Soul's Maniac Mode playthrough.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Keep in mind that unlike in RD, Titania can use axes and lances at base, so if she runs out of weapons, just take them from Oscar and Boyd and plow them with BEXP later.

Don't forget Gatrie's Steel Lance as well.

[Junkhead]

Chapter 7

I start off by sending Soren to chip a Soldier and have him activate Adept.

Titania goes far left side and kill another Soldier so she can lure other enemies to her.

Ike stays in his place to make Mia's recruiment faster.

Later, Shinon and Gatrie distract a whole bunch of enemies while Titania keeps on killing a few to the lower-lft side of the map and later moves tp the middle side to assist Ike and the others. Oscar hardly did something with a Short Lance (2 Uses) and a Javalin (Again, with low uses). So I had Soren 2RKO a few armours along with Titania.

Shinon was pretty damn close to dying, as he was left at 2 HP about twice but got healed with a Vulnerary and had lucky dodges.

Gatrie was also pretty damn close to death when a Mage left him at 2 HP. I was very lucky he 1HKO'd it.

Titania went for the boss the boss.

Ike ended it by killing the only Priest.

Unit    Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike     7.60  25  9   3    9   10  9    7   4 
Soren   3.99  20  0   8    10  9   5    2   8
Titania 6.55  37  16  5    19  18  14   13  11
Oscar   8.74  28  9   2    9   12  8    13  2
Rhys    5.83  22  0  11    9   6   8    1  15
Mia     6.71  21  7   0   10  13   6    7   2
Shinon  1.77  32  9   6    15  13  9    9   6
Gatrie  13.15 34  16  1    9   6   5    16  3

Turns taken: 12

Commentary:

I must say, Gatrie did an excellent job with those armours, it's pretty comparable to Titania's work against them.

Shinon's tanking was very useful this early. Although this was the first time he was this close to death.

Chapter 8

In the first two turns, Titania equipped a brand new Hand Axe to wipe out the horde of Cavaliers.

Oscar went to the left side to chip some Knights to simply hold them off.

Mia stood at the right side at range of an only Mage that went for Rhys.

After almost all the Cavaliers were wiped out (With only three left), I made Titania go to the left side entrance and Oscar to the right. Soren helped Oscar kill armours. Mia helped a bit with the Priest killing and some low-HP enemies.

Titania cleared the path for Ilyana to pass, so I could easily recruit her. I had her chip Priests or something for Exp expecting at least a critical.

The boss went for Titania, but she only had 1 use of her Hand Axe, but luckily, she had a Hammer. Titania demolished that Knight with her Hammer. 8]

Unit    Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike     9.06  27  10  4    10  11  10   7   5 
Soren   6.60  22  0  10    12  10  5    2   9
Titania 7.82  37  16  5    19  18  14   13  11
Oscar   10.53 29  10  2    10  12  8    13  2
Rhys    6.56  22  0  11    9   6   8    2   15
Mia     8.25  23  9   1    12  15  7    8   4
Ilyana  6.25  20  1   8    10  9   6    3   10

Chapter 9

I have Titania front the map as always. She goes for the first armours while Lethe takes on Soldiers and 1RKOs them, which I must say, it's something I didn't expect she would do in MM. Ike, Oscar & Rhys simply follow but stay out of enemy range for a while, as to make things faster.

Mia, Soren, Ilyana, Mist & Rofl take the other side and go for the Fighters and Mages. Mia does pretty well on halving their HP and letting Soren and Ilyana take the kills considering they get to double some Fighters. I didn't expect I'd be using Mist at all, but she really did help when Fighters could 2HKO that small team.

Very few enemies went towards Ike, the very few were killed by Lethe. Leaving only like 1 or 2 enemies so that Ike and Oscar can kill.

Titania kept on going closer to the throne until the enemy reinforcements appeared.

Ike recruits Marcia and has her ferry him close to the throne. Titania weakened the boss and left him at low HP so that Oscar could kill.

Unfortunately, Oscar missed at 50% hit but didn't die. I moved him aside from there and left Titania at 2-range from the boss.

Finally, Titania killed the boss.

