I want to play FE4...

[Soren37]

But I don't know a damn thing. So, this is just a general cry for help here. I do have some specific questions though.

What emulator should I use to play this game?

Is there a translation patch?

I already have a list of which pairings to use for a first-time player, but I do have some questions concerning the bloodlines.

For major bloodlines, it states that the growth bonuses are doubled. So if a character had major Fala blood, would that person gain +40% HP and +60% MAG?

Also, with the * for Weapon Level for major bloodlines, does that mean that the character can use any level of that weapon. For example, Sigurd has major Baldo blood. Does this mean that Sigurd can use any level sword in the game, including the Holy Weapon?

[Celice]

I uses ZSNES, Snes9X was the other "big" one, and now there's BSNES for emulation accuracy. Those seem to be the big three around now.

Patch, yeah, probably on the main Serenes Forest site too, somewhere.

Someone or other can answer the blood question on growths; if memory serves, Holy Blood is basically all weapons of that type, unless it's a special weapon reserved for only a certain character... don't remember if there's special weapons like this in the game. And for example, Baldo blood max doesn't let you use the Balmunk, the holy sword Odo blood is necessary for. But all basic non-holy weapons should be gold.

[Smiley Jim]

But I don't know a damn thing. So, this is just a general cry for help here. I do have some specific questions though.

What emulator should I use to play this game?

Is there a translation patch?

I already have a list of which pairings to use for a first-time player, but I do have some questions concerning the bloodlines.

For major bloodlines, it states that the growth bonuses are doubled. So if a character had major Fala blood, would that person gain +40% HP and +60% MAG?

Also, with the * for Weapon Level for major bloodlines, does that mean that the character can use any level of that weapon. For example, Sigurd has major Baldo blood. Does this mean that Sigurd can use any level sword in the game, including the Holy Weapon?

Answer to the first question: Yes, the growth bonuses are doubled for units with Major holy blood. So a unit with, say, major Hezul, would gain +40% HP and +60% Str. This stacks with any other holy blood the unit may have(So a unit with major Noba and minor Neir, for example, would get a +50% increase to def.)

Answer to the second question: If you have major blood, you can use every weapon of that weapon type(besides the holy weapon that is not assigned to your holy blood, so don't think that Celice can suddenly equip the Balmunk(Shanan/Major Odo) or Mistoltin(Aless/Major Hezul).), provided your class can use that weapon type in the first place. If a unit has major blood, but they are in the wrong class(Example: Arthur with major Blaggi), they simply cannot use the same weapon type as their holy blood. The only exception is Corpul with major Holsety blood, since he gains a Wind rank when he promotes. However, I do not recommend pairing Levin with Sylvia unless you like masochism(I'd recommend pairing Levin with Fury before pairing him with anyone else IMO.)

Anyway, these are my recommended pairings:

Edain x Jamka(Lester doesn't get pursuit, but has good growths and the Brave Bow. If you want Pursuit, pair Edain with Midir. If you care about Lana, Edain x Azel is OK, but Lester will be crap, and Tiltyu would HAVE to be paired with Levin to make Arthur and esp. Tinny salvageable(and as a result, Fury x Claude))

Ayra x Lex(Neir blood=win. Also Paragon. Gotta love Elite. Ayra x Holyn is decent, but the kids have peerless skill and defy the gods already, and major Odo is pointless unless you use a glitch to get the Balmunk off Shanan.)

Lachesis x Fin(Gives the kids Prayer and high luck. Some cons include Delmud not inheriting shit from Fin unless Fin kills Shagall, and Fin losing his lances in the 2nd gen, but you can just give his Brave Lance to Fury.)

Fury x Levin(Makes Sety absolutely ridiculous and Fee okay. Try Fury x Alec if you want to see a flier who laughs at bows.)

Briggid x Holyn(Gives out good stats, plus Patty isn't completely useless combat wise with Luna and Hero Sword access.)

Tiltyu x Azel(Gives the kids high Mag + Pursuit. Tinny is at her best here. Tiltyu x Levin only if you are anal about having Holsety in the sixth chapter)

Sylvia x death(subs are better IMO. Sharlow has Elite, and Laylea gets Charisma)

or if you are anal about pairing everyone:

Sylvia x Claude(Makes Corpul at least useable as a Valk staff-bot. Sylvia x Levin only if you REALLY want masochism.)

