Sire

Regarding the Levin Sword+, I mainly used it for Byleth in my first playthrough (Hard Classic). Yes, Byleth's MAG stat falls behind his STR, but handling Archers with that 1-3 range becomes really useful. Also, Byleth may not be training in Reason or Faith. At the very least, I find the Levin Sword to be better than Handaxes and Javelins. When I used for my Dancer Lysithea (NG+, Hard Classic), that is more "for fun" than optimal. Lysithea can become a "dodge tank" of sorts, especially with the +20 Sword Avoid from being a Dancer. So, everyone tries to hit Lysithea and she just annihilates them with her Levin Sword. (Disclaimer: I have been pumping statboosters into Lysithea, so this is probably not a optimal tactic. Like I said, this is for fun and not efficiency.) The main reason I recommend the Levin Sword+ is the 1-3 range to counter Archers/Snipers, and because Javelins and Hand Axes seem to suck due to their massive drawbacks. (The Spear seems to be doing okay though, but I have that on Dimitri). If you toss on the +1 Range Staff you get from Seteh's & Flayn's paralogue, the default spells on any spellcaster is enough to counter archers. Then, some spellcasters innately learn 1-3 range spells (Thoron, Mire) which can be used as well. For other magic weapons, they exist for more "hybrid" characters, such as Edelgard, Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, Lorenz, Ignantz, Manuela, and Seteth. I'm not saying for everyone to have a magic weapon, but if you want a character or two who specializes in them, go for it. ... Now I want to see a Levin Sword on Ingrid while she's on a Pegasus. Guess that's an idea for a later run. * * * * * As for Killer Weapons, I just use them over Steel weapons as they have similar statlines and because critting constantly is rather fun. Granted, I've been running Crit builds for Petra and Felix, so that's why I get so much use out of them (especially when using the Wo Dao instead of a Killer Sword). My other characters tend to use Silvers or the other unique weapons.

I wonder about "Those Who Slither In The Dark." (Note: I only played Edelgard's Empire route and am in middle of Blue Lions, so I may not have the whole picture). Specifically, how long have they been planning everything? We know they can apparently shapeshift, and this is what I am most curious about. For each TWSITD member, it seems that their "host" suddenly changes. Thales / Arundel - Suddenly stops making donations to the church, returns to the Empire after the Tragedy of Duscar. (Thales might be the long con, but I'm not sure. The reason for this is because what they end up doing to Edelgard, and I'm don't remember Arundel's past.) Cornelia - Cures the Kingdom's plague problems and is elevated to a higher position. Was kind and merciful, then suddenly had a personality change. (Not a confirmed shapeshifter, but I think it is a high possibility). Monica / Kronya - Missing student from one year ago, returns with a drastic and "fake?" personality. This one is obviously confirmed for shapeshifting, which leaves the question of what happened to the original. Tomas / Solon - Loyal monk leaves the monastery for an extended period and comes back "relatively?" the same. I remember Lysithea saying that she has no recollection of Tomas visiting her family's territory while he was away, making me wonder of Tomas was replaced during this timeframe. We know he is a shapeshifter, it's just the matter of "when."

Unless I am specifically desiring a particular weapon "right now," I use up the weapon and then head to the Forge to upgrade it when it gets low on uses. I tend to make great use of Iron weapons and Killer weapons. Late-game I may even delve into Silver Weapons, and currently I'm experimenting with a Spear for Dimitri. I haven't bothered with Brave Weapons yet (outside of Catherine's Thunderbrand). One weapon I recommend using at all times is the Levin Sword+. The 1-3 range is insane, and if you equip a battalion that patches up the hit rate (such as the Macuil Evil Repelling Co.at Rank A Authority), it will serve you well. My Byleth soloed enemies on my first playthrough, and now my Dancer Lysithea is annihilating foes on my 2nd playthrough. As for Relics and similar weapons, I tend to conserve uses. However, once they start piling up and I am entering the late-game, I begin to use them somewhat regularly in conjunction with my "normal weapons." I also abuse the fact that weapons will auto-repair during the timeskip (and the Sword of the Creator auto-repairs in certain parts of the story). If not for their low durability, I would probably use them more.

Apparently it's already been compiled on GameFAQs. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/switch/204445-fire-emblem-three-houses/faqs/77596 I haven't delved into it myself, but I figured I'll post it in to see if it helps any.

