[Fate/Grand Order General]

The JP side of things seems to be doing rather well with the new reveals and other things.

As for me, Three Hopes has taken much of my time, and now I'm scrambling to finish the event before it expires.
-- At the moment I just cleared the Zombie arc and have around 65 missions completed.
-- Hopefully I'll be able to tackle all missions and complete the CQ, although I doubt I'll be able to clear the shop.

* * * * * EDIT * * * * *

Managed to speedrun through the rest of the event, getting everything done as well as getting most of what I needed from the shop (there's some of one mat remaining, as well as the Fous).
-- However, this "speedrun" also experienced the event in full instead of skipping scenes, so it lasted quite a while. I do not want to be rushing to finish an event like this again.
-- The CQ had me use Space Ishtar and Double Castoria, which flowed relatively smoothly. I was down to my last 3 units (Mash, Castoria, Herc Insurance) when the battle ended.

As an aside, I rolled on the banners for fun. I somehow got a Summer Abby out of it (which I wasn't going for), as well as a Summer Tomoe.
-- No Summer Illya though, which is a shame.
-- Now, hopefully I'll be able to start saving up on Quartz as there seems to be plenty of amazing servants ahead, although I'm not sure how many of them are "must-haves" for me...

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

1 hour ago, Namero said:

Does anybody know the exact details as to how to recruit Gatekeeper? I keep reading that you get him on your second or third play of the game using new game +, but I'm currently on my 5th play through and still see no way of recruiting him.

You should get him on your 3rd playthrough if you play through each route once.
-- So, if you finish the Black Eagle campaign and then Blue Lions, and afterwards play the Golden Deer as the 3rd route, Gatekeeper should automatically join at Chapter 5.
-- However, if you are replaying the same route over again (such as once on Hard and then again on Maddening), I don't think it counts. I believe the requirements are to finish two of the main routes, and then on your third Gatekeeper is automatically recruited when he appears at the base camp (CH4 for Scarlet Blaze, CH5 for Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire).

However, this is using NG+ chaining, meaning you play one route at a time and using the same "save file."
-- If you make three separate saves for each route (such as playing them all at the same time), even if you finish each playthrough, I'm not sure if this counts for NG+ purposes.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Finally got to the divergence point (Kill Byleth) of my 2nd Golden Deer run.

Spoiler

Definitely enjoying the start of this divergence. It shows the consequences of Claude's scheme at Ailell due to Judith's death.
-- Also, we get to see more of Sothis, who suddenly becomes nonexistent after Byleth gets recruited.
-- Some of the voiced cutscenes have minor alterations, with some new scenes being specific to this path, which is nice.
-- There's even some changes in some of the camp dialogue, which is nice too.

... and I took a small break writing this post to get a little further, but then Arval's Paralogue kicked my butt despite minor preparations (getting F!Arval to Gremory). Even though I dropped down to Hard difficulty, Cichol got angry that I beat up Cethleann and removed like 75% of my HP in one shot, killing Arval. // Oh well, I wasn't on track to S-Rank anyway due to the damage taken and its a solo paralogue...
-- It doesn't help it uses "Bonus Unit Arval" which is difficult to train as Arval doesn't have access to the Training Grounds or is usable in campaign playthroughs. I get why there's the restrictions due to story reasons, but gameplay wise it would help immensely in raising the bonus units. The fact I have to grind their class masteries manually makes me not really want to control those bonus characters...
=== Also, raising characters who focus on MAG in STR classes sucks, since there are so many more STR classes than MAG classes. Sure, some of them may be able to cast magic or have combat arts that use MAG, but the default attacks still use STR and will hit like a wet noodle without using proper equipment for MAG conversion.

 

[Legendary Weapon Tier List]

4 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Failnaught doesn't provide Wind God. It provides Fallen Star - which, IMO, sucks ass in this game.

Ah, I stand corrected. I thought Wind God was Failnaught's skill, not Claude's.
-- That said, Fallen Star is still decent being a nice AoE skill that can disrupt crowds, but when compared to things like Atrocity or Vajra Mushti, yeah it is a bit underwhelming.

Going back to change the post.

[Legendary Weapon Tier List]

Glancing at the list...

