Sire

Last week I didn't run Arena at all because I was preoccupied with other things. I was expecting to still receive my rewards and be demoted, but apparently there is no tier shift (as well as no rewards, obviously) if one does not play Arena at all for the week. So, if one is going on a trip or will otherwise not be able to access FE:Heroes for a prolonged period of time, one does not need to worry about the Arena Rank because it will stay the same until some matches are played.

I know Warrior games have a history of using siege weaponry. It is possible we may end up having to use a siege weapon to defeat the "Giant Dragon," like in Warriors Orochi 3 where they have to use a special one to defeat the Hydra (Link - Skips straight to the gameplay and siege weapon usage, story spoilers). Otherwise, they may adapt the Hyrule Warriors model of simply putting a boss unit on the battlefield and players attack it normally. Instead of using items like in Legend of Zelda, maybe there will be map objectives to weaken the boss so it is more like Fire Emblem.

Just throwing in this random comment in here. Honestly, if one were to go for anything in the Tempest Trials, try to get the 4* version of Masked Marth (6,000 points, which is entirely doable). The Seals will no doubt return in some fashion, the only question is when (remember, duplicate seals are converted into feathers.) It is entirely possible to wait for a new event that may make obtaining these seals much easier. Even if they were to return in a future Tempest Trials, I am confident that IS will learn from this one and make the next less tedious in terms of gameplay. I'm taking the Tempest Trials at my own pace and just reached 7.5k instead of grinding myself to oblivion for that covetous Quickened Pulse. Try not to get overzealous and magnify the importance of a single seal in a video game. There are other things that can also be done that may be more fulfilling and less stressful. * * * * * As for the Fate's maps, why not check out the "Map Matchup Thread?" I placed the maps here for convenience though. Chapter 2 - Fates Conquest 2-1: Embrace the Dark (Chapter 6) 2-2: Light Scatters (Birthright Chapter 14) 2-3: Leo (Birthright Chapter 18) 2-4: Burning Falls (Birthright Chapter 21) 2-5: King Garon (Birthright Chapter 27) Chapter 6 - Fates Birthright 6-1: Journey Begins (Chapter 3) 6-2: Unhappy Reunion (Conquest Chapter 10) 6-3: Hinoka (Conquest Chapter 24) 6-4: Sakura (Conquest Chapter 22) 6-5: Possessed (Conquest Chapter 23) and Ryoma (Conquest Chapter 25) Extra GHB Xander: Bitter Intrigue (Conquest Chapter 12)

I have to say Xander because of his awesome horse. I would probably place F!Corrin second due to her shapeshifting abilities while Chrom comes in third place because he seems to have a solid and enjoyable moveset. Honestly though, I like them all save for the OCs. Rowen looks lackluster from what I have seen, and Lianna is not as impressive as the others.

Random Notes: 1. It's nice to be able to listen to the actual game audio instead of commentary over it like the Treehouse presentation. 1A. I'm really liking the Warrior's remix of Awakening's Destiny. // Hold up, Lost in Thoughts All Alone is in there as well! // There is another song in there and it sounds familiar, but I don't know what it is. I want to say it is Dusk Falls, but can't quite make it out. 1B. Hearing Rowen's voice definitely cemented my dislike of it. His moveset also looks lackluster. 1C. The "variations" from Hyrule Warriors seem to return, such as when activating one's special ability. 1D. I guess Anna is the narrator, or at the very least helping out the player with the tactical callouts. "I like these profit margins!" 1E. The other small dialogue during attacks is rather nice. I noticed this the most with F!Corrin, saying how she doesn't want to fight and the like. 2. Looks like Marth may play similarly to HW's Zelda with her Rapier moveset. 3. Watching this video, I find the Level Ups are definitely more intrusive than I would like. I'll probably end up turning those off so the action flows smoothly. * * * * * Overall, Marth shot up in the list of characters I want to actually play while I am probably going to dread dealing with Rowen throughout the entire story. Still, GameExplain's video of FE:Warriors is nice since it does not have the commentary like the Treehouse versions.