Unit    Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike     9.70  27  10  4    10  11  10   7   5 
Soren   7.60  22  0  10    12  10  5    2   9
Titania 8.91  38  18  5    20  19  14   14  12
Oscar   10.53 29  10  2    10  12  8    13  2
Rhys    6.56  22  0  11    9   6   8    2   15
Mia     9.69  24  9   2    12  16  8    9   5
Ilyana  7.57  20  1   9    11  10  7    3   11
Mist    1.56  16  1   4    4   7   6    2   7
Rofl    1.16  18  5   0    8   6   4    6   2
Marcia  5.31  20  8   0    7   11  4    8   6

Turns taken: 8

Chapter 10

I decided to go through unseen in this one, the 700 BEXP i totally worth it.

Volke rescues Ike and goes with Titania to Nephenee's cells. Volke unlocks it and Titania rescues her.

Titania, equipped with a Hammer, drops Neph near the exit while Volke drops Ike nest sto Nephenee.

A few 2-range armours attack Titania while the boss goes for her in meele combat. He was left with very low HP.

I had Titania give him the finishing blow.

Ike talks to Neph and directs her towards the exit. Then Volke rescues Ike.

Titania leaves. And Volke leaves carrying Ike.

Unit    Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike     10.00 28  11  4    11  11  10   8   6
Titania 9.46  39  18  5    21  20  15   15  13
Volke   10.00 25  12  0    13  13  7    7   3

Turns taken: 10

Commentary:

I didn't really bother bother rescuing Brom & Kieran. I would be risking 700 BEXP and arriving in less than 12 turns.

Chapter 11

Before I started, I dumped 1 level of BEXP to all the characters I am using, with the exception of Ike, Mist & Rhys. Nephenee got 2 level-ups, a Seraph Robe, an Arms Scroll and a max Mt Steel forge.

Mordecai ate the Speedwings I saved.

I started by sending to the nearest path towards the exit equipped with a Javelin to weaken Cavaliers, Knights and kill those annoying Mages and their pesky 2-range.

Mordecai uses his first use of the Laguz Stone and goes for the enemies to the west side.

Nephenee takes on the Soldiers at the start of the map.

Ike and the others follow Titania while staying out of enemy range.

After Titania kills those enemies blocking the fastest route towards the exit, Soren and Ilyana are shoved at range of two remaining armours and finish them.

Oscar visits the house that offers you a Dracoshield, since Mordecai can't.

Ilyana visits the other house to get an Elwind.

The boss goes up against Titania and she uses his last use of her Javelin against him to later kill him with a Steel Axe. Later she kills a few Cavaliers up there, kills the Knight and arrives.

Unit      Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike       10.25 28  11  4    11  11  10   7   5 
Soren     9.72  23  0  12    14  12  5    3   12
Titania   11.8  41  19  5    22  21  17   16  13
Oscar     12.35 30  12  2    11  13  8    14  3
[s]Rhys      6.56  22  0  11    9   6   8    2   15[/s]
Mia       10.89 24  10  3    13  17  9    9   5
Ilyana    10.00 22  3  12    14  12  9    5   14
Mist      1.89  16  1   4     4  7   6    2   7
Mordecai  4.28  45  17  2    10  11  10   14  5
Nephenee  9.99  31  10  3    12  13  7    10  4

Turns taken: 7

Commentary:

I didn't kill those viligantes for BEXP.

Rhys died. I didn't bother restarting.

Chapter 12

I gave two levels of BEXP to Soren before I started. I'll celebrate his 1 Str gain.

I see this chapter hardly changed since the other difficulties. I only see a few more crows.

As always, Titania 1RKOs them.

Soren & Laguzslayer!Mia were pretty helpful, but less than I thought they would be, since they stayed in the back line.

Jill has been recruited.

Mordecai made inmense damage against the boss. I had Soren kill him.

Unit      Lvl   HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike       11.34 29  12  5    12  12  10   8   6
Soren     12.00 24  1  15    15  14  7    3   15
Titania   11.70 41  19  5    22  21  17   16  13
Oscar     13.57 31  12  3    12  14  9    15  4
Mia       12.89 24  12  4    14  19  10   9   5
Ilyana    12.13 22  3  12    14  12  9    5   14
Mist      2.00  16  1   4     4  7   6    3   7
Mordecai  4.75  45  17  2    10  11  10   14  5
Nephenee  10.76 32  11  3    13  13  7    11  5

Turns taken: 9

[Inui]

I really want to play Maniac Mode myself. Can you educate me on how I can play it?

