Byte2222

Grinding is easier if you know how to get your hands on mummies - they basically give you a whole level at once. This is easy on Celica's route: Lost Woods just gives them to you in droves but you can also RNG-abuse for them in the Mountain Graveyard. If I recall correctly, you should savestate in the Mountain Village, exit, immediately get into a fight and look for mummies. If you don't get them, load the state, waste some RNs (this is the fuzzy bit, I think you can do it just by walking back and forth) and try again. Repeat until mummies. Alm's route is harder. Eventually you get to the Secret Shrine, where you can find mummies, but before then, you're pretty stuck. My favourite option was actually the Thief Shrine, as thief EXP yields are no worse than any other classes you can grind on, they're very weak and they have a tiny chance of dropping a game-changing Angel Ring.

I'd argue that 'self-defence' is a fallacious notion (regardless of weapon). If you're in a dangerous situation and you want to get out of it safe and unharmed, your best bet is to run. If you can't do that, your next safest option is to comply until you can run, i.e. if someone pulls a weapon and demands you give them your wallet/purse, give it to them and run. Anything else is thoroughly dangerous - to pull a weapon on your attacker is to escalate the situation and put your life on the line. If you live in a rough area and you're afraid you might be mugged, carrying a knife is more likely to get you killed and you should instead carry a dummy wallet/purse with old cards and loose change that you can give to an attacker safely. On the subject of knife effectiveness - imagine a 4-year-old has a sharpie without a lid. Now imagine trying to forceably take it off them. All the marks they make on your arms and body would be slashes if you were trying to deal with a knife attacker. This is without even considering stab wounds, which, as previously discussed, are very dangerous and severe wounds. Knives are very effective weapons and it is not difficult to kill using one. As for the original question - I don't think it should be illegal for adults to carry knives on their person (any knives, including balisongs). They are useful tools and it would be too difficult for the police to enforce a blanket ban on carrying knives. Minors are a totally different story, as they are more prone to doing stupid things. I do, however, consider it poor form to have a visible weapon out in public - be it a knife, sword, spear, bow, axe, nunchucks, tonfa or any other weapon - and I think the police should have the power to arrest and prosecute someone with a visible weapon in public at the discretion of the officer. There are sensible reasons to have a visible knife in public but I think the police should have to power to intervene if they consider the safety of the public to be in jeopardy. For context, I studied aikido for just over two years under a very wise and philosophical 6th dan sensei. I also live in the UK (which, as previously mentioned, has knife problems) and I am an experienced archer of 4 years.

I played it. Personally, I loved it and would heartily recommend it but I can see why your review described it as 'polarising'. I'd say the best things about it are the light-touch world building, the gradual evolution of the story and the boss fights. There are a few cutscenes at the start, middle and end but they don't show you much about the world - that happens from the scraps of paper you find in the dungeons. As you pick them up, your understanding of the story and the situation you're in start to develop and evolve. If you're paying attention, you'll have a crashing realisation about 4 hours before the story just tells you - an experience I found incredibly exciting. As for the bosses, it's a bit hard to explain why they're so good. I suppose, because the game is designed so that an experienced gamer will not die and restart the fight, it evolves organically, as you learn the boss's patterns and figure out their weaknesses like a puzzle. As for the flipside, I probably wouldn't describe Pandora's Tower as an exciting game and I'd use the word 'fun' with caution. It's also pretty dark. I'm not talking about surly characters or 'gritty' drama here, I'm talking body horror curses, PTSD, coping with loss etc. I'm, frankly, staggered that The Last Story got a 15+ rating and Pandora's Tower only got a 12+. There's also a very narrow narrative focus, which might turn you off - there are only 5 extant characters. All in all, I absolutely love it but I must concede it's not as good as the other two Rainfall games (Xenoblade and The Last Story). TL;DR: Pandora's Tower is a cerebral game. If you want cathartic action or an epic story then go somewhere else. If you're ready to take your time to explore the world, tackle the puzzles and work around some interesting obstacles then I think you're in for an incredible journey.

