Sire

I did the 4 pulls (Free + 350 Crystals), got 4 Bronze. Overall, fairly content as I could use the SR Accessory for enchant resonance, Gold becomes scarce later, and the Hammers help a lot with upgrading equips friendshipisoverrated. The Runestone, SSR Accessory, and the Cherie Skin are very tempting, although I'll likely have to spend all my Crystals just for it due to the crappy rates. Getting the 3 Summon Tickets helps justify some of the costs, but man 3950 Crystal is a lot. If I had to choose one, I'll pick the Cherie skin. SSR Accessories and Runestones I can always get later and save up for. Speaking of which, the Skins here seem to be Lotto exclusive and there hasn't been a re-run of it yet in CN, so if you miss out, it may be gone forever (or a year, who knows). I love the Cherie skin and she is one of my main characters, but I really should be trying to pull for Luna for the Princess Faction Buff... * * * * * In other news, I got Sonya her Bone Rhinos today! I did rage a bit because Cherie failed me in one of the Time Rift missions (costing me a Feat and 3* status), but at least I now have a T3 soldier. I am not looking forward to farming the rest of the materials as my burgers are all gone and I'm reliant on the daily supply to somewhat progress.

Right, this thread exists for proper Three Houses discussion. I'll copy & paste what I said in the Direct thread, and then read through this topic. * * * * *

Oh yeah, Rune Factory was a thing. I remember during things about it back in my GBA days, but never really delved into it. * * * * * For more of my impressions on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, after re-watching the trailer... - The low FPS Cutscenes are back... Man, why couldn't they have the quality of Awakening cutscenes if they wanted to go this route? - Dragon Girl Lissa? - I appreciate the world-building they seem to be going for. Hopefully there is more than what they say in the trailer. - Traditionalist Empire, Holy Kingdom, and the Independents (Leicester Alliance) - Avatar Time! I prefer the male's traditional design, the female's "torn leggings?" are not really my thing. - Hey, the Witcher is our dad! Wait, wrong Geralt. Our dad is Jeralt, with a J. - So, something happens and Avatar receives special powers. Oh boy, this may be worrisome... - Avatar Teacher Dreams of Dragon Loli. why - I have a feeling we'll choose a house side and the Church (which was probably neutral) may end up being the bad guys. Alternatively, someone in the three houses may attempt to resurrect a dark dragon god or something, so the Church comes in to save the day. - Legs. Sorry, I had to. - What side we choose likely determines main lord and character access. While I'm a fan of paladins and knights, Dimitri looks lame. I'll likely for go Edelgard my first playthrough. Claude may be the most fun though, and for some reason I'm getting Hector vibes. - Once again, loving the battle map. It reminds me of Radiant Dawn and I loved Radiant Dawn. - I suddenly have a feeling most character outfits will be a variation on school uniforms... - Yeah, Three Houses definitely looks more opened-ended compared to other FE titles. So many things to study train! - Everyone was kung-fu fighting... (We got Claws as weapons, folks!) - Still not sure how troops are supposed to work, unless they are purely visual (but then what about formations?) - So, does the Avatar have future vision, or something akin to Mila's Turnwheel from Valentia? I'll love the see the Turnwheel function return. - Why would the three factions fight each other? Are they even fighting each other in the first place? The three main lords seem to know each other, at least. - Yeah, we got some dark forces stuff going on. Wonder how that will play out in the grand scheme of things. * * * * * All right, some hope and hype has been restored. Still, I really wanted to see more. At least we now know the release date, July 26th.

