The Last Promise

[Enaeius]

There aren't any supports yet.

Also does anyone know where the secret shops are?

Well, here are the ones that I know of in version 1.0

Chapter 17 has a secret shop in the prison area, it's in that odd little "alley"

Chapter 23 （a bizarre looking floor）

Chapter 23x （two blocks left of the transfer）

Chapter 26 （upper left corner of the whole map）

Chapter 27 （lower right corner of the grass land）

Edited September 4, 2012 by Enaeius

[HongLei]

Thank you Enaeius, I feel dumb after spending 5 minutes looking in 14, because I was thinking there had to be some incentive to buy a card.

[Elliot Gale]

Having completed the game a good three times with a fourth on the way, I've managed to form opinions regarding most of the cast, and learned a great deal about the game itself by stumbling into cute little bonuses (and errors, of course) on accident.

[spoiler=Character rundown. Read at your own risk!]Siegfried

He's basically Sigurd for the duration of his story. When he comes back in the main game, he's still one of your best meatshields and sets up kills for your units-in-training. The Nothung doesn't just rip magicians to shreds, either, as it's more powerful and reliable than every sword short of Silver and up. Losing him sucks, but it's no reason to avoid his use. The same general progression applies to Marcus anyway. xP

Shon

As regrettable as his stats can get, Shon is a solid unit due to the Piercing Sword and Silvans easily dealing with problematic units. He's naturally the best candidate for any stat buffs available in Siegfried's story.

Corben

In terms of growth, he's not very consistent, and the hindered experience gain of his class becomes a problem for him later in the game. He's not by any means bad, though, since he has the usual utility of a mounted unit and puts in a lot of work in Siegfried's story. Focus on his lance rank for best results.

Tamiko

Incredible as a result of staff utility and almost always the first unit to be promoted. Her growth hasn't proven to be the most consistent either, but she will never suffer from mediocre stats simply due to the nature of her class. Still, hope for as much magic as possible.

Shuuda

It's true, he does come to be outclassed by other units due to the limited caps of his class, but make no mistake - that takes a long time to come into play, and until then Shuuda functions very well, as every mercenary tends to. Gaining access to toys such as the Hammer and the Swordslayer shortly after his promotion helps him remain relevant even into the end game.

Inanna

Ever a tricky one to raise, and frequently not worth the time when she has to compete with several other fliers that are stronger and bulkier than her. They tend to have the level lead, too. I will say that the triangle attack is amazingly useful in this game, though, so if you're willing to forgo the wyverns altogether, then by all means use her.

Kevin

Bow down to your God. Kevin never disappoints, frequently sporting way more speed and resistance than a knight should, on top of the usual beastly HP and defense. His strength and skill can come up on the low side, but I can hardly discredit him for it when he can sport some of the most powerful weapons out there anyway. Hands down the best candidate for Sylmeria, and one of the few units who can tango with the final boss.

Arthur

I cannot fathom why he exists. On top of being completely outclassed by Anakin and Tamiko, he's absent for half the game with no means of making up for it, unlike Storm who has a buffed experience growth and awesome personal weapon. I'd label him the worst unit in the game were it not for his Siegfried mode playability.

Storm

This guy pulls off the disappearing act a lot better than Rath. His offensive growths are reliable, he gains experience quickly, and his weapon options are awesome! Being the source of the Emblem Bow is really cool, too. I like to have him around to make use of all those bow drops I accumulate over the course of the game.

Althares

Being the only thief in your party for most of the game solidifies his presence on the team. While one could argue he's not needed like your average thief due to the overall increased availability of keys, he'll save you a lot of time, not to mention grief if he's fast enough at several key points in the game. His offense is respectable and at times a lifesaver so long as he's carrying a Killing Edge. He grows fast, too, so why not?

