Trying to improve as a player

[Bruce]

Ok, I have put in HUNDREDS of hours into this game. I really do love it. The problem is, I'm terrible. I've identified some of my issues (listed below) that I just plain have to get over, but was also looking for input from such a great community. Any thoughts on some of the issues I brought up or other tips would be appreciated!

For those in the tl:dr crowd the first line gives you the basics. The rest is just more specific. Thank you!

1. Items are meant to be used. I have a tendency to try and hang on to healing items, special weapons, etc. and so I end up not using them to kill stuff or keep myself from dying.

2. Using overpowered characters. I avoid using Sothe, Volug, Nalia, etc. to kill things at all costs due to sucking up xp and weapon xp from other low level characters. I know that has been debated OVER and OVER and OVER on all sides. Personally, getting 1 xp and having virtually no risk to the character is not as rewarding as getting lots of xp and lvl ups for the lower guys. The side effect, is the fights are harder, I get killed, and get frustrated. I need to just get over it and use the overpowered units to kill stuff.

3. The game is based on turn counts! I usually milk the boards and kill everything I can and wait for reinforcements to arrive and kill them off before moving forward. If I can kill the boss or end the map quickly I tend to not do it. The thing is, more turns on the map means more attacks taken, and greater chance that someone gets dead.

4. A character getting dead is no big deal! I have a tendency to restart any time a character dies in a chapter. Death is a part of FE games and sometimes a character death can help achieve victory.

5. Not being able to track movement rate on Hard is annoying! I like a good challenge, but calculating all the movement for every character by hand gets me. I'll forget to check, or miscount, or something.

6. Any good tips on improving concentration in general? I find that as I get playing a few chapters and am getting into the story, I have lapses in concentration. And no I'm not willing to take a medication (adderal, etc) to do it!

[HongLei]

Just enter a few drafts, then all those problems will magically disappear, it sounds like you play similarly to me when I'm not in draft mode.

[DragonBladeSniper]

1. It's just your habits, if you don't like them, then you'll just have to change them over time. Like I also used like to keep items even if they're helpful, but then I just felt like using them would be better, so next chapter I played, I just brought out the unused items that could be useful (like staves that don't heal HP but can be used to train staff users) and I just used them up. Also, when you get rather close to the end of the game, use any weapon you want/can or else you'll be stuck with normal bad weapons (assuming you're like that).

2. Try to un-equip weapons from your "overpowered" (since from what I see, you play FE10 a lot) units and just let them take hits instead of actually fighting.

3. Try to set goals for turn counts, think more of the objective than of anything else.

5. That's kinda why I don't feel like playing FE10 on hard mode. xD But if you want to play hard mode, you have to accept it and eventually you won't even need to count and know how far enemies reach.

6. You could try taking breaks if you're not feeling concentrated at times.

I hope I helped a bit, have fun! :P

[Galenforcer]

Sounds like you need some advice.

1. Items are meant to be used. I have a tendency to try and hang on to healing items, special weapons, etc. and so I end up not using them to kill stuff or keep myself from dying.

Don't worry about not using any items or good weapons. Just use them when you need them.

2. Using overpowered characters. I avoid using Sothe, Volug, Nalia, etc. to kill things at all costs due to sucking up xp and weapon xp from other low level characters. I know that has been debated OVER and OVER and OVER on all sides. Personally, getting 1 xp and having virtually no risk to the character is not as rewarding as getting lots of xp and lvl ups for the lower guys. The side effect, is the fights are harder, I get killed, and get frustrated. I need to just get over it and use the overpowered units to kill stuff.

Using OP units like Sothe help prevent much deaths. Most people recommend just using OP units to save turns and using them a lot pays off later, more than what you get from other characters like most DB characters.

3. The game is based on turn counts! I usually milk the boards and kill everything I can and wait for reinforcements to arrive and kill them off before moving forward. If I can kill the boss or end the map quickly I tend to not do it. The thing is, more turns on the map means more attacks taken, and greater chance that someone gets dead.

Remember when reinforcements come and try to either prepare for them or try to beat the chapter before they come. No one should dying easily unless you're using frail and bad units or just have bad luck.

4. A character getting dead is no big deal! I have a tendency to restart any time a character dies in a chapter. Death is a part of FE games and sometimes a character death can help achieve victory.

Death is something you have to put up with. You don't REALLY need to restart if someone dies(unless it's a main character). Victory can be achieved without anyone dying in this game. You just need practice and know how to play.

