Dr. Silent

The last three Senators did appear, but unnamed. The first one was the guy in 3-3 and 3-5 who ordered Lobroso to attack the Mercs. He was unnamed, but presumably he was Duke Seliora (none of the named senators were). The other two were also unnamed. You killed them in 3-3. Presumably, one of these three senators replaced Oliver after his fall in PoR, or it doesn't make sense. Naesala had already betrayed the Laguz Alliance and let Begnion attack Phoenicis by that point, and until 3-E his location was unknown. I doubt Tibarn would fancy travelling with him. Tibarn, Jill and Haar are all pretty uber. They'd be fine. And in response to the other guy (who I have not quoted) - Ike and co. didn't suggest this because, until Ashera turned everyone to stone, they didn't know about the Blood Pact.

I tried using him once in Easy mode, got him to level 20 for RD bonuses (which made him a bit less mediocre in RD). He's pretty much the same as Volke in that he's only really much good for stealing and stuff. He's useless as a combat unit because Knives are terrible in PoR.

Nah, I liked the Renning/Izuka story. While it was certainly disappointing that Volke (because awesome unit) and Bastian (because humorous character) showed up so late, I enjoyed the one-chapter departure from the now-silly main story to a side story with a very good plot. I enjoyed it. In terms of story, it was one of the best chapters in the game, and the kind of thing I was really hoping for in a PoR sequel (the mystery of Bertram and his rather coincidental resemblance to Renning was certainly something we needed to know more about in the sequel). Yeah, the Senate thing got kinda messy. I found it a bit odd that everyone seemed to know the Senate and the Apostle didn't like each other, yet in PoR there was very little, if any, indication of this. Lekain and Hetzel seemed to like the Apostle well enough, and Oliver died (his revival in RD was such a terrible idea that I prefer to think of it as a 'what if?' scenario). Then all of a sudden Lekain is an evil bad guy, Hetzel is his puppet, and Numida and Valtome join in the fun. Also, this ties in with the Blood Pact thing. All Micaiah had to do was tell the Apostle, Ike and the other royals about the Blood Pact in secret. In the dead of night, Tibarn, Jill and Haar fly to Sienne in all their uber awesomeness, assassinate Lekain+friends, rip up both Blood Pacts, and everyone's happy. I get what you mean about Ranulf telling Ike that. Not sure I completely agree (it confirmed all too soon something that was quite obvious anyway). I agree that Zelgius/BK's story was done very well, though. No problems there (except where it tied in with Ashera destroying the world and all that).

Well, by the end of PoR the good guys were mostly fighting to prevent the Dark God from waking up. Three years later, in RD, the Dark God wakes up anyway, leading to a bunch of ridiculous plot twists. RD's overall story, whilst fine early on, just rather unnecessarily went completely bonkers towards the end. PoR's story was successful in that it stayed consistent, linked together very well, was very good, and never at any point really went over-the-top. RD's story then ruined this with a story that went way too over-the-top. Part 1 was fine (even if it felt too much like it was just running through the cliff notes of PoR), Part 2 was fine (if too short), Part 3 started out quite well and could have been much better than it actually turned out to be, but lost consistency and became too jumpy with all the nonsense with Daein and the Blood Pact (am I the only one who thinks it could all have been solved in five minutes) and Part 4 was just stupid (exception being 4-5 because it had little to do with the main plot and I enjoyed it) Yes, revealing things in a sequel is fine but I just felt Radiant Dawn revealed too much. I liked the mysterious, unseen threat of the Dark God in Lehran's Medallion in PoR. It kept an atmospheric background threat behind the scenes. Imagine my disappointment when I played Radiant Dawn and found out that the Dark God was a nice little girl and the real villain was the goddess everyone adores. That's a plot twist typical of Saturday morning cartoons. As for other things...well, I liked the anonymity of the Black Knight's identity and the fact that he 'died' without us knowing who he was in PoR, but I don't think it was a bad move to bring him back and reveal who he was in RD. It would have been fine either way. However, IA completely fucked up revealing the BK's identity when Ranulf decided to tell Ike several chapters in advance. Now THAT is something that could have been done MUCH better.