Hrotti - While it is the most underwhelming relic weapon, it does have a use when mastering classes for STR characters (temporarily using a MAG class to master it, then its back to STR classes). Aside from that though, it's practically useless, especially during endgame when everything is leveled/mastered.

Creator/Dark Creator -- Far as I'm concerned, it's essentially double damage since it hits twice and it has wonderful synergy with "Hit-Count" personals.
-- My favorite build is Dark Creator Sword on Shez with Sylvain's personal. Shez builds up the hitcounter so quickly and it does tons of damage, so it not having a unique Combat Art or unique "weapon modification" doesn't matter too much for me. Since this Sword has no Relic requirement (only a Sword Rank of A if I recall correctly), it can easily be used by anyone. // Personally, I'll put the Dark Creator Sword up to S-Rank, although I will admit I'm biased on this sword.
-- Sword of the Creator is neat, but as it's practically Byleth/Sothis only (other characters can equip it but it seems pointless to do so), I'm content to leave it at A-Rank. Sure, it gets its own unique weapon art, but it's restricted to the two characters.

Vajra-Mushti & Failnaught -- If the Vajra-Mushti is in S due to its Combat Art (which requires a matching Crest), then why not Failnaught? The Wind God Combat Art may be one of the best in the game, and the extra range that Failnaught provides is also appreciated.
-- EDIT: Failnaught provides Fallen Star, not Wind God (which is Claude's special combat art). I made a mistake writing this post.
---- Remember, you can easily access the "Relic Weapon Arts" if you equip the correct Crest Accessory, so it's possible to use Failnaught's Wind God Fallen Star on anyone provided they have the Crest of Riegan equipped.
--- Granted, some characters have their own unique accessories they they should be using, or may get more use out of certain regular accessories (such as Critical Rings).

Also, should the "Unique Weapons" such as the Knight Captain's Sword be ranked as well?

[First Pass at a Maddening Tier List]

37 minutes ago, Archeleon said:

I do think these are meant for usage in getting S rank in Maddening for all maps using Records towards the end of the routes. Is there a point otherwise? Are people really concerned with how well the units do while trying to clear a route in Maddening? 

Availability tends to come up in games like Binding Blade, for example because you genuinely only have so much time before the end of the game to get your units up to snuff for the later maps. That is not a limiting factor here.

This comes down to preference I believe.

After clearing all three routes, you can just sit back at the base camp and begin getting S-Ranks on Maddening Difficulty through the Record Keeper. This is easily done by changing the difficulty from Settings, and one just goes to town!
-- This way you have access to every character and Shez is not force-deployed.

However, personally I find it better to replay the routes again on Maddening mode, instead of going through Records.
-- While this does bring up availability issues and is slowed down slightly through the story segments (which can be skipped), it offers an abundance of resources.
=== Training Points (faster class EXP), Smithing Stones (from excess Building Materials), Stat Boosters (Renown, Anna's Shop, Map Rewards), and so on.
-- It also allows one to play through the "alternative route" of either killing/recruiting Byleth and seeing where that goes.

[First Pass at a Maddening Tier List]

I think the issue is we may need to define what exactly this Maddening Tier list is supposed to be.
-- We know it's NG+ Maddening, and it leans towards being a general baseline for the entire game.
-- The criteria listed focuses on S-Ranks and assumes the characters are fully built for their role.
== In Three Hopes, anyone can be good, its just some characters outright outclass others due to their preferred equipment, personals, and skills. I don't think there's anyone in Three Hopes who are straight up unusable, but they may be weaker than the majority of the cast.

A part of me wonders if we should make separate lists, like one for each route, so things like availability and potential "deployment conflicts" can be more easily addressed.
-- A separate list that tiers units based off of their usage like Archeleon suggested can also be useful, such as listing those who tend to spam Combat Arts/Magic, those who focus on Warrior Specials/Awakenings, those who just focus on raw damage output, and so on. Also, this one can focus more on end-game potentials in Records, so it also allows the three bonus characters to be ranked.

[First Pass at a Maddening Tier List]

Glancing at the list, the only two I immediately disagree with are Sylvain and Flayn.

