ClLoulD

Personally, I'm having a lot of fun playing a No-Mounts run (Not including Mist) and it's quite challenging on hard mode, having to train Rolf and having Boyd being the tankiest member of the group for the first fourteen or so chapters.

Hmm, entirely possibly to do. I'd suggest normal mode for this but it will result in purposely prolonging chapters, lots of boss abuse and careful planning. For instance, bringing someone like Rolf to chapter 21 to chip ena for 1 point of damage over and over again; probably with a forged bow until his strength levels up. On some chapters you would probably be spending 1,000 turns+ if you plan on chip damaging bosses with multiple characters, if you want to get as many stats as possible capped like I did in my run then add another 2,500 soft resets for the same chapter. If you don't want to go THAT hardcore with leveling up your characters I'd suggest chip damage the bosses until 99xp then BEXP at base after each chapter that it's possible to abuse like that. I tried to do it all in-game but got fed up of constantly trading growth bands back and forth every level up. I wouldn't attempt this on hard mode either, you're going to need a fair bit of Bexp to put on Elincia and possibly one of the dragons too. I don't think Elincia will be able to chip damage Bertram with that measly 9 strength she starts off with. EDIT: Also for the turn count/Abusing debate. You need to pick and choose, for example the stealth mission is definitely worth doing for the 900+ xp or whatever it is (I can't recall) however a map like "Without a King" is more fit to grind your units on because of how nicely it's setup for that.

Ike - Oscar A Ranful B Mist - Rolf C Volke - Bastian C Ranulf - Ike B Lethe C Modercai C Marcia - Gatrie C Tanith C Jill - Lethe B Lethe - Jill B Ranulf C Stefan - Mordecai C Oscar - Ike A Mordecai - Stefan C Ranulf C Tanith - Marcia C Lucia - Bastian C Bastian - Volke C Lucia C Shinon - Rolf C Gatrie C Gatrie - Shinon C Marcia C Rolf - Mist C Shinon C Didn't really focus on supports that much as I didn't realize supports carried until now. If someones willing to give me the most efficient support tier list I'll make another run at this (Same or better transfer stats + Support conversations). @red_f,ox_of_fire there is an AR code that gives infinite BEXP so I'd sit in the base and use it up and reset about 1,000 times a chapter :/.

Got some early defense levels on him and was dedicated to taking him all the way! Shame not much use for him in Radiant Dawn though :(

I get a ton of PM's regarding this and I don't follow fire emblem much anymore due to them being on consoles I no longer own. So here is what the bonuses are like I tried to max everything that was realistic. I wasn't going to max things like luck or attempt to max out Soren's strength because it would drive me to insanity. I do think this is one of the best Sub-legit file transfers floating about so I hope you find it useful. A quick disclaimer. I got all these level ups manually by abusing BEXP bug and resetting thousands of times for the desired results. So there was a huge element of RNG involved but I couldn't get this done without abusing some sort of Bexp bug so use it at your own will. Enjoy! https://www.dropbox.com/s/upzn8hhweiu3r2r/GFEP_FIREEMBLEM8.gci?dl=0plz no banerino!

I feel as if what he did on Chapter 2 was wrong. You may have been busy but that's something subjective to this run and if you didn't have enough time to dedicate to it then you should have waited for a more suitable timeframe to start. I don't see a problem with you referencing Chiki's turn counts though. They're benchmarks and set the pressure for you to try to beat it so good luck in that regard. I'd like to see this in a video format so I'll recommend OBS recording software for you to use, it's fairly light recording software.

Hard mode I'd suggest :)

I suppose you could give her an arms scroll? I don't think there is a lot of fighting over it, you could also sell it but I think you get a 10k gold dump in the chapter following. It is again investing in a average unit so that they can fully utilize another investment (Arms scroll to properly utilize a vantage scroll with a killer lance) Again by no means a superior unit but she does have her uses in a few maps such as Day Breaks.

