[After 406 hrs I'm moving on to my second route -AMA-]

Tell me if Dimitri eats the weeds.

Have fun with Azure Gleam!

[Video game music]

Man, when there's no new posts sometimes I forget this thread exists.

 

[Fate/Grand Order General]

Grail Front is a lot of fun! At first I tried going for the classic "eliminate all Servants," but with later Fronts I find myself just going to assassinate the enemy Master more while taking advantage of the weak AI.
-- It's also great to just use my Master piece to attack the enemy's Master, which is what I ended up doing for the "Pincer Tactics" battle to win.
-- I also like that Grail Fronts promote "solo" Servants vs the "farming" types. Herc is great when I can field him, but fielding Kama has also been working rather well.

As for lotto farming, currently on box 80 with 50 Golden Apples left to spend. Refilling my gem supplies and QP is great, as well as getting more materials.
* * * * *
For future Servants I want with their NA banner estimates...

September
– Okita (Mostly to just reunite with Nobu, although I may just use Tickets and continue to save Quartz.)
January 2023
– Space Ishtar (Mine is already at NP2, so this is more for append skills and potential levels beyond 100.)
February
– Caren (This is more for her design as I'm not sure if I'll actively use her. Probably will just use spare tickets.)
June
– Morgan (Really tempted to spend some Quartz on Morgan as I can use a Berserker with NP Charge. Then again, I do have Servants right now who can farm just fine, although my Arash will end up reaching Bond 15 and potential retirement soon...)
July
–Fae Lancelot [Melusine] (The main goal and a dream for NP2. The question is if I'll be able get enough Quartz and be lucky enough to pull it off)
– Koyanskaya of Light (I probably should roll for her since she opens up more options, but I don't have enough Quartz for everything. I may put spare tickets towards her.)
September
– Summer Kama (Yeah, I have Space Ishtar and will likely continue using Space Ishtar over S!Kama, but I have OG Kama and getting her summer version would be nice.)

[Best Combat Arts/Magic]

While I haven't solidified my endgame builds for everyone yet, I do follow the synergy mentality a bit more, especially if Elemental Essence is used. As for combos (Excalibur -> Agnea's Arrow), they seem a bit overkill (although I'll admit Luna + Swift Strike on Shez looks cool).
-- Also, I tend to use CA/Magic that just feels good to use, even if they may not be "best-in-slot" or the most efficient.

For some example builds...
-- Axes: War Strike, Focused Strike (Focused Strike is War Strike's little bro, and War Strike feels great to use.)
-- Swords: Astra, Wrath Strike (Astra is the heavy hitter, Wrath Strike is easy invincibility and a quick guard-breaker.)
--- Fire Gremory: Bolagnone/Ragnorak, Fire (With Elemental Essence, Fire can work well as a crowd clearing spell while Bolagnone or Ragnorak handles tougher opponents.)
--- Electric Mortal Savant: Electric Grounder, Thoron (Crowd Clear + Stun Gauge)
== Shez: Swift Strike, Luna/Physic (Swift Strike handles everything with Luna being my magic option. I may swap out Luna for Physic if I'm not controlling Shez myself)
== Lysithea: Abraxas, Dark Spikes (Two heavy hitting spells that is consistent with Lysithea's Light/Dark theme. Being a Gremory with her unique Tome allows Lysithea to spam these spells more than usual. // I use Abraxas as it sends enemies flying, triggering Lysithea's personal.)

* * * * *

As for Luna, while it is indeed powerful, a part of me wonders if it still doesn't have a high modifier to offset the fact it ignores resistance. While it is a great consistent-damage skill with setup capability, for raw damage it may be better to use other skills instead.

Agnea's Arrow I haven't played with thoroughly as I tend to stick with elemental spells for Elemental Essence synergy (and I haven't gotten around to properly playing characters who have innate access). From what I messed around with it though, it looks nice and hits hard, although I'm not sure how effective it is when compared to other options.

Aura feels meh to me, although granted I haven't used it thoroughly. It is nice for gathering enemies in front of the caster for follow-ups and is a quick spell, but I just haven't been playing characters who would usually make use of Aura.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Out of curiosity, has anyone tried using Constance with Agnea's Arrow and Meteor, specifically to see if Emergent Magic has any effect?
-- I imagine it'll upgrade the Elemental Spells to their Elemental Essence counterparts, but since the above two spells have no element, I wonder if they have a "super-powered" version.
-- On the note of Emergent Magic, I wonder if there happens to be a T3 version of spells (Elemental Essence + Emergent Magic). 

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

38 minutes ago, IonicAmalgam said:

How does this merc whistle auto clear work

1. You have to be in NG+.
2. You buy the Vanguard Whistle from the Renown Shop. (Merc Whistle is a different item for getting an accessory that changes the Personal Skill on a character)
3. You use the Vanguard Whistle on the "World Map." It automatically wins the battle, giving you the clear reward and access to that location's survey spots.
-- However, it does not give you S-Rank and does not clear locked survey spots (such as complete all side missions or reach a KO Count for the chapter). If you want to survey a locked location or get S-Rank, one will have to fulfill the requirements manually.
-- Also, Vanguard Whistles cannot be used for "Challenge Battles," which are the battles that have restrictions (such as fielding only Male Units for the battle, cannot dodge during the battle, etc.)

