Wuzzy

September 23, 2019

15 hours ago, leesangstar10 said:

Spoiler

S tier:

Byleth: has one of the best and early access to a hero relic with great growth rates. Great reclass option with his unique class and flier class. Female is better than male due to pegasus reclass option.

Claude: a broken flyer with a broken hero relic

Edelgard: Best class is actually wyvern lord. Her combat art is kinda like gale force hence making it possible to cheese maps.

A+ tier:

Petra: Serve as early game flier with good growths. Broken base stats late recruited. Easy access to great late game classes

Ditmitri: Easily the best bow knight in the game. Great growths, bases, and weapon.

Catherine: Broken the moment you get her. Makes the mid game a joke. Reclass her to a pegasus knight and later falcon knight and she will be relevant all the way through.

Dedue: Almost a must early game. Great bulk and offense. Will fall behind eventually, but can be Ditmitri’s permanent adjutant.

Mercedes: Best healer. Decent growths, base and great utility. Good for cross recruiting if you need an extra healer.

A tier:

Leonie: Good personal, growths, low investment, can become early game cav and provide stride. Great for late cross recruitment. Can easily be later promoted to bow knight despite late recruitment.

Lysithea: is amazing with the hero relic and best reliable way to kill the death knight. Best offensive mage.

Ingrid: Serve as early game flier with decent growths. Decent bases when recruited late. Tier below than Petra due to worse bases late recruited.

Shamir: Good prepromote with decent personal. Low investment and really helps mid game. Kinda falls off later. Great bases.

Seteth: Great flyer with good combat art, growths, and starting class. Late availability hurts

Felix: Great early game due to skill and stats. Can become a great bow knight. Late recruiting hurts due to it being hard to premote to good master class despite amazing bases.

Raphael: Dedue but worse. Great bulk and can tank a lot early game.

Linhardt: Best staff/faith magic utility. Can use warp and use physics. He can use gambits to make up the lack of not having an AOE healing spell. Offensively really decent too.

Marianna: Early game healer. Can get physics early. Other faith spells tbh r pretty bad. Good reason spell list.

B+ tier:

Hilda: Good axe user with great hero relic. Can be early game pegasus. Bad in authority doesn’t hurt as much since flier batallions are limited. But still great unit.

Sylvain and Ferdinand: Lol similar design and growth rates. These two are very similar since they both will end up as great knights or wyvern lords(personally think you should do wyvern). Provide early game high mobility and could great stride users.

Dorothea: Average growths, but has access to great reason spells and physics making her pretty good. Tier lower than Marianna due to bad in faith initially so can’t get physics as early.

Ashe: Has class flexibility with becoming bow knight or wyvern lord. Decent in bow classes

Bernie: Same level when it come to bow knight with Ashe. Easier time becoming bow knight and better personal

B tier:

Ignatz: Worse than Ashe and Bernie due to low flexibility. Might move him next to Ashe and Bernie maybe.

Lorenz: Have potential to be an enemy phase unit. Has decent bulk. Average in offense growths.

Cyril: Basically he screams needing lots of investment. Has potential to be good, but there are basically better units with less investments. Leonie is basically the same as Cyril as a bow knight (they both have 40% str and 60% spd but Leonie comes earlier) and Seteth when he joins you will have similar stats but with no investment and good personal skill. Still can become a solid bow knight or wyvern lord.

Gilbert, Alois: Bulk has become more important. Will require investment for good end game class.

Flayn: Great staff/faith magic utility. It is about the same as Linhardt, except she requires much more investment. Still rescue is nice to save the green units and could help move units that are behind forward. Still the investment cost makes her below Linhardt.

C+ tier:

Caspar: Just decent/average all across the board. He can be a good wyvern lord but will require lots of investment. War master is decent and their class mastery skill is amazing, but at that point, you will be mostly finished with the game. Bad proficiencies in bows and authority lowers unit placement.

Hubert: A worse Lorenz imo. His offensive capabilities is better but Lorenz has the staff that gives him +2 range. Also Lorenz is easier to promote as a dark knight and better bulk. Still solid unit.

Annette: Her spell options aren't that good. Terrible faith spells and decent/alright reason. Hero relic is blue lion locked, making her even worse in other routes in other routes. (I am still judging this from all routes, only availability is route based). Has the worst spd out of the mage students. She can provide rally utility but only good early.

Manuala: Good staff/faith magic utility with warp. Unfortunately she is a big investment for her master class Gremory, Holy Knight, or Falcon Knight. Meh bases and bad availability.

C tier:

Hanneman: A worse Dorothea. Has similar spell list but with no physics and meteor is A+ reason, comes much later, and his spd growth is trash 20%. Still his thoron use and meteor is useful.

