Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
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Posts posted by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
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I wanna start by saying that, on principle, I'm a fan of rebalance theorycrafting. I like the conceppt of this thread, and think it was cool that you made it. Now, what are my thoughts on these particular proposals? Well...
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:paladin - swift strikes
Please no. Paladin is already a very solid class. It's the first accessible class with 8 move, and actually has the highest physical damage output with Lances of any class. Just let it keep those two traits. It doesn't need Swift Strikes, which IMO should remain character-specific.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:warrior - war strike
This one is really good. War Master would still have its advantages, but finally, there's a reason to remain in Warrior. Also, finally something vaguely good for female Axe infantry.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:fimbuveltr now applies frozen
I don't believe the "freeze" condition exists in this game. Maybe it could have a movement-reducing debuff, like Banshee, instead?
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:- -doubled activation rate of all crest effects (save for those that cancel counter attacks, those increased by 50%)
- -buffed all hero relics and sacred weapons
- -vastly upgraded all hero relics' exclusive weapon arts
This one doesn't seem great for balance. Felix hardly needs a further-boosted chance to increase his physical damage, for instance. And the sucky commoners, like Ashe and Raphael, are gonna get left in the dust. Hm... what if instead, most Crests also have a negative effect, like Blaiddyd? Maybe Annette's Crest of Dominic saves a spell use, but also decreases damage by 5. Or Claude's Crest of Riegan restores HP, but costs an extra weapon use. In that light, I'd be fine with boosting activation rates. So the Crests feel like more of a presence, although not strictly a positive or negative one.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:- Shamir's boon in lances changed to swords
- Bernadetta's boon in lances changed to swords
God, just let women use Lances. Bernadetta, in particular, is one of a mere two units in the game to have a Sword bane. Please don't take away one of the things making her unique. Bernie is already pretty good!
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:faire skills earned from S+ rank no longer stack
What's the point of this? It just removes the reward to the player of heading for S+ in their weapon of choice. After "Weapon Crit +10" at S'rank, there's no motive to go any further.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:increased accuracy and crit rate of astra to +20, reduced cost to 5
IMO keep Astra vanilla, except remove the "*0.30" damage modifier. Let each hit do normal damage. Broken? Maybe. But it costs a lot of uses, and it's on an otherwise-bad class.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:Bow knight skill bonus and req changed from lance to sword
Then it's not a viable path for Paladins. This isn't a rebalance, it's a flavor change.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:great lord - added swordfaire, +2 dex +1 def
IMO Lance Crit +10 would be way better. It would synthesize with his Battalion Wrath/Vantage setup, and his innate Lance specialty. If Dimitri wants Swordfaire, he has plenty of other options.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:emperor - can use magic
Yes, please! Admittedly, this one is mostly flavor - it wouldn't make Emperor worth using - but it would be pretty fun.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:Dancer skills: dance, charm, swordfaire
It doesn't need Swordfaire. Dancer is already a really good class, and its combat doesn't matter. The Charm skill would be a cool benefit, if not strictly necessary.
If you really want to improve Dancer... maybe Stealth? Just become less likely to get hit.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:- Req: axe C+ lance C+ armor B riding B
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Dark Knight:
Stats +3 +2 +3 +2 0 0 +3 0 +4 -1
Skills: canto, lancefaire, black tomefaire
Mastery: seal res
Req: lance B reason B riding A
...So it's not a viable option for Hubert or Hapi anymore. Lovely...
My take between the two? Give Holy Knight a slight edge in Magic. That way, it's doing more damage with White Magic and combat arts, while being slightly more effective at support spells. Meanwhile, Dark Knight will retain a damage advantage with Reason, thanks to its Faires.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:Mortal Savant:
Stats: +1 +3 +3 +1 +4 0 +2 +2 +2 0
Skills: swordfaire, black tomefaire, darting blow
Mastery: keen intuition
Req: sword A, reason AOkay, Mortal Savant getting Keen Intuition - and solid stat modifiers - is actually very cool. The kind of boost this class needs.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:On tedium and grinding:
- class mastery exp required is halved (save for commoner but not noble)
- all faculty members join with all their acquired classes already mastered
I dunno, I think the rates are... fine. Especially when you get the statues and Knowledge Gem online. Maybe reduce the requirements a smidge: say, from 20/60/100/150/200 (vanilla), to 20/50/80/120/150 (proposed).
As for faculty members, I agree that having them start at 0 class mastery sucks. But giving them all out the gate might be OP. What if they started halfway? So, like, Gilbert would join with 10 in Noble, 25 in Fighter, and 40 in Armor Knight. You still need to "earn your masteries", it's just lower-effort.
Speaking of Gilbert... he sucks. Especially in chapter 13, where you can't control his loadout whatsoever. If nothing else, give the man a good inventory: Silver Lance, Tomohawk, and Silver Shield.
11 hours ago, Alef Zero said:Dark Mage (it, alongside dark bishop require normal seals. I guess you can sell your dark seals):
Stats: +3 0 +3 +1 0 0 0 +2 0 -1
Skills: miasma, heartseeker
Mastery: vicious blow (crit+20 on initiation)
Req: reason COoh, I like the mastery skill. Although I'd pprefer the Dark Seal requirement remain. Let the Dark Merchant sell more of them. Also Heartseeker is pretty trash on a magic (read - ranged) class.
Anyway, these are my big thoughts. A few things I liked, but a few more I'm not a fan of. Thanks again for making this thread, and getting me back into the 3H mood.
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12 hours ago, AzureEmperor said:
Main villain isn't defeated in the base game, you have to buy the REAL ending like Asura's Wrath
Congrats, you've just made Fire Emblem Fates.
There are actually a dozen different kinds of "Plain" tiles, visually indistinguishable from one another, with movement costs varying between 0.7 and 1.4. Except for certain enemy-only classes, where the costs are inverted. And no, of course you can't turn on enemy attack ranges.
Everyone loves Thracia, right? Let's bring back Fatigue. Except now, it's chance-based, increasing with more actions performed. Couple that with a high "minimum deployment" count, and the duty to send most of your units into the meat grinder to get every paralogue - and, therefore, the True Ending. Basically, you must have between 12 and 15 units alive at any given time.
We finally get a verified, bonafide, canonically trans character. And they're really respectfully-written and well-rounded. Problem is, they suck when it comes to gameplay. And on top of that, they're part of a "Samson-Arran" dichotomy with the single-strongest character in the game. Think "RD Haar vs. Lyre".
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Every year is some kind of anniversary. They just released Engage in honor of the series' 33rd anniversary, so let's give IS time to cook.
On 5/1/2024 at 9:48 PM, Fire Emblem Fan said:I'm hoping we finally get that rumored FE 4 remake, and maybe a localized version of FE 2 and 4 like they did for FE 1.
I'd love to see an FE4 remake! Can't wait for IS to honor the 29th anniversary of Genealogy of the Holy War with a bang.
5 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:Also, something I always wanted was another OVA like that old one (I didn't even watch the old one yet but that's not the point). I think they don't do a lot of these stand alone OVA movies for videogames anymore, this was probably more of a 90s thing, but I'll keep on wanting it to be made, specially with videogame movies on the rise (although most of these are live action ones) I got some maybe delusional hope about 2D (or 3D, even, whatever) videogames movies can maybe come back.
Negative as I am towards Heroes, I do feel that its success legitimately opens the door to a Fire Emblem anime series being commercially viable. As a limited run on ome of the many streaming platforms. Whether it'll actually be anything worth watching... yeah, I'm not holding my breath.
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5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:
More like "dependent", methinks.
Like, it's Azelle, Lewyn, or bust with her (Claud has Mag, yet neither Forseti nor Pursuit and Arthur can't use staffs). Lex I guess for Vantage-Wrath is okay too. She's got no Pursuit, and her not-high Mag growth is I guess kept from not being too bad by the fact enemy Res is usually very low. I insist that Tailtiu by a landslide is the mother whose kids are the most liable to being ruined by a bad choice of father.