As I have stated in a previous post, the idea is to auto-complete the side battles using Vanguard Whistles, collecting the survey spot rewards, and only manually fight the main chapter battle.
-- This way you can speed through the campaign to make efficient use of the Training Grounds (for mastering classes) as well as farming Stat Boosters (Renown Shop, Anna's Shop, and a few Survey Spots). Getting some free Forge Uses is also nice as higher-level forging can be quite expensive.
-- Depending on the goal, fighting some of the side battles can be worthwhile if trying to claim a certain survey reward (usually locked or needing to clear a Challenge Battle to access).

Hope this helps!

[Three Hopes Build Thread]

Guess I'll post a build of my own..

* * * * * * * * * *

Note: Battalions are not listed as they do not impact builds much. It can be assumed that the user fields their personal battalion, same-weapon battalion, or adapt to the changing circumstances. 
Note 2: Apex (Weapon) are not listed as it is currently bugged. Otherwise, they may end up in the "General" category for skills, making it harder to choose what skill fits where...

Shez – Asura [Dark Creator Sword, Warm Cloak*]
Unique Action: Shadowflash, Gordian Stroke*
Unique Support: Mortal Coil
Crest: N/A

Combat Arts/Magic: Luna, Swift Slice

Skills: 
-- Standard: Sword Prowess, Boost Critical, Axebreaker
-- Damage: Impossible Feat, Rejuvenation
-- Specials: Renewed Carnage, The Creation, Specials Master
-- Utility: Range Master, Howl

Alternatives:
-- Lifeforce: For even more damage when using Combat Arts/Magic, at the cost of losing HP.
-- True Awakening: A unique skill learned by Shez, but Shez doesn't make much use of Awakening as much as Byleth does. It can be nice if trying to use Shez to earn "Awakening Bonuses," but other characters may be better suited for that.
-- Absorb Speed: Useful if soloing as Shez as it also increases the damage of Swift Slice and reduces the cooldowns of CA/Magic further, otherwise other skills may be more worthwhile.
-- Appraisal, Despoil: The classic Farming skills. Toss in Balthus' Merc Whistle Item "Secret Medicine" and rake in the gold. Swap them in if desired.

Description: My favorite build for Shez as once it gets going, it annihilates everything on the screen. This build makes use of Sylvain Merc Whistle item which increases the damage and range of attacks once certain hit thresholds are reached, as well as the Dark Creator Sword which doubles all hits. Shez's Asura class is also great for building up hitcounts due to its moveset.
-- Remember that Merc Whistle items replace the character's Personal Skill with another, so this Shez will not be dashing around as normal. I find it not to be an issue as Strong Attack 3 (Asura) dashes around just fine, while also doing damage while it charges forward.

Impossible Feat is used to further increase damage dealt, with Rejuvenation being present to help offset the HP Drain and act as a self-heal.

Shez is built to also be a Special Attack spammer, having passive regeneration with Renewed Carnage and synergy with The Creation (can't be interrupted while one Warrior Gauge is filled) and Specials Master (increased critical rate if at least 30 KOs during a Special). Special Attacks also recieve the extra range and damage from Gordian Stroke, meaning it will affect the entire screen when fully active.

I lastly use Range Master for even more range, with Howl to make it easier to interrupt/knockback foes.
-- Note: I have not tested if removing Range Master makes a difference once the effects of Sylvain's personal maxes out in terms of attack range. I just kept it on as it's Shez's innate ability and it helps ramp up easier.

Extra: While I love the build, I haven't been playing much as Shez recently so I can focus on other characters instead. When Shez is force-deployed, I tend to swap out Luna for Physic (will later give him Fortify once he learns it from an ally), as an insurance policy while I main a different character.

Also, Shez works well as a Dark Knight as Shez has access to Essence of Darkness and Fiendish Blow. While I haven't messed much with this combination myself, it is another fun build that Shez can run if one gets tired of being an Asura.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

...I just realized I can start S-Ranking (Maddening) the other routes via Record Keeper instead of playing through the campaign.
-- Granted, this realization only occurred since I still need to level certain units before they become unavailable for me when I start a new run. Previously, I would just run the main chapter maps so I can put in a full team of 8. Getting S-Ranks while training the Bonus Units is actually pretty nice, although my Blue Lions will suffer a bit since I'm using their maps for clears.
-- Of course, nothing is stopping me from playing through the campaign normally, but Vanguard Whistle auto-clears is too good for getting campaign resources (Training Grounds and Stat Boosters).

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Did some testing myself with regards to Adjutants to confirm stuff.
-- Yeah, you guys are right, the Support Levels matter for the different tiers of the Unique Support and Tactical Abilities. I went into battle using Linhardt and Hilda and saw the different results, as well as the Lv popups for the active skills.
-- Guess Hilda is choosy on who to be a cheerleader for, at least with regards to her Unique Support. That being said, the same could be said of any Adjutant support with regards of their Unique Support ability, so I guess this is another factor when deciding to make a unit an Adjutant or not.

As for Gremory, yeah the default moveset sucks. The class is indeed carried by its ability to spam Magic.
-- If Elemental Essence is present, it makes the default moveset more fun to play when using an augmented Strong Attack/Class Action.
-- Elemental Essence also helps with the Magic Spam, as augmented spells are also quite fun to use.
-- Otherwise, other classes are just better. This is why I struggle with keeping Lysithea as a Gremory... (New Tome classes/movesets when?)
-- I just realized I practically posted my opinion of this already and just repeated myself...