Dedue - Way too high, he's a necessity in the early game for BL but he falls off hard, especially in part 2 where magic units become a lot more common which Dedue struggles against and he also joins late into part 2. Also ranking him in addition to his bulk because he can be "Dimitri's permanent adjutant" makes no sense since literally anyone can be an adjutant.
Dimitri - As another post mentioned investing in neutrals is harder since instruct exp is reduced in Maddening as well. Keeping him as a High Lord/Paladin is better (and less work overall) and he carries the BL pretty hard with Retribution. Having Wrath + Vantage is also a major + for Dimitri as well. Also, his part 1 performance is a lot better than Edelgard and Claude honestly (considering the Chapter 1-4, maybe 5 for some people are the hardest chapters on Maddening) due to raw power + Tempest Lance being able to deal with a lot of units (especially with Annette's rallies).
Raphael - No reason to be higher than Hilda, when Hilda is the better tank due to having better Speed and also having a Res growth. Raphael's strengths mainly comes from his early access to Rally Strength, and not his bulk. Yes, he can contribute early on by tanking enemies as well but, he doesn't scale too well later on.
Linhardt - Yes, he has access to Warp but, his Warp range honestly isn't that great until the mid game (whereas Lysithea's Warp range is pretty great once she unlocks it due to higher Magic overall). Also every healer has access to the AOE healing Battalion so that doesn't make Linhardt special (also using Physic is better 90% of the time than the gambit). His low speed compared to Mercedes/Marianne forces you to have to make sure he doesn't ever stay in combat range since he'll get doubled and most likely die due to low Defense.
Hilda - As mentioned before, she has better Speed and Res (at the expense of slightly less Defense overall, and access to Darting Blow) which makes her the better tank throughout the entire game.
Ashe - Can go into Wyvern/BK but his bulk is non-existent. Even when I used him as a Wyvern Lord in hard mode and gave him most of my HP/Def boosting stat items, he still struggles to tank as well as other Wyverns. He also struggles with Bow Knight because of low Str and the lack of good Lance combat arts as a Cavalier. He can still contribute early with poke from Curved Shot/Deadeye but that's it.
Bernadetta - She's ranked high because of her Vengeance art paired with her personal skill going into the Cavalier route, not so much about her "flexibility".
Lorenz - Definitely the last thing from an enemy phase unit lol. Enemy phase unit implies that you can Warp/send the unit into a pack of enemies and the unit should survive and/or take them all out. Lorenz can barely even do that in hard mode unless he gets many Thrysus Pavise procs, Nosferatu/Ragnorak/Sagittae also weigh Lorenz down pretty heavily plus his low Speed will basically cause him to be doubled pretty often (yes I did use Lorenz, used him twice). Also he isn't the same as Hubert, when Hubert can also use Thrysus (he just suffers -10 dmg for lack of crest) and Hubert has more power/speed and also debuffing spells early on.
Ignatz - He's ranked higher because of his early access to Rally Speed, as well as having debuff through Break Shot which is beneficial early on. His potential as a Bow Knight isn't as good but, he makes a decent Dancer/Mage since his Reason list is ok (he can make do with Blizzard/Fimbulvetr because of his personal) and has access to Physic early on.
Cyril - That's really what makes him bad, he needs investment. There are a lot of potential BK/WLs that join earlier and will have more time to grow and late-joiners that come with solid bases. He can still contribute with Point-Blank Volley but, there's really no time and exp to invest into him when there are better options.
Caspar - He's not good because of his low base Speed, which means he's going to get doubled a lot early on (considering his bulk growths are just average and aren't too impressive) and even during the mid game unless you gave him Speed Carrots or a Speedwing (at which point, you might as well give it to a unit that's already ahead). He's not going to be as good as a "tanky" unit (as in a unit who doesn't get doubled and can survive a hit) like Edelgard, Petra, or Ferdinand (once he reaches that point).
Annette - Definitely understating Rally utility. I made her a Wyvern Lord (going Mage -> Wyvern Rider route) and used her to poke with Lightning Axe or Bolt Axe+ to be useful past the early game, while also having flier utility. I mean if we talking about efficiency, Annette makes units like Dedue and Dimitri stronger enemy phase units with Rally Speed and Str early on. Her Spd growth is the lowest but, Wind magic is light weight and literally all the other mages start at 7 speed so it balances out early on.
Hubert - Underrated, he's definitely better than Lorenz, especially early on since dark magic deals more damage, Hubert has more magic/speed (Lorenz also has lower base Magic), and Hubert has debuffing spells with Mire. Hubert also has ranged spells (Mire, Banshee) which Lorenz lacks which compensates the negative effects of Thrysus. Even then, bulk doesn't matter with mages considering they really shouldn't be in the front lines at all, so Lorenz having more bulk doesn't really matter. His biggest downfall is just the accuracy of spells and not so much he doesn't have Thrysus or he isn't bulky.
Hanneman - He's honestly fine and not really a worse Dorothea when he has advantages over her. His base stats are fine enough considering his magic is on par or higher than Lorenz/Dorothea (possibly Annette and Hubert as well) at his join time with no investment. Speed growth sucks but, he makes up for it for having a much higher magic growth for better poke overall (~~along with his minor crest of Indech~~). He also has an edge over Dorothea for being able to wield Thrysus since he has a crest without the negative effects. Not having Physic isn't a big deal anyways, considering Dorothea isn't even healing that much with Physic and you should have healers that can do the job as well. I mean if we talking LTC, then you should be taking advantage of units that join late that come with decent stats so you can focus on just a few units early on.

(You should probably finish a run before you constantly generate tier lists, IJS, this is like your 3rd tier list lol)

September 23, 2019

3 hours ago, Book Bro said:

For your first point, we also learn that Lonato's son was actually framed by the Knights of Seiros and killed because it was the easiest thing to do.

No lol, Christophe was executed because Catherine found out he had a part to play on Rhea's assassination plot and turned him in despite being friends him. This was revealed in Catherine and Ashe's support and brought up a bit in their paralogue. They only convicted him of being involved in the Tragedy of Duscur instead of the assassination to hide that and assassination was attempted on Rhea. He wasn't ever framed just convicted of a different crime which is wrong in itself.

3 hours ago, Book Bro said:

the entire Knights of Seiros but they clearly operate on a "kill first, ask questions later, or not at all" basis, so it's not hard to imagine that more innocents have been wrongly put to death by the Church over the centuries due to misunderstandings or lack of complete loyalty.

This again isn't true at all. If this was the case, Rhea would've purged Castle Gaspard and the Western Church before the rebellion and the invasion of the Holy Mausoleum. Rhea and the church was very aware that Lonato and the Western Church hated her but, she never did anything until they attacked her. Also, one of the NPcs early on mention that in the current year, the empire and church were in bad relations with each other yet, Rhea still didn't attack them despite the bad relationship between the two. If anything, the Empire is also known to execute those who don't see eye to eye with the emperor, considering what happened with Marquis Vestra and also its mentioned in Edelgard and Hubert's support as well.

3 hours ago, Book Bro said:

Without the lies it's possible that crest bearers wouldn't overwhelmingly have a grip on the power structure of Fódlan, nor would there be such a focus on passing them down

No lol, it would be reversed, those with crests would've been persecuted instead of Rhea told the truth about the 10 elites and crests. We already seen this with Marianne and how anyone with the Crest of Beast were shunned and attacked by the public for having a cursed crest.

It really helps to play more than 1 route honestly, it really does give you the big picture of the game.

September 16, 2019

For me GD > BL >> CF > SS

I like Golden Deer because it feels like the right ending. You deal with Nemesis, unify Fodlan, and Claude does his own thing in Almyra which allows Fodlan to have an Alliance with the country. It also opens up Fodlan for people to go in and out of the country as well. Gameplay is pretty good overall and has my favorite final map of the 4 routes. GD cast overall is pretty solid, especially Claude since he's the most consistent and sane of the 3 lords. You also get to know the most about Fodlan and a bit of Rhea's backstory. Only gripe is that using the resistance army flag was the most random thing ever.

BL follows because I like Dimitri and his character development is pretty good. Gameplay is pretty decent but makes no sense with all the back and forth, and with Rodrigue's death. You get to see more about Dimitri and Edelgard and what their goals are which was pretty nice. Ending is aight, not my favorite overall.

CF since it was rushed and I found it pretty boring overall. You go from Deirdru, conquer it, go to the Kingdom, beat Dimitri, then you beat Rhea to finally conquer the Kingdom. Not much else exciting other than you get to play as the "villain" in a very typical conquest. Gameplay is unique but, just because it's unique doesn't mean I'll like it. Least favorite ending overall, meritocracy is cool and all until you realize who gets to decide who has good merit, and it's probably going to be a handful of people that decide that.

SS is just a watered down GD focusing on Rhea's backstory instead of Fodlan in general. Nice to have more screen time for Seteth and Flayn but, the BE students seem lost without Edelgard around.

September 16, 2019

got Dimitri, looks like ~~I'm gonna kill every last one of them~~

though not what I was expecting, was expecting either Felix, Linhardt, or Bernadetta

September 14, 2019

Preliminary Maddening Tier List (basically almost all theory for the BE/GD/SS routes, midway through BL Maddening atm, also not a NG+ tier list)

Spoiler

S Tier

Byleth - Going to be your preliminary tank unit (especially for the Black Eagles) and will make the early game for more manageable. Bylass > Bylad because Bylass can become a Pegasus Knight which doesn't take much effort even in vanilla mode. Personal is also great considering exp is cut in half as well.
Claude - Most likely going to be more consistent than the other 2 lords just because bows are quite strong and, he gets a mount in part 2 for free (Edelgard needs to work towards getting a Wyvern because Armored Lord is an underwhelming class). I think going Brigand -> Sniper is going to be your best bet for Death Blow and Sniper will give Claude range, I don't think going Wyvern Rider will be the right move in Maddening (though I prefer Wyvern Rider Claude in Hard mode).
Edelgard - Is basically the Black Eagles only consistently tanky unit besides Byleth. While she'll get doubled a lot in Maddening, her bulk + high Str will her a lot in the enemy phase. She can also has access to Wyvern Rider (though I assume she won't be getting it as easily due to exp cuts and it'll take a bit to reach Lvl 20) and Raging Storm in part 2. However, I don't think Raging Storm strats will be as potent in Maddening just because CF route will have the steepest level curve of all the routes due to having less chapters but, we'll see.
Dimitri - Imo will be better than Edelgard in part 1 just because he has more raw power but, similar bulk. Tempest Lance is a great combat art combined with Dimitri's high Str and Annette's Rally helps out in the early-mid game a lot. Downfall will be his part 2 where it'll be hard to invest into him since he's blocked from instruction until after Chapter 18.

