timon

Very slight spoilers for their ending That said, would it really make sense for Sylvain to have S rank with Bylad when he's THE womanizer?

She's a good unit, but I do feel like she falls off a bit. For comparison, I think Shamir holds up much better on the long run. But yeah, early on she's absurd. That said, she's such an annoying bland character that I just never ended up using her much. You'd think they learned to write this kind of people with Hubert and Dedue being amazing, but I guess you gotta have a bad one to make the others shine.

The thing is, he's not a statistical god, far from it. He probably has some of the worst growths in the game for a physical unit. Leonie surpasses him in HP, Str, Spd, Def and Cha. The only thing Ashe has more of is Res (and Mag, that's not relevant). Hell, even Ignatz has better growths! The relics argument doesn't hold up when you consider that the problem with relics is never ever gold (which stops being a problem a lot sooner than your first broken relic) but materials. Spammable Freikugel sounds amazing, sadly Ashe can't give me Umbral Steel. Spending something on keys is not that bad, especially because usually there are enough keys on enemies for all the chests. As I said, I too appreciate lockpick, but it's just a nice thing to have, not a must at all. PS: now that I think about it, "probably" might be an understatement, I can't think of a single worse physical unit (among students) in terms of growths (Bernadetta and Ignatz are there with him).

I think, like with many people's opinion of Ingird, this might be bias because you got blessed. Those 2 share a big power problem, wyvern is not enough to patch it up (maybe it helps, but there are other units who benefit much more from it). Obviously 35 starting growth means you're going to get a good one from time to time, but on average those 2 people just don't do damage. Ingrid can kind of solve the issue with Luìn (but it's limited), Ashe can compensate with very good range, but I still wouldn't put them above "good tier" (let's say a B, good units but not the A core, and surely not S). I get the niche of Deadeye on Wyvern, I appreciate it myself, and lockpick is nice. I'd argue the Defense problem is not necessarily that big since with that range you just can abuse Canto, the big problem is the Str. Also as a side note his hidden talent has to be the worst one in the game bar Dorothea's. Also, and it pains me to say this because I hate the character, but I think Bernadetta makes for a better flyer if you're looking to abuse Deadeye. She has the same power issues, but she's absurdly fast and can go into a broken and flying class early (Pegasus). Even then, if we're not looking at Deadeye (which is a good plus, but not THAT good, Bow Knights basically have that same range without needing an art AND with bowfaire) if you want a flying archer (aside from Claude) Leonie and Petra are miles better than either Bernie or Ashe.

My Ashe got Str blessed so he was actually one of the main units of the run as a Sniper and then BK. That said I think WL is better, flying archer is nice and he has a slightly better change to fix his power issues, maybe DeathBlow on the way. Also while keys are buyable, flying locktouch is still useful especially if there's a time condition. Ingrid is a Falcon, the deal with her no matter the class is just hoping to not get fucked by RNG. She doesn't have bows to make up for it. 35 growth is such an awkward number, and probably the reason some call her top tier and some trash. Lorenz is a DK, probably better through the mage warlock line, but I prefer him as Cav-Pally because there's no one else to do that in GD (I ain't screwing Leonie's speed when I can give her bow range instead).

By the way, is it ever explained what the hell that is, or is it just a cool random name (yet another random thing on TWSITD)?

I actually did it for a bit in BL, but I got bored at about chapter 17 and upgraded to get to the end. Anyway from what I saw it's all about Assassins, they have 1 more Mov and they ignore Mov penalties, they're basically your "mounts without a mount". War Master are probably amazing, though I'm not sure as I just never use Gauntlets on principle. MS is worthless, if it's a female go Gremory (you also get double healing, infantry only means that sometimes you'll be in a meat grinder), if it's a male stay as Warlock (1 less mov is less relevant since you're advancing slowly anyways). Your Dancer will be a lot more relevant as they're always up to speed, actually more than most of your party (assassins aside). Also obviously bows are crucial, even more than usual. Not only on Assassins, eg. Snipers gain relevance as you'll have to compensate mov loss with range. That said, it's not that difficult. It can get frustrating because it's very slow at times, and if you're at your 4th playthrough or something sometimes you just wish you had a wyvern and get it over and done with. Especially if you're doing Church as the last one, which means you already did GD, which means you basically already did Church...

