Life

HILDA! HILDA! HILDA!

I also hated FE11 with a passion so I'll never play FE1. Your log of FE1 looks tedious. I still hold Sigurd because in your own words, Marth takes some time to get going. Sigurd is FE4 from Turn 1 of the Prologue and then Horsesety and 5 Ring Celice pick up the slack once Sigurd's midgame falls off of a cliff.

I've never played FE1. Wait, is FE1 Marth really as good as Sigurd? Remember that Sigard both starts and ends as the best unit in FE4.

Most balanced: Sacred Stones. Maybe it's because this game is really easy but outside of Seth and the trainees, no unit feels too powerful or garbage compared to the rest of the army. Even the prepromotes (again, not counting Seth) don't feel too out of line here. Least balanced: Geneology Two reasons: Sigurd and Horsesety. Argument over.

Ooh, I'm enjoying this. My expertise is FE4 - FE9 (excluding 5 and 6) which are certainly the easier games in the series but very fun.

Actually, let's expand out on Byleth because I am relatively certain that Byleth is the only objectively bad thing about this game. I don't care about spoilers anymore, this game has been out for over a month and this community has picked it clean within the first two weeks of its existance. So let's start with the "Rewind Time" feature which is the least egregious sin of Byleth. And I'll be the first to praise this game for using it in the plot to attempt to reverse Jeralt's dealth. This reminded me of FFV when Galuf dies and the party tries to use items and spells on him to no avail. This is actually good plot development because it does actually give off the "death is actually death and not just plot armour for the miraculous reveal later" vibe and since this series is built on the fundamental concept of perma-death, not being able to save Jeralt is a good thing. But holy shit, does it create plot holes that are just stupid when you try to think about them... and they all stem from Byleth's existance. First off, because Thales appears to save Kronya from dying here, that is stupid to the nth degree because Solon simply just sacrifices her soul a month later. Was that the plan all along? Why not use some other mook? Or did Solon go rogue? This shit is not explained well because even the game understands that Byleth is entirely uninteresting and just wants to get to the meat and potatoes of the story already (the Holy War that was aped from FE4). Secondly, why kill Jeralt in the first place? I find it hilarious that when we first meet Jeralt, anyone familiar with the series was thinking "well, here's a Greil clone" except that Greil's death actually means something because now Ike and Mist are stuck in a foreign land without their father and a dwindling band of mercs. Jeralt's death literally feels like going through the motions... except there is no logical reason for him to die. Maybe it's because I haven't done the Church route yet but it really feels cheap if you've played FE4 or FE9 (and maybe even FE13). My only question was "why is it Chapter 9 already and Jeralt is still alive?". Then the cutscene starts and I'm relieved because I'm not wrong about this obvious death. The whole thing is stupid. Now, let's dissect the more serious issue about Byleth; the lack of personality that apparently doubles as a personality. I had someone on YouTube try to honestly convince me that Byleth's lack of a heartbeat is a character flaw. Byleth has no character flaws (aside from being thick as shit). Byleth also has no character traits. Byleth exists only for the obligatory avatar wank that has plagued this series since FE12. A character flaw is a deficiency in a person's moral or ethical compasses that create conflict (big or small) with someone else. Byleth is never in conflict with anyone because Byleth doesn't have ANY deficiencies. Byleth follows Edelgard into the abyss and passively encourages her to keep up with her genocide for "peace's sake" despite clearly understanding how goddamn hypocritical it is AND not actually having a personal stake in the matter since plot armour keeps Byleth alive after the death of the Immaculate One regardless of his role or not. Byleth is pointless in Claude's journey due to simply replacing the mirror that Claude would obviously be talking to instead. It's really only with Dimitri does Byleth actually have some reason to exist... and could have been entirely replaced by another character like Felix who could snap Dimitri out of his funk after Rodrigue's death. And let's be honest, we're here for the three way war which is actually done really nicely. Sure, Edelgard gets a bit shafted by the writing but she still has a complex and deep character that invokes serious contemplation about ethics. This game could have been better than Geneology in every aspect... if only Byleth didn't exist. /rant over Oh and the designs are also garbage. God, I hate Byleth.

