Interdimensional Observer

I'd like it if they gave Aida a soliloquy or Saias some talk of what his mother was like/thought of Arvis or something in the eventual Jugdral remakes. To name a good minor antagonist- Bryce wasn't bad for the little time he had. A relic of the past simply unable to move on due to his age, pitiable. Levail was a young and idealistic fanboy, but not the worst. Jarod seems a little too angry to be likable. I have no problem with him being discriminatory to the people of Daein, but randomly stabbing people when angered is a bit much. If he was "well this job sucks, but it's my duty, and my way to advancement" I think he would have been better. On Ludveck- do recall this is the guy that casually abandons his home base and leaves every soldier there to die or be captured. Like Jarod, he was made too nasty to be truly likable. Not that all villains have to be ones that you can empathize or sympathize with. On that note- Valter I'd prefer if he wasn't insane due to a cursed lance. And Valtome can be held in the air by Zelgius for eternity for stealing Kefka's laugh. Travant appears decently complex, as is Naesala (if you could call him an antagonist at all), who I wouldn't be surprised if he was inspired by Travant. Jugdral inspired Tellius just as Archanea inspired Elibe and Valencia Magvel. The hawks and ravens one lived together in the southern islands, only to break apart- like the Thracian Peninsula. Tibarn as not-Quan and Naesala as not-Travant seems very feasible. Both Travant and his successor are undercut (made out as too innocent) by their subseries sequels though. Also, why the heck did they invent Kishuna? He plays zero role in the plot or anything really. So he was an early morph of Nergal with a touch of emotions made to be a copy of Renault's best friend and who yearns in his final chapter to be killed. So what? How does that matter in the grand scheme of FE7's plot? Honestly, I would have preferred three chapters that could allow the player to piece together Nergal's past, too much of which is left too vague. Basically: A Glimpse in Time, a chapter hinting at what happened to Nergal post-Aenir's death, and another showing his initial turn to darkness. Though I'd put the turn to darkness in place of Genesis, and the post-Aenir death scene in place of the Value of Life. So you see Nergal good and normal, Nergal turning bad, Nergal in grief, and then "Aenir? Don't understand." fills in the one remaining gap.

I've played the Hyper edition of WO3, plus DW7 and SWC. I really should get to downloading the original Orochi on my PS3 to see what pre-6/7 the DW characters were like. Visually, I can see they looked a lot less flashy, and much more historical (or at least could pass as appearing historical). Perhaps something was lost in the redesigns. Suddenly, I'm visualizing berserk Ike looking something like Susano-o, who was pretty nasty in his opening battle in WO3. When you had to blitz to Sima Yi and Cao Pi before he got to your base and took out Da Ji. And just thinking on which FE characters you could kind of typecast as DW/SW ones. I was thinking we could make Ephraim Sun Ce, Erika can then take Sun Shangxiang. Eliwood Sun Quan. Marth Liu Bei. Sigurd... Sun Jian? Guan Ping for Leif? Roy as Lu Xun- don't Japanese fans adore him? If so, we need somebody to be like him for sales. Leo as Sima Yi or Shi. Soren can be Jia Xu- he isn't as ambitious as Sima Yi, but still realist. Ryoma as Yukimura Sanada. Toshiie Maeda maybe for Chrom. Xander could possibly be like Mitsuhide- aka always feeling their loyalty under stress and questioning their betrayal even when they finally commit to it. Takumi is loved by the Japanese fans- Mitsunari Ishida is similarly loved, and the two are both abrasive. IDK as to who NA/Europe likes, Deng Ai maybe? He combines manly bulk with strategy abilities, a wonderful combo.

The Zelda series, for me at least, is defined by its mild blend of gameplay. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has puzzles, but not as mind-bending as a pure puzzle game. Platforming, but not as crazy as a pure platformer. Action, but not as intense as a pure action game. And the same can be said of exploration. Play Professor Layton if you want just the first, Mario or Freedom Planet for the second, Bayonetta/Souls/GoW for the third. But I like Zelda's hybridity. I'll admit the plots are trash; though I like the efforts to build up lore over the games (but not the timeline). Also, I still have Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, and TriForce Heroes unfinished, but that is more owing to a general tendency on my part to not complete games, nothing particular to Zelda. (Though The Lady I just can't get past in single player in TH.)