5. Not being able to track movement rate on Hard is annoying! I like a good challenge, but calculating all the movement for every character by hand gets me. I'll forget to check, or miscount, or something.

You can check movement on the enemy's status screen. Then just count the number of squares they can move up to. Don't see why this is so hard to figure out.

6. Any good tips on improving concentration in general? I find that as I get playing a few chapters and am getting into the story, I have lapses in concentration. And no I'm not willing to take a medication (adderal, etc) to do it!

Just focus on the game. Keep thinking about what to do in certain situations in the chapter.

[shroudening]

You're not going to screw yourself by using overpowered units at the beginning of the game. First off, Sothe is forced into endgame, so you might as well use him. If you don't, you'll run into trouble in chapter 3-6. Same deal with Volug. I wouldn't bother using Naliah, as she doesn't really amount to anything compared to other laguz royals, and thus is a waste of bonus exp. The black knight is usually deployed in the 1-E for recruiting Lehran in 4-E-5, but as previously mentioned, he can unequip alondite and be used as a wall.

Paragon is a good skill to teach Sothe or Volug in part 1, since most units won't be able to use it anyway due to a 15 skill capacity 1st tier. If you put it on either of them, the will gain enough exp that it won't really be much of a waste. They aren't stereotypical pre-promotes like Jeigan(H5)/Marcus(FE6), and if used, they both are solid units.

None of the problems you listed are uncommon problems (well, maybe the last one is, but that's psychological). Focus on changing your habits, and most of those problems will go away.

(Changes bolded in response to replies)

Edited August 14, 2011 by 55caasi

[Lord Raven]

Don't see why this is so hard to figure out.

Terrain penalties.

[eclipse]

They aren't stereotypical pre-promotes like Jeigan/Marcus, and if used, they both are solid units.

AHEM.

Jagen can hold his own for most of SD, assuming you're not starting on H5 (and then he's indispensable in the beginning). Marcus' bases in FE7 are such that he'll be solid all the way to near the end (Level 1 Paladin with B Axes? YES PLEASE). Can't really say much about FE6 Marcus, because I haven't really used him.

In terms of FE10, I didn't mind using Sothe/Volug. The former will be able to keep up if you allow him to level a few times naturally, and the latter's quite helpful during Chapter 3, especially if he fully transforms.

[Zanarkin]

I would say join a draft, as they literally force you to have low turn counts, learn on how to manage your rescources, make you learn how to do chapters with 3-4 units. As for losing concentration, try playing the game without the story and animations, that usually takes too long and gets mostly in the way of trying to do the game quickly.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Ok, I have put in HUNDREDS of hours into this game. I really do love it. The problem is, I'm terrible. I've identified some of my issues (listed below) that I just plain have to get over, but was also looking for input from such a great community. Any thoughts on some of the issues I brought up or other tips would be appreciated!

For those in the tl:dr crowd the first line gives you the basics. The rest is just more specific. Thank you!

1. Items are meant to be used. I have a tendency to try and hang on to healing items, special weapons, etc. and so I end up not using them to kill stuff or keep myself from dying.

2. Using overpowered characters. I avoid using Sothe, Volug, Nalia, etc. to kill things at all costs due to sucking up xp and weapon xp from other low level characters. I know that has been debated OVER and OVER and OVER on all sides. Personally, getting 1 xp and having virtually no risk to the character is not as rewarding as getting lots of xp and lvl ups for the lower guys. The side effect, is the fights are harder, I get killed, and get frustrated. I need to just get over it and use the overpowered units to kill stuff.

3. The game is based on turn counts! I usually milk the boards and kill everything I can and wait for reinforcements to arrive and kill them off before moving forward. If I can kill the boss or end the map quickly I tend to not do it. The thing is, more turns on the map means more attacks taken, and greater chance that someone gets dead.

4. A character getting dead is no big deal! I have a tendency to restart any time a character dies in a chapter. Death is a part of FE games and sometimes a character death can help achieve victory.

5. Not being able to track movement rate on Hard is annoying! I like a good challenge, but calculating all the movement for every character by hand gets me. I'll forget to check, or miscount, or something.

6. Any good tips on improving concentration in general? I find that as I get playing a few chapters and am getting into the story, I have lapses in concentration. And no I'm not willing to take a medication (adderal, etc) to do it!