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I really want to play Maniac Mode myself. Can you educate me on how I can play it?

Use the Dolphin emulator. Then google PoR Japanese ISO. Problem solved.

[Inui]

Oh. Emulated. My beastly laptop should be able to handle this. Thanks.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Don't really need a beastly laptop to emulate the GC but whatever floats your boat.

Although if you used the site I used it may take a while to download the torrent due to lack of seeds.

[dondon151]

Don't really need a beastly laptop to emulate the GC but whatever floats your boat.

Uh, yes you do. My laptop is fairly average and it runs FE9 in-game at around 20% speed. For a game that takes as long as it does, that's unbearable.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Uh, yes you do. My laptop is fairly average and it runs FE9 in-game at around 20% speed. For a game that takes as long as it does, that's unbearable.

What's the specs on the laptop?

[Ether]

I love how Mia gained Str on all but one level with a 40(45)% growth.

Also,are you making use of the 255% Crit Slim Swords,Slim Lances,and thunder tomes that you can forge,by any chance?

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

IMO in MM of the two myrmidons you get, Zihark would be the superior choice with Muarim as his support buddy.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Joey

[Junkhead]

I love how Mia gained Str on all but one level with a 40(45)% growth.

Also,are you making use of the 255% Crit Slim Swords,Slim Lances,and thunder tomes that you can forge,by any chance?

I don't have Bands, since this is my first run.

Yep. Just now a friend told me that.

I was going to post something like "Mia. Vantage. 255% Critical forge. Good game.", that would be too simple. 8]

Besides, 2-range enemies aren't letting her do that in Ch 13, but she sure does 1RKO about more than half of the map.

IMO in MM of the two myrmidons you get, Zihark would be the superior choice with Muarim as his support buddy.

They were on the same level, yeah. But Mia had Spd and supports lead, so he would just be a filler.

I have Mordecai anyway, who will be supporting Mist & Ilyana.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

They were on the same level, yeah. But Mia had Spd and supports lead, so he would just be a filler.

I have Mordecai anyway, who will be supporting Mist & Ilyana.

Her support table is ass compared to Zihark's. Doesn't really give her what she needs and you already killed off Rhys which is her best support partner for all-out offense.

And reason why I say ZiharkxMuarim is nice because of the fact that Zihark's an earth affinity and Muarim's affinity also gives avoid on top of that, who is Zihark's only avoid partner. A support with him would get him 22 avoid which is very nice for an SM and even Muarim likes that. Although Mist x Mordecai isn't a bad choice simply because they're both water and are both equal in terms of mobility(Well, once Mist promotes anyways) but there won't be a lot of moments where Mordecai will get Ilyana's benefits and even Ilyana herself is a questionable unit in MM. Another problem with Mordecai is that he starts off chapters with a 0-gauge.

[dondon151]

What's the specs on the laptop?

2 GHz Pentium dual-core CPU, 3 GB RAM, integrated graphics card (this right here is the real killer).

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

2 GHz Pentium dual-core CPU, 3 GB RAM, integrated graphics card (this right here is the real killer).

Yeah your graphics kills it. It's also what doesn't make it average seeing as an average laptop nowadays has those specs along with an actual graphics card.

[dondon151]

It's also what doesn't make it average seeing as an average laptop nowadays has those specs along with an actual graphics card.

Most laptops, as far as I know, come with integrated graphics, as graphics cards drain battery power and, at least for most users, provide no upgrade in functionality because the average user doesn't use a laptop for graphically intensive tasks such as gaming.

[Junkhead]

And reason why I say ZiharkxMuarim is nice because of the fact that Zihark's an earth affinity and Muarim's affinity also gives avoid on top of that, who is Zihark's only avoid partner. A support with him would get him 22 avoid which is very nice for an SM and even Muarim likes that. Although Mist x Mordecai isn't a bad choice simply because they're both water and are both equal in terms of mobility(Well, once Mist promotes anyways) but there won't be a lot of moments where Mordecai will get Ilyana's benefits and even Ilyana herself is a questionable unit in MM. Another problem with Mordecai is that he starts off chapters with a 0-gauge.