Damn. Jill owned Xander hard! Many a fan would love to see this. Unfortunately I don't think IS would include such a clear rebuke of their writing quality. I also like the Naesala-Shura thing. Naesala is a decently complex character, undermined only by IS's invention of the Blood Pact in RD. And I forgot to mention a couple other interactions I'd like: Hector and Zephiel in battle: Hector comments "Heard you killed the old me from Roy. So that is what I got for saving your life as a kid!?!" Zephiel responds "You saved my life the night before I was declared of age? You said nothing of it. Had you, I would have spared you. All you said as you fell to my blade was that your death had been foretold as a violent one years ago." Eliwood and Elincia: If the heroes end up fighting each other by mistake, misunderstanding, or manipulation, somebody has to step up and sort things out. Eliwood isn't much of a fighter, but his appearance in Lyn Mode where he gets Caelin's neighbors to stay out of the heir dispute suggests he is a decent diplomat. Elincia proves herself a mediator in RD. Erika I guess could be one as well, less due to talent at negotiations and more her gentleness. And (this is devolving into pure plot wishes) can we please have at least one major character get possessed or an evil double or something? I was thinking Ike ends up having to defend Yune from being captured by evil, and becomes so desperate in his protection of her that he has to force Yune into himself. Remember how Yune is the Goddess of Chaos, the thing that was sealed in Lehran's Medallion? You know, the thing that drove Ike's father Greil berserk when he touched it? Well, Ike forcing Yune into him basically turns him into berserk Greil, except much, much worse. Ike tries to restrain himself with all his strength, but inevitably he ends up rampaging indiscriminately across the world, with the other heroes having to save him.

Gotta say Nasir looks cool, is a decently developed character, and I love the fact he deals magic damage in RD. But the Tellius dragons do suffer from a serious lack of availability, which derives from their whole neutrality thing. What a shame.

Well yeah, Ike is good, probably the best unmounted unit. He doesn't start godly, but grows into a great unit, there is no denying that. And the formula for Aether in PoR is Skill = % (every other game it's in reduces it to 1/2 Skill = %). Ike's Skill caps at 27, so a 27% chance of activation at best; better or comparable to an SM's critical chance sans Wrath or a Killing Edge. Of course, some people get lucky with/think they get lucky with SM critical hits and for that reason love SMs, so your love of Aether is understandable.

FE doesn't do final bosses that well due to the fact it isn't about taking down single foes. Final maps is another story. Of the ones available outside of Japan, Blazing has a decent concept for the final map- a boss rush with high stats and ultimate weapons across the board. Plus, Athos is there as a crutch if things are too difficult. The Fire Dragon is too durable given only Hector, Athos, Lyn, and Eliwood can deal decent damage to it and Eliwood and Lyn are questionable gameplay-wise and have awful effective weapons. SS's is nonthreatening outside of Lyon and the Draco Zombies. Formortiis is nice in that everyone can damage him decently unlike PoR or Blazing, but that at the same time makes him easy. PoR has a nice looking map, and a moving (human) final boss is cool and threatening. Ashnard's damage immunity keeps you from blitzing him (sans Wrath + Resolve Ike), but also means you need Ike to be good. RD has five final maps. The last being a good way of centering the final battle around the final boss. The first two maps are okay, the third most awesome, and the fourth too easy. SD is okay. Definitely captures the final battle feel, if not the best designed map (forgivable given the age of it). Awakening- blitz the boss, Naga suggests it and the map is built around it. (The same for Future Past 3.) The final choice is a false choice. Fates: Birthright is okay. Revelation is an HP sink. Conquest's pulls a few pages out of T776's evil playbook, but it otherwise excellently designed, like much of Conquest. A human final boss (albeit a possessed one) is interesting. Glimpsing over a few of the other games (meaning I haven't played them): FE4's looks grand and FE5's has Blazing final chapter vibes. FE6's Juan and Idunn maps are both awful. Tearring Saga looks nice, Berwick Saga's seems bleh.

I'm considering the Awakening ritual to be a reforging of the Falchion. Not quite a literal one, but Naga is unleashing its power, and probably adding a little fresh power to it too. I mean the blade looks nothing like it does in Marth's games. I speculate that the first Exalt took the Falchion to Naga, and Naga modified it to make it extra effective on Grima, changing its physical shape in the process.

Aether has at best a 27% chance of activating, you shouldn't rely on it for healing or damage. Also, an A Oscar's +30 avoid boost I'd daresay offers Ike more durability than Aether. And again, Wrath and Resolve exist for the final fight, though it'd be understandable if you chose to give them to someone else. Not to mention on Easy the final boss doesn't move, so there is less incentive to kill him quick. And there is no second phase of the final boss on Easy so you get your final battle recruit pick almost right way. Prior to Ragnell acquisition, Ike isn't the best fighter. You obviously should raise him, and he has the awesome stats for sure, but swordlock hurts in PoR. Ragnell is powerful, adds to Ike's physical durability, has infinite uses, and range 1-2, but is only usable in the luck fight and the last two chapters- less time than Roy gets the Binding Blade if you're going for the True Ending in his game. As for the luck battle character thing, technically, while a character does die if you lose, from a gameplay perspective there is no character death, seeing how you never recruited them in the first place. Plus, you can't recruit a different character if you win, though winning or losing doesn't kill them plot-wise. I myself go for the win if I can, and sometimes I use Aether, but I've accepted losing the fight on a number of runs. Mostly because I don't want to refight the entire battle that precedes it.