A Tier

Felix - Great early game because of his personal, making the first 3-4 chapters a breeze (especially the mock battle if you give him a Bow). His high Str/Spd growths should hopefully carry him well into the mid-late game. Heavy Draw will be nice for poke.
Petra - Same deal as Felix but, the personal is just more situational. Pretty much going to be the only unit of the BEs that won't get doubled by enemies unless she gets Spd screwed somehow. Has access to Waning Shot too for debuffing.
Leonie - Same deal as Felix/Petra, personal will help early on since you need any boost you can get. Has access to Break Shot for debuffing.
Catherine - Prepromoted unit that joins early (though I doubt anyone can get Byleth to Lvl 15 on Maddening by Chapter 4, even if you funnel all enemy kills to them) and has great bases + the Str to use Thunderbrand. Will be your best unit if you get her early because of that until your party catches up.
Lysithea - Pretty big drop from hard mode since I don't find Warp strats as effective anymore. I seriously doubt Warping someone into the middle of a crows with Retribution/Ward will be an effective strat and Warp skipping will cause your units to miss out on much needed exp which will make chapters that are hard to warp skip a lot harder. However, she's going to be one of the best combat mages and is an effective debuffer because of her range + access to Swarm (-5 Speed to enemies) which is pretty huge. Gremory will probably still be her best class just because you probably would want more uses of her nuking spells (Luna and Dark Spikes)

B Tier

Hilda - Basically the Edelgard of the GDs, personal will early on since you need any boost you can get. She also gets Seal Speed which is great with a Hand Axe to cripple enemies from afar. Probably would want to invest in her Armor skill for Weight -3 anyways.
Shamir - Same deal as Catherine but, she's a Sniper with high Str and a pretty solid selection of combat arts. Biggest selling point besides her bases + level is her "quick" access to Hunter's Volley early on which will most definitely be a great asset in Maddening mode.
Seteth - Joins late compared to other units but, has pretty solid bases (especially his base Defense). Doesn't require much investment at all honestly and has quick access to Swift Strikes.
Flayn - Controversial placement I'll assume because people either love or hate Rescue in this game. Personally, I really value Rescue for Rescue/Stride/Dance shenanigans in Hard mode and to also save units that got screwed over in the player phase. With how important player phase is in Maddening, Rescue will be very nice to rescue any units in danger (saving your Divine Pulses will be important). She also has access to Fortify which will be much more beneficial in Maddening just because all your units will be taking quite a lot of damage (Fortify was overkill in Hard). Also she has Seal Magic + the Res stat to cripple mages.
Hubert - Should've moved him up within the tier honestly but I'm lazy so I'm not. Underrated unit overall, lacks utility but, he has the raw power that Dorothea doesn't have (I've always seen the Hubert vs. Dorothea debate). Mire is not only a 1-3 spell like Thoron but, it has more uses and a debuff (-5 Defense) at an expense of less power and he gets it very early on.
Mercedes - Same deal as Flayn minus the spiel about Rescue. Has Fortify and Physic to make her a solid healer throughout the entire game (whereas Flayn can only start being a healbot once she gets Fortify). Waning Shot is kinda ehh, kind of a waste to invest in her Bow skill but, it still wouldn't take that long to unlock her budding talent.
Linhardt - Consistent healer throughout the entire game but, Physic tends to lose potency in the late game but, Linhardt's crest + Heal Staff will help alleviate those problems slightly. Has access to Warp which is nice, though the usefulness of Warp definitely isn't as potent in Maddening than it is on hard (could be 100% wrong since this is base on theory and what I assume Maddening mode will be like).
Marianne - Same deal as Linhardt minus the spiel about Warp and his crest.
Sylvain - I put him higher than Ferdinand mainly because he's a free recruit for anyone who chooses Bylass and he nets you the Lance of Ruin early on if he's in your party + you decline Rhea's request to return it for a solid weapon early on. Personal is very handy early on since any boost early will be beneficial (feel as though this Maddening is how well you can survive early on, and it just feels easier for the mid portion of the game since I didn't really struggle past chapter 6 honestly).
Ferdinand - Same deal as Sylvain but, his personal is better for the late game where dodge tanking becomes a lot more consistent. He can go Bow Knight which Sylvain can't really attain too easily due to a bane in Bows, and Bow Knights are OP. Can poke with Bows/Javelin to proc Seal Speed with his budding talent.
Ingrid - Definitely a unit you'd want to late recruit because her Str stat has a big chance to become poop if you try to train her yourself. She's maybe not the best unit in BL just because training her is a lot harder especially if she doesn't get those Str procs but, as a late join unit in other houses she comes with 19 str iirc (or 21 idr) at level 23.

C Tier

Annette - Rally bot (with Rally Str/Spd) makes her incredibly useful early on. I plan on making her a Wyvern Lord with Fiendish Blow just so she can still poke with Bolt Axe+ (and maybe weaken something with Lightning Axe) while having flying Rally utility.
Dedue - High defense stat makes the early game for BL a lot easier, especially with Annette's rallies. I assume he'll fall off late game since there are a lot of magic users in the late game of BL and he rejoins late but, we'll see.
Ignatz - Gets Rally Speed early and Seal Str with his budding talent and he can poke afar with his bows to debuff enemies. Gets Break Shot for debuffing purposes.
Raphael - Gets Rally Str early and is pretty bulky overall
Bernadetta - Has the solid poke early on due to her crest + her personal but, will scale pretty badly unless she gets the Str growth she needs as an Archer. I'd imagine Cavalier -> Bow Knight path be better (though I still believe she's a lot better as a mage but, idk if that will hold up in Maddening) for a better Str growth and she can pull off some Vengeance strats pretty well.
Hanneman - Good filler unit, has the high magic growth + a solid Reason pool and joins with pretty decent bases. Schism Shot + Rally Magic (personal) helps if you have Mages. Honestly, would move him up but, I'm lazy.
Dorothea - Same deal with Hanneman but, she definitely had the biggest fall from grace just because her combat most likely won't hold up with increased enemy Res stats and her average Magic growth. She still has great poke + utility with Thoron, Physic, and Meteor but, personally don't see her great as a combat mage in the long term. Would probably move her down ngl but, I might get witch hunted.
Alois - FIller unit, pretty decent bases bar his Speed (can work around with his Brawling rank) and comes with Rally Str. Not sure how Rallies will hold up late game but, Warmaster could be a lot stronger in Maddening since overkill damage might be necessary? The pretty high Auth rank is also nice since he's close to equipping nice battalions like Goneril Valkyries or Fradarious Soldiers.
Gilbert - Same thing as Alois but, joins late. He's incredibly tanky which can be helpful in BL but, he'll probably fall off late due to the influx of magic users in late game BL. I'd reclass him into a Paladin (he automatically unlocks the requirements) and then work him towards a Wyvern Lord. Has Rally Defense which can be nice but idk how useful it will be in part 2.
Manuela - Weird unit, I don't see myself valuing Warp the same way I value Warp in hard mode, and that's really all she brings to the table.