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

1 minute ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

If I'm not mistaken, support rank still matters because someone with a C rank support is only getting the base rank Advocate, whereas someone with A rank can get the fully upgraded one.

Interesting. This is the first time I'm hearing of this.

I wonder if an easy way to test is to use Linhardt as an adjutant and see how much Catnap recovers in an allied stronghold, as Catnap recovers a different amount of HP per Unique Support level.
-- If there is indeed a different, the heal amount should be different depending on the support level.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

4 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I question using Hilda as a support/pair up when one of the best things about her is her powerful Unique Support ability, which allows her to get more out of her adjutant. Granted, if it's someone she has an A support with, they'll get the full benefit of that support skill. So, maybe Hilda is awesome as a pair up for characters like Marianne and Claude specifically.

Going off of Tutorials... "With at least support level C, you will have access to the adjutant's Unique Support and Tactical Abilities."
-- In other words, Hilda's Unique Support works even if she's not the active unit, provided the active unit is male and they have at least a C-Level Support. So, it's not A-Rank, it's just C-Rank, which everyone can get.
-- You can even confirm the effects in Mock Battle, where Advocate (Hilda's Unique Support) will pop up when she's the adjutant. I did with using Claude as Active and Hilda as Adjutant.

3 hours ago, ZanaLyrander said:

I will say, Lysithea may lack an Essence of Element, but she kinda doesn't need one. Augmented arts/spells usually have better AoE, but even unaugmented Luna and Hades have a massive AoE, and make for a terrifyingly powerful combo when used together, and Lysithea learns both naturally. I will concede that it is a shame she doesn't get Essence of Darkness, but she doesn't really need it.

While it's true characters don't need Essence of Element (it allows for more freedom and mix-matching instead of being pressured into going all-in on the favored element), in my experience Gremory users really desire it to make their moveset feel interesting.
-- Regular Magic feels fine, as you have stated. It's just the augmented Strong Attacks of the Gremory (as well as the Class Action), make it so much more enjoyable to play as I find the default moveset lackluster. It helps that one can use augmented lower tier magic to spam and clear mobs instead of the regular moveset, saving augmented higher tier magic for more challenging encounters.
== Augmented Strong Attacks help other classes too, such as Holy Knights, Dark Knights, and Dark Bishops, but I feel their default moveset feels great enough on their own. Being augmented just makes them extra awesome.

As for my Lysithea, I plan on using Abraxas and Dark Spikes for her abilities. Gotta keep her using the Light/Dark dynamic, as well as the Dark Spikes memes from Three Houses.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Finished my "Vanguard Whistle" run of Golden Wildfire. These runs essentially "auto-completes" the regular battles using a Vanguard Whistle, meaning ideally the only battles fought during the campaign is the main chapter battle. Challenge battles with restrictions can't be auto'd, and sometimes there may be survey rewards which may be worth manually fighting a side battle instead of autoing it.
--.Doing these campaign runs are definitely worthwhile for getting extra Stat Boosters and using the Training Grounds, but this method also requires a lot of waiting around for loading screens, skipping cutscenes, and doing the tutorial levels per run.
-- While great for min-maxing, it can be exhausting. If not concerned about efficiency, it may be better to just chill at the final chapter and do maps via the Record Keeper. This way, one actually plays the game more doing maps back to back instead of navigating through a bunch of menus before the next battle. It helps that there are no deployment restrictions in Record Keeper battles either, and allows one to play with the Bonus Characters who are not available in regular campaign runs.

Character-wise, I managed to master all classes on Shez, Claude, Hilda, and Lysithea. Here's my thoughts after messing around with them a bit.
-- I find M!Shez has the better learned abilities than F!Shez, and I personally enjoy War Master and Dark Bishop more than Falcon Knight and Gremory. That said, I'm not moving from my Warm Cloak + Dark Creator Sword build on Asura Shez that just annihilates everything on the screen. However, for campaign runs, I use Shez more as a support, tossing on Physic (I should teach Shez Fortify) so I can level other characters instead.
-- As for Claude, while his moveset requires some adjustment, the fireballs from the Class Action is amazing. It deals tons of damage and leaves behind burning ground, which when combined with Fallen Star, absolutely destroys monster-type enemies. It also does wonders against the regular officers as well. // Claude also learns so many amazing abilities it can be difficult to find what skills to equip.
-- Hilda is interesting as she can either actually work or be a cheerleader with her skillset, although considering she has a Relic she's likely to be on the front lines. At least she is straightforward, she hits hard and with her personal, can draw in a crowd before blasting them all away. I find that the AI works well when using her charged-up attacks, same with Marianne with the falling ice orbs or Bernadetta activating her Ice Field.
-- Lysithea is a jack-of-all trades character, focusing on spamming Weapon Arts/Magic to trigger her Crests, which then builds up her Warrior and Awakening Gauges so she can activate those. She is indeed quite powerful, but sitting through the same Special Attack over and over can get old. Awakening can be great, but an Awakened Gremory without an "Essence of Element" skill is not as fun or useful as a different Awakened class. Lacking Elemental Essence also affects Lysithea's Magic options, as augmented Magic feels amazing to use when compared to their regular versions. // Again, Lysithea is actually quite powerful with her spamming Magic/Specials/Awakenings, but it just doesn't feel as satisfying as other character builds.