1. Too Awesome To Use type items is a pitfall i tend to fall in too. However, i dont use a lot of vulneraries when theres healers around because i want to get exp for my healers. As for super awesome weapons like the SS level stuff, i usually hang on to those until endgame anyway. Seeing how you dont really get them until about that point anyway. When Endgame happens, USE THOSE WEAPONS! Physic staves, its best to use those regardless. Silver weapons, yeah use those too when you can. Same with Braves.

2. Well that kinda depends on the mode you choose doesnt it? I mean normal and easy, you really dont need to use the OP characters. Sothe is good to train though so like, its cool to use him. What i do is tend to focus on a couple of DB characters that will be decent later. (Like Zihark, Edwardovich, Jill..) If yer all in hard mode, well...yeah, i guess go ahead and use those overpowered bastards. I would.

3. Bonus experience is like, always awarded for the less turns you make if im not mistaken. So the lowest turn counts usually mean more BEXP. I tend to not go for low turn counts exclusively, so i get usually a middle road amount. (Cuz sometimes theres just someone who i want to get levels, etc.) I think you should try just not dragging it out so much and focus on the core team you are using and kill the boss or whatever as soon as you can.

4. Ehh. Im one of those "restart when anyone dies" types. So i dont think id be the best person to help with that one. However, if it is a character (that dies) that isnt that useful to begin with, or not a part of your core team, i say dont worry about it.

5. Not a hard mode player here so...yeah im gonna say the others may be able to help you here much much more.

6. Well you did say you like to drag things out. So i would suggest a brisker pace. Use characters you find interesting to keep your interest and try new things! You could always skip the story portions of the game (even the movie cutscenes!) and turn full battle animations off like Slayer said. That way things move quicker and yer not sitting there staring at text boxes or battle animations for ages.

[Scarlet]

My input, in case you want more opinions:

1. I used to suffer from the same problem. Try to remind yourself now and then that most items aren't unique - some items are awesome, but you can get more of them later, so just make use of them. Also keep in mind that especially in this FE, useful items are much less useful later on because your units become stronger and stronger while the item stats stay mostly the same, meaning useful items make much less of a difference.

In particular, make use of vulneraries and olivi grass. You get heaps of them and they're immensely useful. Dedicated healers aren't overly useful in this game, so don't be afraid to have them miss out on some potential experience if it means ensuring your characters' safety by using a vulnerary or concotion. As for items that really are way too awesome to use, like Elixirs, I actually just sell them for the money. That way I don't need to bother judging when would be a good time to use them and can instead buy something that I'll actually use.

2. FE10 is really bad in this regard because it almost forces you to rely on the overpowered characters on the harder difficulties instead of being able to actually train whom you like. There's not much you can do about it in this game except lower the difficulty or try to accept it.

3. Keep in mind that finishing a chapter early almost always awards you a respectable amount of extra BExp. Maybe you can use this fact as a motivation to clear them more quickly?

4. That depends on your play style, really. I wouldn't consider restarting when a character dies as a "problem" or a bad habit you'd need to get rid of; it's just your style. If you want to restart for a dead character, do it. If you don't feel like it, don't.

5. I agree fully. Not showing the player how far the enemies can move on Hard mode doesn't make the game any harder, just less convenient and more annoying. It's a really dumb design decision if you ask me.

6. Take breaks now and then or skip things that disturb your concentration. If reading the story distracts you too much and you don't feel it's necessary to read all of it again, just skip it. If the battle animations take too long to keep up your concentration, turn them off. If the music distracts you, turn it off or at least lower its volume. You may have to experiment a bit to find out what helps your concentration and what doesn't.

[HongLei]

They aren't stereotypical pre-promotes like Jeigan/Marcus, and if used, they both are solid units.

You obviously haven't done any fe7 drafts either. Until you do an fe7 draft you will never know how great Marcus is. Tough enough to carry Hector and still hold his own against enemies and bring him to the throne/gate.

Like I suggested earlier, drafts are the best way to get better. They teach you how to manage resources, the value of high mov, aid and the value of base stats. Drafts also force you to compete against others, these are how I got better.

[Byte2222]

I do have one major tip, which you should take with a pinch of salt as I'm not that great either compared to some people on these forums but has served me well: try to play some different FE games. I'm not saying you should dabble all across the series but it is helpful to extensively explore different game systems and maps to think more strategically. I found that FE2 was particularly good for this - it has no weapon triangle, no range highlighting, no battle forecast, weapons don't break and you can field your entire team - it makes you think about the big picture and get to know what your team is capable of instead of worrying about managing every little detail and I'd say I came out of FE2 a changed player. Obviously you need the patience to manage this but even just spending time with the GBA titles and Shadow Dragon can mix up your thoughts and make you plan differently.

