Resolve Stinks!

[Original Alear]

As broken as Resolve was in FE9, it only helped against the Black Knight and Ashnard as the rest of the game was already cake. It's actually useful in FE10.

What? Resolve is totally useless against the BK, as it can't be assigned until after the chapter is over.

This may be the most frequently touted myth I've seen regarding FE9. I'm pretty sure every single "help me beat the BK topic" inevitably contains the suggestion to equip Ike with resolve.

Daunt? that skill that makes evade and crit evade go up by only 5? IMO hardly useful at all.

Nah. Certainly not among the best in the game, but it's definitely pretty good.

Other way. Hit and crit for enemies go down by 5.

Not exactly sure why phrasing it in terms of a bonus to player stats really makes any difference though.

[Shadow Mir]

Dunno about best skill. I'd say Paragon, Celerity, Pass, Adept, Stun, Beastfoe and Wrath are all better.

I fail to see Wrath as one of the best skills in RD, let alone better than Resolve, mainly because, to be blunt, dropping your HP below 30% just for a critical boost just screams counter-intuitive to me.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Richter Lanford

[Fayt Zelpher]

Dunno about best skill. I'd say Paragon, Celerity, Pass, Adept, Stun, Beastfoe and Wrath are all better.

Paragon, Pass, and Adept? Absolutely. I'm less sure about the others.

And you need to include formshift too. That IS better, even though it's a locked skill. And if you're going to count Stun, you should probably note that most of the masteries are better as well. In fact, every one but Bane, Aether, and Corona are. (If I forgot one, remind me)

[grandjackal]

I fail to see Wrath as one of the best skills in RD, let alone better than Resolve, mainly because, to be blunt, dropping your HP below 30% just for a critical boost just screams counter-intuitive to me.

Rarely should you ever be in actual danger in part 1 aside from 1-E (where it's more an accuracy issue than too many people being around). It's mainly there just for a counter-kill when drawing in a single enemy (rarely is there more than that, as part 1 lacks tight packs of enemies).

[Rewjeo]

Adept is one of my favorite skills. Its great for someone with low strength or someone who has difficulty doubling.

What? Unit w/ 30 AS and doesn't double: 30% chance of adept. Unit w/ 30 AS and doubles: 51% chance of adept. And then you factor in that it's probably something more like 26+ AS doubling vs. <=20 AS not doubling. It should go on someone who 3HKOs and has good speed and doubles. Even though it seems like it would be good for someone who doesn't double much, it's really much better on your earlier example.

[Anouleth]

Rarely should you ever be in actual danger in part 1 aside from 1-E (where it's more an accuracy issue than too many people being around). It's mainly there just for a counter-kill when drawing in a single enemy (rarely is there more than that, as part 1 lacks tight packs of enemies).

This, pretty much. Wrath!Edward shaves a decent number of turns off the first four chapters of the game, and Micaiah can make good use of it for the rest of Part 1. I don't know if Resolve would ever actually save you a turn. Maybe in Part 3, on Boyd or someone.

Adept is pretty similiar. It's useful all the way until Endgame, giving a decent offense boost to speedier characters.

Pass is used in the 1-turns of 2-E and 4-5, and it has other useful applications, such as in 4-E-1 and 1-E.

Celerity also has uses here and there, but it's best on Reyson so you can Vigor as many people as possible.

I forgot Formshift, but it should be there as well.

Maybe Wildheart? It takes credit for most of Volug's Part 1, which is pretty beastly.

Stun is easily the best mastery skill. It lets Jill and Haar ORKO with Hand Axes and it fixes the offense woes of the Pegasus girls as well. No other mastery skill has such a big impact on the performance of so many characters. Some have almost no impact (laguz masteries, Lethality, Bane, Sol, Deadeye, Corona).

And Paragon is obvious.

[Shadow Mir]

This, pretty much. Wrath!Edward shaves a decent number of turns off the first four chapters of the game, and Micaiah can make good use of it for the rest of Part 1. I don't know if Resolve would ever actually save you a turn. Maybe in Part 3, on Boyd or someone.

Adept is pretty similiar. It's useful all the way until Endgame, giving a decent offense boost to speedier characters.

Pass is used in the 1-turns of 2-E and 4-5, and it has other useful applications, such as in 4-E-1 and 1-E.

Celerity also has uses here and there, but it's best on Reyson so you can Vigor as many people as possible.

I forgot Formshift, but it should be there as well.

Maybe Wildheart? It takes credit for most of Volug's Part 1, which is pretty beastly.

