FE4 advice

[Quirino]

My Alecs usually turn out better than my Noishes.

I don't remember Gilliam being good. Ardan always gives me trouble. Right now the Pursuit Ring is only sort of marginally salvaging him...

Azel would be good, except for his movement. If you can get him to promotion level, things will be smoother.

Lex has Elite. That means he'll be good. Especially if you give him Hero Axe.

I am always very partial to all of the Lenster trio, do not ask me why. Cuan hits like a truck and doesn't take shit from anybody, although lack of doubles is a bit worrisome. Fin has Prayer, and later Brave Lance, and huge availability, and won't let you don't. Ethlin has staves and a horse. That makes her sex on wheels in this game.

I like Gilliam, so perhaps I'm a little biased :P And all the horse units except Noish are very good if I understand and Noish is mediocre?

And should I use Ardan or should I give up on him?

Edit: and why does Fin have huge availability? Does the rest leave sooner than him or so?

Edited February 21, 2011 by Quirino

[TheEnd]

Edit: and why does Fin have huge availability? Does the rest leave sooner than him or so?

You'll prefer to find that out by yourself.

Edited February 21, 2011 by TheEnd

[Balcerzak]

I like Gilliam, so perhaps I'm a little biased :P And all the horse units except Noish are very good if I understand and Noish is mediocre?

And should I use Ardan or should I give up on him?

Edit: and why does Fin have huge availability? Does the rest leave sooner than him or so?

If you can get Noish up to speed, or baby him with a ring or two he will perform quite well. He doesn't have Cuan's brute strength or defense, and Charge isn't quite as good as Continue, but he also uses Swords, which can be kind of overpowered due to their low weight and the way AS works in this game. Of the mounted units you get, he probably is the one you'd have the most trouble with.

Ardan probably all comes down to personal preference. I tend to not put a lot of stock in the more defensive builds, preferring e.g. Sain to Lowen, and not tending to use Armor Knights ever, unless they're thrust upon me, or I'm required to to fulfill some other goal. Don't necessarily let my opinions shape your own. In Ardan's favor, Ambush is a useful thing for him to have, and being a sword armor means he'll only tend to be doubled by other sword users, which really helps him maintain a defensive edge. If you know where to look for it, the Pursuit Ring can actually help out a lot with his offense, as he does grow some pretty respectable strength. He's just... not my typical sort of unit.

FE4 has a lot of ... interesting ... unit join and leave times. These can occasionally catch you with your pants down, and if you don't already know about them, experiencing them firsthand is probably the better way to go about things.

[Quirino]

Okay, one more question. On my playthrough two villages got destroyed. Is that a reason to start the chapter over or should I just go on?

[TheEnd]

It's better to save them, even if at the last moment, since they sometimes give you items or stat bonuses.

[Balcerzak]

Okay, one more question. On my playthrough two villages got destroyed. Is that a reason to start the chapter over or should I just go on?

It depends on the village. Certain villages have Rings, or other items, inside them, others are just money. Now while money is important, it's probably not a gamebreaker. Rings are quite awesome though. Prologue has the Speed Ring, which you'll definitely want. I think there aren't any important villages in Ch1.

Chapter 2 has a Bargain Bracelet, and an Armorslayer.

etc.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Balcerzak

[Smiley Jim]

Okay, one more question. On my playthrough two villages got destroyed. Is that a reason to start the chapter over or should I just go on?

It depends on the village in question. If the village contained something good(like a stat-boosting ring or a fixed stat raise), it's probably best to restart the chapter. If all it contained is gold, then you should probably move on because who gives a shit about extra gold. Note that some villages with items are very hard to get to without the village turning to rubble(like the bargain ring.) In those cases, it's probably best to wait until the second generation to claim that item.

[Scarlet]

Some more opinions, if you want them.

Sigurd - Awesome

Noish - Seems pretty good to me, but I think he'll end up mediocre

Alec - Seems not so good so far, but I think he'll end up pretty good

Arden - Reminds me of Gilliam. Hope he's just as good as he doesn't seem good for now

Azel - Early game mages are always good, aren't they?

Lex - Does not seem very good so far

Cuan - I think Sigurd, Alec and Fin are better

Fin - Not so good right now, but he's a young looking person and young looking persons almost always end up awesome

Ethlin - Just a healer on horseback

Am I right or am I totally wrong with the personal thoughts?

Noish relies more on strength and defense, while Alec relies more on skill and speed. Due to the way AS works in this game and the fact that both use swords, I'd probably prefer Noish for his higher strength and defense (since it's pretty easy for most units to double when using swords) if it weren't for the fact that Noish lacks pursuit. Giving him the pursuit ring would probably make him pretty decent, but there are units that can utilize the pursuit ring a lot better than him, so it's probably not worth it. For this reason, Alec is likely a bit better.

