Resource Allocation Topic (FE7 HHM)

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Yeah, so I figured that this was probably a good thing to have for FE7 as well, and at the very least, it would foster discussion.

Like with the RD one, I'm posting all the characters that could feasibly gain a reasonable boost from the resource, rather than just trying to nail down the best use. I'm also including promotion items here, since a couple of them are fairly contested. Feel free to bring up anything that I've missed here, and remember to keep it on topic. Also, like GJ, I will be keeping this rule in place, so keep that in mind.

EDIT: I'm assuming that all boosters are used in a fairly short time from when they're obtained. No holding onto that Ch. 15 Dragonshield for 10 chapters so that you can give it to Farina in Crazed Beast!

Let's start off simple, shall we?

Lyn Mode's items are probably the most hotly contested, simply because there are a lot of decent characters who show up there, and they can all benefit for the most part.

Ch. 6 Angelic Robe has a fair bit of competition, simply because at that stage in the game, 7 HP is something like a 25-33% boost in durability.

- Florina is probably my first pick for the Angelic Robe, simply because it provides the durability she needs to play ferrybot, as well as participate more effectively in combat in both LM and afterwards. It also has a significant benefit of making it easier for Florina to do the ridgedrops of Hector and/or Oswin that make Ch. 16 significantly faster and easier. Same goes for Ch. 17x, Ch. 18, etc.

- Matthew may be an odd choice, but considering that he's your only other combatant on Ch. 11, and he's going to be fairly decent (doubling a lot before others may be) for an extended period of time, it does give him a little more leeway to do his job. It also makes it easier for him to do thief duties later in the game, since he can actually afford to take a shot.

- Lyn's main use in HHM is as a combat unit capable of cleaning up the numerous cavaliers that inhabit the earlygame with liberal Mani Katti use. The Angelic Robe helps her do this, since her durability is pretty terrible. Angelic Robe extends the amount of time that Lyn can actually be useful as a cavalier/armor killer by allowing her to much more safely act on Enemy Phase.

- Sain and Kent are pretty much getting lumped together here. As the token cavs, they're liable to be extended significantly farther than the rest of your army, and so durability is important for them. As such, the Angelic Robe on either one makes it a lot easier to extend that character, say... outside of the range of your healing.

- Erk and Lucius want this for pretty much exactly the same reason as well- As mages with fairly terrible durability, every little bit helps.

Ch. 10 Energy Ring is a bit less contested, since there aren't as many characters that get a significant boost from it.

- Florina probably gets the best use out of this, since it patches up her early damage-dealing problems fairly effectively. Assuming that she comes out of Lyn Mode at around level 7, the Energy Ring lets her 2HKO opposing Pegs in Ch. 16, as well as 2HKOing all but the level 5 Mercenary if she either picks up an extra level or has her 40% Strength proc. It also allows her to ORKO the Ch. 16 Mages with the Slim Lance if she picks up said STR proc or level. She gets similar benefits throughout the game as well.

- Kent appreciates the Energy Ring since he's looking at trailing Strength-wise for a while, so he's more likely to need the Energy Ring. He also happens to double fairly reliably after a short time. However, you're seeing performance improvements similar to Florina for him (early on their STR is fairly similar, with them having the same growth but Kent having a higher base by 1), except without the advantage of flight. Still, Kent gets a lot of mileage out of the Energy Ring, can take a hit better (especially if he also gets the Robe), and also has the advantage of access to Swords and less AS loss from Javelins.

- Matthew again sounds like an iffy choice for this, but again, he's your only other fighter for Ch. 11, and it also helps get him out of his "lol thief combat" rut for longer, since he's likely doubling pretty much everything under the sun, meaning that said +2 STR will effectively be doubled when he attacks.

- Erk has the same Strength issues as Kent, but unlike Kent, his competition for "main magic-user" isn't really lacking in the Speed department. The real draw is that Erk is feasibly your only non-Pent user of Anima magic in the game. However, even after the Ring, he's still having a hell of a time not being outclassed by Lucius due to a better starting level and Lucius' superior offensive stats. Still, the Energy Drop helps to close the gap and make Erk's mediocre Strength a bit less of an issue... but not by much.

