Berwick Saga

[RNG Princess]

Which is more enjoyable, Berwick or Tear Ring Saga? I want to try them but they confuse me to no end. They should have a page here for Berwick saga ^^' just like they have for tear ring saga.

[Othin]

Which is more enjoyable, Berwick or Tear Ring Saga? I want to try them but they confuse me to no end. They should have a page here for Berwick saga ^^' just like they have for tear ring saga.

Personally, I've only played the first two chapters of TearRing Saga (and even then, only on emulator), but Berwick Saga is my favorite FE game even from just what I've played of it so far, and TRS doesn't seem to have anything that could put it on quite that level. But who knows?

Anyway, I don't know whether or not you've actually been reading this thread, but if all goes well, I should have enough to cover all key areas of the Berwick page in about a week. I don't know whether or not Vincent is actually interested in putting it on the main site sometime after I put it together, but it's been my hope from the start that that's what'll happen.

Current status by page:

Base stats - Complete

Growth rates - Complete

Average stats - On hold (don't intend to include in first version)

Learned skills - Complete

Class change / Requirements - Complete

Support bonus - Complete

Classes - Complete for playable classes only

Maximum stats - Complete for playable classes and weapon ranks only (which is 99% of the time the only gameplay-relevant part anyway, if they even have individual core stat caps in the first place)

All weapons / items pages - Nearly complete

Horses - Nearly complete

Food - Effects complete, character data in progress

Furniture - Complete

Blacksmith / Alchemist - Nearly complete

Bounties - Nearly complete

Calculations - In progress (not much so far)

Rankings - In progress

Shops Guide - Complete for base shops only

Skills - In progress

Edited September 13, 2011 by Othin

[RNG Princess]

Personally, I've only played the first two chapters of TearRing Saga (and even then, only on emulator), but Berwick Saga is my favorite FE game even from just what I've played of it so far, and TRS doesn't seem to have anything that could put it on quite that level. But who knows?

Anyway, I don't know whether or not you've actually been reading this thread, but if all goes well, I should have enough to cover all key areas of the Berwick page in about a week. I don't know whether or not Vincent is actually interested in putting it on the main site sometime after I put it together, but it's been my hope from the start that that's what'll happen.

Current status by page:

Base stats - Complete

Growth rates - Complete

Average stats - On hold (don't intend to include in first version)

Learned skills - Complete

Class change / Requirements - Complete

Support bonus - Complete

Classes - Complete for playable classes only

Maximum stats - Complete for playable classes and weapon ranks only (which is 99% of the time the only gameplay-relevant part anyway, if they even have individual core stat caps in the first place)

All weapons / items pages - Nearly complete

Horses - Nearly complete

Food - Effects complete, character data in progress

Furniture - Complete

Blacksmith / Alchemist - Nearly complete

Bounties - Nearly complete

Calculations - In progress (not much so far)

Rankings - In progress

Shops Guide - Complete for base shops only

Skills - In progress

Thats really cool ^^' you're almost done too! Oh I haven't played either but I've seen some videos for Tear Ring Saga on Youtube iirc, it looks very fun. I've never seen any gameplay of Berwick saga, its hard to find any information about it. Someone told me Berwick uses hexagons instead of squares, and I think I saw a thread here once with a picture of it and that seems very interesting. Thank you for gathering all the information I hope Vincent accepts it and puts it on this site (giving credit to you of course)

[Othin]

a video, if you're interested. As you may notice, it's from YayMarsha, who's also been posting in this thread, and in fact those videos were what got me interested in Berwick Saga in the first place, so yay for him. (And his other videos were what got me to do an FE5 SSS run, while we're at it. I then got some help from him before proceeding to beat his time by nine turns, but that's a story for another time.)

Most of the information I've been putting together has been from a couple of Japanese sites run through online translators and some Google searches to track down things that don't translate well easily, so I couldn't really take credit for anything more than my time. Feels good, though.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Othin

[RNG Princess]

I like what i'm seeing , I really like all the personal skills like the cleric's skill which is similar to fortify it does seem very fun and alot more complex than Fire Emblem (in a good way). Do enemies talk to the pcs as they fight or is that something else? BTW does Berwick Saga have battle animations or is it just map only animations?