I've never played Fates; is Byleth worse than Corrin or does Corrin still hold the title for worst protagonist ever?

I got a bunch: 1) Byleth is the Aeris of FE16; the game would legitimitely be better without their existance. 2) FE7 is better than any game from FE11 onwards (until FE16) since the gameplay actually feels like it flows. Caveat here is that I haven't played FE15. 3) The Avatar is a terrible idea and should be scrapped. 4) FE4 should never get a remake because chances are that they fuck it up and we will all crucify IS for that one.

This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read that and I didn't even need to do a Google search. Probably because this happened a week ago. It's not my fault if you don't look for yourself.

Mercedes has 8 Spd? *checks* Oh. That's cool. Mercedes can stay; Lindhardt is rather trash.

Lindhardt has 5 Spd at base. Archers in Chapter 2 have 9~10 AS, usually 10. Lindhardt just dies if anything looks at him funny.

Healers need to go down a tier (Lindhardt and Mercedes at the very least). Healing is nice but being ORKO'd at 3 range or by Pass is so debilitating regarding their use. Not to mention that Heal has 5 uses and Chapter 2 took me 29 Turns as a VERY rough baseline. I'd love to get that number below 20 but it doesn't matter since they're getting next to no Exp early because they can't even be near the frontlines without immediately dying.

I'd say that Mercedes is fine where she is because she's never really going to have a solid player phase outside of healing and the Blue Lions actually have tanks which negates a lot of Waning Shot's utility. Hubert, on the other hand, does solid damage and debuffs at the same time. As for general tankiness, Chapter 2 Iron Sword!Thieves have 14 AS and 16 Atk. Outside of Edelgard (3), Gary Stu (4) and Hubert (2), everyone started Chapter 2 at level 1 so we can calculate everything against bases. Here are enemy stats from the chapter. I don't know if they're route dependant. Brackets indicate stats affected by battalions. I've also added in the skills that you be aware of (Prowess skills simply boost Hit/Avo/Crit Avo). Lv 9 Thief - Iron Sword (Pass) 16 Atk, 14 AS, 111 Hit - 31 HP, 9 Prt, 3 Rsl, 30 Avo Lv 9 Brigand - Iron Axe (Lancebreaker+) 22 Atk, 9 AS, 94 Hit - 34 HP, 9 Prt, 3 Rsl, 17 Avo Lv 9 Fighter - Iron Axe 19 (17) Atk, 8~9 AS, 91 Hit - 29 HP, 8 (10) Prt, 5 Rsl, 15~16 Avo Lv 9 Archer - Iron Bow (Bowrange +1, Poison Strike) 16~17 Atk, 9~10 AS, 108 Hit - 30 HP, 8 Prt, 5 Rsl, 21~22 Avo Lv 9 Priest - Nosferatu (White Magic Heal +5) 10 Atk, 7 AS, 96 Hit - 30 HP, 7 Prt, 9 Rsl, 23 Avo Lv 11 Kostas (Thief) - Iron Axe 23 Atk, 11 AS, 97 Hit - 39 HP, 13 Prt, 5 Rsl, 18 Avo These guys are not messing around. All the theorycrafting in the world isn't going to help when a Pass Thief bypasses your front lines and ORKOs base Dorothea or an Archer does the same to base Lindhardt from 3 range.

If this is a violation of the 1st Amendment, then the entire removal of right wing YouTube channels and Facebook pages are... what exactly? Remember when Tulsi Gabbard had her entire Facebook page taken down immediately following the 2nd Democratic debates? Pepperidge Farms remembers. Funny how only now you're up in arms about protecting the 1st Amendment.