With this game we'll be seeing FE characters from across the games interacting with each other, something that really hasn't happened in other games. Now, what specific character interactions do you predict are going to happen in the game, and what interactions have you been fantasizing about? For myself, I have a whole "evil kings clash" thing going on in my head. *Ashnard's roaming army of marauders attack Zephiel's armies* Ashnard: Ha ha ha! What a wonderful world we've ended up in, one where warriors alone rule! Might is right, that is right! Zephiel: This brute, this is a prime example of human nature. Humanity's end cannot come soon enough. I must with all haste bring forth the rule of dragons in this world as I was trying to in Elibe! Ashnard: You would have humanity commit suicide and institute a stagnant order? How absurd! You don't deserve those armies i see arrayed before me. *Suddenly another armies intrudes on the battlefield* Walhart: You're both wrong! This world needs law and order. But it must be a human one. And the only one capable of completing this task is ME! *In the distant skies* Travant: *Sigh* Look at them, fighting over their heady ideas and making them a reality. All I want, even in this world so vast, is to have all of Thracia be securely mine. Shall I ally with one of them? It'd be gamble. Let me mull it over with my son first. Add Yuan trying to convince Ashera to work with him, Travant befriending Naesala, and Nergal betraying Zephiel (to whom he promised to open the Dragon's Gate) for Ashnard.

Aether is not necessary. Wrath can also suffice for the one-lucked based battle where it is useful. Or Ike can just land every hit on the relevant foe whiles Mist kills the Bishops that eventually get summoned to prevent them from healing. Losing said battle results in somebody dying and not being playable, and in RD Ike canonically won the luck fight. That said, the game will go on, and you'll get a different unit who is generally considered inferior, not that the unit it replaces is godly or anything near it, they just make the final battle a little easier than the replacement does. As others have said though, most Occult skills are useless, and you get four of those scrolls, whereas everyone likes the one Wrath scroll. On the topic of the final fight, only Ike, either PC from the luck fight, and one of three characters you can summon for the final fight on like the second turn of it can actually damage the final boss. Ike with Aether, or Wrath and or Resolve, will make the fight go faster. On average, Soren has the best offense of the Mages and Sages, Tormod has Celerity for the best mobility, Ilyana is just third place to them. Calill is good magic filler, albeit without staff access. Bastian has the highest growth rate total among Beorc, but either it isn't distributed well or his bases are just too bad because he is hardly a good unit. Rhys and Mist are second bananas when to comes to magic offense (Rhys can't double, Mist needs to boost her Sword Rank and relies on two rare weapons). From a tier-list perspective, all the mounted units (Titania-Marcia-Jill being the holy trinity) are the best but everyone is usable in PoR, especially on Easy.

The whole uses on legendary weapons thing in Jugdral and other games is likely a gameplay balance concern (outside of Byron's broken Tyrfing, which is basically evidence of what he had to endure to get to his son), though repairability in Jugdral still allows the Holy Weapons to break the game. Unlimited uses on say Durandal and Armads in FE6 would be kinda broken, even factoring in the slow pace of weapon rank increases in that game. I would endorse unlimited uses on the Binding Blade though, and I would on all main character ultimate weapons save maybe the Renais Sacred Twins (they come a little too early). I'll concur that letting non-Holy Blood users use the physical Holy Weapons, albeit without them being as good, should be permitted in FE... 17? Whenever the Jugdral remakes come. That said- why would a player bother having anyone use these weapons other than their true masters? That being the case, IS would likely use that as an excuse to avoid writing a few extra lines of code. Reduced but still extent stat bonuses for minor Holy Blood units, as I heard the FE Binary mod does, would also be fine by me and something IS should totally consider. Minor blood users could handle some draconic power without suffering from bodily or mental harm, but not as much as a full blooded person. In FE13, thousands of years have passed since the Miracle of Darna where the Holy Weapons were created. A dragonstone over a long enough time I'd imagine would begin to have its power seep and dissipate into the surrounding environment if new energy wasn't being added and the stone itself repaired. Probably the power of the seals on the Holy Weapons faded away, allowing anyone with enough weapon mastery to access the residual draconic energies of the weapons. The Falchion would endure the same fate in all likelihood were it not for Naga reforging, sealing, and then unsealing and reforging again the sword every so often.