^Might depend on whether or not he gets the 3-P Crossbow, so Shinon can at least counter-attack stuff too. Since Mia is practically useless in 3-1, it's gonna be tough either way.

Nah, more half-cast I'd say. Like, one black parent, one white parent. She's too milk chocolate to be properly black, and her facial features don't look 'black'. I mean, Devdan isn't exactly uber dark chocolate (like, 90% cocoa bars), but his features make him look pretty African (don't want to go into detail incase people start thinking I'm racist).

It depends on the difficulty. Ike can get by just fine without any supports in Easy/Normal. In Hard, support him with Oscar and give him the Boots so he has 9 movement. Mist, Reyson and Volke don't need supports. Reyson and Tormod can potentially support, so go for that. Mist has a decent amount of support options, but they are all frontliners. Volke's only support is Bastian. Not only is Bastian a terrible unit, but Volke doesn't really need a support anyway. My personal favourite support chain is Ike<a>Oscar, Oscar<b>Kieran, Kieran<a>Marcia, Ike<b>Soren. Great for blockading on Hard mode as nothing much will hit any of them.

Nah, Zihark wants it. At most he'll fight about four enemies per turn due to the river hampering Laguz movement. Like Jill, he also has high Speed (probably higher, actually), so it's just as reliable on him. Since Jill can take hits (slightly or significantly, depending on her stats) better than Zihark, and deal considerably more damage, Zihark wants Vantage+Beastfoe, especially as he doesn't have a Brave Sword. Ah, forgot about Canto taking up 10 points. Okay, give her Paragon, as she needs it more than Adept. Abuse the Brave Axe in 3-6. Abuse Jill in general in 3-12 (should be easy if you can get her to a decent level and an A support with Volug). Hopefully in 3-13 she can now two-shot most or all of the enemies with a Silver Axe. Can Laguz learn Adept? If so, consider giving it to Volug if his Strike rank isn't A, as he won't be able to ORKO very much without it.

Okay, having thought about it: Jill + Seraph Robe + Dracoshield + Volug support (uber Avoid bonuses) + Brave Axe + Adept (can't overuse the Brave Axe) + Paragon Volug + Part 1 abuse to get his Strike rank up to S + Jill support Zihark + Brave Sword + Vantage + Beastfoe + SOthe support Sothe + Resolve + Zihark support Micaiah + Physics Tauroneo gets the job done in 3-12 Yeah, it's certainly possible. Tbh the only dead character of much worth at this point in Hard mode is Nolan so it really isn't going to make all that much of a difference. Might want to consider giving the stat-up items to Zihark as he is likely more fragile than a promoted Jill but he isn't really worth using the whole game through either and Jill at least needs the HP boost to increase her usefulness. NOTE - Unsure if Jill has the necessary Skill points to equip both Adept and Paragon. Cbf to check.

Uh, it's just a regular laptop. Haven't changed the graphics card since I bought it. About 18 months old (unused for the last four because I have to buy a new memory card, was going to go for a 4GB one).

Will this work adequately on a laptop that has 4GB memory?

^Hey, can I ask where you managed to get that?

Magic users are only generally poor in Hard mode, where their rubbish stat caps (primarily in Speed) get the better of them. Ilyana might have been useful if Thunder magic hadn't been ruined and her Speed growth didn't blow goats. Soren is a good unit in Easy/Normal, and I tried using Calill once and she turned out ok.

Pretty reliably, but not efficiently. He's just another character from the "too much effort required" pile to be anything more than a fill-in in Hard. As far as Trueblades go in Hard mode, Zihark doesn't exactly top the list. Mia is much easier to train, simply because she's in Ike's team (plus, her high Skill and Speed make her excellent and killing more fragile enemies with Vantage + Adept. Soren isn't great in Hard mode so removing his Adept and giving it to Mia is fine). Stefan joins with acceptable stats to be used in the Tower. Just use one of those two.

