New Hard mode efficient playthrough

[Junkhead]

Are you going to train Micaiah up to lvl 20? If you decide to leave her as she is, than it's fine, you can go on perfectly, actually.

But you must be sure of that right now, otherwise you'll be spending unworthy Exp. This go to most of your units, it looks like you're going to have to bench some in the end.

Then again, it's your choice, I'm just recommending you what should be best.

[RNG Princess]

I always get her up to level 20 but this time I'm not its going to take me to ruin my efficiency if I do. Also is it wise to be using bexp along? I let it accumulate, I did use some of it on Nolan and Jill though.

Chapter 1-7

Completed in 6 turns

3857 BEXP

This was a sad chapter because I had to give the boot to some of my characters and I have never kicked away Edward before, but this one time I had to pick between him and blessed Ilyana and she was providing better offense. I decided to let Aran stay because he's now supporting Nolan. I bought two more forges, one for Jill and the other for Aran. Jill and Sothe went right and everyone else went in the jail rooms hall direction. Volug shoved the armor knight that was in the way and Muarim killed him, Tormod Elfired the wind mage blocking the ledge and Vika killed the other mage while Jill went in to get closer to the boss. Laura was spam healing everyone else was shoving/chipping/killing. Jill killed the boss, Vika found the master seal, I used the defense ring on Nolan as soon as I saw that horrid growth. Micaiah is using paragon.

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Micaiah   8.96 17  3 13 10 10 15  3 11  A Sothe
Nolan    14.05 32 15  3 14 11 10 12  5  C Aran
Sothe     3.87 36 19  4 22 21 16 15 10  A Micaiah
Laura     5.33 18  4 12  7  8  8  3 11  C Ilyana  
Ilyana   15.01 25 10 17 14 18  7  5 13  C Laura
Aran     11.10 26 14  0 15 13  8 14  3  C Nolan    
Volug    15.42 49 11  2 12 13 13  9  5
Jill     16.52 25 15  1 14 18 14 15  4
Zihark    3.65 30 17  6 22 23 11 13 11
Tormod    5.08 Base Stats
Muarim   19.01 Base Stats
Vika     13.12 Base Stats

Characters that got the Boot

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Eddie    10.74 25 12  0 13 15 12  7  1   
Leo       7.54 19  9  0 15 11  7  5  6    
Meg       5.66 22 11  1  7 10 10 10  6 
Tauroneo 14.40 38 24 12 22 20 18 21 15 
Fiona     9.00 Base Stats

Edited June 16, 2010 by Queen_Elincia

[Junkhead]

I always get her up to level 20 but this time I'm not its going to take me to ruin my efficiency if I do. Also is it wise to be using bexp along? I let it accumulate, I did use some of it on Nolan and Jill though.

I let it accumulate too, at least until necesary. You should BEXP the character you want 'til they get 90s Exp, and then level them up through CEXP. That should make it easier.

And you should erase Sothe's support with Micaiah, get him with Zihark or Volug.

[RNG Princess]

Who should support Micaiah then?

[Narga_Rocks]

Who should support Micaiah then?

if you can protect her and still make use of the support bonuses, anyone that wants Dark, really. Micaiah will be low enough level (for you, it seems) that it doesn't actually matter to her what affinity her partner is. Is there a unit you want having +1 (then 2) mt and +3 (then 5, 8) avo?

[Junkhead]

I assume Laura is pretty good for her, and mutually. I used that pairing a while ago, but changed to Ilyana...for some reason. Well, as you can see, Laura's affinity is the same as Sothe's, thing is, it's more likely for them to be kept together, I think.

[Narga_Rocks]

I assume Laura is pretty good for her, and mutually. I used that pairing a while ago, but changed to Ilyana...for some reason. Well, as you can see, Laura's affinity is the same as Sothe's, thing is, it's more likely for them to be kept together, I think.

but if neither are going to have the levels to do anything offensively, it's a waste of Micaiah's dark.

[Junkhead]

It's also a waste on Sothe, who's usually out there being used in combat and thieving, it's pretty hard to make Micaiah catch up with him.

I'm not to sure about Micaiah yet.

[Narga_Rocks]

It's also a waste on Sothe, who's usually out there being used in combat and thieving, it's pretty hard to make Micaiah catch up with him.

I'm not to sure about Micaiah yet.