However, due to their lack of holy blood, both of them end up with rather mediocre stats in the end. If it weren't for their horses, they'd probably be a bit underwhelming.

You probably shouldn't use them as fathers, though Alec can be a somewhat viable choice if you need another father with Pursuit.

Arden combines two massive problems in this game in a single unit - he lacks pursuit and has terrible movement on extremely huge maps, combined with pretty mediocre combat. In my opinion, don't bother with him. Have him help out in the first few chapters as long as he can keep up, and let him get the pursuit ring, but don't worry if he can't keep up.

Azel also suffers from terrible movement; however, he has the hope of getting a mount upon promotion, which makes him a lot more usable. He can be decent, but he needs some babying. If you'd like to use him, try giving him as many kills as possible while dudes like Lex merely chip enemies for him to kill, and try to give him the Elite ring at least until he promotes.

Lex is pretty good, actually. Axes in this game suck, but the Hero Axe he can get makes him pretty usable. His strong points are his innate Elite skill and his very high strength and defense growths, allowing him to become incredibly tanky in a very short time. And unlike Ardan, he has a mount, so he can actually utilize that at the front.

Cuan is decent. In my opinion he is a bit weak defensively. He also can't double. But he hits like a truck. He might just OHKO some of the weaker enemies (like mages), but even if he doesn't, it's usually a clean 2HKO, and he has a chance to activiate Continue. In a game where enemies have this much HP his offense certainly isn't bad, to say the least.

Fin is epic. Especially once he gets the brave lance. Use him.

Ethlin is also epic. She has a horse. She can heal. She can attack and deals some okay damage with the light sword. She can take a hit and not die. What more could you possibly want?

[Trueblade74]

Ok, now my opinions on the Prologue team

Sigurd: Awesome. Train him a fair bit every chapter so he keeps up.

Alec: Speedy, and gets exp faster due to his high movement letting him reach enemies, and low defense making him an enemy magnet.

Noish: No pursuit, but is pretty strong in his own right. If he's paired with Ayra, her kids will cause death of a thousand cuts to all enemies.

Arden: Slow, but train him anyways, or he'll get killed as soon as he gets into a fight.

Lex: No pursuit, but the only guy who can use axes, so he should have at least some attention given to him.

Azel: Can use pursuit and magic, and gains swords and a mount upon promotion.

Cuan: Has a javelin, and is a hard hitter, so use him to smash enemies to low health, then finish them up with another unit. Also has Continue, which activates randomly, so be aware of that ability.

Ethlin: Troubadours are versatile healers, no matter how little HP they restore, so use her. Remember, she can also use swords, so putting her in the heat of battle isn't usually a bad idea.

Fin: Impressive growths, and has pursuit, along with gaining a Brave Lance on Chapter 2. Train him, or Chapter 7 WILL be hard as hell. Also, if pairing him, then sell his items before Chapter 3 ends.

Midayle (You get him after you capture Jungby. Also he's a male, not a female) : Has bows, and also possesses Charge/Duel, so he's a rapid hitter on several occasions. Pair him with Adean by Chapter 4 to get him a Brave Bow.

Those are my opinions.

[Mekkah]

Arden: Slow, but train him anyways, or he'll get killed as soon as he gets into a fight.

Don't train Ardan, you have no reason to ever put him into a fight.

Fin: Impressive growths, and has pursuit, along with gaining a Brave Lance on Chapter 2. Train him, or Chapter 7 WILL be hard as hell. Also, if pairing him, then sell his items before Chapter 3 ends.

Fin doesn't need training for Ch7 per sé, he can help you out at base level. But it's easier if he has been.

Lex: No pursuit, but the only guy who can use axes, so he should have at least some attention given to him.

Correct conclusion (he should be used), wrong reason (it's not because he uses axes, but because he can use Hero Axe and has insane HP, Str and Def and gains double EXP).

Otherwise a decent set of opinions by Trueblade74 standards.

[Smiley Jim]

I've played a few minutes and this are my personal thoughts on the characters so far

Sigurd - Awesome

Noish - Seems pretty good to me, but I think he'll end up mediocre

Alec - Seems not so good so far, but I think he'll end up pretty good

Arden - Reminds me of Gilliam. Hope he's just as good as he doesn't seem good for now

Azel - Early game mages are always good, aren't they?