That's enough for now, but I'll come back later with the early boosters from HHM.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Seven Deadly Sins

[Mekkah]

Energy Ring on Lucius is a far cry from on Erk, as far as I'm concerned. Erk is in quite a handful of maps where your offense is still rather limited. Considering Lucius' exact joining time, and their chances of going into Port of Badon, it's effectively Ch13 vs Ch18.

- Kent appreciates the Energy Ring since he's looking at trailing Strength-wise for a while, so he's more likely to need the Energy Ring. He also happens to double fairly reliably after a short time. However, you're seeing performance improvements similar to Florina for him (early on their STR is fairly similar, with them having the same growth but Kent having a higher base by 1), except without the advantage of flight, so Kent's only real claim over Florina is access to Swords.

Don't forget to mention how much more often Kent makes use of +2 str on account of better durability, and how much less AS he loses from Javelin.

9/0 Kent has at least 26 hp and 7 def. 10-11 Spd, and 8-9 with Javelin.

8/0 Florina has 21 hp and 5 def. 13 Spd, but only 6 with Javelin.

- Florina is probably my first pick for the Angelic Robe, simply because it provides the durability she needs to play ferrybot

Barring the rare Bolting shot or perhaps that single attack, a ferrying Florina shouldn't be taking hits. Of course, she's still good for the Robe considering there's also times when she should be able to fend off on her own, but doing it while having her only outstanding stat halved is not the plan here.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Energy Ring on Lucius is a far cry from on Erk, as far as I'm concerned. Erk is in quite a handful of maps where your offense is still rather limited. Considering Lucius' exact joining time, and their chances of going into Port of Badon, it's effectively Ch13 vs Ch18.

I wasn't even considering Energy Ring on Lucius because his Mag is pretty overkill just in general. The only reason I listed it on Erk is because his early offense is useful when your team is low on it, but once more competent characters start showing up, Erk is liable to be benched. The fact that Erk's contributions with the Ring are really limited to the early chapters where other characters' offense is iffy is a big part of why I've never been a huge fan of giving him the Ring. That said, it's really his best shot at actually contributing past Ch18, and it certainly improves him early on, but Erk is pretty much getting tossed 100% of the time once Pent shows up, while characters like Florina and Kent are getting a ton of mileage out of the Ring all game.

Don't forget to mention how much more often Kent makes use of +2 str on account of better durability, and how much less AS he loses from Javelin.

9/0 Kent has at least 26 hp and 7 def. 10-11 Spd, and 8-9 with Javelin.

8/0 Florina has 21 hp and 5 def. 13 Spd, but only 6 with Javelin.

Yeah, I forgot about the issue of Javelin AS. Still, neither is reliably doubling anything with said Javelin until later, when Florina's superior Speed growth mitigates the WT issues, not to mention any claim to the Ch. 23 Body Ring that she may have.

Also something notable is that Paladin only gives +1 Str on promo, while Falcoknight gives +2, so after they promote, they're tied for Strength. That said, Florina is the one likely to promote earlier since Knight Crests are kinda rare and Kent has to compete with Oswin, Sain, and Lowen for the few earlygame ones. (For reference, the first 2 Knight Crests are Ch. 17 and Ch. 22 respectively, whereas the game pretty much floods you with Whips all game long, so even if you were using every single flier, you still wouldn't have issues promoting all of them.)

Barring the rare Bolting shot or perhaps that single attack, a ferrying Florina shouldn't be taking hits. Of course, she's still good for the Robe considering there's also times when she should be able to fend off on her own, but doing it while having her only outstanding stat halved is not the plan here.

Enemy AS is pretty ass in this game, so unless it's a myrm or maybe a stray merc, Florina isn't really liable to get doubled even when she's carrying someone. Also, remember that canto doesn't really exist in this game (iirc you can't canto after dropping someone), so she should be prepared to eat a hit after the drop, since her lower DEF means it's fairly likely that she's going to end up attacked. Still, it's mainly icing on the cake, since as you pointed out above, Florina does have durability issues in general combat as well. Generally I think of Florina as an all-or-nothing proposition. If you give her one, you might as well give her the other, because Kent and Sain are still doing their jobs effectively without the boosters, while Florina is having more issues holding up her end of the combat, and flying combatants are fairly sparse in this game.

[dondon151]

You CAN canto after dropping. The only options you can't canto after are attack and staff (unless you do so on what was previously a broken wall, snag, or lava tile).