Cia

Her poor skill is the only thing keeping her from being the greatest thing since sliced bread, and even that doesn't harm her too much due to the insanity of Hero's Flare, Aircaliber, and other such weapons. Early arrival almost lands her in the staple category. I noticed she appears alongside the main characters on the map in a few scenes, too, even though she doesn't say anything. A hint from Blazer? :x

Noah

I don't actually have much to say here. I never saw much cause to use him, even in Siegfried's story (since he returns auto leveled). Shuuda should be outperforming him by the time he shows up in the main game, and if not, Asch certainly is. He's high on my list of characters for whom I'd like to see support conversations, though. Those can't come soon enough.

Anakin

Best. Lord. Ever. He has but one fault - a forced and relatively early promotion that railroads the player into abusing the snot out of him for best results, causing other characters to suffer slightly. You don't have to buy any equipment for him until after the fact, and he becomes an incredible dodge tank on top of the utility he already sports. He'll very likely reach 20/20 before anyone else.

Incidentally, my biggest qualm with the game right now actually stems from his being allowed to motivate even while silenced. What?

Ace

Doomed to forever be in Kevin's shadow. He's decent enough, though I'm forced to question his overall stability.

Eduardo

The most bizarre cavalier I've ever had the privilege of using. He's built like an axe user in that he has high HP and strength to offset less than stellar everything else. Charge is no Brave Lance, but it's a great way to take out physically frail units once he gets some skill under his belt. Like Corben, he gets shafted later in the game. He's probably the better of the two, though.

Haas

Probably your go-to bow guy if you ignored Storm and Zach, but I can't imagine he's better than either.

Karina

Destroyer of worlds. Karina can Leroy Jenkins the first few maps for which she is available and will be a great asset for the whole game. Her combat comes up short later on due to her low con and strength, though. Seems to be a running pattern that mounted units get shafted out of experience growth and are held back by caps, if they can even reach them.

Kelik

Forced and totally nuts. Screws the overall playability of other swordy-types pretty hard, with Shuuda being the only one fortunate enough to have a niche once Kelik comes into his own.

Levion

Superman. Kind of glad he isn't involved with most of the game. xD

Logan

I don't think his potential really matters - he screws you out of Asch and has to compete with Kelik, who has a massive head start on him and even greater potential. Shaky bases and debuting on a map with way too much enemy variety for his own safety don't help matters.

Itsuke

Compared to Cia, he's far more well-rounded and capable of driving almost all his stats close to their caps (yes, even defense). He won't double as many enemies in the mid game, but I can't fault him on it when he's still incredibly potent. He joins early enough himself, so he's quite up there in terms of viability.

Asch

My face when Chainsaw.

Great for handling the boss of Ch15, among other things since he's your only axe user for awhile. Siegfried style growths and passable bases allow him to be a mainstay if you so choose.

Zach

Every bit as good as Storm, but for slightly different reasons - early joining and ballistae being the key points. Easier to use without any particular commitment, I suppose, though I never felt he had to be there.

Lirin

The stronger, bulkier older sister to the quicker, more nimble Inanna (who ironically has the most con among the pegs). Same problem as before, though - she's competing with Karina and soon Ben for a party slot, so it's difficult to justify her use.

Tekun

Frankly, he's awful. I dig his trippy animations, though. xD

Emma

Defies logic. Incredible defenses allow her to be stuck on the front lines even while unpromoted, and after she is, she'll serve as a nice means of wearing down enemies if she doesn't outright kill them (her magic is kind of low, so I wouldn't expect that). Feels required as far as I'm concerned.

Ben

Since he recruits a Risk, it's a wise idea to train him so he's not being shoehorned into the team and escorted through Ch21, though I don't like him quite as much as Karina since they suffer most of the same problems and he shows up later.

Mark

Ohai. As advertised, he's nothing special. However, he's better built for handling axes than Asch. Water and mountain walk are quite useful at times, too, so he's not a waste of time by any means. The Brave Axes you end up with are liable to go to waste if he's not using them.

Lyam

Stands out in that he's a Ranger in a game where Nomads exist. Can't say anything beyond that. xD

Rex

I've never had the opportunity to see how he ultimately turns out due to the early presence of Kevin and Ace putting them way ahead. Doesn't seem like dead weight at least.