Mordecai x Ilyana is pretty good when it comes to Ch 15, they don't have Mov penalties, which means I can have both of them attack Muarim to end the chapter faster.

EDIT:

Tonight I'll be leaving on a trip. I'll be returning on August 6th, since I am not using a laptop, I won't be able to post my progress. 8[

But I'll still be logging in though.

As soon as I return, I'll post my progress.

Edited July 14, 2010 by The leaving song II

[Inui]

nooooo i'm fuuuuuucked :(

I needed you to explain wtf to do with this shit

maybe I'll ask the good pope

[Fenrir]

pretty long vacation.

What happens if soul gets back and no one posts on this topic, making it out of the first page, that would mean he'd be necroing, but it would be ahnoying if he had to make a new topic or just not finish the playthrough. So is there any exceptions to rules?

[Tables]

[spoiler=Necroposting rules]Necroposting (post in a very old topic) is forbidden.

If a topic has not been posted in for 1 month AND has fallen outside the first page of a board, any posts made in that topic will be considered necroposting.

Instead, if necessary, simply make another topic. This rule does not apply to the creators of art topics, hacking projects, and other threads of similar nature that need to be updated. Examples of acceptable use of necroposting are:

You have a project thread, and you must bump it to alert people to an update you just did.

You have some well thought out criticism to post in someone's art thread.

This is acceptable as long as the thread hasn't been devoid of activity by the artist for more than 3 months.

You have a bug report for a Hack.

This is acceptable as long as the thread hasn't been devoid of activity by the hacker for more than 2 months.

It's pretty much covered by the bold part.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I posted here before or not... but I'm following this. It's pretty interesting. I know things get particularly interesting around chapter 18, when you stop seeing unpromoted enemies. Which is good, because Hard mode's 'unpromoted enemies until chapter 25' nonsense makes chapter 20-25 laughably easy.

[Junkhead]

It's been a while. Hello.

Chapter 13

Since there were tons of enemies in this chapter, I had Titania field in the middle of the boat to take out the trash. There was a pretty strong Halberdier among them that launched forward.

I put Ike at Astrid's reach. Volke went to the first chest and then moved a little to the left from to prevent Raven's from passing. Nephenee went and helped killing the Ravens along with Gatrie's help. The other guys mainly just stayed in the first boat until Titania cleared most of the enemies. Mia killed a Raven with her Laguzslayer. Mordecai did a fine job tanking and killing the Fighters and Myrmidons at Norris' boat.

After Titania killed Norris. I had Soren, Ilyana and Astrid kill the Raven left-overs.

Unfortunately, I was careless and couldn't stop one Raven from stealing the Energy Drop. I only recieved the Speedwings, an Elfire tome, Laguz Axe, a Longsword and an Occult scroll. Well, that's most of the treasure...

Unit      Lvl    HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike       12.40  30  13  6    13  13  10   8   7
Soren     13.19  24  1  16    15  14  7    3   15
Titania   13.32  41  21  5    23  21  18   17  14
Oscar     14.81  31  13  3    13  14  9    15  4
Mia       12.89  24  12  4    14  19  10   9   5
Ilyana    13.74  23  4  14    16  13  9    6   14
Mist      2.99   16  1   4     4  7   6    3   7
Volke     12.17  27  13  0    14  15  9    8   3
Mordecai  5.59   46  18  2    10  12  10   15  5
Nephenee  11.98  33  12  3    13  13  7    12  6
Astrid    2.86   20  6   2    7   8   4    5   5   
Gatrie    14.6   35  17  1    10  6   6    16  3           

Chapter 14

Ike and Mia combo'd a Bandit blocking the way. Oscar weakened the Fighter next to the Bandit and Astrid killed it.

Meanwhile, on the left side, I had Mordy Smite Nephenee so she can reach enemies faster. Volke went to retrieve the Spirit Dust.

Titania went to the middle of the map with a Javelin still equipped.

I left Soren and Ilyana to the very south of the map, since all they did was shove Mist, and Soren killed two Bandits.