I never said keeping sothe x Micaiah was the best idea, either. Just that Micaiah x Laura is a waste if neither will be fighting much. Personally, I create Micaiah x Nolan in part 4 because I love making Micaiah good (have fun in the desert, Nolan). But that's just me. If I was going to try a more efficient playthrough I wouldn't be doing that.

[Interceptor]

Nolan is pretty decent in the desert, actually, so long as you give him Celerity. The enemies are hugely dense in the southeast, and he has a pretty amazing 1-2 range game, so airdropping Celerity!Nolan nearby the BK spawn point gives him 3MV in the sand and plenty of targets upon which to apply his offense.

[Narga_Rocks]

Nolan is pretty decent in the desert, actually, so long as you give him Celerity. The enemies are hugely dense in the southeast, and he has a pretty amazing 1-2 range game, so airdropping Celerity!Nolan nearby the BK spawn point gives him 3MV in the sand and plenty of targets upon which to apply his offense.

I had him being ferried around to do anything, but then I didn't give him Celerity so maybe that was my problem. And I kept trying to have him hang around Micky to get a B for 4-E. Of course, this was before I knew how little it took to get a +rank in two chapters (when you have a 01 support with a healer, anyway). I probably covered all I needed in 4-P and the 4-3 chapter bonus would have gotten the B. But oh well. It's like my 3-2. I spent so many turns with Mia next to Ike but I needed none of them. I had at least two adjacents in 3-P and 3-1, and the three chapter bonuses give 45. I didn't need any adjacents in 3-2. What a waste of effort. I'm glad I now know what it takes to get support levels. (did you find that at all useful for your efficiency playthrough, by the way?)

Edited June 16, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[Interceptor]

I had him being ferried around to do anything, but then I didn't give him Celerity so maybe that was my problem.

Ferrying is required, but it's easier than you might think to pull off, since Leanne always have 2 Vigor spots and thus does not need to burn a turn on a Stone like Raisin does. So, you pick up Nolan, go as far as you can, Re-vigor with Leanne, fly way out, drop him, and he's in his kill zone on Turn 1, with adequate ground range for the job ahead. It's effective.

(did you find that at all useful for your efficiency playthrough, by the way?)

Yes and no. Yes from one respect, since it helped my planning of good supports, but no in that a lot of the time an accelerated support didn't really help me. For example, the support rank knowledge helped me build JillxNolan, but I hardly ever used the bonus since they were never near each other. It was useful for IkexMia though, I intentionally built that one as efficiently as I could, and the data helped.

[Narga_Rocks]

Yes and no. Yes from one respect, since it helped my planning of good supports, but no in that a lot of the time an accelerated support didn't really help me. For example, the support rank knowledge helped me build JillxNolan, but I hardly ever used the bonus since they were never near each other. It was useful for IkexMia though, I intentionally built that one as efficiently as I could, and the data helped.

Well, knowing which ones are accelerated was Vincent's work, so I'm not bothered if that didn't help. I'm glad my work helped you build at least one support more efficiently, though.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[RNG Princess]

I'm bad with supports I've never done them before for benefits I only do them to see what the character is like, btw is there a 5 support limit in this game too?

Ilyana would be 1 speed away and 1 magic above from Tormod's base if I promote her, should I?

[Narga_Rocks]

I'm bad with supports I've never done them before for benefits I only do them to see what the character is like, btw is there a 5 support limit in this game too?

Ilyana would be 1 speed away and 1 magic above from Tormod's base if I promote her, should I?

Dunno about Ilyana. As for supports, you can only ever support with one unit. You can go up to A, but that's it. If not for Earth's massive avo boost, I'd say they should've made an s level support given they prevented you from getting supports with multiple characters.

[RNG Princess]

Dunno about Ilyana. As for supports, you can only ever support with one unit. You can go up to A, but that's it. If not for Earth's massive avo boost, I'd say they should've made an s level support given they prevented you from getting supports with multiple characters.

I kind of want to and kind of don't want to.

Yes because I want to make her use adept for 1-E and carry more items over and no because I want to save it for Edward/Laura.

Ilyana is carrying: Fortune, adept, Savior, blue gem, speedwing, her own tome(s), maybe a forge, and idk about celerity.

I'm planning to support Volug and Sothe

Aran and Nolan

Zihark and everyone else is unplanned, I think Meg can support Leonardo or Edward.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Queen_Elincia

[Anouleth]

I suggest giving the Seal to Ilyana. Laura is still a way from promotion, and a 10/1 Edward is just going to suck. Really, you should have promoted Ilyana earlier - she gets good gains from it (+1MAG/SKL/SPD/MOV), gains that she barely makes up in two levels of normal growth.