* * * * *

Now, I think I may end up going ahead and doing my Blue Lions "Kill Byleth" run. I could use a change in scenery since I did all three of my Golden Deer runs back to back. (1st Run on Hard, recruited Byleth // 2nd run on Maddening, Killed Byleth // 3rd run on Maddening, used Vanguard Whistles to "speedrun").
-- Although I probably should stay in post-game so I can train Byleth in her Gremory class, as my BL run will not be recruiting Byleth...

[Three Hopes Build Thread]

5 hours ago, Archeleon said:

Linhardt

Unique Action: Easy Breezy - Very odd ability. It does not have as many synergies as you'd think this would have and can be a bit of a pain to trigger and maintain. It does a very small amount of damage that applies Windtorn to enemies but does not trigger it. It is not improved by Essence of Wind. It does not add to the Hit Count. It does not damage the Stun Gauge. Overall, this is a weak and awkward unique action.

Huh, so Easy Breezy sorta sucks. It looked cool and I was looking forward to messing around with Linhardt more due to the ability, but if its lackluster than I'll move him to a lower priority when it comes to mastering classes/reaching max level.

I would post some builds of my own, but aside from Shez I don't feel like I've had enough experience playing the other characters with end-game loadouts. It doesn't help I tend to main a single character now with Balthus' Merc Whistle item to get more gold, so I don't get to experience that character's personal ability.
-- The only other two I feel somewhat confident in making a build for is Claude and Lysithea, although I haven't played them at their max potential much as I play to master the classes, then swap characters.

[Three Hopes surpasses 1 million units shipped]

Hyrule Warriors is great, although I only played the original Wii U version (where not getting hit was essential for S-Ranks, I hear they made it easier for subsequent versions).
-- Besides the huge number of characters and maps, HW had Adventure Mode which added so much content to the game. The main issue I would have with HW is the grind as leveling up the entire roster is rough, and some of the movesets being lackluster.

Fire Emblem Warriors was nice, although I think I preferred Hyrule Warriors due to movesets being more interesting and progression being more straightforward. I think the maps in HW were also better than FEW, although my memory is a bit fuzzy on that point.
-- I think another reason is that I disliked the "Arena Missions" one got in FEW's "Adventure Mode," as they took longer to complete and were tougher to S-Rank.

As for other Musou games I played, I started with Samurai Warriors Chronicles (3DS), and then got Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii) with Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper (Wii U) finishing it off. I never 100% these titles and mostly just played through the main story modes, but had a blast playing through them.
-- SW Chronicles was my first exposure to these games (and happened to be the title I wanted most during the early 3DS days, despite knowing nothing about them). The 3DS hardware is limiting and I currently can't go back to replay it since my own 3DS is partially busted (broken L-Button), but it was a fun experience nonetheless.
-- Samurai Warriors 3 is also fun, although I think there was a more definitive version released later. It helps I enjoyed the setting, the voiceovers, and the movesets of the characters.
-- Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper exposed me to the Dynasty Warriors cast, as well as a few others. I personally had a blast playing through the story mode as well as listening to the soundtrack, although I never really went back to replay the game on Chaos difficulty to get the special weapon attributes or unique weapons for the characters. // Just note that WO3 has different versions, and I think Ultimate may be the best and final one. I just played Hyper as that is what I had access to.

* * * * *

Back to Three Hopes, I have 224 hours invested with "4/6" routes completed, counting the "Spare/Kill Byleth" as alternative paths. I still need to go back and do the alternative ending for the Golden Deer, although I'm unsure if I'll get around to that.
-- At the moment, I'm using Vanguard Whistles to go through Golden Wildfire a third time to stack up on stat boosters, get extra training, and to see what a "Whistle Run" would be like. While it may be the most efficient use of time for acquiring resources and min-maxing, I feel like chilling at the final chapter and just playing through Records is a better way to go if casually playing.
-- I'm also playing Three Hopes less as I practically experienced the majority of the content already. For Golden Wildfire, both routes were practically the same save for some minor changes here and there, making me less enthusiastic to do a campaign run where I have to experience the same stuff before I get to content that is potentially different. Also, if/when DLC comes out that requires us to replay through the main campaigns again, I don't want to be too burnt out on playing through them too many times. (I have yet to complete the campaigns in the original Three Houses after the Ashen Wolves DLC came out, so I missed out on the Ashen Wolves convos and talking with the NPCs in Abyss.)

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

46 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

The game says that you get more renown by finishing the main battle while capturing as few regions as possible, but that is not worth it, is it? Also, is pairing up everyone a bad move? Because I see people doing it on Youtube playthroughs, and I feel it isn't the best move they could be making...

Regarding Pair-Up, it depends.
-- I honestly use it about half of the time now, although when I initially played (Hard Mode, first campaign run) I practically never bothered with it until the finale.
-- I normally Pair-Up to protect lower-level characters who would get slaughtered by enemy forces, and this can be important when facing the final chapter on normal playthroughs as I've had AI allies die from getting hit from a charged/magic attack while everyone was fighting the boss.
-- Alternatively, I'll place one on the main/active character to make them more powerful, while the others run around the map helping with objectives or seizing strongholds.