Edited September 13, 2011 by Queen_Kittylincia

[Othin]

I like what i'm seeing , I really like all the personal skills like the cleric's skill which is similar to fortify it does seem very fun and alot more complex than Fire Emblem (in a good way). Do enemies talk to the pcs as they fight or is that something else? BTW does Berwick Saga have battle animations or is it just map only animations?

Berwick Saga certainly perfected the skill system; the implications of it are my favorite aspect of Berwick Saga.

A large number of generic or generic-ish enemies have lines, sometimes even in battle. Is that what you're referring to?

Battle animations (and orange attack range markers, for that matter) exist, and in fact the battle animations are possibly the best in any 2D FE game, although they're turned off in these videos, presumably to save time. By default, battle animations only show for boss battles, which I think is an interesting touch to the game, but they can be changed to all battles.

[RNG Princess]

Berwick Saga certainly perfected the skill system; the implications of it are my favorite aspect of Berwick Saga.

A large number of generic or generic-ish enemies have lines, sometimes even in battle. Is that what you're referring to?

Battle animations (and orange attack range markers, for that matter) exist, and in fact the battle animations are possibly the best in any 2D FE game, although they're turned off in these videos, presumably to save time. By default, battle animations only show for boss battles, which I think is an interesting touch to the game, but they can be changed to all battles.

The skills are a very original touch. I remember these:

-the Archer has an ambush skill that automatically attacks any enemies passing by.

-the cleric has a healing skill, that heals everyone within 3 spaces

-the guy in the purple hair has a provoke like skill that attracts enemies

Oh yes I was talking about the generic-lines, I think thats a really nice touch. It looks similar to Fire Emblem but it takes its own path to originality, I think playing this game would be a little bit similar to fire emblem but still very different at the same time thanks to all the personal skills. It looks like so much fun ^^' I'd love to play it some day, but sadly I don't understand japanese at all . My favorite skill was the ambush, I think it makes archers alot more helpful or is it just to Sylvis? I wonder what skills the pegasi have ^^'. Thanks for the video.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Queen_Kittylincia

[Othin]

Out of playable characters, Sylvia and Sherlock can learn it, and Burroughs gets it while equipping the short-range Scorpion ballistae. Worth noting that Sherlock and Burroughs are the only characters in Berwick to lack any melee; other bow users all have crossbows or swords, and regular bows have plenty of their own uses anyway. There's also a more conventional Ambush skill which is even more powerful with the counterattack system; only Adel can use it normally, but a few other characters can learn it temporarily by eating certain food.

However, Berwick Saga, being evil, frequently gives Shooter to enemy archers, and there's at least one boss with Ambush. Other skills also get distributed to enemies; fear is facing an Armor Knight that you accidentally allowed to activate Pulverize to temporarily double its Attack to 46. In Chapter 4.

Unfortunately, there are no Pegasus Knights in Berwick Saga, likely because of copyright issues. Dragon Knights, however, are thoroughly ridiculous in flying out of reach of melee.

I don't think not knowing Japanese is a huge issue. I've only started learning Japanese a few days ago, personally; finding out necessary information was a bit of a hassle at times because of the lack of thorough English information, but that's why I'm doing this.

[paladin21]

However, Berwick Saga, being evil, frequently gives Shooter to enemy archers, and there's at least one boss with Ambush. Other skills also get distributed to enemies; fear is facing an Armor Knight that you accidentally allowed to activate Pulverize to temporarily double its Attack to 46. In Chapter 4.

Wait to chapter 10 to see true fear with two Axe Knights together supporting each other (both having Counterattack as an skill to attack you even if they get damage, and Pulverize to finish you off in their turn) and an archer backing them up while blocking the only pass through a river. If that's not enough, there are two Lance Knights and a Horseman ready to attack you as you approach the Axe Knights.

About Leese's promotion, mine promoted after Ch9 main mission, and I've been adding his deeds, and he had 17 points before the mission, thus getting the last one in it.

[Othin]

I've been trying to check ChinaFE for ranking stuff for a while, and I haven't been able to. Is anyone else able to get info from it, particularly details on the rankings?

[paladin21]

I've been trying to check ChinaFE for ranking stuff for a while, and I haven't been able to. Is anyone else able to get info from it, particularly details on the rankings?

This is what I've found about the rankings:

• Merits: Tactics and that type of stuff in the main missions (18 points here is the requirement for Leese's class change before chapter 10)

• Chapter 2: Depends on the turncount
  • Clear in 24 or less turns (1)
  • Clear in 21 or less turns (2)
  • Clear in 18 or less turns (3)

  [*]Chapter 3: One per priest surviving the map

  • Untested posible trick: Block their path into the houses by placing a character in each of the houses and clear the map of enemies (eg. the big boss, whatever his name is) before letting them inside.