While I may be a bit biased towards Sylvain due to his personal (using his Merc Whistle Accessory, Warm Cloak, on Shez is the best thing ever), Sylvain has plenty of great qualities.
-- Offensive Skills: Big Game Hunter, Dual Onslaught, Wild Abandon, and Offensive Tactics. (Sure, he doesn't have Impossible Feat or Luna, but I say his personal more than makes up for that.)
-- Also, Sylvain has a Crest and also has a Relic Weapon, so I assume he's likely using that and Ruined Sky as one of the Combat Arts.
== Now, I know Sylvain directly competes with Dimitri since Sylvain is also Blue Lions exclusive, and both characters use Lances, but I think you may be factoring in "repeating weapons" a bit too much. While I agree deployment slots are important (Shez + 3 for the main, then 4 more for the main chapter maps), having characters using the same weapon type is not that big of a deal in my opinion. Battalions, Weapon Breakers, and Different Movesets offer enough variety to break up the monotony. Also, Dimitri and Sylvain use different movesets despite using Lances, so they play differently.
== As Fabulously Oliver has stated, Sylvain is easily S-Rank. 

Now for Flayn, I dare say she may be better than she initially appears. Sure, her crest is meant for support and her personals suck, but a looking at her skills tells a different story...
-- Offensive Skills: Big Game Hunter, Dual Onslaught, Wild Abandon, Undaunted, Offensive Tactics, Luna
-- Now, while Flayn is normally built for magic, if she shifts gears and focuses on physical instead (to take advantage of Luna), I'm sure she can work surprising well. Granted, other units likely still outclass her due to better Crests/Personals, but at least Flayn's skill set allows her to perform rather well as a Holy Knight (instead of the standard Bishop/Gremory). The downside is that Flayn may require extra investment if going the Luna route, which may be undesirable.
== That said, I benched Flayn during my initial Blue Lions playthrough and will likely keep her benched on my Maddening run, mostly because I prefer the other characters and they may outperform her.

* * * * *

As a quick aside, here's my initial plans for my Maddening teams, but I'll place it in the spoiler to not detract too much from the main topic.
-- This was made after quickly glancing at their learned skills and my personal preference.

Spoiler

Mains: The main 4 that can be swapped to at any time, under player control.
Reserves: Those who can be swapped with the mains, or otherwise deployed as AI allies.
Bench: Characters that are weaker or that I personally do not care much for.
Honorable Mentions: I love Petra (and she has received stat boosters) and would like to use Monica more, even though their abilities are not the best around.

Golden Deer Mains: Shez, Claude, Hilda, Lorenz
-- Reserves: Lysithea, Marianne
-- Bench: Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, Holst

Blue Lion Mains: Shez, Dimitri, Felix, Sylvain
-- Reserves: Ashe, Ingrid, Flayn, Catherine
-- Bench: Dedue, Mercedes, Annette, Seteth

Black Eagle Mains: Shez, Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand
-- Reserves: Caspar, Jeritza
-- Honorable Mentions: Petra, Monica
-- Bench: Linhardt, Bernadetta, Dorothea, Manuela

Silver Extras
-- Jeralt's Mercenaries: Byleth, Jeralt
-- Ashen Wolf: Yuri
-- Golden Boy: Balthus
-- Monster Slayer: Hapi
-- Spectacular Shady Spell Spammer Sorceress: Constance
-- Gate Guy: Gatekeeper
-- Monastery Bench: Shamir

 

[Preliminary Evaluation of Abilities]

47 minutes ago, Archeleon said:

Even outside of Classic mode I would still consider the fact that once the unit becomes unavailable in Casual you basically lost the opportunity to achieve whatever you wanted to do with that unit in that map. Unless you are purposedly sending them off into suicide missions.

I would say there would be backups of other units to pick up the slack, unless one was relying on the single unit to carry the entire map.
-- There's also the part of restarting the battle, so a death on Classic can waste some minutes depending on the battle while on Casual one can keep playing.
-- I suppose one can start to get into the details on how much one invests into a unit, so a unit that is "maxed out" can easily use the more risky skills versus a unit who is still just mastering all the classes and has no stat boosts.