P.S: In the second generation, you will come across an axefighter and an axe knight. You can only get one to join the posse, but I heard that Johavla has better stats but Johan has better move.

Edited July 17, 2010 by DA125

[Soren37]

Thank you very much for the speedy answers!

With the relationships, the current ones I have are:

Adean x Midyale

Ira x Holyn

Lachesis x Beowulf

Sylvia x Claude

Fury x Levin

Tiltyu x Azel

Briggid x Dew

Any other suggestions?

Edited July 17, 2010 by Soren37

[Tables]

My preference is:

Aideed x Midir

The children get Pursuit as well as bow inheritance - Jamka doesn't give pursuit, so he's a big no-no. Azel is an option - he screws one child over, but you get the Rescue staff and the othe child is awesome.

Aira x Lex

Elite, Neir blood, Ambush and a decent STR growth make this an amazing pairing. Holyn is good too for Luna and sword passing, but his Odo blood is pretty much wasted here since the children already have great skill.

Lachesis x Beowulf

Lachesis kinda has a hard time finding a good partner... Beowulf passes down swords and gives pursuit, probably the two most important factors, so why not? Some people recommend Fin, but then Fin loses all his lances 2nd Gen and all you gain is two units with Prayer

Sylvia x Claude

I'm anal about keeping everyone alive. This is the least important pairing in the game since the children don't really care about who their dad is, but Claude passes down the Valkrie staff this way which is nice. Death is a better option, since one child gets Charisma (very useful) and the other gets Elite (and he joins late at level 1, so yeah). It's your choice.

Fury x Levin

Levin gives great SPD, critical, continue to both children and Holsety to his son. This pairing is therefore awesome. Another option is Fury x Claude if you're not using the above, which gives both children a better staff rank which is nice, but they become slightly worse combat wise.

Tiltyu x Azel

Fala holy blood, tome inheritance and pursuit. A nice combination to have, and it makes both children pretty decent. Levin is another option here - Holsety gets passed down and becomes available very early in 2nd gen, and both children get great speed and skill, but they lack pursuit.

Briggid x Holyn

Briggid is a difficult one to find a good partner for. One child gets no skills outside of pursuit from this, but he has great stats so he doesn't really care, while the other gets Luna sword which helps a little. Dew might work here as well, he also gives good growths as well as Bargain, which the children like, and Solar to one child which they also like. I struggle to think of another decent pairing for this is the problem.

Edited July 17, 2010 by I Eat Tables

[Rei Rei]

You might enjoy pairing Claude x Fury and Levin x Tiltyu.

It's a bit harder but the pay-off is bigger.

[BBM]

Try Levin x Tiltyu if you want a quicker Holsety, but Fury x Claude sucks. Fury x Noish is better. Sety is always useful, just because he's a Sage, but Fee goes from okay to very good.

If you choose not to go with Ayra x Lex, I'd recommend pairing Tiltyu with him instead of Azel. With Azel, they have Pursuit and higher Magic, but their Wrath skill is actually a detriment outside the Arena, since they'll get hit, counterattack and kill, and then be killed by the second unit that attacks. Lex however, gives them Ambush on top of Wrath, so they'll always go first when they have less than half health, and then just OHKO everything. They'll have low Magic, so they might stop OHKOing after a point, but a Magic Ring/Tron will help them. And they'll have Elite to level up quickly. In any case, not pairing Lex is really a waste of his awesome Elite skill, if not his Ambush and Neir blood.

[Smiley Jim]

Try Levin x Tiltyu if you want a quicker Holsety, but Fury x Claude sucks. Fury x Noish is better. Sety is always useful, just because he's a Sage, but Fee goes from okay to very good.

If you choose not to go with Ayra x Lex, I'd recommend pairing Tiltyu with him instead of Azel. With Azel, they have Pursuit and higher Magic, but their Wrath skill is actually a detriment outside the Arena, since they'll get hit, counterattack and kill, and then be killed by the second unit that attacks. Lex however, gives them Ambush on top of Wrath, so they'll always go first when they have less than half health, and then just OHKO everything. They'll have low Magic, so they might stop OHKOing after a point, but a Magic Ring/Tron will help them. And they'll have Elite to level up quickly. In any case, not pairing Lex is really a waste of his awesome Elite skill, if not his Ambush and Neir blood.

