RD's FE9 Efficiency Playlog

[Radiant Dragon]

I haven't actually tried to play this game efficiently while not in a draft, so I figured I would make a playlog of it. I don't have a planned team as of yet, but I do know I'll be using BEXP sinks Rolf, Tormod and Astrid alongside units who want BEXP like Marcia, Jill and maybe some of Makalov, Nephenee and/or Zihark thrown in, to see for myself just how much freedom we have with doling BEXP out.

Low turncounts are obviously the goal, but I'll be doing things like recruiting everyone, 'wasting' turns on stuff like the Chapter 17-4 Adept or Chapter 21 Energy Drop and Brave Sword and going stealth in Chapter 10, so take that with a grain of salt.

Anyway, I've finished up to the end of Chapter 7, so I finally have Convoy and BEXP access.

[spoiler=Prologue - Chapter 7]Prologue - 4/4

Kill Boyd, Vulnerary, kill Greil.

Chapter 1 - 2/6

Ike gets the Steel Sword, dropping one of his Iron ones before getting rescue-dropped by Oscar and Titania so he can reach the Seize on turn 2. Boyd attacks the Fighter to the left of the Steel Sword house so it dies attacking Ike and doesn't impede Oscar's path to the Seraph Robe. Turn 2, Titania kills the boss, Oscar grabs the Robe and Ike seizes.

Chapter 2 - 4/10

Oscar heads north while Ike and Boyd go east, with Rhys moving between. Once Titania arrives she heads straight for the boss, ORKOing him with the Steel Axe. Ike uses the Robe on the last turn.

Chapter 3 - 3/13

Gatrie goes for the Elixir while the others head north. Titania blocks the ramp to the ship turn 1, gets the Hand Axe turn 2, and kills the boss on turn 3 EP. Shinon gets rid of enemies in the way of Titania and Ike, who talks to Marcia on the last turn.

Chapter 4 - 2/15

Titania charges west while the others try to get Ike some EXP. The boss dies on turn 2 EP to Titania's Hand Axe.

Chapter 5 - 6/21

Boyd uses the Speedwing on the first turn.

I try to give EXP to Ike, Oscar and Boyd, since I'll be using them long term (well, and Titania, but she's fine for now). Boyd and Gatrie start off in the west, while the others block the south, with Rhys moving between as necessary. Soren and Oscar end up moving to the west as Ike, Titania and Shinon press south to deal with the boss and reinforcements. Ike gets the boss kill.

Chapter 6 - 5/26

The four turn clear, as far as I could tell, required Titania to crit an Armor with the Hand Axe, so I settled for 5 turns. Titania and Oscar (carrying Ike) take the west bridge while Soren set up kills for Boyd near the start, with Rhys healing them. I forget to trade Oscar back the Javelin, so I had to drop the (almost broken, admittedly) Hand Axe after Titania killed the boss.

Chapter 7 - 6/32

Titania soloed most of the west while Boyd and Rhys held the south and everyone else took the east. Shinon and Gatrie headed for the boss area with Oscar when the reinforcements arrived, although Shinon went back to the treasure room to kill the Thief and get Ward.

After the east was routed, Ike and Soren dealt with the central Knights before heading down to help Boyd with the southwestern reinforcements since his Iron Axe broke. Mia helped a little clearing the east, but didn't do anything after that.

Oscar got the boss kill, and I missed Miracle and the Armorslayer (Oscar had the eastern Key), so I still have 4 Chest Key uses remaining.

Stats before BEXP (^ indicates a used statbooster):

Name	Level	HP  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res
Ike	08/--	32^ 08  02  10  11  08  08  03
Titania	--/04	36  13  04  14  15  13  12  08
Soren	03/--	19  00  08  09  08  05  02  09
Oscar	08/--	29  08  01  09  10  06  10  01
Boyd	08/--	35  11  00  08  11^ 05  06  01
Rhys	05/--	23  00  10  07  05  08  00  15
Mia	06/--	21  07  00  10  13  06  07  02

Turncount: 32

BEXP remaining: 1520

Edited August 18, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[Lord Raven]

The four turn clear, as far as I could tell, required Titania to crit an Armor with the Hand Axe, so I settled for 5 turns. Titania and Oscar (carrying Ike) take the west bridge while Soren set up kills for Boyd near the start, with Rhys healing them. I forget to trade Oscar back the Javelin, so I had to drop the (almost broken, admittedly) Hand Axe after Titania killed the boss.