I beat the game and wouldn't call it bad, but I will say that Suikoden II is not quite the masterpiece that some of its devotees make it out to be. Its gameplay is improved over the original's, but it is still too simple and rather easy. The war battles were a complete waste of potential it's "show, don't tell" with the showing being so bad it might as well have been tell. The plot is not legendary. Luca Blight is a good savage villain who dies a well written death, but that is about it. Luca's replacement for the latter part of the game is not so well done. Shu is way too perfect a strategist, even more than Suikoden I's Matthieu and FE's Robin and Corrin. The second worst part of the game is the Greenhill school days, which were a shallow and totally unnecessary venture into school themes. Not to mention you walk through the same straight line of realistic forest too many times (and which you'll be reminded of if you want to go to Gregminster- no warp travel to there was a bad idea). And then there the worst- Neclord. In Suikoden I, Neclord was total filler and a total waste save for whatever development he gave Victor. How in the world did Konami think it was a smart idea to have him return in the second game? He is just as much wasteful filler the second time around, and Konami can't be quite so forgiven for it this time.

Very solid filler. Nothing spectacular like Harken or Pent, but he gets the job done. Better than Isadora at least. Hawkeye is more durable, particularly with his 10 base Resistance making him with a Pure Water boost fine for HHM CoD, but not as fast. Louise is faster and has her Pent support, but not quite as strong. His Strength is a little low for a Warrior, his Skill, durability are also the worst, but he is the fastest. And given the Warrior competition requires training, you can waive those stat losses as nothing compared to having to level Dorcas or Bartre. B weapon ranks are nice, particularly that bow rank. Hector Mode Lloyd FFO is foggy with a moving strong Light Brand boss- hence I always aim for Linus's chapter. It also helps that Wallace is subpar.

Sorry if this topic has been dead for a while and this is approaching necroposting. I wrote my own idea of how FEW would play prior the game's announcement, and here are a bunch of things I conceived of. All units can ride horses and flying mounts. Mounted units have their unique movesets on horseback and weaker generic ones on foot. Mounties also have increased resistance to getting knocked off their mount (negated by horseslayers). Also, no dodging, but can make their mounts dash, which units ideal on foot cannot do. Foot soldiers, either pure foot soldiers, or mounted units on foot, can dodge. Armored units, excepting perhaps the Black Knight, cannot dodge, but get increased flinch resistance and a guard physical attacks cannot break (barring armorslayers). All non-lords and select other units get the moveset of their class. Meaning a hypothetical Shinon and Brigid, both Snipers, play the same. However, there is a little variation between two characters in each class. Shinon might have for a given charge attack a powerful straight piercing arrow shot, whereas Brigid gets for the same charge attack number, an arrow rain. Shinon may also have Provoke as a skill and more Defense than Brigid, who would have more Luck than Shinon plus a skill called Ulir which gives her increased stats when using the Yewfelle. Also, a "Legacy mode" wherein you play through various battles from FE history, redone in Musou style. And maybe counterfactual battles too. For the lords, I had thought of the following movesets: Marth: Balanced single-handed sword, maybe with the Fire Emblem/Binding Shield. Alm: A more roguish, aggressive sword style with crossbow use. Celica: Anima magic with a touch of light and sword. Sigurd: Wickedly good horseback combat, with a Matador-inspired (no flair, but plenty of finesse) foot moveset. Seliph: Like his father, but not quite as good on a horse, and with light magic from his Naga blood infused into his moveset both on horse and foot. Also, his sword style displays European elements from training under Oifaye, plus Oriental elements from Shanan. Leif: An okay balanced moveset on foot, a bit similar to Seliph's. On horseback, he is godly with the full arsenal of a Master Knight on display. Roy: Let's Smash him and go for a two-handed sword style. I was thinking that because the Elibe legendary weapons were so powerful as to alter the climate of the continent, that we give him a limit break mode thing, like Young Link's Fierce Deity in HW. Lyn: Eastern swordplay with bow touches perhaps. Eliwood: Maybe a solid blend of thrusts and slashes for foot combat, perhaps with a flaming finish. Plus decent horse combat that adds lances. Hector: Wild axe swinger. Erika: Fencer, maybe with thunder/lighting finishes. Ephraim: Foot unarmored lance user with finesse- what more need be said? Ike 9: Sword and dagger (because I heard someone say his unpromoted battle stance is of a style of sword-fighting wherein the hand without the sword held a dagger). Ike 10: Large swords able to wielded with one hand, with axe touches. Micaiah: Light magic plus staffs. Chrom: Toshiie Maeda inspired sword and lance (plus a shield bash or two) style. Lucina: Marth+Erika+Chrom hybrid. Corrin: Sword plus dragon transformational abilities, and maybe a touch of magic and staffs.

