I crushed Lunatic, but I think it also crushed me

[VincentASM]

I can't remember how I started, but one day I thought I'd try a run on Lunatic (Classic) mode and see how far I would get. I remember trying H5 on Shadow Dragon and getting stuck on Chapter 4 or something, because the bosses are completely broken (I needed to sacrifice Jagen multiple times, but there's only one Jagen...). After investing much time and sweat, I can proudly say Lunatic mode is underneath me!

Anybody who recommends to try reverse Lunatic is getting banned, j/k

Anyway, I don't tend to keep detailed logs of my FE playthroughs. However, for some reason, maybe because Lunatic scarred me for life, I can still remember a lot of details of my run. So, while I can still remember, I thought I'd share some details, in case anybody is interested although mainly it's for me to vent out after my gruelling experience.

I should also mention that I'm not much of a skilled FE player. I prefer to play the easier modes, the hardest I've beaten are FE6 HM and FE7 EHM. So as you can imagine, Lunatic owned me pretty hard at times. I had to reset many chapters multiple times to stop my army getting massacred. For most of these chapters, they became much easier when you figure out a good strategy. Some others, like the final chapters, were completely nuts even if you know what to do.

Note: This run was on the cartridge, so I didn't take any screenshots.

Prologue 1-8

My Unit - Male Knight, HP Past, Skill+Speed Present, Defence Future

The first time I tried the prologue, I suffered several casualties; basically everybody died as soon as they were recruited. By the time I got to Prologue 8, even with a high Level Knight My Unit, it was impossible to continue, thanks to the final wave of Mages and Barbarians. Second time around, I was more careful and didn't let any characters die, however I couldn't find many opportunities to train anybody other than My Unit; the other characters acted as bait or finished off enemies. With the extra help though, Prologue 8 became manageable, although in the end, only Marth and My Unit survived (and just). Oh well, everybody comes back later anyway...

Chapter 1

Yikes, I got stuck on this chapter for a while, almost ready to give up my run (already, you say?). The Barbarians seemed to deal too much damage to my underpowered army and one Barbarians takes 2 or 3 units to properly take down. Eventually, I only brought out Marth, Arran and My Unit and made them hide near the cave. With some luck and careful positioning/planning, I survived the wave of Barbarians and the rest of the chapter was fairly straightforward.

Chapter 2

I'm not even going to bother to get that Lady Sword. I don't think female units are going to be too useful on Lunatic (or so I thought). To begin with, I formed a wall in the forests a little north of the starting position. The enemy Cavaliers aren't so scary with reduced movement. The 4 Dracoknights + boss wave had me stuck for a while (man, they had to make the boss move out as well...). I brought along Gordin and Ryan, but I kept finding myself lacking enough damage to KO all five enemies. Some swapping around of character actions and maybe some lucky criticals got me through.

Chapter 3

I was fortunate to obtain Camus's Lance around here, so I effectively had a second Silver Lance wielder (Catria). Trying to get Palla to survive was the hardest part of this chapter. I made her kill the incoming Thief and then make a run for the north east part of the map. After luring and killing one of the Dracoknights, there was some space where she can sit safely, without getting killed by the Cavaliers or the stationary Dracoknights. Later on, I tried to enter the castle from the west side, across the mountains, although My Unit almost died against the wave of enemies. I took a long time in this chapter and got characters killed in the prologue so I missed Chapter 3x, as if I need Wrys.

Chapter 4

Took me a while to figure out the enemies near Ogma and co don't move for a few turns if you don't provoke them. Still, I got really stuck on this chapter due to the high number of Barbarians and Hunters. After consulting MJEmirzian's guide, I went all out and took out the northern enemies, running to the forts to prevent most of the reinforcements, after which the chapter indeed became much easier. Did a lot of hit and run across the desert, sometimes using Dracoknight Arran to lure enemies away from the main group for a turn or two.

Chapter 5

I have no idea how I'm going to stop those Thieves from wrecking the villages, especially if you can't enter the attack range of Jeorge's squadron and there's those nasty Dracoknights near the village... Tried this chapter a few times before giving up and resorting to MJEmirzian's guide. OK, let's go on the offensive like in Chapter 4 and take out most of the incoming Mages and Cavaliers. Now Dracoknight Sirius can safely reach and kill the Thief, but he probably can't survive against the enemy Dracoknights who are in range, so I pull him away with a Rescue staff. Except I stupidly left Linde waiting in the range of the 3(?) Dracoknights... I'd better use that save point near the fort and prepare some careful shielding.

Chapter 6

This chapter was a breeze and they were generous enough to hand three save points, though I didn't get time to use the third. Everyone ran left to take out the main force of enemies and stayed there until the reinforcements were all dead. The two Bishops to the east seemed pretty hard to kill. Until I realised you can distract the long-range Bishop with a weaker unit, while Cavalier My Unit Javelins them to death. The Knights, Bishops and Sniper by Lang were a pretty tough threat, I had My Unit and Sirius take turns to block the corridor unequpped. Like Chapter 3, I took too many turns and Rickard suicided in Chapter 5, so I missed out on Chapter 6x.