I'm trying this now and no -- it does not require a crit on the Armor. In fact, you don't even need to crit the armor. It requires that you crit the boss because Titania falls either 2 or 4 HP short depending on how much Str she's gained.

[Kaoz]

I'm trying this now and no -- it does not require a crit on the Armor. In fact, you don't even need to crit the armor. It requires that you crit the boss because Titania falls either 2 or 4 HP short depending on how much Str she's gained.

If I'm remembering it right, you have Oscar to finish him off. And no, the Armor doesn't have to be killed. Your Oscar needs to be strong enough to ORKO the Myrmidon on the western bridge though iirc.

[spoiler=What I did is (going of memory here)]Turn 1

-have Ike move 1 west and 2 south from his starting position, then shove him 1 south with Rhys (there is only one spot Rhys can be attacked from during this turn, so he's save on EP)

-move Boyd into the range of the Soldiers to the east

-Oscar and Titania move as far as possible... my Oscar critted the Archer, but I believe Titania can finish him off anyway

Turn 2

-Ike can damage the Archer that approached on EP and Titania finishes him off with the Hand Axe (this is important because an Archer will attack her on EP) and canto as far as possible (I think she ends up 2 north of the Armor)

-I can't remember whether Oscar has to kill the Myrmidon, anyway he has to canto as far west as possible and then south (I think he is on the most north western tile of the bridge then)

-the Armor prioritzes Oscar over Titania and moves out of the way, Titania should kill an Archer and a Soldier

Turn 3

-Ike can move directly besides the Armor and either attack or heal if necessary

-Oscar rescues Ike and cantos as far as possible, then Titania takes and drops Ike and cantos forward

-depending on how well you're doing in the north, you can move Boyd into the range of the Poleaxe Cavalier this turn

Turn 4

-Boyd can KO the Cavalier if you decided to go that way (the Poleaxe isn't important really)

-Titania damages the boss and Oscar finishes him off, Ike seizes

I've only done this once though, because I don't feel like restarting a lot. Nevertheless, it should work that way.

[Radiant Dragon]

Why didn't I think of having Oscar distract that Armor...? Thanks for the info. Anyway, I'm going to redo Chapter 7, because I'm reasonably certain that I can get a 5 turn clear there.

Actually, I might start over and try the 4 turn for Chapter 6 myself, since it doesn't take that long to play the early chapters.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[Kaoz]

Why didn't I think of having Oscar distract that Armor...? Thanks for the info. Anyway, I'm going to redo Chapter 7, because I'm reasonably certain that I can get a 5 turn clear there.

Actually, I might start over and try the 4 turn for Chapter 6 myself, since it doesn't take that long to play the early chapters.

In case you restart, in chapter 4, you can equip Titania with an Iron Axe on Turn 1 to save Hand Axe uses, send everyone north and then use Shinon to KO one of the Archers on Turn 2 to clear the way (unless you've done that anyway, in which case disregard this).

Also, how do you plan to distribute BEXP in chapter 8 if I may ask?

[Lord Raven]

You are the man. Thank you. I was close to a 4 turn a bunch of times but the problem was that Oscar always got into *just* the right range but I had to do 2 more damage to the boss. Oscar was about to die too so I was in quite a pickle :(

[Radiant Dragon]

In case you restart, in chapter 4, you can equip Titania with an Iron Axe on Turn 1 to save Hand Axe uses, send everyone north and then use Shinon to KO one of the Archers on Turn 2 to clear the way (unless you've done that anyway, in which case disregard this).

No, I didn't think of that, but I've saved past that chapter already unfortunately.

Also, how do you plan to distribute BEXP in chapter 8 if I may ask?

The general plan is to give Oscar and Boyd what they need to ORKO stuff, but I'm not planning on using Rhys, Soren or Mia long-term, so they won't be getting any. Ike might get some too, depending on his performance.

[Radiant Dragon]

I was able to get the 4 turn in Chapter 6, thanks to Kaoz, but I couldn't figure out how to 5 turn Chapter 7. The closest I got was everything except the Priest dead by the end of turn 5 EP, with no way to kill it before that (Oscar would need to ORKO with a Javelin, and he was several points of AS short).

My laptop crashing means I have more time for this, though.