D Tier

Ashe - Poke bot in the early game with Curved Shot/Deadeye + Bows. Shatter Slash can be useful with the -5 Def debuff but, it puts him in range of the enemy. Doesn't have much utility and won't scale too well even as a Bow Knight or Wyvern Lord.
Lorenz - Pretty decent early as a Mage I'd assume but, he'll scale poorly due to really average growths with his Jack of All trades of growths. Though he gets us the Thrysus which is nice.

E Tier

Caspar - Low base Speed forces him to play catchup while his ehh bulk won't let him tank as well as Edelgard can.
Cyril - LOL

Wanna see how this tier list will hold once more people finish Maddening mode

September 13, 2019

23 minutes ago, Elephantus said:

Hi there, I thought I'd chip in that there's probably a mistake regarding Ingrid. Just tried to recruit her with C Support, D Flying and exactly 12 Dex, and she turned me down. Is the requirement for Flying possibly D+?

Make sure the Dex isn't inflated by class base stat changes since they don't count towards the requirement (for example, if Byleth has 9 Dex at base, promoting him into a Thief will bump up his Dex to 11 and the extra +2 Dex won't count towards recruiment). Skills that add stats also don't count towards the total as well.

Best way to check if you have stats that will recruit is reclass Byleth into a Commoner and take off any +stat skills to make sure he has 12 Dex there.

If that doesn't work then the Flying rank could be wrong.

September 12, 2019

12 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

So.... Which house has it the easiest, and which one has it the hardest?

Blue Lions is the easiest I feel (Annette's free Rally skills, Dedue being able to tank physical units early on well, and Felix makes the early game manageable), also has access to a lot of paralogues for more battalions/items (not sure if paralogues follow story chapter or aux battle exp), and also better battalions (Kingdom Cavalry, Royal Guard, Blue Lion Dancers, etc.). Crimson Flower/Edelgard route I see will the hardest just because Edelgard route's level curve will be a lot steeper since there's less chapters and you have access to less paralogues overall. Black Eagles also have to rely on Edelgard/Byleth as the only tank plus, most BE students need time before they can contribute something like Dorothea, Linhardt, Bernie, Caspar, and Ferdinand (GD/BL units have units that are immediately useful, or don't require as much effort to hold their own).

September 10, 2019

42 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Doesn't Mastermind only apply for skill experience gained through battle? That means that it won't help with Riding unless you make her a relevant class (Cavalier or Paladin).

I don't see the point of recommending Lethality when the activation rate is so low you'd be better off running something else in that slot...

yeah it was bad wording on my part, I meant that with Mastermind Lysithea will be able to get combat experience on Reason/Faith to get them to a high rank quicker so she can focus on just Riding. Also I agree Lethality is pretty bad but, it's still an option at least if players want it if players want Ignatz to stay as an Assassin fsr.

Personally went for Brigand -> Assassin (then Bow Knight later on) for more move and it worked out ok, still think going Brigand -> Sniper is the best for the range.

September 10, 2019

Claude - Fighter -> Brigand/Archer -> Wyvern Rider/Sniper -> Wyvern Master -> Barbarossa

Hilda - Fighter -> Brigand/Pegasus Knight -> Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Lord

Lorenz - Monk -> Mage -> Warlock -> Dark Knight

Lysithea - Monk -> Mage -> Warlock -> Gremory/Dark Knight

Marianne - Monk -> Mage/Priest -> Bishop/Warlock/Dancer -> Gremory/Dark Knight

Ignatz - Monk/Fighter -> Mage/Brigand/Archer -> Dancer/Sniper/Assassin -> Bow Knight

Raphael - Fighter -> Brigand -> Wyvern Rider/Grappler -> Wyvern Lord/Warmaster

Leonie - Solider/Fighter -> Cavalier/Archer/Brigand -> Paladin/Sniper -> Bow Knight

Spoiler

Claude - Brigand is mainly for Death Blow but, I never found Claude to have Str issues and his high Speed ensures he's going to be double almost every enemy (except Assassins and Swordmasters usually but, no one is really going to double them anyways) as the game progresses. Archer is better suited for a stronger unit early on due to +1 Bow Range at the expense of a weaker class mastery skill for Claude (Wyvern Master/Barbarossa does not have increased range so the +20 hit doesn't matter much to Claude). Wyvern Rider with a Bow focus is also nice for the added utility of a mount, while Sniper is generally a lot easier for Claude to attain (since Claude doesn't really need to focus on Flight honestly).
Hilda - Best suited as a Wyvern Lord overall. Other skills to pick up on her would be Weight -3 (attained by C rank Armor which reduces the weight of heavy weapons such as axes which effectively gives her more pseudo-speed). Brigand and Pegasus Knight are both good options but like Claude, she doesn't really have Str issues so I prefer making her as speedy as possible with Darting Blow. Also the early flying utility on Hilda is very helpful early on.
Lorenz - Paladin is a bad class for him because he doesn't have access to Swift Strikes and he'll be slow af (base Speed growth is 40%, as a Cavalier/Paladin it drops to 30%). Important skill to get is Fiendish Blow as a Mage, other than that all of his talents point him towards a Dark Knight. Important skills he should have is +1 Black Magic Range (S rank Reason) and +1 Movement (A+ Riding)
Lysithea - Gremory is the best way to go for extra Warp uses but, Dark Knight is also another option if you don't really care for Warp and want the mobility. With Mastermind, it's easy for Lysithea to pick up the +1 Movement skill (A+ Riding) since she'll be able to level up her Reason/Faith ranks quicker in combat, and +1 Dark Magic Range (S rank Reason, effectively gives her +5 bonus range with Thrysus staff). If you plan on going the Gremory route, try to get her Faith rank to B asap for Warp and then focus on her Reason/Riding (Riding if you choose to do so).
Marianne - Personally find her to be one of the best Dancers in the game but, if you make her a Dancer you probably want to use another dedicated healer such as Mercedes or Flayn. Anyways to start off, Holy Knight is a terrible class because White Tomefaire sucks (Aura is an ok spell but, it's heavy af, only has 3 uses, and is Marianne's only good offensive Faith spell). As a Dancer, she wants the March Ring, Boots (ideally), and the +1 Movement skill (she has a boon in Riding which will make getting to it easier). She also wants B rank Authority as a Dancer to use the secret Opera Dancer Battalion lategame which is basically an AOE Dancer Gambit. I personally like making all my healers Mages > Priests just for Fiendish Blow but, Priest makes it easier to go the Bishop route. Dark Knight and Gremory are 2 easy choices for Marianne to obtain since she has a pretty decent Reason pool so she can go fully offensive if you want. Skills you want on Dark Knight/Gremory will be +1 Black Magic Range and +1 Movement. Keep her as a Bishop if you want a dedicated healer, extra mobility from Holy Knight is cool and all but it isn't necessary with how large Physic's range is.
Ignatz - Pretty mediocre Archer compared to Leonie/Claude who have better Str but, Ignatz's niche as an Archer is his hitrate (Leonie will have hit issues in Part 2 without the +20 hit skill) and high Dex. Death Blow is pretty much a must for me since Ignatz has really low Str but, Archer gives a smoother/easier transition to Sniper. He can go Assassin and rely on Lethality (procs on Dex, which Ignatz has a lot of) or Sniper and then move into Bow Knight. Ignatz has a decent ish spell pool with access to Physic and Cutting Gale (plus a budding talent in Reason), as well as the important Rally Speed (and a boon in Authority for the Opera Dancers Battalion) which allow him to go Dancer as well to allow Marianne to go into a different class. B rank Authority also lets him become a Stride bot with Gautier Knights (obtained in Sylvain's Paralogue) which also gives him +7 attack at Level 5.
Raphael - Wyvern Lord's high base Speed fixes Raphael's Speed issue sort of by boosting it to 20 Speed and gives him a mount. Warmaster is another option with a Knuckles focus since it allows Raphael to double/quad during the player phase and is a lot easier to reach. Not much else other than that, he's pretty mediocre overall but can definitely still put in work. As a Wyvern Lord, Raphael definitely wants the Weight -3 skill since Axes are heavy but if possible, you can go all the way to A+ Armor to unlock Weight -5 to help alleviate Raphael's Speed issues.
Leonie - One of the best Bow Knights in the game overall. She can afford to go the Cavalier -> Bow Knight route due to her high Speed growth, and going this route definitely can improve her Str stat in the long run. Archer -> Bow Knight is also nice for the +20 hit skill since the further the target is away the lower the hit rate they'll be. You can go the Brigand route for Death Blow but, I prefer just making her a Cavalier to get her more Str that way (also like Claude, she doubles almost everything and can take them out as long as she has a decent Str stat) and it gives her a mount early on (plus gives her combat exp for her Riding rank).