Also, since Death/resets are no longer much of a concern on Casual, it allows for more experimentation with the HP Threshold skills that regular/cautious play would typically avoid.
-- Whether these builds are good or not are up for debate, but at least the option is there.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Today I learned that there may be a place for the "lower tier" combat arts/magic.
-- Aside from on-demand invincibility window, they can be spammed to great effectiveness.
-- For example, Fire (with Essence of Fire, or having Edelgard's personal), shoots off three fireballs that does lots of crowd clearing. It also does a fair amount of damage, and during NG+ playthroughs, Durability is less of an issue due to having higher forged weapons. // Having Edelgard with the Relentless Magic Tome (50% cooldown of Magic), I can just sit back and spam Fire spells all day instead of doing the usual combos or specials.

Also as a random tip, don't use the Essence of Element abilities with the Main Lords. Their personal skill already does that, so you don't need Essence of Lightning to enhance Dimitri's Lightning attacks, for example.

EDIT: I forgot to ask, I have a question regarding special support conversations.

Spoiler

Regarding Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude's supports with each other, is there any way to trigger them through the Support Conversation system in-game?

I know its just a repeat of their dialogue in the Secret Chapter, and you can view them separately in the Support Conversation section from the Title Menu.
-- What I'm asking is if there's a way to trigger the convo from the support menu during a normal playthrough.

 

[Preliminary Evaluation of Abilities]

As a quick note, I'm imagining these evaluation tiers are based off of Classic mode.
-- If playing on Casual, HP Threshold skills as well as "User Takes More Damage" skill are less of a concern, since the unit does not permanently die. If they are used on an "essential character," I imagine its likely said characters have stat boosts are or otherwise stronger than the regulars.

I say this because as I'm playing normally and unlocking Impossible Feat, I'm debating if putting it on everyone who has access is a good idea or not. Sure, I can use an Elixir, but I only have 85 of them but keeping HP low makes it easy for the character to get one-shot. While this is mostly player error, it's possible for the AI to have low HP and then get caught in an attack while they are near the active character, causing a character death.
-- Wild Abandon can also be considered dangerous, although I'm personally a little more comfortable with that despite a few close calls. Maddening may change my opinion on this though, especially if I stick to Classic Mode.

* * * * *

To add in my cents on the convo, yeah, Bishop moveset sucks. I used it while manually grinding for some Class Masteries, and it does not feel as good as Gremory or Dark Bishop.
-- Even though Flayn and Mercedes have Essence of Light and "canonically built" for Bishop, if I have to manually control them I rather have them as a Gremory.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Finally finished Golden Wildfire. After about 173 hours, I beat all routes on my first round of playthroughs.
-- The time played does include some grinding (including grinding the demo for like 20 hours), so maybe subtract 30 hours. I guess the first route for doing everything may be 50 hours, with NG+ playthroughs going down to 40-45 for the other routes.
-- Now for Round 2 on Maddening! (DLC When?)

As for GW and my overall story thoughts, it's in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Yeah, Golden Wildfire has the best finale. At first I thought it was a re-used map, but I think its actually unique! To think that I recognized some of the landmarks from the general battles, only to find that it was from one of the final maps in the game!
-- GW having a unique map for the final map does wonders, as one can only do so much with re-using Garreg Mach (SB & AG). While the "Boss Corridor" in Garreg Mach is cool, Azure Gleam's finale was not as fun due to the invulnerability phases on the boss. Scarlet Blaze mixes things up which is an improvement, but aside from the importance of Garreg Mach, the battle beforehand seems fairly standard.
== In other words, GW can make a map that is tailored for a final boss battle, while SB and AG were stuck trying to make Garreg Mach work.
-- That said, the hype from the finale is cut off abruptly due to the short text epilogue at the end of the cutscene. While it sucked on the other routes, I felt that sudden cutoff the most here in Golden Wildfire.

For a small side-story, in the Hour of Vengeance Byleth came close to dying several times (this is what happens when I left him as an Axe User vs a nearly capped out Shez). I managed to heal Byleth like twice, but then quickly realized Marianne did not have enough durability since she was using a Reckless Power weapon.
-- So, I ended up using Jeralt to smash through enemy lines. He was going to save his boy. "I'm coming, kid!"
-- Luckily, I managed to beat the map. While I haven't done a speedrun of the map in 7 minutes yet, I also haven't try-harded and just played normally. (Actually, in Records, I can just bring out my OP Shez, so that'll probably be how I'll do it...)