Characters actively used by this point: Marth, My Unit, Catria, Palla, Sirius, Linde, Malliesia, Ogma

Before I continue rambling, is anybody interested in reading these summaries? To be honest, I'm probably not really doing anything special here (besides playing Lunatic mode), and I don't think there's much I can say about chapters.

Edited October 7, 2010 by VincentASM

[Paperblade]

I don't think female units are going to be too useful on Lunatic (or so I thought).

>_________________>

And yes, I'm reading.

[El Rey León]

I enjoyed reading them so I wouldn't mind hearing more chapters.

Anything to prepare me for my own Lunatic mode.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I don't think female units are going to be too useful on Lunatic (or so I thought).

Some of the females you get in this game are the best units you can get (Shiida, Feena, Catria, Palla, Mallesia)

[Flying Shogi]

This sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind reading it.

[VincentASM]

Thanks for the comments, I feel like carrying on myself, so it's nice to have some encouragement.

Some of the females you get in this game are the best units you can get (Shiida, Feena, Catria, Palla, Mallesia)

I actually used all of those you mentioned in this playthrough X D

Chapter 7

Everybody ran through the forest (or flew in the case of Catria, Palla, Sirius and I think Arran) to try and take down as many Thieves as possible. The main target being the star shard, since I intend to get the True Ending. Feena gets rescued ASAP, since I wasn't confident about her surviving the Thieves. I didn't intend on Nabarl surviving, but he did in the end, thanks to not being double attacked. When all the Thieves died/escaped, everyone remained in the forest trying to fend off the reinforcements. Before securing the throne, the Heroes were provoked and Astram killed for the Mercurius (which barely got used in the end).

Chapter 8

The opening text in the original:

Soon after reclaiming Raman Temple, Marth was pursued by Akaneia’s army and headed towards Cashmere Bridge to escape.

However, after easily reaching the central islet, the Aritian army was attacked by a new foe.

“Akaneia’s army is approaching from the north.

If this continues we’ll become surrounded.”

There’s no way to go!

Can Marth and the others safely overcome this danger?

For a while, it seemed there really was no way to go. Hard-hitting Generals up north and overpowered Heroes + reinforcements down south. Stupidly, I kept provoking the Heroes on turn 1, trying to kill the Thief holding a star shard. Then I realised you can just have a character Javelin the Thief and then dance the character away from the Heroes' range. The Generals weren't as bad as I first thought, though I keep forgetting there's still the General reinforcements. Finally, with Catria and My Unit as unarmed shields, the Heroes were all taken out.

Chapter 9

My Unit promoted around here and was reclassed to Berserker, ready to take out the Dracoknights if nobody else could. Shiida flew ahead to protect Minerva's village from the Thieves, while everybody else took out the Thieves and provoked the first wave of Dracoknights. This took a few turns to get right. I also ended up provoking the Mages in the process, so everybody had to run east afterwards.

Chapter 10

Argh, how should I take out those long-ranged Bishops right in front of me? Flying units are no good thanks to the Mages with forged Shaver nearby, as well as the Sniper. I suppose I'll have to use Berserker My Unit with a Hand Axe then. Merric is rescued ASAP, since he'll probably be useful for killing Wyverns. Otherwise, this chapter was pretty easy, as my army lied in wait for the small groups of Mercenaries and Mages.

Chapter 10x

Not sure about the turn count for Chapter 10, but I didn't touch any enemy Clerics, so I reached my first sidequest chapter. Except I should have skipped this one! Paladin My Unit rushed forward to kill the real Roro (either on the second or third attempt), while everybody carefully engaged the other Roros, making sure not to take heavy damage, due to reinforcements coming soon. Horace died a painful death against one of the Hammer Roros.

Chapter 11

I was worried about reaching this stage of the game and for a good reason. As some people know, dragons on Lunatic mode (not sure about Maniac) have 1~2 range, which makes them slightly harder to take down and you get hit by them more. This chapter wasn't too bad, although you need to provoke the Wyverns carefully, since their 12 movement lets them move around your whole army and one-shot your weaker units, which is made worse with the desert impeding your escape. Merric's Excalibur was enough to one-shot every Wyvern, which was a relief. The hardest part was trying to provoke the enemies near the boss. In the end, I had Dracoknight My Unit kill most of them. Oh well, I can always get more exp later.

Chapter 12

I hadn't gotten stuck on a chapter for a long time, but I finally got stuck here. Tons of enemies advance towards you from the beginning, including Fire Dragons, Wyverns and a Swordmaster, plus reinforcements from behind, which required a lot of well-executed attacks. Eventually I got the hang of the enemy's advance, carefully obliterating the enemies until it got to the Swordmaster and co, which is when I started falling back and hid in the south-eastern corner. The second half of the chapter had My Unit solo-ing the northern enemies, while the rest of the army blocked the first line of forts. There were moments when I didn't think he would make it : P

Chapter 13

Most of my regulars were promoted around this time, but it didn't really soften the difficulty. Everyone rushed east at first to dodge the western group of enemies and defeat the eastern group. My Unit marched ahead to stop the Thief running for the north-eastern exit. By the time the first wave of enemies were gone, it was time to stop the second Thief, although he had already started making his escape. Trying to conquer the central area was quite a headache. Malliesia, promoted, attacked from the north, while the main army moved across the river south of the castle. After a few attempt, only the boss was left, and Marth was able to seize the next turn, before the Wyvern reinforcements could do anything.

