HHM S-rank run Mk.II

[Raven]

Chapter 23

Deployed units: Hector, Legault, Matthew, Serra, heath, Lucius, Canas, Fiora.

As with most chapters, the first couple of turns are the hardest to survive. This was certainly the case here, particularly with who was deployed. A bunch of inexperienced units struggling to survive Elfires, Steel Bows and Wyvern Riders. I was really considering changing my team, even after I'd killed Paul, simply because of the volume of enemies remaining within immediate reach of my frail units. That was most of them, particularly the magic units.

Things calmed down, so I sent my fliers left. Fiora carried Legault over to near where the Hero Crest and Light Brand were, only for both of them to nearly face death once again. Fiora dodged most attacks, then picked up Pent and flew away from danger, leaving Legault and Heath to take down the magic units on the top-left of the map. Matthew went on foot to pick up the Body Ring, Fila's Might and Eclipse, weakening a few units along the way for more inexperienced units to finish off. Matthew was then used to draw in Jasmine. He then stole that White Gem, then Heath and Fiora started jabbing at Jasmine with their equipped Axereavers. Heath got the kills on both bosses.

All items accounted for, I finished off the last two enemy cavalry units at the top of the map. The chapter took 12 turns to finish, but it was worth the +3 turns against tactics even though it did bring Tactics back down to 4 stars. It can be recovered easily.

Unit stats:
Name--------Lv.-HP-Str-Skl-Spd-Luc-Def-Res-BTL-WIN----------------Weapon---Support
Hector----17.32-34--15---9--10---9--15---6-154--55-----------------Axe A-Eliwood C
Eliwood---15.23-28--12--13--13--15--11---2--88--48---------------Sword A--Hector C
Lyn-------14.29-22--10--14--15--11---4---5--36--19---------------Sword A----------
Marcus*----6.89-33--18--18--12--12--10---9-112--64-Sword A Axe S Lance A----------
Hawkeye*---4.22-50--18--14--11--13--14--10---4---4-----------------Axe A----------
Isadora*---1.83-28--13--12--16--10---8---6--17---6-Sword A Axe D Lance B----------
Matthew---17.90-27--11--11-*20--10---7---5-100--27---------------Sword A----------
Oswin-----17.02-36--17--13--10---6--17---4--95--33---------------Lance A----------
Legault---15.18-31---9--15--19--13---9---5--20---7---------------Sword C----------
Raven-----12.94-35--15-*20--18---2---6---3--29--20---------------Sword B----------
Lucius----12.66-24--12--11--15---2---1--15--26--15---------------Light B----------
Rebecca---12.57-24--10--10--14--10---5---5--62--33-----------------Bow C----------
Canas-----11.85-23--11--10--10---7---6---9--25--16---------------Elder B----------
Serra-----11.74-26---6---8--11--10---4--14--11---0---------------Staff A----------
Fiora-----11.22-22---8--13--15---8---7---9--20--11---------------Lance C----------
Kent------11.19-28---9--10--11---6---7---3--35--17-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Bartre----11.17-38--14---5---5---7---9---4--53--25-----------------Axe C----------
Florina---11.14-31--10--14--13--12---5---5--18---6---------------Lance B----------
Lowen-----11.14-32--10---8--10---7--10---1--56--28-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Heath-----10.95-34--15--11--11---7--12---1--16---6---------------Lance B----------
Dart------10.73-36--14---9---9---4---6---1--18---9-----------------Axe B----------
Sain------10.73-27--14---6---8---6---7---1--40--20-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Guy-------10.56-28--10--17--18---7---7---3--49--26---------------Sword B----------
Erk-------10.34-24---6---6--11---5---2---9--17--10---------------Anima B----------
Dorcas----10.25-36--13---8---7---7---5---1--23--12-----------------Axe B----------
Wil-------10.07-26--10--11--10--11---6---3--17---5-----------------Bow B----------
Priscilla-10.00-17---9---9--11--13---3--12---9---0---------------Staff A----------
Rath-------9.19-27---9--10--11---5---8---2---2---0-----------------Bow B----------
Ninian-----8.84-19---2---0--18--16---5--10---3---0--------------------------------
Merlinus--17----32---0--12--16--24---8---3---1---0--------------------------------
* = Capped / Promoted

Ranks:
Tactics:- * * * * 
Survival: * * * * *
Funds:--- * * * * *
Exp:----- * * * * *
Combat:-- * * * * *

It's been a long time since I've been on chapter 23x.

