starburst

That is impressive, mate. I have played a couple of chapters of Conquest Lunatic but I still feel more comfortable playing it in Hard. And Archer/Sniper Mozu has always been one of my MVP in all of my runs. In Hard, she levels-up till level 8-10 in her own chapter, depending on how many kills she makes and how hard she hits the boss (counter-intuitively, the weaker she is, the more levels she can get by attacking the boss on her own.) Recruiting her before Chapter 8 is a God-send and, lately, I have decided not to use Niles at all (who is replaced by Anna) and to pair-up Mozu with Silas to get an early (before Chapter 10) Sophie with Aptitude. You realise that each bane affects various stats, right? I usually check this calculator to get an idea of the different growths for each character. https://soapy4159.github.io/ferevpairings/

Are we talking about Hard Mode? If this is the case, I just played this chapter twice last weekend, one with +Speed -Luck; the other, +Speed -Mag. In my case, Corrin could double the Faceless without Kaze's pair-up bonuses, but the important one was Mov +1. If I remember correctly, Corrin had also 7 Defence in one of the campaigns, but even then he would kill all Faceless bar the boss in one phase (two hits) and did not need to heal more than once on his way to the sisters (I face the boss after talking to them.) What level is Corrin when Chapter 4 starts, 7-8? My Corrin always starts Chapter 6 at an advanced level 9, and he gains no levels in Chapter 5 (where most of the experience points go to Kaze), thus Corrin must be at level 7-8 by Chapter 4. Perhaps I have been playing +Speed since like forever (even with -Def), but Corrin always dodges a couple of attacks in that chapter, even more when paired-up with Kaze. I am not saying that one should rely on dodging as a strategy, but I thought that it was 'normal', that the Faceless were innately inaccurate, so that new users could complete the map without much trouble. Actually, my main issue in that chapter is that precisely because Corrin always kills normal Faceless in one phase (two hits), the boss fight is really tricky: Corrin must sustain four consecutive attacks after activating the Dragon Vein (the boss and three consecutive Faceless.) On the other hand, if Corrin misses one hit and does not kill one normal Faceless in that phase, then the others do not approach and Corrin has time to heal in-between. And I think that your Hinoka is more screwed than your Corrin, for I had never seen her being defeated, no matter what. I had always thought that, like the annoying experience-thief Ryoma, Hinoka was there just to help new users. Hell, I have seen her attack with critical hits!

I played Chapters 8-12 of Conquest Hard Classic a couple of times to try early promotions into different DLC classes. Chapter 8 is a joke if Dread Fighter Odin is present, for he can basically solo the entire map. Even though Odin joins as an under-levelled unit, the stats gains provided by the Dread Scroll are ridiculously high: Level 5 Dread Fighter Odin has better, higher stats than any other party member, including level 11 Corrin. I need to try Grandmaster Odin again. In Chapters 10-12, Witch Ophelia (Felicia's daughter) was frail, as expected, but could kill any unit in one attack. Ophelia's own magic growths and high critical hit rate may have clouded my perception of how powerful the Witch class is, because Witch Felicia or Witch Elise may not be as powerful (because of a lack of magic or skill or critical hit rate). Yet Witch Ophelia was a walking atomic bomb and I guess that other magic-oriented units will perform similarly as Witches. I do prefer the appearance of Dark Mage and Sorcerer over Witch, though. I class changed Effie to a Great Lord right after she attained level 10, and it was a fun ride. The speed and skill gains complemented her already high strength and defence, but I had to rethink my strategies because she tanked less and, more importantly, she gave completely different pair-up bonuses. Oh!, and watching her dodge countless attacks of the berserker in Anna's recruitment (right after Chapter 8) was a first-time experience. Lastly, I class changed Corrin to a Vanguard before Chapter 10, and I really liked the class. He already had a +Speed -Magic build with the idea of turning him into a Hero, but I may just use him as a Vanguard instead. I really wanted to use axes early in the game, but most options implied losing access to Yato. Vanguard addresses this issue, his pair-up bonus and looks are great, and the class did not alter my strategies for those chapters. I did not try Dark Falcon, and I had already decided that Xander would be a Lodestar and Leo, a Grandmaster. But I did not play that far. Of the four DLC classes that I tried, I think that · Dread Fighter (Odin) is just broken. · Witch (Ophelia) is overpowered, but did not play long enough to see if it was indeed broken. · Great Lord (Effie) and Vanguard (Corrin) felt powerful but not broken, and enemies in further chapters may be as difficult to deal with as if I were using normal, non-DLC classes.