  [*]Chapter 4: Depends on number of allied soldiers (greenies, but at least this time they don't rush to get killed) that escape

  • 7-9 (1)
  • 10-11 (2)
  • All 12 of them (3)

  [*]Chapter 5

  • Map Clear (1)
  • Clear in 10 turns or less (1)
  • Capture/kill Ryark (enemy boss) (1)

  [*]Chapter 6

  • 4 or less civilians escape (1)
  • All civilians escape (2)
  • Capture/kill Altman (enemy boss, that appears late) (1)

  [*]Chapter 7: Number of Vester's soldiers that escape

  • Only Vester (1)
  • Vester and 1-3 allied soldiers (2)
  • All 5 of them (3)

  [*]Chapter 8

  • 3 or less balista soldiers escape (1)
  • All balista soldiers escape (2)
  • Capture/kill Von Beck (enemy boss, appears late) (1)

  [*]Chapter 9: Dependes on surviving engineers

  • 3 or less (1)
  • 4 (2)
  • All 5 of them (3)

  [*]Chapter 10

  • Clear (1)
  • 3 Vester knights survive (1)
  • 4 Vester knights survive (2)

  [*]Chapter 11: Depends on turncount

  • 24 turns (3)
  • 23 turns (2)
  • 22 turns or less (1)

  [*]Chapter 12

  • Clear (1)
  • Clear in less than 22 turns (1)
  • All civilians survive (1)

  [*]Chapter 13

  • Clear (1)
  • Defeat Kohnen (1)

• Fame: Quests from villagers you accomplish during the main missions
• Action: "Collectibles" found
  • Extra missions: Not really sure of this (23)
  • Furniture (for Leese's room): One point for four pieces (3)
  • Collector Items: One point for 6 items (3)
  • Wanted list: One point for 6 captures/kills (3)
  • Complete alchemy (1)
  • Forge: One point for 10 forged items (2)

  [*]Happiness: Each of the characters give you one point for fullfilling certain things (for instance, survival, join and class change if possible are some of them, plus best friend survival or maxed happiness in some cases...)

[Othin]

Good finds on Tactics.

As for the others, I was using this page as a source, so I know about most of Action and Happiness. Action in particular seems to note 22 points for extra missions, not 23. Now, this makes sense; there are 22 "main" optional missions, plus the 4 Exp maps that you'd need to complete to recruit characters and complete the Happiness rank anyway. But it leaves the question of where the last point comes from. For Happiness, looking at the specifications on promotion and recruitment requirements, they seem to also add up to 34, leaving one more point. For both Action and Happiness, the wiki lists some requirement for some other point, but I can't seem to get a coherent translation for it on my own.

For Fame, do you know of any complete listings of the civilian requests?

[paladin21]

Good finds on Tactics.

As for the others, I was using this page as a source, so I know about most of Action and Happiness. Action in particular seems to note 22 points for extra missions, not 23. Now, this makes sense; there are 22 "main" optional missions, plus the 4 Exp maps that you'd need to complete to recruit characters and complete the Happiness rank anyway. But it leaves the question of where the last point comes from. For Happiness, looking at the specifications on promotion and recruitment requirements, they seem to also add up to 34, leaving one more point. For both Action and Happiness, the wiki lists some requirement for some other point, but I can't seem to get a coherent translation for it on my own.

For Fame, do you know of any complete listings of the civilian requests?

There are 35 characters: the 32 in the 4x8 grid, Leese, Ward and Lynette (you get her for the last chapter only, she's the user of the ultimate thunder orb "Palas Serenia"). To get her happiness point, you have to read all her letters and get/keep the Tulsa ornament (or something like this).

For fame, check this http://ts.mirupage.com/ts2/evaluate02.html

I wanted to know what you think about the characters also. Not just for stats and skills, but personal experience as well.

Right now, the most useful for me have been Arthur, Czene, Dian, Faramir and Persvel. Larentia has also been quite useful, but not as much as the ones listed before.

[Othin]

Much appreciated. That makes more sense than the impression I got from the wiki - some characters not affecting it at all, other characters giving extra points for being both recruited and promoted. You mentioned other requirements than just permanent recruitment, survival, and class change - do you know anything about where I could find information on those requirements for each character that has them?