I'll just go ahead and agree with @ApocaLips then, you're obviously trolling. Numbers are not opinions. goodbye

Ingrid's a joke, at least in CF. An arrow and she ded. Petra is a pain though, she is the only enemy in this game who's capable of avoiding apparently. Though it's tied to her being at full HP, so a gambit chip it's all it takes to bring her down.

You do know that with some low level battallions you can give him more than 5 extra damage (regardless of weapon, so you could use a bow) AND other bonuses (maybe to crit as well, so your WoDao is even more relelvant). Actually with some paralogues's battallions you can compensate for the whole 10 damage he'd do without one and with Swordaire. Not even talking about the fact that if you're even getting to S+ you're not getting there soon. Also focusing exclusively on Sword is quite a dumb move, he even has a strength in Bow calling for you. The "already a powerhouse without one" argument would make sense if those were limited in numbers, luckily you can have 400 of them. As stated above by someone else, with an E battallion you already cancel out his personal PLUS OTHER BUFFS. With just a C you can get the whole +10 to compensate for his personal and the -faire (which you're not getting anytime soon). That's even without thinking about the fact that even without the power boost Battallion still gives you A LOT more benefits than just straight up damage boost. Avoid, Crit, Hitrate, not to mention the use of a GAMBIT. And even if you consider all of the above, it just never makes sense for anyone to get to S+, A+ is more than enough, -faire burns so much time that you could be investing in other skills. And claiming it's "easy" to get there is kind of bold, considering exp in the game is mathematics, so there's not much for a debate here, it's not easy. It's barely doable if you focus exclusively on one thing for the whole playthrough, which is an incredibly high investment for an incredibly low payoff. tl;dr: the game is stupidly easy, so you'll tear it apart even with Fortress Flayn, but mathematics (not opinions) say quite clearly that there's not a single reason to go full S+ sword over a much smaller investment in Authority.

Well it's a bit tricky, (it took me as well some time to figure out), because when you press mount/dismount the game makes you stay in the actions menu, so you feel like you have to either attack, use an item, or wait. I would've guessed pressing B would put you back on horse (or on foot), just like pressing B for canceling when you're moving someone. I'm not even sure it's supposed to happen btw, it would be surely less broken if it worked the other way, and more intuitive as well.

btw people we do have the accurate numbers fyi, I don't think there's need to gather any more data. https://serenesforest.net/three-houses/characters/recruitment/

I'm not sure it's even possible on NG without grinding. NG+ and statues bonuses from the get go make it reachable. S+ is nice for weapons (Cav/Arm/Fly effect null isn't worth it imo) but A+ is typically enough. Crit +10 feels good but you don't need it, so just get to the best prowess and call it. Exception is obviously magic as it gives you 1 range. That said, if you don't already know, you can cheese it. Equip a broken/rusted weapon and do a lv.7/11 map. Be sure to go in the middle of the forest so hitrates are always 0-10. Pass turns. Remember to also keep a good weapon in the inventory though, otherwise you're not winning (pretty sure 100 turns make it a loss). Works for Authority as well if you have a battallion (and mov skills if you're in that class). You can do 2 people at once btw, the adjudant gains the same exp (even if they don't contribute). That's also the only way to cheese it for mages (no broken weapons). I agree, but do note that the -faires, unlike the other skills, stack. S+ Axe on a Wyvern gets +10 damage. Not saying it's worth it, just fyi.