Stun is easily the best mastery skill. It lets Jill and Haar ORKO with Hand Axes and it fixes the offense woes of the Pegasus girls as well. No other mastery skill has such a big impact on the performance of so many characters. Some have almost no impact (laguz masteries, Lethality, Bane, Sol, Deadeye, Corona).

And Paragon is obvious.

...Eh, I just don't like Edward. And it sounds like Wrath is situational at best, and that... just isn't a good thing for one of the "best" skills in RD

EDIT: How is Pass useful for 1-turning 2-E? You can't switch skills around in part 2. >_>

Edited March 29, 2010 by Richter Lanford

[whase]

formshift is indeed the best skill IMO, but it's a locked skill and thus doesn't count for me.

wildheart makes laguz almost useful for me, but not for long enough to actually use them.

resolve stays best for me, high defensive and slight offensive improvement at the same time, who wouldn't want that?

also, it surprises me Nihil hasn't been said yet~

[Shadow Mir]

also, it surprises me Nihil hasn't been said yet~

...Eh, Nihil has little to no use until late in the game - hardly a contender for being one of the best skills in RD.

[whase]

makes me wonder, has anyone ever tried to play endgame without using nihil?

[Rewjeo]

Where can resolve save turns? Mordecai with WTF 40 DEF (IIRC) at base with it is pretty great, not to mention his high damage per hit.

[whase]

Where can resolve save turns?

does it have to?

It can make your character double if it didn't, it gives more chance to crit, and there's lesser need for healing.

it also saves time, time you lose by dying and restarting.

[grandjackal]

This, pretty much. Wrath!Edward shaves a decent number of turns off the first four chapters of the game, and Micaiah can make good use of it for the rest of Part 1. I don't know if Resolve would ever actually save you a turn. Maybe in Part 3, on Boyd or someone.

One thing always forgotten about efficiency is how much easier a faster completion can be pulled off. 2-E can be one turned, but that doesn't mean the method of doing so is particularly safe, not to mention robs you of resources which could ultimately have made part 3 easier for the GM.

That being said, Resolve most certainly can make things easier on you, most notably in 1-9 where it's just Michaiah and the Black Knight. Resolve helps her avoid being doubled, and a robed Michaiah can survive that much easier, not to mention actually be able to kill her own things as to make 1-9 her own personal experience park. Seriously, nearly got her 3 levels in that chapter, and the only reason why is I missed Jarod with what was essentially 86 displayed hit.

Pass is used in the 1-turns of 2-E and 4-5, and it has other useful applications, such as in 4-E-1 and 1-E.

Which reminds me, you can't set skills on units in all of part 2. How are we setting pass on anyone other than Heather?

[Adam Smasher]

The beauty of Daunt comes when you're massing an actual army. If you want Ike to solo a map, it won't give you very much. However, when I'm playing, I like to give Daunt to Ike or whoever I'm using as point-man, then surround 3-4 more units around him. Everyone gets the Daunt bonus! Plus you don't need to get anyone down to 50% for it to work.

And I agree, Nihil's usefulness varies greatly depending on if you're in the last chapter or not.

[Integrity]

I use Daunt the opposite - I give point-man-Ike a combat skill like Cancel or whatever, then give whoever's following him (Rhys, Mist, Soren) Daunt so they help in his combats. Alternately, Provoke on one person and Daunt on another.

[Anouleth]

That being said, Resolve most certainly can make things easier on you, most notably in 1-9 where it's just Michaiah and the Black Knight. Resolve helps her avoid being doubled, and a robed Michaiah can survive that much easier, not to mention actually be able to kill her own things as to make 1-9 her own personal experience park. Seriously, nearly got her 3 levels in that chapter, and the only reason why is I missed Jarod with what was essentially 86 displayed hit.

Not really a big fan of Micaiah with Resolve... ever. She needs Resolve and the Seraph Robe to survive, and she still can't kill her own things because she still can't double. Her and the BK are the only ones around, so it's not like she can pick off weakened enemies.

In addition, it means I need to give Micaiah Resolve in 1-8, which is pretty wasteful. I'd rather have it on Zihark for the minor hit/crit/avoid increase.

[grandjackal]

Not really a big fan of Micaiah with Resolve... ever. She needs Resolve and the Seraph Robe to survive, and she still can't kill her own things because she still can't double. Her and the BK are the only ones around, so it's not like she can pick off weakened enemies.

It is when she can pick off her own, since...Well, she won't die in one shot. Work with it the same way you would Wrath in 1-9.