I've been trying to try out most characters, but given that I've only completed half a playthrough so far, there's only so much I can say. The best characters so far seem to be Reese, Larentia, and Sylvia, followed by the axe trio of Dean, Axel, and Daoud. Pulverize is just amazing.

I haven't even hired Faramir once, so I have no idea how he compares to these characters. Arthur is turning out to be another one of my best characters, right behind the axe trio. Looking at his growths, he'll probably surpass them soon and be better overall, but I'm not inclined to make any assumptions. So far, I haven't used Czene or Percival much, but they don't seem to stand out at all yet; Sedy and Aegina have definitely been performing better for me up to this point. It's difficult to compare given how different they all are, though.

[paladin21]

The info about the scores thing, the web I listed above has about everything, at least in scores and some info that may come in handy for you: http://ts.mirupage.com/ts2/index.html

Faramir is awesome. He can use swords, greatswords and bows, and has pretty good skills. For instance, he's immune to criticals (so long for fearing assassins) and has higher movement than any other dismounted unit (5 instead of 4). Parry and Iaido make a good combination to counter with more precision, and he seems to be impervious to wounds while not having the skill.

Czene, once promoted is plain amazing if you give her a Shift Dagger and the talisman that improves the rates of her stealing skill. She'll be able then to disarm an enemy that otherwise would be deathly or impervious to your attacks because of his shield. I didn't use Cedi too much, even though choosing what he'd steal is very useful, but having to be physically by the enemy and not being able to run away hurts him big time. Another point for Czene is that she can spot hidden enemies while hiding from them.

Persvel has proven to be an archer-slayer, by countering all of them with thunder while evading their attacks with his Arrow Evade skill. He's very useful in ALL missions in chapter 10. There are plenty of archers in two of the missions and dragons vulnerable to thunder in the other one (the one dragon resistant to thunder is vulnerable to air, which is Persvel's secondary magic). If you don't have thunder weapons or magic ready for that map, or the Palas Leia (Enid's über-magic after class-changing) you're going to have a hard time there (stock on thunder arrows asap for this cahpter).

On a side note, I don't use all my favourite characters characters in every map, since I want to get everyone to class change (that's the reason I started using Czene and became aware of her awesome skill if well used), and now I usually have one or so of my faves on the map at any time.

I didn't mention Leese, but only due to availability. He's able to hold his own and with the Lordgram he kicks ass (I barely use that weapon and he kicks ass as well). I'm waiting to get the Saxheed (I like that spelling better than Succeed, it looks more legendary :P).

About the ones that you mentioned before, Dowd and Axal, I agree that Pulverize is an awesome skill, but like Cedi's steal, you have to endure an enemy attack, which Dowd would probably do, but Axal doesn't use shields, so he'd be risking quite a lot unless you get him into position at the end of the turn to finish off the enemy at the start of the next. Axal's skills that I find more useful are Swim and getting enemy objects when killing them.

Arthur is my favourite overall because of his amazing skillset: Strike, to inflict wounds to capture enemies, Desperate, to finish off enemies ensuring the hit, and Run, to get quickly to other places in the map. And having the chance to get his weapons less damaged when used is a plus. If we add great strength and defense growths (specially defense in this game) with low correction factor, he's a must have character for any player, more so when you have to get some characters captured to get certain items (or at least injured to steal them when unequipped) and more money than if you kill the hit list guys.

About Sylvis, I don't really use her much, since I still have to raise Istbal some levels for his class change, then he'll just be better (sword and daggers instead of X-bows, but Pascanyon for free!!!) because he'll get Aim at level 15 and at 20 he gets CHASE!!!

I also use Burrows quite a lot lately, more now that I got better ballistae. He's becoming very useful. If balistae didn't have to be facing where they attack, this guy would be terribly broken...

[Othin]

Pascannon seems amazing, looking at its stats (I haven't used Estobar yet either, although I intend to use him on my next playthrough, if only because of Pursuit), but I personally love crossbows too much to ever not be using both Sylvia and Chris. Sylvia also has a ton of other awesome abilities, like Shooter and inflicting more injuries, which with the Demon Bow, is quite ridiculous. Haven't actually gotten it yet, but I can tell what effect it'll have.

I do agree about not ranking characters with free unit slots. There's nothing for them to compete for.