Updates if anyone's interested: Chapter 6 - Soren gained a couple of levels by killing the boss and his two henchment. Ike solo'd most of it though. Chapter 7 - Mia recruited. She couldn't kill much, but could two shot the Mages and Healers. Got her to kill the boss too. Chapter 8 - This was a real pain because Mia and Soren are so fragile. Had to use Titania. Mia did okay with an Armourslayer against the Knights until she stopped dodging all their attacks and nearly died. She swapped places with Tits. Despite several hairy moments (including the boss almost one-shotting Soren) I managed to get through it. Chapter 9 - Was going excellently until Marcia got hit by a fluke critical hit from the Myrmidon near the houses, and then got finished off by the Mage. #@$£%! Thought I'd just leave her dead and use Tanith instead, before realising I need Marcia to recruit Makalov. Seriously pissed off because Mia and Marcia had some uber growths, which they doubtless WON'T get when I play through it again (most likely won't be for a week as I am busy IRL). FURY!!!!

Zihark is a good fill-in unit in in Part 1 on Hard mode but by Part 3 his shoddy defences ruin him and he can't do all that much to the laguz hordes because they have buffed up stats and good hit rates. Recruiting him into Ike's team is also pointless because if you do he'll be underlevelled and if you've been using Mia, she'll be at a much higher level and will mostly likely have better stats than him.

^Why? Sothe is very mediocre character who simply can't hack it by 3-13 on Hard.

You pretty much HAVE to use Tauroneo in 1-6-2. You just don't have enough good units to pull it off without him. Tauroneo solos the western bridge while Jill, Nolan, Volug and co. head north-east to fight the cavalry attacking Fiona.

I agree. I tried using him on Hard once. Too slow! He was useful for tanking a few hits (although even he can't take all that much) but not much else. I was just saying that, as a lance user, he's easier to use than Failona. Not sure I agree about Nephenee. I've found it depends how you play and how lucky you get with her Strength growth in Part 2. But then again, maybe that's what you were getting at? Agree on the others. Boyd/Zihark/Ed/Soren rock outside of Hard, but struggle in Hard. Well, the thing about Nolan is that aside from Str and Def his growths rock. He actually has 5% more Strength growth than Fiona, and at 45% it isn't likely he'll end up RNG screwed for Strength, although it can happen it is quite unlikely. His Speed and Skill growths are much more reliable than Boyd's, and as an axe user he needs both. The problem with Boyd is his Speed. Even if you can buff it up with PoR transfer data (unlikely because he doesn't have a very good chance of capping Speed in PoR without BExp resets and Speedwing abuse) his base Speed isn't great and he won't double anything early on. Same goes for his Skill...it doesn't start off too great and his shite Biorhythm means he probably won't be able to hit much when you really need him to. Both can go either way depending on the RNG growth luck. It's nothing new though...Ike's team is uber but aside from Ike, Neph, Mia and Shinon, the Greil Mercs generally aren't great Speed-wise. Still one of the better units in Ike's team, though...I always use him until 4-E, but prefer Nolan to him in the Tower because Nolan's Res is much better. I agree about Jill. In my opinion, the best Beorc unit in the game. Becomes utterly uber in Part 4. Yeah no prob, no hard feelings dude.