My 'two cents' on the things mentioned at the top:

1. Try and use what you need when you need it and bear in mind what you can get more of. 'What if I need it later' is a fine sentiment but try and realistically think about exactly what you need in your worst case scenario.

2. It's not inherently wrong to avoid using 'overpowered' units but neither is it wrong to use them. They won't be so great forever but can make you life easier. Try and use them without any weapons to block and attract enemies or give them weak weapons (like a bronze knife for Sothe) to weaken enemies without taking the exp-rich kill.

3. Going fast isn't inherently right either, but it is harder. Try and use your turns as efficiently as possible, thinking about who needs to go where and not dawdling but not rushing in under-prepared either. Also FE10 isn't exactly easy, especially on hard mode.

4. You can keep the entire cast alive without wasting time if you plan right. Anything else I'd say would be biased.

5. Yeah, it can be a pest but try playing an NES FE, then you'll realise you can get a feel for how far units can move without having to count squares all the time.

6. Not a lot I can say for this one. Try not to split your concentration between the game and something else if possible and, like I suggested above, try and get a more varied FE experience, then you'll (hopefully) find it easier.

Edited August 13, 2011 by Byte2222

[Just call me AL]

AHEM.

Jagen can hold his own for most of SD, assuming you're not starting on H5 (and then he's indispensable in the beginning). Marcus' bases in FE7 are such that he'll be solid all the way to near the end (Level 1 Paladin with B Axes? YES PLEASE). Can't really say much about FE6 Marcus, because I haven't really used him.

FE6 Marcus is basically Jagen's expy, so naturally, he'd last for about as long as his earliest predecessor. But since FE6 HM is easier than FE11 H5, he might be needed as much.

[Lilmik11]

1)I'm a bit like you.I use rare items only if needed, because I don't want to break them before endgame, since I may need them. IMO, that's not a bad way to play.

2)It's not a bad way to play either, just try to use them to make ennemies weaker instead of killing the ennemies. Basically, overpowered units are needed to complete some chapters ASAP, like Sothe, who's a lot of part 1 chapters relying on him. Even in part 3, he's good.

3)Just focus on the objective and most of the time your units will be fine to promote in time if you monitor their performance with BEXP.

4) I was like that not so long ago, and I still kinda am, but after playing in two drafts, you don't think so anymore. While some character's death are fine(See:Leonardo), some others's death are definitely worth a reset(See:Jill or Haar).

5)I never played hard, but you just have to count movement, even though it's anoying, it's feasible.

6)Take breaks or try to refocus on the objective.

Really, my advice is try a draft. You could sign up to mine that is currently missing one spot, it's just a little bit under this thread. Drafts are hard at first, but really give a lot of experience and afterward you'll be a completely different player :)

[dondon151]

Marcus is a top tier character in both of his games and Jagen is also very good in FEDS H5 due to reclassing and weapon forging.

[Florete]

I shall throw in my expert advice.

1. Items are meant to be used. I have a tendency to try and hang on to healing items, special weapons, etc. and so I end up not using them to kill stuff or keep myself from dying.

2. Using overpowered characters. I avoid using Sothe, Volug, Nalia, etc. to kill things at all costs due to sucking up xp and weapon xp from other low level characters. I know that has been debated OVER and OVER and OVER on all sides. Personally, getting 1 xp and having virtually no risk to the character is not as rewarding as getting lots of xp and lvl ups for the lower guys. The side effect, is the fights are harder, I get killed, and get frustrated. I need to just get over it and use the overpowered units to kill stuff.

3. The game is based on turn counts! I usually milk the boards and kill everything I can and wait for reinforcements to arrive and kill them off before moving forward. If I can kill the boss or end the map quickly I tend to not do it. The thing is, more turns on the map means more attacks taken, and greater chance that someone gets dead.

4. A character getting dead is no big deal! I have a tendency to restart any time a character dies in a chapter. Death is a part of FE games and sometimes a character death can help achieve victory.

5. Not being able to track movement rate on Hard is annoying! I like a good challenge, but calculating all the movement for every character by hand gets me. I'll forget to check, or miscount, or something.