Axel requires some careful positioning to be effective, but his mobility helps a lot with that, as well as Hide. I also find his Search skill highly convenient, since it means I don't have to spend a unit slot on a thief in some chapters. Pulverize alone wouldn't be enough for me to put Axel and Daoud on that level, but in combination with everything else they can do, I've found them both as effective as Dean so far.

I've read about a glitch that lets Burroughs move and fire in the same turn by unequipping his ballista and then reequipping it after moving. I don't know much about ballistae in this game, not having gotten him myself, but it seems like if you can use that movement to rotate him somehow, it might get around that. I've certainly heard that at least with the glitch, he's utterly ridiculous.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Othin

[paladin21]

Pascannon seems amazing, looking at its stats (I haven't used Estobar yet either), but I personally love crossbows too much to ever not be using both Sylvia and Chris. Sylvia also has a ton of other awesome abilities, like Shooter and inflicting more injuries, which with the Demon Bow, is quite ridiculous. Haven't actually gotten it yet, but I can tell what effect it'll have.

Where do you get the demon bow? However Pascannon has the "curse" of having a chance of damaging your unit if his skill isn't 50 (not a big problem with my Istbal, who's not yet at level 15 and already has aroud 36). Chris' bow skill is a pain to rise, like Elbert's spear.

Axel requires some careful positioning to be effective, but his mobility helps a lot with that, as well as Hide. I also find his Search skill highly convenient, since it means I don't have to spend a unit slot on a thief in some chapters. Pulverize alone wouldn't be enough for me to put Axel and Daoud on that level, but in combination with everything else they can do, I've found them both as effective as Dean so far.

Well, I used to use Axal for searching and that, but after Czene changed her class to Grassrunner, she suited that better, since she could get faster, and steal a lot of items from enemies while damaging them.

I've read about a glitch that lets Burroughs move and fire in the same turn by unequipping his ballista and then reequipping it after moving. I don't know much about ballistae in this game, not having gotten him myself, but it seems like if you can use that movement to rotate him somehow, it might get around that. I've certainly heard that at least with the glitch, he's utterly ridiculous.

It actually works, but you cannot rotate him without losing both his movement and his attack. Just make sure you answer "yes" to the question he asks when he joins or he'll join weaponless, and use L2 and R2 to give him the starting rotation (I didn't know this and lost several turns rotating him for his first shot.

[Othin]

Where do you get the demon bow? However Pascannon has the "curse" of having a chance of damaging your unit if his skill isn't 50 (not a big problem with my Istbal, who's not yet at level 15 and already has aroud 36). Chris' bow skill is a pain to rise, like Elbert's spear.

Well, I used to use Axal for searching and that, but after Czene changed her class to Grassrunner, she suited that better, since she could get faster, and steal a lot of items from enemies while damaging them.

It actually works, but you cannot rotate him without losing both his movement and his attack. Just make sure you answer "yes" to the question he asks when he joins or he'll join weaponless, and use L2 and R2 to give him the starting rotation (I didn't know this and lost several turns rotating him for his first shot.

The Demon Bow is a Blacksmith forge.

So the curse is a chance, rather than an actual percentage of the damage on all hits? That's what seemed most plausible, but I couldn't tell from the translations, so it's good to know for sure.

Chris's bow growth is 50%, which is plenty better than Elbert's spear growth of 30% - and Adel's, for that matter. I've still found it much more effective for her to use crossbows when she can't set up an Aim shot, but at least the option is there.

I can see the benefit in that, but it's hard to imagine her being worth the unit slot even with all that. With that in mind, there are a few other relevant things I've been meaning to find out, since the other sites don't seem to have complete information on them. First, how's the chance for Mug / Mug II determined? Is it Czene's level before promotion, and always 30 afterward, or something more complex? Second, does Czene have Re-Move when mounted? I'd assume yes, but it's not listed on the wiki, unlike other mounted characters, so I want to be sure. Speaking of odd class skills, the wiki lists Self-Heal "and others" as class skills for the Holy Knight class, but Self-Heal isn't listed as a skill for Paramythis despite other class skills being listed for their respective characters, and her other skills don't seem to be associated with her class. So assuming you've played far enough to get Paramythis on past playthroughs, do you know whether or not she actually has Self-Heal or any other class-specific skills?

Good to know regarding Burroughs. So is his movement also restricted by the rotation? That sounds like a pain. But if he's effective enough even considering all that, he seems like a fascinatingly unique character to use.