Chapter 13x

Despite the Fog of War, this chapter was fairly alright. The ballistae did some heavy damage to my weaker characters, but there weren't many of them around. Initially, I kept getting killed when Kleine and her nearby enemies made their ambush. Using My Unit as bait seemed to do the job.

Chapter 14

The first part of the chapter took several attempts to get right. I couldn't seem to provoke the enemies to attack, without getting into severe danger. Palla, reclassed to Sniper, ran to the left side of the temple and sniped a Dark Mage. Next turn, everybody hid behind Paladin My Unit and Xane transformed as My Unit, a bit left of the starting stairs. Sometimes, Palla would return to the temple's left, to lure some enemies back to her. Second part was fairly easy, especially after taking out the eastern and western trio of enemies before visting Gotoh. After that, everybody hid in Gotoh's room, firing shots behind an unarmed My Unit, who was holding the Starsphere.

Characters actively used by this point: Marth, My Unit (usually Paladin or Berserker), Catria (usually Dracoknight or Paladin), Palla (Dracoknight, Sniper in this chapter), Sirius (Paladin or Dracoknight), Linde (Sage), Malliesia (Sage), Feena, Merric (Sage), Xane, dropped Ogma

Thinking back, I should have brought more male units, especially since I had reclass limits removed. Characters like Rody, Luke, Frey, Cain, Ogma or Nabarl would have come in handy. I just couldn't find any good opportunities to train them >__<

[Narga_Rocks]

I actually used all of those you mentioned in this playthrough X D

I'm not even going to bother to get that Lady Sword. I don't think female units are going to be too useful on Lunatic (or so I thought).

I think a couple of people read the above line and missed the bolded part. It should be obvious Vincent learned different before needing to be told.

[fatgamecat]

Thanks for writing your experiences, I enjoyed reading them so far. I give respect to anyone who tries lunatic mode. If you found anything confusing or unhelpful about my guide feel free to tell me, I could use some feedback.

[riariadne]

Huh, Vincent's makiing a playthrough for this too? That's a first, isn't it?

The more I find out about thisgame the more I wish they'd just release it in the US already ;_;

[Fei Mao]

I'll be interested in reading your experience Vincent.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Generic Officer

[grandjackal]

Chapter 7

Everybody ran through the forest (or flew in the case of Catria, Palla, Sirius and I think Arran) to try and take down as many Thieves as possible. The main target being the star shard, since I intend to get the True Ending. Feena gets rescued ASAP, since I wasn't confident about her surviving the Thieves. I didn't intend on Nabarl surviving, but he did in the end, thanks to not being double attacked. When all the Thieves died/escaped, everyone remained in the forest trying to fend off the reinforcements. Before securing the throne, the Heroes were provoked and Astram killed for the Mercurius (which barely got used in the end).

You didn't need to Rescue her, just be smart on where you position Navarre and Feena. This would have helped greatly when your flying units arrived, since now the dancer is there.

Also, were you using Sirius and Paula with Silver to one shot them? OHKO I feel is the best way to deal with them.

Chapter 8

The opening text in the original:

Soon after reclaiming Raman Temple, Marth was pursued by Akaneia’s army and headed towards Cashmere Bridge to escape.

However, after easily reaching the central islet, the Aritian army was attacked by a new foe.

“Akaneia’s army is approaching from the north.

If this continues we’ll become surrounded.”

There’s no way to go!

Can Marth and the others safely overcome this danger?

For a while, it seemed there really was no way to go. Hard-hitting Generals up north and overpowered Heroes + reinforcements down south. Stupidly, I kept provoking the Heroes on turn 1, trying to kill the Thief holding a star shard. Then I realised you can just have a character Javelin the Thief and then dance the character away from the Heroes' range. The Generals weren't as bad as I first thought, though I keep forgetting there's still the General reinforcements. Finally, with Catria and My Unit as unarmed shields, the Heroes were all taken out.

Don't you mean the Generals?

Anyways yeah, this map is annoying to have to go through that many Generals at once. This map in particular I found flight and Berserker MU to be incredible in. Flight and waterwalk allow you to pull some of the Generals away so that you aren't overwhelmed when trying to rush the bridge.

Also, you could have just OHKOd the Thief and used Rescue.

Chapter 9

My Unit promoted around here and was reclassed to Berserker, ready to take out the Dracoknights if nobody else could. Shiida flew ahead to protect Minerva's village from the Thieves, while everybody else took out the Thieves and provoked the first wave of Dracoknights. This took a few turns to get right. I also ended up provoking the Mages in the process, so everybody had to run east afterwards.

You just recruited George, taking out the dracoknights probably isn't as hard as you think. Also, Aura chip or other bow users.

Flight is great here yet again, since A. It helps pull away mages to that little pocket of desert to the left which is far away from the main action, B. Allows you to pick off stragglers who ventured out too far alone, and C. Is a great way to pull Etzel toward Minerva's shack, since Etzel loves coming in to smack your main army around a bit.