6. Any good tips on improving concentration in general? I find that as I get playing a few chapters and am getting into the story, I have lapses in concentration. And no I'm not willing to take a medication (adderal, etc) to do it!

1. Think of it this way: you will never need it later as much as you do now. FE games tend to get easier as they go on, so if an awesome weapon will be a great help to use now, it's highly unlikely it'll be that useful later. Use it while it's hot.

2. Sothe and Volug are both good for weakening enemies so others can get a free kill and occasionally taking out problem enemies. You don't need to route the map with them to use them well. Don't be afraid to use them, just don't overuse them.

3. This is not really a problem unless you want more BEXP. It's hardly something to worry about since you always get to act before the reinforcements, so just make sure you don't have any squishy units all alone somewhere where reinforcement will be showing up.

4. This is common and, again, not really a problem in most scenarios, especially in this game with Info conversations that can give good items and may require certain units to still be alive (like Leonardo and Edward for the 3-13 Tempest Blade).

5. Don't really know what I'm supposed to say here. Yeah, it's annoying. There's no in-game way to turn it on, so you'll just have to keep an eye on it.

6. Hm...playing FE at this point is just too natural to me, so I don't know what advice I can give you here. Even when I get distracted it doesn't screw me up.

Lastly, I'll echo others and suggest you join a draft. It's a good experience.

[Bruce]

Thank you guys!

As far as using unequipped OP characters i usually do that with Sothe, Toroneu, BK, in part 1. I guess it's more about allowing them to kill monsters on their turn. I never really thought about it until now, but chances are since they are strong no one is going to charge at them in enemy phase unless they are the ONLY unit the enemy can get to and killing/weakening 1 guy on your turn can REALLY help.

As far as counting movement yes terrain drives me nuts. An early example in 1-3 (Dispossessed whatever that one is) I usually try and steal the Steel Axe because Nolan is running low on Axes. But trying to count how many squares and remember movement penalties for the brush to make sure that the guy chucks his hand axe at me is a pain. I could steal the hand axe which is probably better, but lower MT and lower Hit make a difference in that part of the game and I usually have most of the Hand Axe left.

I prefer to play HM just because I did beat it on NM once already so I want to beat it on HM. And yes I have only beaten the game ONCE and yet played HUNDREDS of hours. I end up restarting all the time or playing for a few weeks then putting it away and starting over when I come back because I'm not connected to the characters anymore.

I will look at draft posts and try one. Maybe the competition aspect and shifting my priorities from completing the level, saving items, keeping everyone alive, to BEAT IT ASAP AT ALL COSTS may help. Also in NM you can battle save abuse which I have never done (unless that's banned). That alone may make it easier as I can battle save before level ups!

Also, any good forging tips? Usually, in Part 1 I just forge weapons with higher Hit because the guys in the last chapter are very hard to hit. Not even my Swordmasters had 100% hit on everything. I sometimes increase the mt on an iron axe for Jill cuz her Str is too low to use Steel in the beginning. I know I'm mostly focusing on Part 1 here, but for a good portion of part III with Ike and Co it's not as hard as part 1.

[Lilmik11]

Thank you guys!

As far as using unequipped OP characters i usually do that with Sothe, Toroneu, BK, in part 1. I guess it's more about allowing them to kill monsters on their turn. I never really thought about it until now, but chances are since they are strong no one is going to charge at them in enemy phase unless they are the ONLY unit the enemy can get to and killing/weakening 1 guy on your turn can REALLY help.

As far as counting movement yes terrain drives me nuts. An early example in 1-3 (Dispossessed whatever that one is) I usually try and steal the Steel Axe because Nolan is running low on Axes. But trying to count how many squares and remember movement penalties for the brush to make sure that the guy chucks his hand axe at me is a pain. I could steal the hand axe which is probably better, but lower MT and lower Hit make a difference in that part of the game and I usually have most of the Hand Axe left.

I prefer to play HM just because I did beat it on NM once already so I want to beat it on HM. And yes I have only beaten the game ONCE and yet played HUNDREDS of hours. I end up restarting all the time or playing for a few weeks then putting it away and starting over when I come back because I'm not connected to the characters anymore.

I will look at draft posts and try one. Maybe the competition aspect and shifting my priorities from completing the level, saving items, keeping everyone alive, to BEAT IT ASAP AT ALL COSTS may help. Also in NM you can battle save abuse which I have never done (unless that's banned). That alone may make it easier as I can battle save before level ups!