I actually did Tailtiu x Finn once. Pursuit on the kids was great, of course. But Miracle was excellent. It has great synergy with Wrath, enabling her kids to not just dodge every hit at low HP, but return with a crit. And even if they aren't one-shotting, they get a follow-up crit as well.
Now, do I recommend this pairing? Not at all! You have to rush Finn up in chapter 3, as they have very little overlap. Finn can't pass down any tomes, and he loses his Lances going into Gen II. So even though it's fun, it's far from optimal.
6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:There's nothing hinting at Riev having a hand in any part of the debacle beyond simply helping out with the conquest of the Sacred Stone nations as another general. And of course, from a Doylist perspective, the story works way, way better if it's the result of Lyon's hubris and insecurity rather than "heh heh heh ugly old man doing ugly old man things." I like Riev than most but I probably wouldn't if he played more of a role. Let Lyon shine, he's the best villain in FE.
I hope you're right. There's enough of the "dark masterminds" already in the series. Still kinda bugged by his survival in chapter 19, even if he gets killed in battle.
7 hours ago, ping said:Which is another little curiosity: All the magic dads have holy blood, and all of the dads with +Str blood (Sigurd, Quan, Eldigan) have predetermined marriages.
Interesting note. For some reason, I tend to think Neir blood gives Strength. But I'm pretty sure it's actually just HP and Defense. Lex's high Strength comes from his own merits.
7 hours ago, ping said:To reign in the stonks a little - "can deal more damage to Julius if you decide to not get Naga" is a very specific niche.
You definitely get more out of Nihil on either Fee or some character that's more likely to fight a random boss with a relevant skill. ...although to be honest, only Dermott comes to mind as a variable kid who can be quite good for that.
Finally, vindication for Alec > Beowulf as Lachesis's partner.
The final chapter, I find, is definitely notable for actually having a decent bunch of enemies with skills. Such as "Random Hero with Critical and Sol". So Nihil, which sits there in the background for most of the game, finally comes in clutch.
10 hours ago, Jotari said:Obviously it was Mustachio-Vendor-Sigurd guarding Castle Thracia. The most competent of all of Seliph's allies. Or, idk, Xavier and Galzus being best bros.
See, that's where Arion and his troops had been this whole time. They were flying around the continent, with Galzus in a perpetual pursuit.
Xavier, meanwhile... wait, wouldn't it make sense for him to guard Leonster? As that's where he's from? I assume that Leif would want to make extra sure to leave Leonster, of all places, with someone competent he can trust.
7 hours ago, BrightBow said:38 res is just his cap of 18 with the +20 of the Tyrfing. So with a ring, he could actually go even higher.
: "Can we get much higher?"
: "So high-ee-igh!"
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13 hours ago, ping said:
Starting the final update with a big reset: I've moved myself into a corner here, with Fee allowing Meng to attack her from outside anybody else's range. Because Meng has Nihil, Fee can't fish for a Brave Lance crit -
SMH, why didn't you just set a Shine Barrier on the space that Oifey (Ares?) is currently occupying? Git gud.
Having to replay the whole chapter? That's rough, buddy.
13 hours ago, ping said:
: "We have no home to return to, men... But we must keep going nonetheless. Chalphy's fall to our blades shall be the first step to winning back our fatherland. Now, move in! Show these liberators one final defiance from the dracoknights of Thracia!"
Or you could just. Y'know. Go back and reconquer Castle Thracia. It's not as though Seliph left anybody competent guarding it.
13 hours ago, ping said:
: "My liege concealed the key within his most treasured memento... The circlet once worn by Empress Deirdre. If we can find that circlet, sir, then the Book of Naga is yours."
: "Certainly was nice of Manfroy to let Julia keep the Circlet, rather than leave it with Julius or simply destroy it, huh..."
WTF I love Gen II Lewyn now-
13 hours ago, ping said:
Unfortunately, miscounting tiles leads to two more resets...
If we've learned anything, it's that Road Tiles are the best, and worst, part of Jugdral.
13 hours ago, ping said:If you wanted to plan a playthrough accordingly, I suppose Alec!Faval would be the best option to increase your damage per turn against Julius, since like Altena, he gets another +10 Str / +5 dmg vs Julius from his holy weapon. The other physical holy weapon wielders don't have variable dads.
Nihil stonks coming in clutch!
Interestingly, I always viewed Alec as better for Patty, because Pursuit. And Swords. But this is a considerable advantage for Faval. Maybe I neglected Briggid × Alec?
14 hours ago, ping said:
And indeed, the whole team is standing in the outskirts of Belhalla. Poor lonely Faval, up there in the corner...
It's a shame - between this moment, and the reclamation of Chalphy at the end of chapter 10, Seliph never gets to give his "Prince's Homecoming" speech. The sort that Marth, Ephraim, and Dimitri all got to deliver.
...Actually, this ending is very similar to the way PoR handles it. With Ike seeing all his guests off.
14 hours ago, ping said:"And eventually get stabbed to death and burnt to a crisp, respectively." - They would deserve nothing less for their continued disrespect towards Ethlyn, honestly.
If there is any justice in the world, at least one of Leif and Nanna's children will have pink hair. It just skipped a generation.
14 hours ago, ping said:
Gay representation!
Not sure if this a rare edge case, a common bug, or something the translation patch messed up. So I'll just assume that this is canon and that Lester has a thing for moustaches
Best ending for Lester. And more evidence that our army is way bigger than 24 people. Mustache Sigurd has been doing hard work in the background!
14 hours ago, ping said:: "I beg your forgiveness, Lord Faval. The task which now lies before you is the most painful of all."
: "No, sir. I'm all that's left of House Velthomer, and it's my duty alone to atone for the many crimes of my kin. I know that's what my father, Lord Azel, would want as well."
: "Wait a second, why are you leading House Velthomer? You inherited the Yewfelle, right? Jungby's treasure? And you can't even use magic! Patty, if nothing else, can use the Flame Sword."
: "See, we drew lots, and Patty got the old manse. And this way, she doesn't have to worry about getting ambushed by any long-lost children of Arvis who may arise..."
I still feel like the inheritance ought to be swapped. But hey, at least Patty got her own house! Girl power!
14 hours ago, ping said:
: "But of course. We'll be with you every step of the way."
...that's all? Gosh, Seliph is even worse at smooth-talk than Marth.
Thinking on it, Tinny will almost always inherit House Freege. Because Arthur is busy inheriting Silesse... or Velthomer... or Dozel... or Edda...
14 hours ago, ping said:: "Your father was Lord Lex, correct? I'm sue the people of Dozel eagerly await your return, Ulster."
: "The likes of Langbalt and Dannan have tormented the people and stained House Dozel's good name for too long. Now that my father is gone, it falls to me to heal the state's wounds."
: "Mm. I entrust Dozel's welfare to you. I pray you'll be able to lend me your might in the years to come."
: "Yes, Lord Seliph!"
Like with Dermott, Seliph really should know who his childhood friends' parents are or were. But in Ulster's case, this is just the generic "Lex's son" text, so I can't mind this too much.
See, this is the best aspect of Lex x Sylvia. Imagine this whole conversation, but with Coirpre taking Scathach's place. Grannvale's toughest house, led by a cute blonde tweenage Priest.
14 hours ago, ping said:
FUCK OFF.
Wait, they like "Lewyn" now? I thought the whole point was his kids berating him for being a deadbeat dad and general jerkass! At least that way was entertaining, and gave some pathos. This way is... bleh. Sickeningly saccarine.
All my homies hate Gen II Lewyn.
14 hours ago, ping said:
...until the final rankings are listed. As well as evidence for my very liberal usage of the speed-up button, I assume. To go through the four individual ranks:
These rankimgs are quite solid! Especially for someone not angling for a "ranked run". Don't sell yourself short - IMO B-rank is above the "average" player. I believe your turncount is actually better than anything I've ever accomplished. My last run (all subs) was 444 turns. And, coincidentally, ended with B, B, A, and C. Except, I got an A in Experience, and B in Survival (Asaello died to the Weißenritter and I didn't bother resetting LOL).