Regardless, having a fighting Florina is really helpful, especially since she gets levels from LM anyway.

Edited June 24, 2010 by dondon151

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Onto the full game!

Ch. 12 Secret Book is probably sold since your funds are fairly ass during the early game, but if you're inclined, here are some good picks:

- Hector is Axe-locked for the vast majority of the game, and while enemy Avo in this game is fairly poor and Axe accuracy is decent, he's still got some accuracy issues, especially when attacking the many bosses that are vulnerable to his Wolf Beil.

- Sain is looking at some accuracy issues, especially when you consider his 4 base Skill and 35% growth, so it at least helps him pick up some much-needed hit on lance cavs.

- If it's still around (and you're actually using him), Dart can use it to offset his poor 20% Skill growth.

Ch. 14 Goddess Icon comes on Erk, and like the Secret Book, should probably be sold.

- Raven is probably the best choice for it, since it helps him avoid listed crit from enemies with actual skill throughout the game, as well as bosses. 2 base with a 35% growth sucks.

- Lucius wants it for the same reason, as do Oswin and (if you're using him) Dart. Still, Raven gets more out of it, since Lucius is liable to die from most hits anyway and Oswin can eat a crit easily.

Ch. 15 Dragonshield is the first stat booster of HM that you actually might want to use on someone!

- Marcus goes from crazy mounted murderbeast to crazy indestructible mounted murderbeast with the Dragonshield, and basically goes from almost the best unit all game to absolutely the best unit all game. It also makes him a lot more extensible, as you can put his neck out in silly situations and not have to worry. It also helps his long-term durability, as unlike Seth and Titania he's kinda lacking in durability growth, so the Dracoshield helps him keep his defensive prowess later in the game and keep up with your other cavaliers.

- If you've given Florina the Robe and Ring, you might as well go all the way and give her the Dragonshield as well. 4 + 15% Defense doesn't get you very far in open combat, so a Dragonshield goes a long way to complement the durability given by the Angelic Robe and make Florina more capable of standing at the front line with the cav trio or dropping people into hazardous territory.

- Sain and Kent appreciate the Dragonshield in order to keep up with Lowen's durability when they're out past the rest of the army. If Kent got either of the Robe or the Ring, it's probably a good idea to support it with the Dragonshield.

- Raven's overkill offense makes it likely that he's looking at multiple attacks per turn, especially after he's promoted and using Hand Axes, so the Dragonshield helps him survive attacks. He's also likely looking at WTD in many different situations, especially with the large number of Lance cavaliers around.

- Lowen's defense base isn't too hot, so the Dragonshield lets him go from decent tank to beast wall a lot sooner. Still, Lowen doesn't really need the boost after his growths kick in, so the booster is much more useful in the long run on one of the previous choices.

Edited December 26, 2010 by Seven Deadly Sins

[Narga_Rocks]

You should probably mention ranked or unranked. For ranked, the answer for a lot of these (especially the less good stat boosters) is "give them to Merlinus and have him sit on them so that we can 5 star funds", right?

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Funds is a joke. Take Balcerzak's S rank run, where he bought Farina and still ended up 87k over the funds rank requirement.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Seven Deadly Sins

[Colonel M]

I thought some of the stuff was sold anyway for ranks. That is, until we get the Silver Card (in which we can buy an Ocean Seal if we must to buffer our ranks). Funds rank is also piss easy to 5 star from what Balcerzak logged.

[Janissary]

Funds is a joke. Take Balcerzak's S rank run, where he bought Farina and still ended up 87k over the funds rank requirement.

The 20k your dropping to Farina is a drop in the pan compared to the total amount of funds you need to S Rank it.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Promo items this time around!

Ch. 17 Knight Crest has a fair few options.

- Oswin is a solid candidate due to the fact that he's likely one of the few characters that actually has the level needed to promote. He gains access to Axes, which is pretty neat, and General has INCREDIBLE promotion gains. 4 HP / 2 Str / 2 Skl / 3 Spe / 2 Def / 3 Res / 1 Mov / 2 Con. Not only does it make it easier for Oswin to keep up with the army, but he's essentially completely invincible after promo. Also, the cavs likely need much more time for their growths to kick in, while Oswin comes at a high level with great bases and little reliance on growths.