[Hazuki]

Hey, were you guys aware that there's an official site for Berwick Saga? There's a lot of information here, even mugshots of all 35 playable characters!

Is this of potential use for anyone? I didn't see this mentioned before...

[VincentASM]

The artwork and official names should be useful. I think that's about all that's useful to be honest : P

Actually, the "Special" section looks kind of interesting. I've always been too lazy to try and read it though.

Edited September 21, 2011 by VincentASM

[Othin]

Don't know about anyone else, but I was not aware. Good find. If nothing else, images should help lend character to the database, rather than leaving it as a faceless collection of data - much like how even with hearing and reading various things about Berwick Saga previously, I could never really consider it a game more than a collection of ideas until watching YayMarsha's videos and actually seeing things.

Anyway, Paladin's site seems to have solved the Paramythis mystery, as well as the matter of the Tactics rank and has added a few apparently unused shields to the database (also verified by their presence on Pegasus Knight, like the Old Imperial Sword), but now I'm even more confused about Fame and Action - Fame seems to add up to 37 points rather than 35 like the other ranks, and Action, as Paladin noted, seems to list the illogical 23 optional maps. I don't know what to make of either of these, so help from anyone would be appreciated. Happiness should be easy enough to figure out once I persuade myself to slog through the gibberish resulting from online translations messing up the word order.

I have a sort of Calculations page for most of the basic stuff, although I opted to not explain the weapon/skill/food bonuses on this page for now when they're listed everywhere else and it would be ridiculously complicated to do so. I don't have the critical bonus to damage listed, because I don't actually know what it is, just that it seems to be some random addition rather than a fixed multiplier or anything of the sort. Also don't have any idea what Luck does and if it exists from anything other than two foods, so if anyone has input on any of these things, it'd help a lot.

Then there's the injury rates. I know the injury rate is normally 3, but instead for knives, and has all sorts of bonuses on top of that, but how do bonuses to the injury rate from weapons fit into that? The Bolt Knife seems to have Injury +33% as an effect; does that give it a total injury rate of 42%? Seems a bit high...

And still looking for a handful of other things - specifically the % effects of weapon skill on the heals for Area Heal and Dark Heal, and any effect of Bau Crash other than not hitting ground enemies (it really sounds like an area attack based on some of the descriptions, but I don't want to make any assumptions about that or how the area is calculated). If I can get information on all of these things and figure out the details on the last few skills, I can have all gameplay data in this database completed, just leaving a few name translations to work out.

Regarding the translations, I'm trying to find actual names and otherwise meaningful translations in whatever I can rather than just random words and sounds - as I indicated in another thread, I've managed to give all of the characters names that, while fitting with existing translations, are existing English names (preferably first names) when possible, and mythological references for the handful that didn't fit (Ouro, Aegina). I believe this makes the database the only existing source of thorough English translations for all character names, although that isn't really the only unique thing about it within the English language anyway.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Othin

[YayMarsha]

Sorry about not responding much, I'm just so freaking lazy.

...but now I'm even more confused about Fame and Action - Fame seems to add up to 37 points rather than 35 like the other ranks, and Action, as Paladin noted, seems to list the illogical 23 optional maps.

I don't really remember, but I'd assume the 37 for Fame is just so that you have some breathing room. Not sure what you mean about Action though, because ChinaFE's page covers it completely. 23 from maps, 3 from bounties, 3 from the collection, 2 from the blacksmith, 1 from the alchemist, and 3 for furniture. Happiness is mostly "this unit promoted," from what I could tell. Didn't care to figure out anything more specific.

I don't have the critical bonus to damage listed, because I don't actually know what it is, just that it seems to be some random addition rather than a fixed multiplier or anything of the sort. Also don't have any idea what Luck does and if it exists from anything other than two foods, so if anyone has input on any of these things, it'd help a lot.

Criticals just ignore defense and add a random amount (1-20) of damage to the hit. Personal experience says luck functions like a Miracle Talisman, but don't quote me on that. From what I read, it has a chance of increasing when your character doesn't gain anything else in a level up. Realistically, you'll only see Safia and maybe Izerna gain luck.

The Bolt Knife seems to have Injury +33% as an effect; does that give it a total injury rate of 42%? Seems a bit high...