I restarted my campaign (Conquest Hard Classic.) This time letting Elise and Azura level-up normally, and they are at level 8 and 4, respectively, after Chapter 9. I just wanted to let you know that I repeated my strategy for Chapter 8, and I secured the three southern houses by turn 5 and Odin gained three levels by the end of the chapter. He could probably have gained another one, but I let Niles gain one level by taking care of a couple of enemies and Flora. I did not grind against Kilma, but did let Felicia attack him a couple of times, though, for she needed about 30 Exp points to level-up and had barely participated in this chapter. Once again, Mozu gained almost eight levels in her recruitment chapter. https://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?/topic/73045-mozu-conquest-lunatic/#comment-4917042

I stated my opinion on Dark Mage Odin vs. Samurai Odin before mentioning the levelling-up. But do I understand your points, no worries. It is a matter of where one draws the line. You see, among the most popular threads (here and everywhere) are those about My Castle Resources (weapons, characters, ore), Marriages and Skill Requests, which I find cheap, but choose no to argue with them. It may appeal to many to build the ultimate completist party, with +7 weapons and fancy implausible skills for everyone; but it is definitely not what I am looking for. I do not visit castles to recruit characters or to buy skills and weapons that would otherwise be unavailable to me, nor do I use campaign 'gifts' or 'records', nor do I 'promote' characters to DLC classes early. Again, it is a matter of where one draws the line. And I do not Abuse Bosses as much as you seem to believe, I just 'round up' the levels. Say that Odin or Niles need 45 Exp points to level-up in Chapter 8; well, I face Kilma until they get those points and then finish the chapter. It is not that I levelled-up Odin five levels facing Kilma, I 'rounded up' one level. Same goes for weapon ranks. By the end of Chapter 9, Niles, Mozu or Anna may need a couple of attacks to gain a bow rank; well, I pair-up Effie with them and attack Haitaka until they gain that rank. Elise and Felicia/Jakob provide position-bonuses and Azura makes sure that the healers are ready. It is not that Niles went from bow rank D to rank B in that chapter, I 'rounded up' his rank (to C, most likely.) About my approach to Chapter 8, I do it in Hard Classic. In case that it was not clear: I visit the three houses in the south, close to Flora; and only then I face the enemies up north (who do not chase you if you are not within their attack range.) I may replay it just to document it and be able to provide more details. I have recruited Anna right after Chapter 8, but with Archer Mozu already in my party. If I cannot do it in six attempts or so, I wait until Azura and Nyx join the party. I have not really taken Anna's recruitment as a serious challenge, but I will pay more attention to it on my next campaign. On this run, my challenge was to complete the Before Awakening DLC with all conversations right after Chapter 8 (Ophelia's conversation is still missing, though.) And I do not have an opinion on Camilla as a Wyvern Lord, for I have never used that class. By Chapter 14, Camilla is still only used as a pair-up or position-bonus, for she would get very few Exp points per kill. I may re-class her this time, once she reaches level 5.

You could play it on Normal Casual, to get used to the maps and know the characters, then move to Hard Classic and enjoy being killed. As others have mentioned, just pick the characters that you like and enjoy the ride. If you like the characters and their interactions or the abilities of a particular class, you will have a better time than actually following the most 'efficient' way to clear a map. After all, if you are going to spend 20-40 hours with a set of characters, you should better enjoy them. To give you an example: I played as female Corrin multiple times, only to realise how much I preferred Felicia's character over Jakob's. Yes, Jakob may be more useful, but I love Felicia. Now I only play as male Corrin, precisely to recruit Felicia as early as possible. Just give it a try and come back with specific questions about a map that troubles you.

