week but I dropped from T18 to T17.

I'd appreciate that. Some teams will just completely fall apart if they lose a core member and you might as well just surrender and use your next team. I lost one match because by lance user died and the whole rest of the team got slaughtered by a Ryoma on the next map.

Looks like some interesting skills and it's nice that Swift Sparrow is now in the general pool. Katerina looks cool but I'm not going to spend my limited orbs when she shares Red pulls with two others.

Hopefully nothing interesting because I won't have orbs to spend on it. I'm looking forward to some SS and RD banners.

I'm comitted to getting to 50k this time but I don't know if I will participate again. I've been playing since launch and I only have a few units who are capable of killing Veronica, assuming I even get that far. My typical score is around 500 points per win so I need around 8 wins per day to keep up. It's really tedious by this point and I struggle to find the time or motivation to continue. I don't want to spend hours of each day grinding for half a month just to get the worthwhile rewards.

Lyon, Micaiah, Sothe, F!Morgan, Rath, Selkie, Melady, Lloyd with better art and Nephenee, just off the top of my head. Ardent Sacrifice is literally Micaiah's ability. Even with Wrathful Staff in the game, I would riot if she wasn't a tome user.

I rarely buy it, just out of principle. I didn't buy any for Awakening and for Fates, I just got the DLC for the grandmaster class because I like it so much. SoV DLC is mostly useless to me in terms of gameplay and I can watch the story scenes/supports on youtube.

I usually run two teams, a cavalry team to clear 1-6 and Marth/Lilina/Hector/Elise for the final level. Hector can tank and kill most ranged and blues (Reinhardt most importantly) which will pave the way for Lilina and Marth to kill Veronica. I wish my Lilina were +Spd. She requires Marth's Spur Speed to not get doubled and killed by Veronica. Maybe when I get my Nino trained up, I'll be able use her to kill Veronica and Reinhardt.

Japanese: Taking it easy would be a waste!! Quickened Pulse + Dire Thunder + Moonbow = God of the new world.

After I was lamenting never getting focus characters, having blown 100+ orbs on Celica's banner, I finally got Bridelia! +Atk, -HP! I have a spare Death Blow 3 and Life and Death 2. What should I give her?

The Sharena quest is actually pretty manageable. Unbuffed lv 40 3* Sharena deals 12 damage x 2 to Zephiel, so if you kill everything else with mages/dance/reposition, it's not hard to chip him down to 12 or less health. Zephiel is a bit more risky as you will have to survive a Retribution attack.

Conquest and Hoshido together, and then Conquest, Hoshido and Revelation.