I know several people with the same as FE characters but the strangest coincidence is that I know a Jorge (sadly not a Jeorge) who is a master archer (which, may I stress, I do not say idly: page 7, number 22). I personally share my name with a fat bishop.

I personally think you should try to play FE8 next. FE9 is very good and an excellent second/third FE game but, as previously observed, it's hard to get a physical copy. There is the option of emulating it but I can't really help you (I played a physical copy back before they were worth their weight in gold). FE11 isn't bad but it's not exactly the most compelling game and you definitely shouldn't play FE10 before FE9 (it's a direct sequel). FE1 to FE6 (as well as FE12) are only available in Japanese (as far as I know - they may also be in Chinese or Korean but that doesn't really help). This doesn't have to be a problem, as all of them have English patches which you can use with an emulator and most of the translations are quite good. However, most of these games are either very punishing (FE5, FE6), peculiar and difficult for a newcomer to adapt to (FE2, FE4) or have aged poorly (FE1) so I wouldn't recommend you to play them yet. I notice no-one have mentioned FE13 yet. It's new (and therefore readily available) but very divisive - it introduced a lot of elements that long-term fans of the series were not keen on. I'd say it was worth playing but I'd recommend you play one or two of the older games first to get a better perspective on the series. Basically, I think you should play FE8.

On topic: if you're having to ask us, you probably shouldn't play FE4 or FE2 (at least not yet). FE9 is easy to approach if you can get your hands on it (it's old enough to be rare, you might have to emulate it) and it's a solid entry in the series - it's the one I'd recommend. Failing that, maybe have a go at FE11 (Shadow Dragon) on the DS or emulate FE12. The Japan-only titles can be difficult to approach but both FE4 and, to a lesser extent, FE2 are very rewarding games which really shook up the series. I'd recommend you consider them once you're more comfortable with FE in general - they're very different to the rest of the series. FE3 is more like a normal FE game, FE5 is infamously hard and FE1 really shows its age.

To add to what's already been said, introverts have a narrow social focus and extroverts have a wider social focus. As an introvert, I enjoy time on my own and very personal conversation with one or maybe two friends at once but when there are 8 of us round a table, I tend to retreat into myself. Don't forget, introverts can enjoy a large conversation, extroverts can enjoy a moment of peace and quiet etc. but it's somewhat outside their comfort zone and can often be draining for them. Being introverted or extroverted is neither good nor bad, no-one should be judging you based on it and you shouldn't try to change for them. Being introverted or extroverted is like being tall or short, fair or dark, sporty or bookish - it's part of who you are and you should embrace it.

A few things: Lances and spears are unfairly lumped together by FE. Short spears are perfectly good weapons for single melee combat - as an example, a short Japanese yari spear can be a very effective weapon, capable of lots or different attacks in lots of different directions. This kind of fighting is, however, even more difficult to learn than conventional swordfighting. Historical axes were far smaller than most people think, often being one-handed axes weighing less than a kilogram. Think hatchet rather than felling axe. Relevant video: Bows are, as observed, very effective. Hit-and-run horseback archers were absolutely monstrous but large, long-range batteries of English longbows were also deadly effective. The downside is the training. There's an old saying in archery: "to make a great longbowman, start with his grandfather". Horseback and longbow archers required basically a lifetime of training.

Perennial topic is perennial Most of what I was going to say has been said above but I wanted to add that, in the end, the skill of the combatants is more important than what weapon they're using. Yes, the heft of an axe is an impediment against a more agile swordsman, but if the axeman is experienced and the swordsman is a novice, there's really only one way the fight can go.

