FE11 Low Turn Run (No Warp)

[Mekkah]

I started on this a pretty long time ago, pretty much only talking to Rody and occasionally vykan/Rolan about this, but only Rody beat the game so he had to hear more of my ranting.

The goal of this run is to get the lowest turn count possible, with as the only restriction not using the Warp Staff at all.

For this, I basically let Marth head to the throne linea recta every single time, except Ch22, where I have Marth visit the Gotoh village to get Starlight. The reason for this is that if I go Starlight-less, I cannot defeat Gharnef. Without defeating Gharnef, I do not get the Falchion, and thus I'm sent to 20x, which costs much more time than visiting that village. The only other way to not get 20x is to recruit Tiki, but Bantu's Ch7 village is much further out of the way than the Starlight one, plus it likely takes more time to recruit Tiki due to Bantu's lacking move.

The two major improvements on my first run (which I stopped at Ch19) are:

- Getting the Boots.

- Train only Frey and Hardin (and Marth), concentrating RNG abuse and forges (especially Javelins) on them.

The reason for the Boots is because they actually cost less turns to get than what they return (in fact, later I learned they cause no turn impediment at all). They're obviously used on Marth, as the only chapter in which moving Marth his full move every turn doesn't matter is the final.

Concentrating more means I can ORKO more effeciently, and it means I won't have to raise Marth as much for Medeus, since I'll have a Paladin do it instead (they have more move, so if I can ORKO, all the sooner).

This ORKOing was pretty difficult - it turned out I couldn't quite 2HKO Medeus due to his 60 HP/25 def. Requires 55 atk for a clean ORKO, and even a +10 might Silver Lance forge on a 25* str Paladin with A lances only makes it to 47. I'd use Dracoknight if they could double, but sadly they can't (they have 21 AS, Paladins have 25 Spd cap, Draco's 23) So I would have to get a crit, which means I can satisfy for a 4RKO instead, which means I only need 40 atk. I actually forgot about Medeus having +2 def from the throne when forging my Javelin for this (I used a Javelin in case I'd need to attack him from afar), which got me sweating for a minute, but thankfully I forged it in Ch24 instead so I could make a new forge in the final preparations. I would also forge a lot of crit on this weapon, for obvious reasons. I thought at first this would be just for nothing, a few less resets at best, but sometimes you've got to overkill when preparing, since a simple oversight can cost you a lot of time. Like when I had to redo the entire run simply because of missing the Boots.

Note that whenever I say "this time" and such, I'm comparing it to my old run. I can upload the notes for that if there's any interest, but I do not think anyone cares.

I've uploaded screenshots of every chapter right before I end it. They're linked, not actually displayed, since otherwise this thread might load too slowly.

P-1: 5 turns

Took me a lot longer to actually get Marth to level up str+spd this time rather than last time, but there's nothing else to worry about, so I insisted.

P-2: 3 turns

Made Abel give Frey his Javelin, then Frey killed practically all in the way so he got a hp/str/spd level-up.

P-3: 7 turns

I hate lack of battlesaves, so I didn't fully manipulate level-ups here (satisfied with just +str or +spd).

P-4: 7 turns

Got Marth a good level-up on his first kill, and otherwise I just satisfied for Frey gaining Spd, and then another time Spd + a lot of other things but not Str.

Ch1: 5 turns

Very satisfying level-ups overall.

Stats at start of Ch2:

Marth 5.93

22 hp, 9 str, 5 skl, 9 spd, 10 luk, 7 def

Frey 6.17

22 hp, 9 str, 8 skl, 10 spd, 4 luk, 9 def

Ch2: 4 turns

Killed Castor this time because I had Shiida go to the boss (and she couldn't reach him next turn if she talked to Castor)

Draug leveled up like twice but all he got was +2 def and +1 hp, lol

Marth got an amazing level-up

Jeigan missed with Silver Lance on the boss, but Shiida saved the day with a Wing Spear crit

Ch3: 5 turns

Recruited Nabarl, killed boss with Frey, blabla.

Ch4: 6 turns

Forged the Pencil (+4 mt Iron Lance) for Frey.

Matthis just begs not to be recruited.

Ch5: 4 turns

This time I killed Wendel for the Barrier staff.

Also moved Hardin out of the forests ASAP so he could help with clearing the enemies.

Ch6: 6 turns

Hardin's 30% str growth was pretty annoying, but I at least got one out of two. Not that it matters much, since he has Silver Lances, but sometimes he has to use Javelins, and there's Medeus, though I'll probably use Frey or Marth for that.