Chapter 10

Argh, how should I take out those long-ranged Bishops right in front of me? Flying units are no good thanks to the Mages with forged Shaver nearby, as well as the Sniper. I suppose I'll have to use Berserker My Unit with a Hand Axe then. Merric is rescued ASAP, since he'll probably be useful for killing Wyverns. Otherwise, this chapter was pretty easy, as my army lied in wait for the small groups of Mercenaries and Mages.

You could have also had a Sniper walk in the water to kill the other Bishop, then Dance to take out the merc. Once the Shaver mages are gone (stupid crit rate!), there is next to nothing in your way to get to the throne.

Chapter 10x

Not sure about the turn count for Chapter 10, but I didn't touch any enemy Clerics, so I reached my first sidequest chapter. Except I should have skipped this one! Paladin My Unit rushed forward to kill the real Roro (either on the second or third attempt), while everybody carefully engaged the other Roros, making sure not to take heavy damage, due to reinforcements coming soon. Horace died a painful death against one of the Hammer Roros.

Chapter's annoying if only because you basically have to guess which guy is right, and if you're wrong, someone's dying.

Chapter 11

I was worried about reaching this stage of the game and for a good reason. As some people know, dragons on Lunatic mode (not sure about Maniac) have 1~2 range, which makes them slightly harder to take down and you get hit by them more. This chapter wasn't too bad, although you need to provoke the Wyverns carefully, since their 12 movement lets them move around your whole army and one-shot your weaker units, which is made worse with the desert impeding your escape. Merric's Excalibur was enough to one-shot every Wyvern, which was a relief. The hardest part was trying to provoke the enemies near the boss. In the end, I had Dracoknight My Unit kill most of them. Oh well, I can always get more exp later.

While 1-2 range is annoying when fighting most dragons, I feel it only makes fighting Wyverns easier since they now just are so easy to coax into attacking a Sniper at 2 range. I found you could actually train guys here for loads of experience if you just switch them to Hunter. It's so simple, that you don't need George for it. Maric alone could help with escorting Marth towards the throne by killing whatever Wyvern hoves into his field of vision.

As for the enemies near the throne...Talk about pulling hair out. 3 22 AS Swordmasters with forged Master Swords. That is bullshit.

Chapter 12

I hadn't gotten stuck on a chapter for a long time, but I finally got stuck here. Tons of enemies advance towards you from the beginning, including Fire Dragons, Wyverns and a Swordmaster, plus reinforcements from behind, which required a lot of well-executed attacks. Eventually I got the hang of the enemy's advance, carefully obliterating the enemies until it got to the Swordmaster and co, which is when I started falling back and hid in the south-eastern corner. The second half of the chapter had My Unit solo-ing the northern enemies, while the rest of the army blocked the first line of forts. There were moments when I didn't think he would make it : P

Nothing says excitement like 3 wyverns popping out of nowhere.

Chapter 13

Most of my regulars were promoted around this time, but it didn't really soften the difficulty. Everyone rushed east at first to dodge the western group of enemies and defeat the eastern group. My Unit marched ahead to stop the Thief running for the north-eastern exit. By the time the first wave of enemies were gone, it was time to stop the second Thief, although he had already started making his escape. Trying to conquer the central area was quite a headache. Malliesia, promoted, attacked from the north, while the main army moved across the river south of the castle. After a few attempt, only the boss was left, and Marth was able to seize the next turn, before the Wyvern reinforcements could do anything.

You could have rushed to kill the boss with some units approaching from the north (they'd have to be Paladins or Fliers), and from the south a Dance'd Marth just goes to take the throne before reinforcements can even dare to show up. Also means at the throne that you only have 2 units to deal with instead of 6.

Chapter 14

The first part of the chapter took several attempts to get right. I couldn't seem to provoke the enemies to attack, without getting into severe danger. Palla, reclassed to Sniper, ran to the left side of the temple and sniped a Dark Mage. Next turn, everybody hid behind Paladin My Unit and Xane transformed as My Unit, a bit left of the starting stairs. Sometimes, Palla would return to the temple's left, to lure some enemies back to her. Second part was fairly easy, especially after taking out the eastern and western trio of enemies before visting Gotoh. After that, everybody hid in Gotoh's room, firing shots behind an unarmed My Unit, who was holding the Starsphere.

It's more fun to take them out in the entrance hall.

Thinking back, I should have brought more male units, especially since I had reclass limits removed. Characters like Rody,

No

Frey,

They

Cain,

Wouldn't.

As for Luke, Ogma and Navarre, Luke has essentially all the time in the world. Prologue, you don't have to greedily shove all the EXP down MU's throat, and you can get by without shoving too much EXP down the throats of units like Ogma, Cain, etc. I'd venture you could get Luke to level 6 or so by the end of prologue. For chapter 1, just switch him to a class like Myrm or Merc if he has the speed. He's got the Sword rank, absolutely no reason he shouldn't if it just means he kills things easier. This is particularly why Rody's of no help, since even though it's no problem to train up 3 units in Prologue, he doesn't really stand out. He's got Lance rank, but he won't be fast enough any time soon to kill things with it, nor will he be tanky enough to take more than one round if he goes Armor (probably would get ORKOd actually due to getting doubled). He can't switch to a Sword class like Luke can to just kill things, because Rody's got no sword rank. Even if he did, he's still most likely not going to be as guaranteed to kill things since not only is he most likely slower than Luke thus relegating him to the weaker Str Myrm class, he's also weaker in strength on top of that. He's probably good later on (Due to easier access to Dragonpikes and Ridersbane, along with basically growing similarly to Luke), he's just...meh for a good while.