Units I'm deploying are: Hector, Hawkeye, Eliwood, Legault, Priscilla, Rath, Matthew and Canas.

I'm taking both Thieves to relieve the pressure, since there are basically two chests a fair distance apart. Rath because he's still a low level, and can bring back some decent Exp. Eliwood because I need 4 more levels between all the Lords to reach 24 Linus route. I was going to take Lucius, but Canas with Luna will undoubtedly cause more damage to the magic enemy units. Let's hope things to to plan.

Edit: Looking at my current stats, I am now over the minimum needed funds for 5 stars by 30,090 Gold. I think I finally have some room to play with stat boosters and promotion items.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Railgunz

[Cain Magnus]

I like how you are balancing out everyone's levels. From what I can see, a lot of people are going to be promoting nearly around or at the same time. XD

Edited February 7, 2012 by Magnus Blade

[General Horace]

Just remember, don't go too crazy with promotion items, some of the later levels have a pretty strict Funds ranking (read: impossible to fulfill)

[Raven]

I like how you are balancing out everyone's levels. From what I can see, a lot of people are going to be promoting nearly around or at the same time. XD

Hmm, well I won't actually be promoting many people. But I guess they will be pretty close. I still don't know who I will be promoting yet.

Just remember, don't go too crazy with promotion items, some of the later levels have a pretty strict Funds ranking (read: impossible to fulfill)

Yeah I know. I plan to spend no more than 50,000 Gold on promotions. I'll be using pre-promotes a lot.

I have no idea who to promote, though. I would like to promote Rebecca, Lucius, Heath, Oswin, Raven, Priscilla, and maybe Lowen too. But I think promoting all of them will dent the Funds rank too much.

Chapter 23x

This took 18 turns to finish. I deployed Hector, Hawkeye, Legault, Priscilla, Serra, Lyn, Marcus and Ninian.

The first seven or so turns were the hardest to get by and survive. Those fucking stave units are real cunts. Having Marcus (and moreso the forced Hawkeye) around really helped out here. I tried several methods of dealing with this as quickly as possible, then I checked how many turns I could take to 5 star this chapter, and that is a pretty whopping 25 turns. So I decided to get all the chests and take my time through the chapter, making sure everyone actually stayed alive. I got everyone regrouped as fast as possible, and continued onwards form there.

Got the 5 stars back in my Tactics rank, anyway.