I'm still thinking about ~25 characters will be playable. Originally I was a bit more conservative with 20, but seeing all of those Sword Users (at least 8 so far), makes me believe the roster will be larger. I do wonder if someone other than the three games sneaks in that is not a FE:Warriors OC outside of DLC, but I am not expecting anything. Honestly, I'm more curious on their roster selection from the three titles and wonder if there will be any surprise appearances (such as Kellam, Cherche, or Arthur) showing up. If possible, I rather set low expectations and be surprised than set high ones and be disappointed.

Yeah, nothing new whatsoever. There was some brief talk about bond conversations and how the roster was chosen, but this was information we knew already. More announcements, such as new characters or showcasing the Bond Conversations, will come up later. A shame, but I guess it is to be expected since the theme today seems to be re-runs.

Thus far the "new stream" is more or less the same thing as they originally showed off the first time around. These "re-streams" seem to be a running theme for today, they did it with the Breath of the Wild DLC as well as Samus Returns. Nothing new is shown yet in terms of gameplay, but some of the interview questions are new. I'll edit this post or post again if anything interesting shows up.

I have far, far too many games in my backlog. Here's a large sample from an even larger list... (I will never have enough time to do everything I want to do...) Games Finished since June 2016 Games Needing to be Resumed Games Needing to be Completed Games to Go Back To Games to Start Games to Purchase

It reminds me a little bit of Dragon's Dogma, but now in the Monster Hunter universe (the open world aspect and hunting down big creatures). I may pick it up for PC, but I am a little saddened that Monster Hunter XX may not be localized for the Switch. I only played Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii and 3G on the 3DS, and a part of me wants to get back into Monster Hunter again. All I can do is wait and see what happens. Knowing my luck, it'll probably be thrown onto the ever-growing backlog of games and by the time I feel like playing, a new one will be announced...

Besides SerenesForest (which is the only one I am "fairly active" in)... 1. Total War Center - Specifically Hyrule Total War (While I'm not active anymore, I did help out with its development for a year.) 2. Renegade X Forums (I mostly just lurk there, but I have spikes of activity when I play the game.) 3. OpenRA Forums (Like Renegade X, I mostly just lurk but have spurts of activity, such as during their map design contest.) I also did some stuff on the TalesWorlds Forums for Mount and Blade: Warband and was on Advance Wars By Web when that was a thing. Then there are plenty of other gaming forums that I have forgotten I've been on or no longer exist, such as my Warcraft 3 (wannabe) mapping days. I also lurk around on Reddit, but by a different username.

Healer Gauntlet? I could use some optimized healers... (looking for an optimized Azama, Clarine, Lissa, and Sakura) The biggest thing for me is hoping I get an Elise because I really want her on my team. As to who to support, if I don't get an Elise or a Sakura, probably Azama (if he is running). I have him outfitted the most, and I am fairly indifferent on who wins this gauntlet.

Round 46 [Bridal Blessings]: Hana, Donnel, Beruka, Sophia, Jakob Round 47 [Bridal Blessings]: ???, Fir, Saizo, 4* Ogma, 4* Tharja Round 48 [Bridal Blessings]: ???, Palla, Olivia, Barst, Jagen Fishing 1 [Bridal Blessings]: 5* Jeorge || 5* Bride!Lyn || 5* Genny (+DEF, -RES) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * After doing some full pulls with characters that were of little use (Round 46 were all retired after pulling, the ??? characters may have suffered from a similar fate or were used for inheritance) I decided to change things up a bit and started to go "fishing" for characters instead of doing my usual full pulls. Why? Because I really wanted Bride!Cordelia. So I started doing "Grey Only" pulls. Funny thing about these focus pulls is that a friend of mine said I would get a 5* Bride!Cordelia, +ATT & -RES, alongside another 5* character in the same pull. I didn't get a Bride!Cordelia, but I got a Bride!Lyn instead (with Jeorge being the other 5*). I like Lyn and all, but I really wanted what I originally set out for... So, having no money, I decided to use the last 5 orbs I had to pull one last time on the Bridal Blessings banner. I got 5* Genny. I also like Genny (Where's "I'm ready to roll!"), but her natures are average. Luckily for her, I don't have any good "offensive staff users" (Elise) around to use for Skill Inheritance, so I'm likely going to end up training Genny as my go to 5* Healer even though my Azama is better outfitted. I should be grateful for these blessings and pulling these 5* characters, but they are not characters that really help me or "super favorites." I guess I should be like Chrom, and say "...I guess I'll get my chance... another day..." (far... far into the future... provided they ever return...) * * * * * Past Pulls