Got an extra one while I was thinking about team compositions. For Group Tasks, even if you do not plan on using any of the extra movement types (Armor, Mounted, Flying), you can still make use of the abilities they unlock at certain ranks. For convenience, I copy and pasted the chart from the main Serenes Forest site here. Heavy Armour Weight -3 (C) Smite (B) Weight -5 (A+) Armored Effect Null (S+) Riding Dexterity +4 (C) Movement +1 (A+) Cavalry Effect Null (S+) – Flying Alert Stance (B) Alert Stance+ (A+) Flying Effect Null (S+) – The easiest to obtain is Heavy Armor rank C, which reduces weight by 3. Reducing weight will increase your Attack Speed, making it easier to double enemies. Just remember to equip the ability if you want it to take effect!

The standard for deployment is 10 students and this will be seen on the majority of maps. Max Adjutants are 3 at Professor Level A+. At endgame (at least for Edelgard's route), I think it went up to 12 deployment slots, so with adjutants, there will be a total of "15 characters" on the field at once.

I also miss a postgame sandbox, especially in the style of Shadows of Valentia (Thabes Labyrinth) or Sacred Stones (Creature Campaign). The Awakening DLC Challenge Maps were also fun to mess around with as well. When I filled out one of those Nintendo Game Survey things, I left feedback saying I would have loved a post-game section. There's the DLC and free updates planned for Three Houses, so there may be hope yet. But before I properly delve into thinking about postgame, I need to finish all the routes first...

Some questions regarding the music tracks and where they play. Spoilers possible.

Repairing the Sword of the Creator at the Blacksmith is better as you can do it anywhere and it doesn't cost an action (as you can even do it from the Prep screen). The main downside is using the rare materials and the high gold cost of repairing it. Thing is, I rarely use the Sword of the Creator (unless I know it'll be auto repaired, then I'll abuse it). While it's a nice weapon, the low durability makes it unappealing for me. There's also other options that I can use instead (Rapier, Levin Sword) that work just as well.

Professor Rank. Depending on how much you are willing to spend, you can just go up to C+ for the extra battle (and naturally gain Professor EXP by playing) or just jump to A+ to not worry about things. Supports are great if you want to transfer in students from other houses, as Support Rank B gives a chance for the student to come to you instead of having to grind out their recruitment requirements. Otherwise, the Weapon Skills for Byleth may be a good option. Not only one can mess around with them, but it also helps in the Instructing part of the game since Byleth will have expertise in these skills, making leveling them faster for the students. * * * * * * * * * * Now for a question of my own. Regarding NG+ Chains, and bonuses in general... Does NG+ bonuses apply to any NG+ file, or does it have to be a continuous chain? Say I branch off and have two separate NG+ files. One file I try to make an "ultimate file" that unlocks nearly everything while the other is just a standard playthrough. Will these two separate NG+ files be able to share unlocks, or do they need to be chained playthroughs? For a picture example... 4th Playthrough -> 5th Playthrough L---> Ultimate File Thanks in advance!

Don't know if this has been reported, but I think Gilbert's and Annete's timeskip paralogue requires them to reach C support in order to become accessible. I didn't have access to it at the start of the month, raised their supports, and suddenly the paralogue became available near the end of the month once they reached C support.

Still playing Three Houses. As I may have mentioned before, I finished Edelgard's route and am now playing the Blue Lions. I finally reached the timeskip.... Man, I'm hyped again for the game. Redoing Part One was somewhat of slog, despite "rushing" through old convos and seeing things from a new perspective. But when things started picking up... Oh boy. All the stuffs. Spoilers for Blue Lions and El's route ahead.

1. Authority is pretty important as end-game Batallions grant massive stat boosts (and it helps when fighting against the monster enemies too). If you are not wielding two weapon types (like Sword/Bow or Faith/Reason), and are not on a mount, make the second skill Authority. 2. Plan out your final classes and keep in mind you do not have to go all the way to Master Classes. Some Advanced Classes work just fine for endgame content as all the training for a Master Class may be better spent elsewhere (Primary Weapon or Authority) as Master Classes are only around at the end of the game.