September 9, 2019

27 minutes ago, Eltoshen said:

Rhea has done some questionable shit, and if you play Edelgard's route, this is highlighted even further prior to the start of the final chapter.

Rhea's loyalty is...

Her mother >>>>>>>>> Byleth (unless...you know) > Flayn and Seteth >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everybody else > Church dissidents

It's hard to argue that Edelgard took the morally justifiable route by starting a war with an entire continent, but you can see the reasoning behind her actions. Hers seems to more on a grander scale for the betterment of society while Rhea's is purely for selfish reasons.

I can understand why Rhea became the way she did, but I personally don't agree with her methods. Censoring the truth and executing anybody who dares question the Church is just barbaric.

I see people here making arguments that she did well to promote peace, and I can agree that she has done some amazing things for people worthy of respect, but her primary concern is the resurrection of her mother -- to the point where nothing else matters in the face of a possible reunion with her creator. Catherine and Cyril remark on this plenty of times throughout the game, admitting that Rhea really only cares about Byleth and not them.

In her own ending, she steps down from her throne and a suitable ruler takes her place. There's also a difference between a ruling power who doesn't hide the truth and one that purposefully lies to the people to keep peace. Which one you would rather live under is up to the individual. Let's not forget that a huge plot point in this game revolves around the injustice of nobility and the crest system. We learn Rhea is not responsible for the creation of the Crests, but she does take advantage of their existence to maintain power. Obviously, there may be a potential path to corruption in Edelgard's new Adrestian ruled continent, but we don't really have many details to go off of regarding how her new system even works.

I mean it's not like Edelgard didn't come clean with the truth, considering she spent the first half of the game running around in the shadows under a persona so she wouldn't be caught. She also attempts to execute Dimitri and Claude with Kostas in the beginning anyways and tries to kill Byleth in the tomb, which shows she will execute anyone in her way. In CF route, she even wants Byleth to keep her identity as the Flame Emperor a secret from the general public, and also lies to the army by blaming the Javelins of Light attack onto the Church in order to retain peace because no one but Hubert/Byleth/Edelgard know that TWiSTD is a threat to the empire.

To say Rhea executes questions everyone who questions the church is weird because she executes those that actually attacked her in the first place. Lonato hated Rhea but, she never went out of her way to execute him until he raised a militia in order to take down the church. Same deal with the Western church, Rhea is well aware she is hated by the Western Church but doesn't do anything until they tried to pillage the holy mausoleum, take sacred land (w/e that means) and attacking her randomly in Ashe/Catherine's paralogue. Besides Shamir and Cyril are pretty explicit that they could care less about the Seiros religion but, Rhea still doesn't execute them. Is it that absurd to for people to respond violence with violence?

Besides Edelgard stepped down from the throne because her life is limited lol, she does make it clear she doesn't care for power but to say she steps down only because she doesn't want power is false. Judging by her actions in all 4 routes, she seems driven to start the war over her own personal grudge with Crests than like actually for the betterment of society.

September 9, 2019

Mercedes - Bishop is her best class. Alternatively you could make her a Gremory but, since she does have access to Physic, I'd prefer the +10 Heal boost from Bishop to ensure she gets a stronger Physic heal along with the Heal Staff equipped. Dark Knight is also another option (the Lance bane isn't too big of a deal since you only need her to get C rank Lances which isn't too difficult to achieve) since her Reason list is decent but, it's still a lot more effort (and you won't be able to focus on her Faith since you'll most likely be focusing on Reason/Riding the entire time). Holy Knight is a big noob trap since she doesn't have any skills that benefit from White Tomefaire and, she loses White Magic x2 and Healing +10.

Ignatz - Bow Knight is his best class but, he can also make a pretty decent Dancer as well with his Reason budding talent. While Ignatz is generally overshadowed by Claude and Leonie, he still has a niche of having the +2 range from Bow Knight with a lot of Hit and Dex to make him a crit archer (Claude doesn't get extra range in his personal class, while Leonie has hit issues if you go the Cavalier -> Bow Knight route. Alternatively due to his high Dex growth, he can be an Assassin that relies on Lethality too (though I don't really like him as an Assassin tbh).

Flayn - Ideally, Gremory is the way to go for the extra move for more Rescue strats but, Flayn's Reason pool isn't that good and she almost never sees combat anyways so she'll almost always fall behind in exp with the lack of combat exp. With that in mind, her best class is Bishop since it requires the least investment overall. Rescue is really nice in this game when used along Stride even though Rescue has been nerfed compared to other games (I mean it refreshes use after every battle so obviously they will have to nerf it). Once again, Holy Knight is a noob trap class, while the extra move is nice for Rescue, she gets less Rescue uses and doesn't have any spells that benefit from White Tomefaire (not that any of the offensive Faith spells are any good). The bane is Riding is also harsh due to the A rank requirement for Holy Knights. Also Dancer Flayn is a waste since it forces you to decide between Rescue and Dancing.

September 7, 2019

Caspar - Wyvern Lord is the best class, Warmaster is an alternative but, fliers are just so good in the game. Only thing he really needs is a Speedwing (maybe a few Speed Carrots) to boost his low base Speed and then Wyvern Lord bases + the extra 10% Speed growth boost should carry him.

Lysithea - Gremory easily, even in casual play. Just having 2 Warp uses is very beneficial and Thrysus + Dark Magic Range +1 should give her a ton of range to compensate her low Move (also Stride, Rescue, March Ring, training her Riding talent also alleviates the issue). Personally like giving her the March Ring to start, and then switching Thrysus when attacking, then switch back over to the March Ring.