As for Ogma, if you got the Rainbow Potion or switch him over to Myrm, he can be capable off the bat. He won't be fantastic, but he'll be usable until he grows into his own.

Navarre? I dunno, he just has such limited time and immediately runs into The Bridge. Maybe if you could somehow get him a lot of kills against the thieves in his opening chapter, he could come out the other end pretty good. Not sure how you could though, without an insane number of crits procing since the thieves can 2RKO him. Maybe if you had enough Libro to spare from killing the bishop in chapter 5...But still, all that for 1 guy who may or may not even fit in your ever-growing team? Navarre's just a bit shaky to me.

[VincentASM]

Huh, Vincent's makiing a playthrough for this too? That's a first, isn't it?

I actually did a short log of my playthrough of the FE7 beta. It was much shorter though and much more obscure.

Thanks for writing your experiences, I enjoyed reading them so far. I give respect to anyone who tries lunatic mode. If you found anything confusing or unhelpful about my guide feel free to tell me, I could use some feedback.

I actually tried not to use a guide too much, because I was interested to see if it was possible to beat Lunatic without too much preparation and advice. Most of the parts that I did use seemed pretty useful. A few parts didn't seem to apply to me, perhaps because I didn't reload for stats or focused on a different team of characters. However, it was encouraging to read them, since I know the chapter is doable ^^

Third part, last part probably coming tomorrow.

Chapter 15

Hooray, we're back home, surely things must get easier after dragon hell? Oh great, Akaneia really brought out their elites and got busy with their forges... First few attempts, I made everybody run through the eastern fortress. It seemed to work, I managed to rescue Est and made some good progress. Except the reinforcements were just too overwhelming and I didn't have time to protect both entrances of the fortress. Second time around, I took a tip from MJEmirzian's guide (yes, it's been a long time) and moved west instead. I happily saved the villages and blocked the north-western forts in time, preventing a whole ton of reinforcements. After that, the chapter was a breeze.

Chapter 16

Like a few other chapters, the first few turns took several attempts to get right. Paladin My Unit had to break through the Heroes and Snipers to stop the group of Thieves from opening the chests and thus revealing the north-eastern sector. Catria, as a Paladin, was used for backup. The rest of the army, not named Shiida or Sirius who were chasing the Geosphere Thief, lured the Heroes and Snipers. Eventually, all the Thieves were killed in time and nobody died on me. Second part of the chapter involved everybody hiding in the chest room area, behind My Unit once again. He's such a durable guy : ) Final part required clearing out the boss area without being killed by the Meteor and Swarms, and the physical units. Luckily there's a save point nearby so you can try out many tactics.

Chapter 16x

This chapter was much harder than it looked. I'm pretty sure the Berserkers two-rounded most characters and maybe three-rounded My Unit. Being a small map, there's not many places to hide. Or perhaps there is... Everybody ran towards the bottom of the map, being careful not to provoke the enemies. Next turn, My Unit and Catria, both unarmed, blocked the area just below Katarina. Fortunately the Berserker reinforcements went straight west, instead of going down and west.

Chapter 17

Almost a joke chapter, if it wasn't for the powerful Warriors and multiple Dracoknight reinforcements. First few turns, Berserker My Unit solo'd the north-western Dracoknights, while the rest of the army dealt with the north-eastern Dracoknights, plus some of the southern enemies. Sometimes, I ended up killing the Gra soldiers instead of using staves, so no Sheema or Samson. Didn't care about the Thief running off with Nosferatu (your female Sages don't really live long to use it), but I did make Marth visit the village. Oops, except I *think* it triggered these Dracoknight reinforcements from out of nowhere. Nobody was near one of the group of reinforcements, but My Unit was hit by the others. Entering Sheema's room also triggered Dracoknight reinforcements, but I saved beforehand, so it wasn't as shocking.

Chapter 18

A fairly easy chapter. There's only(?) four Paladins surrounding the village, but three of them were taken down on the first turn. I think Feena got hit by the fourth, but she survived the blow. My Unit took the Lifesphere and provoked the Generals around the castle. Except I didn't see those Dracoknights camouflaging with the Generals...! Quickly saved using the central save point and tried a few different tactics to survive the onslaught of Generals.

Chapter 19

I heard this chapter can be quite tough, so I took the easy way out. Immediately, Feena moved to the far north-west and danced for Dracoknight My Unit, armed with a Hammer and the Starsphere. Boss was one-rounded and My Unit rescued to safety. Now no more reinforcements! The village was tricky to save, with all those high-Strength Warriors around. My Unit was loaded with a Hand Axe, Iote's Shield and the Lifesphere. He just barely saved the village. I wasn't sure on how to conquer the castle area, so I threw My Unit there, attacking from the south. With no Bishops doing the healing, the Paladins above the village area were lured and killed and finally the Horsemen as well. Easy! (okay, it took several attempts before it all worked out.)