I'm personally coming down on camp Alm On the subject of Claire vs. Silk: Silk has 1-2 range, which mitigates her durability issues. In addition, Silk gets a lot more experience for the hits she does get in. Granted, she won't be levelling as fast as Claire but she doesn't need to - she gets warp at level 7, which is before Claire promotes (that is what this argument's about, right?) You bring up the suggestion of putting an item on Claire but don't forget that Silk can make good use of the leather shield too to prevent ORKOs. I find it ironic that you use the phrase "unique, irreplaceable utility", yet you dismiss training Silk. Given the lack of healing items in Gaiden, Silk's healing utility becomes all the more important and, although she learns it quite late, dear practically invalidates Claire's monster-slaying advantage (I don't like the thought of the dragon volcano without dear). Even better, when Silk learns illusion, she can summon enough demonslayers to trivialise most of the second half of the game. Yes, it takes a huge effort to get her to promotion but afterwards she's one of Alm's team's most important units so I'd say she's well worth the effort. None of us really have enough experience with Gaiden to legitimately challenge that claim, but the same could be said of validating it. I'll admit, after promotion, Claire is a monster. However, the same could be said of Alm for most of the game and the question has to be whether Claire's utility outweighs the challenge of getting her to promotion. There are some great lances but we're getting towards favouritism here. The javelin and silver lance are from Celica's side and Palla and Catria (and Est if you're into that sort of thing) want them just as much as Claire. There's also a lot of lance users on Alm's side: Luka, Force, Cleive, Matilda and any villagers you promoted to knight or soldier also want the steel lance and horseslayer. The angel ring can also go to someone else just as easily. Bringing up Gradvius is kind of ridiculous because, at that point, Alm will have the Falchion. In addition, Alm gets the regal sword mid-chapter 3 but, before that, there isn't much competition for the - at that point rather useful - bolt sword (nor is there the chance to move it to Celica's team). I don't think I have much to say about this, although one could probably get more use out of Claire flying somewhere and Alm (or someone else) being warped. Finally (and most petty of all), Claire is probably better compared to Jill without transfers, as Claire has a far, far shakier start than Jill.

Balberith, mostly because of the fantastic 3D-ness (plus, I was never a big fan of the GBA games or spontaneous dragons)

Super defensive. Moving in formation with tank units up front, ranged units behind and healers at the back, healing up to full between each stage. I like to play it safe, get all the stuff and as much experience as possible. Occasionally, I have to speed up because of objectives but I find it uncomfortable and scary, I'd rather have the comfort of a full HP bar - no-one's dying on my team

Tough call but I'm actually going to go with Rudolph (although the fact that he's Alms' father is supposed to be a MASSIVE SPOILER). Without giving too much away, Rudolph is an excellent plot twist and a complicated character and fighting him marks Gaiden's biggest turning point. I say all of this in the context of an NES game narrative, which is one of the reasons I'd like to see a Gaiden remake so much: there's a huge amount of untapped and underutilised potential in Gaiden.

Can I have a go? First: I'm not trying to say that 50% is a bad growth, but it does have an unusual downside. How much it matters depends on how you're playing. Now, lets take eclipse's example: we need a unit with less than 16 res to bait a status staff. Now consider 3 units: Unit A has a res base of 11 and a growth of 30% Unit B has a res base of 8 and a growth of 50% Unit C has a res base of 5 and a growth of 70% Lets assume all 3 of these units grow 15 levels and, as such, they all have an average of 15.5 res. However, what's the probability that they have 'too much' res for the required task? The probability of unit A having over 16 or more res after 15 levels is 0.278 The probability of unit B having over 16 or more res after 15 levels is 0.303 The probability of unit C having over 16 or more res after 15 levels is 0.297 (this is the same for 'too little' of a stat too) In this highly contrived example, unit A has the advantage over unit B (assuming my calculations are correct). In most cases, it is better to have the higher growth but if you really need to know if a unit has more or less than a certain value for a stat after a known number of levels, 50% makes it most difficult to know in advance.