[Narga_Rocks]

I suggest giving the Seal to Ilyana. Laura is still a way from promotion, and a 10/1 Edward is just going to suck. Really, you should have promoted Ilyana earlier - she gets good gains from it (+1MAG/SKL/SPD/MOV), gains that she barely makes up in two levels of normal growth.

But will it make a difference in 1-8? Probably not. I'd recommend she checks out the enemies in 1-8. If the +1 mag or +1 spd will make any meaningful difference then she can use the seal on Ilyana. If not, then simply beat the chapter, hopefully get Ilyana another level, then seal before starting 1-E so that Ilyana can hold an extra skill for the GMs.

[Junkhead]

An early promotion is pretty bad on anyone, it doesn't solve most problems. +1 on a few stats isn't very useful.

You should get her to lvl 20 and then promote Ilyana, that way she has a decent Part 3.

[Narga_Rocks]

An early promotion is pretty bad on anyone, it doesn't solve most problems. +1 on a few stats isn't very useful.

You should get her to lvl 20 and then promote Ilyana, that way she has a decent Part 3.

But you don't have time, soul. That's the thing about efficient play. If you delay promoting, they suck for longer. Also, the difference in exp gains between level 18 and level 20/1 aren't huge. You get the +1s sooner, and in the end (like, by 4-E) you've probably lost maybe 1 level total. It's better this way than being level 18 in part 3. Also, if the +1 spd makes the difference between doubling and not (hint: it probably will on quite a few enemies in 1-E) then it is worth it since Ilyana can gain exp more easily. A kill at 20/1 will give more exp than a hit at 18. Like, a lot more exp.

In addition, it isn't just +1 mag. Ilyana gets access to fire. Fire forges are +2 mt on Thunder forges. Also fire is cheaper than thunder so +5 mt is cheaper on fire. Promotion for Ilyana means +3 mt. And possibly doubling vs. not doubling. That's a huge difference. And on top of all that, it lets her use Adept or another 15 capacity skill.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[Anouleth]

An early promotion is pretty bad on anyone, it doesn't solve most problems. +1 on a few stats isn't very useful.

You should get her to lvl 20 and then promote Ilyana, that way she has a decent Part 3.

Ilyana is the perfect canditate for an early Seal. She's unlikely to be trained seriously, since she takes experience away from better units such as Nolan or Jill, and her growths are also fairly poor. Ilyana needs to gain two levels to duplicate just the MAG/SKL boost from a Seal, three for the same SPD boost, and needs to get all the way to 20/01 to use Fire/Wind tomes and get the +1 move bonus and increased capacity for stuff like Resolve. Unless you're sinking a ton of levels into Ilyana, which is generally a poor idea to begin with, the short term benefits of a Seal outweigh the 'disadvantage' of making her maybe a point behind in MAG/SKL when it comes to 1-E.

[RNG Princess]

18 speed Ilyana did good on 1-8 she doubled everything but bandits, I made her take care of that one wyvern recruit that appears in turn 5. She got another speed level up so if I promote her she'll be in Tormod's base speed, which is beating soren's base speed. I'm promoting her anyways so she can carry adept, Micaiah gave me so many headaches on 1-9 like you can't imagine.

The only reason i've kept Ilyana so long is because she is being speed blessed, and even if she wasn't critical is more effective than what Leonardo was offering. I would have left her past 1-7 if she had been screwed.

Chapter 1-8

Completed in 5 turns

3642 BEXP

9,320 funds

Only one npc died but there was nothing I could do, I tried giving Micaiah the most attention without affecting the turns. Nailaih soloed the left except the priest which Volug took care of. Tormod took care of the wyvern and the bandit. Vika, Muarim used grass after shoving Tormod, and got some kills. Ilyana killed the first soldier and then a wyvern, and chipped a bandit. Micaiah shoved Tormod, and got 1 kill and did some sacrifice. Aran killed one mage and Nolan killed another. Zihark and Sothe went right and Volug played shove bot for two turns on Rafiel and Zihark. Bought Sothe a steel dagger and Tormod a forge. Micaiah has Paragon. Poured some bexp on Ilyana and Nolan. Got 1 coin (Nailah) and Ams scroll (Sothe). Either Sothe or Zihark took the boss kill.