Chapter 20

Almost at the end... Can I really finish this? I heard about this chapter as well and it was a royal nightmare. The main problem was the huge number of reinforcements that appear very early on. In the end, I managed to formulate a hit-and-miss strategy to deal with this. First turn, Berserker My Unit ORKOs the Thief with Hauteclere. Second turn, he provokes the Heroes and is rescued, then danced and moved into a safer position. Everybody else gets into formation, ready to advance, but not take too much damage. Third turn, the enemies between the north-western and central rooms are massacred, although often one of them ends up surviving. Some clever(?) positioning was used to spread out the Swarm damage. Fourth turn, everybody in the chest room is massacred. Shiida saves the game and gets ready to pounce at the bishop outside the chest room. Fifth turn, Shiida finishes the deed, everybody runs into the chest room, behind an unarmed Catria, and Shiida is rescued. Next few turns, Catria blocks the countless reinforcements, healed with staves and the Lifesphere. Everyone else heals/waits/open chests. Finally, once all the reinforcements have gathered around Catria, the door to Hardin is opened and My Unit leads the charge. The next turn, My Unit takes down Hardin with a normal hit and then a critical hit after being Again'd. Marth is danced to the throne.

Chapter 20x

Like Chapter 10x, I should have skipped this chapter. Fog of War isn't too bad, except when it's in narrow corridors with almost-maxed Snipers (with Longbows), Warriors and Tomahawks. Oh, and a crazy Bishop woman with Meteor. This was almost as annoying as Chapter 20, almost. Paladin My Unit was given a Res boost and used to take out most of the enemies within Meteor range. As suggested by MJEmirzian, the Gradivus is good for ORKOing the Generals and it doesn't get much use after this chapter (that and it was left with 3 uses by the end).

EDIT

You didn't need to Rescue her, just be smart on where you position Navarre and Feena. This would have helped greatly when your flying units arrived, since now the dancer is there.

Also, were you using Sirius and Paula with Silver to one shot them? OHKO I feel is the best way to deal with them.

I read that it was possible, but I didn't feel like testing my luck and I'm not all that good with positioning.

They had Silvers, but I can't really remember if they could OHKO them. I'm assuming Sirius could.

Don't you mean the Generals?

Anyways yeah, this map is annoying to have to go through that many Generals at once. This map in particular I found flight and Berserker MU to be incredible in. Flight and waterwalk allow you to pull some of the Generals away so that you aren't overwhelmed when trying to rush the bridge.

Also, you could have just OHKOd the Thief and used Rescue.

Do you mean when I mentioned the Heroes? No, I did take out the Heroes. The text flow might be kind of confusing there.

Berserker My Unit does sound like a good idea. I think I went for the safe option of Paladin (although wasn't there a Ridersbane Paladin near the beginning?).

I think I OHKO'd the Thief with a lucky critical. I used Feena because I was conserving the Rescue staff, which ended up being a good choice later...

You could have rushed to kill the boss with some units approaching from the north (they'd have to be Paladins or Fliers), and from the south a Dance'd Marth just goes to take the throne before reinforcements can even dare to show up. Also means at the throne that you only have 2 units to deal with instead of 6.

Hmm, that's a good point. I don't know why I was hell-bent on killing all the castle guards. Maybe I wanted the exp?

It's more fun to take them out in the entrance hall.

It's fun when my units don't get slaughtered in the process : P

As for Ogma, if you got the Rainbow Potion or switch him over to Myrm, he can be capable off the bat. He won't be fantastic, but he'll be usable until he grows into his own.

I really wanted to get the Rainbow Potion and other Wi-Fi items, but I haven't been able to connect online since a long time ago. Not sure if it's just my DS. I was fortunate to get Camus's Lance as a clock bonus early on, but the rest of my bonuses were pretty lame afterwards.

Edited October 7, 2010 by VincentASM

[Shadow Mir]

Cool beans, Vincent.

On a side note, chapter 8 sounds like it could beis a real pain in the neck, isn't it? Heroes to the south, Horse Power and Generals to the north - I hate getting sandwiched!!

[Momo]

This thread almost feels like an old guy having 'nam flashbacks. Interesting read though, in any case.

[Galenforcer]

Lunatic is probably going to crush many people's minds. And I had troubles with Manaic.

[fatgamecat]

Very entertaining read. Good to see some original content posted to the board, it's been getting a little too quiet. What did you get for grades?

I think you'll find if you play again with the rainbow potion the game gets quite a bit easier in the early-mid game before your units start capping stats.

[Paperblade]

I think a couple of people read the above line and missed the bolded part. It should be obvious Vincent learned different before needing to be told.

Vincent also played the original and knows the growths, so he knows how ridiculous Catria and Palla are. >_>

[Narga_Rocks]

Vincent also played the original and knows the growths, so he knows how ridiculous Catria and Palla are. >_>

I was mostly complaining about

Some of the females you get in this game are the best units you can get (Shiida, Feena, Catria, Palla, Mallesia)

actually.

I suppose I included you in my complaint, though, however your comment could certainly be perceived as "why were you thinking that in the first place", which isn't missing anything about what he said. The reason I complained was mainly because Joey clearly missed that Vincent figured it out along the way.