Yeah, it's satisfying to create a pretty good character on Hard with the limited resources you have. You know what's also more satisfying? Creating an excellent character in Hard using the limited resources you have. So I don't see your point. Oh, and 40% Strength growth for a unit with terrible base Strength is absolutely useless. Same goes for Skill and HP. She can't hit or kill anything, and will be destroyed on the counter. Yeah, nothing wrong with a bit of variety in training up DB members. So, I think on one playthrough I'll train up Zihark. Or maybe Volug. Or Aran. Or Edward. Or even someone like Leonardo. They're all better than Fiona/Meg. Uhh, you clearly didn't read my post properly. I said Fiona was a lance-using Jill who cann't fly, has rubbish base stats and poor growths. Nor did I focus on the weapon triangle whatsoever. How does mentioning weapons automatically relate to the weapons triangle. Perhaps you may wish to consider reading this post properly when/if you reply to it, in order to look less stupid. And yes, Meg uses swords, which are even worse in Hard mode because they have no weapons triangle advantage, so you're tripping over your own words. Congratulations. Totally great strategy man! You're an absolute strategic wizard! Who ever thought that killing the two best beorc characters in the game in such an unnecessary manner would turn out to be the best way to make the most out of them?! Heh, now that I'm done being sarcastic, I'd just like to say that I agree about doing your best to enjoy the DB chapters (with 3-12 the best one to do so on because it's the easiest DB chapter in the game), but sending Nolan and Jill to commit suicide when they're vital in the upcoming chapter is not my idea of either fun nor efficiency. Yeah, except Nephenee joins with decent base stats (even better with PoR transfer data), can easily gain several level-ups in Part 2 (especially in 2-E with the 'Javelin rain' strategy...do ask if curious), joins Ike's team in Part 3, and will most likely cap Skill and Speed (and possibly Resistance) at around level 10, meaning BExp will skyrocket her Strength (which will most likely have gained two or three increases after ten normal levels up anyway). On the whole, her excellent availability and usefulness in ORKOing faster enemies with below-average Defence results in her being pretty damn easy to train up, even in Hard mode. Still not satisfied with Nephenee? Want an awesome unit who uses lances? Use Aran. With uber growths in HP, Strength, Defence and Skill, he'll hit things, he'll hurt things, and he'll be able to take more than a couple of counter-hits in the process.

^You're over-exaggerating. It's harder to keep your frontliners alive unless you abuse Tauroneo, Sothe and friends. Micaiah is useful for Thani-bombing cavalry and armoured knights (of which there are plenty in Part 1). If you're playing correctly, keeping her safe is rarely an issue. The only exception might be 1-6-1 with all the Pegasus knights, but if you send only Jill into their range, she can pretty much solo the lot of them (they have weighed-down AS because Steel Lances are too heavy for them, so Jill can usually double them...may depend on transfer data). After Part 1, just use her as a healer.

^Yeah, you also highlighted the main issue when it comes to Fiona and Meg - effort. Why bother with the effort of training them up in Hard mode. Fiona is kinda like a lance-wielding Jill who can't fly, has crap base stats and crap growths, and joins under-levelled. Like practically all the unpromoted DB members in Hard mode, Meg will almost never double-attack anything, plus wielding swords and a 35% (or thereabouts) Strength growth means she won't be doing much in return from all the hits she's supposedly tanking. DB chapters should be focussed around training up Nolan and Jill, especially in Hard mode. If you really want an unpromoted DB tank, pick Aran. He has better movement, awesome General-esque growths despite being a Soldier, and that 70% Strength growth + lances means he'll be doing much more damage than Meg.

Well, the main problem I have with Aether is that when I face the Black Knight, it almost never activates even if Ike has max Skill, even if I use Mist to heal Ike so that he can attack more. Approximately two out of every three playthroughs I've had to reset the chapter because Aether never activated. I've never liked the Black Knight battle because even if you land every single normal hit it is possible to hit him with during the five-turn limit, he has something annoying like 3HP left. Of course, based on what I've read, I just happen to have incredibly unfortunate luck during the Black Knight fight, because it doesn't seem to happen to anyone else (and why would it? With maxed out skill, Ike has, or should have, a 26% chance to activate Aether each time he bloody attacks). So I'm very tempted to try out a different skill combo to see how reliable it is. On the subject of Ashnard, it doesn't really matter whether Ike pulls off an Aether or not when you're up against him unless you are unfortunately low on healing items/staves and need to kill him quickly.

Actually, I'd say he's pretty awesome throughout the entire game.