I think the Bolt Knife just makes the rate 33% instead of the usual 9% for a dagger. I've always assumed it stacks in other cases though, like Arthur's skill + a Harpoon. (Not that he'd ever hit anybody with it, but yeah.)

And still looking for a handful of other things - specifically the % effects of weapon skill on the heals for Area Heal and Dark Heal, and any effect of Bau Crash other than not hitting ground enemies (it really sounds like an area attack based on some of the descriptions, but I don't want to make any assumptions about that or how the area is calculated).

I don't remember Bau Crash being an area attack, if that means anything. I can't really help you about the heal percentages, since I'm sure you already know the magic part. It's probably just random, since it's not unusual in this game (yay criticals and Izerna's healing skill).

About names, I'll be disappointed if you don't use Basch for Elbert. For characters though, the idea of supporting Percival seems morally wrong to me. Not pitching the idea of a tier topic here (EW), but I'd probably love the chance to argue how pointless he is. :P

First, how's the chance for Mug / Mug II determined? Is it Czene's level before promotion, and always 30 afterward, or something more complex? Second, does Czene have Re-Move when mounted? I'd assume yes, but it's not listed on the wiki, unlike other mounted characters, so I want to be sure.

This page has some analysis of Steal's success rate. I think this page has some details as well. And yeah, she gets re-move when mounted.

Edited September 22, 2011 by YayMarsha

[Othin]

Sorry about not responding much, I'm just so freaking lazy.

I don't really remember, but I'd assume the 37 for Fame is just so that you have some breathing room. Not sure what you mean about Action though, because ChinaFE's page covers it completely. 23 from maps, 3 from bounties, 3 from the collection, 2 from the blacksmith, 1 from the alchemist, and 3 for furniture. Happiness is mostly "this unit promoted," from what I could tell. Didn't care to figure out anything more specific.

Berwick's ranks seem to be big on 100% completion. Breathing room sounds a bit odd; I'm not inclined to assume it without further investigation.

The thing about those ranks is that 23 from maps just doesn't make sense. There are 22 "regular" side maps, and 4 character-specific maps, so the number seems like it would be 22 or 26. Of course, there are the two required (?) "side" maps counted in that total, so 24 could also be a possibility? Unless I'm forgetting one that's required, which would make it make sense. However, another part of my concern is this page on the wiki, which indicates that some other point comes from somewhere, leaving 22 points for the maps, which makes more sense - I just can't figure out what it's talking about for that last point, if it's even accurate at all. Of course, this would mean that the required maps are forced ranking points while the Exp maps aren't counted at all, but looking at all the required Tactics points and the requirements for the Exp maps for the Happiness rank, it doesn't seem so strange. Still, this leaves us with several possibilities.

Criticals just ignore defense and add a random amount (1-20) of damage to the hit. Personal experience says luck functions like a Miracle Talisman, but don't quote me on that. From what I read, it has a chance of increasing when your character doesn't gain anything else in a level up. Realistically, you'll only see Safia and maybe Izerna gain luck.

That was my other thought. The wiki claims it's 10-20 damage and ignoring defenses, but I quickly found that to be inaccurate, so it either didn't ignore defenses or had a potentially lower random number.

Luck explanation makes sense. Even better, it means I can avoid mentioning it much until we can find out more.

I think the Bolt Knife just makes the rate 33% instead of the usual 9% for a dagger. I've always assumed it stacks in other cases though, like Arthur's skill + a Harpoon. (Not that he'd ever hit anybody with it, but yeah.)

I'm assuming it'd stack for Flourish + Harpoon, but I'm wondering more about if it'd also stack with the normal base rate of 3% - so would Arthur using Flourish with a Harpoon have 45% or 48%? Not the easiest question to answer with testing, I guess, but the 45% version (weapon bonus overrides the base, but stacks with other stuff) makes more sense with the Bolt Knife in mind, I think.

I don't remember Bau Crash being an area attack, if that means anything. I can't really help you about the heal percentages, since I'm sure you already know the magic part. It's probably just random, since it's not unusual in this game (yay criticals and Izerna's healing skill).

It's definitely not random. Characters equipping a healing spell have some sort of "heal power" stat instead of an Attack stat, and it doesn't appear random. The "heal power" is generally a bit more than Mind + (spell bonus); with a bit of testing, I guessed concluded that Heal and Range Heal have a bonus equal to 10% of Heal Skill and Heal II has a bonus equal to 15%. (Semi-Heal, as the description indicates, has no such bonus.) However, I wasn't able to forge Area Heal to test it, and none of the enemies I've been seeing with Dark Heal have had enough Dark Skill to give any conclusions.