* * * * *

Story-wise, a part of me wonders if the Golden Deer still hold the "best overall ending," both in Three Houses and Three Hopes.
-- In the "Recruit Byleth" route, there is hope that the war might actually end sooner than anticipated. The only losers here is Rhea and the Church, with Catherine and Cyril being confirmed casualties (I am unsure if Rhea actually perished, or was simply defeated.) As the Empire and Kingdom were mostly at a stalemate, with the Federation being called to handle other tasks, I imagine the balance of power remaining the same, just without the Central Church.
-- The only thing here is that Edelgard still wants to unify Fodlan, so if she wants Fodlan under Imperial rule, conflict may continue. However, if the three House Leaders got together again to talk, perhaps the balance of power can be maintained as well as finding a newfound unity.
-- As an aside, TWSITD is technically still at large in GW, but the Empire is stable enough to wage a war against them, especially if the Federation continues to help out.

Meanwhile, for the Black Eagles, it seems the best ending for potentially unifying Fodlan.
-- In SB "good ending," the war may end, but its more about the Kingdom being crushed between the Empire and Alliance. While not outright stated in the epilogue, a part of me wonders if the Alliance may end up merging with the Empire as Claude goes over to Almyra instead (similarly to Crimson Flower in Three Houses, if he's spared), leaving Edelgard to manage Fodlan while Claude continues his ambitions.
-- However, there are also confirmed causalities, such as Ingrid, Sylvain, and Rodrigue.
-- Also, depending on interpretation, Thales and Rhea are either dead or missing. This can potentially lead to issues down the line if they are actually alive.
-- While I like the route because I've always been an Edelgard/Black Eagles supporter, I can imagine this path of bloody conquest not being appealing to some.

Now for the Blue Lions, its probably the best ending for keeping the status quo, although the Empire is significantly weakened. At least TWSITD seem to be handled for good in this route as Thales dies by Dimitri's hand.
-- AG's "good ending" has the Empire being crushed between the Kingdom and Alliance. However, although its not outright stated in the epilogue text, Claude may still want to make a move on the Central Church in AG. Depending on how that goes, Claude may do something or may just let Dimitri to enact his slow reforms while Claude goes to continue his ambitions.
-- There are also implied causalities, as I imagine Hubert was removed during the the TWSTID takeover while Ferdinand may be imprisoned or under house arrest. Edelgard herself is broken and has the mind of a child, and who knows if she will be able to recover back to her old self. However, for those who don't want to kill anybody, this route may be favored as I don't think the Blue Lions actually kills any playable character (Caspar can be spared if the map is played a certain way).
-- I enjoyed the route for the alternative view of the Kingdom and the political side. However, I think I still prefer Azure Moon from Three Houses more as an overall story. Azure Gleam isn't bad, it's just I preferred the Dimitri/Edelgard dynamic in Three Houses more than Dimitri managing the Kingdom.

* * * * *

Overall, I loved Three Hopes. While I still need to see the alternative routes (Kill Byleth) and see what that entails, I loved seeing the setting expanded, putting faces on characters that were only mentioned in Three Houses, as well as just seeing everyone again. The music remixes are wonderful too!
-- While Three Houses was not a perfect game (the monastery exploration kills the pacing), I absolutely loved the setting and world. Seeing it again in Three Hopes is great, and I wonder if they may revisit Fodlan way down the line like they did with Valentia and Archanea/Ylisse (Awakening referencing the first FE, Gaiden, and Mystery).
-- Back to Three Hopes, I guess my main criticism is the sudden cutoff and endings. Sure, they are a suitable stopping point, but the way it just abruptly stops is jarring. An expanded epilogue would do wonders if they really wanted to just end it there. // Also, I didn't see any real Sothis/Arval interaction, which is a great shame. It also sucked that Arval didn't get much development either, and the countepart just gets one or two chapters to showcase themselves before never being referenced again.
=== As for minor gripes, just let us use the unique outfits regardless of class. The Bonus Characters already do this (it's just a shame they don't get class outfits), but it feels wrong to use a character in what should be their promoted class but just having a generic outfit. Oh, and let them use their unique specials in their master classes too!