Wouldn't Fury x Alec be more useful than Fury x Noish? Sety might not be very good, but Fee really benefits from Awareness. Remember how bows rape flying units? Well, now Fee is completely immune to the critical effect from bows, which means that her field of movement is a little less restricted. Not as good as Fury x Levin, but that fact is worth mentioning.

Edited July 17, 2010 by DA125

[BBM]

Wouldn't Fury x Alec be more useful than Fury x Noish? Sety might not be very good, but Fee really benefits from Awareness. Remember how bows rape flying units? Well, now Fee is completely immune to the critical effect from bows, which means that her field of movement is a little less restricted. Not as good as Fury x Levin, but that fact is worth mentioning.

Noish gives her Critical, Charge, and +5% growths in HP, STR, and DEF. Alec gives her Awareness and +5% growths in SPD, SKL, and LUK. The things Noish gives her are probably more important. Fee has pretty shitty defence. Almost all physical units 2RKO her anyways, so Bow units just take one more turn now with Alec. If she can kill a unit before even taking damage, that's better than surviving one more hit when she's going to be hitting and running, and not standing there. Critical lets her do that. Alec's advantage in SPD and LUK are as useless as Noish's win in HP and DEF, as she's never going to be able to dodge tank, if she's using Lances, and she's never going to have good durability unless her dad is Lex. There's no reason for her to use Swords anyways, as neither Alec or Noish give her enough MAG to use Magic Swords well. She's better off with the Hero Lance.

And Sety will still be okay even with Alec, but Noish does give him a better skill set.

[Thor Odinson]

The real benefits of FuryClaude!Fee is a capped RES stat. Always useful with all those Fenrir and Sleep Staff mages at endgame, and her staff rank goes up to B upon promotion, so she can use Recover.

She'll also do nicely with a magic sword, because swords>>>>>>all other physical weapons in that game. It certainly will benefit her better than Javelin would, seeing how heavy that thing is.

During endgame, Def doesn't matter as much as RES, seeing that EVERY OTHER ENEMY is a Dark Mage with a Sleep Staff. Altenna has crap Res, so she'll get sleep'd every turn just trying to kill them. Claude!Fee doesn't have that problem. Levin!Fee can do that if you get lucky with the Res and add a RES ring, but Claude!Fee will cap RES naturally and laugh at all the Dark Mages as she kills them.

Once Claude!Fee clears the sleep-staff mages, it allows your other units to go and kill things without being sleep'd.

Celice, after all, is only one person, and Tyrfing is quite expensive to repair.

(I personally like AyraHolyn just a bit better, if only for the overkill factor of it rather than utility. Burian down in one hit, CH10!Yurius down in 2. It was awesome.)

Sety on the other hand is far better with Levin as a father no matter what. Because why would Sety want to go on staff duty when he can go off and kill things with Holsety?

Also, LevinFury is Canon. Thracia said so.

Edited July 17, 2010 by Luminescent Blade

[Renall]

Sety is overkill with Levin as the father, and the utility of Arthur having it two chapters earlier with a horsey is what matters most to me. Put Lightning or Elwind in his hands and Sety has no problems anyway.

I was one of the first fans of Brigid x Holyn and I still totally am, it's great even if you don't intend to do anything with Patty, and if you do she can at least use a Hero Sword before promotion (which shouldn't be too hard for her to afford) and then anything else you want once she has promoted. And it plugs Faval's sole flaw and gives him insane HP besides.

[Thor Odinson]

Lex x Tiltyu is fun, though. Not as good as Levin x Tiltyu by a long shot, but having Elite really helps Tiltyu's kids level and Wrath+Ambush is awesome.

Tinny + Thoron = Yay dead people.

[Renall]

You really have to spare the Magic Ring for Lex's kids in that case though. They can have some OHKOing problems, which is obviously a major issue since the Ambush/Wrath combo is relying on the character's offense being their defense. In a way, it's tough, because only one can really rock Thoron and the Magic Ring. Still, if they do OHKO everything that can attack them, they are pretty much invincible.

[Thor Odinson]

However, Arthur's Def growth is high enough, that even with his low cap, it's plenty useful in early-mid game.

