Help with S rank HHM

[nano]

Since I am all sad and alone far away from home during the New Year I plan to entertain myself playing some FE. Last time I tried to S rank HHM I went too slow and used too many units and ended up with 4 in tactics and funds. I may have gone too fast this time...

I have three questions:

1. How am I doing in EXP? Should I spread it around a bit more? I heard the exp rank gets really tough later on.

I'm at the start of chapter 18, the pirate ship with -7 total turncount. I'm currently at 5 star exp despite me seemingly gaining minimal exp every chapter. I saw that RFoF got everyone unpromoted to high levels at the end so I'm a bit worried about my army of almost base level dudes.

Hector lvl14

Lyn lvl15 start at lvl11

Eliwood lvl10

Matthew lvl14

Florina lvl14 (Robe + Ring) start at lvl11

Sain lvl15 start at lvl9

Serra lvl11 start at lvl6 or 7

Prissy lvl5

Marcus lvl3

Lowen lvl6

Guy lvl8

Everyone else gained 2 levels or less

2. How many units should I promote? I'm only going to promote one of the two lords.

I promoted 6 last time as well as the two lords and it seemed too much. I couldn't get back enough money even with the silver card.

3. Which route is better, Linus first or Lloyd first?

If I stop using Eliwood now I can still make the cut for Lloyd, but is it better? It seems to me that Linus has an easier turn requirement.

I know that tons of playlogs exist, as well as LPs on youtube. I would prefer not to read them though since I want to come up with my own battle plans and such.

Thank you for the help.

[Just call me AL]

Going with what I know here:

2. You were on the right track there. But I think the problem lied in just who exactly the six you promoted were. But then again, this is just a second-hand guess, as I haven't ranked yet myself.

3: The Linus route is considerably better than the Lloyd route. The Linus route nets you Geitz, who is a warrior that is good right off the bat. The Lloyd route nets you a fog-of-war map and Wallace, who by the way is inferior to Oswin in every aspect possible. (I like the guy and all, but I can admit that much.)

[Florete]

1. How am I doing in EXP? Should I spread it around a bit more? I heard the exp rank gets really tough later on.

Try to use the healers as much as possible. Both seem pretty low for where you are and for what level Serra came out of LHM at. The only maps you shouldn't deploy both are 23 Living Legend (only Serra) and possibly 23x Genesis (Priscilla if you choose only one). You don't need to worry too much about experience feeding until a bit later when you have a more stable team. Maps like Sands of Time and Victory or Death have a lot of deployment slots to give to extra units, and take advantage of Nino being forced on Night of Farewells.

2. How many units should I promote? I'm only going to promote one of the two lords.

I promoted 6 last time as well as the two lords and it seemed too much. I couldn't get back enough money even with the silver card.

6-7 ought to be safe. Don't recruit Farina, keep the Ocean Seal and Fell Contract and as much extra treasure as possible, and burn all your extra money in 31x on Elixirs.

3. Which route is better, Linus first or Lloyd first?

If I stop using Eliwood now I can still make the cut for Lloyd, but is it better? It seems to me that Linus has an easier turn requirement.

Definitely Linus for the 11 extra turns on Tactics. Be absolutely sure you bring Ninian and at least one flier to take full advantage of the Arena.

Good luck!

Edited December 31, 2010 by Yui

[nano]

I hope this doesn't count as a necro...

I am at Night of Farewells, with these promoted units:

Florina 20/8

Pris 20/5

Serra 20/4

Fiora 20/4

Sain 20/4

Heath 20/4

Lyn 20/3

After promoting Pris I have just dropped out of 5 star funds. Considering I have 16000 funds right now, can I still afford to promote my lvl18 Raven, and possible Guy, and still make it up later on?

The reason I'm asking this is I seem to have trouble with exp rank, so I plan to to have those two take on the 32x berserkers.

[Florete]

I hope this doesn't count as a necro...

I am at Night of Farewells, with these promoted units:

Florina 20/8

Pris 20/5

Serra 20/4

Fiora 20/4

Sain 20/4

Heath 20/4

Lyn 20/3

After promoting Pris I have just dropped out of 5 star funds. Considering I have 16000 funds right now, can I still afford to promote my lvl18 Raven, and possible Guy, and still make it up later on?

The reason I'm asking this is I seem to have trouble with exp rank, so I plan to to have those two take on the 32x berserkers.

Hm...you should be safe as long as you don't promote anyone else, especially Eliwood. Just make sure to blow all your remaining money in 31x on Elixirs with the Silver Card. Also make sure you have enough spare turns to tackle 32x in the first place, what with it being 0 req and all.

[Geriba]

Any particular reason you're recommending Elixir purchases over anything else? Just curious.

[Balcerzak]

Any particular reason you're recommending Elixir purchases over anything else? Just curious.

Failing having enough to buy a big-ticket item from the SS in VoD, I believe Elixirs are the highest cost item for sale, which means buying them cuts into your Merlinus maximum storage space the least out of anything.