As for the extra renown for not capturing territories, I am unsure. I'm currently "speedrunning" a campaign using Vanguard Whistles to make use of the Training Grounds and get more Stat Boosters, and capturing everything possible seems like the way to go. "Challenge Missions" can't be auto-completed though, so it may be worth skipping those unless they have a reward worth doing.
-- Honestly, one could probably optimize the Vanguard Whistle runs more if knowing exactly what region gives, as the general idea is to only manually fight the main chapter battle if possible. Some survey rewards, such as stat boosts or free forge uses, may be worth unlocking and doing the battle if they are locked behind a condition.
== As for normal playthroughs, just do everything possible. The 10 renown for clearing the chapter + extra from doing chores is more than enough to get what you want from the Renown Shop.

[Which characters were popular but aren‘t anymore?]

I guess the distinction here comes from a gameplay or story/character perspective.

Character-wise, I'll say Lysithea seems to get the short stick as I loved her in Three Houses. Alternatively, I've just become more aware of her character, but in Three Hopes they really drive home the bit about "not being treated as a child." I get it's one of her character traits, but they seem to focus on it a lot in Three Hopes.
-- Alois also got screwed in my opinion, as he got reduced to a pun-making machine. I loved Alois and it's a shame he's not playable and that the game doesn't explore his other qualities.
-- Claude definitely has been going the rounds online since Three Hopes brings out the schemer side more versus the power of friendship/memes in Three Houses. Personally, I don't mind as I love seeing this version of Claude, but others may not see that way.

As for who got better, I'll say Jeralt as he got more screen time and actually has some supports/paralogues to further flesh out his character.
-- I'll say Ferdinand was already great in Three Houses, but his story arc in Three Hopes is also pretty amazing. Perhaps I'm just biased, but seeing more of Ferdinand is great. It's just a shame future Ferdie won't sound the same due to the passing of his English VA...
-- Sylvain shows a more responsible side to him in Three Hopes compared to his skirt-chasing tendencies in Three Houses, but I dare say this is mostly due to the circumstances. The inclusion of his father helps with this as well.
-- On a personal note, Lorenz went from being "Lorenz" to one of my more favored characters in Three Hopes. Seeing how he was raised and his values was extremely interesting, and Lorenz's dad is also pretty great. When I hear Count Gloucester speak, I'm reminded of Arthas' father from Warcraft.

* * * * *

Regarding Ashe, I've always regarded him as the "good boi" of the Blue Lions. He's a precious little man, although I dare say him being "average" also makes him a bit more forgettable. As for Three Hopes, I get the feeling Ashe took Felix's betrayal arc from Three Houses (if Felix is recruited elsewhere) and made it is own, but puts on a depressive spin on it instead of "becoming like the boar."
-- It doesn't help that Ashe also seems outclassed gameplay-wise, making one less likely to use him as well.

[What type of DLC do you think this game will have?]

So, toss in the Malig Knight for DLC!

Axes? Check.
Magic? Check.
Mounted? Flying.

We all set.
* * * * *
In seriousness, a Magic Axe would do wonders as Magic Lance and Magic Sword already exists, and Annette could really, really use a Magical Axe class.

I personally still want the original Ashen Wolves classes from Three Houses to make it in. Mounted Tome, Flying Tome, and Magical Fist are good archetypes, with all three being capable of having new movesets. Magical Fist will likely lead into a Paladin -> Holy/Dark Knight situation, but may still be worthwhile.

As of crazy ideas, as of late I've been wanting a Magic Armor class. I keep thinking of Golbez from FFIV as a base and how cool it may be to see a Magic/Tome Armor.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

2 hours ago, Archeleon said:

Definitely would recommend resetting levels and leveling up as a certain class to acquire desired stats. If you are smart about it you can get very high on the stats with minimal booster investment. I made myself a calculator that predicts somewhat accurately what stats will look like leveling as each class. Don't underestimate getting some quality time grinding on each character as you learn about their personal and level up their Combat Arts/Spells. I personally am not going for full 120 stats on everyone as it would be very painful to get 120 Def on Lysithea for example. Will I get Hubert's Mag to 120? For sure.

Guess Level Resets may be required then, although I'll be needing a lot more gold now since I'm not finished forging my weapons yet.
-- I'm more interested in mastering all classes than leveling everyone up to 120 and capping stats. Maybe I'll cap out the House Leaders and Byleth, but doing everyone seems like a hassle.

While I do have a fair amount of maxed MT weapons, I still want to max out the MT of every Sacred Weapon, Relic, and Unique Weapon before I start attempting Durability. This also gives me time to wait for good weapon drops worth forging, which I personally find Reckless Power being a requirement.
-- It also doesn't help Durability isn't really needed as there's plenty at baseline, with leveling up the CA/Magic reducing the cost as well as certain foods reducing the cost further. The only weapons that really want Durability are those with the CA/Magic cooldown reduction, as they can burn through the points rather quickly.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Is there really anything in the game that challenges you to get max stats with multiple characters? I've just fed stat boosters into my 120 Shez and it's been sufficient to S rank almost every Maddening Map.

The only thing that I think qualifies for a "superboss" or an "Awakening Apotheosis" equivalent is the Gatekeeper Paralogue on Maddening.
-- Even then though, I managed to fly through it fairly easily with my nearly maxed Shez. The main issue was meeting the HP Threshold requirements for S-Rank as one good hit can ruin the run.