14 hours ago, ping said:Me, a German, side-eyeing the wikipedia article on Hindenburg: "..."
Don't worry, I heard that Franz von Papen will keep this "Hilter" fellow in check. And I've played enough Sacred Stones to know that Franz is a standup guy.
10 hours ago, ping said:Kaga did PoR!Haar first!
Oh boy, I can't wait for Arion to return in the next game as a high-availability pre-promote with no weakness to bows or ballistae!
11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:He's not a secret mastermind behind the scenes, instead just being an underling with more knowledge than the rest; he doesn't seem to have a cult at all, instead summoning monsters or gathering remnants of Grado's army to do his bidding; he's a light mage instead of a dark mage.
...I thought I remembered reading somewhere that Riev had influenced Lyon to experiment on Grado's Sacred Stone. Thus creating the Dark Stone, and reviving the Demon Lord.
Then again, maybe this was somebody fanficcing all over the fan wiki. It might've really just been an unhappy coincidence.
9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:For what it's worth, I can't hate the blood pact as much because I fucking love Pelleas's role in part 3 - though it could've still been made to work with a mcguffin more graceful than the blood pact, so eh)
Just make Daein materially dependent on reparations from Begnion. For a year, it was offered freely by the Apostle. But following the Senate's palace coup, Lekain puts strings on it. Fight the Laguz Alliance, or your people starve. Neither war-shaken Crimea, nor the dispossessed Apostle, can provide the same resources. It's the same endpoint, but with less magical mumbo-jumbo.
9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Five out of the first six chapters are basically unaffected by the Blood Pact (and if Kilvas simply hadn't joined in the first place, it P3 would be pretty much the same as Naesala's factual BP-induced betrayal).
TBH it's kinda funny that Naesala's betrayal doesn't actually... do anything. It doesn't actually halt the Laguz Emancipation Army's forward momentum. That happens with Skrimir's one-on-one loss to Zelgius, following the (successful) crossing of the Ribahn River (tributary of the mighty Miscale). Since Skrimir is an idiot, that still would've happened with Naesala on his side. All it meant was a bunch of dead hawks offscreen.
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5 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:
Alternate trios are an interesting concept, the trouble lies in balancing the themes and dynamics of those trios. Grass, Fire, and Water work well due to the variety they present, in colors as well as themes. For example, a trio with Rock and Ground might feel overly homogenous since both have that "earth" theme. I would suggest perhaps trying a trio of Pokemon that are dual-types from the get-go, like Grass/Flying, Fire/Rock, and Water/Fighting (my bro has estimated that Flying, Rock, and Fighting are one of the other two "true" trios, in so far as the weakness-resistance dynamics are concerned), as a way of easing people into the concept.
Not the only other true trio! We also have Steel > Rock > Fire.
While that would be better than nothing, I'm gonna be honest - I'm tired. I'm tired of the exact same mould for starters, with minor variations at most. I honestly can't see myself buying any future Pokemon title that still does "Fire-Water-Grass Starters with Blaze/Torrent/Overgrow who evolve in the teens, then again in the thirties." More power to anyone who still appreciates this trend, but personally, I'm donezo.
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So, I know I went off on a tangent about a game that'll never be made. But to the original prompt, I'm sorta for it. Namely, I like the idea of looking to Gen I for inspiration as a "budding off point".
See, there are plenty of elements that have become "series standards". Three starters in Grass, Fire, and Water, who each evolve twice by level-up. Eight Pokemon Gyms, in increasing power level, followed by an Elite Four and a Champion. A childhood frenemy rival who you encounter multiple times on your journey. Six Mons to a team, with four moves apiece. A PP system that is unforgiving to higher-power moves. A villainous team that's simultaneously super menacing, and yet incompetent enough to be dismantled by a ten-year-old.
But in Gen I, none of those traits had become "series standards" yet. They were just aspects of the first set of games. Later generations would play with some of these. It's no secret that the Rivals have gotten more amiable, while some later games would feature multiple Rivals. Gen VII did away with gyms entirely, in favor of Totem Pokemon and Island Kahunas - only to chicken out at the last minute, and install a traditional E4. And obviously, the villainous teams have varied in their scope, style, and scariness.
Basically, I'd like to see a game that's willing to "change up" more of the things that have become intractable series standards. Do a starter trio of some other type triangle, such as "Grass-Poison-Ground" - or, heck, more than three choices! Instead of a fixed party size of 6, let the party size increase as you progress - from as few as 2, to as many as 10! Give every Pokemon one "fixed move" with infinite PP (like Tackle, Vine Whip, or Low Kick), so they never get stuck with Struggle - while stronger moves have low in-battle PP (i.e. 3 Hydro Pumps) that restores itself in-between battles. Do a Gym for all 18 types, and let the player choose the order they challenge them in, with proper difficulty scaling.
14 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:But, he's still dressed like a cult leader with a Saiyan scouter, so it's still hard to take him seriously. The knight theme is pretty cool, though. A pity they couldn't save that for SWSH, would have been pretty badass to fight a team of knights there.
IMO the aesthetic for Team Plasma was all over the place. They're an evil team in the region based on America, so they're...knights? But they also have the Seven Sages, who appear to be Chinese? And in the sequel, they just threw their hands up in the air and said "screw it, we're Ninja Pirates now".
At least Team Flare, as lame as they were, had a consistent aesthetic theme that made sense for their region. Of course they'd be fashion obsessives. They're all French.
14 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:Lysandre of Team Flare is one of the over-the-top villains who wants a superweapon with which to take over the world. Except, Pokemon already basically are superweapons, and he was introduced in the generation that brought us Mega Evolutions. Wouldn't it make more sense to focus a scheme on that? Like gathering as many Mega Stones as possible to try and create an army of Mega Pokemon?
Yeah, I was hoping that the imagined sequel to X and Y - Pokemon Z - would do something like this. Make a new evil team, that's creating additional Mega Evolutions. And also Mega Evolving multiple times per battle. Maybe let Korinna be involved, since she introduced Mega Evolution to the player. Turns out, though, the new Megas are hurting the Pokemon. And doing multiple Megas per battle is hurting the trainers. Has science gone too far? In this case, it has, and you need to stop it.
10 hours ago, ciphertul said:If you want a team to be more criminal then they should use Cypher as the base. The Shadow pokemon should be brought back and expanded upon. Remember Cypher made the Snag machine, hijacked a cruise liner and built a gambling tower. Not to mention the lawless Under and citadark isle.
Yeah, Cipher was pretty excellent. I love how they came across as a real organization - and their use of Shadow Pokemon was particularly villainous. Not to mention, futuristic outfits and great music. Admittedly, though, the "evil team" was the main focus of the Gamecube RPGs - rather than the Gyms, or a Dex - so they had to go hard.
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7 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:
I think fatigue is a cool concept but I do think it'd be a bit annoying to count this by hand. Do you sit there with a notepad or laptop nearby putting a tickmark for every combat you get into? I guess you could, but it's a lot of bookkeeping. You could probably also estimate it just by assigning a certain number for each battle (say, 15) and increase everyone's fatigue by that. Or you could go super simple, forget HP, and just say "if you're deployed in 2 consecutive fights, you get fatigued for the next" (replace 2 with another number if you prefer... even 1 if you're feeling spicy).
One change I would make is that I definitely would not consider break fights. IMO 3-8 and 3-10 are absolutely consecutive, as are 1-8 and 1-E. And yeah I'd definitely want fatigue to affect part 4. I think I would only reset fatigue in the manner you describe at the end of Part 1 and again at the end of Part 2, since those are implied to be significant time gaps.
Yeah, that's all fair. Logistically speaking, I do think how much time passes between maps is variable for each pause. Like, there's probably not much between I-8 and I-E, or III-5 and III-7. Likewise for the Part IV maps. But what about II-P and II-E, which would affect Elincia? ...Except, she's a forced deploy, so not really.