[Florete]

Any particular reason you're recommending Elixir purchases over anything else? Just curious.

Failing having enough to buy a big-ticket item from the SS in VoD, I believe Elixirs are the highest cost item for sale, which means buying them cuts into your Merlinus maximum storage space the least out of anything.

Precisely. They are 3,000 each, the next highest being Divine at 2,500.

[nano]

Are there stats for those berserkers anywhere? They don't seem to be in the sticky. I'm wondering if my lvl 8 Guy can take them on if I don't level him up...

Another question: Does Merlinus contribute to the exp rank?

[Life]

Another question: Does Merlinus contribute to the exp rank?

No.

[nano]

I have finally finished the challenge, thanks to all your help (and my own determination :P). I was really struggling towards the rear end of the game but somehow came out beating all criteria with plenty of room.

I had to restart all of the mid to late chapters multiple times because my rotating units are underleveled and dies easily to wyvern/nomad swarms, siege tomes, ballista and various other battlefield hazards. I definitely got plenty of help from Lady Anna to somehow come through.

Turncount

11 6/0 +6

12 5/8 +3

13 8/12 -1

13x 8/7 -0

14 7/10 -3

15 8/0 +5

16 5/7 +3

17 11/18 -4

17x 7/10 -7

18 8/11 -10

19 7/10 -13

19x 9/10 -14

19xx 7/0 -7

20 11/16 -12

21 10/9 -11

22 6/11 -16

23 12/9 -13

23x 12/25 -26

24Linus 11/22 -37

25 11/0 -26

26 12/11 -25

27Kenn 12/18 -31

28 16/15 -30

28x 24/28 -34

29 16/20 -38

30 18/0 -20

31 12/11 -19

31x 6/5 -18

32 12/15 -21

32x 10/0 -11

Final 5/10 -16

Units

Name  	Level	HP Str   Spd   Def   B/W
Hector  20/16.44 53 30 22 24 18 29 17 246/145 Had some amazing level ups in 32x, including two perfect levels :O 
Prissy	20/20    36 25 24 25 30  8 28 161/86 MVP, used Afa's Drop
Serra 	20/19.31 43 25 25 26 30  9 30 93/47 Was mag screwed at first but eventually turned around
Flo   	20/15.65 51 23 25 28 29 12 23 219/141 Used Lyn mode Robe+Drop
Fiora 	20/12.34 43 21 25 28 16 13 20 201/125 Replaced Kent/Lowen who are stat screwed
Lyn   	20/14.83 42 24 28 28 25 14 18 157/107
Heath 	20/13.37 60 27 25 23 17 19  6 165/110 Replaced Raven after good stats gains, definitely paid off with flying utility
Sain  	20/12.51 45 25 16 23 16 20  6 163/101 Major def blessings 
Raven 	20/8.41  53 21 24 26  9 19  8 120/76 Promoted in 32x
Marcus	--/3.53  33 15 17 12  9 10  9 69/37 
Guy   	20/3.41  48 13 20 22 11 13  6 Promoted in 32x, has an epic 13 str.

Athos --/20
Renault --/16.90
Jaffar --/16.48
Vaida --/9.31
Pent --/8.37
Karel --/8.00
Hawkeye --/5.42
Louise --/4.06
Geitz --/3.00
Isadora --/1.10
Nils 20
Eliwood 20
Matthew 20
Legault 20
Kent 19.18 Only has 9 Spd
Rebecca 18.16
Lowen 18.07 Only has 7 Str
Lucius 17.70
Canas 17.24
Nino 17.21
Dart 17.00
Rath 16.35
Bartre 15.74
Dorcas 15.22
Wil 14.95
Oswin 14.53
Erk 13.95

Merlinus 20/10

Supports
Lyn C Flo B Fiora
Hector C Eliwood
Pent A Louise

I did cheat a little though:

While I was waiting for Nils to reach lvl7 I did minor Lundgren abuse, resulting in a lvl11 Flo who also has A Lance going into HHM.

I manipulated a silver lance crit on Kishuna because I want to visit all chapters for a more 'complete' PT.

Savestates were used before arenas. I didn't use arena much though and actually low-turned those chapters.

Why are pre-promotes so great again? In my game I never really found slots for them, who are sandwiched in an awkward position between promoted units who are better at combat and unpromoted weaklings who want to be deployed for exp. HHM already has a small number of slots and after deploying healers, ninian/nils, a few strongest combatants and a few unpromoted exp units I rarely find the space for these guys.

Edited February 9, 2011 by nano

[Florete]

Looking at your turn counts and unit levels, my run feels like a load of fail in comparison. Oh well, we both reached the same goal. Congratulations on your completion!

[nano]

Thanks!

Well to be honest I probably restarted way more times than you. At one point I thought I wouldn't make the exp requirement and was really pushing myself to play chapters to perfection with crappy units. If I had known how much I would overshoot by I'd definitely slow down a bit and use the exp hogs more.