 

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

1 hour ago, MagicCanonBalls said:

About recruiting certain characters and support conversation

  Reveal hidden contents

1. I played Claude's route first. Lindhart and Constance 1st support convo talked about how they both betrayed Empire. Hapi talked about how they got take into Alliance/Federation wings. Now that I am starting Edelgard's route, those support still maxed out and no conversations are available but obviously their dialogues won't be the same. Is there anyway to view those in-game or on youtube?

2. Edel's route. Is there any major decision that occurs during conversation, because so far I am at chapter 7 and I really disagree with her methods and the way she do things, so I am just skipping it really quickly, but I am scared that I might press too fast and make the wrong decisions.

3. About recruiting Gatekeeper. Articles said just have to beat Maddening once, but the game let you switch the difficulties around. Does this means doing every single battle in Maddening mode or only the final story battle?

 

Response:

Spoiler

1. Your can view Supports from the main menu. Go to Extras and then Support Conversations.
-- You will be able to choose what route to view the support on, as some supports have extra/changed lines depending on the route.
-- Some supports even mention other characters that can be recruited on that route, but I am unsure if the in-game viewer allows to see every variation of supports.

2.The only major storyline change is during Chapter 10, during that chapter's battle. The game will tell you that what happens there will impact the game's story.
-- As you played Claude's route already, it's about whether or not you decide to recruit Byleth.
-- As for major decisions during conversation, there are not any.

3. Gatekeeper is earned as soon as you play the 3rd route on NG+, and is given to you at Chapter 5.
-- So, since you completed Golden Deer and are on Black Eagles, if you play Blue Lions next you should automatically get Gatekeeper during Chapter 5.

 

[Preliminary Evaluation of Abilities]

A note on Despoil, I have a feeling Balthus' personal may give out better rates in terms of gold dropped. (For example, its easy to max out gold if farming the secret mission using Balthus, although I haven't tested farming it using Despoil instead.)
-- The real question is if Despoil and Balthus' personal share the same limit of 9999 gold, or if they are tracked separately (so two different 9999 caps).
-- I know you can go over 9999 gold at the end results screen, but this is usually reaching the cap and breaking the Gold Pots, which is added on top of that.

[Preliminary Evaluation of Abilities]

Agreed on the stagger vs "launched/flying" points.

Stagger/Flinch interrupts the targets action (and may be related to breaking guards). I also believe that Howl is related to this, although I haven't looked closely at Savior of the Meek.
Launched sends the target flying, triggering Collision and any "Launch" effects (such as Ingrid's or Lysithea's personals).
-- The thing is, knocking an enemy into the air is not good enough to be considered "Launched." They must be sent flying away by certain attacks (such as the Soldier Strong Attack 3), otherwise they will just fall back to the ground with no fanfare.
-- However, as long as enemies are off the ground, I believe the "Aerial Attacks" and the "Windtorn" status are in effect, so juggling foes here can be useful.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Not sure where to post this find, but I guess I'll post it here.

Quality Material does not increase the maximum cap on forging, which is 50. It simply just makes it easier for the weapon to reach that threshold faster (so instead of going up by 5 each time, it can go up by 6-8).
-- I tested it out of curiosity if it did actually increase the cap (which may have been useful), but it doesn't.
-- So, it's essentially a useless skill as far as I am concerned.

[Preliminary Evaluation of Abilities]

Huh, Battle Instincts is C? Granted, I haven't unlocked it myself yet, but from I understood from its description is that it filled up both the Warrior and Awakening gauges until one is full.
-- Does it fill up all Three Warrior Gauges, or just One?

Also, Underdog may actually be more useful is it seems, since Maddening has enemies that go up to 180 (that I know of), while the player level cap is 120. I guess someone will have to run the numbers on it to see how effective that skill actually is.

As an aside, I also agree on The Creation and Goddess Vessel being up a tier for reasons already stated.

* * * * *

I'll look more into the skills later, although I'm more interested in figuring them out on a character-by-character basis, while also considering their personals.
-- I have a feeling Ferdinand may end up being one of the best units in the game, since he has access to a lot of amazing skills, a good Crest, and superior personals.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Slowly making progress of Part II of Golden Wildfire and am starting to make plans for my 2nd round of playthroughs with F!Shez & F!Byleth, on Maddening Difficulty.