Leonie - Bow Knight is her best class (going the Cavalier -> Paladin -> Bow Knight route, while primarily using Bows in her intermediate/advanced classes), however she also makes a good Wyvern Lord and FalconKnight as well.

September 6, 2019

New paralogues
Allowing the player to swap out Itsuki (especially if the cast may include Maiko, Barry and Tiki as playable units)
More variety in overworld enemy design (more than just a bunch of red/black Deatheaters floating around) and also in-battle enemies (not just recolors/upgrades of existing ones)
3rd tier classes, also maybe not having the class system be so linear (1 upgrade leans towards the offensive side which is almost always better, the other leans towards the defensive/supportive side)
More variety in mirages/carnage forms (extending pass Archanaea Saga/Awakening, considering the OG trailer of TMS showed the original artwork of characters outside these 2 casts)

tbh I kinda like the Japanese VA but, I wouldn't mind an English dub

September 2, 2019

For characters that would side with Edelgard...

Definitely

Hubert - Edelgard's retainer/lapdog
Dorothea - Grew up not liking the nobility system (though I can see her joining GD squad as well)
Felix - Isn't a fan of Dimitri/Rodrigue in general, though his monastery dialogue in BE-E route shows some sort of remorse for defacting
Sylvain - Doesn't like the crest system
Manuela - Probably joins to protect her theater troop

Depends on Byleth

Bernadetta - Basically will follow wherever Byleth goes and will probably only listen to Byleth (I mean heck, she only agrees to go to Brigid with Petra only because Byleth recommended and asked her). Though also hates violence and she doesn't wanna leave the house
Alois - More or less loyal to Jeralt and Byleth and has sworn to protect Byleth no matter where they go
Shamir - A mercenary before a KoS, also seems to want to follow Byleth wherever they go

Maybe

Lysithea - Obviously she wants revenge against TWiSTD and doesn't like crests but, Empire was the one that brought House Ordelia under their jurisdiction and sent TWiSTD agents to keep them in check (which led to said experiments). In other routes, she also doesn't condone the violence caused by Edelgard as well and is more or less worried about whether her family gets dragged in.
Ingrid - Also doesn't really like the crest system but, she feels that she has a sense of duty to be loyal to her house so she could stay in the Kingdom (seems hesitant in GD/BE/Church route for joining other causes)
Petra - More or less a glorified hostage in order to ensure Brigid's loyalty, could see her staying only if Edelgard promises Brigid's safety
Caspar - Has a justice-complex, probably doesn't want the war and also Edelgard's affiliation with Death Knight and TWiSTD that caused a lot of problems during Part 1. But, he sees Edelgard as some sort of hero. His dad is also pro-Edelgard.
Lorenz - Count Gloucester regularly sides with the Empire (only rejoins Alliance in GD route but, still had suspicions of Claude so the trust isn't 100%) and Lorenz has been shown to put his father's and nobility's ideals above his own.
Leonie - Joins as a mercenary post time-skip, though she could also not join since Edelgard is affiliated with the group that killed Jeralt
Hanneman - Had bad times with his sister being abused by a noble and the crest + nobility system in general but, since he's a crest scholar and Edelgard's goal is to get rid of crests there is a bit of a disconnect
Annette - Her uncle is forced to submit to the Faerghus dukedom, and her mother (who Annette is closer with) lives with said uncle. Would probably defect to the Empire in order to protect them
Raphael - Could see him joining the Empire in order to ensure protection to his sister and grandfather and for the money (think his monastery dialogue mentioned he was a wandering knight iirc), though he also seems somewhat like a peace advocate
Ashe - Is forced to join the Empire since Lonato's territory is under House Rowe, who are loyal to the empire. Though he is a peace advocate in a sense (could also want to get revenge on the church for Lonato/Christophe)
Marianne - Will only join because Margrave Edmund is a coward and wants Marianne to join the Empire to improve his image, and Marianne has shown to not stand up for her own ideals (similar to Lorenz)

No

Ferdinand - Has always had a rivalry with Edelgard, doesn't appreciate having his house stripped of power because of her
Linhardt - Peace advocate, probably won't appreciate the all-out war Edelgard wants to start. Also a crest scholar
Ignatz - Another peace advocate
Mercedes - Devout follower of the church, doesn't want to abolish the church like Edelgard (her reason to join the Empire in BE-E route is pretty weird honestly)
Hilda - Loyal to Claude
Dedue - Loyal to Dimitri
Gilbert - Loyal to Dimitri
Catherine - Loyal to Rhea
Cyril - Loyal to Rhea
Seteth - Loyal to Rhea (even if he doesn't see eye to eye on everything she does)
Flayn - Follows Seteth

August 21, 2019

Started with Blue Lions

Favorite from BE is Petra (other faves are Linhardt and Bernadetta) just because she has a 2 really nice designs (student/war designs are 10/10) and her supports show her as kind of quirky which took me off guard. Also I'm so glad they didn't make her Rinkah 2.0 since I thought they were going to go that route when I first saw Petra's design.

BL would have to Sylvain, Felix is a close second (also like the entire BL house as well). He's a womanizer but is kind of an unorthodox one based on his supports, also shows more than his womanizing side which is great.

GD for me is surprisingly Hilda (Claude is a close 2nd, I also like Raphael and Marianne as well), because I thought I wouldn't like her. Great VA honestly, and she lowkey has a similar personality to mine (would rather not do work but, if I have to I will).

For Church/other units, it's easily Seteth because he shows that he isn't a 1-note stern character.

Basically I think I like every unit in the game except like Cyril and Gilbert honestly lol

August 21, 2019

44 minutes ago, 0 Def Cleric said:

I would imagine that they saved her route for last to make sure it fit with all the events they set up on all the other routes... and then they ran out of time making the second half of fitting with other events (slitherers.) They probably wanted it to come off pretty strong, but oops.

I think this is the part that I wanted to see the most, just because even though the game does tell you TWiSTD, I can't help really think how it might have been possible? Just because...

Imperial army seems pretty exhausted (took pretty big losses in Arianrhord)
Edelgard's time is limited (I feel that a lot of people who played BE-E thought Crests disappeared with Rhea's death / Byleth losing his crest and connection with Sothis, but endings with Sylvain + Byleth, Edelgard + Lysithea, Linhardt + Hanneman imply that crests exist for every other person)
Rhea is dead (arguably a bigger threat to TWiSTD than Edelgard, considering the events in Church route)
Dimitri is dead and Claude is dead/left (BL route kinda hinted that Dimitri also posed a problem to TWiSTD, though I feel that you'd have to play BE-E first to make the connection)
Byleth lost his/her connection to Sothis (no more Divine Pulse)
Didn't state this at all but, I'd assume there'd be anti-Empire sentiment in the existing Kingdom and Alliance which could also pose a problem

Though the game says that it is more of a war within the shadows but still, can't really think about how Edelgard could've beaten TWiSTD with all of those problems at hand. But the game explicitly tells you it happened so, I guess that works out.

August 21, 2019

Really for dancers you can just choose any weaker unit/units falling behind and call it a day, though I have tried/been told about some students that can be solid Dancers.