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Micaiah  10.74 18  3 15 10 11 16  3 12  A Sothe
Nolan    14.98 32 15  3 14 11 10 12  5  C Aran
Sothe     4.20 36 20  4 23 21 17 15 10  A Micaiah
Ilyana    1.00 27 13 18 16 20  7  8 15  C Laura
Aran     11.35 26 14  0 15 13  8 14  3  C Nolan    
Volug    15.43 49 11  2 12 13 13  9  5
Zihark    4.50 30 17  6 23 24 12 14 12
Tormod    5.24 Base Stats
Muarim   19.05 Base Stats
Vika     13.29 Base Stats
Nailah   33.10 Base Stats
Rafiel   12.40 Base Stats

Characters Left behind

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Jill     16.52 25 15  1 14 18 14 15  4
Laura     5.33 18  4 12  7  8  8  3 11  C Ilyana  
Eddie    10.74 25 12  0 13 15 12  7  1   
Leo       7.54 19  9  0 15 11  7  5  6    
Meg       5.66 22 11  1  7 10 10 10  6 
Tauroneo 14.40 38 24 12 22 20 18 21 15 
Fiona     9.00 Base Stats

Edited June 28, 2010 by Queen_Elincia

[Fenrir]

your nolan is fell behind abit, id give him some bexp if you have some to spare.

i wanna do this on my next PT

[RNG Princess]

your nolan is fell behind abit, id give him some bexp if you have some to spare.

i wanna do this on my next PT

your nolan is fell behind abit, id give him some bexp if you have some to spare.

i wanna do this on my next PT

he's falling behind a lot

he's always falling behind though in every playthrough i've done ;_; either by level or by stats, I did feed him plenty of BEXP for 1-E though ^_^.

Chapter 1-9

Completed in 9 turns

BEXP and Funds unknown

I lost the paper in which I had written the BEXP and Funds ;_;. Micaiah is a complete noob in this chapter, worst chapter in the game imo. Its neglecting my other characters experience, especially Edward's :( who I never left behind until now. It was impossible to complete this with Micaiah having horrible stats on speed and hp. I had to give her a seraph robe which made everything go safer and faster she even got level ups. Black Knight rules this chapter, found a coin (Micaiah) and olivi grass (Micaiah). I had him kill off the archer from the left side and then he migrated to the right. She helped on the way to the left and after he left she took on two/three units on the left side on her own.

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Micaiah  13.10 26  4 18 10 12 19  4 15

Chapter 1-E

Completed in 11 turns

4108 BEXP

16,675 funds

I had Ilyana use Celerity and Saviour and she carried Fortune, blue gem, hammer, adept, a fire forge, her own weapon, and lastly speedwing. Nailah, Sothe, Zihark, Black Knight, Micaiah and Volug all went upstairs through the ledges. Rafiel refreshing is very useful :3, the rest fought the close-by enemies and mages that appear on turn 3/4. Jill, Laura, Rafiel, and Ilyana all went upstairs through the stairs on the right. Aran and Nolan blocked the ledges. Micaiah wen't rushing up after she landed a hit on the first myrm. Volug played shovebot and meatshield for Micaiah mostly. Sothe was stealing/opening chests, the rest were healing/fighting or chipping. Since Black knight and Nailah opened the two chests on the left I took an extra turn trading off Nailah's items to somebody else or else she would have taking them. Gave BEXP to Aran and Nolan, Forged a Steel Axe for Jill and gave her previous forged to Nolan. Got every item, Volug got the boss kill because Jill missed and I didn't want to give the kill to Nailah or Black Knight.

Unit       Lvl HP ST MG SK SP LK DF RS   Support

Micaiah  14.58 26  4 19 11 12 20  5 16  
Nolan    17.00 33 16  3 16 13 13 12  6  C Aran
Sothe     4.42 36 20  4 23 21 17 15 10  C Zihark
Ilyana    1.73 27 13 18 16 20  7  8 15  C Laura
Aran     11.35 26 14  0 15 13  8 14  3  C Nolan    
Volug    15.94 49 11  2 12 13 13  9  5
Zihark    5.28 31 17  6 23 24 12 14 12  C Sothe
Jill     18.79 27 15  1 14 20 16 15  5
Laura     7.77 18  5 13  9 10  8  4 12  C Ilyana  
Rafiel   13.50 32  1  6  1  6 32  3 13
Nailah   33.32 Base Stats
Black Knight   Base Stats

[Anouleth]

I feel I should point out that Nolan is completely unusable by this point. 33HP/13AS/12DEF gets doubled and 2HKOed by Cats.