Good point on the amount of work it takes. Easier option - just base Fatigue on turn count. So, if you finish I-1 in 8 turns, then Micky, Leo, Ed, and Chuck all gain 8 Fatigue. Maybe also throw in an exception where, if a unit literally sits there and does nothing the whole map, then they're functionally "benched", and reset Fatigue for the next map.
On 4/25/2024 at 11:10 PM, lenticular said:And yes, there are obvious cheese strats that you could do here, either by deliberately getting a bunch of bad units killed
So, a normal playthrough of Shadow Dragon, then?
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2 hours ago, Armchair General said:
You have an mythical creature that's capable of bending reality to it's will and it winds up in the hands of an fucking kid or someone else who actually had the means to start an small war, get fucking rich,or revolutionize society but wastes most of his time chasing the reality-warping dragon
See, this actually makes me think of a Pokemon game where you play as the "bad guy". How, you may ask? Easy - by playing the game normally.
Basically, you and your rival are sent out by the Professor with a familiar instruction - gotta catch 'em all! So, you start doing so, catching and battling them. Although, if you spend long enough in one route, catching and battling them, you might notice the wild Pokemon becoming scarcer...
The main villains in this game are like Team Plasma, but they don't do Pokemon battles. Instead, they're hackers, who release Pokemon currently held in the PC system. This actually happens to the main character, who finds "Box 1" emptied at one point! So, you declare revenge on them.
Eventually, you face the Legendary Pokemon - but catching them comes with a cost. Catch Kyogre, for instance, and you see the region afflicted by a drought. Catch Dialga, and you discover a town whose residents are frozen in time - and another where they move at double-speed!
Your rival starts to question the mission you've both been given, and eventually releases most of her Pokemon. You, the player, have an option. You can keep the Pokemon for yourself, as the world around you continues to deteriorate - or you can return them to the wild. Pick the former, and it plays like a traditional Pokemon game - albeit one where, at a certain point, new wild Pokemon cease to exist.
Pick the latter, and it turns out - you're unable to? See, the Professor needs to keep doing " research" on your Pokemon, including the Legendaries. Investigating further, you and your rival discover that the Professor's been abusing the Pokemon you've sent him. You need to work together to stop him, and his lab techs.
Once you defeat him, you can release your Pokemon (in particular, the Legendaries) and restore life and joy to the world. However, if you've truly bonded with a Pokemon, and treated it right, then it'll come back after you try to release it. This represents a way for Trainers and Pokemon to coexist and collaborate... without keeping a mountain of them trapped in cyberspace.
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7 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:
Or they just use their Pokemon against him directly. Who's gonna stop them? The police who aren't allowed to use Pokemon? Not to mention, wild Pokemon can still be a threat, and most likely would not be kept in check if no one was allowed to train Pokemon. Suddenly, this hypothetical Chancellor is gonna wish they'd never outlawed "Poke-slavery". And finally, how would they enforce this mandate if rebellious trainers say no? Using Pokemon they're not supposed to be "enslaving" to force everyone else to give up their Pokemon, including the Pokemon who are perfectly happy with their trainers and thus are just as likely to put up resistance against their would-be liberators? Like, I get it's mainly a joke, but such a plotline sounds even more infuriatingly dumb than when everyone let the Sword and Shield fops just get away with crimes despite being perfectly capable of dogpiling them with their Pokemon to wrest those jewels back from their smarmy grip (I royally hated those two, they were hands-down the worst thing about SWSH, Dexit be danged).
Well, you can test this in gameplay. If you exploit glitches in the Gen I games, you can leave Pallet Town without any Pokemon. Even make it yo the Elite Four. When you face them, the screen fades to white - and then fades back in. You've won! Clearly, the quickest path to being a Pokemon master is not raising any of them at all.
8 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:A recurring pattern with remakes is that, with the exception of FRLG, they have always ocurred in the generation twice their number. Originally it seemed like it was gonna be remakes every two generations later, but ORAS's absence from Gen V nixed that idea. So, logic stands that we won't see Gen V remakes until Gen X. They could choose to deviate from that, of course, but for now that's a pattern we can use for predictions.
I mean, this is just the same thing as saying that "remakes happen every two generations". And even that's not really true. The "Let's Go" games were essentially a second pair of Gen I remakes, released in Gen VII (er, VII.5?).
I agree, though, that BW remakes probably aren't coming until Gen X. I do wonder how the Pokemon Company will handle things. We know Legends ZA is coming in 2025... but early year? Holiday season? Sometime in between? No idea. In any case, it's almost certainly the next mainline Pokemon game releasing. We know it's coming to Switch, but by the time it's out, there's a good chance that the Switch's successor will have released as well. This is nothing new for Pokemon - see B2W2, or USUM. But it does make me ask - when will the Gen X games come out?
Now, the pattern for the last few generations has been "every three years" - so, we'd expect holiday 2025. But the Pokemon Company prides itself on not being early adopters to the new system, when it comes to mainline games. And the Gen X headliners are almost certain to be "Switch 2" games - we've never had three Gen headliners on the same hardware. I'd be shocked to see the Gen X games released within the first year of the Switch 2's existence. As such, I think there's a strong chance that Gen X won't kick off until 2026.
Now, what'll come in between? Supposing Legends ZA is Q1 2025, what comes in Q4 2025? My best guess is, another "Let's Go"-style remake, probably of the Gen II games. It'd be poetic in a sense - starting, and ending, their presence on the Switch with the same kind of game. It'd be less work than a fully original title, as they could borrow a lot of assets from LGPE. Possibly even the Kanto region itself, assuming they base the next ones off of GSC. Meanwhile, they could update the gameplay and aesthetics - slightly - to deliver an overall improved experience, albeit nothing revolutionary.
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21 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:
and [2]. Ghetsis is a bad dude so that invalidates everything the good faith members of the group believed, said, and did. It's a cop-out, though I guess it's fine if they just wanted to keep the Pokemon franchise going.
Yeah, that briefly captures how they really fumbled the delivery on the intriguing setup of Team Plasma. And the fact that they're using Pokemon in battle makes them obviously hypocritical. They could've done terror/activism - like closing off a bridge, stealing all the Poke Balls, shutting down the PCs - to get their point across. But because all villainous teams need to do Pokemon battles, so do Team Plasma. Even if it directly contradicts their messaging.
Like, how funny would it be for a villain to get elected Chancellor of Pokemon Land, and declare an end to Poke-slavery. Only for every trainer and his cousin to stop him the only way they now how - by challenging him to a Pokemon battle. Except, he doesn't have any Pokemon, so he can't be defeated in battle. Making him - and his agenda - invulnerable.
22 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:Frankly, Gen 4 is also bottom tier Pokemon, salvaged only by Platinum fixing some of its issues. So the lack of quality in BDSP wasn't even surprising.
Gen IV gave us Lumineon, though, so I'm willing to forgive them for everything else.
22 hours ago, lenticular said:My guess is "poorly". Given how underwhelming BDSP was, and given how Gamefreak seems to be overstretched trying to hit the deadlines for the main series titles, it's hard to see Black and White remakes getting a whole lot of love. My best guess is that we'll see a minimal viable product remake of Black and White at some point, and Black 2 and White 2 will just be forgotten about. I am not, by nature, an optimist.
Honestly, this is more probable than my original take. BDSP didn't get "Distortion World DLC", so why would the next remakes? They'll probably only do DLC for the Generational standard-bearers... and they won't include B2W2 in the base game... and they wouldn't remake the sequels separately... in other words, it's so over for Pokestar Studios.
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My guess is "B2W2 as DLC Expansion Pass". But I wonder how they'd handle it. Would it be its own full campaign? Or would the B2W2 exclusive areas be added as post-game DLC? Or maybe mid-game, with level scaling? In my opinion, that's more likely than having a full, start-to-finish campaign.
Either way, it'd be neat to have Nate and Rosa as playable alternatives to Hilbert and Hilda, from the very start of the game. Also to see the B2W2 Easy/Challenge mode options thrown in to the game as a whole.
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1 hour ago, LyreOP said:
I quite like this idea!!! I'm not sure how I could make it work for the dawn brigade, or part 2 though really. By part 3 I have enough units that I could cycle them in and out without a problem though...