Move Hubert up a tier at least. Mire is so important to have in Chapter 2 Maddening because it is Def -5 on connection. Nobody else has any debuffs at this stage in the game and it is vital for disposing of both the Brigand (who sports 34 HP and 9 Def) and the 39 HP, 12 Def Kostas. Never mind that Kostas also has 11 AS and has to die the turn after he moves. Just on that alone, Hubert should be in B+ rather than someone like Caspar. Utility matters a lot on Maddening.

It is not normal that Chapter 2 should take me 29 Turns to complete. I like a challenge. This is bordering on insane. It is absurd that I should be scared of fighting 3 enemies at once with an army of 9.

I'm on Chapter 2 (Black Eagle) and I've never turtled this hard before in my life. My army cannot take on more than 2 guys at a time without me getting scared. This is pretty crazy. So much for efficiency. EDIT: Did they playtest this shit at all? This is nuts.

Naw, this is easily the best game in the series when it comes to music. All I'm going to do is point at the two Battle Preps soundtracks (As Swift As Wind and As Fierce As Fire) which both set the scene even before you've started the map. Echoes has nice songs but FE3H is fantastic.

Ignatz is a very servicable late recruit... as long as he joins with B+ Bow immediately (he started with B Bow on my Hard Mode run). Snipers are really really good in this game and Close Counter solved their biggest issue (no enemy phase).

I like how I theorycrafted how both Dedue and Annette would be more important on Maddening and you just proved it for me.

Actually, let me dive into this. On HHM, we can promote... about 7 units or so without really destroying the Funds rank. Who's really taking a Guiding Ring outside of Priscilla? Lucius has the best Mag and gets C in Staves on promotion. Both Erk and Canas start with E Staves on promotion and Serra is never going to be an offensive unit (besides, why promote both Serra and Prissy?). C Staves is excellent and Lucius' high Mag means that Warp and Rescue can actually be used by him to more effect than Prissy (Lucius has ~19 Mag at 20/1 while Prissy has ~15). Lucius is actually the best magic user not named Pent in this game... which should tell you everything you need to know about the spellcasters in this game. Prissy and Serra get their own tier but that's because they're not competing for combat Exp and are worth their utility weight in gold. As for Isadora, the Body Ring is worth 8000 Gold (less than a promotion) and is effectively worth 2 AS on her. Nobody else really has a good argument for it aside from the Convoy. And with it, Isadora now wields a Silver Sword at base with 16 AS. Sain needs 20/5 on average for the same AS and that already costs him an extra 2k gold (promotion) and A Swords (something that you can't guarantee by Chapter 21). Sure, his Str is higher but it's not like he completely outclasses her immediately on arrival. Kent has similar stats himself but also finds himself with lower weapon levels than Isadora (she joins with A Swords, B Lances and D Axes which is mighty solid at base for full WT control). Lowen might be tanky but he's got 16 Spd at 20/10. And for the cherry on the cake, Body Ring!Isadora doubles everything in her joining chapter with a Silver Sword. She delivers the perfect meaty chip for Exp units to just eat up kills. This is beyond usable as opposed to Karel who I mentioned above. Neither of these units are bad. They're not excellent but they also aren't obsolete upon arrival.

Oh, I've been waiting for this. I have some bile to spill. I adore most of the features of this game. Gameplay, excluding the re-use of maps for optional shit, I really enjoy this game. The class system is fun, if a bit lopsided towards Wyverns. Music is fantastic. Hell, I went and bought me a Switch just for this game and I am not disappointed. BUT! I hate Byleth. Both versions. I hate both of their designs but the female version slightly less so. Bylass has that stupid choker around her neck because... no idea. I'm actually not bothered by the midriff or the leggings but the cloak is god awful. Bylad is even worse. The hair is terrible. The entire outfit looks like a mess. And once again, the cloak (and especially the pointless sleeves) needs to go. I hate the character entirely. Byleth feels entirely shoehorned into this game because IS decided a few years ago that avatars were a great idea and they should always exist. Robin gets a pass from me due to actually having a personality with flaws. Never played Fates so I can't comment on that. And then the "I have no emotions because I have no heartbeat because I need some arbitrary reason to be the main character so that we can pretend that our silent protagonist has a 'personality'" plot point is stupid and only brings down what really is a great political story between warring nations. For a game that was trying so hard to ape FE4, it would have been nice if they had looked at Sigurd's character and said "hmm, now here we have a man with human flaws, this is a great template to start from" if Byleth is necessary. Personally, I think the story would be better without Byleth entirely. Byleth is literally the only thing that keeps this game from being better than FE4 in my opinion. Which is a shame because the rest of FE3H is much better than its spiritual successor. That's how damning Byleth is to this game. If I need to pick one, Bylass. She might look like a whore but it's still better than Bylad who might have one of the worst character designs I've ever seen in this franchise.

