Branched Promotions or One-Way Promotions

[Inactive Account]

Branched allows for better party diversity and balance, I think.

[irtikliwT]

So I think one-way promotions are better. While branching adds some replay value and are fairly interesting once you've played through a few times, it is tough on newbies and people who haven't played that Fire Emblem before. Not only is Fire Emblem a fairly difficult series to begin with (I said FAIRLY), but branching promotions can make it even harder.

I don't understand your line of thought. How does branching promotions as currently implemented make anything harder in any way?

[Starwolf_UK]

My weird answer is going to be both at once. Kind of like how FE Gaiden did it. Not that FE Gaiden had balance in its branching promotions Cliff/Quilf being the only good mage that promotes from Villager for instance, I suppose the option is there more for a lopsided playthrough (though mages only get one promotion :( ). But the thing is FE gaiden only gave it to the trainee class and the branch was wider. It basically goes Villager -> Base class of any male promotion tree...just ignore the Dark Fighter class that can go back to villager and so go in an infinate loop of classes provided you pick Mercenary every time if you want to do lots and lots of grinding :(

[Little Sothe]

I prefer the one-way promotion class, because I really don't like some character in there other class (Ex: Ewan is a sage-in-training from Jehanna and yet he become a druid?. Or I don't imaginate Ross in a hero or Vanessa in a wyvern knight).So, one-branched promotion ftw!(Beside, it would be ridiculous if it was moved to FE10, like Leonardo becoming a bow knight then a silver knight or Meg becoming a gold knight)

[DragonBladeSniper]

I prefer branched ones because I like choices XD. And the whole no promotion items thing is awesome with any of the two.

[Super Mecha Death Christ]

Considering that Swordmaster is only barely stronger than an Assassin, and Great Knight is superior to General because it has more move, I find your hyperbole highly unsatisfactory.

There we go!

Here's an example from personal experience:

Always thought the Wyvern Knight was freaking overpowered in FE8. Superior speed and pierce equals more damage. Even without pierce, a Wyvern Knight could have lower power than a Wyvern Lord and still do my damage thanks to double attacks.

That's what I thought, but that's also personal biased. I also found plenty of people online who argue against the Wyvern Knight class and prefer Wyvern Lord instead for raw power.

It hit me that if someone disagrees with my idea, then the classes aren't as overpowered as I claim. If the class is indeed broken, no one would argue this point. The fact that people are willing to argue back and forth shows that it's more balanced than you give credit for. Just because it doesn't fit your play style doesn't mean it won't work beautifully for someone else's play style.

[Ragnell]

I don't understand your line of thought. How does branching promotions as currently implemented make anything harder in any way?

If you pick classes for your characters that are inferior to other possible classes (and on your 1st playthrough you probably will because you don't know what's good and what's not) then the game becomes substantially harder. If you always look online to see what classes are the best, then it won't be harder, but I try to find the best characters/classes myself.

And I do like the branched system, I just think the one in FE8 is flawed. It doesn't give you enough info. to pick the best classes.

[Knife]

Branched, if IS could provide better alternates. Berserker>>>>Warrior.

[irtikliwT]

If you pick classes for your characters that are inferior to other possible classes (and on your 1st playthrough you probably will because you don't know what's good and what's not) then the game becomes substantially harder.

I would prefer it if you would please give a concrete example of how this is the case rather than remaining in the land of unspecifics, as I am still having trouble grasping this.

[thanibomb]

I like one way promotions, but with 3 tiers (Radiant Dawn).

Branched promotions are okay, but they aren't balanced enough, like so many of you have already said.

And I hate the class swap system. It just doesn't feel Fire Emblem-y...

[dondon151]

To be honest, I'd prefer class swap over branched promotions.

If IS polished the system so that there aren't just 2 arbitrary class groups, and maybe if they modified the base + individual growths mechanism a bit, class swap would be much better than branched promotions. There's a whole lot more to customize, and there's many less restrictions.

[Defeatist Elitist]

To be honest, I'd prefer class swap over branched promotions.

If IS polished the system so that there aren't just 2 arbitrary class groups, and maybe if they modified the base + individual growths mechanism a bit, class swap would be much better than branched promotions. There's a whole lot more to customize, and there's many less restrictions.

I agree. In my opinion:

Class Swap > Branched Promotion > One Class

By the logic that if you don't want any of the other classes/stuff then you just don't have to use it, but if you do, then you can.