Also, any good forging tips? Usually, in Part 1 I just forge weapons with higher Hit because the guys in the last chapter are very hard to hit. Not even my Swordmasters had 100% hit on everything. I sometimes increase the mt on an iron axe for Jill cuz her Str is too low to use Steel in the beginning. I know I'm mostly focusing on Part 1 here, but for a good portion of part III with Ike and Co it's not as hard as part 1.

Don't be afraid to try a draft, it may look scary at first with all the rules and shit, but really its not. No big deal if you suck,because I still do(But I really improved!), and I'm going into my fourth. Anyway, what I always do with forge is max mt, max crit and only a bit more hit.Sometimes I lower the weight,too,so my characters don't get weighed down by it.

[Bruce]

Alright! I was all pumped up with some support from the forums and had a new resolve to try it again...

45 mins later, several game overs and a few complete restarts due to RNG screwage and I'm done for a bit.

Some silly things that happened:

1. Prologue: First attack by Miccy critical! Awesome right? well, Eddie didn't level without the kill of the first guy and so wasn't able to double the guys later in the board and even with 2 ranged supporters I still managed to get killed. I also rushed the board too fast.

2. Screwed up and left Laura open to attack (oh noes!). She dodges 2x attack from an axe wielder! (whew!)

3. Lvl 4 Miccy, with Sothe support and Thani STILL didn't have enough mt to kill the General in 1 hit on 1-2. I didn't check the damage and he had 1 HP left, countered, and dead Miccy! Doh! Never take anything for granted in this game I suppose.

Also, what's up with Hit scores? One time I started a board and Nolan had 60 something chance to hit the spear guy, then, starting again he had an 80 something chance to hit the spear guy which made a huge difference! (same file so it's not like he had more skill the second time). Is there a way to manipulate biorhythm or enemy affinity to make it easier to hit them early on?

[I.M. Gei]

Biorhythm. I know, it's annoying as hell, but just be careful of it when it drops your accuracy and avoid sharply.

[Lord Raven]

What are your turncounts for each chapter?

[Zanarkin]

Also, what's up with Hit scores? One time I started a board and Nolan had 60 something chance to hit the spear guy, then, starting again he had an 80 something chance to hit the spear guy which made a huge difference! (same file so it's not like he had more skill the second time). Is there a way to manipulate biorhythm or enemy affinity to make it easier to hit them early on?

The first time, the javelin guy probably had Best or good bio. The second time, when you restarted, the guy had bad/worst bio. The enemy's biorythm (and sometimes stats) can are recalculated when you restart.

[Bruce]

Umm...as far as turn counts...the best I got was 7 in Prologue, 8 in 1-1 and I didn't beat 1-2.

I know I can do 1-1 faster I bottlenecked my characters wrong past the house with the Hand Axe so Leo and Miccy couldn't hit stuff to smash through so I ended up taking an extra turn for Nolan to get hit, then kill the spear guy and rush through.

I also was wondering about the Dracoshield. I've thought about using it on Eddy so he's a LITTLE more survivable. If his Def and HP are right he can take 2 hits without getting killed in 1-1, but if not then he can only take 1 which makes a big difference. I end up having to heal him every round instead of killing stuff and maybe healing every other. On the other hand, he's a Sword guy who will most likely support with Nolan and be able to dodge stuff pretty easy so the Defense is wasted long term. But if I can't beat 1-2 I can't get to 3-6 where they would have an A support (hopefully!).

I'm going to try to slow down in order to speed up. What I mean is, take my time with each move within a turn, but try and maximize each move within a turn such that I take fewer turns. That will really test my ability to maintain focus through an entire fight so I might only be able to do a few chapters at a time before taking a break.

Thanks for all of the thoughts, encouragement, and for taking the time to reply. I should have stopped reading other people's stuff and started posting a long time ago.

[Lord Raven]

In NM you want to aim for 5 in the prologue. Edward has the evasion, doubling power, and Wrath to kill the boss and all the Brigands pretty early. 6 is a pretty good number if you don't want to battle save. In HM 7 is pretty practical for the prologue.

6 or 7 turns is good for 1-1, I managed to do 6 in HM but I'm not sure what NM's minimum is (could be five).

As for the Dracoshield... I remember using it on Nolan everytime but Edward is fair game too. What mode is this again?

[dondon151]

I'm just going to point out that defensive stat boosters are generally best used on characters already doing defensively well.