So, here are my highlights and some reactions to stuff... (When I'm not on Discord. This is my own recap and notes post.) Super Mario Maker 2! There are slopes! Super Mario Maker 2! Woo! (Honestly though, I didn't get my money's worth out of it... I loved the game, but didn't play it enough to be worth the purchase.) Smash Ultimate 3.0.0 Update Personally hoping for Smash Run to return in some form as I loved that mode in 3DS Smash. Otherwise, I have no idea as I haven't gotten around to Smash Ultimate yet. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Looks awesome and hope to see Derrick of GameXplain stream it as part of his Castlevania marathon. Personally though, I probably will give it a pass. Yoshi's Crafted World Man I'm hype for this, but then I remember the last real Yoshi game I played was Yoshi's Story for the N64 and Yoshi's Island (SNES) on the GBA. I want to play Yoshi's Yarn game thing too... Astral Chains I got baited hard with Astral Chains. I legitimately thought it was Xenoblade Chronicles X 2 (even thought there was a bearded HB in there). However, as it progressed, I realized it wasn't XCX2. Still, it's a Platinum game and they make amazing things. If only I had the time and money to actually play them... Link's Awakening Remaster Eh, it's nice for LoZ fans. Personally, there is a majesty and beauty to sprites. Not everything has to be 3D... Tetris 99 Tetris Battle Royal. That is all. Daemon X Machina This still looks good and I'm probably gonna try out the prototype demo. It helps that it reminded me of Xenoblade Chronicles X (I thought this was XCX2 when it was first revealed. Look, I want a sequel, okay?) I've been wanting a good Mech game to mess around in as Hawken and Mechwarrior Online are just a mess... Fire Emblem Three Houses - Here we go, the main feature!... Wait, there's basically nothing here and it was just as long as the other announcements. I guess it was just a bone to us FE dogs... - I wonder if this will end up being what Fates was supposed to be (but as a teacher to the three factions instead of siblings) - Progression seems a lot more open-ended than before. - I'll need to re-watch the trailer for more impressions, but right now I'm feeling "It's a Fire Emblem title. It reminds me of Radiant Dawn. I want it." * * * * * So, off to do research and rewatches and whatnot. I'll be back!

Regarding S-Supports and the like, I don't mind such things. The problem I have is when they are written terribly and make no sense whatsoever. I do not want "X loves the Avatar no matter what and Avatar is the perfect being." I want "X is in love with the Avatar due to being childhood friends, bonding over time during the adventure, shared interests, etc." Give me a compelling reason why a person likes another person, not a throwaway response "because shipping." While I get Cordelia's thing with Chrom, her supports with the Avatar (especially when expanded in the DLCs like Summer Scramble) are amazing. I never tried the route myself but what I read was genuinely enjoyable. I loved the antics Robin and Cordelia had with each other. Now, if we went into Shadows of Valentia territory and suddenly an Avatar shows up, what do you do with Clair, Mae, Celica, and Matilda? Personally I would block them off from being supports as they already have a pairing, but if somehow the writers made a compelling reason why they would choose the Avatar, then maybe I'll let it slide. Perhaps somehow the Avatar gets Faye to get over Alm and she learns loves the Avatar instead. (The same can be said of Gray, instead of trying to get Clair, he somehow ends up falling in love with the Avatar.) Perhaps Celica and Alm never really made up due to their differences, leaving them open for the Avatar. Perhaps Mae and Boey never took the hints or took action, allowing for the Avatar to sweep in instead (don't do that. only villains do that). For Matilda and Clive, that'll probably go into scandal territory or something (why man, just why). TLDR: Give me a compelling reason why a person likes another person. The Avatar does not need to have romantic supports with everyone. I wish S-Ranks are just a very strong bond between two people and they don't necessarily need to end in romance (see Sacred Stones paired endings, or the Eliwood x Hector bromance). * * * * * Got myself prepared to ramble on this topic as the Direct goes on. I'm hoping it'll be a great one, especially with the Three Houses info! As for a random prediction/wishlist, I want to see footage of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (port? remake?) on the Switch. I loved that game and franchise and want to see what's all going on with the updated version. Otherwise, I got nothing. Here we go!