[VincentASM]

Chapter 21

This chapter was filled with plenty of enemies that you don't want to get hit by often, including a Killer Axe Warrior, Killer Sword Swordmaster, Thoron/Swarm Sorcerers and several Wyverns. Luckily none of them seem to move unless provoked, but you really need to hurry if you want to save the Starlight village (and thus stand a chance against Gharnef and Medeus). Paladin My Unit moves ahead carefully, baiting the Wyverns and physical enemies. Marth moves nearby for support when it's time to lure the Killer-weapon enemies (since I had My Unit get killed against the Swordmaster earlier with a ~8% chance of critical). Catria saves the game using the middle save point. The next part, which involved safely clearing out the village outskirts, took several tries to get right. Firstly, I kept reloading until Shiida criticals the north-western Thoron Sorcerer who was still in attack range. Once that's done, My Unit and Catria lure the enemies before the bridge to the village area, outside of Meteor range. The following turn, My Unit lures the Tomahawk Warrior, while Catria moves onto the river to lure the Swordmaster, Poleax Warrior (whoops, didn't see him at first, bye bye My Unit) and Wyvern(s). Shiida saves the game and is rescued to safety. Next turn, My Unit damages the Thief and is Again'd to the village. After a while, Minerva waits on the village to recruit Michalis later and Marth obtains Starlight. Final part wasn't too bad, except the first time I forgot Shiida didn't have enough HP to survive the boss with Glower. Minerva bought a bunch of stat-boosters with the 380K I mustered up (skipped Arms Scroll, Goddess Icon, Secret Book and Talismans). I might have been able to get more if I sold more weapons, I didn't end up using mnay in the final chapters.

Chapter 22

Alright, this is when everything becomes really insane. Huge numbers of dragon reinforcements appear from all corners of the map within a few turns of starting. Logical strategies are out of the window for me, it's time to rush to the throne and kill as many enemies as I can before they kill me. Before beginning, stat-boosters were distributed. Marth got a bunch for fighting Medeus, the Sages got Seraph Robes and Palla got two Speedwings to not get doubled (23 Speed -> 27). Getting to the save point wasn't too bad, but I ended up taking more time than expected, and the reinforcements from behind were fast catching up. Michalis runs around near the middle-left of the map to distract the enemies, while everybody else takes refuge by the north-east door. Xane opens the door to the throne area and all mayhem is let loose. Marth takes out the first Mage Dragon, then Shiida, Catria and My Unit enter the room and slay three enemies. Merric and Linde try and damage some enemies from afar. In the end, the whole right side of the room was empty. Next turn, the reinforcements killed Nagi and Tiki, while the throne enemies killed Palla and an untransformed Xane. Ouch... I knew you guys well. None of the enemies seemed interested in Michalis for some reason. He was hiding around the water areas as a Berserker... My Unit slashes at the boss with a Wyrmslayer, but misses one of his attacks. He gets healed and Again'd, but misses on the first strike, before finally killing the boss (good thing I healed, or he would have died). Marth runs to the throne with a second Again usage.

Chapter 23

I thought Chapter 22 was bad, this chapter is probably worse. Fire Dragons can no longer be doubled, there's a huge group of Swarm/Thoron/Glower Sorcerers that you're supposed to fight and the reinforcements catch up much quicker than before. Ymir, Michalis and Katarina are brought out as bait. Once you reach the save point, it seems it's time to begin the gauntlet. The first group of enemies were lured, outside of Swarm range. Next turn, the first group of enemies are killed and Michalis saves the game. Catria and My Unit move in position to kill the Swarm Sorcerers, part of the main force moves to provoke the Fire and Mage Dragon, and finally the decoys block off the incoming reinforcements. The following turn, Katarina and Ymir kick the bucket; the Swarm Sorcerers and dragons are killed for revenge. Malliesia gets in range of Gharnef, Michalis tries to distract the enemy and everybody else hides near My Unit and Catria. Malliesia manages to survive the next round, but Feena fell foul to the long-range attacks. Michalis didn't hold off many enemies before dying and Merric and Linde ended up getting attacked, but those two survived miraculously. Sirius didn't though. I really don't want to see Feena die, but after several attempts, this was the fewest number of casualties I could get. Gharnef was taken down with Malliesia who attacked twice with Again. My Unit and Catria easily took out the Sorcerers blocking the road and Marth was Again'd to the throne.

Chapter 24

This is the moment I've been waiting for. Although, I was starting to get worried that I couldn't beat it. I only had two Rescue uses left and three Again staff uses. The Hammerne was used to repair one Rescue staff, one Again staff and a Fortify staff earlier on in the game (in the case of Fortify, that was repaired near the end of Chapter 23 so people wouldn't die). Luckily I had three characters who could recruit the Bishops, four if Sirius didn't die beforehand. First turn, everybody moves forward. Second turn, Minerva, with Boots used, runs through the gap of dragons and recruits Maria. Maria takes Minerva's Rescue staff and summons Julian. Lena, after being recruited, rescues Merric. Merric recruits Elice and kills Nyna (sorry!). Abel saves the game. Marth attacks Medeus once for 24 damage, after being Again'd (by Yumina who I trained very briefly near the beginning). Elice heals with Fortify so he doesn't die. Again is cast a second time and Marth attacks again, no critical. Still 51 HP to go, maybe third time lucky? Well, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have finished the game! Third Again cast and Marth finally criticals. The ordeal is finally over...!