I feel like the magic itself is half the problem but the other problem is the classes that wield them. FE9 and FE10 had the most interesting system but can you recall any occasions where you made use of the magic triangle? Magic users in FE10 in particular didn't normally attack other magic users, partly because there were so few but partly because they had such high res that you're better off using a physical attacker (RD magic users were also all crap but that's another issue). It wouldn't be hard to make one class a hard-hitter, one class speedy and one better at tanking physical (or look at the GBA system, for example).

While it would be nice to have a PoR/RD Wii U remake/re-release I have a few issues: 1. I believe IS have previously expressed a reluctance to develop for the Wii U due to the cost of HD games. Which brings me on to... 2. The Wii U and FE's fanbase probably couldn't support the cost of said game. Perhaps in a few years on the back of another good FE but not now. 3. There are more important games to remake/re-release. FE4 and FE5 have been mentioned but FE2 is just begging for a remake

The demand for it is very natural, sex is part of human nature. What's not OK is the abuse that goes on behind the scenes (previously discussed) and when unacceptable material changes people's expectations (read: men's expectations of women).

I have been waiting for so long to see barbarian Maribelle ^_^

I've played FE2 and it was a while ago but I'm pretty sure soldiers can use ranged lances. The javelin may only be available on Celica's route but items can be moved between the two teams

FE2 is very good and worth playing but it is... weird. And it lacks a lot of the luxuries we've become accustomed to in recent years (like the battle forecast and highlighted movement range!) and after playing Gaiden, I found people complaining about FE10 hard mode funny. Despite being difficult to approach, it has some really neat ideas and I am dying to see a proper remake of it, so consider this a cautious recommendation. I found it much easier after watching a Let's Play, perhaps that might help if you're feeling intimidated.

Don't forget that we're generalising a lot here. FE is like reality in that an expert fighter will defeat a novice no matter what weapons they're using. You've also got to remember that different weapons require different amounts of training to use and have different availability. Spears are much harder to learn to use in single combat than swords and axes, swords are very expensive compared to the other two and axes are everywhere (because they're tools). But yes, I can see a swordsman having an advantage over an axeman more easily than I can see an axeman having an advantage over a spearman.

Spears have a longer reach than swords. In one-on-one combat (which seems to be the main form of combat in FE) the swordsman has to metaphorically pass through a zone of death before he has the advantage over the spearman. Most sword technique is focused on deflecting the attacks that come at you. Historical war axes are much lighter that you'd think, rarely more than a kilogram, mostly because a heavy weapon is cumbersome and in the time it takes you to wind up your swing, you've probably been stabbed. Despite this, axes are still... choppy weapons. Good sword technique uses subtle and fast slicing actions and deflecting a heavy axe is easier to do and to capitalise on with a sword. As for axes beating spears, that's pretty tenuous. I suppose if you're using a bearded axe you can hook the spear that's blocking you and sweep it out of the way to get yourself inside the spearman but that's by no means a universal advantage. Of course, all this goes out of the window in even a medium-sized battle. Your troops are all in tight formation rather than fighting individually and the rain-of-death that is the enemy archers' doing and the horsemen riding around on beasts twice your height and weight are much more of a concern than what the enemy infantry's carrying. Also, when you're in tight formation, spears, halberds etc. are very easy to use: poke it at the enemy and as long as you and the guys next to you can keep the enemy out, you're safe. For context, I studied a martial art with a weapon element (aikido) for two years and I generally have an interest in the old ways of war.

Quite annoyingly, I share my name with a fat bishop from FE9/10. Also, I happen to known a Jorge (with a J, no less) who is also a master archer, which amuses me.

FE2. Nah, I'm kidding, it has to be FE4 for me, although FE9 very much has its moments. I didn't really get into FE8 like the other games and FE13, although good, never really got me (apart from chapter 10)

As previously stated, you want Donnel out of villager as soon as possible. Since you've learned underdog, you should reclass him, he needs to become a mercenary. There's nothing Donnel can do in villager that he can't do better in mercenary.