The thing with the game, as I think @CyberNinja said, is that pretty much every character has good reasons to go any route. Recruited Ferdinand says he wants to oppose her because ideals and father, CF Ferdinand says he has to do the work better than his father. Also I'd argue he's not really the guy who wants a hierarchic nobility, he's after a "fairy tale" type of nobility, I don't think he'd be too upset with the reform. Dorothea and Linhardt have even more affinity to CF imo, don't forget that if you go with Edelgard everyone witnesses Rhea going blood crazy in the tomb. Linhardt's father also supports the empire, and for Dorothea remember that she suffered a lot by the hands of nobility. She also appears to admire Edelgard. Petra is yet another case of very adaptable principle, either she wants to free Brigid from the empire or wants to be an equal ally (which Edelgard wants as well, it's made pretty clear in their conversations). Also she clearly enjoys her life in Fodlan even though her political situation is complex, so her Empire time is probably not that bad. I think the equation Edelgard = bloodshed is a bit semplicistic, people choose to side with her after they see what Rhea truly is, it's not exactly a random war for the fun of it. Again though, the same goes the other way, Caspar could want to oppose Edelgard because she doesn't sit right with his "justice". On Bernadetta I'm not that sure, I haven't dug too deep in her supports (I can't bring myself to) and for now I can't find a good reason to oppose, but I'm sure there's one. I mean if you can justify Ingrid leaving BL I'm sure everyone else will have good enough reasons too.

If she did this debate would be a lot more simple, since what you just described is quite obviously a villain and evil thing to do. Are you insane?

Actually reading again your post I think you didn't get the ring. Getting the diary is NOT the same scene as getting the ring, you get the diary through story progression no matter what, the ring is an explore mission (thus missable if you don't explore that month). That's more likely than skipping an entire scene anyways, since it's quite heavily in the way (calendar stops randomly, terrible Jeralt's voiceover and all of that).

Well then idk, if you have the ring that choice pops up no matter what, if you played through it too fast maybe you selected someone random (or no one at all).

Yeah it's one of those red "mandatory" missions, and it stays up for the whole month iirc (I think everyone explores at least once a month, I'm not sure how missable it is).

Did you select him in front of the grave? Did you get the ring in jeralts room?

Screwing will never be enough to stop you from a possible win, at least not on Normal (nor on Hard). I'm not sure why you're having all these issues, but the game really is quite easy, probably one of the easiest in the series. Even then, you're not particulary screwed at a glance, maybe Byleth's a bit weaker than he should, but he's at lv.44 so it's still enough. You're definitely not under leveled, maybe you did focus a bit much on a few characters, but the party is still perfectly capable of pulling that off. Maybe actually deploy less than maximum so you don't have weak people running around getting killed (since you want to clear with everyone alive). Though for the future, do promote people to master classes, keeping a lv.38 Sniper doesn't make any sense if you could get BK (and by level 38 you could definitely get enough training in horsemanship). Same for Pegasi and Wyverns. Look at your skills and arts and see if you can do something different, the only must have is the prowess for your main weapon, everything else can be adapted for the map (I'm thinking of the breaker skills and the effective arts especially). And consider switching classes as well, I'm not sure what you certified, but Sylvain would probably be better off as a Paladin (as he ignores terrain damage and gets better stats), and maybe give a mount to Byleth if you've unlocked any. Pay A LOT of attention to battallions, they're crucial, and if you weren't playing around with them for the whole game chances are you're still deploying E level youths shit or maybe no battallion at all. If you cleared paralogues you have some pretty broken stuff sitting there. It's a bit difficult to help because I'm not sure about your actual issue with the map, but the general solution is taking your time, even a lot of time. Turtle up, advance slowly, bait enemies in one by one and use your healers and vulneraries. Also on that particular map kill the guy who's calling the reinforcements ASAP, he's quite accessible. A shame that your Marianne is so underleveled, but if you advance in group she'll be protected and able to heal. And you could even switch her to Bishop for double heals, no need for a horse if you're taking it slow. Also the power problem many put on stats can actually be being underequiped. Relics are nice, but by the final chapter every frontline unit should have at least a forged Silver, a Brave (possibly forged) and forged Iron. And finally, just because I see you bringing up this point over and over again, Divine Pulse is BROKEN. And I don't mean that it doesn't work, but that it's the main reason this game is laughably easy. Learn to use it please, you can't reroll 2 actions and expect the battle to change completely, go back a turn or two, rethink it and do stuff differently. By the final chapter you have something like THIRTEEN tries, it's absurd the amount of unpunished mistakes you can make. And I'm not trying to be rude, but if you're having problems with the game it's mostly due to not being able to use that amazing power. On a side note, Dex determines hitrate and crit, Cha is for gambit power and accuracy. Not sure on the actual math though.