Bernadetta - Honestly, I found her better as a magic user than a Bow Knight (which is what most people promote her into) after using both. Anyways, she has a pretty solid spell list (Thoron, Physic, Rescue) and also has a budding talent in Riding (for the Move +1 at A+ rank, honestly I find that once a Dancer unlocks their best spells, they should just focus all their instruction days on Riding since a high move Dancer is incredibly useful) which unlocks Pass (Pass helps with Warp/LTC shenanigans since she can just run through the enemy and dance a warped target). Her magic growth is low but, I found that her personal skill + Fiendish Blow allows her to deal pretty solid damage (coupled with the occasional Indech crest procs and her Speed growth being higher than most Mages) until she becomes a Dancer, and most enemies tend to have fairly low Res anyways (excluding Mages and Pegasus Knights). Her early game as a Monk is pretty bad because Blizzard is honestly not a good spell (sacrifice hit for crit, and crit is pretty unreliable early), but once she gets Thunder she became a lot better.

Ignatz - Pretty mediocre unit overall but, that makes him a suitable Dancer candidate! His spell list is not as good as Bernadetta's (only good spells are Cutting Gale and Physic) but, he does have have a slightly higher Magic growth and a personal that helps alleviate his early game slightly. As mentioned, Blizzard is pretty bad but, Ignatz's personal skill increases the hit rate of it making his early game a lot more manageable (though he's stuck with it until he gets Fire through promotion). He also gets Seal Strength through his Reason budding talent and Rally Speed (D Authority, and Ignatz has a talent in Authority so it should be pretty quick for him to get it) which is also nice utility early on (and even has situational purposes once he becomes a Dancer).

Marianne - She's a solid unit but, she also does make a pretty good dancer. She gets nice spells (Thoron, Cutting Gale, Physic, and maybe Silence) and has a talent in Riding as well for the +1 Move skill. I mean not much else to say other than that? Found her as a pretty solid Dancer overall, (I prefer not to recruit other units into my house as Dancers just because I like being able to raise the Riding skill from the get go), though you should probably recruit another dedicated healer (or just another Physic user) into GD if you plan on using Dancer Marianne.

August 20, 2019

21 minutes ago, Hyper L said:

Don't have the game, just theorizing with the data.

But how reliable are Critical hits? Cuz from his growths you would think Ignatz was designed to be a High-Ranged Crit Machine. But if the tier list here are anything to go by, that doesn't work out.

For me personally, I would rate Ignatz relatively low because he kind of overlaps with some of his house units, and generally doesn't have much separating himself from other units to be worth recruiting. Claude and Leonie are better archers overall since they have a reliable Str growth (Ignatz has a 35% Str Growth like the other house "canon" Archers), Shamir joins mid-part 1 and is pretty solid until late, late game, and other houses have units that can also pull off Bow Knight better (Felix, Bernadetta, Petra, Ferdinand, Dimitri) due to having that reliable Str growth but still retaining a solid Spd growth (in the case of Bernadetta, she has a 35% Str growth but her personal sorta helps late game once you have access to Brave Bows).

I'd say critical hits are pretty reliable overall, with Killer Weapons+/Wo Dao+, characters as Warmasters (+20 crit) and Swordmasters (+10 crit). There are also some battalions that give at most +10 crit as well. Anyways, point is that it's very easy for any unit to reach a pretty high amount of crit rate (for me, might be different for other players).

Also his personal skill would be better if Ignatz had access to Deadeye (which is a bow combat art that has a long range but has lower hit the farther the target is) and that getting hit rate is pretty easy by mastering the Archer class or with certain Battalions and supports.

edit- as the below post mentioned, every unit in 3 houses is usable (except maybe like Gilbert who is kinda ehh). This is probably one of the few games where you can actually use units you like as characters (if you choose to do so) just because characters are generally the same unit wise.

August 18, 2019

I would be fine with a spin off if

They don't force the 3 lords down our throats like they did with the Fates Royals in their spin-off games. I mean IS was beating a dead horse when Fates Royals got a lot of representation in spin-off games and it just kept going (though Chrom/Robin/Lucina also got similar treatment to the Fates Royals in spin-off games)
They actually balance out representation between the 3 lords (or the 3 houses) instead of focusing just on Black Eagles/Edelgard (though I would not be surprised if Edelgard is the only lord from 3 Houses that will make it to Smash in the future)

August 18, 2019

No, I don't think Edelgard was responsible for Jeralt's death. If anything, I feel that Monica/Kronya is more or less clingy to Edelgard to keep her in check, just because if Edelgard does something out of line to TWiSTD goal's then Kronya can easily like kill a bunch of students or do something just as bad, which would end up causing more trouble for Edelgard in the long run. I feel that Edelgard is more or less a puppet of TWSiTD, it's just in BE-E route she is actively trying to turn the tables against them (considering she has Byleth who is a pretty big resource for her).

August 17, 2019

Mechanics I Liked

Silent Protagonist - Byleth is cool, he isn't annoying like Corrin and Kris where it feels like they are forcing their way into everything (the writing in FE12 honestly feels like they replaced any text that says "Marth did x/y/z" with "Kris did x/y/z"). Byleth still has a lot of impact but at least they aren't an input hoe like Corrin or Kris.
Durability System - Pretty fair way to deal with durability, still having the "permanent" weapons but it isn't the monstrosity of Fates where there were drawbacks to every single weapon which was kind of annoying.
Battalions - Wish they were more impactful out of Gambits but, I do quite like the mechanic.

Mechanics I Didn't Like / Wish They Were Tweaked Slightly

Divine Pulse - Getting over 10 charges of Divine Pulse is pretty ridiculous honestly. Divine Pulse drastically reduces the difficulty and the "risk vs. reward" aspect of the game due to the amount of 2nd chances you get. For example, in older FE's without Divine Pulse you really have to weigh out your options carefully (for example, your unit risked dying if you miss the 70% hit but, they will end up getting exp to level up, which is a gamble I will not do in older games but will 100% do in this game), and just having all of these 2nd chances makes players be a lot more reckless. Honestly, I think Divine Pulse should've been reduced to 3 charges, and just stayed at 3 throughout the entire game. Honestly, I feel like I've used Divine Pulse to rig crits/dodges or turn back bad level ups than like the actual intended purpose lol.
Class Progression - Very awkward for certain classes since there are just a lot of classes missing for a smoother progression. For example, FalconKnights have an awkward transition since you either have to stay a Pegasus Knight until 30, or go to Wyvern Rider / Paladin / Swordmaster which is still a very awkward transition. Dark Knight also faces the same awkward progression since there aren't any Riding classes for mages before Master Classes.
Class Balancing - Likewise, there aren't too many risks vs. rewards for certain classes which makes class balance quite skewed. Wyvern Lords being one of the biggest ones because normally, Wyvern Lords focus on Str/Def/Hp (as opposed to FalconKnights that focus on Spd/Res/Lck), but in this game Wyvern Lords still have access to a lot of speed (boosted Speed growth and bases) and Avoid (all fliers have access to Alert Stance+) which doesn't give too much incentive to go to FalconKnight unless the unit has a weakness in Axes. Likewise Great Knights also face similar problems on the flipside because they don't have anything going for them (they lose terrain resistance in exchange for 2 faire skills). However, due to the steep requirements of a Great Knight, it's unlikely that the unit will have high proficiency in both Lances and Axes.
Weapon Proficiency - Certain classes get increased proficiency on certain weapons/skills (Assassin gets increased proficiency in Bows and Swords, so it makes leveling those skills easier), likewise I think classes should get decreased proficiency on other weapons to sort of balance them out? (Idk how to describe it)
Monastery - Loved the Monastery pre-timeskip since it makes sense since the plot is still very school-centric. However, post-timeskip it feels like a drag and it honestly doesn't make much story sense (oh we have a war going on but let's still have classes for an entire month before we move out).

