Epoch5

Day 4: Calm Horseman Name: Pollux Class: Lance Knight (promotes to Paladin) Appearance: Pollux has shaggy brown hair that hangs over his eyes somewhat (think Lowen). He is tall and slender, with poor posture. He wears emerald armor, and is eighteen years old. Description: Pollux, like his brother, Castor, is a new Acleian knight. He greatly looks up to Oberon and other veteran knights, and aspires to greatness, but lacks self-confidence. He is quiet and reserved, but is quite skilled with a lance. Plot and Motivation: Pollux serves under Oberon as his trainee. He fights out of a sense of duty, rather than a personal attachment to the cause. Growth Rates: (total to 290, same as Kent) HP: 80% Attack: 40% Skill: 45% Speed: 35% Luck: 20% Defense: 45% Resistance: 25% Constitution: 8 Movement: 7 Affinity: Light Weapon Ranks: D Lances Joins at level 1. Recruitment: Automatic at the start of Chapter 2 Starting Inventory: Iron Lance, Javelin, Vulnerary Death Quote: Pollux: "Castor, I did my best..." Castor: (if recruited) "Pollux, no!" Notes: The tankier cavalier. Slower than Pollux, but has more defense and HP. Don't have much else to say here: pretty simple unit.

Day 3: Brash Horseman Name: Castor Class: Bow Knight (promotes to Ranger) Appearance: Castor has deep brown hair in a buzz cut. He is tall and muscular, and wears deep orange armor. He is twenty-three years old. Description: Castor is a new Acleian knight who is extremely confident in his skills as an archer. His bark is worse than his bite, however, and he has thus been stationed on the border with Acelia's ally, the Lamostran Union. His ego is unmatched, and he thinks himself an ideal ladies man. Plot and Motivation: Castor fights to assist his younger brother, Pollux, who is far more loyal to Acleia itself. He also fights in order to gain the attention and love of Thalia, whom he wishes to court. Though Castor is typically somewhat of a nuisance to be around for most, he protects Pollux with all his strength. Growth Rates: (total to 290, same as Sain) HP: 70% Str: 50% Skl: 25% Spd: 45% Luck: 50% Def: 30% Res: 20% Constitution: 11 Movement: 7 Affinity: Fire Weapon Ranks: D Bows Joins at Level 3. Recruitment: Talk with Pollux, Chapter 2 Starting Inventory: Iron Bow, Vulnerary Death Quote: Castor: "I suppose you'll have a hard time without me..." Pollux: "Brother!" Castor: "Pollux... live for the both of us..." Notes: Look forward to Pollux tomorrow! I gave Castor low skill and high luck to represent his character: don't know if that'll give him Dart's accuracy problems later on, though, considering he's a growth unit. Oh well. At least he won't get crit...?

I looked at everything that made Eliwood underwhelming (i.e. no 2 range, relatively spread-out growths) and got rid of it. I'm guessing she'll have a somewhat late forced promotion, but ideally earlier than other lords, because that's always a pain in the butt. Thanks for the complements on making her good! And now it's Day 2: Veteran Name: Oberon Class: Mage Knight (prepromoted, obviously) Appearance: Oberon has somewhat long blonde hair, and wears robes inscribed with arcane sigils. He is somewhat short, but not overly fat. He is forty-seven years old. Description: Oberon is Thalia's retainer and a retired captain of the Acleian guard. He was one of the most powerful soldiers in Acleia, but, due to his scholarly nature, retired from the army and entered the service of the royal family. Oberon is a somewhat stoic advisor to Thalia, giving her sound tactical advice, but worries about her ambition and lack of compassion, trying to help her see the good in others. Plot and Motivation: Pretty self explanatory: He's loyal to the royal family and doesn't take kindly to the usurper Lawrence, though his motivations are more selfless than Thalia's, wishing to free the people from his harsh rule. Growth Rates: (total to 250, same total as FE7 Marcus) HP: 55% Magic: 45% Skill: 40% Speed: 40% Luck: 20% Defense: 20% Resistance: 30% Constitution: 8 Movement: 7 Affinity: Anima Weapon Ranks: A Anima, C Staves. Recruitment: N/A, joins automatically in Chapter 1 Starting Inventory: Elfire, Fire, Heal Staff Death Quote: "Thalia, how I wish I could live to see your victory..." Notes: I've always wanted a magic Jagen. I would've given him a higher staff rank, but I didn't want a unit capable of warping given to you in Chapter 1, but I didn't want it to be overly a hassle to get to that point, so I gave him access to Barrier.