However, I have a question. How are the avatar genders handled when changing them in a new playthrough?
-- I remember hearing that Shez still retains all unlocked abilities and classes, but just can't reclass into the gender-locked classes. (This means you can have Essence of Darkness on a F!Shez, despite it being learned from the Dark Mage class as M!Shez.)
-- Does the above also apply to Byleth (and the "Spoiler Bonus Character")? This means that as soon as I start the file, does it automatically updates the "Other" category with their swapped genders?
=== I ask this so I can keep up on my class masteries. M!Shez mastered all classes available while my M!Byleth already mastered the male-locked classes. "Spoiler" is still working on his, which is a little slow due to the lack of Training Ground access and being restricted to Record Battles...

Thanks in advance!

[Estimating Hidden Numbers That Shouldn't be Hidden]

Regarding advantage, from the tutorial it states that having advantage allows for faster depleting of the enemy Stun Gauge, while not having advantage makes it more difficult to "knock enemies back" and deplete said Stun Gauge.
-- Personally, it feels like having advantage does make it easier to knock enemies back, or at least break their guard when compared to neutral setups, but I may be biased as I tend to fight with favorable matchups. I do know fighting when disadvantaged sorta sucks as the enemy guard seems more effective, but is still manageable.
-- As for Felix, I suppose his personal can be good if you plan on maining him and having him solo the map, regardless of what the enemy has. However, as I tend to switch characters and counter what's on the field, having a battalion is more suitable for my style of play. // Granted, once one is higher enough level and is properly outfitted  (NG+ Hard), advantage begins to mean little, although I wonder if that may change during Maddening (I have not tried Maddening myself yet).

Regarding the motivation test, thanks for testing, Pie Burritos!

[Estimating Hidden Numbers That Shouldn't be Hidden]

Interesting.

So, if I have this right, most abilities are simply additive. (So, Sword Prowess 3 [+30] and Offensive Tactics [+20] will result in +50% damage.)
-- Getting a Critical Hit is a multiplier, although Apex Weapon is bugged and has a lower multiplier than default.
-- Motivation is a multiplier, ranging from +5 to +15 depending on the level. (I'm not sure if this has been tested yet)

If I'm interpreting this correctly...

(Damage * Abilities) * Motivation * Critical Hit = Total Damage
-- Damage likely has its own formula regarding STR, MAG, MT, and what attack/combat art/magic is used. [Alternatively, perhaps its class based as it was outlined in a previous post]

* * * * *

So, Felix's Lone Wolf is an additive multiplier with only a +30. Guess it's a useless skill since having a Battalion is almost always superior, for having advantage as well as reducing damage taken. I suppose the same can be said for Catherine's personal.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

21 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

I have a separate switch profile and haven't played past chapter 4 on it bit I did kill off a charcter just to see what happened. You still can see them grayed out in some menus like convoy and unit info.  Funnily enough you can change there class and give them equipment despite being dead lol. But you can't train them or level them or give them battailons.

So my guess is it keeps that level and classes mastered when they died for ng+ as if you benched them.

Interesting. I guess they are simply locked off from deployment until they are "re-recruited" again.
-- Thanks for testing!
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Played some more Golden Wildfire, having just started Part Two.