But I visit all three houses before facing the enemies not in the direct south path. Other than those three dark mages, only a couple of reinforcements will chase you, the others will not attack you if you are not in their range. Try it. · Corrin visits the first house in turn 1, and Silas, Elise and Felicia should move as west as possible. · In turn 2, Corrin groups with Elise, Odin and Niles appear, you pair-up everyone and move them all to the middle of the lake. · In turn 3, you kill the dark mages in the south (Felicia, Niles and Silas or Effie plus a free kill for Odin.) · You reach the second house with Felicia, Niles or Silas's pair-up in turn 4 (Flora will waste her staff uses freezing the character with more movement, Silas.) · You 'secure' the third house by turn 5. Even if you do not visit it within five turns, you only need to 'block' the lancer, for no other enemy moves into that direction. In my experience, recruiting Anna early (before Chapter 10) requires a fast magic user (Odin/Nyx + Felicia) and Niles + Arthur (whom I do not use, but he gives Niles great bonuses), then it is all a matter of positioning and luring the berserker into a choke point in the south-eastern part of the map. Mark the berserker with the magic axe, the one with the great axe that drains his HP, and the bosses. The first one cannot kill Niles, Felicia or Elise, who have high resistance and speed; the second will most likely commit suicide if you are paired-up, and the bosses... well, they are just a pain in the ass. Not to mention that Anna may well die, no matter what you do; it is a trial an error map. I usually takes me two to four attempts to recruit her. Lastly, yes, Hinoka relies on her healer, but that gives you fifteen turns to train. Let Azura sing to Camilla, and she and Elise will actually attack Hinoka twice within those turns. Leave everyone outside the attack range or Hinoka's party, position Camilla within Hinoka's range and Elise right next to her, outside the attack range. Camilla's magic will barely affect Hinoka and Elise's attack will be halved, for she is in attack stance. Then let Azura sing to Camilla, attack again, and finally let Elise heal Camilla. All three will get some experience points (which were almost unavailable to them within the entire map, for they were over-levelled) and, most importantly, Elise and Camilla should gain a tome rank and support points. If a character only gets a couple of experience points per kill, I only use them as pair-ups, walls (Xander and Leo) or position-bonuses (Camilla, Elise and, sometimes, Felicia.) I let those experience points go to the characters who can actually gain a level. I actually 'discovered' that Azura could gain levels by singing repeatedly not so long ago, while reading information about early Heart Seals (where Haitaka was mentioned.) Before that, Azura would be at level 5 or so till Chapter 15 (her free-experience chapter.) I choose to level-up Azura till level 10 in Chapter 5, precisely because of how fragile she is. This way, she is at least at the same level of her teammates by the time she joins the party (in Chapter 9.) And I choose to level-up Elise simply because the last time I let Elise heal only when necessary, I ended up promoting her on Chapter 22 (or whatever chapter is Sakura's.) Do note that even though she can kill almost any enemy in one hit as an early Strategist, she hardly ever attacks before Chapter 16, because she would only 'steal' experience points from her teammates. The same happens to Camilla, Leo and Xander, who are 'over-levelled' when they join, and I only use them as pair-ups or walls for a couple of chapters. I understand that the many turns 'invested/spent' in these two characters may not worth it to you and many other users, but, for me, is like babysitting them during the first chapters and then forgetting about them. One may actually heal and sing repeatedly with Azura and Elise at the end of many chapters so that they are not left far behind; I choose to do it early.

To be honest, I do not remember how many levels Odin usually gets, but I do not think that three levels is far-fetched. I will try to document it on my next play-through. I do know that Archer Mozu gets 7-8 levels because I have played her chapter multiple times in order to maximise her experience. I 'invest' time and experience on characters whom I like and who would die easily otherwise. For example, I level-up Azura till level 10 on Chapter Five (by singing to Corrin), and Elise till level 14-16 on Chapter Seven (by using three or four staves on unarmed teammates facing the horde of Faceless at a choke point.) These two characters are almost always over-levelled, so that they do not die easily in the more difficult chapters. To give you an idea, I promote Elise before starting Chapter Ten, as soon as her Magic caps (usually by level 17-18.) And right before starting Chapter Fourteen, Songstress Azura is at level 21; Tactician Elise, at 17/3; the rest of the party, at 16-17 (including Corrin.) In Chapter Eight, I favour Odin precisely because he needs babysitting, just like Azura and Elise. Since the enemy dark mages will always attack the character with weaker Resistance, it is just a matter of positioning Effie or Silas, then heal them a couple of turns to feed experience to Elise and the other healer, and finally hit the dark mages with Odin + Elise/Felicia. When facing Kilma, Odin, Azura and the healers can also get more experience by hitting Kilma and healing Odin right afterwards. This can go on for several turns, for Kilma will recover thanks to Nosferatu and his seat. Self-healing bosses are also a great way to get weapon ranks. This is exactly how Niles, Anna and Archer Mozu level-up one bow rank when facing Haitaka on Chapter Nine, and how Camilla and Elise level-up one tome rank when facing Hinoka on Chapter Eleven. Azura and the healers are also fed experience in the process. It is a style, I guess. I could clear various maps faster, using only the stronger characters, but I choose to spread the experience points on the entire party, and I favour some characters at the beginning.