Marth and Frey got killer level-ups as well, and I got every single chest without using any Master Keys.

Ch7: 7 turns

Some minor durability issues for Hardin because I forgot to use the Angelic Robe, but nothing big.

Ch8: 5 turns

Not entirely satisfied with my level-ups here, but it'll do.

Ch9: 5 turns

Forged a +1 mt/+10 hit Javelin called the Dart for hitting pirates with Hand Axe and such.

Got really nice level-ups here, forgot to screenshot, so redid it just to get the screenshot but kept the old save.

Got both the Bullion (M) and the Goddess Icon to sell.

Ch10: 8 turns

Apparently I got pretty good level-ups!

Stats at the start of Ch11:

Marth 9.72 (C swords)

26 hp, 12 str, 7 skl, 11 spd, 13 luk, 8 def

Frey 14.40 (D swords, C lances)

27 hp, 13 str, 13 skl, 16 spd, 10 luk, 11 def

Hardin 14.38 (D swords, A lances)

36 hp, 16 str, 11 skl, 15 spd, 9 luk, 9 def

Shiida 8.81 (C lances)

19 hp, 4 str, 10 skl, 19 spd, 13 luk, 8 def, 6 res

So far it looks like Hardin will be the Medeus slayer.

Ch11: 9 turns

I had a Speedwing on my hand, but before using it I checked the next chapter's stats to see how much Spd I would need to double the Sniper. It turns out he has 12 AS, so Frey already doubles him, and by giving the Speedwing to Hardin I assure that he doubles as well. This is good, because I already planned on Hardin being the one that gets his str/spd maxed out.

Rigged a good level-up on Marth and two on Hardin.

Ch12: 6 turns

This was the centerpoint of the revision of my first attempt. I would have to get the Boots as soon as possible, which meant that for a change, it would be the Boots retriever that had to move his full movement every turn, rather than Marth.

Assuming a 10 mov Dracoknight,

turn 1: to the left of the lower of the two Knights

turn 2: one square above the first chest

turn 3: between the priest and the sniper in the throne room

turn 4: one square above the southern door

turn 5: reach the chest

This was actually much less than I expected. Marth actually takes 6 turns to get to the throne, so I thought I had lots of wiggle room here.

Then I actually tried it: promoted Hardin, reclassed to Dracoknight, etc, and I found it was pretty difficult to keep moving him full move. Nonetheless I managed I got Hardin there on turn 6, so effectively getting the Boots cost me no extra turns. Improvement from here out!

The level-ups weren't as good as I hoped, at least not for Hardin (no spd or str), but Frey got both, and I do not need a lot more manipulation for Hardin.

I'm keeping the save in case I used too many Master Keys or something (I have 2/5 and 4/5 left). I got all the treasure, tried to use Julian for it as much as possible (Marth even got a chest on his last non-seize turn).

Ch13: 3 turns

Used the Boots on Marth.

I'd promote Frey, but he's 6 EXP from a level-up, so I didn't just yet.

Reclassed Hardin back to Paladin, and Midia to Dracoknight.

The plan here was to maybe recruit Astram if it's convenient, otherwise just use Midia as distraction and chip damage. In the end, she died to Arrowspate after recruiting Astram, and I don't care because she isn't really good for anything. Astram at least can double as a Hero.

I fielded some fillers for battlesaving. Reclassed Sedgar and Wolf to *gasp* Generals so they could follow the mob and hurt some things without dying, and use the savepoint in the middle if convenient. In the end, they didn't do anything, but it was fun to do.

Ch14: 6 turns

Promoted Frey, and reclassed both Hardin and Frey to Dracoknight.

Reclassed Bord to Pirate so he could cross the river and help to Hammer the Knights. Sadly he was just short of OHKOing.

Sent a party of Frey, Astram and Julian to the chestroom, but sadly there was only enough time for the Silver Card and not the Bulion.

Ch15: 5 turns

I tested both going over the road and through the river + desert with Marth, and the road was faster (1 square short for seize on turn 5 when doing the river).

I actually got my desired level-ups when testing the road route, so I took the save point. Gharnef never even got to leave.

Also bought new Javelins with Silver Card.

Ch16: 6 turns

Reclassed Hardin to Paladin to uncap his Spd.

I had to work around the mob of Dracoknights and Horsemen that start on the throne peninsula - I originally planned to counter them all with a Javelin from a certain spot, but turns out two of the Dracoknights have horseslaying weapons, meaning Paladin nor Dracoknight are safe classes to counter all five of them. So I just took care of them later.