- Your "cav of choice" (Sain or Kent) is probably coming out of Lyn Mode at something like level 9 or 10, so they might be ready to promote in short order. If so, they gain access to Axes, better Con, and decent stat boosts.

Ch. 17 Hero Crest has two main options.

- Raven is the obvious choice, as his promotion gives him a lot of perks, such as extra CON, a 2-range option in the form of Hand Axes, and the fact that his bases more than make up for any lost growth from early promotion.

- If Raven's still lagging in levels, Guy can take advantage of promotion to pick up an extra point of Mov, some Con, 5 HP / 2 Defense, and bypassing Guy's Speed cap, which he should reach at around level 13 in Hard Mode. He also gets 2 Str, approximately the equivalent of 7 levels. He can also pick up S Swords fairly quickly, giving him a small stat boost.

Ch. 17x Secret Book is pretty much identical to the Ch. 12 one.

Ch. 18 Elysian Whip is quite limited in use here.

- Florina should be able to use it by now if she's picked up a couple levels, and promotion gives her a lot of perks. +5 HP and +2 Def/Res helps her durability a lot, and +2 Str helps patch up her iffy Str issues. She doesn't get any Speed, but she does get +1 Con and access to much lighter Swords.

- If you aren't using Florina for combat, Fiora's a good choice. She's got better bases, including superior Defense and HP, and also benefits a lot from the +2 Strength and Sword access that promotion gives. She also shows up fairly close to promotion, so she's not all that hard to raise up.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Double Post! Mainly because the last post was uninteresting. (give promotion item to good unit woo)

Ch. 18 Guiding Ring is actually interesting. You've got a lot of options for Mage promotion at this point.

- Lucius is probably the most deserving of an early promotion out of the lot. His offensive stats are going to be pretty killer even with an early promo, and he also gets C Staves immediately on promotion, putting him extremely close to the B Staves needed to use Physic. Early promo also means that he'll be able to build staff rank and actually feasibly reach B or A, something that none of your other promoted mages will be able to do.

- Serra is probably your first healer actually capable of using the Guiding Ring, since she comes out of Lyn Mode with a level advantage over Priscilla. The extra Mov helps her actually get where she needs to go more effectively, and after she promotes, she can actually fight fairly competently as well.

- Canas gets a sizeable benefit from an early promotion. Not only does he get a solid durability boost (+4 HP and +2 Def/Res), making him actually fairly durable as far as mages go (5 base with a 25% growth and +2 on promotion is actually better than many melee characters). He also not only gets +3 Speed on Promotion, making up for his iffy speed, but he also gets +1 Con, which allows him to wield Flux at -0 AS, giving him effectively +4 AS. He can also staff, though starting with E staves doesn't do much for him in that department.

Ch. 19 Orion Bolt is getting sold. Seriously, who's using it? Rebecca? Wil? You get a SECOND ONE by the time Rath is ready to promote, just in case you're using him. Sales fodder for sure.

Ch. 19x Goddess Icon is just like every other Goddess Icon. Raven wants it to make up for his shitty LCK base, and then after that maybe Lucius, Oswin, and Dart so that maybe they don't face listed crit from scrubtard enemies.

Ch. 19xx Talisman PROBABLY DOESN'T EXIST. But just in case it does because you're lucky enough / savestate abusing enough / stubborn enough to actually kill Kishuna, here's a couple good ideas.

- Lowen may be a physical beast, but he's not the toughest guy when he's looking at magic attacks. 0 base sucks, even with a decent 30% growth. Because of this, he's looking at a fairly significant boost from the Talisman due to his high HP.

- Sain and Kent don't benefit as much due to their lower HP and less tanky nature, but they can still make use of it, especially since they're more likely to be ORKOing stuff and facing multiple attackers per turn than Lowen.

- Raven has the same claim to it as Lowen has, due to his high HP and need for tankiness. However, while Lowen has the crucial 2 Mov advantage, Raven's got the whole "I kill everything I face in one round forever" thing going on (especially after promo when he gets Hand Axes), so being able to fight multiple Mages/Sages/Bishops/etc in a turn and not fold due to low Res is fairly useful.

- If, for some reason, you're displeased with how piss-poor the damage Oswin takes from mages is, you can drop the Talisman on him. Later on in the game, the Talisman results in a damage mitigation of 4 on Oswin due to the fact that he is likely doubled by the Valkyries on maps like Cog of Destiny, and combined with his fat HP and solid Strength, it makes it a lot easier to utilize Oswin on maps like that where you're liable to be taking numerous magic assaults. It also allows him to extend himself further when he's doubling the weighted Mages and Monks later in the game, since it means he can take more attacks without needing healing.