It's not really a lying matter, he wouldn't be lying anyway? It's just that it's really hard to interpret. I don't understand if it's the true gatekeeper talking about his brother or his brother talking about the gatekeeper. https://imgur.com/a/qVEPQI1 That's why I opened the discussion, when I played I thought "well, RIP gateboi", then I go online and see a bunch of people who are saying that he's "obviously" the same guy and now I have doubts about my own interpretation. Just wanted to hear the opinion of the people here. EDIT: btw the Dark Merchant is a national treasure

Is the Gatekeeper the OG? This may sound like a joke, but I'm actually not sure at all. To me, I felt like he wasn't, and I thought it was quite obvious too, but I've seen people saying the opposite and claiming that it's quite obvious that he's the same guy. So Byleth asks the question because something is off, our original gatekeeper went with the Church so he had to step in for his twin. Also this one feels a bit raspier in his voice. That's my interpretation, give me yours. (note: the debate loses a bit of importance as there's actually a new best NPC in this game ("HellooOOOooO" "Tell your friends!")).

Maybe I got the wrong impression, but isn't Holst supposed to be the way he is? He's talked up to be the strongest guy in the alliance, supposed to lead it, and then he's knocked out by a joke (the mushrooms) while there's an invasion, and he also fails to achieve leadership of the alliance . I thought he was supposed to be an opposite to Hilda (eg. strong and caring girl that talks herself into a weak lazy asshole).

Maybe it's not irremediable, but it's just a bit weird how easily redeemed he is. The guy's been running around like a ravaging beast for 5 years killing in the most gruesome ways possible and as far as I remember even torturing people. Sure, enemies, but still people he could've swiftly killed, instead he took pleasure in the suffering. Now you could tell me he was crazy and I'll give you that, but that's not a pass in my book. And while doing all of this he also abandoned completely his duty towards his people and his land (and his friends). Then one day his almost father dies and he's a hero again. I'm not necessarily talking about his character arc, because there are hints that he's becoming a bit more lucid before that event. What gets me is the reaction of everyone else, like the only person who ever questions the change is Hilda, who actually wonders - like everyone should - if the guy is stable and will be stable enough to lead a nation, bless her. And Felix, but he doesn't believe in the first change to start with. Another thing that I really, really can't comprehend is why before he returns sane they put him in charge and ask for his order on every single thing. I get that he's the rightful heir, but the guy just wants to slaughter people, I wouldn't exactly refer to him for crucial decisions on leading an underdog army in a complicated war campaign. Maybe it's just me, but the fact that he goes back to being a good person doesn't fix 5 years of massacre for the purpose of a void revenge. That said Rhea is on another level, since she'd have to fix a mess of 1000 years.

Yes burning Fhirdiad is obviously the worst part, but even before that, the whole chapter 17 is Rhea manipulating the complete Kingdom army (+ the king himself) as bait for her attack, and when that fails she uses them as meat shields for her retreat (instead of turning dragon and attempting to save them). Now I'm not saying she's a monster everytime, because it's pretty obvious that CF!Rhea is a lot more lost than her other iterations (that goes for Edelgard as well), but I still find it difficult to see her as anything more than a villain, if only a minor one. She does have her redemption in other routes, but I still don't feel like it's enough to delete everything she did. Same deal with Dimitri btw.