I went after Flayn first and I ended up killing her by using Petra. Seteth was saddened that he couldn't protect Flayn. Later when I sent Byleth to defeat Seteth, he died as well. NOTICE: Looks like I got ninja'd. Apparently, one needs to defeat Flayn with Byleth. I had my Byleth on the front lines with Seteth, so I didn't get that option. * * * * * As for Chapter 17, I somehow managed to win on my first attempt (with minimal Divine Pulse uses). I only had four characters in the south (Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Lysithea, and Dancer!Dorothea), and since Lysithea was the only real "good character," I had to basically retreat and just bunker down. This meant I was harassed by Bolting for three or four turns (actually, I think I beat Rhea before I got to the guy, so he just fled). Byleth had to come down and save the day, especially with those Golem things running amok causing problems... Regarding Dedue, my main team was in no position to take on his transformed self as I was running out of gambits and my formation was all over the place due to Rhea's arrival. So, I turned back time and assassinated him when he was a human. A shame I missed out on a CG, but as I know I want to do that route again at some point, I plan on fighting him in that form.

It may be useful for NG+ runs if you want to your Lord to be supportive with the Charm skill. I made Dimitri one for fun and it worked rather well for the short time he was in the class, and because I didn't want to make him a Cavalier. Edelgard and Claude may prefer other options though.

From my understanding and what I've seen personally... Attack: Grants a chance to add an additional follow up attack if the primary unit doubles the enemy. (Primary Attack, Primary Attack, Ally Followup) Defense: Grants a chance to reduce damage on an incoming followup attack. (Enemy Attacks, Ally Defends Enemy Followup Attack) Healer: Grants a chance to heal the primary unit at the start of the turn. The higher the Support level, the more likely these things are to occur. Now, for Attack and Defense, if you do not double the enemy (or are not doubled yourself), then they basically do nothing. They still can level up and you can raise supports with adjutants (even with other units outside out the primary). * * * * * The problem is is that Three Houses, even at Hard, Adjutants are relatively useless. If you are doubling an enemy, chances are you are already killing them with the second strike. If you are being doubled yourself, then the incoming damage is probably already negligible (or you just don't field the slow unit because "gotta go fast.") Even Healers can be considered somewhat worthless if you have proper healers fielded (or are equipped with healing items).

Anyone know if "saving all the Duscar forces" in Dedue's paralogue does anything? I imagine this is only possible when overleveled and using the Stride Gambit + Warp to rush down the boss on turn one. For "partially saving the Duscar forces" I got a Large Bullion and the Duscar Battalion. The top right forces fell (I sent some of mine to "killsteal"), so a part of me wonders if the paralogue may be trigger-based instead of total number of kills. By this I mean that if the top right falls, the reward potential drops, but I'm not sure.

Regarding Petra, yeah she does keep her unique outfit as a Wyvern Rider (Advanced Class). The Wyvern Lord variant (Master Class) is generic though. It surprised me too when I went to check.

What. How. What. I need to see this for myself when I get there.

I'm playing a lot of Three Houses. Finished Edelgard's route and now am on Blue Lions. I'm still in the mindset that is one of the best Fire Emblem games made, although it has flaws like any other game. I guess I'll put my updated impressions here as well (originally posted in the Spoiler Thread for Three Houses), but I'll place them under spoilers just in case. I tried to remain somewhat spoiler free, but you can never be sure.

Honestly, it depends on how much time you want to invest into the Monastery. While Three Houses shines a spotlight on it, you could glance over the exploration aspect if you want more traditional Fire Emblem gameplay of going "map to map." It helps you have access to all your shops on the preparation screen, so the Monastery is almost entirely optional. On my first "completionist" Black Eagles run, I had a playtime about 58 hours. This is me doing all the battles (animations on), completing all quests, and listening to all dialogue for Supports and the Monastery. Remember, this is just one route. There are other paths to play as well. On my current second playthrough as Blue Lions, I'm skimming over dialogue I've already seen while listening to new ones. It goes by much faster and I'm getting battles in much more "easily" than my first playthrough. This may change once I hit Part II though. * * * * * At the bare minimum, you will want to explore the Monastery at least once a month to complete quests. If you just do the basics and not talk to everybody (or skim through their dialogue) the Monastery section is a lot shorter. The time consuming part is sitting still and listening to the voiced lines. If you are min-maxing, though, I want to say the exploring the Monastery is one of the best options as you can max out student Motivation easily as well as Byleth's skills. Again, though, the time consuming part is the dialogue if you wish to listen to it. Rushing to spend all the activity points and do the basic routine does not take that much time (although Seminars and Rest are of course shorter). Hope this helps!

Regarding the "Crest" items, does it allow others to wield the "Relic Weapons" with greater effectiveness, or is that still tied to their specific characters?