Ch. 19xx Dracoshield ALSO DOESN'T EXIST. That said, its candidates are pretty much the same as the candidates for the first one. Toss it on pretty much whoever you didn't give the Ch. 15 one to. Florina, Kent, Sain, Raven, you name it.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Seven Deadly Sins

[Mekkah]

Assuming you aren't avoiding some key #RKO at some point and you don't have any need for money whatsoever, you can use the Talisman for someone like Oswin or Dorcas taking 4 less damage per round from a Valkyrie. It's only good if they already have Barrier up, of course. That's about it.

[WeaponsofMassConstruction]

Ch15 dracoshield could go to Lowen as he's not at that tink level but due to his already good defense, you'll see the biggest jump in #RKO's.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Added Oswin to the Talisman list.

As for stuffing the Dracoshield on Lowen, I'm not a huge fan of that one, mainly because of the fact that you're seeing a major short-term and long-term shift in the performance of Florina, Sain, Kent, and Raven, while Lowen stops needing its benefit once his growths kick in. Still, I guess I'll list it. Not much really that can be done with the boosters here, considering it's really not worth it to give resources to anyone other than the best units considering how much of a boost they get from them.

More boosters coming soon!

[WeaponsofMassConstruction]

I'd question the long-term benefits for Florina as well. In 28x, assuming a level 20/7 Florina with a robe and +2 def from supports (44 hp/12 def) gets 4HKO'd by the weakest wyverns (25 atk) and with the dracoshield still gets 4HKO'd. I realize this is just one example, but atm, my posting is kind of limited.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Flight makes supports shaky at best, and without the supports, Florina is 3HKOed by said wyverns. Dracoshield turns that 3hko into a 4hko even when she's not sitting next to her support partner(s).

[WeaponsofMassConstruction]

Fiora could follow, but regardless, the extra hit doesn't help as much with her low durability.

[Janissary]

Some other people might think this sounds questionable, but why not give the Chapter 15 Dracoshield to Eliwood? A base of 5 with a growth of 30 really isn't fantastic for a unit that your pretty much stuck using (at least somewhat) for the final levels. He might as well contribute. On promotion, he's going to get to 7 mov, so he can help end game efficiency.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Stuck using? The only maps where his deployment is forced after that map have so many slots that the likelihood of him actually having to participate in combat is very low. Also consider that in a ranked playthrough he might not even get promoted, so dropping rare resources on him is quite an iffy proposition.

I'm still standing by Dracoshield Florina, but I have to say that I don't rule out putting it on other solid characters like Sain/Kent/Raven.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

dondon's character ranking topic has made me want to finish this for some reason, so HERE'S A SIX-MONTH NECROBUMP (with content!)

Ch. 20 Guiding Ring comes ridiculously soon after the Ring from 2 chapters back, so the list of uses is basically the same.

- Lucius is, again, the best choice. He gets a significant combat boost, and the sooner he promotes, the sooner he can start building up that C base staff rank.

- Canas and Erk get less out of the Guiding Ring than Lucius, but still gain a large benefit from promotion- this is especially true for Canas, who benefits greatly from the Speed, Con, HP, and Def bonuses. Erk gets an even better defensive bonus from promotion (+4 HP and +3 Def/Res), and also loses less AS from heavier tomes.

- Serra gets actual combat and higher staff rank, increasing the amount that she can contribute to the team and making her less of a liability.

- Priscilla very well may be close-ish to being able to promote, but she can afford to wait considering that there are plenty of other rings coming up and her horse lets her leverage her healing effectively regardless of promotion.

Ch. 21 Hero Crest very well may not exist, depending on how fast you clear the chapter, as it is stolen from the boss, which can slow you down. That said... it's still probably better off sold, as long as you didn't use the first one to promote Guy.

- If Raven wasn't ready to promote before, he DEFINITELY is now. The earlier you promote Raven, the better off he is, because Hand Axes are a big part of his benefit to the team. Besides, there are only 4 Hero Crest users in the game, and at least 3 of them are fairly mediocre.