Day One: Lord Name: Thalia Class: Lord (standard, sword wielding protagonist). Promotes into a cavalier lord, gaining a mount and access to lances. Appearance: Thalia is a girl of average physique, with shoulder-length red hair and fair skin. She wears formal clothing befitting of her high status (I envision it like Morag from Xenoblade Chronicles 2). She is twenty-five years old. Description: Thalia is the crown princess of Acleia, and acts with grace and formality befitting of her station. She is incredibly mature and competent, and resists the help of others in order to assert her capability. She lacks compassion, and only really wishes to help out her country to gain prestige. Plot and Motivation: Acleia had been in a trade war with its neighboring country of Sadan for many years, but only recently was the queen, Thalia's mother, assassinated, and she was forced to flee the capital in the turmoil. Her uncle, Lawrence, took over as regent, and prevented Thalia from returning to Acleia, allowing him to enact a tyrannical rule. Thalia thus gathers a group of her most trusted retainers and allies to take back what is her right, and uncover the truth behind Lawrence's betrayal. Growth Rates: (total to 325, same total as Eliwood) HP: 70% Attack: 45% Skill: 65% Speed: 50% Luck: 30% Defense: 45% Resistance: 20% Constitution: 6 Movement: 6 Affinity: Thunder Weapon Ranks: D Swords Recruitment: N/A Starting Equipment: Thunder Sword (PRF, Stats of a Thunder Tome, 40 Uses, targets resistance but halves MT when attacking at 2 range), Iron Sword, Vulnerary Unpromoted Death Quote: "I can't go on..." Promoted Death Quote: "I've failed everyone... so this is my fate." Notes: I imagine this as a GBA Fire Emblem game, thus why I included stuff like affinity and con, and didn't give her a magic growth. Thalia's a bit of a twist on the standard fire emblem lord, being less compassionate and more of a tactician. Statswise, she isn't particularly unique, but her personality is intended to contrast with goody two-shoes types like Corrin and Eliwood.

I'm no artist, but I am an amateur writer, and this sounds pretty cool! I think I'll save this for when I have more time, and I'll see what comes out of it! (Hopefully something good)

Unit Update as of Chapter 27: Guy: 15/5.55, 39 HP, 14 Str, 20 Skl, 22 Spd, 10 Luck, 11 Def, 6 Res (no statboosters), S Swords Priscilla: 10/10.10, 39 HP, 16 Mag, 13 Skl, 14 Spd, 14 Luck, 6 Def, 14 Res (used angelic robe and speedwings), C Tomes, A Staves Kent: 18/12.92, 46 HP, 19 Str, 23 Skl, 19 Spd, 12 Luck, 14 Def, 9 Res (used goddess icon), C Swords, S Lances, E Axes Hawkeye: ??/11.20, 54 HP, 20 Str, 18 Skl, 14 Spd, 17 Luck, 15 Def, 12 Res (no statboosters), S Axes Hector: 20, 37 HP, 17 Str, 13 Skl, 12 Spd, 7 Luck, 18 Def, 3 Res (no statboosters), A Axes Matthew: 13.53, 25 HP, 4 Str, 8 Skl, 18 Spd, 9 Luck, 6 Def, 3 Res (no statboosters), B Swords Ninian: (exists, I suppose) I, again, don't have turn counts by chapter, but I can safely say I'm losing this one. Choosing Matthew was a big mistake since he got strength screwed (-3!) and couldn't damage anything. My other units are all fairly serviceable (Priscilla got screwed in some stats but fe7 enemies are weak so it's fine), and Hawkeye and Kent carried most chapters on their very capable shoulders. For my first competitive draft, it's going great, though!

Didn't watch videos: What happened to Dorcas?

I haven't been recording my individual chapter turn counts, but I'll give my unit stats as of the start of Chapter 17. Hector: 8.02, 25 HP, 11 Str, 7 Skl, 6 Spd, 5 Luck, 10 Def, 1 Res Guy: 9.12, 25 HP, 7 Str, 13 Skl, 15 Spd, 6 Luck, 6 Def, 2 Res Matthew: 8.30, 21 HP, 4 Str, 8 Skl, 15 Spd, 6 Luck, 5 Def, 1 Res Kent: 6.00, 24 HP, 8 Str, 8 Skl, 9 Spd, 5 Luck, 6 Def, 2 Res Priscilla: 3.96, (hasn't quite leveled up yet, so she just has her bases) Hector and Guy are both slightly below average, Matthew's gotten strength Screwed (but that isn't overly surprising), and Kent's one level up was pretty solid. I'm going to be transparent: I haven't done much LTC before, so this is really hard, stressful, and fun! I'm looking forward to the later chapters!

Since General Horace mentioned earlier that he wanted Jaffar if Wil and Rebecca were taken, I'll put him down for Jaffar and I'll (be forced to) take Renault. This is going to be something.

Sorry for the delay: I'll take Guy and Harken. Accordingly, Horace gets Rebecca.

No, it isn't your turn for a bit.

Matthew and Hawkeye

It's okay this time. You also get another pick, since this starts round 3 of drafting.

Kubson, it isn't your turn yet. Finalinsanity drafts first. Also, when it does become your turn, you get to pick two units.

No average stats patch. I'm taking Priscilla and Kent.

Rip cavs.

Good choice! Next?

Wow, I left for a bit and suddenly, people show up! Great! The Draft order is as follows (I used a random number generator): Kubson Finalinsanity rohanx17 General Horace Epoch5 Please comment with your draft pics!