On a Hard Classic, no-grinding run, I find Chapter 17 easy (yet tedious) if one advances right until the reinforcements arrive and only then march up and left to get the other chest and kill the remaining enemies, facing the boss at the very end. The choke point on the right is perfect for building supports and levelling up. The sad thing of this approach is that Saizo's suicidal march only lasts two turns or so.

Before Chapter 9 there are three characters who crave for a Heart Seal: Odin, Jakob and Mozu (and if you are playing as male Corrin, there are only two.) Between Samurai Odin and Archer Mozu, I would say that Archer Mozu is a better asset for your party. But since one can get another Heart Seal at the end of Chapter 9, one can easily use both. It is still before Chapter 10, which is the one chapter where you would like to have two archers, anyway. (I usually have three by then: Archer Mozu + Silas on the left, Niles + Effie on the centre and Anna + Odin on the right.) However, between Dark Mage Odin and Samurai Odin there is really not much difference gameplay-wise, for even Samurai Odin + Effie would not last long in the front lines, and the Kodachi (his only useful 1-2 range sword option) is not strong enough to kill enemies from the second row. In fact, Dark Mage Odin with Nosferatu + Effie may last longer facing enemies (depending on their speed and resistance); and Dark Mage Odin is better at killing enemies from the second row (specially if he is paired up with Elise or Felicia --both of whom would benefit Ophelia.) Then again, my party (for the entire game) usually includes three archers (Mozu, Anna and Niles) and two dark mages (Ophelia and Odin), thus I plan and focus on player phases, for none of them would endure an enemy phase on their own (maybe and perhaps Mozu.) I do not think that levelling-up Dark Mage Odin is such a problem, he gets about three levels on his first recruitment chapter, and three or four chapters later he is at the same (or above) level than the rest of the party. The same could be said about Archer Mozu, but she gets 7-8 levels in her recruitment chapter, and I will always argue that Sniper Mozu is a MVP-nominee on any Conquest run. Lastly, deciding between Samurai Odin and Mounted Jakob is simple: In any scenario, the latter is a better asset early in the game. (Luckily, I love Felicia and thus never have to choose between those two.)

I concur. For example, when playing as female Corrin there are three characters who really want to use an early Heart Seal: Jakob, Odin and Mozu. But there is only one Heart Seal available at the store and one more dropped by Haitaka, which forces you to decide whom to 'sacrifice.' A Grandmaster or a Dread Fighter Seal would mitigate this problem. I think that this is what I will do this time; wait until level 20 to use a DLC Seal. This way the stat gains will not be as notable as they are in the first chapters.

I know that one can use the DLC classes on units at any level, and some characters (like Odin) really benefit from an early class-change right upon recruitment. But I have also felt that these early class-changes (promotions) break the game's difficulty (Conquest Hard Classic.) I have class-changed (promoted) Odin to Grandmaster right after his recruitment at Chapter 8, and he had more 'stat points' at level 5 than Corrin, Effie or Silas at level 11 at that chapter. Granted, if Effie or Silas had ten more 'points' spread in Magic or Luck, it would not make them better units, but almost every point gained by Grandmaster Odin is useful. By Chapter 13 or so, Grandmaster Odin was overpowered and I decided to quit the campaign and continue an earlier save. On another campaign, I class-changed (promoted) Silas to Lodestar after chapter 8 of Conquest, and at Chapter 10 he could solo the left side of the map. I replayed the map, and he could almost solo the centre-right advances (where I usually have to deploy Corrin paired up with Effie.) I felt that it was broken and continued a save before his promotion. I do over-level support users, like Elise or Azura, but they do not break the game. I mainly over-level them to keep them safe and not to worry about them later. For example, I tend to class-change Elise (to Strategist) at level 19 (or when her Magic caps) before Chapter 10. And I usually level up Azura to level 10 in Chapter 5, and till level 15-18 in Chapter 9. Both are overpowered, but they do not break the game, they simply do not die easily, and it saves me a reset on difficult maps. I have never used a DLC Seal at level 20 and my current campaign is at chapter 11 (still far from class-changing.) Does it work more similarly to a normal promotion, or are the gains totally useless at that point? What do you guys think about it? How do you manage your DLC classes?