August 15, 2019

Someone told me about how you should level Riding to A+ on Dancers and Gremories (after they unlocked all their useful Faith skills) for +1 Move, especially if they have a talent for Riding on characters like Marianne.

Also leveling Armor to C+ (or C idr) on Wyvern Lords or Paladins (any Lance/Axe wielding class really) for the Weight -3 skill.

August 13, 2019

3 hours ago, Spectrum said:

So, I have finished BE, BL, and GD routes. I'm only left with the church route which I heard is basically the same as GD route.

Reveal hidden contents

Black Eagles

It's my most favorite route. As I explained before in a different topic, El made me love this route. Her character, writing, dreams, ambitions were so well-done. I'm, however, seriously disappointed that it felt kinda rushed. I keep saying it would have been the best route (for me at least) if they included a fight against TWISTD especially after hearing Hubert and El mentioning they wanna deal with them after the unification of Fodlan. It left me with an unsatisfied feeling afterwards. I honestly wish we had the last chapters of GD in this one. This is the only ending where I feel so happy for Byleth. Him regaining his humanity was so heart-warming. I definitely didn't want to see another Rhea-like figure. ~~Also, I wanted more cutscenes~~

Blue Lions

This was the worst one imo. I really, really didn't like Dimitri's development at all. It was all too predictable, and Dimitri himself was kinda stupid tbh. Blaming El for The Tragedy of Duscar when she was only a 10 year-old(which she denied being involved in. Plus as the Flame Emperor he heard her say "there will be no salvation for those who are involved in what happened in Duscar" or smth like that yet he suddenly decides she's responsible for everything) and not even trying to look for the truth or investigate it. He's just dumb. Plus, he leaves Fhaergus(?) for an entire 5 years and goes on a murder spree just for revenge on BASELESS claims. Then what bothers me the most is that when he becomes the good guy again, he learns the truth about The Tragedy of Duscar and he doesn't even feel anything. Like, he spent all his life dedicated to this purpose and then when learns the truth he's like "oh, the past in the past, I'm a good guy now, I love my kingdom". I honestly thought it would break him and make him get some of his darkness back if he learned the truth, but that was utterly disappointing. I preferred him as a villain, as the "Delusional King" -based on him going crazy because of his stupid misunderstanding- which is far much more better than the bad-turned-good guy handled in a dull/boring way.
Other than Dimitri, the route annoys me because we're basically back at square one. We don't fight TWISTD, we don't learn anything, we don't get rid of the crests(besides Byleth being an Archbishop which sucks), we don't do anything "impactful". We just defeat the present threat and ignore everything else in the game. It was really underwhelming.

Golden Deer

This route is actually good. I feel like this is the "normal/good" ending route. It answers all of the questions related to TWISTD and Fodlan's history. Claude has never caught my attention, but after playing this route, I actually started liking him. I was impressed by his curious personality and the fact that he always wants to know the truth no matter what -which both El and Dimitri didn't do-. Them last 2 chapters made me enjoy this route a lot because I finally understood the lore. I don't have complaints about this route besides having Dimitri dying off-screen.

In the end, I honestly love this game a lot; it may actually be my most favorite in the series. I love the story, world building, and writing but I also agree with you on most of the points you have made regarding the flaws and the plot holes. As for most favorite characters story-wise, it would be Edelgard and Lysithea. Sylvain and Claude for males.

I'm not sure if you just skipped through a lot of the dialogue or just spammed A in Blue Lions route because the route was pretty explicit on what was going on with Dimitri?

-There wasn't really any incentive for anyone to believe what the Flame Emperor said at the time was true? I mean it's a suspicious character you just met with ties to the Death Knight and the last person you saw at Remire Village, so the characters (except Hubert and Edelgard ig) had no reason to trust the Flame Emperor

- Dimitri tells Byleth that he joined the monastery to seek revenge, which basically means that he wants to find the truth behind the tragedy. Saying he just doesn't make an effort to look for the truth is pretty false.

- Agreed that it was dumb for him to blame Edelgard but, like I said there isn't much of an incentive to trust the Flame Emperor in that given scenario, even if it is pretty absurd "truth" since as you mentioned, Edelgard would have been 10 years old and she definitely had no power at the time. Also Dimitri's character shows him as more proactive (act before thinking) so I mean at least he was in character

- This is the part that concerns me since the game was most explicit about. Anyways, Dimitri was forced to flee Faerghus because he was framed for killing the temporary king. There was a scene with Gilbert and Cornelia before Chapter 13 which basically shows Cornelia implying she killed Rufus (Lambert's brother who became a temporary king since Dimitri was too young to rule) and blamed it on Dimitri since apparently both Rufus and Dimitri didn't see eye to eye a lot. The dialogue before/after (forgot when) Chapter 13 reveals that Dimitri escapes with the help of Dedue during his execution day, where Dedue takes his place (and survives if you did Dedues paralogue since the people of Duscur he saved helped him escape). The empire also took over half of the Kingdom, including the capital which was ruled by Cornelia.

- Dimitri goes on a killing spree, one to escape the soldiers guarding Faerghus who were loyal to Cornelia (so it was an act of defense), and he kills Imperial Soldiers that tried to investigate the monastery out of rumors of a powerful thief living there (also as an act of defense, considering I highly doubt they would've just let Dimitri go since the Empire was after him). He never goes on a killing spree of a baseless claim because he couldn't even leave the monastery and if anything he was more or less defending himself for 5 years. He never went out of his way to just randomly kill people at the time.

-Dimitri never learns the truth about the tragedy, it was mostly speculation and even the talk with the one guy that was involved didn't say much other than he was ordered not to attack Patricia's carriage. Rodrigue and Gilberts theory on what happened was still mostly speculation at the time so there wasn't a hard truth from what they know.

- Dimitri changes after Rodrigue dies (Im assuming he changes since he reached like a bursting point or something which is why it was sudden, and this happens after Chapter 17 or whatever Gronder Fields chapter was), and Cornelia reveals what happens after she dies in Chapter 19 and he interviews the guy involved with the tragedy before Chapter 21...? Also Rodrigue and Gilberts speculation talk was done in private away from Dimitri. So Dimitri couldn't have changed because of learning the partial truth because he learns half of the truth after his change???? You only understand the full story if you played Edelgards and Blue Lions route.

-He really is forced to suck up and make decision and leave the past in the past because so many people have died for him, and with Byleth (and lowkey Felix's since he wanted Dimitri to show some sort of action) support he decides to reclaim Faerghus to not let their sacrifices be in vain. Also Dedue surviving kind of eased him into the transition of his change (though I can see why the change would be sudden if you Dedue doesn't survive)

- You do technically fight TWSiTD since you do kill Volkhard/Arundal/Thales in Chapter 19 and also Cornelia in chapter 18 (who worked with TWSiTD to bring about the tragedy and was basically sent to fk up the Kingdom from within). though the organization is probably still well and alive but we don't know.

August 13, 2019