I could see it as an issue in Part I, especially starting in I-4, when the forced deploys become... undeployable. For Part II, though, I don't think it should really matter. Nephenee and Brom are forced deploys in II-2, as are the Crimean Royal Knights in II-E. Otherwise, there are no units with back-to-back chapter appearances.
One more thought - since there are no "back-to-back" chapters in Part IV, pre-Tower, the Fatigue condition becomes trivial there. It's up to the player whether they want to give themselves that leeway, or else treat, say, IV-P and IV-3 as "back-to-back". Of course, all this challenge is self-imposed, one way or another.
And thanks! It feels like the kind of self-constraint that can work in amy FE game. Honestly, I'm thinking of doing it myself...
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Here's an idea - a Fatigue run! Borrowing the concept of "Fatigue" from Thracia 776.
The idea is, every battle a unit gets into (both PP and EP) will increase their "Fatigue" by 1. This also applies to commands they use, such as "Shove", "Staff", and "Rescue" - but not "Wait" or "Talk". After the battle, they carry Fatigue over into the next map.
What's the penalty for Fatigue? Well, if it exceeds the unit's HP stat, then they cannot be deployed in the next chapter. For the chapter thereafter, however, their Fatigue resets to 0. Fatigue also resets to 0 if their is a "break" between maps, like I-8 to I-E, or II-E to III-9. The exception is forced deploys - while they will still accrue Fatigue, if they can't be benched, then they can't be benched. You can use them until they become bench-able.
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5 hours ago, ping said:
: "How dare you murder my father... Learn the pain and wrath of three generations of House Dozel!"
What's that he said? "Blessed are the cheesemakers"?
5 hours ago, ping said:How To Trivialise Dozel: Use Dermott.
He has 76 avoid vs. the Great Knights' 98 hit, so that gives them 2 hit against him after weapon triangle. Add Seliph to the equation and that goes down to 0 without anybody noticing.
Nice. Just a good strong sword dude.
My approach that I alluded to earlier was, I was able to trap Brian on a mountain tile. Because I killed most (all?) of his subordinates, his "retreat for reinforcements" AI kicked in. But because he was stuck, he couldn't actually go anywhere. And his retreat AI wouldn't let him attack, either. So, he became a non-entity.
5 hours ago, ping said:: "Now, Loptyr himself is actually from a dragon clan whose fell power is amongst the mightiest of all the dragonkin. The great dragon Naga, strongest of them all, bestowed their own blood upon the leader of the liberation army, the priest Heim. Naga knew only their power could possibly hope to stand against that of Loptyr."
: "Pfft, of course Naga would have green hair and pronouns."
5 hours ago, ping said:Before seizing, there is one little surprise: Seliph did not randomly hook up with Lana, which I think the First Mate (?) said earlier is the most likely outcome if you don't pay attention to his love life.
Yeah, I think I made Seliph and Tinne happen, like, two playthroughs ago. Tinne technically has the highest love growth of any of Seliph's potential partners (+3 instead of +2 per turn). But I gave the edge to Lana, as she shows up much earlier, with 100 love points right out the gate. And Mana is even easier, because she and Seliph have a Vegas Wedding in chapter 8.
5 hours ago, ping said:But even if this entire exposition dump turns out to be entirely sensible and consistent, I really dislike this way of presenting it. Apart from the pacing issue of Lewyn just barfing it out all at once, there's also no narrative weight to it. Seliph doesn't find out about anything by, say, finding an ancient temple in which the twelve gods are represented as dragon statues. He doesn't even find an ancient sage on top of the tallest mountain. No, the dingus who has been traveling with Seliph for almost the entirety of the second generation just didn't feel like explaining anything until now. Bleh.
: "I am an endless barrel of exposition!"
Yeah, I'm also curious on the "how did you find out 'recently', Lewyn?" You spent time with Julia before delivering her to Seliph. Even if she didn't have a visible brand, I'd be surprised if no aura of "major Naga blood" presented itself to you. And this is aside from all the circumstantial evidence I mentioned earlier.
I don't understand why "Expositor McGee" has this large of a blind spot, when all the other relevant information comes effortlessly to him. It wouldn't change much of the story, except that he'd be more concerned when Julia disappears. And he wouldn't try to set her up with her half-brother. Hopefully.
5 hours ago, ping said:
: "Dozel's fallen to the rebels? What the hell were my men doing out there?! Feh, why'd I ever expect any better? Worthless cowards, the lot of them! It's time I took this into my own hands.
Apparently, Hilda already has a VA in Heroes. Which is a shame, because I can only read this dialogue in the voice of the evil CEO, Mom, from Futurama. Get Tress McNeille for the remake, you rat bastards! *three slaps in a row*
5 hours ago, ping said:: "And who are you?"
: "My name is Felipe, sire. I was once an aide to the late Emperor Arvis. On secret orders from His Majesty, the abducted children were moved here to Freege for safe-keeping."
: "No, you're not. You're very clearly Pallmarch. We met last chapter. Do you tgink I wouldn't remember you?!"
: "Er... be that as it may... ah, yes, my jacket! Was Pallmarch wearing a red jacket? If not, then how could I be him?"
: "...People change clothes, my dude. I had to kill the same slanty-eyed guy seven times, fighting for all sorts of factions, but he at least had the decency to wear a slightly different shade of tunic every time. I swear, it's like I'm living in a stageplay, with only so many actors to go around!"
5 hours ago, ping said:This convo would've gotten Johalvier +3 Str, but he's already at the (rather disappointing, tbh) cap of 26.
Very lame, for the Warrior class, of all things. I largely enjoy the "conversations give permanent stat buffs" design, but it's letdown when stat caps get in the way. Almost like the buffs should preferentially be in areas they're unlikely to naturally cap.
4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:Seriously why are there so many recolors in the final chapter?
Kaga: "Listen up, we need new character designs for the final chapter!"
Designer: "Uh, uh---" *splashes orange paint on pre-existing portraits*
Kaga: "Brilliant! You're coming with me to Thracia, ya hear?"
4 hours ago, Jotari said:In German they're named for the numbers 1-12.
To be more clear: in the original Japanese, their names are transliterations of the first twelve counting numbers in German. So Mus is アインス, or "Eins"; Bovis is ツヴァイ, or "Zwei"; and so on.
4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:This one isn't even a fucking good recolor. Why is his robe's brightest color blue, but the shadow colors are red?
Holy shit... blue and red, together in one character design? Toothpaste-chan? Kaga, you magnificent dastard, you've done it first again!
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19 hours ago, Jotari said:
American? Never heard of the place.
Nice try, Kempf.
16 hours ago, ping said:"My mother's family has no pathetic members except you, Julius. But it does contain... the unstoppable Julia!"
"Gah! Impossible!""Nobody's ever been able to recruit her!"
"Why, because she's so rare?"
"No, because I always accidentally kill her once she's brainwashed."
16 hours ago, ping said:Look at those Ameripoors. Can't even afford the printer ink to write every letter 😭
You got us. Unlike the Germans, we can't even afford to put two dots over a third of our vowels.
14 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:Plot twist: Hannibal's husband lives in his beard. That's why he's never seen.
Hannibal's husband is the beard. They're truly inseperable.
4 hours ago, ping said:Meanwhile, Verdane... exists or something, idc.
The "no holy blood" nations really get shafted, huh.
4 hours ago, ping said:but Fee with her enormous Res stat should be able to murder them all while everybody else faces the Eddan forces.
Claud!Fee stonks are approaching a critical mass here.
4 hours ago, ping said:
The castle's defenders are actually two groups: One under Boyce the Swordmaster (with Pursuit, Adept, Critical, and Sol!)
If I'm not mistaken, Boyce has the same portrait as Jacoban - the Gen I Hero who also fought with a Bolt Sword. It was neat of them to give him some scary skills. Finally, a case for Nihil.
4 hours ago, ping said:
The following player phase, everybody dies.
"Nothing personnel, kid!"