End rankings

Speed C

I guess this counts as a pass?

Survival D

Saw this coming. I wonder if this counts prologue deaths? I didn't actually let many characters die until the final chapters, so maybe this could have been better.

Tactics D

Not sure what the heck this measures. Funds, number of kills, experience? Whatever it is, I'm lacking it.

Character stats

(Those who survived. Not classes at final chapter, everybody who wasn't a Sage was a Swordmaster or Sniper)

Name      Class       HP LV ST MA SK SP LC DE RE
Marth     Lord        30 55 25  0 25 25 28 24  3
My Unit   Paladin     20 60 25  1 28 25 22 28  9
Malliesia Sage        20 50  3 28 21 25 25 10 13
Catria    Paladin     20 59 25  1 28 25 25 24 10
Merric    Sage        20 52  3 27 28 25 23 15 11
Shiida    Falcoknight 17 49 21  3 26 26 30 21 11
Linde     Sage        20 45  3 27 28 25 30  4 13

Marth: A liability near mid-game due to his average speed. A bit better when he got the Shield of Seals, but you don't really want to be fighting much by that time.

My Unit: Great as always, although I may have relied on him a bit too heavily. Nice tanking skills and a good all-rounder.

Malliesia: Promoted fairly early on, thanks to huge staff usage. Sometimes more useful than Linde for offensive purposes (more Magic and slightly more HP/Def), but usually relegated to healing.

Catria: Almost as good as My Unit, always a great unit to have around.

Palla: Great early on with the Silver Lance, but began to fall behind around mid-game, against the dragons. Her Speed didn't seem to rise much, ending up at 23 as a Swordmaster (forgot her Level, probably still single digits).

Sirius: Similar case to Palla, but more reliable near the beginning.

Shiida: Low Strength means she's not great against sturdy foes, but her Wing Spear damage is still pretty good against horses/armours.

Merric: Wyvern-slayer and great all-round Sage.

Xane: Having a second My Unit around is awesome. Although I didn't use him much, unless the strategy required it, because I keep forgetting when he untransforms.

Final thoughts

Lunatic was a hate-love relationship for me. Sometimes, I'm not even sure if I found it "fun", but the fact that I stuck on until the end and retried many chapters several times probably says something. I can say that it felt very satisfying each time I successfully completed a chapter, knowing that I managed to surpass overwhelming odds, where every enemy is a FOE and later enemies as strong as some final bosses. While my normal idea of fun is mindlessly overpowering the enemies in Easy/Normal mode, I suppose this type of enjoyment is nice to have from time to time. FE12 is probably one of my favourite FE games in recent years; I kind of like the diversity of enemies and maps, and the way the story pans out. Playing Lunatic taught me about a new side of the game and new ways of playing FE. Never before have I been forced to take out multiple enemies in a single turn, without healing at all, just to be able to progress through a part of a chapter (and then cursing when one enemy is left). Anyway, that's my Lunatic run over. I'm not really sure where I'll move on from this point; maybe I can summon up the courage to tackle FE7 HHM or *shudder* FE11 H5.

[eclipse]

Congratulations! I'm still a little scared to try this on Lunatic, but something tells me boredom will get the better of me. . .

[LycopolisKing]

Yikes, so many dead! Lunatic mode is exponentially harder when you want a perfect playthrough (or as close to it as Lunatic allows). My head still hurts just thinking about it.

I'm surprised Linde survived that long with that defense.

Just an epiphany - this might be why Casual mode exists now.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Maria's bro

[LeaderR Elliot]

Vincent notes are going to help me much.

I have to give the Thanks to you. Now I have another reason to play lunatic. Being the main the Stats booster´s

You should go back and play FE:DS because it´s not harder than This. You should feel happy : for clearing it and for posting your experience

Otherwise if you still not satisfied with your achieve you can always make an step back.............. And Play Again!!

[grandjackal]

Congratulations, Vincent. Now if only you had rescued Nyna with Sirius, you'd have unlocked the in-base shop stat boosters and Lunatic Reverse Mode (Where it acts as though all enemies have Ambush activated at all times).

When I saw Lunatic Reverse Mode, I was like "Yeah, not doing that".

[VincentASM]

Congratulations, Vincent. Now if only you had rescued Nyna with Sirius, you'd have unlocked the in-base shop stat boosters and Lunatic Reverse Mode (Where it acts as though all enemies have Ambush activated at all times).

When I saw Lunatic Reverse Mode, I was like "Yeah, not doing that".

I'm not sure where you heard it, but you only need to beat Chapter 24 to unlock the game completion bonuses (except in the case of the Sound Room and Event Recap). So I still got Reverse Lunatic and the extra stat-boosters.

On a similar note, one reason I played on Classic was because Reverse Lunatic can only be played on Classic if you beat Lunatic on Classic (otherwise you only get to select Casual). Not that I'm likely going to ever try it, but at least I have both options unlocked : P

EDIT

I'm surprised Linde survived that long with that defense.

She did get one-shotted several times on my failed attempts, but I usually managed to keep her out of harm's way (same with Feena and the other Sages).

Edited October 8, 2010 by VincentASM

[Shadow Mir]

Nice work, Vincent.

To be honest, I'd be sweating bullets seeing silver weapons on chapter 1 enemies.