Yue

As always, dark magic is OP, so I like to have him around to make use of it. He's not particularly outstanding amongst his kind, but he is rather stable and easy to train. May as well, right?

Howard

DAT SPEED. Very useful for the map in which he joins, but is he a keeper? Not sure.

Sai

Poor guy. He gets thrashed by virtually everything on the map in which he joins, and there's never really an opportunity for him to turn that around given that the difficulty of the game spikes after that point. Down there with Arthur on the playability scale.

Risk

Kelik could be promoted at this point, and if so, Risk isn't seeing the light of day. Still, recruit him for what he's holding.

Liquid

I've heard he has the Lethality skill, which is cool and all, but I can't see him ever using it due to his low skill and tragic growths. Bound to be a liability if used.

Leopold

I'll be honest. I've refused his joining every single time and don't even know what his stats are like. Sylmeria and 10,000 gold are just too good to pass up.

Shadow

The alternative for when Althares is neglected. Nothing more, nothing less.

Alice

The go-to flier if you've ignored the rest, or if they're doing poorly. She's pretty much Tanith. Good bases (weapon ranks included), decent growths, and a special little event in Ch26 is unlocked by her presence. Do note that this is only my theory; I actually had all three pegasi deployed when I discovered this.

Rana

Would probably be a lot cooler if there weren't anywhere between three and five units already outclassing him by the time he shows up. A slight liability when he joins, too. :/

Gary

What's up, Galzus?

Frederick

Shows up at a bad time in a bad position and has nothing whatsoever on Kevin.

Rachel

Defines bottom tier.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Elliot Gale

[Aere]

Ether Sphere's effects are PERMANENT??? :O :O :O :O :O whattttt. Cia was warped/killed chapter 24 on Turn 1 EP with Hero's Flare and Ether Sphere.

My Rex is kicking the crap out of Ace, who I think got str screwed. He rawks.

Shuuda has gotten all of my Lucky Icons and a Dracoshield or 2, and still has piss-poor durability.

[Elliot Gale]

Does anyone else feel as though the amount of item drops in the game is a little excessive? It seems like the player never genuinely *needs* to buy anything short of Heals and the occasional Anima or Light tome.

[Mage Knight 404]

Does anyone else feel as though the amount of item drops in the game is a little excessive? It seems like the player never genuinely *needs* to buy anything short of Heals and the occasional Anima or Light tome.

Thank God I was not the only one who noticed. xD

I've done two runs and by Chapter 25 I've had trouble managing my things because my convoy would get filled up and cluttered with garbage weapons or stuff I really don't need.

[Midleiro F.]

[spoiler=after chapter 24] Wasn't Siegfried supposed to die after chapter 24? I'm on my 2nd run and this time I just skipped through the dialogs after chapter 24 with 'start'. Now I'm on chapter 25 and I still have Sieg on my party. Might be a bug? ...

[AstraLunaSol]

Yeah, that's a bug, you shouldn't skip the Ch24 Ending.

[Shugey]

I wonder what happens when you bring him to Chapter 27, because everyone says something.

[Elliot Gale]

I can only imagine the game would freeze. xD

So, another nitpick. Why is it that Anakin's ultimate tome is just sort of... there? A generic enemy dropping it without a single word regarding its importance or use is rather bizarre. I'd go for an Anakin-specific seize event on that castle if nothing else.

[Shugey]

Because only Kelik and Shon are allowed to get legendary weapons with meaning. Shon has an excuse, as the weapon and promotion item are tied together and slightly plot important. Kelik has no excuse besides blatant author favoritism.

[Chocolate Kitty]

blatent author favoritism?

what

that's like

only the case if like

kelik was required to actually beat the game--ohwait

ch23

i'll make it work

[shadowofchaos]

Kelik has no excuse besides blatant author favoritism.

One of the names Blazer used to go by: Keriku

> Kelik

Get it yet?

[Shugey]

You mean that the character that is not exactly plot essential but still speaks a lot and has a posse of powerful characters, a tragic backstory, and must be used to beat the game is an author insert?

What a concept!