...Having written this, I remembered that enemy stats are fixed and all listed on the second site I've been using. Looking at the enemy reinforcement in Ch4, his heal power is just a bit too high for the bonus to be 10%, so it seems fair to conclude that, as makes sense with it sharing the +10 fixed bonus of Heal II, it also shares the 15% bonus. Area Heal is forge-only, so there are no enemies to check, but I'd assume that for the same reasons, it shares the 10% with Heal and Range Heal.

About names, I'll be disappointed if you don't use Basch for Elbert. For characters though, the idea of supporting Percival seems morally wrong to me. Not pitching the idea of a tier topic here (EW), but I'd probably love the chance to argue how pointless he is. :P

I'm tempted... very tempted. Hey, NoA changed Ulysses to Bastian. Wouldn't be that strange.

I can't speak for his actual effectiveness, but Percival reeks uselessness. Out of the four mages, he's the only one not to specialize in an elemental magic type, and therefore the only one not to have a completely ridiculous personal spell of that type. His skills are limited to ones that too many characters already have already and have limited strategic use, which in combination with all that leaves him with basically no niche. He also lacks Fire magic.

This page has some analysis of Steal's success rate. I think this page has some details as well. And yeah, she gets re-move when mounted.

I can't load the first link, and can't figure out what the second one is saying. Could you summarize?

Edited September 22, 2011 by Othin

[YayMarsha]

Oops, forget that second link. I just remembered it as mentioning something about some Steal tests and noting the number of successful attempts. It does mention that, but the translation is complete gibberish. From what I understand of the first link though:

Level 15 Sene (15 speed, 50 dagger):

100 attacks with only a basic Dagger: 1 activation.

With only a Thief Dagger: 17 activations.

With only a Thief Charm: 18 activations.

Thief Dagger + Charm: 39 activations.

Level 30 Sene:

Dagger: 5 activations.

Thief Dagger: 22 activations.

Charm: 21 activations.

Thief Dagger + Charm: 50 activations.

It goes on to list some specifics about the test, but at that point it's mostly gibberish to me. Google REALLY doesn't handle Chinese -> English very well. :(

About the map count though, remember that of those 22 maps, three are forced (3-1, 11-1, and 12-1). I'm thinking 23 comes from the 19 optional maps + the 4 EX maps.

[paladin21]

Healing formulae:

• Half Heal: HP=(Magic/2+3)
• Heal I: HP=(Magic+3)+(Holy Magic Skill)%=(Magic+3)*(1+Holy Magic Skill/100)
• Range Heal: HP=(Magic+3)+(Holy Magic Skill)%=(Magic+3)*(1+Holy Magic Skill/100)
• Area Heal:
  • MP used: 1 for each 8 units healed (I've read it somewhere, but I haven't been able to test it with many injured characters around).
  • HP=(Magic+3)+(Holy Magic Skill)%=(Magic+3)*(1+Holy Magic Skill/100)

  [*]Heal II: HP=(Magic+10)+(Holy Magic Skill)%=(Magic+10)*(1+Holy Magic Skill/100)[*]Dark Heal: Hp=(Magic+10)+(Dark Magic Skill)%=(Magic+10)*(1+Dark Magic Skill/100)

About maps, I agree with YayMarsha.

I know Persvel is usually seen as the weakest mage for not using an ultimate orb, but he's your main (or only) thunder mage for most of the game, and his skills make a great combination to his class and main weapon:

• Continue: no other MAGE has it, and is a pretty good skill on its own.
• Mercy: it has limited uses, except to incapacitate heavily armored characters you'd have a hard time with physical attackers. Lynette has it, but you don't get her till the very end.
• Arrow Evade (or Bow Evade, but I don't think you actually evade the bow): This is his PRIMARY skill. He can counter with his Thunder or BernThunder any Bow/X-bow attack, while the other characters that have this skill, Kramer and Elbert, (or can get it in the restaurant, like Ward, Burrows, Fay and Wollo), can only counter attacks from range 1 IF they get 11+ attack speed.

He has the highest magic from the three mages you get before Lynette (excluding Olwen for his skill caps), which helps when using wind magic against non-magical foes (or fire dragons). However, a higher skill cap when promoted wouldn't hurt him at all...