Ike, Mia, Oscar and Astrid killed a few more spawning enemies in the middle of the map while Titania went at Gashilama's range.

Gashilama attacked Titania but failed to hit. Titania just killed him in the last turn.

Unit      Lvl    HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike       13.08  31  13  6    14  14  10   8   7
Soren     13.57  24  1  16    15  14  7    3   15
Titania   13.70  41  21  5    23  21  18   17  14
Oscar     15.41  31  14  3    13  15  10    15  5
Mia       13.08  25  12  4    14  20  10   10   5
Ilyana    14.00  23  5  14    16  14  10   6   15
Mist      3.10   16  2   5     4  8   7    3   7
Marcia        See you in my next playthrough
Volke     12.17  27  13  0    14  15  9    8   3
Mordecai  5.59   46  18  2    10  12  10   15  5
Nephenee  12.60  34  13  3    13  14  7    13  7
Astrid    4.74   21  8   2    8   10  5    7   7          

Turns taken: 3

Commentary: I brought Marcia to this chapter to recruit Makalov, although I was a bit unsure if to do it or not. She died anyway.

Chapter 15

This chapter was very fast and simple.

I dumped a full level of BEXP on Mordecai in bane, thinking he would team up with Ilyana to beat Muarim.

But instead, what I did was forge a max Mt Thunder forge and lowered it's critical to 0.

Begin.

I took as much foot units as I could and had them shove Ilyana as close as Muarim as possible while having her stay out of enemy range. Only one hawk went to attack Ilyana. Glad I took the Laguzguard. Volke got hit by two of them.

In the next turn, Soren got shoved at Ilyana's range so he could shove her since a hawk was blocking her.

Ilyana killed Muarim in one critical. Hooray for the 255% critical forge glitch.

Unit      Lvl    HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ilyana    14.58  23   5  14    14  14  10    6   15  
Mordy     6.00   48  19   2    10  13  10   16    5 

Laguz killed: 0

Turns taken: 2

Will be updating some more later~

[Integrity]

WHAT

YOU KILLED MARCIA

YOU

KILLED

MARCIA

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[Junkhead]

Chapter 16

Before starting the chapter, I dumped 2 levels on BEXP on Ike, 3 on Astrid, and gave most of the characters I will be using some to gain a full level up. I also forged a max Mt Javelin for Titania, and I also had her equip the Knight Ward for better Spd.

It's time to bench a character...I chose...

Mia

She really has nothing going for her now. I decided to bench her in favor of Astrid, who grows insanely fast, is able to double, has high move and later gains 1-range combat. I would've kept using Mia if I had more BEXP and she had critical bonus. I found her really helpful earlygame, though.

Here we see a few more promoted enemies. Just a few more. A Sniper and a Halberdier at the entrance hall.

Titania rushed in while Oscar, Nephenee, Mordecai and Astrid followed not too far behind. The rest did what they could to follow.

I had some enemies blocking Titania's way killed so she could reach the boss as fast as possible. Oscar ferried Ike for a while.

My goal here was to steal the Dracoshield. It's the least I could do if I want to lowturn since, the Archer, Soldier & Thief that spawn around Turn 9 in the others modes spawn around Turn 2 here. Volke and Sothe reached the treasure chests in time.

Devdan had the honor to die to Oscar's lance.

Unit      Lvl    HP Str Mag Skill Spd Luck Def Res  
Ike       16.84  32  16  8    15  16  12   10  7
Soren     13.85  24  1  16    15  14  7    3   15
Titania   14.22  43  22  5    23  22  19   18  15
Oscar     16.77  32  15  3    14  16  10   16  5
Ilyana    15.45  24  4  15    16  14  11    6  16
Mordecai  6.93   48  19  2    10  13  10   16  5
Nephenee  15.1   35  15  3    14  16  7    14  8
Astrid    12.38  25  11  4    12  16  10    8  10
Danved                    R.I.P             

Turns taken: 7

[Integrity]

don't love you anymore.

I killed Devdan on my first run of the game, incidentally. I ended up resetting to get him afterwards.

[Don Draper]

Out of curiosity, did you import or did you find the .iso?

[Junkhead]

I'm using an ISO. =P