[Viceroy]

^ I think Serenes' database has some specific info on all of the requirements for s-ranking in each category.

[Randoman]

I have a few questions of my own about S Ranking HHM since I've been considering doing an S Rank Run.

Since you're forced to go over the turn limit in some chapters, what are some good "make-up" chapters when it comes to turn count? Also, if the chapter can be rushed, but will lower the exp. or funds rank, mention that as well.

Besides the Ocean Seal, Farina's recruitment, and dropping the S Rank weapons, what others factors should I keep in mind that'll lower my funds rank? Should I not bother with any other weapons except for the basic weapons (Iron, Fire, Flux, etc.) and ranged melee weapons (Javelins and Hand Axes) to keep my funds rank intact?

Is it really that crucial to promote units as soon as possible, rather than wait until they reach level 20? Also, I heard that you should try to promote as few people as possible because of funds. Is it recommended that both Eliwood and Lyn shouldn't be promoted because of that?

Besides Ch 19xx and 31x, are there any other side quest chapters that should be skipped for a good rank?

[Florete]

I have a few questions of my own about S Ranking HHM since I've been considering doing an S Rank Run.

Since you're forced to go over the turn limit in some chapters, what are some good "make-up" chapters when it comes to turn count? Also, if the chapter can be rushed, but will lower the exp. or funds rank, mention that as well.

Besides the Ocean Seal, Farina's recruitment, and dropping the S Rank weapons, what others factors should I keep in mind that'll lower my funds rank? Should I not bother with any other weapons except for the basic weapons (Iron, Fire, Flux, etc.) and ranged melee weapons (Javelins and Hand Axes) to keep my funds rank intact?

Is it really that crucial to promote units as soon as possible, rather than wait until they reach level 20? Also, I heard that you should try to promote as few people as possible because of funds. Is it recommended that both Eliwood and Lyn shouldn't be promoted because of that?

Besides Ch 19xx and 31x, are there any other side quest chapters that should be skipped for a good rank?

23x (Genesis) and 28x (Night of Farewells) are particularly good turn-recovery maps for their insane Tactics turn requirements. It may lower experience by a bit, but not the turns should be worth it.

With the Silver Card, the weapons you use don't really matter as long as you're smart. It's safe to use Killer and Silver, but don't do it if Iron kills everything around you just fine.

Do not promote units as soon as possible. None of them. You need that higher experience gain. Promoting one of Lyn and Eliwood ought to be fine as long as the rest of your team isn't too big. You can probably get away with promoting ~7 units (one Lord included) and using a few stat boosters.

No.

13x: Earlier Merlinus and 5k. Do not miss it.

17x: Canas (if you care), Devil Axe, Sleep Staff, Lancereaver, and if you can handle fighting through the Pirates, a lot of experience.

19x: Silver Card lol.

23x: Previously mentioned Tactics rank healing.

28x: See above.

31x: Arena (with no chapter experience requirement) and all the weapons you could need. Also good for dumping all your remaining money if you don't have enough to buy a Fell Contract or Ocean Seal in 32 or simply don't want to get someone to the Secret Shop there.

[dondon151]

31x also has a funds requirement of 31000 G while the game basically hands you the equivalent of 60000 G.

[Anouleth]

31x also has a funds requirement of 31000 G while the game basically hands you the equivalent of 60000 G.

More can also be gotten through the Arena. 1200G per battle, say... two battles per turn? That's another 10000G in the bank.

[Mekkah]

17x: Canas (if you care)

Canas perks aside, never pass up on that Secret Book he's got!

[Balcerzak]

I have a few questions of my own about S Ranking HHM since I've been considering doing an S Rank Run.

Since you're forced to go over the turn limit in some chapters, what are some good "make-up" chapters when it comes to turn count? Also, if the chapter can be rushed, but will lower the exp. or funds rank, mention that as well.

Besides the Ocean Seal, Farina's recruitment, and dropping the S Rank weapons, what others factors should I keep in mind that'll lower my funds rank? Should I not bother with any other weapons except for the basic weapons (Iron, Fire, Flux, etc.) and ranged melee weapons (Javelins and Hand Axes) to keep my funds rank intact?

Is it really that crucial to promote units as soon as possible, rather than wait until they reach level 20? Also, I heard that you should try to promote as few people as possible because of funds. Is it recommended that both Eliwood and Lyn shouldn't be promoted because of that?

Besides Ch 19xx and 31x, are there any other side quest chapters that should be skipped for a good rank?

Fox has already hit the biggest two chapters for Tactics, but 17, 17x, 24Linus can also be quite the boon to Tactics.

32x is perhaps better off skipped if you're not hurting for XP, as regular completion will run around 15 turns. Of course you could warp-skip some of that off perhaps, but if you're warp-skipping it, why are you attending it.

Funds is basically a non-issue if you keep a wary eye on it. You can even do some of the big expenditures if you want to.