Unit stats:
Name--------Lv.-HP-Str-Skl-Spd-Luc-Def-Res-BTL-WIN----------------Weapon---Support
Hector----19.57-35--16---9--10--10--16---6-165--63-----------------Axe A-Eliwood C
Lyn-------17.67-24--13--15--17--13---6---6--49--25---------------Sword A----------
Eliwood---15.23-28--12--13--13--15--11---2--88--48---------------Sword A--Hector C
Marcus*----8.41-35--18--19--13--12--11---9-127--72-Sword A Axe S Lance A----------
Hawkeye*---6.96-52--20--14--11--14--14--10--18--11-----------------Axe A----------
Isadora*---1.83-28--13--12--16--10---8---6--17---6-Sword A Axe D Lance B----------
Matthew---17.90-27--11--11-*20--10---7---5-100--27---------------Sword A----------
Oswin-----17.02-36--17--13--10---6--17---4--95--33---------------Lance A----------
Legault---16.23-31--10--16--19--13---9---5--22---8---------------Sword C----------
Serra-----12.95-26---6---8--11--11---4--14--11---0---------------Staff A----------
Raven-----12.94-35--15-*20--18---2---6---3--29--20---------------Sword B----------
Lucius----12.66-24--12--11--15---2---1--15--26--15---------------Light B----------
Rebecca---12.57-24--10--10--14--10---5---5--62--33-----------------Bow C----------
Canas-----11.85-23--11--10--10---7---6---9--25--16---------------Elder B----------
Priscilla-11.31-17---9--10--11--13---4--13--17---0---------------Staff A----------
Fiora-----11.22-22---8--13--15---8---7---9--20--11---------------Lance C----------
Kent------11.19-28---9--10--11---6---7---3--35--17-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Bartre----11.17-38--14---5---5---7---9---4--53--25-----------------Axe C----------
Florina---11.14-31--10--14--13--12---5---5--18---6---------------Lance B----------
Lowen-----11.14-32--10---8--10---7--10---1--56--28-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Heath-----10.95-34--15--11--11---7--12---1--16---6---------------Lance B----------
Dart------10.73-36--14---9---9---4---6---1--18---9-----------------Axe B----------
Sain------10.73-27--14---6---8---6---7---1--40--20-------Lance C-Sword D----------
Ninian----10.60-21---2---0--19--17---6--11---9---0--------------------------------
Guy-------10.56-28--10--17--18---7---7---3--49--26---------------Sword B----------
Erk-------10.34-24---6---6--11---5---2---9--17--10---------------Anima B----------
Dorcas----10.25-36--13---8---7---7---5---1--23--12-----------------Axe B----------
Wil-------10.07-26--10--11--10--11---6---3--17---5-----------------Bow B----------
Rath-------9.19-27---9--10--11---5---8---2---2---0-----------------Bow B----------
Merlinus--18----33---0--12--17--25---8---4---8---0--------------------------------
* = Capped / Promoted

Ranks:
Tactics:- * * * * *
Survival: * * * * *
Funds:--- * * * * *
Exp:----- * * * * *
Combat:-- * * * * *

I'm not sure how it will go, but for Chapter 24 I will be deploying: Hector, Dart, Ninian, Rath, Heath, Lowen, Sain, Guy, Florina, Wil, Dorcas, and Erk.

Oh yeah, going to give those Afa's Drops to Heath. I was considering Raven, but he's only Level 12 and he's capped Skl, and almost capped Spd. It would be a waste on him. Heath will get much more use from it.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Railgunz

[Raven]

All right, some opinions would be greatly appreciated here. Once my Pre-Promote run is over and done with, I'm planning to press on with this run.

I would like to read other people's opinions on certain things. I'm on Chapter 24 battle preparation, and I have 18,369/16,150 EXP, so that's 2,219 over the 5* limit for EXP. As for funds, that is 361,363/341,200 G, so that's only 20,163 G in the green for 5* Funds.

I believe Heath, Raven and Lucius are a given to be promoted, however everyone else is not so easy to choose. I'm not even sure how many units to promote, given the currently tight funds rank. Will this tight funds rank slacken anytime soon? When should I begin to focus on the units I want to promote as opposed to spreading out the EXP between all units?

Other people's thoughts on this matter? People with experience in S-ranking HHM is particularly welcome to throw their opinions in.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Raven

[Balcerzak]

All right, some opinions would be greatly appreciated here. Once my Pre-Promote run is over and done with, I'm planning to press on with this run.

I would like to read other people's opinions on certain things. I'm on Chapter 24 battle preparation, and I have 18,369/16,150 EXP, so that's 2,219 over the 5* limit for EXP. As for funds, that is 361,363/341,200 G, so that's only 20,163 G in the green for 5* Funds.

I believe Heath, Raven and Lucius are a given to be promoted, however everyone else is not so easy to choose. I'm not even sure how many units to promote, given the currently tight funds rank. Will this tight funds rank slacken anytime soon? When should I begin to focus on the units I want to promote as opposed to spreading out the EXP between all units?