Lex - Does not seem very good so far

Cuan - I think Sigurd, Alec and Fin are better

Fin - Not so good right now, but he's a young looking person and young looking persons almost always end up awesome

Ethlin - Just a healer on horseback

Am I right or am I totally wrong with the personal thoughts?

Now I could have done this in my last post, but because I'm not double posting, why not.

Sigurd: You are completely right about Sigurd being made of w1n. He has the best combat out of your first 10 dudes and damn near the best durability, as well as being mounted. And even when people like Aira, Holyn, and Jamka arrive, he still wins movement and durability. Highly recommended.

Alec: I'd say he's OK. He starts off just fine, his only issue is his somewhat mediocre growth spread. He's slightly better than Noish because he has Pursuit, but is a mediocre father.

Noish: He has better str/def than Alec, but has worse skill and speed. Instead of Pursuit, he has Critical and Duel which don't work well on him. At least he is a better father than Alec will ever be(pair him up with Aira for epic results).

Ardan: Saying he is as good as Gilliam is a joke. Ardan has two major problems: lack of Pursuit(or any other skill that aids in killing), and crap movement in a game where movement is everything. In all honesty, he's not worth the investment. Trust me, the only reason I even got him to Lv20 was because I had him hit Gandolf over and over again(Ardan was also my first unit to promote.), and he still sucked despite having 51HP/22Str/27Def after promotion. He is also inferior to Lex as a father.

Azel: He's like Ardan in that he has bad movement; the only difference being that he gains 4 movement when he promotes, and that he has Pursuit. Now, he's a good magic user, but you will need to baby him for a bit. His durability is ass, but has nice offense due to hitting res. Oh yeah, fire sucks. 12 weight and nothing else to compensate.

Lex: He is your only axe user until either Ardan or Lachesis promotes. Axes are complete balls in this game, but the brave axe makes his offense acceptable, if not good. Lex also has Paragon and high str/def growths, which helps out his offense/durability. He is also an excellent father due to passing down Paragon and his minor Neir blood(I heard pairing him with Aira makes her kids absurdly ridiculous.)

Cuan: Out of your group, he hits the hardest due to having massive str + lances, but lack of Pursuit sucks. Still, he has monster offense and durability, and Adept can help him get ORKO's once in a while(don't count on it as lances weigh 12 and he has a 10 speed base)

Ethlin: Mounted healers are useful, and Ethlin gets bonus points for that. Do not hesitate to send her to the front lines, as she CAN fight back.

Fin: He has Pursuit, unlike his leige, and has a good growth spread to boot. He's very good, especially with the brave lance. You will want him at a decently high level(promoted or close to it)before he leaves, or Chapter 7 will be harder than it needs to be. Also, if you plan to pair him, make sure at least his brave lance is sold before Ch3 ends.

Midir: He's usable, if only for the fact that he's mounted. His growths are mediocre for the most part, the only good stat he has being speed. He also has Pursuit and Duel, which help his offense. Otherwise, he's inferior to another archer you get in Chapter 1.

Edited March 8, 2011 by DA125

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

My clean, wholesome advice:

All the first gen females are worth using except one.

However, that one exception can gain 11 levels real quick with the proper setup. It was fun for me figuring that out that "puzzle".

[Quirino]

My clean, wholesome advice:

All the first gen females are worth using except one.

However, that one exception can gain 11 levels real quick with the proper setup. It was fun for me figuring that out that "puzzle".

With 'one' you mean Diadora, right? I read in another topic she wasn't very good...

[Smiley Jim]

With 'one' you mean Diadora, right? I read in another topic she wasn't very good...

He may be talking about Tiltyu, who joins in C3 as a Lv3 thunder mage. Though even she is better than Dierdre by a large margin, and I mean a HUGE one. At least Tiltyu has Wrath and sole access to the Thoron tome for the whole of her existence, which makes up for her piss Mag growth. All Dierdre has going for her is a silence staff, which you can just as easily give to Aideen(who has marginally better growths and availability.). Because, let's face it. Dierdre is only around for one whole chapter(as opposed to 2.5 for Tiltyu), and her growths all suck ass except HP, Magic and Res. And while she has sole access to Aura, the weapon itself sucks as it drops her already bad avoid to negative levels(as opposed to Thoron which only cuts Tiltyu's goodish avoid by 14.)

In fact, I'd have to say that Dierdre is the worst character in the first generation. Yes, even worse than Ardan.

Edited February 23, 2011 by DA125

[Trueblade74]

Oh, you were talking about Tailto? I thought you meant Sylvia. Honestly, I don't CARE about the Berserk Staff, so I pair her with Claude, who I have buy an Elite Ring.