But yeah, while Maddening is indeed more difficult than Hard, characters who are fresh off of a Hard Mode playthrough (level 50+) should be able to handle themselves without much issue.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

So, I decided to try a "NG+ speedrun" of Golden Wildfire, using the Vanguard Whistles for the first time ever to clear the regular battles (since I S-Ranked everything on Maddening during a previous playthrough).

I can see this method being useful for trying to use the Training Grounds, getting Stat Boosters, as well as Forge Materials easily.
-- The downside is going through the tutorial missions each time, which takes say 30-60 minutes, as well as constantly trying to skip cutscenes and waiting for loading screens.

Honestly, while it is likely the most effective way to min-max, I may just end up just doing Record Keeper missions instead to cut off the downtime so I can actually play and mess around instead of wait through loading screens.
-- At the moment Shez is nearly capped in all stats (save for Res), while Claude is 120 with some capped stats. I'm debating on resetting Claude's level so he can try to get the other stats without heavy need for stat boosters, but that may just be too much effort...

* * * * *

Speaking of multiple playthroughs, I wish there was a way to skip the tutorial chapters. Sitting through them each time sucks.
-- Also, I wish Holst wasn't an NPC or at least scaled properly in his debut chapter. A Level 15 fighting Level 100+ enemies is not a good look for the famed Holst.

[Individual Unit Focused Runs - What I've Learned]

Managed to get Claude up to 120, but haven't got the chance to fully master all of his classes yet. I suppose maining him with the Infantry EXP buff active and using Balthus' Merc Whistle item for gold didn't help (instead of going with my usual Knowledge Gem on everyone).
-- On that note, using Despoil (the skill) with Balthus' Secret Medicine item helps a lot when farming for gold. Getting everything forged costs a lot, even if focusing mainly on MT. Materials are handled via campaign playthroughs and trading excess building materials.

I will say I enjoyed using Claude as a Sword User, as he was one for the majority of my 2nd Golden Wildfire run. Using his Sacred Weapon and having the Riegan Crest helped a lot with offsetting the HP Drain from Impossible Feat, and the augmented Wind Attack from Mortal Savant is pretty cool. If I was to keep him as a Sword, Windsweep and Excalibur would likely be my CA/Magic of choice. Heck, I may even try using Lifeforce with him since Claude has decent self-sustain.
-- Near the end I ended up using Claude as a War Master, but that was more for class mastery instead of any desire to play War Master Claude.

As for using Claude in his actual class (Barbarossa), I did some quick testing in the Training Grounds before writing this post. His moveset still requires some thought and adjustment, although his Class Action is amazing. I noticed that when he does a "loop-the-loop," it'll lead into his "charge forward" strong attack (Strong 5) while the "barrel-roll" afterwards is the "shoot arrows at everyone around you" strong attack (Strong 6). Looking at the animations helped me a lot when figuring out his gameplay instead of manually counting the attacks and button presses.
-- Of course, we can't count out Wind God and Fallen Star, which are pretty great Combat Arts as well.

Claude Skills: (Weapon) Prowess, Wild Abandon, Boost Critical, Fiendish Blow, Dual Onslaught, Howl, Heaviest Hitter, Gauntletbreaker, Impossible Feat, Seeker of Greatness
-- I didn't have Luna yet, and that may end up replacing Fiendish Blow.
-- Absorb Dexterity also seems good, but that's mostly for when I main Claude myself. Having it on an AI Claude seems a bit worthless.
-- When I get back to using the Barbarossa class, I want to also use Leader's Ploy, but again lack the space for it. Same can be said for Apex Bow (if/when that gets fixed).

* * * * *

Overall, Claude is pretty fun, but needs some getting used to if using him as his primary class. I can see Claude work well as a Sword User due to the "Sacred Riegan Sword," but I imagine he's still best suited as a Barbarossa (or a Bow Knight). I would say his personals hold him back a bit, but Claude has good options and an excellent learned skill set, making him one of the better characters in Three Hopes.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

17 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

RE: Battalions, what's the better move to do with them: Equip one to cover a weakness (e.g. Resist Lance on a sword user) or equip something that gives me a greater advantage against a weapon that unit already excels against? OR is there a third option that is even better than either...?

EDIT: In regards to matchups, which weapon type has the hardest matchup against the weapon type they beat?

EDIT 2: Regarding effective weapons (e.g. Mace), can they be randomly obtained at any time, or must I "unlock" them first?

1. Depends on playstyle, really.
-- If you plan on switching characters a lot, stacking advantages (greater advantage) can be good as they are unlikely to be facing enemies that grant them disadvantage.
-- If you plan on maining a single character, one may want to negate any disadvantages so one can solo the entire map with said character without much difficulty. Alternatively, get a battalion to increase the range of what the character has advantage over.
-- The third option is to just place your favorite battalion (or the unit's personal battalion, unlocked through Paralogues) and just don't worry about it.

2. Tomes vs Bows and Gauntlets vs Tomes can be a hard matchup, mostly due to the aggression of the AI. I know the "Tornado Move" from enemy Snipers is rather annoying, and if an enemy spellcaster manages to hit you with a charged attack, it can hurt a lot.
-- Enemy Gauntlets can sometimes catch one off guard due to their juggle capabilities, and enemy Lance Cavalry can be annoying when they charge forward. However, I'll say it's mostly the Snipers and Spellcasters that tend to be troublesome.