I thought about starting a Serenes Forest guild, but I'm not sure if there is any interest in it (or if I actually want to run the thing). There is also the matter of starting a guild requires a small payment up front (like $2). // That aside, I do't think there is much guild functionality at the moment besides being a group of people with a fancy name. I'm up for joining one though. * * * * * EDIT * * * * * Slowly making my way to 40. After looking at my heroes and the ease of getting materials, it looks like Sonya and Bone Rhinos will be my first T3 unit. Ninjutsu is amazing and Sonya snowballs quite well. Her main problem is sustain, but that may be solved once I can get Vampire Bats. I'm fearful of the level 40 difficulty spike and enemy T3 units. I know they appear in Time Rift 4-3 Elite, but I don't know where they first appear in normal mode. For my Training Grounds (~level 39) Infantry - Lvl 9 (Initially invested a lot here because of Matthew and later Bernhardt. Current focus is elsewhere though.) Lancer - Lvl 6 (Probably my biggest mistake in the long run. I really don't run a tank unless it is absolutely necessary. I may invest here more if I pull Luna and can invest in Freya.) Cavalry - Lvl 9 (Initially invested for Laird before I knew that Fliers are the way to go. Currently being invested into to buff up the Bone Rhinos.) Flier & Aquatic - Lvl 9 (Always a top priority as I try to make my way towards Angels. Also, Vampire Bats.) Archer & Assassin - Lvl 3 (Yeah... No.) Holy & Demon (& Mages) - Lvl 8 (Honestly I put points into here for my Liana. It turns out Lana benefited the most as she now has maxed out Witches. Gotta work towards Sorceress for Lana and Zealots for Chris.)

In regards to the Avatar, I'm perfectly fine if the Avatar is but the "camera lens" of the player while the main story revolves around other characters. Sure, the Avatar will have his/her moments of awesomeness, but the overall story is not really their own. (Think "Mark the Tactician" from Blazing Sword or Cross from Xenoblade Chronicles X.) I'm curious on how the soldiers will work alongside the heroes in Three Houses. Now that I've played Langrisser Mobile, I'm wondering TH will follow a similar system (or if they are purely visual, or if their gimmick is formations).

There are a collection of guides over on Reddit. I've written some of them under the username "Taurusm" (Faction Guides and the "Lacking Leon" guide.) Also, the game's difficulty can be all over the place. While the main story missions and Time Gate tend to have a curve, the Gates of Fate vary wildly in difficulty despite the level requirement. Most of this is due to "solo runs" using the character which is best done when said character is overleveled. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that there is a "triforce" of power in Langrisser. Heroes, Soldiers, and Equipment. Leveling up heroes and advancing them through the classes only goes so far, they will require good equipment and soldiers to make it through the tougher content. Upgrading your gear is important (a 40 SR is better than a 20 SSR), and upgrading soldiers from the Training Gym is also a must. This is one of the reasons why many say to grind the Aniki gyms in co-op, not only you get EXP you can upgrade your soldiers at the same time. SSR Estelle - Protagonist, Glory, Time & Space Joshua - Princess (yes, Princess), Meteor, Time & Space Leonhardt - Origin, Empire, Time & Space Renne - Dark Cycle, Legends of the Other Side, Time & Space SR Kloe - Princess, Legends of the Other Side, Time & Space Olivier - Empire, Strategist, Time & Space They all have the Time & Space faction, but I have a feeling that is where all their Collab units will end up. Either way, Joshua carries a leader buff and you may be able to run a pure Trails team. Trivia: The Trails heroes claim 3 spots for having the highest stats in the game. Estelle has the most DEF, Renee the most INT, and Joshua the most SKL. I need to get back to the Trails series at some point. I own Trails in the Sky but stopped playing somewhere in the second town...

I would say Liana for the "Again" skill (think of Fire Emblem dancers, but on a cooldown) but because you have Tiaris for healing I'm gonna say Lana. Lana is the best spellcaster in the game. She has the 2nd highest INT stat of all heroes (beaten only by Renne from the LoH collab), she has extra range on her spells, and access to great skills!

Now I'm questioning myself about the shards. I believe summoning a hero using shards costs more than getting them from the gacha, as dupes do not give that many shards. I can only go off of my experience with Sonya. I originally was going to summon her using 30 shards from her event. However, I pulled a Sonya of my own (as well as a duplicate). The dupe gave me 20 Shards. - - - - - - - - - - For a simplified comparison, let's just count Event Shards and a single Gacha summon. Shard Summoned Sonya: +0 Shards (Shard Sonya) +20 Shards (Gacha Duplicate) = 20 Total Shards Gacha Sonya: +0 Shards (Gacha Sonya) +30 Shards (Event Shards) = 30 Total Shards Conclusion: You get 10 more Shards if you got Sonya from the Gacha than summoning her. This line of logic can also probably be applied to Bozel as well. * * * * * Regarding Gospel, it'll give Leon the 20% DEF buff, but that's it. Chivalry's 30% ATK overrides Gospel's 20% ATK, and Leon already has Immunity with Chivalry.