It's a shame we probably won't be getting Jugdral characters, given Genealogy is most Dynasty/Samurai Warriors-like of all the FEs. Blazing is probably the least Warriors like given it involves almost no real armies whatsoever, only battles between three lords and their handful of companions versus a bunch of bandits or morphs or assassins.

On the Lewyn topic, I hope that Forseti or whatever it is that Lewyn becomes after Gen 1 didn't do a full takeover right away. Erinys deserved her husband and Ced and Fee deserved a father. I'd prefer if original Lewyn and Forseti Lewyn alternated in the years prior to the Issach Rebellion, with Forseti Lewyn gradually spending more and more time in charge as the time of liberation approached. As for why Naga didn't full possess in Gen 2, idk. Maybe she thought it wasn't necessary this time, whereas it was with the Crusaders. Also, I want to bring up one more person with regards to magic. In Blazing Blade we get the most complete explanation of dark magic in the entire series. Now it seems all magic, or at least anima and dark, involve to some extent sacrifice of one's own being. But dark magic is indisputably the riskiest. When one lets dark magic into oneself, you can be consumed by the darkness and become an inactive vegetable- like Canas's brothers. On the other extreme, darkness can consume you and turn you into a hyperactive and dangerous shell of your former self- Nergal. But what if you manage to walk the thin path of success that looms over these two abysses? This we would never have known, were it not for Bramimond. Bramimond has let the darkness in and it penetrates him to the core. In the process, he has lost the ability to maintain an independent personality, a great sacrifice. Yet, he is no vegetable. Bramimond maintains his memories and his will and the ability to act on them. Bramimond has in exchanged gained the power to sense who knows what through the vast impenetrable darkness his mind's eye is open to. He has not annihilated his self, but he has sublimated it. He is a Buddha of darkness I daresay. He has also gained the ability to live for centuries, a degree of omniscience, the ability to seal and unseal the world-altering legendary weapons remotely, one of which is the product of his own mastery of darkness- the powerful Apocalypse. And even resurrection- something even Elimine's Saint's Staff can't do. Given the sacrifices made and perils braved involved in achieving dark Nirvana (equilibrium of the self and darkness I also like to call it), it is no surprise that few would seriously consider walking this path. And that even fewer would succeed. Yeah, I'm a Bramimond fan in case you can't tell. How I wish he had been playable; he actually has NPC data in the game with stats that would be realistic for a Gotoh.

Rolf is probably better in the original Japanese release of RD, where 2nd tier units absolutely needed one of only 7 Master Crowns to promote. Giving one to Shinon would be a giant cost of resources. With Shinon possibly unable to promote, he would cap level all too soon, and thus give Rolf a chance to catch up. I would call Japanese RD more balanced overall... except for the fact that 3-3 and 3-5 give Master Crowns and Haar can have one while Titania takes the other, allowing for steamrolling Part 3 to still happen. The Laguz Royals, some natural tier 3 Beorc, and the remaining 5 Crowns can handle Part 4 Final.

Looks a tad cheap, and I'd prefer an actual new Advance Wars, but for the right price I'll buy it. The apparent absence of battle previews is a major problem and a day one update to include them would be a sine qua non for anyone interested in it. And what is with what appears to be units attacking properties? Is that the new capture or something? Hopefully this game could try making naval battles cheaper or more exciting than what Advance Wars has been doing. I mean naval fights, and FoW battles, have certainly improved over the games, but they still need a little more work. I saw an amphibious unit in the video- that might help. I'm not an online gaming person, but given a robust player-designed-maps upload feature and plenty of save slots for design maps, I could possibly be led into paying for it. Then again, people could just snapshot their map designs and post them on the Web for free.