I like Nephenee but I never really play LTC much. If you give her the vantage scroll you get like 4-5 chapters after her recruitment it's a pretty solid investment. She starts off slow at a time in the game where a lot of decent units are also asking for some EXP. However if you aren't planning on giving her the vantage scroll I think all she's going to be doing is "mop up duty" so to speak. Nephenee is a great unit in RD but she's pretty much the only investable unit in most of part 2 given the team of units that accompany her (Excluing 2-E). In PoR when she joins you already have a group of powerful units (Ike, Boyd, Titania, Oscar, Marcia, Lethe, Kieran) so you will be spoon feeding her kills to make her usable considering her base str + weapon level. If you are willing to invest in her then it will pay off somewhat. If you aren't willing to do that then DevDan will substitute for her but he won't perform as well as Neph would. But if you really want, you could use both? PoR is a bit generous with the amount of lance users you get anyway IIRC.

Titania: Fantastic in LTC strategies, she will cut so many turns out of chapters for you and needs nothing in return for it. The BEXP she will net you is unreal. You can't go wrong with Titania Boyd: IMO Boyd is one of the top three foot units in the game. Oscar: With availability just as good as Titania in a mount dominated game how could you go wrong? Mia: Decent, not amazing. Zihark is just as good with a small level leap and then Stefan later on if you don't feel like training a myrmidon. Ilyana: Honestly you can't go wrong with either mage but you will want a mage. You can get RNG screwed on her speed but she's still gonna ORKO slower units like soldiers/knights. Mist: Good unit, requires investment (+ Bexp!) But it pays off in the long haul. She will require forges if you want to use her in combat. Rolf: Efficiency run? No. For fun? Sure :D Marcia: Widely considered the best unit in the game. Lethe: I would say a temporary unit at best. Laguz are powerful but limited to an X MT weapon and that gauge are going to limit how far she can go. Especially as it's a pain to level up Laguz. Volke: Next to useless on maps without chests. Nephenee: Takes a little while to get going but she is a beast! Jill: One of my favourite mounts, I've always looked at jill as a stronger Marcia. Astrid: Astrid's a good unit, I'd suggest boosting her BEXP a few levels with the knights ward equipped just so she's definitely doubling everything. A forge won't hurt if you want a lot of levels quickly. If you give her a bow on the level she joins you can have her deal some decent damage to the crows as well but just be weary of her getting hit. Reyson: Just use him. Period. Elincia: I've never been a fan. She's never gonna inflict more damage than your other units at this point in the game and the mobile healing she can do has probably been dealt with by Mist for the last umpteen chapters. I say pass...

From very early on I had Boyd using the Archer/Thief band mainly for his dodgy skill but his speed benefitted from this also. I'll probably be giviing him the dracoshield I get two chapters later as well as he is going to be one of my main tanks for the majority of the game. Yeah I was actually really lucky there because if she did go that way Mia would have to start killing things which would probably end up with her dying...a lot. It turns out Ilyana will just travel to Ike the quickest way possible and as Ike was on the east wall she travelled East. EDIT: Now that I think about it I may have given Boyd a speedwing? He probably deserves it as without mounts and a knights ward on the way I should be able to solve everyone elses speed issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX9HIbMkutw YES! No RNG abuse or anything like that found a way to do the map :) now I have Laguz!

Yeah there are other units such as Oscar who are obviously good units with a place in most teams. The game is influenced so much by mounts that Titania is always going to be an incredible unit, units like Marcia are even going to come out a tad higher than her as well in LTC strategies. Boyd for example is a great unit in his own right but not in the same tier, however slap a pair of wings on his back and you'll find yourself asking Marcia who?

Yeah and I completely understand what I'm saying is "There is a perfectly good strategy but I am choosing to restrict myself by not using units A + B" I'm thinking I could possibly dump all my BEXP into Mia with a knight band equipped and give her a slim sword with Rhys and Soren near to her (Soren to kill any units that are low HP that Mia can't kill in one hit with vantage and Rhys to heal her) although maybe I could maybe give her a steel sword as well and switch her weapons over for vantage 1HKO with Rhys there for support. Of course I still need to watch out for archers as well which will remain a problem for Rhys but he just might be able to stay alive with vulneraries.