I have to say, I prefer the first version. I am completely OK with the game toeing the line with some pretty dark shit because this has always been a series that revolved around war and death. Also, I do kinda wish the producers didn't care about not offending the LGBQ community since they don't care much for the religious. Be equal opportunity offenders, I say. No sacred cows.

Rebecca actually has quite a bit of use in a ranking run. A lot of people will argue tier placements and put archers low down on the list because lolenemy phase but then when they play the game, they realize that archers have a really nice niche in quite a few chapters. First thought that comes to my head is Genesis (23x). To clear away Kishuna effectively, you need a Longbow. Since the rank you need to always pay attention to is Exp, there's no reason to ever field Louise without Pent (the A support is that good in a game where supports are non-existant), doors neuter Rath's one advantage he has over the archers (restricted move) and Wil is interchangable but you've had Rebecca for longer and chances are that her stats are already better than Wil's. Karel is probably the single worst unit in the game for ranking purposes, even more than Karla (Karla at least comes at ??/5 so she has a potential 1500 Exp to give even though she requires a promoted Bartre). Karel, on the other hand, comes at ??/8, doesn't have flying utility (making him worse than ??/9 Vaida), denies you Harken, doesn't have Hard Mode Bonuses and is actually less durable than Pent who joined the chapter before as a Sage. Nino can at least contribute to Exp. Karel is bench material. Edit: Isadora is actually really solid of a unit (8 Move salvages everything in this game) and Lucius is a magical tank with staff utility upon promotion (C Staves so that's a free Exp pool to draw on). They're mediocre but by no ways bad for an S Rank HHM game.

I'm theorycrafting regarding Maddening (in school right now so not a lot of time to play) but regarding the BL, Dedue immidiately comes to mind for someone whose position shoots up despite not going Wyvern. Hear me out. The Blue Lions are really lacking for tanky options outside of Dedue. Dimitri doesn't have the same raw bulk that Dedue has, Felix is entirely reliant on Aegis Shield procs, Sylvain is good but not great defensively (Aegis really helps him but that requires mastering Paladin) and Gilbert is a poor man's Dedue without the incredible offense that allows for OHKOs in return. What's so much more impressive about Dedue is that even in Warrior or War Master, he still remains far and above the only unit who can reliably survive an enemy phase as long as the map isn't 50% magic or more. It is going to be an issue lategame since the number of magic users in Enbarr is ridiculous but if you can even survive critical hits from War Masters, that means a lot. This is simply theorycrafting but it seems to me that everyone can have great offense but being able to tank an enemy phase reliably is far more rare and definately appreciated. Annette is also underappreciated as a reliable bosskiller thanks to Crusher and Bolt Axe+. Rushing B Axes isn't really difficult thanks to her proficiency in Axe (outside of that, she's only pushing Reason/Faith/Authority) and Dust is the only Hero's Relic Combat Arte that hits Res, allowing her to single handedly take off almost three full bars of Hegemon Edelgard's 4 life bars (Dance and enemy phase), a role that not even Dimitri can play. She has similar issues as Lysithea (relatively bad durability) but her sheer power in boss-killing is just as reliable as Lysithea's. I'm not saying she's better than Lysithea. Warp at B Faith is absurd. But Annette reminds me of Asvel a lot.