*Cantoes behind you*
4 hours ago, ping said:"Grauenritter" is a pretty good, edgy name for a group of evil knights, by the way. It's still yet another colour (the Grey Knights), but can also be parsed as "Dread Knights".
Ooh, interesting! I did not know that. Finally, a color that sounds like a threat.
4 hours ago, ping said:But I haven't played that next part, or even just figured how exactly I'm going to approach this, so that'll have to wait for another day.
I actually found a really funny way to trivialize Brian on my last playthrough... hm, but I won't give any unprompted advice. Best of luck dealing with his Helswath.
3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:I just gave up on the game and threw Ares at the problem until it stopped existing.
That's, like, a solid 80% of the second half of the game.
Like, legitimately, a "no Ares" run might actually be tougher than an "all subs" run.
3 hours ago, BrightBow said:Weren't you supposed to have killed her ages ago? How hard can that be?
Ever since Julia was given her mother's Circlet, she's been dodging every lethal blow! It's a miracle, I tells ya!
2 hours ago, Jotari said:Huh, that's weird. I could have sworn in my most recent playthrough I specifically noted how weird it was that Brian didn't appear in the chapter intro but but Radan did. Could this be variable based on pairings or something?
I will keep an eye out for it, on my current playthrough. It wouldn't surprise me either way.
Anyway, kinda funny to think that Brian, of all people, is the only "new face" here. We've already killed Hilda and Ishtar once, while Scorpio is just his dad again. And Julius has dropped in and out, including an in-battle appearance in the last map.
Just a thought, but maybe it would've been better if Julius didn't show up to save Ishtar and Arion. Instead, they find themselves "sucked into the earth" by a black hole. Think of it as an inverse version the "Return" staff, or like a "super-Rescue". The player is left wondering what happened to these two... until chapter 10, where Julius uses the same spell to remove himself, and Ishtar, from the field of battle. It'd put a bit more mystery into the enemy we're facing.
Of course, some players would prefer more time seeing the antagonist. So it's not as though the existing oresentation is a "problem" that needs to be fixed, necessarily.
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Alright, time to put in some effor-
Far from the Forest...
Ahem.
Shiida hits on Alm, hoping to recruit him. I mean, it worked on plenty of guys before, right?
Celica, in a jealous rage, steals the true source of Shiida's power - the legendary Wing Spear.
Marth swears revenge against Celica. As Shiida's husband, he was the only person allowed to "take her Wing Spear", dammit!
Alm gets in his way. Alas, Marth's Falchion can barely put a scratch into the DONG ARMOR.
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8 hours ago, ping said:
Well then, time to kill some Roteritter (would one decline that noun?)
I, for one, would gladly accept it.
My assumption is, it's a faction name. Like "Cross Knights", which we would certainly keep capitalized.
8 hours ago, ping said:
: "Oh, right. You're concerned about my low resistance to magic, aren't you? Are you sure? I've heard that few spells endanger the caster as much as Ward does. Look, Sharlow. I'm honored, but I don't want you risking yourself for my sake."
Interesting - this suggests that Ward is a kind of "wandless magic", that drains the user's quintessence. Basically, how Valentia handled spells.
8 hours ago, ping said:Speaking of things that will make you feel old - I think being told that you're "like a parent" to them by somebody less than 10 years younger than you will probably do the trick.
Oof. Also, apparently Hannibal never married, and raised Sharlow all on his own.
...Or, alternatively, he had a husband, giving Sharlow two adoptive fathers. Double the dad jokes to deal with!
8 hours ago, ping said:And it's even fully repaired! Pretty sure Sigurd didn't scrape enough money together for that.
Good guy Arvis, made sure to bring it to the blacksmith.
8 hours ago, ping said:
: "Rely on the Heart of the Cards, you must! Hrm."
: "Well well well, Seliph-boy. You may have come this far, but I still hold all 12 Egyptian Deadlords. Only the five pieces of Naga, the Forbidden One, could possibly save you now!"
8 hours ago, ping said:: "Julia, right? You must be worried something fierce. Heh... Got a little thing for her, do you?"
I'll take this as evidence that Lewyn doesn't actually know who Julia is, or even that she has Naga blood. I think that came up recently in the thread?
Jeez, Lewyn. Either he doesn't know, or he just pretends not to. If he's actually ignorant of Julia's origin... that's a pretty glaring blind spot. He already mentioned that Julius is Deirdre's son, making him Seliph's half-brother. He also discovered a girl... at the same age... in the same location... with nearly the same name as Julius. Who also has the same class and hair color as Deirdre. I don't understand how he's not connecting the dots. Hell, given what the ending reveals about Lewyn, it's bewildering that he'd need to connect any dots in the first place.
3 hours ago, Jotari said:Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him.
Seliph learns a lesson he doesn't have to. But in Sigurd's defense, he never went to Isaach. So maybe his ghost wasn't able to watch him there. Not sure how "force ghosts" work in this world, in any case.
12 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Thinking of what Saias would look like, hypothetically, gameplay-wise.:
Definitely like this proposed handling of Saias! A Gotoh is something both generations is missing. Both generations are very front-loaded, with no recruitables in the last two chapters of each. Even with these stats, Nihil, and Valflame access, I don't think he'd be "broken". With only 5 move in High Priest, it's not like he would keep up in efficient play - without lots of Dance, Rescue, or Warp use.
11 hours ago, Jotari said:It's Biran in English too. Never even heard of Bern.
Ah, that's English English. Flavoured with a bunch of unnecessary "u"s, and centred on "r before e". In American English, it's Bern.
22 hours ago, Jotari said:On the subject of book burning, I do wonder what happened to the Lopt tome after the Crusaders' war. Did the good guys get it, not know how to destroy it and just kept it in a meseum with Manfroy only getting it when he gained control of the empire? Or did Galle's followers managed to pick it up off his dead body without Heim noticing and it spent the last century enshrined in the Yied Shrine with Manfroy having it the entire time?
Uh, maybe all the good guys were too scared to touch it? The last person who did got possessed by a dark dragon.
12 hours ago, Jotari said:But really, the most fun he could possibly bring from Thracia is the Rewarp staff. Let's have him zoom across mountains warping himself around the final chapter, not with infinite range ala Thracia of course, no with the physic and status staff ranges Genealogy has. Because those 10 tile Genealogy ranges are all tile in Thracia because it is smaller.
I would imagine that an FE4 Rewarp staff would let the user self-transport between conquered castles. Warp, but targeting the self, rather than an adjacent ally.
19 hours ago, ping said:It's a hard choice from the perspective of the children. On the one hand, you get incredible speed, solid +dmg skills, and maybe even Forseti... but on the other hand, your dad's going to be Lewyn.
Who needs therapy? With the Speed bost from Sety holy blood, you can just run from all your problems!
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31 minutes ago, Jotari said:
And in regards to Alvis naming Julia heir, I meant to say it above, but the big problem with that is that Julia was missing presumed dead for years now.
Yeah, I wasn't sure if people knew Julia was alive and on Seliph's army, or presumed her dead. Either way would be a problem, but the latter especially.
Wait... how did Arvis become Emperor in the first place? King Azmur stipulated that his successor would be a male child of Arvis and Dierdre with Major Naga blood. Until such a child reached maturity, Arvis would serve as Regent. Now obviously, those traits were split between two children, so it's not clear which one has a stronger claim to succeed Azmur. But in either case, while Arvis might be the next Ruler of Grannvale, I don't see how he could claim to be the next Emperor of Grannvale. ...Outside of, say, simply declaring himself Emperor. And nobody of influence being left alive to challenge such a declaration.
Anyway, if Arvis weren't Emperor, then Julius' immunity from being displaced would make more sense. Arvis' rule was never in-his-own-right, but only via his marriage to - and parentage of - descendants of Azmur. If he banishes Julius, he removes the only known surviving source of his own legitimacy.
1 hour ago, Jotari said:That being said, I really like on a conceptual level how the Old Mystery Silence Staff works. In that it hits everyone on the map, ally and enemy alike. You just remove all sound from the battlefield. I don't remember it actually being very useful despite the endgame dark mage spam.
