Ack-Tar

Let's see...my weapons distribution and 4-E party: Vague Katti: either Edward or Mia, depending on who I used/who turned out best. Alondite: ditto, either Edward or Mia. Wishblade: I rarely use someone who can use it...Gatrie, on the rare occasions I do. Urvan: Haar. Double Bow: Shinon. Baselard: Volke. Sothe can go rot somewhere, for all I care. Rexcalibur: Soren. Rexflame: Sanaki. Rexbolt: Ilyana (of course). Rexaura: Micaiah. Matrona: Micaiah, if she can use it. Balberith: Pelleas. So, I end up going with something like this: Ike Sothe Micaiah Sanaki Kurthnaga Ena Shinon Haar Mia/Edward Elincia (healing utility) Ilyana Soren Pelleas Volke Tibarn Nailah Reyson

I wouldn't call Volke's combat "bad", especially after the Stilettos start showing up in Ch.21. His Strength has a fair chance to cap early on (thanks to its 55% growth and his 12 base Strength), his Skill is good, and his Speed is excellent. 15/1 Volke, not an unreasonable level before promotion, pulls about 17 AS, enough to double everything in Ch.20 but the horseback units, Shiharam, and the lone myrmidon (I chose Ch.20 because it's the first one after he promotes to an Assassin). He also averages 16-17 Strength, and enemies usually run around 11 Defense at that point in the game. Indeed, Knives and Daggers are poor, but the Stiletto is effectively a personal Armorslayer (because, frankly, who else would use the knives well enough to make giving them to that character worthwhile?) that also works well in combat otherwise. And you get two free (Ch.21 chest, and when Bastian joins in Ch.25). Lethality is a hit-and-miss skill, but it effectively multiplies his critical rate by 1.5x (since activation is [CRT]/2 %). Throw in his good Skill and the Stiletto (+10 CRT), and he's got a good chance to tear something to pieces between a critical hit and the possible OHKO, always a plus for a combat unit. Plus, who else would get one of the four Occult scrolls, besides maybe Ike and one of the Paladins? My point is that Volke isn't "bad" at combat. He's not the best at it, but having one of the highest Speed stats of any unit and a solid offensive stat spread otherwise makes him a bit better than just thief utility.

I end up using Aether and Lethality as definites (Aether for its Black Knight-killing ability and, later, for handling Ashnard; Lethality for its cool animation and because a guaranteed OHKO, no matter the infrequency of activation, is nice to have). The assignment of the other scrolls depends on who I use in my party. Admittedly, the Occult skills are pretty bad in this game.

What screwed me over the first time was when the reinforcements appeared at the start of the enemy phase. 'Twas not pleasant, frankly. That, and going through Sacae gave me a hatred of the Nomad/Nomad Trooper class I will not get over. At least Ilia's pegasi are easier.

I played through the entire hack and enjoyed it rather thoroughly. I did, though, notice that some of the support conversations were rather screwy. Mia and Sakura, for one...it gives the old Erk/Serra text, but with Jenny as Serra and Shion as Erk. Raymond/Matthew gave even stranger results: no conversation, Matthew got the bonus, but Raymond got no bonus out of it. As for characters...Cruz just seemed really out of place. I don't know, but something about his appearance was just too unsettling. That, and it seemed almost like he was an afterthought with Luna and Excellen outclassing him. Viper and Kyle also appeared rather useless. By the time they arrive, there are characters that clearly outclass them (Kyosuke) or, in Kyle's case, will outclass them as a result of being "forced" (Raymond). Can't say who I'd like in place...ideally Haar or Volke from FE9, but that's personal preference. And I don't know about anyone else, but I used Sain and Matthew...the improved growths and Paladin stat caps really helped Sain, and Shishioh Blade + Assassin = carnage.

It's actually my favorite FE game. Don't know why, either...whenever I go back to the other FE games, I don't find them as consistently fun as FE6.