While I only play on Hard Classic, I guess that most recommendations hold true for Lunatic. Archer Mozu has been one of my two MVP's on all my campaigns, mainly because she shots critical hits about every two hits, and this is before promotion (into Sniper), as long as she has a Killer Bow. Her accuracy is almost a necessity for bosses with high evasion, like the ninja boss from chapter 17 and the one from the wind chapter. I recruit her after chapter 8 if the one Heart Seal from the Staves Store is available, or after chapter 9 otherwise (Haitaka gives you another one.) On her recruitment chapter, she should get to level 8 or 9, and gain one weapon level (from E to D.) This is my strategy: --- Preparations A Heart Seal, a bronze bow and a Vulnerary must be in your storage before the chapter starts. --- View Map - Deploy only two units: Corrin and Silas (or Mounted Jakob), to get close to Mozu as soon as possible. - Place Silas on the south-westernmost tile. · You must talk to Mozu within the first four turns, for she will be in range of the Faceless by turn 5. · You may want to equip bronze weapons on Corrin and Silas, to prevent critical hits. · Both Corrin and Silas were almost level 11 when I started this mission, right after Chapter 8. · The eighteen normal Faceless have 9 points of Speed. --- Turn 1 - Mark the Faceless located south-west of the bridge to get a "red grid" of its attack range. It is the trigger that you want to avoid. 1. Group Corrin with Silas and move seven tiles south. - Two Faceless will attack Silas and a third will move to activate Attack Stance. --- Turn 2 1. Move Silas three tiles north of the bridge (right out of the "red grid" marked on Turn 1), and kill one of the wounded Faceless. - The other two Faceless will attack Silas and the already wounded Faceless will die. --- Turn 3 1. Cross the bridge and head as west as possible, then heal. - The two Faceless located south-west of the bridge will attack Silas. --- Turn 4 1. Move to the tile east of Mozu, talk to her and heal if necessary. 2. Make Mozu enter the storage, store her lance, equip the bronze bow and the Heart Seal and use the seal. - The two wounded Faceless will attack Silas and die. --- Every turn from now on 1. Lure one Faceless at a time into Silas/Corrin. 2. Kill the Faceless with Mozu on Attack Stance. · Mozu should kill the remaining fourteen normal Faceless and the Boss. --- Boss Leave the boss till the end and attack it with Mozu alone. She should be level 7 or 8 by then, and deal 1 or 2 points of damage per hit (only if she were dealing zero damage, group Corrin or Silas with her.) The longer it takes, the better, for she needs to gain a weapon level, and the boss cannot attack her anyway. You may want to play this chapter twice, because the damage calculations are specific to the level of your units and their special bonuses, like Support, tonics and meals. Let me know if this helped you.

Before FE: Fates I had only played Fire Emblem and FE: The Sacred Stones for the GBA, casually --I do not think that I played ten chapters. Then I liked the animation and mechanics of FE: Fates and, earlier this year, I got a New 3DS just because of it. I started with Birthright because every video and forum says so, but I got bored after a couple of chapters and decided to give Conquest a try; I found home. I liked the characters, the tone and the maps way more than those from Birthright. And after a couple of campaigns to learn the basics of Fire Emblem, I moved to Conquest Hard Classic mode (Lunatic is still too demanding for me.) By the time I started my last campaign, I had already learnt how to level up the characters who needed more care (like Elise, Azura, Archer Mozu or Odin), what to expect from most characters (to focus in those who suit my gameplay and to pick favourites), and how to face most maps. I also play a couple of chapters simultaneously on different saves to test other classes (like Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight or Songstress for Azura.) I do not use DLC maps to get experience, gold or weapons, and I even deleted a campaign where I had turned Silas into a Lodestar, for it was simply too broken by chapter 10. I do recruit Anna by chapter 8-9, and sometimes get the Grandmaster Seal by chapter 6, but that is it. I wanted to provide some background because I have nothing to compare Conquest to. It may be hard (even RNG-unfair sometimes), but it's entirely doable after dedication and practice. I do enjoy the challenge and the gameplay. That's why I didn't care about starting over a campaign at chapter 22, after I realised how unbalanced the levels of my then-current party were. I have yet to finish the game. But I am enjoying the way.