In addition, it means I need to give Micaiah Resolve in 1-8, which is pretty wasteful. I'd rather have it on Zihark for the minor hit/crit/avoid increase.

I doubt Zihark is having accuracy issues, I don't think 5-6 crit is going to make that much a difference, and again, dying should not be an issue part 1. I'd rather give it to Miccy because now suddenly, she's not getting assraped.

[Sinned]

It is when she can pick off her own, since...Well, she won't die in one shot. Work with it the same way you would Wrath in 1-9.

I doubt Zihark is having accuracy issues, I don't think 5-6 crit is going to make that much a difference, and again, dying should not be an issue part 1. I'd rather give it to Miccy because now suddenly, she's not getting assraped.

Your logic is flawed. How does resolve help her "not die in one shot" when you need to be at 30% hp in the first place for it to work. Unless you're silly enough to sac and then rambo her into the fray of battle just cus she has resolve.

RESOLVE does nothing to help mic survive or not survive getting one shotted.

[Fayt Zelpher]

Where can resolve save turns? Mordecai with WTF 40 DEF (IIRC) at base with it is pretty great, not to mention his high damage per hit.

I'm sorry, but 32 =/= 40. Though it doesn't mean much when he takes basically no damage in either case.

Plus, he's got water affinity, so he can pair up with Ulki (Another water unit) and get 3 MORE defense and three attack.

Seriously, the ability to have 37-39 defense (I assume 2 +def levels) by 4-P/4-1/4-2 (Probably 4-2 since Ulki wants to go to the swamp) is still pretty godly.

Your logic is flawed. How does resolve help her "not die in one shot" when you need to be at 30% hp in the first place for it to work. Unless you're silly enough to sac and then rambo her into the fray of battle just cus she has resolve.

RESOLVE does nothing to help mic survive or not survive getting one shotted.

Except that wrath is 30%. Resolve activates at <50% HP.

Don't forget that if Mickey is getting one shotted at max HP, then there's no change in concrete durability. However, that extra 12-16 AVO (depending on her part 1 speed) is nice, plus she can avoid getting doubled, and do more doubling, which means that she takes far fewer hits (especially enemy phase counters). That, on the other hand, DOES represent a substantial change in total durability, which is really the more important thing to worry about.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Lord Ratatosk

[whase]

Your logic is flawed. How does resolve help her "not die in one shot" when you need to be at 30% hp in the first place for it to work. Unless you're silly enough to sac and then rambo her into the fray of battle just cus she has resolve.

RESOLVE does nothing to help mic survive or not survive getting one shotted.

first of all, it's 50%, not 30.

if you're only training 4 or less DB's Micky will be lvl.20 quite fast. if she's not screwed in stats, resolve will already help her evade a lot.

(I once solo'd 4-E-1 with Micaiah having paragon on her (no statboosters, not even seraph robe). proves Micky can be good, proves nothing about resolve though...)

[grandjackal]

Your logic is flawed. How does resolve help her "not die in one shot" when you need to be at 30% hp in the first place for it to work. Unless you're silly enough to sac and then rambo her into the fray of battle just cus she has resolve.

RESOLVE does nothing to help mic survive or not survive getting one shotted.

Pardon me, it helps her not get one ROUNDED, along with helping her avoid. She would need a robe for this, but yeah.

As a note, I'm not that stupid, but it can help avoid doubles (at least, it does at times. I HAVE noticed that it tends to be moody as to when it decides to stop a doubling even though it's technically active.

That, or either A. There are less enemies in the game that do double Miccy, or B. I got lucky with her speed. If it's the former, then that's cool but I suppose not Resolve's doing. If the latter, pardon me then.

[Fayt Zelpher]

As a note, I'm not that stupid, but it can help avoid doubles (at least, it does at times. I HAVE noticed that it tends to be moody as to when it decides to stop a doubling even though it's technically active.

The doubling (or lack thereof) is determined at the beginning of the clash. So if your character takes a hit and falls into resolve health, it will NOT stop that enemy from doubling, nor will it cause your character to double.

However, the game WILL calculate doubling based on resolve speed for the next battle and all subsequent ones until being healed out of resolve health (or dying, obviously). I KNOW the first part of this to be true, but this second part I am less certain about.

[whase]

The doubling (or lack thereof) is determined at the beginning of the clash. So if your character takes a hit and falls into resolve health, it will NOT stop that enemy from doubling, nor will it cause your character to double.

actually, it doesn't.

it actually does activate when going under 50% while in battle.

though the number of your own attacks will be calculated while you are attacking.

[Narga_Rocks]

Pardon me, it helps her not get one ROUNDED, along with helping her avoid. She would need a robe for this, but yeah.