[spoiler=Chapter 8 - Chapter 11 base]Chapter 8 - 8/39 BEXP - 1595

Base: Oscar caps off his level, getting to level 8. I sell some things and forge a max might/hit Iron Lance for Oscar.

Deployed: Ike, Titania, Boyd, Oscar, Rhys.

Titania starts off in the east, Ike in the south and the brothers take the west. On turn 3, Ike goes west with Rhys to help the brothers and recruit Ilyana, while Titania has finished in the east and heads south to kill the Javelin!Lance Knights and kill the remaining enemies down there. The only survivor was a lone Mage that Oscar couldn't quite get to in time.

Chapter 9 - 7/46 BEXP - 1757

Base: Boyd and Oscar are capped off to level 11. I forge a max might/+10 hit Iron Sword for Mia (that Ike will take after this chapter).

Deployed: Everyone.

Ike waits for Marcia, Titania and Oscar head south with the Laguz and Boyd leads the scrubs (read: everyone else) to the beach. I feed Rolf kills where I can, and get both houses on turn 6. Marcia rescues Ike and gives him to Oscar on the turn she recruits herself, and Oscar drops Ike in seize range on turn 6. Titania attacks the boss and Oscar finishes next turn.

Chapter 10 - 9/55 BEXP - 2777

Base: I forge a max might/hit Iron Lance for Marcia.

Deployed: Ike, Volke, Titania, Oscar, Marcia, Mordecai.

Stealth clear, while recruiting the Crimeans. The only CEXP I got was 10 for Volke stealing a Door Key that I didn't even end up using in this chapter. I skipped all of the treasures, the dropable Keys and the Master Seal.

Chapter 11 - BEXP - 500

Base: Looking at the enemies, the magic number seems to be 13 AS. It's with this in mind that Oscar, Rolf and Kieran get to level 14, Boyd gets to level 13, while Ike and Marcia get to level 11. I forge a max might/hit Iron Axe for Kieran.

I don't have stats on me right now, unfortunately.

Turncount: 55

BEXP remaining: 500

[Lord Raven]

Just an fyi my Chapter 16 wasn't the most efficient. You could shave one more turn off of my C16 strategy with Marcia w/ boots and a couple Shoves/Smites, and my 17-2 could also be one turn less. Just going to put that out there so you end up with lower turncounts than me.

[Radiant Dragon]

Well, it's not like this is a competition, so I'm not too concerned about that. I'll probably end up giving the Boots to Reyson anyway.

[Lord Raven]

I wasn't competing, I was just saying :)

[Radiant Dragon]

Hey, an update. I want to say that I've reversed my stance on Soren getting a forge before Chapter 14; Chapter 12 is a great time for him to get one as long as Marcia has one to use.

Also, I'm not sure how many turns I should take in Chapter 16. Should I bother spending a turn or maybe two to get Physic and Bolting?

[spoiler=Chapter 11 - Chapter 16 base]Chapter 11 - 5/60 turns BEXP - 1050

Deployed: Ike, Titania, Marcia, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Mist, Kieran, Lethe, Mordecai, Rhys, Ilyana, Brom.

Since I have to wait for Jill anyway, I take this chapter pretty leisurely. Boyd hangs back to deal with the enemies behind the starting position, Brom heads west to tank the Vigilante Fighters. Titania goes north past the Black Knight's summer villa with Kieran and Mordecai, and everyone else heads through the middle. Boyd ends up heading to help Brom and grab the Dracoshield, while the middle group draws in the boss so he doesn't get in Titania's way and so I can get his Master Seal. I get all of the Villages, Mordecai recruits Zihark on the last turn, and Titania kills the Armor so Marcia can Arrive.

Chapter 12 - 7/67 turns BEXP - 1045

Oscar and Marcia cap off their levels, to 15 and 14 respectively. Marcia also uses the Dracoshield, and I forge an Iron Bow for Rolf and Astrid to share.

Deployed: Ike, Titania, Marcia, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Mist, Kieran, Lethe

5 turns is the earliest this can be completed with recruiting Jill, but I didn't want to promote Marcia just yet. A 5 turn clear also misses the Seraph Robe, which facilitates later clears that require a unit to take heavy enemy phase punishment. I probably could have gotten 6 turns, though.

Chapter 13 - 7/74 turns BEXP - 480

Boyd is capped off to 15, and Jill gets to level 14. Marcia uses the Seraph Robe, and I forge an Iron Lance for Jill.