3. I think they are a random drop. Just keep in mind all normal weapons (not Relics, Sacred, or Unique) can have modifiers, so you may want to hold off on super-forging a weapon until you get a combination of attributes you want.
-- For example, I got a +80 Rapier with no attributes, as I didn't know Rapiers can drop with them.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Finally finished my 2nd playthrough (4th total) of Golden Wildfire, doing the Kill Byleth route.

Interestingly enough though, going through Records, I unlocked everything except the presumed "alternative epilogue." I was wondering why I got the same epilogue as before...
-- I wonder if Byleth counts as one part of the equation (the whole Byleth Rivalry arc), while the epilogue may actually be determinant on if you recruited everyone or killed them instead.
-- As I decided to recruit everyone anyways for training purposes, I guess I got the "Good Epilogue" despite killing Byleth. Guess there's a speedrun of the Golden Deer route that may be in the works...

At any rate, more detailed and spoiler info in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Honestly, the "Warning: Your actions in this battle will greatly impact the outcome of the story," seems like a complete exaggeration for Golden Wildfire.
-- The only major scene change was Jeralt's death, the "ally death" (Judith for Golden Deer) and the few unique scenes thereafter. The main story beats do not change at all, it's just some fluff dialogue changes here and there.
-- That being said, I do like how Claude's actions do have consequences (Randolph dying due to Claude's scheme leads to Judith's death in the "Kill Byleth" route), which I thought was some interesting character development. I guess in the other route the power of friendship mellows out Claude a bit instead.
-- Back to the criticisms, Byleth just unceremoniously appears in a chapter saying "Fite Me" after Jeralt's death, and that's the showdown. Alois appears in the finale as an enemy, and killing Alois felt more tragic than killing Byleth.
=== I get the feeling they might have gone for the "revenge is unsatisfactory" ending with the arc, with the story also being unsatisfactory to drive home that point, but it sorta sucks since the alternative route exists. It doesn't help that the Spare Byleth route may also provide interesting story bits and lore when compared to the Kill Byleth route either.

In other words, aside from the character development from Claude losing Judith as well at the cutscenes/events surrounding Jeralt's death, the rest of the "Kill Byleth" route on Golden Wildfire sucks, especially since the main story cares little for what happens with Byleth (and Judith).

I do hear there is more drastic changes in the Scarlet Blaze "Kill Byleth" route, as one of the main chapters is different, but I wonder how much change will there be for Azure Gleam (despite losing Rodrigue who is a playable character).

* * * * *

So, after finishing this 4th playthrough, I'm tempted to put the game down for a while. While I do want to know the differences, no matter how minor, between the Spare Byleth and Kill Byleth routes for Azure Gleam and Scarlet Blaze, after 213 hours it may be time to try doing some other stuff in the meantime.
-- That said, I did try to take a break after Arval's paralogue kicked my butt (I just went to Easy to S-Rank it), but was drawn back in to keep playing anyways.

I still hope there's DLC for Three Hopes, or at least some free updates to fix some things/add new features (Fix Apex Weapon's crit rates, allowing characters to be playable in campaign missions during NG+, etc.) I guess only time will tell if Three Hopes will continue to get support or not.

 

[Individual Unit Focused Runs - What I've Learned]

While I haven't gotten Lysithea to 120, I have mastered all of her classes. (Shez was naturally the first, even after I changed genders for the 4th playthrough.)
-- This is leveling Lysithea as my main character when playing through the campaigns, with the other slots filled as normal.

Honestly, I'm struggling on what exactly to do with Lysithea. Her personals are amazing, but the skills she gets from classes is just average. (A Spellcaster without Fiendish Blow or Elemental Essence? Why?)
-- I'm trying to keep her as a Gremory since its her canon class and she gets a unique special attack animation, but the default Gremory moveset is just not as enjoyable as other classes. (Dark Bishop may be slow, but it feels good to play. Gremory feels weightless and floaty.) // Now, having an Elemental Essence does make the Gremory more enjoyable since one can spam Magic and the Strong Attack resonating with that Element, with the augmented Class Action being a sight to see. Alas, Lysithea does not have an Elemental Essence skill...
-- Also, Thyrsus isn't as impressive as it is in Three Houses, as the "Far-Reaching Magic" just applies to the normal attacks of the Magic (Tome) classes, meaning it only grants +6 Mag and a chance for damage negation. I guess the extra range on normals can be nice, but it seems to offer nothing for proper Magic or Strong Attacks which I frequently use. // I'm tempted to just place the Crest of Gloucester on her for a better proc chance, or maybe just a standard Magic Staff for "increased damage with magical attacks (Asclepius is slated to be on Gremory Hapi once she mastered her classes).
-- As for Lifeforce, I'm not the biggest fan of the skill. It takes away too much HP for my tastes, especially when spamming skills. Some characters work better with it as they have access to equipment that regenerates their health, or have synergy with the Holy Knight class (which grants easy self-heals with its attacks). Sure, technically the Gremory (and Bishop) have self-heal options on their attacks, but Holy Knight just does it better. // Impossible Feat is much more easier to manage, since its just a constant tick over time.
== I could try to change her class to a physical one to take advantage of Luna (class skill), but doing this will require a lot of investment in terms of Stat Boosters and potentially resetting her level and leveling Lysithea again.
== I guess Lysithea is the "jack of all trades" spellcaster, considering she can easily fill up her Warrior and Awakening gauges and has synergy with Magic/Combat Arts dealing more damage on the rare occasion. She's not a bad unit, but I guess I wish her standard gameplay was more than "Spam Magic/CA so you can spam Warrior Specials and Awakenings."