/sarcasm

[Anouleth]

You mean that the character that is not exactly plot essential but still speaks a lot and has a posse of powerful characters, a tragic backstory, and must be used to beat the game is an author insert?

What a concept!

/sarcasm

Don't forget that he's really awesome and powerful. And iirc, mysterious too.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Anouleth

[MacLovin]

ok, tried Sieg HM.

What........the........fuck.

Ok, Siegfried+Ether sphere for the rest of Anakin mode.

haha.

[Chocolate Kitty]

you haven't done hardmode unless you used sai and arthur and didn't use kelik

[Randombobman]

you haven't done hardmode unless you used sai and arthur and didn't use kelik

mistaken tryhard with hard mode

[Crimson Red]

Hey guys,

I'm not learning anything in class right now (read: it's beyond my comprehension) so I figured I'd take this moment out to respond to some important comments, as well as a few not important ones. I can't do everything so as usual check the blog as I sometimes address issues there. I'm starting at the top of page 47

Also I apologize in advance for typos, I'm typing on my phone and half the time I can't even see what I'm typing -_-

- Althares is a good fighter on average

- you lose all your money and weapons after part 1 so selling them and buying them for angelic robes is a legitimate and helpful strategy to buff your characters a little when they return. Being smart enough to do that is on you though (and I imagine most people wouldn't really think to use it unless they did a second play through)

- @Bob it's kind of a long-term commitment so it won't be that simple *wince*

- @Kitty of Time *winces again* I know, I -really- need to get a bug fix patch out... Hearing glitches over and over irks me (and it's not your faults, it's mine for not fixing them timely).

- Supports don't exist yet, they're planned for v2 (I have to finish writing the latter half or so and then format and insert them... It'll be around at least 25 hours more work, I'd guess :|

- the chapter 26 secret shop is not supposed to exist

- @Elliot ugh, PLEASE use spoiler tags? There are some rather significant spoilers in there IMO ._.

Regarding your thoughts: there are no "Lord" characters, thank you very much. Also Arthur does have his niche and can be used but yes he's probably still one of the worst units in the game, but I'm okay with a couple terrible units and a couple amazing ones if most everyone else is okay lol

@Silencing can you have support conversations while silenced? *wince* I'll have it "fixed" for the next patch regardless but I'm jut curious if in vanilla FE7 "silence" actually meant not being able to talk or if it just meant one's magic capabilities are sealed. ;/

And on most everything else it's just your opinions so meh, I don't really like the whole concept of "required characters" outside of main characters, and technically speaking even the main characters aren't required to be trained--you could get away with hiding them behind a wall, but the game will just be unnecessarily harder and less enjoyable (I mean main characters should be GOOD - they're your leaders - they shouldn't be there just for plot). So yeah your opinions on how you shut down certain characters and call others required really bothers me when pretty much every character has their use (I mean I used like 3 primary swordsman--who says I can only have Kelik or Kevin and I can't use Tekun or Ace when the latter are also great units? *cringes*)  but this comes down to the whole "I didn't make this game to be viewed from the exact same perspective as a Fire Emblem game" but it's undeniably a hack of Fire Emblem so telling you not to is kind of futile (unless you're super open-minded lol).

tl;dr opinions and I don't agree with them ;)

@Weapons I try to be generous especially because I personally hate not having enough weapons. Selling weapons and keeping the best is little problem for me--i get extra money and I dot have to worry about running out. The ane also has like over 30 new weapons and stuff and trying to distribute it is a lot

harder than it seems. It requires more thought on your end but overall I think managing your inventories and whatnot is worth it. If things like the secrets or Emblem Weapons are cluttering your convoy, give them to characters you aren't using. Selling items you aren't using is nice as well--the funds rank is silly anyway IMO. XP

Ultimately comes down to preference about how you like to play your games. Sorry I can't please everyone, just thought I'd explain the reasoning so it's a little more tolerable.