[TheEnd]

With 'one' you mean Diadora, right? I read in another topic she wasn't very good...

Let's just say Diadora has serious availability issues. She's worth training though, at least until she maxes RES (which can take just 10-12 levels). And unlike Arden, she can staffspam. Just using her Silence Staff completely before selling it gives her 3 levels.

Honestly, I don't CARE about the Berserk Staff, so I pair her with Claude, who I have buy an Elite Ring.

Barrier Sword and Charisma. I won't even talk about the Elite Ring anymore.

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

With 'one' you mean Diadora, right? I read in another topic she wasn't very good...

****, I totally forgot about her. I was referring to Tiltyu.

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

Oh, you were talking about Tailto? I thought you meant Sylvia. Honestly, I don't CARE about the Berserk Staff, so I pair her with Claude, who I have buy an Elite Ring.

When I mean use Sylvia, it's just for the dancing. I play fast enough that she would never fall in love unless I want her to; sometimes I do want that, sometimes I don't.

****, double post. I need a nap.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Rufus T FireFly

[Mekkah]

Oh, you were talking about Tailto? I thought you meant Sylvia. Honestly, I don't CARE about the Berserk Staff, so I pair her with Claude, who I have buy an Elite Ring.

I think _someone_ mentioned to you before that making the Elite Ring unavailable for roughly 70% of the second generation is a bad idea?

[julystork]

<p>

My 2 gold:

Give Sigurd the Elite Ring. His disgracefully weak son ("lord" of gen 2? With those growths? lol) needs it most.

</p><p>Pair Levin with Tiltyu. That way you get Holsety as soon as Chapter 6 and then later on a mount. 

</p><p>EDIT: In case anyone doesn't know, Nihil DOES NOT nullify Great Shield.</p>

Edited March 3, 2011 by julystork

[Trueblade74]

I do not CARE about making the kids better; I care about KEEPING THE PLOT AND CANONITY INTACT.

And canonity says that Corpul existed, meaning that Sylvia had kids. So that means Sharlow and Laylea never joined Celice.

And I don't care about the Elite Ring being unavailable; I train my units well without having it. I've done several playthroughs like that, and most of my Celices, Yurias and Tinnies were promoted by Chapter 10.

[Scarlet]

I do not CARE about making the kids better; I care about KEEPING THE PLOT AND CANONITY INTACT.

Then what are you doing, posting this a thread that asks for FE4 advice? FE4 does not force you to do the "canon" pairings. So why do them if they're bad gameplay-wise?

[TheEnd]

Then what are you doing, posting this a thread that asks for FE4 advice? FE4 does not force you to do the "canon" pairings. So why do them if they're bad gameplay-wise?

For a challenge, curiosity or dialogues, I'd say. But that's off-topic, indeed.

[Darros]

I do not CARE about making the kids better; I care about KEEPING THE PLOT AND CANONITY INTACT.

Well not everyone has to accept your judgement, and FE4 gives you a choice. If Sharlow is better, maybe it's a wise choice to take him instead. FE is very loose in terms of canon.

And canonity says that Corpul existed, meaning that Sylvia had kids. So that means Sharlow and Laylea never joined Celice.

OK, tell me this. Who's Corple and Leen's canon father?

And I don't care about the Elite Ring being unavailable; I train my units well without having it. I've done several playthroughs like that, and most of my Celices, Yurias and Tinnies were promoted by Chapter 10.

Pair Sylvia with Lex. Problem solved. And they're not talking about Celice, Yuria, or Tinny, they're talking about Corple, who really wants Elite to level!

Edited March 8, 2011 by Hawk King Tibarn

[CT075]

I do not CARE about making the kids better; I care about KEEPING THE PLOT AND CANONITY INTACT.

And canonity says that Corpul existed, meaning that Sylvia had kids. So that means Sharlow and Laylea never joined Celice.

And I don't care about the Elite Ring being unavailable; I train my units well without having it. I've done several playthroughs like that, and most of my Celices, Yurias and Tinnies were promoted by Chapter 10.

When you say this, you imply that the other person CARES about KEEPING THE PLOT AND USING CAPS LOCK ALL THE TIME.

This may not be the case, and the fact that you even bothered to use this statement shows that you really don't get it. In this topic, he SPECIFICALLY asked for advice on making the kids better.

Also, you managing to lose the Elite Ring until chapter 10 is fine and dandy for you, but the rest of us want our Master Knight Leaf for Chapter 9. Of course, that's the only reason I ever needed the Elite Ring, but who cares.

Edited March 8, 2011 by Kamui Gakupo