This one caused quite a lot of frustration. I had an amazing attempt going on, almost perfect level-ups, then I decided to move Marth 8 instead of 9 squares ("knowing" this would not cost him a turn - I calculated the grid) so he could double and kill a Cav rather than 2HKO a Horseman. Then later he turned out to be 1 square short of a 6-turn seize. Turns out I forgot to factor in that the gate costs him 2 mov rather than 1.

My retry went about as well though, so no huge sweat.

On a more positive note, I could recruit Xane even while moving full every turn, who turned out to be a huge help as a Hardin copy

Ch17: 3 turns

Marth can open the throne room door, then reach the space in front of the throne on turn 2 with Boots, lol. But I used Julian as to spare Door Keys.

I ended up taking a while here just to manipulate Hardin's two level-ups, wanting at least either +2 str/+1 spd or +1/+2 spd. Hardin's Spd growth is much higher than his Str growth, so I ended up with 23 Str/25 Spd, which combined with the Energy Drop has him as ready for Medeus as he could be.

Also obviously obtained Fortify and the VIP Card from the Bishops.

Ch18: 6 turns

Marth moving full move every turn gets him in front of the boss, I even replayed this chapter to check if there was a way to 5-turn and there isn't.

He was in danger or close to it a lot, so this took a couple of tries, but nothing special otherwise.

Ch19: 5 turns

This is a tricky one that took me some time in my previous run to figure out, and it's the one chapter I am paranoid of not having enough keys for. At this point I have 3 Door Keys and 6 Master Key uses left, plus Julian is there, and I let Xane transform into Julian to cover even more ground.

Below is a "map" of the items in the chest rooms, from top to bottom (every horizontal row has only 1 chest room with 2 chests).

0: Starsphere (i need this one)

1: Master Seal, Speedwings (ill take the latter if there's time)

2: Geosphere, Angelic Robe (i'll take both if there's time)

3: BullionXL, Bolganone (i'll get the former if there's time)

4: Pure Water, Spirit Dust (need neither)

In my last run, I wanted all that could be useful, but now that Hardin is already capable of ORKOing Medeus the way he is, I could take it more easily.

I ended up getting everything except the Master Seal and room #4, which is exactly all that could ever be useful. This includes the Lightsphere and the Starsphere.

Ch20: 5 turns

From here, we walk in uncharted territory, so here's some improvisation.

I forged Marth's Rapier with +5 might, and sold some things I didn't need, including the BulionXL which put my total balance over 50k.

I also gave Marth a Angelic Robe, Dragonshield and 2 Speedwings. Reason for this is that Hardin and Frey have practically no use for them anymore, whereas Marth will sometimes have to be out in the open in the chapters to come. Marth did end up needing it and gained like three levels.

Marth got the Starsphere, and Hardin the Lightsphere. The latter helped him ignore forests, and Frey later traded it to himself to KO Lorenz, ignoring the throne's bonus.

Also, Boah and Lena were assaulted at the start location, but Boah managed to shield Lena for the 2 turns that it was necessary, and Lena Mending him saved his life.

Really, could have been planned better, but what does it matter if I got the minimum turn count (plus Gravidus).

Ch21: 3 turns

Promoted Shiida to a 10/1 Dracoknight and let her fly to the Secret Shop to buy 3 Spirit Dusts, 3 Speedwings and 3 Energy Drops.

Also bought a huge batch of new vulneraries since I was running out. I won't need much anymore because Gravidus works like an Elixir, which saved Hardin this map.

Forged a 14 might Javelin called the Lion Lance and let Frey use it to ORKO the strong Generals on this map at range. He needed an Energy Drop for it, too.

Ch22: 8 turns

Pumped Boah with Spirit Dusts to empower his healing a little, and for the Gharnef fight next battle.

Marth reached Gotoh's village on turn 3, while Hardin, Frey and Xane blew up the rest. Only Ridersbanes were remote problems, but nothing a fresh stock of vulneraries can't handle.

Ch23: 7 turns

Reclassed Boah to Sage to give him +2 str and +1 mag, which to my delight was just enough to 2HKO Gharnef (27 atk on 34 hp/10 res). Sadly Boah was getting doubled, and I needed to give him 2 Speedwings, and while I didn't have any better options for them, I was paranoid about having so, and ended up just using Pure Water to make him live.

I found out through testing that you can manipulate which Gharnef is the real one. I kept on resetting until the one at the lower right was the real one, as Boah could never reach the top ones before Marth would reach the throne (3 more movement).

