What is so "efficient" about supports?

[Swordsalmon]

The GBA support system wasn't bad... for FE6. At least in that game, the tactics rank was easy enough to make supports, and maps were pretty large. FE7/8 had too short of chapters, too. :/

[_____]

FE6's 120 points a chapter system was pretty bad.

[Zkirsche]

I think Fe9's were probably better than FE10's. Sure, supporting anybody is nice, but with FE9, you can support 2 people. So unlike in FE10 where multiple people want certain supports and only one can have them, Fe9 usually gives an option to units for different affinites, meaning if they have a good one they can give the bonuses to lots of people. Plus, it gives units more flexibility as even if one partner goes to a different part of the map, you still have your second partner to help you out more.

[Dark Sage]

The GBA support system isn't really so inefficent. You don't need to stand each other doing nothing for huge amounts of turns. Support points are obtained over time as you complete chapters. For instance, Gonzales and Lilina could stand next to each other occasionally and by the next chapter, they have a C support. This is why strategy in choosing supports is needed.

[Shadow Mir]

The GBA support system isn't really so inefficent. You don't need to stand each other doing nothing for huge amounts of turns. Support points are obtained over time as you complete chapters. For instance, Gonzales and Lilina could stand next to each other occasionally and by the next chapter, they have a C support. This is why strategy in choosing supports is needed.

Bolded: Obvious lie is obvious. Having to keep people next to each other to build supports is inconvenient, and I doubt people are going to want to wait around just for the sake of building a lengthy support between a pair such as a grounded unit and a mounted unit that isn't a healer.

[Narga_Rocks]

I think Fe9's were probably better than FE10's. Sure, supporting anybody is nice, but with FE9, you can support 2 people. So unlike in FE10 where multiple people want certain supports and only one can have them, Fe9 usually gives an option to units for different affinites, meaning if they have a good one they can give the bonuses to lots of people. Plus, it gives units more flexibility as even if one partner goes to a different part of the map, you still have your second partner to help you out more.

I agree that having up to 5 levels of supports (total) with up to 3 different units was superior to supporting one unit to A. However, what is good about the fe10 support system was gaining points for actions like shoving and healing and getting more points for rescuing than being adjacent. And getting a chapter bonus. It's like a blend of fe9 supports + GBA supports and throws in points for healing/shoving/extra points for rescuing as a bonus.

Now, in a game with 30 chapters where many units are in 20+ chapters the fe10 support system would result in some units having full supports for 20+ chapters, but you could reduce the chapter bonuses for some pairings to make it take until chapter 17 or later to reach AB supports without massive amounts of adjacents/healings/whatever.

At the very least, it makes the most intuitive sense of all the support systems. You get points for a lot of different actions that units would appreciate and you get points for being sent out to do stuff in the same chapter. It makes a lot more sense than getting supports merely for being deployed together or getting points only when you leave them adjacent.

[Anouleth]

One of the best things about the FE9 system was that the conversations would be suited to the time/location. FE10 Zihark will always have the same line, whether he's slaughtering laguz in 3-6 or fighting for independence in 1-6 or standing next to Ashera herself in 4-E. FE9 supporters would comment on plot events, or what location they were in, so it felt less like they were just in a vacuum.

[Narga_Rocks]

One of the best things about the FE9 system was that the conversations would be suited to the time/location. FE10 Zihark will always have the same line, whether he's slaughtering laguz in 3-6 or fighting for independence in 1-6 or standing next to Ashera herself in 4-E. FE9 supporters would comment on plot events, or what location they were in, so it felt less like they were just in a vacuum.

True, that was really cool, though if you let a character not be deployed for a bit or just don't activate their support for a bit then they can seem a little behind the times. I think there are some examples of that. The best solution would simply be to do more things like Jill/Mist convos which I think are time sensitive and change based on when they are activated. I don't see why that couldn't be pulled off to some extent with giving 2 or 3 slightly different possible support convos depending on when they occur.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[Anouleth]

True, that was really cool, though if you let a character not be deployed for a bit or just don't activate their support for a bit then they can seem a little behind the times. I think there are some examples of that. The best solution would simply be to do more things like Jill/Mist convos which I think are time sensitive and change based on when they are activated. I don't see why that couldn't be pulled off to some extent with giving 2 or 3 slightly different possible support convos depending on when they occur.

Similiar things have been done in FE9. Tormod will change his conversations based on whether Muarim is alive, although even the death of his best friend doesn't seem to cause him any grief or depression or anything, he's still the same annoying brat in terms of personality.

[Narga_Rocks]

Similiar things have been done in FE9. Tormod will change his conversations based on whether Muarim is alive, although even the death of his best friend doesn't seem to cause him any grief or depression or anything, he's still the same annoying brat in terms of personality.

Weird. I thought Jill/Mist was the only one in fe9. But yeah, sothe/Tormod is another one. I don't think that there are very many of them, though.

[Momo]

I know Makalov and Astrid's support changed a bit if Marcia's dead, and Ike/Ellencia mentions the final battle being tomorrow. It was a cool idea, but I don't think they did it enough.