Ooh, like a magic seal? Very interesting. Obviously a lot more influential than the narrowly-targeted versions we usually get.
1 hour ago, Jotari said:I recall one instance of a kingdom naming a girl successor over a boy. It was really unpopular with the nobility who loved the prince and ended with the father trying to assassinate his own son only for the son to fake his own death and stab his father at his own would be funeral. I think the name of the kingdom was something like Biran or something.
Oh yeah, I remember that Prince! Cute kid, loved to hang out on pillars. Not one for reaver weapons, though.
1 hour ago, Jotari said:That might be a goof. The Book of Nafa is in Belhalla? Because you get it in Velthomer in the next chapter. It being in Belhalla would change everything, as you'd need to go through Julius to get it. Of course the real goof is that the bad guys didn't just burn it and remove it entirely.
I would assume that, being a legendary tome, it can't be destroyed that easily. Of course, they can hide it.
And anyway, it's possible that the tome was in Belhalla before, and then they moved it to Velthomer. Perhaps they figured Seliph would be less likely to expect the Book to be at Velthomer?
3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Aside from Julia and Priest Boy having a staff-free one-use version of the spell. And Jake carrying two Talismans. Makes magical protection seem more special than it otherwise is.
Oh yeah, that aspect is cool. Resistance here feels a lot like it does in SoV (and, I assume, Gaiden). Moreso an innate stat to distinguish characters and classes, than a growth stat to express learned competency. The exceptions being those Holy Blood types which grant Res. In that light, Bragi Holy Blood is actually kinda valuable, because... how else are ya gonna resist status staves?
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5 hours ago, Jotari said:
Showing Aida in the second gen would mean coming up with a new design for her and, while that shouldn't be hard, it might be just a bit too much work for anyone to care enough to do. Still, should have at least references her in some capacity.
Just give her the "Lamia to Hilda" treatment, of "slightly more wrinkles".
I just can't get over Liza. Like, seriously, she has the same earring as Aida. They couldn't be bothered to remove or adjust that telling detail. Hell, maybe I should headcanon Liza as Aida's daughter, with the earring a family heirloom.
2 hours ago, ping said:: "Why, Father, it almost sounds as if you still don't know any better! Old age must already be dulling that once brilliant of yours. Why not retire before it grows still feebler? Unless... Ohoho! Don't tell me you still seriously believe that you can banish me?"
: "No... I know better than to try something so futile again... I... I have no objection."
Huh. These lines suggest that Arvis had tried to banish Julius once before (presumably after he got Loptyr'd). Obviously, it didn't stick.
I do wonder whether - as the Emperor - Arvis would have the power to name his own successor. Obviously, Julius would take the throne regardless. But if Arvis were to appoint, say, Julia in his will, it could contribute to more infighting amongst the houses. Thus hastening the Empire's (and Loptyr's) fall.
25 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:do really like the visual effect of Lopto blood. Interface horror is seriously underrated. It gets you where you're not expecting it.
I love how observant players can see the visual impact of minor Loptyr holy blood on Deirdre's and Arvis' stat screens. But you don't understand what it's there for, until Julius appears.
2 hours ago, ping said:: "Yes, Lord Julius. I'd love to!"
Sounding rather excited there, Ishtar.
"Ishtar"? No, that's Julius, speaking to himself in the third person! As Julius is wont to do.
2 hours ago, ping said:Julius takes the field, and he's obviously quite the terror. The Loptyr tome seems like one of the weaker legendary weapons at first glance, only providing a measly +5 Res, but it also carries the same effect that Medeus had in FE1 and FE3, halving any incoming attack's power.
I assume the +5 Res is there to protect him from status staves. Because the highest Magic any playable unit can have is 35 (including the Magic Ring). Status swords, however...
2 hours ago, ping said:As a big ONLY USE SELIPH AND JULIA, THEY HAVE NIHIL sign, Julius has the Wrath skill, guaranteeing a one-shot on literally everybody (well, save sub-100 accuracy) when he is below half health. And to keep it spicy even for those two, he has Accost, as well.
Kids named Sword Twins:
2 hours ago, ping said:
: "None of yeh come even close t'being strong enough t'fight Prince Julius. Hate t'say it, but sometimes, yeh need t'make sacrifices if yeh wanna keep goin'..."
Kinda neat how this old man provides a tip - the ol' "let somebody die so Julius and Ishtar will go away" trick.
2 hours ago, ping said:: "I hate to admit it, but I doubt we could've gotten here soon enough either way. Now, then. It sounds like they're finishing up repairs on the Miletos Straight bridge. Ready to move in on Chalphy?"
I love the idea that the Grannvale Public Works Department waits for no man. It is actively in Julius' best interests that the bridge stays down. But even he can't fight the Civil Engineers.
2 hours ago, ping said:Seeing Arvis this pathetic is a bit hard to believe. I appreciate the shock effect - the mighty and prideful Arvis is now cowering in fear before Julius and Manfroy, not daring to defy their orders openly - but considering that gameplay is about to present him as a still incredibly powerful fighter, I have to question why he doesn't even make an attempt to stand up to Manfroy.
I mean, he kinda did, with his "how dare you" comment. And my interpretation of Manfroy showing up is, he immediately holds Julia's life in his hands. If Arvis were to attack him, Manfroy could kill Julia, then and there. So of course, Arvis isn't going to do anything that would endanger his daughter.
It might've been interesting if Arvis had planted the seed of Manfroy using Julia as a pawn in the final chapter. Saying something like "I shudder to think what Manfroy might do to you... were your powers turned against the Liberation Army, they would be stopped dead in their tracks." Obviously, Arvis doesn't want Julia to be brainwashed - but at least that way, she'd have a chance to survive. Some reverse psychology to give her extra time. And Manfroy, in his arrogance, would take credit for Arvis' dastardly plan.
2 hours ago, ping said:As is my nature, I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy. "No Forseti Inheritance", even though I'm not really looking to do a full substitute run, is looking like a strong option, honestly. Well, not a strong option. You know what I mean.
Daddy Lewyn is interesting because - while you obviously want him to pass down Forseti - I wouldn't call any of his pairings actively bad. Critical and Adept make for a really solid pair of skills, especially on kids who already have Pursuit (the Sword Twins and Faval). The Speed boost from Sety Holy Blood is always welcome. And Lewyn!Lana probably has the best post-promotion combat of any version, thanks to the skills and Elwind access.
Honestly, considered "on average" or "overall", Lewyn might be the best dad, period.
1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Res is such a binary stat in Genealogy: you either have enough to avoid being Status'ed and you're good, or you don't and you're bad. (The use of Res to reduce magic damage being, as always, not that important.)
Incidentally, FE4 is the only game I can think of where there's no way to incrase Res temporarily. No Ward or Barrier or Ensorcel Staff. No Pure Water. No Rally Res. The only way to increase it is by equipping certain weapons.
Personally, I like the way FE4 handles it. I much prefer "a point of Res gives either 0 or 100 Avoid against a status staff" as opposed to "a point of Res gives 5 Avoid against a status staff". Like, FE4 is the one game where I have use for the Silence Staff. In other games, it's almost certain to miss the targets I'd want it to hit.
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On 4/16/2024 at 12:37 PM, Paper Jam said:
Cormag isn't that frail, is he?
Oh yeah, this was like two years ago. Haha.
On 4/16/2024 at 9:22 PM, AnonymousSpeed said:His resistance isn't that high, so he probably doesn't do that great against the magic eyes.
That. Yeah he has HP and Defense, but I wouldn't trust him against Mogalls.
With a Pure Water, maybe.
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8 hours ago, Jotari said:
even though Julius does have minor Fjalar blood
As does Julia. She can even use Bolganone in the final chapter, if the Book of Naga isn't to your liking.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:SNES just had the character limitations stopping the class from being named "Drag Queen" (don't think too hard about what that might suggest for Hilda).