Tinny has higher Mag than Arthur, so I usually give her Thoron, while Mag ring goes to Elthunder->Elwind!Arthur. She actually does OHKO most things. Things she can't OHKO, I already had Lakche or Celice or one of those Holy Weapon people kill anyway.

Elwind is easy enough to get to 50 kills anyway, since I'd rather not spam Holsety for money purposes and saves that for bosses.

Edited July 18, 2010 by Luminescent Blade

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

I suggest these only so that your first impressions will be different from the standard experiences most folks go through without sacrificing much, if any, usability.

Aideen|Beowulf

Aira|Levin(Make em' like GBA Swordmasters. O wait, Lakche will likely cap strength anyway)

LachesisxAec

SylviaxLex

FuryxNoish

BrigidxArdan

Tiltyuxno one (or Azel)

[Just call me AL]

Ehh... Personally, I'd want to avoid the Lex X Tiltyu pair because of the low magic and the lack of Pursuit (a skill that is needed to double attack in this game). I really don't think that is worth the Neir Blood and the Vantage + Wrath + Paragon combo.

But as for my recommend pairs.

Lex X Ayra: Neir Blood helps out their Def, not to mention, Paragon + Vantage.

Midir X Edin: Pursuit for both kids, plus bow inheritance for Lester.

Lachesis X Beowulf: One of Lachesis's easier pairs. Pursuit for both kids, plus sword inheritance for Delmud.

Fury X Levin: Fee will be decent, but Sety will make enemies want to say "HAAAAAAAAAAX!!!!" be awesome.

Bridget X Holyn: The downside is that Holyn has to pass down the Pursuit Ring, but the minor Odo lets Patty use Brave Swords right off the bat. Not to mention, Luna for Patty.

Tiltyu X Azel: Azel gives both kids what they want. (Magic growth + Pursuit) But you're gonna have to get Tiltyu promoted if you want Tinny to have a Wind tome when she joins.

Edited July 18, 2010 by LittleAl

[Thor Odinson]

I never said LexTiltyu is optimal. I just think it's fun having Tinny Thoron!Crit everything.

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

Fury X Levin: Fee will be decent, but Sety will make enemies want to say "HAAAAAAAAAAX!!!!" awesome.

Fee is more than just decent with Levin as her father. She's downright godly.

[Tables]

I'd hardly call her godly. Her STR is pretty mediocre and DEF isn't that solid, and by the time she gets the boost in chapter 10, 80% of her playtime is already gone. Her SPD is amazing, yes, but really, that alone isn't enough to make up for her other problems. Decent is a pretty accurate description of Levin!Fee.

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

I'd hardly call her godly. Her STR is pretty mediocre and DEF isn't that solid, and by the time she gets the boost in chapter 10, 80% of her playtime is already gone. Her SPD is amazing, yes, but really, that alone isn't enough to make up for her other problems. Decent is a pretty accurate description of Levin!Fee.

With the boatload of inherited money Fury and Levin have and the ton of items Fury can pass down to her, Fee is a lock to promote by the beginning of Chapter 8 and start raping with those Silver Lances. Her offense prior to promotion is much more than most other Fees thanks to Critical and Continue. Four hits with the Hero Lance is nice, but having a chance to critical with it makes a huge difference.

[Smiley Jim]

I'd hardly call her godly. Her STR is pretty mediocre and DEF isn't that solid, and by the time she gets the boost in chapter 10, 80% of her playtime is already gone. Her SPD is amazing, yes, but really, that alone isn't enough to make up for her other problems. Decent is a pretty accurate description of Levin!Fee.

Some people fix 's str problem by giving her a Strength ring. For example, at Lv15, Fee would only have 12.25 str, assuming the most optimal pairing(Levin). Giving her a str ring would boost it to 17. Another one is where she's just promoted, and she only has 13.5 Str(power ring boosts it to 18). Of course, such rings do have their competition(Patty benefits from power rings since her str sucks for a long time and Celice needs at least 1 in the final fight.). Though if you really want Fee to be a good fighter, you would need to pair with one of the following:

Ardan, Jamka, Dew, Noish, Lex, and Beowulf

Lex is probably best here since he gives Fee a 70% def growth, but you sacrifice Ayra's kids and pretty much have to pair her with Dew for them to be good.