Actually killing Gharnef was annoying because Boah was getting doubled and ORKO'ed without Barrier/Pure Water. Fortify/Physic repeatedly healing Gharnef wasn't fun either. In retrospect I should have done it much more quickly using Xane and Boah at once, but once again, I'm beyond the stage of caring too much.

Otherwise, Frey rushed to the top with a Javelin in one hand and Pure Water in the other, which bulldozered a fake Gharnef, and Marth just kept himself alive on the way there.

Julian got the left chest (BullionS) as soon as he could, and the right one (Talisman) when the Swarm Bishop could no longer attack him.

Ch24: 4 turns

Reclassed Boah back to Bishop so he could Physic again.

Promoted Elice, reclassed her to Sage for slightly higher Mag, just as a Fortify filler.

Reclassed Hardin and Frey to Dracoknights so they could fly over the mountains and clear a path for Marth, who follows over the mountain path. One uses the Iote's Shield to ensure safety from the Snipers.

Gave Hardin an Energy Drop to max out his str.

Those Magestone Mamkutes hurt as hell (20 damage), I had to bring out the forges. Speaking of forges:

Forged a +7 mt, +30 crit Javelin called Storm to kill Medeus with. Costed me about 30k, but that's okay, I sold whatever I wouldn't need anymore.

Final: 4 turns

I love the final music.

By the way, above screenshot was taken in a quick redo where things went differently, since in all the epicness I forgot to screenshot before the battle.

If you thought that was dumb: I forgot about Medeus being on a throne...I did overshoot the required 40 mt by 2, but that was back when Hardin was a Dracoknight (which has 1 more str than Paladin). So I had to forge a new Storm, which I could only get to 25 crit (but I got it +9 might just to be on the safe side).

Reclassed Hardin and Frey to Paladins, gave Frey the other Storm and the Gravidus, and off I went.

Turned out final enemies were actually pretty damn strong, and I had to reset multiple times just to have my Paladin survive...I even used Frey instead of Hardin for charging since his def was slightly better.

I lost Julian to a stray Pachyderm, and I couldn't help a Paladin coming into the north-west room where I had my healers (I was going to block with Sedgar, but the Levin Sword Hero murdered him), so Lena had bit the dust as well.

Just Elice, Xane and Gotoh did fine healing though.

It also turned out I had no need to ORKO Medeus, as I could counter him on enemy phase, though I would still need a crit as the throne healing prevented a 4HKO. I got this crit on the second player phase attack.

I also got to fight him up close since the Mamkute in front of him moved to suicide on Frey (he missed though).

And then Marth married Shiida and lived happily ever after.

People's records:

MVPs:

Frey: 175B 140W

Hardin: 139B 115W

With some fighting assistance of:

Marth: 94B 42W

Shiida: 30W 22B

Xane: 13B 12W

Thanks for healing:

Lena: 4B 0W (died in endgame, but did lots of Physicing)

Boah: 11B 3W (killed Gharnef, did lots of Physicing, and Mending Xane)

Gotoh: 2B 0W (Fortified during endgame)

Xane: 13B 12W (Fortified during endgame, so two mentions)

And of course, the burglar award goes to:

Julian: 2B 0W (died in endgame)

And very rarely assisted by:

Cain: 7B 2W

Abel: 8B 3W

Draug: 24B 8W

Ogma: 16B 9W

Barst: 17B 8W

Bord: 20B 11W

Cord: 11B 6W

Nabarl: 6B 3W

Sedgar: 3B 0W (died in endgame)

Midia: 3B 0W (died in Ch13)

Dolph: 5B 0W

Maccellan: 5B 0W

Astram: 14B 6W

People who got no action at all but survived anyway:

Wolf

Vyland

Roshea

Caesar

Radd

Tomas

Elice

People who were never recruited to begin with:

Gordin

Wrys

Castor

Darros

Matthis

Wendell

Rickard

Athena

Bantu

Roger

Maria

Minerva

Linde

Jake

Horace

Palla

Catria

Arran

Samson

Etzel

Est

Tiki

Lorenz

Ymir

Nagi

Screenshots of Campaign Summary (which has every chapter's turn count):

Prologue - Ch2

Ch3 - Ch8

Ch9 - Ch14

Ch15 - Ch20

Ch21 - Endgame

Edited October 15, 2009 by Mekkah

[Rodykitty]

I really enjoyed reading the playthrough log. And I also enjoyed your rants on MSN.

It's really interesting to see how a low turn game works out without warp.