A shame Magvel is underdeveloped, more backstory on Riev would have been nice (as would the names of the 3 legendary heroes not Grado and Latona). I imagine a monster as powerful as the Demon King could make his dark magic into light if he wanted to. And while he does in all likelihood power up Riev, I have my doubts that he gives Riev light magic. Is Naga a god or not? Well, Naga started as a mortal Divine Dragon, that we know for certain. But, it appears that Naga somehow survived her bodily death and eventually resurrected- in the form of Nagi in New Mystery (the dialogue in that game declares the SD revival non-canonical). Because a physical body can be a chore to care for, she presumably later opted for a wholly spiritual existence- Awakening. What defines a god is debatable. The Crusaders of Jugdral appear to be worshipped as gods, or saints at least, even though they were clearly mortal. And in human history, people have worshipped their leader (pharaohs and Chinese emperors) as gods. This is a lower level deity, or not even a deity- a demigod. Naga's ability to live in a wholly spiritual state for millennia, revive herself, and powerful magic able to take down Grima (who we could call godly for sure) all seem to be worthy of the title "god". A mid-level deity I'd consider her. As for high-level, I guess we have Ashunera, for Ashera and Yune are only mid-level or high-but-less-than-top being halves of Ashunera. Technically, to be the highest of high, Ashunera has to exist before or at the same time as the primordial watery chaos, Yune says she came into being only later. (Though how does Yune know that the chaos existed before Ashunera when nobody existed before her?) The mark of a highest level deity for me is creation from nothing/chaos, Naga lacks that power. On the topic of Naga, one of the Jugdral notes weirdly calls the Holy Weapons of Jugdral, plus the Falchion and Aura, "dragonstones" and states all of the Jugdrali weapons have orbs (like the spheres on the Shield of Seals?) on them, even though the weapon sprites suggest otherwise. Given Falchion is a literal fang of Naga, "dragonstone" could be meant loosely. That all of the crusaders' weapons and (Archanea) Aura and Falchion are packed to the brim with draconic power- the power contained in a dragonstone. Dragonstones have always offered stat bonuses, and that the Jugdrali weapons offer ones the size of the moon (plus absurd might). On top of that the Naga, Forseti and Loptyr tomes seem to contain a trace, if not the whole, of their titular draconic creators' wills and personalities. And on that note, I speculate that the Lightsphere, Geosphere, and the elements they represent at their purest. The Lightsphere is are energies of Light refined to 100% purity (or as close to it as possible) in a very heavily concentrated physically holdable form. The Starsphere is the power of the stars in such a form, the Darksphere purest darkness, the Geosphere that of the earth's, the Lifesphere of life's spiritual essence.

Looking at the magic tangent that derailed the Sword/Lance Pegasi topic, I decided to try to outline what we know for certain of magic in FE. In the Mystery of the Emblem notes on this site, it is mentioned that in Archanea, the first of the continents, magic is derived from deities. The nature of these deities is "primitive" which I infer to mean they need not have much intelligence. They don't have to be capable of anthropomorphic thought; they could be as sentient as amoebas for all we know. I mean FE is made in Japan- and I believe not all kami in Shinto have human intelligence. Archanea also gave us what I call the "battery idea", which all FEs, except for one, have borrowed. Tomes and staffs store magical energies, which a mage/healer can draw on using their own abilities. The notes also state prayers/studying/special words can unlock the secrets to better magic use. Though I'd argue prayers don't necessarily mean that the deity tells the user how to better use magic. It could just be the state of mind that one enters when praying is conducive to the brain/soul naturally coming to a better understanding of magic. Gaiden is the one exception, it has no tomes or staffs. Magic here is fueled through the sacrifice of the user's own vitality/magical energies, not the power drawn into a manmade object. Though no other game features the itemless magic of Gaiden, it is referenced elsewhere. FE7 makes it suggests in supports that in Elibe, magic attacks deplete both power from tomes, and from the user- a blend of Archanea and Gaiden, even though the gameplay only involves the first. Tellius suggests itemless magic use is rare, but it does exist to an extent. And Micaiah's Sacrifice is almost like a Gaiden spell with the HP cost. Now Jugdral presumably operates under the rules of Archanea and Gaiden (Deidre's warping of Julia probably involved no staff). Here, magic gets divided into five types of tome magic and staffs, but why is not clearly explained. Perhaps it's just how Jugdral chose to study magic for war use. Elibe, and Magvel it seems too, offers the clearest in-game explanation of magic. The threefold division of attack magic is simple and academic. Light magic (and staffs)- based on faith in something (doesn't have to be a god- Kenneth worships Nergal). Anima- based on philosophy. Dark- based on scientific knowledge. There is no explanation as to the division of magic in Tellius, but it seems to inherit the system of magic everything else laid out before it with adjustments. A novelty of Tellius is Spirit Charmers. And though the only one you get is a Dark Sage, Spirit Charmers seem to have no exclusivity to any magic type. If Spirit Charmers were only dark mages, Pelleas and Calill, informed magic users, would have suspicions about the markings on Micaiah and Soren, when they are in fact convinced they're Spirit Charmers. Plus Ashera has a load of spirits fighting with her- none of which use dark magic, only anima. Plus, the spirits seem unintelligent, adding to my kami argument. So what I can say, is that there is a good deal of continuity in the series concerning magic. However, IS regularly tweaks things, such as toning down the prevalence of itemless magic in Tellius, making hexes a big deal in Awakening, and changing their minds on whether dragons degenerate or not. The big picture remains roughly the same, the minutiae is always open.