As a note, I'm not that stupid, but it can help avoid doubles (at least, it does at times. I HAVE noticed that it tends to be moody as to when it decides to stop a doubling even though it's technically active.

That, or either A. There are less enemies in the game that do double Miccy, or B. I got lucky with her speed. If it's the former, then that's cool but I suppose not Resolve's doing. If the latter, pardon me then.

The doubling (or lack thereof) is determined at the beginning of the clash. So if your character takes a hit and falls into resolve health, it will NOT stop that enemy from doubling, nor will it cause your character to double.

However, the game WILL calculate doubling based on resolve speed for the next battle and all subsequent ones until being healed out of resolve health (or dying, obviously). I KNOW the first part of this to be true, but this second part I am less certain about.

actually, it doesn't.

it actually does activate when going under 50% while in battle.

though the number of your own attacks will be calculated while you are attacking.

I did a write-up of how Resolve actually works once before, but I know I won't be able to find it so I'll redo it.

(I am not certain about whether resolve is active for hp = 50%)

Player phase:

start at <50% hp, attack an enemy that can counter

you attack (resolve activates)

enemy attacks (resolve still active)

since resolve was active during the enemy's first attack, your resolve speed is used to determine possible doubles.

if you have enough to double with resolve, you double. If you don't, you don't. If the enemy can't double your resolve spd, they don't double.

start at <50% hp, attack an enemy that can't counter

you attack (resolve activates)

since resolve was active during your first attack, your resolve speed is used to determine possible doubles.

if you have enough to double with resolve, you double. If you don't, you don't.

start at >50% hp, attack an enemy that can counter

you attack (no resolve)

enemy attacks (no resolve)

drop down to 50%

since resolve was not active during the enemy's first attack, your resolve speed is not used to determine possible doubles.

if the enemy has enough spd to double your non-resolve spd, you get doubled.

in the event you get doubled:

resolve activates after the enemy attacks, since you are now at <50% hp. Your avo goes up appropriately, but you do not get to prevent the double since the enemy initiating their second attack was what caused resolve to activate.

(if you start with >50% hp and the enemy can't counter, you obviously aren't dropping to <50% so resolve or not is irrelevant)

enemy phase

(now what matters is whether you can counter)

start at <50% hp, you are able to counter

enemy attacks (resolve activates)

you attack (resolve still active)

since resolve was active during your first attack, your resolve speed is used to determine possible doubles.

if you have enough to double with resolve, you double. If you don't, you don't. If the enemy can't double your resolve spd, they don't double.

start at <50% hp, you are unable to counter

enemy attacks (resolve activates)

since resolve was active during the enemy's first attack, your resolve speed is used to determine possible doubles.

if the enemy can't double your resolve spd, they don't double.

start at >50% hp, you are able to counter, a successful enemy hit drops you to <50%

enemy attacks (no resolve)

drop down to 50%

you attack (resolve activates)

since resolve was active during your first attack, your resolve speed is used to determine possible doubles.

if you have enough to double with resolve, you double. If the enemy can't double your resolve spd, they don't double.

start at >50% hp, you are unable to counter, a successful enemy hit drops you to <50%

enemy attacks (no resolve)

drop down to 50%

since resolve was not active during the first attack, your resolve speed is not used to determine possible doubles.

if the enemy has enough spd to double your non-resolve spd, you get doubled.

in the event you get doubled:

resolve activates after the enemy attacks, since you are now at <50% hp. Your avo goes up appropriately, but you do not get to prevent the double since the enemy initiating their second attack was what caused resolve to activate.

I'm fairly certain that this is a result of the original japanese version in which you needed to proc resolve to get the boosts. In PoR, I don't think it worked this way. The moment you dropped to <50% hp, resolve was active, so in the two scenarios above where "double or not" calculations are run with your non-resolve spd in RD despite being at <50% hp, I think it used your resolve spd in PoR.

Moral of the story?

Don't attack something on player phase if it will bring you to <50% hp and expect to double. You won't. And depending on spd values, you may even find yourself getting doubled. :o

Also, make sure you can counter on enemy phase. If not, you could find a unit unexpectedly getting doubled when you think they'll be safe due to resolve.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[whase]

if that's true, that means my Micaiah actually was able not to get doubled by that archer in 1-9

she was untrained, and the archer slipped past the BK. the archer attacked, leaving Micky with only a few hp left, thus in active resolve. she countered and didn't get doubled. untrained Miccy not getting doubled? should've checked that archer's speed before killing it with BK~