Still going off of my original predictions of a total count of 26 characters. However, one thing that caught my eye is the Equipment screen. Ryoma has the Raiginto equipped and has 3 Vulnaries, and I wonder if this may lead to to the same character wielding different weapons (such as F!Corrin wielding her Yato or a Dragonstone), or if it follows the traditional formula of "generic weapons" with the character specific being unlocked later in the game. My 26 character list is placed below for reference, reflecting the update that Corrin, Xander, and Ryoma are now confirmed.

Here is the vod on Nintendo's Youtube Channel.

Overall, so far Warriors has met what I expected (if we count the Dragon being the main bad guy). A shame Bond Conversations or other characters were not shown, but I guess it is to be expected with what he have seen thus far. I'm liking the character's movesets. Xander looks like a blast to play with his acrobatic horse, and I think I saw Ryoma do his kick during one of his attacks. Then there is F!Corrin and Chrom who also look fun! I can't wait to try out the harder difficulties where even a general mob can do tons of damage. As for the graphics, I think it is more of the aesthetic approach they are taking with FE: Warriors. I don't mind the character models, but I the 2D art is something I may have to get used to. I'm half-hoping there will be another Fire Emblem Warriors spotlight on the Treehouse streams, but we'll see what else Nintendo as in store. For now, I'll stay glued to my screen and no-life Nintendo's E3 presentations. As and aside, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is up next and is live, but that is for a different topic.

Random Note: Music is a remix of Awakening's Destiny, I think. Stats: Fire Emblem Levels Ups are still a thing in Warriors. If this is bothersome during gameplay, the screen can be turned off during battle (the character still levels, but the gains will not interrupt the action). Tactical: The player can send their heroes to attack and defend locations on the map. F!Corrin: Transforms into her dragon form for her ultimate attack. Otherwise, she is a sword user. Xander: Xander's Cavalier gameplay was shown off. He also has special battle dialogue with Corrin. Arena Mode: There is an "Arena Mode" for Fire Emblem Warriors. I may update this post as things progress.

Not reading the topic yet. FE Warriors is next on the Treehouse stream! That is all.

Well, the short trailer ticked off one of the boxes of what I expected to see (reveals of Corrin, Ryoma, and Xander). Rather happy that Corrin is F!Corrin and hope that M!Robin makes it in. Now, all that is left to see is a Warriors Villain (unless the Dragon was it) and a Bond Conversation, and my expectations are sated. I look forward to the possible Fire Emblem Warriors segment on the Treehouse and to see if anything from my wishlist makes it in (Full Level Playthrough, Mounted Class Gameplay, Teaser for a character not from Awakening, Fates, or Shadow Dragon.)

Never got around to messing around with New Mystery, even though I played Shadow Dragon. It's nice to see Athena and Katrina make it into Heroes, and Roderick and Luke seem to be fairly interesting characters. However, while the skills looks nice, I am not that attached to these characters. For the first time, I probably be saving my orbs and not spend any on this banner. This gives me some time to build up an orb supply, provided none of the alternative banners tempt me...