Thanks XeKr for the chapter objectives correction. Also, thank you for describing how Shove can be useful. Seeing how only Rinkah, Hayato, and Hinata can get it without bonding, I didn't think much of it. Tellius giving it to every unmounted unit made Shove/Smite chains much easier. If it has its uses, I'm all for factoring that in. For Subaki- he is the only flier at the beginning, which is valuable, but Hinoka comes pretty soon. And by midgame you have Reina and Scarlet. Plus, you can reclass Sakura to Falcoknight and she'll still be a good (and now more mobile) festalbot with good Bolt Naginata combat if you work on the E rank. Heck, Takumi could go Kinshi for stint (-1 Speed and 3-5 Strength plus critical and hit over Sniper) if you desperately needed another. How many fliers are necessary? And don't forget if we just want high 7/8 move sans wings- Paladins exist. Shura has 9 move as a Bow Knight for the late game. And Scarlet could take two level in BK to become a 9 move WL/8 mov GK. As for his stat losses to Hinoka- she has a mere 3 Strength lead at 20/15, and starts a single point stronger. The Resistance lead starts at 5, and climbs to 14 at 20/15. The Speed is 11 vs. 16 at level 8 (Hinoka's base) and 23 vs. 35 at 20/15. Gigantic yes, and Darting Blow can only bring him to average Nohrian AS, he'll need more help to double most things actually. For the enemy phase, well it's not like fliers will have much of one whenever a bow is present, but we could always make him a MoA and Hinoka a SpM, or Basara for Bolt Naginata. And Subaki is outright awful compared to Hinoka really, he needs a Speed pairup for offense's sake (Hinoka can take an Oni/GK for more offense and durability) and has dirt Resistance which makes even those Dark and Malig Knights with their weak Magic a threat. The only thing keeping Subaki in Low seems to be his early flier status and not being that much physically weaker than Hinoka. If it can be proved that he isn't doing that much for those early chapters, Mr. (Im)Perfect is dropping to Bottom. On the topic of children, I guess I could permit child paralogues, though I fear it would result in an EXP glut. Do remember support grinding is forbidden though, so you'll only be able to get some of the kids (how many is "some" I can't say), certainly not all. Furthermore, I wouldn't want someone to try feeding all the stationary Berserkers on Mitama's chapter to one underleveled character or something. You'd have to play child battles if they are permitted as you would a mandatory one- at an efficient pace. As for when to recruit the kids, you would get to choose. Though this might seriously dilute the value of lategame for the 1st generation, as Takumi could be rendered useless with a late recruit Kiragi. Subaki with Caeldori, and Hinata with Hisame to give just a few examples. Though I won't bother ranking the kids, even in their own tier list, I think we can agree Kana, Midori, and Selkie are the worst. Shigure is slightly better than Caeldori and both are decent with flight. Sophie is bit inferior to Silas, but still mobile and has access to two or three good weapon ranks. Hisame is a horseless Sophie. Asugi, Shiro, and Rhajat are all good combat units. Dwyer is inferior to Mitama when reclassed, but as festalbots, he has a horse lead.

