Kantoor

Nuking a chapter with your flying juggernaut isn't a particularly interesting experience that you would want to preserve, even if it does save you the trouble of actually playing a map where you spawn in the center of the desert against enemies with Sleep staves and have few if any useful mages to contribute. I think the proposed changes are sensible and any issue indeed lies with the map itself.

One thing that immediately comes to mind for me is removing all of the completely unthreatening and annoying 2-range enemies that are ubiquitous in Path of Radiance. They pose no challenge whatsoever and the solution to them is the same every time (move your juggernaut with a Hand Axe in range and no one else). One of the first things you notice when you go to play another game like Three Houses after completing a run of FE9 is that this type of enemy is completely absent from the map design and the FE9 developers were just obsessed with it. These pests are basically the sole reason you will never feel compelled to use swordlocked units in FE9 and it's not because it's actually harder or more strategically complex to clear chapters with them but merely because they are incapable of mindlessly nuking all of them on enemy phase so you'll have to wait through more combat animations before they die. This is also why people don't like Maniac mode since the biggest thing it does is increase the numerical quantity of these enemies. I would actually play it if someone made a patch to remove/rebalance these types of enemies.

I sometimes passively forget that Byleth is even nominally an avatar unit that represents you on account of how much of their own character they are. Even the "silent protagonist" element is executed in a self-referential manner where it's explicitly the character's actual personality in-narrative and they are still very expressive. Byleth having that exact personality and character is actually fundamental to the plot since the role of Sitri and the Crest of Flames is ostensibly why they're like that. That said, what paired endings do you like for Byleth narrative-wise? I appreciate the outcome of the Jeritza ending for being reminiscent of Ike and Soren's ending in FE10, whilst their actual archetypes and relationship are more akin to a "(Fem!)Ike and Zelgius" duo. In their actual interactions I like the contrast between Jeritza's brooding insanity and Byleth's laconic and mild mannered responses and their travels after the end of the game could make for an endearing fan manga strip or something. Byleth completely disappearing to unknown whereabouts in this ending is also unique since most endings regardless of the route have them remain some form of prominent societal role. On that note, Byleth's ending if he marries Marianne also has a distinct vibe since he becomes a minor lord in the post-war Empire and is rewarded for his role in the war with the expansion of his realm into conquered Leicester Alliance territories. It's a uniquely humble position compared to how they end up in any of the non-Crimson Flower endings. It works out well on Marianne's end too since this is the only ending that results in the expansion of Edmund's territorial borders, her dad will undoubtedly be pleased with this outcome. I'm also partial to all the endings that make Jeralt's grandkids explicitly canon.

The most esoteric unique support interaction in Radiant Dawn that I know of is the romantically implicit dialogue of Shinon addressing Leanne.

I found out by accident that there's a unique conversation between Sigrun and Jill in FE10 3-E. It caught me off guard after I decided to give Sigrun extreme favoritism on a whim and have her basically solo this chapter alongside her support Haar. They talk about Micaiah's infamous oil and fire gambit and it's a neat interaction. It's made more explicit here that the alleged war crime was in attempting a targeted slaughter of the enemy's civilian political leaders (which is historically taboo in wars between nation-states) rather than the mere brutality of the tactic being used against enemy combatants which has less significance. It also implicitly brings up how anyone of notable influence or authority in an army that had just performed this action would naturally fear reprisals against themselves and attempt to distance themselves from it. I like that they added this here since it's essentially the last moment any of this could be discusssed before the focus of the story shifts in Part 4.