Ch. 21 Elysian Whip is yet another flyer promotion item. There are 2 main purposes for this whip, so pick one.

- If you don't intend to use Farina, you can use this whip to promote either Florina or Fiora, depending on who you promoted with the first Whip. Both characters benefit greatly from the Whip, as promotion basically gives them everything they need- HP, Strength, Def/Res, Con, AND access to Swords. Good times. The Ch25 whip can be used for Heath, in this case.

- If you intend to use Farina, you should save this whip for a couple chapters and use it on Heath. Heath shows up at level 7 in the next chapter, and he levels fairly fast. Promotion gives him bonus Speed and Con, which makes it a lot easier for him to start doubling quickly.

Ch. 22 Angelic Robe is really a pain in the ass to decide, as basically every single character makes great use of an Angelic Robe. That said, there are a couple top candidates.

- Isadora herself can benefit greatly from the Angelic Robe. Her base defenses aren't too hot at 28 HP, 8 Def, and 6 Res, and as a frontline mounted fighter, she can really use the HP boost to keep up with Marcus, Sain, Kent, Lowen, and even Angelic Robe Florina.

- If you're using both Florina and Fiora, Fiora can benefit greatly from the Angelic Robe to bolster her survivability and support her combat abilities. This is especially notable because flyers are liable to be far away from healers or otherwise unreachable.

- Pretty much all of the mages can use the Angelic Robe to great effect, as durability is one of their biggest issues.

- Sain and Kent are probably doing better in terms of durability now, but they can always benefit from an Angelic Robe, of course.

Ch. 22 Knight Crest is, like the first one, very sought after. It's a shame there aren't more Knight Crests.

- Sain and Kent are really coming into their prime now, so a Knight Crest is just what they need to continue their domination. This is doubly notable if you promoted one of them with the first Knight Crest, because now they match movement and can leverage their likely support much more easily.

- Lowen should really be coming into his prime at this point, as his defensive growths have begun to kick in, so he's looking at becoming basically a mobile Oswin. Add to that full weapon triangle control, +2 HP/Def and +1 Res, as well as +1 to all of his offensive stats, and this just serves to increase Lowen's utility.

[dondon151]

I know that previous posts are now outdated by approximately 6 months, so there's one particular change that I'd like to push forward regarding the chapter 15 Dragonshield.

Now, let me preface what I'm about to say by showing that the best recipients of a Dragonshield are those with already high defensive parameters. First, let's take the example where both units have equal def, but different max HP. Unit A has 50 HP, 10 def; unit B has 30 HP, 10 def. Against a 20 atk enemy, unit A improves from a 5RKO to a 7RKO, while unit B improves from a 3RKO to a 4RKO. Unit A, numerically, has a more significant improvement. Next, let's take the example where both units have equal HP, but different def. Unit A has 30 HP, 10 def; unit B has 30 HP, 7 def. Against a 16 atk enemy, unit A improves from a 5RKO to an 8RKO, while unit B improves from a 4RKO to a 5RKO. Also a clear numerical advantage for unit A.

So you've probably figured out by now that I believe the best user of the chapter 15 Dragonshield to be none other than Marcus. Marcus is already fairly durable at base with 31 HP, 10 def, 8 res, but a juggernaut wants the resources that he needs to keep on plowing through maps. Marcus is no Seth, whose problems are easily remedied by level ups that take advantage of high growth rates (in Seth's case, 90% HP, 40% def), so naturally, Marcus wants the Dragonshield to substitute for his low 65% HP, 15% def growths. Here's how it breaks down:

In chapter 16, Marcus at --/4 with around 33 HP, 10 def, 9 res faces, on his way to the gate, an 11 atk Fire mage, a 14 atk Iron Bow archer, a 14 atk Thunder mage, a 13 atk Iron Sword cav, 3 16 atk Steel Sword cavs, a 16 atk Ballista archer, and a 25 atk Steel Lance Bauker. Assuming that Marcus is toting a Javelin, he already has a very slim chance of death against all of the generic enemies. That's very unlikely to happen; what's more likely to happen is that Marcus will be put below 15 HP and rendered unable to survive an attack from Bauker, whom he needs to kill. With 12 def, Marcus just needs to avoid one or two of those attacks in order to have the 13 HP necessary to survive Bauker.