Drag Queen Hilda would actually be less creepy, IMO. Because now she's not biologically related to Ishtar. So, pushing her into a relationship with Julius at least loses the "incest?" angle.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:4,000 tiles big and half coveredi n mountains and ocean the payer would never go to, but it was one that paid off
And the one time the player does, they run into Jake, and get a Res boost on two specific units.
...Like, really, who was figuring that out without a guide.
19 hours ago, Jotari said:That being said, I wouldn't be entirely against blackening up Miletos a bit of it were to get a few characters. It's in the south after all, and that's mostly what I'd care about when it comes to these things. Though, I suppose, Thracia is just as far south as well, and I don't think I'd react kindly to black Travant, but, idk, Miletos just feels sunnier because they used a dark palette for Thracia and a surprisingly bright one for Miletos.
Yeah, they're definitely not gonna "racebend" anyone who's been in Heroes, like Travant or Jamke, even if they're from southern nations. That said, we don't have anyone (named) from Miletos. So they could totally go for it, if they felt like. More likely "tan" than "black", though.
Hm... if Travant creates a problem... maybe they could say that the original inhabitants of Southern Thracia were darker-skinned? But when Dainn and Njorun split up, and the Kingdom of Thracia was founded, most of the original inhabitants were driven out. Either leaving overseas, or settling in neighboring Miletos.
9 hours ago, Jotari said:Aida! Where is Aida!
I coulda sworn we fought her back in chapter 7...
4 hours ago, ping said:Julius could appear similarly to how he does in the real Ch.10, in front of Jungby once you've seized Evans. Or maybe in front of Chalphy ("You sit back and see how Ishtar and I handle these upstart rebels, father. At your age, you shouldn't excert yourself too much.")
Maybe Ishtar nearby Jungby, and Julius nearby Chalphy? That way, there's more of a choice - rush for home base (and deal with the tougher miniboss), or take the long way around (for a somewhat less threatening foe).
5 hours ago, ping said:Fun fact: If Lana had decided to become an Archer instead of a Priest, her Str would've been 7 points above Faval's, and on par with Finn, Nanna, and Ares. She's also basically as tanky as Faval on the physical side (+1 HP, -1 Def) even in her High Priest class, although she admittedly has an 8-level lead at the start of the fight.
Can't wait for "Archer Lana" to be meta in the inevitable sequel. Alongside "Warrior Brigid" and "Sage Arthur".
5 hours ago, ping said:: "Quite the sorry excuse for a prince of Grannvale I make, wouldn't you say? It almost feels as if I've tricked the world."
Ooh, imposter syndrome. He just like me fr fr.
5 hours ago, ping said:
And after cleaning up the nearby enemies (XP is XP! ...what do you mean, they'll cap their level anyway?), Seliph kills Morrigan and seizes.
Crazy how similar the statistically-worst sword in the game (Thief's Sword) looks to one of the statistically best swords in the game, Mystletainn. Is Ares here to crit-kill me, or to tickle all my gold away?
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12 hours ago, Jotari said:
Come to think of it - this would've been, essentially, the path that Quan and friends took to meet up with Sigurd, way back in the Prologue. I like the idea of Leif, in particular, taking the journey his mother and father once did.
My "out there" idea for a Jugdral remake would be - expand Thracia 776 so that defeating Blume, then Travant, and reuniting Leonster, is almost all under Leif's army. Seliph liberates Isaach, but largely skips over Thracia to free Miletos instead. And maybe Verdane, if he has a spare afternoon. Then they reunite at Chalphy (hm, Edda might make more geographic sense), and take on the remaining Imperial forces as one.
11 hours ago, Jotari said:
Yeah, see? A clear shot from Melgen to Peruluke, with just one castle in the way. Seliph could still beat up Blume at Ulster, to throw Leif a bone and all.
By the way, loving your custom maps. One of my favorite aspects of FE4 is everything melding together like this. I'm literally playing upon the world map!
19 hours ago, ping said:Sylvia tried to teach him how to dance.
Lewyn celebrates killimg his uncles with an old-fashioned crab rave.
19 hours ago, ping said:Fee stocks at an all-time high.
Bragi holy blood with a reason to exist, all of a sudden.
21 hours ago, Jotari said:What we do lack for Miletos is representation (
seriously no black trans women at all) and a role in the wider world.Hear me out - the fact that we don't see anyone from Miletos means they could actually be black. And, there's more men than women in Gen II, so why not a black woman? And and, IS has definitely been more willing to include LGBT characters in their games, so a black trans woman from Miletos... farfetch'd, but not impossible.
...Make her a War Mage with Elthunder named Laverne. Laverne Shox.
20 hours ago, Jotari said:still like the parachuting wyverns idea though.
Seliph's entire army class-changes to Wyvern Rider for the trip, then dismounts as soon as they catch a whiff of ballistae.
20 hours ago, Jotari said:said s(he) since I think social knight is a male only class while Queen, is unplayable, but surely a female exclusive.
Wait, never mind what I said before. Turns out, we had a trans icon hidden in the Arena this whole time! Kaga, you magnificent dastard.
21 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:Genealogy does have an unused item in its data called the "Charm Staff".💞 The Charm Staff wasn't programmed to do anything however, it's an incomplete item. In both the Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, Charm does precisely what you describe- render allies uncontrollable and turn them against their allies.
Huh, I had assumed that the Staff would have an effect similar to the same-named skill. Granting it to one of your allies. Except, the staff is チャーム (Chaamu), while the skill is カリスマ (Karisuma). So, "Charm" versus "Charisma". Not the same, really.
It has 1-10 range, so perhaps it was a status staff that could control enemies? Then again, it's A-rank, while the other status staves were B-rank. And other staves (Physic, Restore, Fortify, Rescue) also had 1-10 range. So, who's to say, after all?
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On 4/16/2024 at 12:38 PM, Revier said:
a. Why does the lord generally start out unhorsed? I'm pretty sure that out of FE1-4, only one lord starts with a mount, and he's of course considered one of the most busted units in the series. Might it have to do with encouraging the player to use the lord alongside their retinue, rather than have them charge face first into the enemy ranks?
That might be part of it. Thinking on it, very few Lords (Sigurd, Seliph, Eliwood, Ephraim, Eirika, Claude) gain any sort of mount in their "natural progression". Presumably, they want the Lord to feel different from "just another Cavalier". Also, in indoor Sieze maps, they have to sit on the very special chair to win. Kinda hard to do when you've got a horse underneath you.
On 4/16/2024 at 12:38 PM, Revier said:b. Does the bias towards cavalry have anything to do with the series' focus on royalty and nobility? After all, I know that mounts were major prestige symbols in the past, and their riders were often quite wealthy and of high stature. Obviously there were a fair few "ordinary" cavalrymen, but even these were immensely dwarved by their footed brethren.
Maybe? It's not always clear which characters are "noble" or "commoner", especially back in the days before support conversations. But ultimately, when our main character is a noble, they'd naturally have a noble retinue following them. In the case of Ike, it's explicitly mentioned that his cavalry - Oscar and Titania - previously served in the Crimean Royal Knights. As for Alm, the only Cavs he has among his commoner friends are those promoted semi-randomly from Villager.
It's worth noting that, even as early as FE4, Kaga and team seemed to recognize the inherent advantages of a mount. So, they tried to balance it out in certain ways. "Jamke has better combat stats than Midir." "Edain can use more Staves than Ethlyn." "Ayra and Chulainn get powerful sword skills that mounties can't inherit." Obviously, this didn't fully offset the mounted advantage, but it did suggest some recognition of the imbalance, and a limited attempt to redress it.
You definitely get more out of Nihil on either Fee or some character that's more likely to fight a random boss with a relevant skill. ...although to be honest, only Dermott comes to mind as a variable kid who can be quite good for that.
Introducing Myself
in Introductions
Posted
It's really great to hear that Fire Emblem is a series that you can enjoy without the ability to see. If you have the time, I'd be totally game to hear what sort of process you go through to complete any given chapter. And hey - now any playthrough you do is technically a blind playthrough!
...Sorry, bad joke. In any case, welcome to the Forest!