Other people's thoughts on this matter? People with experience in S-ranking HHM is particularly welcome to throw their opinions in.

The Funds rank doesn't get much in the way of significant breathing room until the very final few chapters, which means you have much of the game where you think you're a lot tighter on your rank than you actually end up being.

It looks like I was able to afford promoting Eliwood, Prisc, Kent, Sain, Fiora, Farina, Florina, Serra, with about 16k worth of remaining leeway. You should definitely be safe promoting between 6-8 normal-item units, although I would need to track your other expenditures/stat booster usage/etc. more carefully to be sure.

You will, IMO, definitely want to promote both Priscilla and Serra, in addition to your listed three. Looking at your cavs, Lowen might also be a good fit. But really, use who you want to use.

[Raven]

The Funds rank doesn't get much in the way of significant breathing room until the very final few chapters, which means you have much of the game where you think you're a lot tighter on your rank than you actually end up being.

It looks like I was able to afford promoting Eliwood, Prisc, Kent, Sain, Fiora, Farina, Florina, Serra, with about 16k worth of remaining leeway. You should definitely be safe promoting between 6-8 normal-item units, although I would need to track your other expenditures/stat booster usage/etc. more carefully to be sure.

You will, IMO, definitely want to promote both Priscilla and Serra, in addition to your listed three. Looking at your cavs, Lowen might also be a good fit. But really, use who you want to use.

Ah, I see. I was hoping that would be the case.

A lord costs twice as much to promote compared to a normal unit, however Eliwood does gain a horse... And he is capable of dealing massive damage to the dragon. I'm thinking: Eliwood, Serra, Priscilla, Lucius, Raven, Heath, and perhaps Lowen as per your suggestion. No harm in raising him and seeing how his stats turn out. I reckon Lucius will turn into a capable staff unit, assuming I can get him raised and promoted quite soon (he does have auto-C Staves on promotion, I believe) - so maybe I could drop either Priscilla or Serra - preferably Serra, since she has no horse. If that happens, I'd really love to use Rebecca. <3. Three competent staffies (Priscilla, Pent and Lucius) should be enough, right?

I think this is the time I should start using everyone I plan on promoting in every chapter from here on in. If there's extra deployment slots, I'll chuck in some units for EXP buffing, or pre-promoted units, depending on the chapter.

[GreatEclipse]

From my experience, promoting more than 5 units is something of a waste, given unit slot restrictions on most late maps and the existence of several excellent pre-promotes (Hawkeye, Geitz, Harken, Pent). I would rather just use more stat boosters.

[30425.com]

First off, whih version of chapter 24 are you on? Lloyd or Linus? Also regarding the EXP rank, how much levels over the required EXP so far do you have? If it's about 6000 or so, you should be on a good roll but definetely keep using underlevelled units to steal kills and get that EXP rank up, since Cogs of Destiny and Victory or Death will deal a big blow in your EXP ranks with about roughly 9000 combined. I agree with Greateclipse in that promoting so many units would be a waste when you got prepromotes like Hawkeye, Pent and Harken to rely upon, unless you got really great stats on some units. IMO Heath is a risky choice to promote. Sure, he's a great flyer unit, but the aforementioned two chapters and a few others have magic units and staff users, and with his low resistance, Heath will get killed in two rounds if he's unlucky. Don't you have any pegasus unit that's also solid?

Edited April 17, 2012 by Bartrio

[GreatEclipse]

Heath is arguably the best primary combat unit in the game. I get him to 20/-- by the end of chapter 24 every time. Sure, he needs some help at first, but he so completely crushes the Peg sisters in terms of raw stats and everyone else in terms of mobility that every point of EXP fed to him is worth it. One of the reasons I try to use fewer promotional items is so I can give him my Draco Shield's and Talisman's, allowing him to fly off on his own and destroy stuff even more effectively.