* * * * *

As for Shez (who is 120), I'm kept them as the Asura and focus on their swordplay instead of magic. I use the Warm Cloak (Sylvain's Merc Whistle Item) with the Dark Creator Sword and just annihilate anything in Shez's way.
-- I could try a Dark Knight Magic build since Shez has Essence of Darkness, but I feel like Jeritza fulfills a similar role, even though he gets the Death Knight class instead of Dark Knight (Chance to instant kill enemies instead of increased damage with black/dark magic).

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

...I'm over 200 hours into Three Hopes, on my fourth campaign playthrough, and I just learned that Cooking (Kitchen Master) stacks the different effects.
-- I was under the impression cooking another meal would override the previous one, so I would only cook one meal per chapter (my go-to was filling up the Warrior Gauge and having it fill up faster). // I guess now it makes sense why I have so much cooking supplies...
== On the subject of being mistaken, Battle Instincts only makes it faster to manually charge up the Warrior and Awakening gauges. It does not restore them over time (like Shez's unique class skill). So, Battle Instincts is not as good as I thought it was.

Also, I made the mistake of lowering the difficulty (I put Three Hopes down for a while after failing at a certain Paralogue), and I forgot to put it back for two whole chapters. Guess I have to go back and do those battles again in Records for my Maddening clears...

4 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

Anyways, how do I get the most bang for my back with the training facility?

If you want to powergame it, I would make sure you take advantage of the training boosts whenever possible.
-- There's 3 different types of boosts: Preferred Class, Partner Bonus, and Training Bonus.
=== Preferred Class is as it says, the preferred class of that character. Training in this class results in faster leveling, although one may just want to leave training in the "preferred classes" out on the battlefield instead of the training grounds.
=== Partner Bonus uses the partner's experience in a class to make training faster. In general, if the partner mastered the class and has weapon experience, they will help master the trained class faster. However, the exact specifics of how this works eludes me, as sometimes the bonuses don't seem as high as they should be (the partner mastered the entire class line, but the bonus is low.)
== Training Bonus is something that only really happens for a single chapter in Part II, but it allows for faster training in a specified weapon-type or move-type. When one reaches this option, it may be wise to train in classes the bonus applies to instead of training whatever class they were in previously.

That said, there's no real rush to master classes, especially if one does multiple playthroughs on NG+. Just train classes that you want the skills for or that you don't want to play, so you can play the classes you want during actual battles.
-- My only real advice is to make sure you have an open class of the latest tier you have available unlocked, so once the character masters a class you can change their classes to begin mastering a different one (if trying to master all classes).

[What would you add to an additional difficulty mode?]

Sadly, I think Maddening is already the cap, or at least late-game Maddening.
-- Enemies are already aggressive and carry maxed out forged weapons.

I guess the argument can be made for a pure "Post-Game, Maxed Stats" difficulty, that basically makes every battle similar to the Gatekeeper Paralogue (Maddening) in terms of difficulty.
-- One easy addition aside from increased stats is to increase the enemy weapon advantage by a tier, as already suggested. It may even be interesting to see important characters get a "battalion" of their own, so they get an extra advantage that may not be related to their primary weapon. // The downside is that this mostly just punishes players who use battalions to negate disadvantages, as those who play who keep the weapon triangle in mind (seeking advantage wherever possible) won't really see much change with this.
-- However, the question is if this mode is even worth the development time to make. How many people are going to play through all routes and make sure all characters are maxed out? Most players may just play through one route and call it a day.

As for adding more enemy officers/enemy attacks, this would be nice to see. At the moment, going pure offense is the way to go and there's no real need to be defensive. // The only real counterpoint for this is the S-Ranks for time, and a more drawn out battle of "Back and Forth" of capturing strongholds may be undesirable for some. Also, I don't think many of the maps are designed with a "back-and-forth" conflict in mind.
-- I know they already have a system in place to spawn officers from strongholds (some missions a trio of Bandits spawn, others spawn allied officers to help, and so on). The main difficulty here is going on a scenario-by-scenario basis and setting everything up. // Is it every enemy stronghold that spawns foes, just the main HQ, is it map-specific?...
== For a small rant, there aren't any real good defense missions as I've seen maps where enemies just suddenly take over a stronghold without fighting for it as soon as a certain unit reaches the area, as well as some "defense missions" going off of a timer instead of the health of the defending stronghold officer. (Actually, the Defend Edelgard mission may be one of the better ones, but that's guarding a character, not a location.)
-- However, there is another question here regarding development time. If this is related to a new difficulty, does one go back and mess around with each scenario to make these spawns work? Personally, a new route where these mechanics are the norm may be a better use of time instead of trying to force it onto existing scenarios.

Now, for making Combat Arts/Magic weaker/more expensive, I am against.
-- I'm on the mindset of making enemies stronger is a better way to handle difficulty, instead of nerfing the player. I personally dislike it when games make a higher difficulty and then say "Oh, your attacks now cost more stamina than normal too, have fun!" (Dragon's Dogma)