Note: won't be anywhere near as good with these fathers(but he still is decent), so I'd still pair with Levin to preserve canon.

Edited July 18, 2010 by DA125

[Tables]

With the boatload of inherited money Fury and Levin have and the ton of items Fury can pass down to her, Fee is a lock to promote by the beginning of Chapter 8 and start raping with those Silver Lances. Her offense prior to promotion is much more than most other Fees thanks to Critical and Continue. Four hits with the Hero Lance is nice, but having a chance to critical with it makes a huge difference.

Hold on a second... how does making Fee rich (which seems like favouritism to me anyway - Fury isn't exactly the richest character in Gen 1 anyway, so she can't take that much stuff) mean she promotes earlier? I've always used Levin Fee (er, both times...) and I can't really say she's that rich, or promoting that early - chapter 9 seems a lot more reasonable, like a lot of other people. Critical and Continue are good skills, so I get where you're coming from, but even so, criticals with low might still don't do a whole lot of damage. Levin Fee I can definitely see as being better than average considering that (I'd forgotten that critical was passed down by Levin, not Fury ), but regardless, the strength and especially the defence problems still exist.

And being able to fix her strength/defence with a contested ring... hmm, I suppose it's possible, but she doesn't have an undisputed claim on them (and other Fee's can take them as well to get equally better if you're considering Levin!Fee against other parents).

But anyway, good Fee and awesome Sety makes Levin x Fury a great pairing anyway.

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

Hold on a second... how does making Fee rich (which seems like favouritism to me anyway - Fury isn't exactly the richest character in Gen 1 anyway, so she can't take that much stuff) mean she promotes earlier? I've always used Levin Fee (er, both times...) and I can't really say she's that rich, or promoting that early - chapter 9 seems a lot more reasonable, like a lot of other people. Critical and Continue are good skills, so I get where you're coming from, but even so, criticals with low might still don't do a whole lot of damage. Levin Fee I can definitely see as being better than average considering that (I'd forgotten that critical was passed down by Levin, not Fury ), but regardless, the strength and especially the defence problems still exist.

And being able to fix her strength/defence with a contested ring... hmm, I suppose it's possible, but she doesn't have an undisputed claim on them (and other Fee's can take them as well to get equally better if you're considering Levin!Fee against other parents).

But anyway, good Fee and awesome Sety makes Levin x Fury a great pairing anyway.

Fury can always one of the richest characters in the 1st Gen via a simple tactic, which is mentioned in the next paragraph.

Giving Fury the Thief Sword to use on ton of Pirates(Ch.3 after Silvail) and Mountain Thieves doesn't seem like insane favoritism to me. Stuffing Fury with Iron Lances, Steel Lances, and Javelins for 7500 free gold is not favoritism. Passing down the Thief Sword for Fee to get another 10000 Gold from Mountain Thieves is not major favoritism. Fee comes with the Slim Lance and Berserk Sword for a free 8000 gold total. Free gold from saving castles in ch.6=2000 or 3000. 8000+2000 gold from parents, assuming the parents have 40000 G each. Throw in a couple villages and Steel Swords, and she has the budget to purchase the Elite Ring.

Giving her kills in Ch. 7 that could have went to someone else? Ok, that's some favoritism, but once she gets over level 16|67(NOT equal to it), she doesn't need any more kills as she can rape the next chapter's arena with her wtfspeed.

Her DEF issue is pretty much mitigated by either Celice or weapon triangle.

I guess I'll change the label to "very good with the potential to be godly" for Fee though.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Voltaire

[Thor Odinson]

Maybe feeding Fee kills could be considered favoritism, but training her will prove insanely useful come lategame, which will be a net benefit after all.

I think I have had Level 30 Levin!Sety Sleep'd because his Res was one or two points off. Not fun at all.

The DEF issue isn't so bad lategame, but she'll have to be properly leveled to have the RES to deal with the mages.

[Renall]

I think I have had Level 30 Levin!Sety Sleep'd because his Res was one or two points off. Not fun at all.

The DEF issue isn't so bad lategame, but she'll have to be properly leveled to have the RES to deal with the mages.

You know, I know a guy who gives Fury's kids really great RES...