Yeah, I'm getting to the point of truly finalizing my roster as well. I'll need a Luna though for max efficiency as I am basically running a Princess Team without its leader... * * * * * Back to the Bozel event, while I plan on getting all the shards and stuff, I probably will not be redeeming them immediately. It is more efficient to use those shards to upgrade a Bozel pulled from the gacha instead of summoning him. I also already have a team and investing into another character is rough with limited resources, so I think this is the best call. Of course, if you want Bozel now, go ahead and redeem him. I just think patience is a virtue and it may pay off in the future.

Yeah, I heard the Hero Boost issue with Cherie. While not terrible, that 5% of ATK is likely to make a difference (10% ATK, 10% DEF, 10%MDEF) instead of Leon's optimized spread (15% HP, 15% ATK). Also, I ran the math today and 20,000 points is definitely obtainable. If I do the bare minimum (the 2 dailies on the 35 node), then I'll reach 20k and get Bozel near the end of the event. I'll likely try grinding once I unlock the 45 node because of the SSR equips and accessory. I just hope my soldiers are up to par as my stamina is being spread all across the place. I'm basically trying to play Langrisser Mobile as a hardcore "proper game" instead of a mobile one... - - - - - Just a note if you want to use Altemuller. Unique faction buffs do not stack and the latest buff cast will override the previous. So, if you are also using Bernhardt, keep this in mind. Your best bet is simply switching over to a Strategist team with Altemuller at the helm since there is a lot of overlap with Empire/Strategist. (Altemuller, Leon, Vargas, Imelda, +1)

I got myself Lana from the gacha. Now the sisters are reunited and everything is sunshine and rainbows~ (SSRs: Cherie ["Free"], Bernhardt, Liana, Lana) However, I'm still mostly running the same team as my previous post, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the event Bozel because I'll have to grind the event to get him (and I'm not level 40 yet to unlock the 45 slot). I don't have Luna and do not really feel like investing in more units as my resources are limited and I really don't have any spare burgers for stamina. Regarding future pulls, I think I'm gonna need Ledin and/or Elwin at this point for my Glory team. I really want to get rid of Grenier... * * * * * Meanwhile, I made a horrifying discovery when checking the CN Wiki. Turns out Rarity plays a huge role in max stats and "Hero Boosts" (Each hero boosts their soldiers' stats by a certain amount. SSRs have 30%, SR & N are 25%, R are 20%.) For some Max Stat examples... HP INT MDEF ATK DEF SKL Leon SSR Strike Master 4087 212 233 571 249 128 == Leon SSR Royal Knight 4381 212 259 542 260 128 Sonya SR Strike Master 3274 239 241 516 261 117 Laird R Knight Master 2893 180 178 421 202 104 Leticia R Knight Master 2821 198 183 402 210 111 My boy... My beautiful boy... Laird, why must your stats suck? You were the chosen one! You were awesome! Why! Why must rarity torment me! Regarding the chart, it assumes max level (Level 60) while being a 6 Star Rank (The main trio is 5-star as they can't be 6-star yet in the CN server.) Maybe earlier star ranks may balance out the different rarities, but at pure maximum levels the higher rarity guys are just better. SRs may be able to complete, but not the poor R units... While most of the info is still documented on the CN wiki, I'm trying to transfer over the max chart to English so someone can implement it into our wiki (or something). Hopefully I'll be done with that soon.