I already put my grievances in another topic, but if I were to suggest a "simple band-aid fix" (as if there is such a thing), it would be this. Double the Stamina Costs and Double the Points Earned. This cuts down the repetitive nature of getting the Tempest Trial rewards by half at the cost of losing a stamina efficient way to grind SP and Hero Merits. Honestly, while getting more SP is always nice, there is normally enough SP to go around to earn all the core skills on a character. (As for heavy Skill Inheritance, one will have to rely on merges, leveling them up from 3* status, or just keep getting that SP per kill if no merges are available.) As for Hero Merits, they cap out at 2000, so I do not mind losing out on a grinding option for HM. In my ideal scenario, stamina costs would be adjusted per tier instead of plain 20 across the board (Why does it cost 20 stamina for Level 20 enemies? Training Tower has superior stamina options for those levels!). A part of me wanted to play around with the idea of using the lower tiers in Tempest Trials "for fun," but it is all too clear that running anything other than max-level Lunatic is a waste of time. So, for me, I would suggest... 1. Increase the Stamina Cost, Increase the Points Earned (This lessens the grindy & repetitive aspect of the Tempest Trial rewards at the cost of stamina efficient SP and HM grinding. This may also have a side effect of making Stamina Potions more in demand, which may increase revenue for FE:Heroes.) 2. Make Low Tiers Valuable and Worthwhile (While max Lunatic should continue giving the most points, make the other tiers competitive for their stamina cost. I don't want to be running the same team all the time and may want to mess around with other compositions that can't handle max Lunatic difficulty. This versatility should reduce the perception of the grindy and repetitive nature of the Tempest Trials.)

You saw nothing... Fixed!

For the short version, I would like to see Duessel, Nolan, and Mycen. I need my team of awesome old guys! For an even shorter version though, "just include everyone." Seriously, I like far too many Fire Emblem characters, so I tend to pull on every new banner. As for some crazy hopes, I would like to see Nohr!Azura (Black Dress), Leila (Matthew's Reunion), Fargus (Because he is awesome), and Grima (Because I really want to see how IS ties it in with certain characters.) As for past desires that are still applicable today...

As a game mode, I like the Tempest Trials. The idea of having to survive a gauntlet of maps with a few teams to earn a high score is enjoyable to me. However, I much rather have the Tempest Trials be a permanent fixture with smaller rewards, like the Arena, instead of it being one of the big monthly events. My reason for this is the time investment, and to get the most points, the repetitive nature. In terms of mathematics, if I played every single day and constantly used my Stamina efficiently, I could probably get the rewards I wanted within the time frame (50k, Quick Pulse Seal). Since failure and not-perfect runs are possible (and rather probable in my case), this makes the grind even longer. The Voting Gauntlet does not require this much commitment to obtain decent rewards. I can play a quick Voting Gauntlet match every so often at my own leisure and still get a satisfactory amount of feathers for my time. Not only that, the Voting Gauntlet is rather short with its timeframe. With the Tempest Trials, it basically demands me to sit down and marathon through the entire thing with all of my Stamina. The rewards may be greater (Masked Marth, Seals, Orbs, etc.), but I find it to be more tedious than fun. Long story short, I find the current implementation of Tempest Trials and its reward system to be more like work instead an enjoyable pastime. I find other activities better suited to relax and casually play than working to grind in Heroes. Why should I spend my time doing something repetitive when I can be doing something much more fulfilling instead? It is just not worth it in my opinion.

Berkut - While his story is debatable, his voice and character design are excellent. It would be awesome to see Berkut in Heroes, perhaps mimicking his finale encounter in Echoes. Rudolf - We couldn't have him in Shadows of Valentia, but what if Rudolf became playable for Heroes? Also, I want an excuse to listen to "Lord of a Dead Empire" again. Grima - I really, really want to see Grima to become playable, even if it is mostly just a variant on existing characters. Plus, the stage has to be on the back of a flying dragon. It'll be awesome! Walhart - We have Xander and Camus covering Swords and Lances, might as well add Walhart to round out the "Distant Counter" cavalry! Also I like Walhart and would love to see players fight him in either of his showdown maps. Black Knight - Would like to see something similar to his final showdown in Radiant Dawn, one character faces the Black Knight while the other three handle the army below. Also, an Armor with Built-In Distant Counter due to Alondite. (Maybe give him Escape Route to mimic his Warp Powder...) Lyon - Echoing other's sentiment here, it would be cool to see Lyon incorporated in Heroes! I am curious what incarnation of Lyon will make it in though. Selena - Selena Fluorspar from Sacred Stones would be another interesting character to see. A part of me hopes for a proper Bolting instead of just giving her Growing Thunder, even if Bolting just mimics the effects of the Firesweep Bow.