Great! The goal in a draft is to have as low a turn count as possible. There is no turn limit, per se, but the winner is determined based on how many turns you spend to clear the game, so you won't want to, for example, arena abuse.

I've been doing solo drafts of GBA fire emblem lately, but I find that I all too often get easy teams that are hardly challenging. So here's this! This draft is aimed for a more casual group, who don't usually do LTC, but veterans are welcome to come and kick my butt if they feel so inclined. The Rules: Drafting: 1. This draft is for 5 players. 2. Hector, Marcus, Merlinus, Ninian/Nils, and Athos are free for all to use. 3. Bartre and Karla are drafted as a pair. 4. Geitz and Wallace will remain undrafted. 5. Marcus is banned after Chapter 16. 6. The game will be played on Hector Normal Mode, skipping Lyn Mode. Rules: 1. Undrafted units may recruit characters, rescue undrafted units and NPCs, trade, visit Shops and Armories, and dig up items in the desert. 2. Undrafted units may not do anything not listed above, including but not limited to meatshielding, building Supports, opening Doors or Chests, talking to Fargus in Chapter 17x, or Seizing Castles in Chapter 25. 3. All Gaiden Chapters except 19xx, 23x and 28x are required to be visited. 23x and 28x may be visited at the player's discretion, and don't count towards the total turncount up to 20 turns taken per chapter. 4. Other units may do as they please without penalty. 5. Defend chapters count the last played Player Phase for turns if the timer is waited out. Penalties: 1. Undrafted units have a 4 turn penalty, per unit per chapter. Exceptions: 1. Matthew is free for Chapter 11. 2. Meatshielding is allowed for Chapter 13x. 3. Lyn, Kent, Sain and Wil are free for Chapter 16. 4. Undrafted Thieves may be used to obtain necessary Promotion items. Teams: Kubson: Sain, Serra, Oswin, Farina, Lyn, Karel, Nino FINISHED Finalinsanity: Lowen, Canas, Heath, Rath, BartreKarla, Legault, Vaida FINISHED rohanx17: Fiora, Raven, Pent, Lucius, Dart, Wil, Louise FINISHED General Horace: Florina, Erk, Eliwood, Isadora, Dorcas, Rebecca, Jaffar FINISHED Epoch5: Priscilla, Kent, Matthew, Hawkeye, Guy, Harken, Renault FINISHED Drafting is Complete: Turn count by chapter not necessary, but nice. Post final turn counts here.

I'm all for units from anywhere but Fateswakening Valentia and Tellius. Aside from the initial "Shadows of Valentia excitement" banner, we haven't really had many echoes characters, so I'd like to see some of the other members of Alm and Celica's armies, like Silque, Python, Valbar, Kamui, and more. Tellius also merits more attention. Having played it recently, I had to note that there were a lot of characters that appear early on IS ignored, like Marcia, Boyd, Shinon, and Gatrie, and I really hope they make it in. I'd also like to see laguz make it into the game (I was hoping they would be colorless dragons but Grima (F) crushed my dreams) like Lethe and Mordecai.

Others have already noted on the time it takes to complete a Fire Emblem game, though I will note that Fire Emblem 8 is probably shorter if you choose to use Seth. Furthermore, a run can be shortened more if you choose to use the speed-up feature that many emulators have (I, for one, passively run most of my GBA FE roms at 1.5x constantly), and if you choose to turn animations off. I always recommend newcomers to the series start with Fire Emblem 8: Sacred Stones, since it's probably the easiest. Blazing Blade is also a good starting point since, as you mentioned, it's the first one to release in the west. It's really up to you, though.

Amelia CAN be good if you choose to invest in her. The time allotment in the Tower of Valni to get her to a competent level is off-putting to many, including LTCers (is this a term?) and people with no patience. Amelia CAN be a serviceable unit, if you choose to put in time and effort, but most argue that the required resources aren't worth the result, since she competes heavily with Seth (and nobody can beat Seth) and Franz if you choose to make her a Paladin, Franz and Duessel if you choose to make her a Great Knight, and Giliam if you choose to make her a General (though the argument can and has been made that the General class is Amelia's worst option, check out Mekkkah's video on it). Personally, I don't HATE Amelia, but I have to acknowledge that in gameplay, she has many flaws due to her low bases, growths (which her increased number of levels gained over time don't overcome), and join time.

I can't help too terribly much with this not knowing your unit levels, but Chapter 25 of HHM has a lot of weak enemies that could be used to bolster your EXP rank. Just bring some low level enemies and support them. You might have to sacrifice a few turns for it, though, so it might take some strategy/management.

This has been noted previously, but effective weapons are pretty bad in fe7 (x2 rather than x3). In terms of unit choice, for ENM, most units can be made good with enough kills, but I'd definitely recommend using Marcus at the very least, and then selecting others based on who gets RNG blessed. What I would note as essential would be finding a recruitment guide: missing out on a character simply because you didn't know who to talk to them with/didn't know they were recruitable is a big pain.