Deployed: Ike, Titania, Marcia, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Kieran, Jill, Mist, Mordecai, Volke, Sothe

Marcia and Jill intercept the Ravens while everyone else runs around routing the place. Ike is Shoved/Smited by Boyd and Mordecai to reach Astrid on turn 1, and trade her the forged Iron Bow so she can get some kills. Everyone save the boss was killed by the end of turn 4, and he was killed as well as all of the chests opened on turn 5.

Chapter 14 - 3/77 turns BEXP - 322

Jill and Oscar get to level 16, Ike gets to level 14 and Astrid gets to level 8. Jill uses the Speedwing, and I forge a Steel Axe for Titania.

Deployed: Ike, Titania, Marcia, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Kieran, Jill, Mist, Mordecai, Lethe, Volke

Marcia and Jill, with some help from Mordecai, head northwest to so Marcia can recruit Makalov on turn 2, and he gets Vantage and the Secret Book. Kieran and Lethe go with them to clear out the enemies in that area. Volke's sole mission is to get the Spirit Dust from Calill. Everyone else heads north clearing the way for Titania. She couldn't double the boss, so she had to survive two rounds of combat with him. He had less than 30% displayed hit on her, but it was still riskier than I would've liked.

Chapter 15 - 4/81 turns BEXP - 1361

Marcia gets to 20.89, uses Vantage and gets a Steel Lance forge.

Deployed: Ike, Marcia, Boyd, Rolf, Mist, Lethe, Mordecai, Volke, Sothe

The only chapter in the game where I don't deploy Titania. Anyway, Sothe goes left then north to get Guard, the Silver Blade, a Coin and then Shine. Volke gets Physic and the Boots. Jill ferries Lethe over to Stefan, and they all fail to get the White Gem. Marcia promotes during Turn 1 enemy phase by weakening a Hawk that attacked her. She weakens the Tigers next to Muarim turn 2, and attacks Muarim with an Iron Lance on turn 3, finishing him with the Steel Lance forge turn 4. Ike's group manages to find the other Coin while distracting a Tiger away from Volke.

Chapter 16 - BEXP - 40

Ike gets to level 16, Tormod and Astrid get to level 15, and Titania gets capped off to level 8 (she was at 7.98). Jill gets Guard, Tormod uses the Spirit Dust, Boyd uses a Secret Book and Stefan uses the Goddess Icon. I forge a Steel Sword for Ike.

Stats after Chapter 16 base (^ indicates a used statbooster):

Name		Level	HP  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res | Support
Ike		16/--	38^ 13  04  14  15  11  11  05  | 
Titania		--/08	39  16  05  17  17  14  14  09  | C Mist, C Boyd
Marcia		20/02	41^ 17  04  18  21  10  15^ 13  | B Rolf
Oscar 		16/--	34  12  03  14  14  08  13  03  | C Kieran
Boyd		15/-- 	40  15  00  14^ 15^ 08  08  02  | C Titania
Mist		03/--	17  02  06  05  08  07  02  08  | C Titania, B Rolf
Rolf		16/--	28  11  03  14  14  10  10  05  | B Marcia, B Mist
Kieran		17/--	33  13  01  13  14  09  12  02  | C Oscar
Jill		16/--	29  14  02  14  15^ 08  14  04  | C Lethe
Astrid		15/--	27  12  04  14  16  09  09  06  | 
Tormod		15/--	24  03  16^ 12  13  10  05  13  |

Everyone else is either at base level (Lethe, Muarim, Stefan), or has been dropped (Rhys, Soren, Ilyana, Mia).

[Lord Raven]

Which chests are they? At any rate, if you're going to go for anything, it should be Bolting -- I personally haven't needed much more than a Heal or Vulnerary when I played, so I don't know how useful Physic *can* be.

[Radiant Dragon]

Physic and Bolting are the ones north of Devdan's position. I don't think I'll need Physic, since I already have one from the desert, but Bolting would be nice to have against Ena.

[Lord Raven]

I don't think Bolting is necessary against Ena, actually... Tauro's got it with a Laguzslayer and a Laguz Lance with Marcia should work fine (considering a forged Javelin did 9x2, I'm sure a Laguzguard on Marcia would allow her some durability and Shade would give attacking priority to a more durable unit).

[Radiant Dragon]

I'm aware it's not necessary, but it would be nice to have as an option.

[Anouleth]

After all, Ena does have Miracle.