Spoiler

Looks like Golden Deer has two separate story arcs, the first dealing with the Alliance and its issues, and the second being the Federation's war with the Kingdom. This is in contrast with the other two routes which focuses on the overall war, and then part two focuses on that faction getting the upper hand.
-- It was interesting to see Gronder Field, but sadly its a re-used map asset. I half expected to keep pushing into Fort Merceus, but then the Almyra invasion happened again.
-- On the topic of Almyra, it would be nice if it was somehow expanded, but considering the focus is on Fodlan I guess it makes sense that they only had two chapters in the spotlight. I guess it feels weird since it happens chapters apart instead of a follow-up, and both focus around Fodlan's Locket. It seems like wasted potential, but with they way the story went, I'm not sure how to incorporate them without major rewrites (such as actually overrunning Fodlan's Locket, so one chapter has Claude beating them back from Alliance lands and the followup is the showdown at the Locket, which is in Almyran hands. This would add an additional chapter to GW, and helps make GW on par with the total chapters like in SB and AG.)
-- On the topic of Part Two and the setup of Claude vs the Central Church, I suppose it can be seen as a bit sudden. In Three Hopes, Part One was all about defending the Alliance from outside threats (Almyra, Empire) and setting up its future. While we know the motivation of the Empire is to crush the Central Church, Claude doesn't offer much indication of this until Part Two hits.
=== I don't quite remember Claude's stance on the Church in Three Houses. I do know character-wise Claude opens up more in Three Houses, valuing the "power of friendship," but in Three Hopes he still seems detached and plays everything as if it was chess. It's great to see the more schemer side to Claude, although I'm sure this drop into morally grey territory upsets those who know Claude as the "friendly guy with memes."

As an aside, I did a support between Ignatz and Marianne, and suddenly Ingrid was brought up due to the topic being about Pegasi. Ingrid can't be recruited outside of Blue Lions, so I'm guessing this is an oversight since I played the Blue Lions route already.

Now for Claude's unique moveset, I'm not too sold on it. Shooting fireballs is great as a class action, but the combos and their timing just seems off. Perhaps its just something for me to get used to, but I found Edelgard and Dimitri's classes far easier to use than Claude's.

 

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

I just hope we hear some form of news about potential updates and DLC for Three Hopes soon. It's been 3 weeks since release but there's naught but silence on that front.

Granted, I do faintly remember something occurring in Japan recently, so perhaps that may also be a factor in the lack of communication.

[Three Hopes General Discussion Thread]

Out of curiosity, how does losing characters in Classic Mode actually work?
-- Specifically, does it save the data for when one "re-recruits" them (either by recruiting in a different route or starting a brand new playthrough), or does it reset everything back to their initial "starting state?"
-- I have no intention of testing this myself as I simply restart when a character dies (or simply shift to Casual once my Classic playthroughs are done).

Speaking of Casual Mode, any indicators of a special reward/title screen update for doing Maddening Classic in Three Hopes (through NG+ or NG)? While I currently plan on sticking with Classic for my 2nd round of playthroughs on Maddening, I am tempted to shift to Casual to try out HP Threshold builds and not be caught off-guard by potential "one-shots."
-- I know there are title screen updates for finishing routes, which I noticed after finishing my NG+ playthrough.

[Which characters were improved in Three Hopes, and which characters came off worse?]

While I'm still in the process of fully playing through Three Hopes (finished Scarlet Blaze and Azure Gleam, in progress for Golden Wildfire), the one character that stood out to me the most in Three Hopes is Lorenz.

In Three Houses, I didn't care much for him. Hilda served as the retainer and Lorenz just did Lorenz things with his views on the nobility and the commonfolk. While I didn't hate Lorenz (only one character in TH is on my dislike list), I was just indifferent to his antics.
-- Meanwhile, in Three Hopes, the inclusion of his father and the importance of House Gloucester changed my views on him. Sure, he's still Lorenz, but now I feel like I know much more about where he is coming from and his motivations. It helps that I love Count Gloucester's character, his wisdom, and the voice.
* * * * * * * * * *
On the flip side, I'd say poor Alois got the short stick. I love the guy, but it seems he has been reduced to a pun-making machine every time he appears in Three Hopes. I'm not sure if its just the writing or the fact that Alois has less screentime overall to showcase his other qualities, but Three Hopes Alois seems weaker than his Three Houses counterpart.
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Overall though, I still love most of the characters and enjoyed seeing this alternative version of them. Comparing and contrasting them to their Three House counteparts is great.
-- The only thing I miss is Azure Moon Dimitri, but that story has already been told so I understand why its not present for Three Hopes.

[Fate/Grand Order General]

Hearing the Salem Battle Theme again is great, but it seems the usual video on Youtube is gone for whatever reason. While there are others, it's just not the same...

I haven't gotten far into the event as I'm still juggling FGO and Three Hopes, but am enjoying what I've seen thus far. Using Space Ishtar and Double Castoria (even though mine is stuck at 9/9/9), is pretty great.