I was initially intrigued with the remake, but looking at the footage makes me question if I really want to get it or not. As I only got into this franchise due to the mobile game, I'm not sure how the mainline titles work. I'm sure the story, music, character art, and voice acting will be of good quality. I believe that is Narm in the first section, I must say she looks good. (I'm not a fan of her default art in Mobile.) The other character art I've seen thus far have also been stellar, especially when comparing them to their original incarnations. However, the battle sequences and the main battle map just look... off. It looks clunky to move units around, and the battle animations are just meh. I also don't really like their take on the "chibi units" aspect as I find the mobile game (and FEH) pulls it off better. Because most of my time (presumably) will be spent on the main battle map, this is a heavy negative aspect for me. As for my indifference, the act of moving generic soldiers around alongside actual hero units reminds me of Battle for Wesnoth (specifically, in certain campaigns. Not all BoW campaigns are the same). While it can be great fun, it can also become a slog as units all get clumped together and it becomes difficult to get anything done due to the massive armies fighting each other. I guess I'm worried about the pacing here, because if it is done incorrectly it will suck to play through. * * * * * EDIT * * * * * As for Langrisser Mobile, I finally reached level 35. I'm really starting to feel the pressure of trying to get the upgrade materials, but I believe I have my roster set. My characters are... Core Team: Grenier (Glory Leader, Off-Tank), Cherie (Galeforce DPS), Liana (Healer) // Bernhardt (Empire Leader, ???), Laird (Burst DPS) Supports: Chris (Demon Slayer), Sonya (Ninja DPS), Almeda (Healer) I got stuck with Grenier for my Glory Team. He was chosen because I felt the difficulty spike at level 35 and Glory had plenty of useful heroes (not to mention I have invested a bit into them). I definitely will be swapping him out as soon as I am able to though. Grenier just plain sucks, his Talent require him to be hit to gain a buff and his skill selection is lacking. Heck, I'll say Lance is better than Grenier because Lance at least has a niche if he is built. Another reason for Glory is the availability of the Matthew and Almeda. While I probably will no longer invest in Matthew (I got Bernhardt now - he stole Matthew's gear), Almeda is still useful due to her healing and debuffs. I also get to keep using Chris to destroy demonic enemies which helps a lot in story missions. I also invested in Bernhardt as I could use the support of the Empire. It helps that Laird has been my MVP for the longest time (although he will soon be outdone by Cherie. The only reason he made it so far is probably because I put the SSR gear on him.) I am also training Sonya as I enjoy her character and she can be used as "ninja cavalry."

Finally got around to doing the Challenge quest at the last minute. What was going to be a Jalter Crit Buster run transformed into a Stall Team after Fergus focused all 3 of his attacks at Jeanne d'Arc Alter, killing her. This was the team. Jalter (Holy Night Dinner), 80 Waver (2030), Support Merlin (2030, not 10/10/10 skills but NP2) // Mash (2030), Kuro (Imaginary Element), Herc (Bond CE) I ended up taking 93 turns to clear the entire thing. My reward? Hermitage, David, Art of the Poisonous Snake Totally worth it... /s * * * * * While I should be looking forward to the Valentines event, I've been so occupied with Langrisser Mobile that I'm neglecting my FGO dailies and Dragalia Lost's event. Where's a time manipulator when you need one?

Things have been going fairly well for me, but I'm definitely falling behind on clearing Time Rifts and the story. It doesn't help I mostly end up sweeping Time Rifts for mats and I still need to progress further to unlock more materials. I'm still not too big on PvP, but at some point I need to raise my rank enough to get the important items from the PvP Honor Shop. Runestones and the SSR Accessory are the most important items. I haven't tried World Arena yet and have no real desire to. Otherwise, I've been writing guides for the past two days and I got them up on the Langrisser Reddit. Give them a read if you don't know what faction to pick or need a substitute for Leon! (Yes, I go by Taurusm on Reddit. I forgotten why I chose that name, but it was the name of my main character when I played Vindictus.) Faction Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/langrisser/comments/amx9mb/i_pledge_allegiance_faction_guide_with_buffs_team/ Leon Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/langrisser/comments/ams8bb/lacking_leon_cavalry_substitute_guide/ * * * * * * * * * * Edit: Angry Man ranting in the spoilers. Angry man does not like Arena.

Man, Platinum Games seems to have the worst luck when co-developing for other people. Didn't their Microsoft project get shut down too? Alternatively, if they are just finished with what they are contracted to do, then maybe it's fine.

5-Star characters? Fire: Mikoto Water: Dragonyule Cleo Light: Julietta (first 5*, "Christmas 5* Ticket?"), Hildegarde (5* Starter Ticket) Dark: Ieyasu 5-Star Dragons? Water: Dragonyule Jeanne d'Arc * * * * * At the moment though I've occupied with Langrisser Mobile, so I haven't really been playing DL aside from doing the normal dailies. I haven't touched the event at all yet... Edit: As for why I didn't reply for the invitation, my team is still rather weak. I don't think my guys can handle Expert Dragons or IO reliably.