Whilst my RD run is on hold until I A) Free up space on my SSD or B) Connect a portable HDD I have been playing FE9 on hard mode in a "No mounts" run just to make things different as they are extremely OP they tend to over shadow other units. I'm doing quite well so far but my only units that can realistically tank are Ike + Boyd. I'm curious how to approach this chapter because the enemies are going to rush at me from 3 different angles and no matter how I look at it I see either Mia or Soren getting killed no matter which area I have them try to hold. I have 800 points of Bexp + a forge available for someone as well. Soren is also equipped with the Seraph robe. Anyone care to share there ideas? I am more than happy to post screenshots of stats if needs be.

Bench Gatrie, I would suggest bringing in Titania unless you want to bring in a royal instead :P. Also make sure to give skillsets to people too I.E. Take Wrath off Edward if you aren't using him, Wrath off Aran and Nihil from Nolan (You get the picture) I'd probably suggesting forging a max Silver Axe for Titania as well :)

Myrmidon + Mercenary

169. Almedha

1-2 Again very cautious but I'm pretty sure after I get characters like Jill up to speed I'll be able to relax a tad bit more.

Back to the Greil's death part, I was actually quite annoyed at how quickly (and how rushed/forced it felt) he was killed off although I knew it was coming. I want to try to avoid spoilers if possible but basically Greil is aware of what the Daein army is capable of, the relevance of Mist's medallion and other key plot points that are later revealed and yet still actually LEAVES the castle to fight the black knight... For someone with such knowledge of the events that unfold in later chapters I find it hard to believe he would leave the castle to fight the Black Knight. There is only one person there that could have defeated the Black Knight and that is Caineghis, arguably Giffca aswell. Why Greil didn't seek out his aid or wait till the morning and seek his aid I will never know...Instead he fought and died and left his family alone to fend off a Daein army. If Greil died (Cliche` I know) protecting his children from the BK I could understand it, for instance if the BK came to take the medallion from Mist and Greil died that way then I would completely understand but instead Greil leaves the castle in the middle of the night and walks into the forrest and we're supposed to believe the Black Knight just happened to be walking through there with a spare "sword"... Face > Wall Anyway rant over :$

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYGWmiSM770 ^ 1-P I'll try to upload each chapter if possible :) recording does drop my FPS quite a fair bit unfortunately. 1-1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUDy8i-zn28&feature=youtu.be

Very solid advice!! Edward and Leonardo I expect to expire after part 1 in all honesty, I'm thinking of supporting them with each other so no one loses out when they're no longer useful. Volug I plan to get S strike level by 1-E. Aran I'm unsure of? He really sucks until 2nd tier and even then isn't extraordinary, that seems like a lot of EXP for not much return. Jill (ED/SR/DS) will definitely be used, Nolan yes but I won't expect to depend on him quite as much... Do I need to use Sothe as an offensive unit to blast through everything or meatshield so other units like Nolan get EXP? (That's something I've pondered) Yes, GM Ike/Titania/Haar are definitely going to be there but I'd also intend on using units like Shinon/Soren?/Nephenee perhaps. I understand Soren may succumb to staff botting. I won't worry about part IV at all simply because I can spare a second slot just before picking units and take the cheap Laguz royals way out if needed. Finally, any particular supports that should be used? I know EarthxEarth is godly but what else?

So yeah I wanna do my first HM playthrough, I've played NM twice and EM once or twice? I found both to reward you with WAY too much BEXP to fix bad characters and I think HM will stop that but I've seen quite a massive difference in difficulty from threads in this mode. So really I'd like some tips for the first part of the game on 1) Which units I should use 2) Which supports I should use 3) Forges where/when I'll be using my PoR Transfers which is most characters and I'd also "Like" to use Edward/Leonardo for part 1 (I believe they have a decent support too?) I'm not really bothered about "Optimum" LTC and such but more so just finishing HM. I don't want to restrict myself without Edward and I like to think that Leonardo's chipping may become helpful, that being said if I see awful growths I'll bench them.

I think you may mean the chapter following instead of previous. But yeah, Micaiah's team is pretty well funded by the next chapter so you aren't losing anything by waiting until then. I have no idea how to take the Physics either as the Disarm skill isn't available for Micaiah's team that early.