Just doing a check in, haven't decided to make any additional changes yet, though moving Jakob 1 up to High and moving Silas below him is a definite possibility. However, I do want to comment on a couple minor points that have been made. First, Ninja Setsuna is bad. At 20/15 (shifting over to Ninja at level 10 to swipe Quick Draw first) Setsuna has 16 Strength. Kaze, whom she was being compared to, has 23 (22.95), still more even with Quick Draw factored in. Her only lead over him is a couple Luck. As for Setsuna vs. Mozu, we're looking at an 8 Strength point difference (20.85 and 29.45) at 20/15, not insignificant. Falcoknight Subaki/Hinoka has 11/13 Magic at 20/15, to which if we the add the two Spirit Dusts, a tonic, an A Lance rank, an Onmyoji, and the Bolt Naginata, we get 34/36 Res-hitting attack total. Bolt Axe 20/15 OC Rinkah has 43 Attack if I did the math right. Though this is meaningless without enemy data to compare it. Recording such data would be chore, but running through Lunatic Fates should be easy with skill buying or Einherjars. Judgments on Hana are also pending based exactly how much she can kill with ease. But bringing her back to Low might be in the works. The number of characters per tier need be only roughly equal, or at least not crazy top heavy. As for the value of early game vs. late game, I used the one complete Fates guide (inaccurate at points, it is quick at hand) on Gamefaqs to see the mission objectives. According to said guide, which might feature less enemies on its maps than we'd be dealing with due to it being on Casual Normal (it certainly has less reinforcements), all chapters prior to C12 the opera escape are routs. C13 is another rout, and while C14 is a boss kill, it might as well be a rout I think. Not until C18 (Leo) do we find another boss kill objective, a fast and easy clear. C19 is the wacky stat sanctuary (a rout). C20 will end up playing like a rout... unless Lunge is brought in, then it becomes a quick clear (though one of the chests packs Boots). C21 is Burning Falls, the challenge of which is wholly dependent whether the Stoneborn can stone to death any hopes of buzzing a bosskiller or two to their leader. C22, a rout, is Shura's Wakeup Call. C23 is a rout in Camilla's Combustible Alleyways. C24 is "Welcome to the Hans Arena!". The chapter is very hectic if you choose to slug it out, but fortunately, one can nab the droppable goods, while safely flying a unit or two over all the empty space and kill Hans (whose high HP is more than countered by his awful defenses) just before the baddies can butcher you. Iago I heard can be quickly assassinated in C25 by letting a boss slayer get hit with Entrap, but seems a bit risky. If not possible, we'll have to endure a gigaton of reinforcements. C26 is Xander's unfunny joke of a battle, there isn't even any goodies to prolong the fight for. C27- we'll have to take on a least a good chunk of the enemy, if not everyone, as Garon has sufficient bodyguards, bulk, and distance from the player's starting position to prevent a fast death. C28 is a Hexing hit and maybe some Rescue, and quite doable in 1 turn. Now I'm not saying we need to absolutely do things as quickly as possible and go for boss kills ASAP, but it should be considered, and particularly in the case of C24, going slow seems extremely dangerous. As for missing out on chests or droppable goodies due to speed, remember that any Hoshidan festal or weapon can be bought (though free extras are never bad), and that the store sells 1 of every stat booster but boots and herbs after C20, which can compensate for a missed freebie in exchange for 10k. Only boots, S rank weapons, and Nohrian gear are wholly unique freebies unobtainable any other way. And on this topic, adding up all the gold listed in the Gamefaqs guide, BR gets 127k total (Conquest has 113k and Rev 60k). Edit: corrected C22's and 23's objectives (I thought they seemed odd), darn that GFAQs guide couldn't get even the objectives right! And then I edited the following statement a bit.

Fun fact: Fiona's base level is the same as Nolan's. Except she has -4 HP and Str, -3 Skl and -1 Def. Her only leads are 6 Mag and 3 Res. That would be an atrocious loss if Fiona joined at the same time as Nolan, but, she doesn't. She joins what is practically an eon later. Even if you upped her to ~level 15 and adjusted her stats accordingly, she would still be plagued by the fact that most of the maps are she can fight in are hostile or ambivalent towards her mounted status.

Well the game never really says why they were there, shelter yes, but for how long- who knows? Imagine Ike and Mist growing up among Laguz. Actually, we're never told whether the neighbors of Greil and Elena were Beorc or Laguz. I assumed Beorc, but presumably because I kind of forgot that the Beorc in the Greil berserk CG are likely some of the assailants Volke speaks of given they're armed, my bad! However, the old man who taught Soren magic was living in Gallia, so there has to be at least the occasional Beorc hermit in Gallia. That said, I also wanted to balance things between the Laguz and Beorc. We're told on a few minor occasions that the Laguz once dominated over the Beorc, but largely we get shown no more than "Hiss, pathetic humans!" regarding Laguz discrimination towards Beorc in the present day of Tellius. The dragons are all neutral, the Herons regal pacifists, the Ravens with work with or attack anyone regardless of race, and the Hawks we're told only attack Begnion ships because of the Serenes Massacre. On the other hand, we get plenty of Beorc discrimination against the Laguz. I wanted to balance the picture a little. And adding a form of Beorc slavery to Gallia appeared to be a viable way of doing that. Historically, forcing minorities (European Jews to name one) or even majorities (South Africa's blacks) into confined areas and restricting their choice of livelihoods is not uncommon. If we didn't have an official timeline. I would have liked to add a great, ambitious king of Gallia who conquered about half of Crimea, up to the river clearly visible on the map. And who held onto it for several decades, even claiming the northeast bank near the mouth of the river. He would have claimed the whole, but Begnion and Daein could only acquiesce to so much Crimean ruin. Of course, the great Gallian king eventually dies and then Crimea, perhaps led by a Count of Fayre (Bastian's title), reclaims all the lost territory over time.