In chapter 17, Marcus (still at --/4, since Bauker doesn't give a boss EXP bonus) faces, among others, 16 atk Iron Lance knights, 14-15 atk Iron Bow archers, 16-17 atk Steel Bow archers, 13-15 atk Iron Bow nomads, 19 atk Steel Lance knights, a 20 atk Hammer fighter, 14-16 atk Javelin knights, a 16 atk Thunder mage, and a 26 atk Steel Axe Bernard. Still assuming that Marcus is primarily toting a Javelin, 10 def puts him at a 6RKO from the weaker 16 atk enemies, while 12 def ups that to a 9RKO. If Marcus is leading the charge, he probably won't even need to be healed with the Dragonshield.

Chapter 19 is also important. Marcus, now at about --/7 with around 35 HP, 11 def, 10 res will go through the center of the map, which puts him against a 19 atk Steel Lance cav, a 17 atk Steel Sword cav, a 21 atk Steel Axe pirate, 17-18 atk Steel Bow nomads, 14 atk Iron Sword cavs, and other enemies that I can't see in the fog on turn 1. Then there's also Uhai with his 25 atk Killing Edge. Once again, if Marcus is leading the charge, he probably won't even need to be healed with the Dragonshield.

Chapter 19x has mostly 15 atk Javelin knights, 16 atk Iron Lance knights, 19 atk Steel Lance knights, 12 atk Fire mages, and 15 atk Thunder mages. Same story here.

I could go on and on. Marcus leads the charge in every map from chapter 16 through chapter 22. After that, the Dragonshield isn't as important because of a run of chapters that don't require good physical durability.

Edited December 22, 2010 by dondon151

[Seven Deadly Sins]

I'll add Marcus for the Dracoshield, but I'd like to note that I don't like saying "the unit that gets the better defensive boost should get the dracoshield" because it completely handwaves things like movement and offense.

ON TO STUFF

Ch. 23 Body Ring has a couple potential users.

- Isadora is far and away the best user of the Body Ring. 6 base Con sucks, and the Body Ring really helps alleviate that. No weight from Iron Lance, the ability to use lesser axes with less weight loss, etc. helps her a lot. However, the biggest deal is that Silver Swords no longer inflict AS loss, and since Isadora comes with A Swords, this lets her effectively leverage her awesome weapon ranks and speed much more easily. The loss in Aid isn't major, as there really isn't anyone with 13 or 14 CON that needs to be rescued.

- Of course you saw this coming, but Florina is a legitimate option. It improves her speed with heavier weapons, allowing her to potentially double even with Steel or Killers. It also lets her wield Killer Edges without being weighted, which helps. The major issue is that she loses the ability to ferry promoted Hector, which is disappointing.

- Fiora gets solid use out of the Body Ring, and unlike Florina, she doesn't have to give up ferrying Hector in the endgame.

Ch. 23 Hero Crest might not exist, given its location, but really, Raven and Guy are the only remotely reasonable promotees. That said, if you can't manage to steal Oleg's Hero Crest, it might be useful to promote one of the others. That said, if Guy doesn't promote early he's probably not worth promoting, so it's either Raven or Bank Account.

Ch. 23 Guiding Ring is kind of a pain to get, but if you're using a bunch of mages, it might be a good idea. Priscilla is probably promoting around this time, and if you promoted Serra or the other Mages, you'll want this guiding ring to go to her.

Ch. 23 Ocean Seal. If you're using Dart, he gets the promo, but 25,000 Gold is likely to be way too much to pass up just for Dart.

Ch. 24 Earth Seal is probably going to one of your remaining unpromoted Cavaliers. Knight Crests are really the only promotion item that you're short on, so the best use for this Earth Seal is promoting a Cavalier. Really, it's easy to get a crazy mounted army in this game, so it's either Knight Crest or bank.

Edited December 26, 2010 by Seven Deadly Sins

[dondon151]

I'll add Marcus for the Dracoshield, but I'd like to note that I don't like saying "the unit that gets the better defensive boost should get the dracoshield" because it completely handwaves things like movement and offense.

Well, yeah, that's why I wouldn't suggest, like, Oswin. Marcus has the perfect combination of movement and offense.

You should probably add that Isadora wields Silver Swords without AS loss with the Body Ring. That's more important than Iron Lances in my opinion.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Oh wow, I forgot that Silver Sword is 8 Wt. Mentioning.