I could have worded that more clearly, the meaning of that sentence is "there are many virtuous people in Begnion's ranks who are complicit in the actions of their government". The fact that Serenes Forest is technically an occupied nation is an interesting thing to think about though. Reyson's circumstances are very similar to Marth's when you look at it that way, except if Alteans were subjected to ethnic genocide and Marth, lacking the military strength to overthrow the Dolhrian alliance, simply remained exiled in Talys for decades afterwards with Elice dying in captivity. The thing is Ike also also has largely heroic traits but is imperfect and has things driving him beyond the immediate task of defeating the enemy. He's hotheaded, uncouth, his ability to lead is put under serious scrutiny, occasionally he makes principled decisions that reveal his recklessness and inexperience (such as insulting Begnion's Apostle and Senate in defense of Elincia), and he has the underlying motivating goal of proving himself and living up to his father's greatness. Micaiah is lacking things like this to overcome, and given the way young Daeins were already characterized by Sothe and Jill in FE9 it's actually strange for that to not be more visible in her character. As for the part about Jarod, there are already Begnion commanders like Veyona and Levail who are characterized as dutifully carrying out the tasks of their station without being driven by pure sadism and tyranny.

The main problem with Micaiah as a protagonist is that her defining traits are "kind, virtuous, beautiful, has special powers, can talk to animals", etc. and she immediately assumes a position of respected and admirable leadership from the beginning of the game. This is in stark contrast to Ike in FE9 who is immediately presented with traits, flaws and goals that make him a more multifaceted character. Her personality is also incredibly out of line with how Sothe described the urban youth of Daein in the previous game: cynical, resentful, nationalistic, destitute and ambitious. If Micaiah had these traits from the start it would give her room for character development and make the element of her questioning her actions on behalf of Daein in Part 3 significantly more impactful. Likewise, Jarod being unambiguously evil fodder rather than a more principled character who was simply tasked with commanding the occupation of a defeated country (of which there are many in Begnion) was a missed opportunity to highlight the internal divisions in the country. It also would have made killing Numida in Part 4 feel more meaningful, since he escaped culpability for his crimes in Part 1 by orchestrating Jarod's ultimate downfall and death. Currently there is currently nothing that would really make you care about him over any other Begnion senator.

Yeah, 1% being a fairly wide margin in practice is actually intentional since it allows people to chime in with any potentially unique thing they've done while keeping the premise intact. It's easy to have completed all the games and still struggle to respond to this question since the noteworthy challenges in Fire Emblem require unconventional gameplay. For example, playing fast and aggressively is fundamentally different from doing LTC which requires you to utilize your resources in specific and unintuitive ways, have foreknowledge of stat benchmarks and get optimal RNG outcomes.

This could be anything. On my first playthrough of Path of Radiance I turned off combat animations for every single unit in the game except Zihark so it was like he was Chuck Norris and when he goes into combat the graphical style and music of the game changes specifically to show him glowing blue and purple with badass music playing while he procs skills and crits against the enemy and obliterates them. When my little brother watched me play the game I told him this was the actual reason. In that same run Makalov was my #1 most used unit since he got def blessed for his first few levels which allowed him to juggernaut with the knight ward and clear several maps by himself with his kill count remaining steady into the lategame since lol Paladin in a game with Canto+ and forged hand axes.

I must have dumped all my leftover Goddess Icons into her as well if that's the case. I know for certain that I spent all my Speedwings, Energy Rings and Dracoshields on other units as soon as I got them and I invested my Secret Books into Ike; Seraph Robes and Goddess Icons specifically I tend to forget about in the convoy.

I would've but I had already expended them all on other units by this point

She was indeed promoted at exactly Level 10 immediately before the BK fight. I had just barely enough BEXP for it, I was actually worried I would come up slightly short. Yeah, since she would be facing endgame enemies by this point I gave her a Seraph Robe that I had laying around so she could have a chance to utilize her absurd Strength and Defense procs. Those happened entirely on their own, though. I also forged a sword for her. On a practical level getting the most combat blessed Mist of all time is still not actually useful but it's hilarious and I didn't want to pass it up. I think the only comparable thing that has happened to me is when I missed a 99% hit against a skeleton in a Seth only run.

I BEXP'd her up to Level 10 and promoted her just before the Black Knight fight and she ended up getting absurd Strength and Defense growths. Her Strength is equal to Titania at base and her Defense is only 2 points behind. Sadly it's too late for her to actually see any combat utility but if you got these levels immediately after she joins you would have a viable Combat Mist for a large portion of the game. She really is Greil's daughter