@Chapter 24 bug yeah sorry I know about it, will fix D:

And now I must hit the reply button as posting on my iPhone blows. I'll take a warning and double post with responses to page 48's posts or whatever

[Crimson Red]

Post continued

- use spoiler tags when responding to sensitive info please

- I had no plot basis for the weapon... That is, there's no reason for him to get any special weapon nor did I want to event some silly plot detail to make it so. I could but I'm just not interested this time. Anyhow I added in the weapon to help Anakin's late-game as he can easily get strength or defense screwed. I kinda pulled an FE7if, yeah, but it's an inconsequential nitpick, and the alternatives are worse IMO

- lol Shugey, you trying to troll or do you always come off as a dick...? Well regardless I think it's cute that everything is an "excuse" and not a "reason" and given your attitude I don't think trying to reason with you will work, so whatever. It's even more funny because of how much it's not true rofl but I guess ignorance can be as comical as it can be bliss ;)

- Kelik is not required to beat the game; however, there are consequences for not using the main characters. Pretty much you're missing out on what are potentially the best units in the game (Siegfried, Anakin, Kelik, Shon). You can beat it without said characters, but as it goes with all self-induced handicaps, you have to make up for it somewhere else (strategy, Svedtate and/or RNG abuse, etc.)

- actually Mr. Know-It-All Kelik was inspired from a staff-wielder from Soul Calibur 2. Some features were then edited to be more like me (black hair, serious face, and yes I love wearing red and black... In fact I had this red jacket I'd always wear and okay I'm derailing). Keriku was actually separately formed and I didn't realize that Kelik could be "translated" to Keriku in Japanese until later, i.e. it's a coincidence. As for where Keriku came from, that's a personal secret, and I hate when people I'm not good friends with call me Keriku or Fire Blazer, so if you want to be a douchebag by all means bring it up (just saying in general)

But yeah next time get your facts straight before you try to be a know-it-all, you can think whatever you want and spread gossip but don't go doing it where I can see you or that's just asking for conflict like this, keep that shit to Skype and whatnot, please. Thanks~

*...reads more*

Okay I can see all sort of reasoning and comprehension has been thrown out the window so I'm going to act like a real ane developer for a second and just ignore the comments because trying to filter out the legitimate critique amidst all the bullshit is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

But thanks to everyone who has emailed me with their critique--it pains me to see so many flaws but at least when I get around to fixing as many as I can I'll feel a lot of relief. As usual please send comments on the game to blazer@feshrine.net, although I think I know about most bugs by now it doesn't hurt to triple check XP

- @The Gentleman dude hard mode doesn't exist there is only normal mode

You are just asking for glitches by trying to access a mode that wasn't coded into the game -___-

Besides apparently this game is hard enough on normal mode lol, though me saying I didn't think it was hard is stupid because I know how to best play through every chapter... The stuff you learn about your game while making it, Lulz

With that you guys can go back to being silly, I'll stop by when version 1.2 is out and when my LP is finished. Bye~

[SB.]

Killing Cia before she moves in Chapter 14 causes the game to crash.

[Shugey]

Hey Blazer, I am sorry if I offended you. While I didn't follow this hack before it was released, I understand that this game took a while to make and was not easy. I haven't hacked a single Fire Emblem game and have to experience actually creating a game. While TLP isn't perfect, it is still impressive and fun to play. While I may not agree with some design choices, I feel that overall the game is pretty good.

[dondon151]

@Silencing can you have support conversations while silenced? *wince* I'll have it "fixed" for the next patch regardless but I'm jut curious if in vanilla FE7 "silence" actually meant not being able to talk or if it just meant one's magic capabilities are sealed. ;/

you can't actually do anything related to talking when silenced, including supports, talk convos, visiting houses, etc.

[Elliot Gale]

My bad. Spoiler tag added. I didn't actually know how to go about doing so off hand. -.-

'Lord' is a misnomer, yeah, but I use it when referring to FE main characters regardless. x_x

And to help things along, vanilla FE7 does not allow a character to initiate a support conversation while silenced. However, another character CAN initiate a support conversation with THEM if I recall correctly, which is kind of odd. Not sure if you'd be able to do anything about that or not, but I don't think it'd be worth the trouble.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Elliot Gale

[Aere]

Ether Spheres make every chapter past 23x very easy :P