[FE8] Hard Mode, Ephraim Route

[Anouleth]

This team gives Eclipse's a run for its money. Duessel is vastly improved on Eph's route due to increased availability; he gets access to a bunch of nice weapons, and while he has only 6 Mov, that's better than other high-DEF units like Generals. Garcia is a huge help in early game, which would otherwise be pretty much an Eirika solo for this team - not fun. Seeing Lute and Saleh on the same team is odd; Lute can be good if trained, but may seem redundant once Saleh shows up.

Lute has better staff rank and movement. Saleh is helpful for stuff like Barrier and Hammerne, but I doubt he'll reach Warp, and Lute will have better range with it anyway.

Dunno about Chapter 9... it has Sleep users (if either of them hit it's gg), but I suppose they do have awful accuracy if you're good about keeping yourself topped up with Pure Water. Then again, there's only two Pure Waters available up to that point, and both of them are out of the way! Lute will almost certainly not have C Staff Rank to use Restore unless you somehow get her nine levels in two chapters and also get every village in Chapter 5.

[zahlman]

Syrene isn't reasonably durable >.>

Well... by prepromote standards (and considering join time), she's pretty disappointing, yeah. Compared to a 20/0 Nessie, though, she can take a hit just about exactly as well, as long as she isn't getting weighed down enough by her weapon to get doubled at 15 Spd. So she's not an "omg must protect" liability for the time that she's around, which is important if your lategame strategy actually requires a flier due to not having good Warp.

And Colm nets Clipsey a free Energy Ring, and Angelic Robe.

True. And if her Franz turns out like mine he may need that Angelic Robe... I kinda wish I'd wasted a turn to double back and get the Dragonshield in Ch 5

As much as I love the guy, I'm not sure Saleh will be able to hit Warp by endgame, and his performance take a hit in Eph. Route.

Hrm. I wonder how that works out in Eph. route... he won't get a chance to staff-spam in the desert. He'd need 14 turns of Barrier spam with Tethys dedicated to the task, 28 without. Of course, if you don't already have good Warping, then chapters 16, 17 and 19 aren't necessarily short (19 might be if your lords can do good things with Siegmund/Sieglinde or if you have another good mounted unit). I guess he can also use Torch in Ch 19 if he isn't ready yet... but if Saleh isn't Warping in Ch 20, it hardly seems worth the effort in the first place.

Call me crazy, but I'm really starting to think Lute > Saleh on this route. She can have that staff rank before Ch 16 fairly easily and probably pretty good Str to go with it. MK!Lute has caught up to Saleh's base Mag at 10/4 or so (the 25 cap is high enough for Final if I'm thinking clearly) and if she gets used a bunch more than that, then Energy Rings become available for other units instead.

Lute has better staff rank and movement. Saleh is helpful for stuff like Barrier and Hammerne, but I doubt he'll reach Warp, and Lute will have better range with it anyway.

Yeah, see above. ;)

Dunno about Chapter 9... it has Sleep users (if either of them hit it's gg), but I suppose they do have awful accuracy if you're good about keeping yourself topped up with Pure Water.

People restart in drafts. Granted, if your strategy depends on dodging one specific attack at like 80-something hit, that's pretty lame.

Then again, there's only two Pure Waters available up to that point, and both of them are out of the way!

Two of them should be more than enough. That's 6 uses, and trading exists. Some teams will have a not especially hard time getting to the Pure Water!Mage in Ch 7. The first one will cost turns (I'd guess 2 on average) for everyone without Vanessa, almost certainly.

I only vaguely remember the chapter... the Sleep users are near the beginning, right?

Lute will almost certainly not have C Staff Rank to use Restore unless you somehow get her nine levels in two chapters and also get every village in Chapter 5.

Yeah, that's a pretty tall (and probably turn-costing) order.

Edited December 13, 2011 by zahlman

[Anouleth]

Hrm. I wonder how that works out in Eph. route... he won't get a chance to staff-spam in the desert. He'd need 14 turns of Barrier spam with Tethys dedicated to the task, 28 without. Of course, if you don't already have good Warping, then chapters 16, 17 and 19 aren't necessarily short (19 might be if your lords can do good things with Siegmund/Sieglinde or if you have another good mounted unit). I guess he can also use Torch in Ch 19 if he isn't ready yet... but if Saleh isn't Warping in Ch 20, it hardly seems worth the effort in the first place.

Well, there's also Hammerne (8 WEXP). Sure, you'd rather use it on Warp than on some random other item, but it's still better than never getting to use Warp, and if you have 1 Warp user already, then he can use it to work towards having A staves himself. Rescue is also pretty good once he hits B (7WEXP), and there's a Silence in the desert (although it might be too time consuming to acquire).

So it would probably be less than you're making out.

Call me crazy, but I'm really starting to think Lute > Saleh on this route. She can have that staff rank before Ch 16 fairly easily and probably pretty good Str to go with it. MK!Lute has caught up to Saleh's base Mag at 10/4 or so (the 25 cap is high enough for Final if I'm thinking clearly) and if she gets used a bunch more than that, then Energy Rings become available for other units instead.

And of course, she has all the advantages of availability and mobility.

[zahlman]

Well, there's also Hammerne (8 WEXP). Sure, you'd rather use it on Warp than on some random other item, but it's still better than never getting to use Warp, and if you have 1 Warp user already, then he can use it to work towards having A staves himself. Rescue is also pretty good once he hits B (7WEXP), and there's a Silence in the desert .

The problem is that all of those are low-use, which is bad when you need to spam for staff rank.

(although it might be too time consuming to acquire)

It's pretty much right next to Warp, so I doubt it.

And of course, she has all the advantages of availability and mobility.

I think I kinda implied the availability thing already, but yeah, that also means more chapters where she's killing stuff. Mobility, well... she has 1 extra Mov as MK (except she gets screwed in the desert), but 1 less before promotion, so that kinda evens out, yeah?

Edited December 13, 2011 by zahlman

[Anouleth]

Looking at the list... I'd probably also have picked Knoll before Innes. Innes is just horrible in Eph. Route. Eclipse also had Tethys who needs the protection, I think.

I think I kinda implied the availability thing already, but yeah, that also means more chapters where she's killing stuff. Mobility, well... she has 1 extra Mov as MK (except she gets screwed in the desert), but 1 less before promotion, so that kinda evens out, yeah?

Uh, not really. Those chapters before Saleh joins are free for Lute, she doesn't get penalised for existing and having five move (plus it's not like you have Franz or anything, so she's not going to be behind).

Edited December 13, 2011 by Anouleth

[zahlman]

Looking at the list... I'd probably also have picked Knoll before Innes. Innes is just horrible in Eph. Route. Eclipse also had Tethys who needs the protection, I think.

Yeah, that's one of the things Knoll can do. I'm usually super-careful with Tethys which probably limits her potential somewhat :/ Myrrh is free, though, so she can take out that one gorgon fairly quickly, especially if she can get even a small Warp boost from Moulder. I think, anyway.

Neimi, Ewan and L'Arachel were all picked before Knoll, which just shows how underappreciated he is, amirite?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about Innes... he's pretty much 'special tactical use' on Eirika's route IMO (mostly sniping things with Longbow that aren't easily accessible otherwise), and I suppose Eph's route wouldn't have equivalent situations to worry about.

Uh, not really. Those chapters before Saleh joins are free for Lute, she doesn't get penalised for existing and having five move (plus it's not like you have Franz or anything, so she's not going to be behind).

Point taken.

Edited December 13, 2011 by zahlman

[charlie_]

Alright, I've done a decent chunk, I'll update tonight.

[eclipse]

I'd better explain everyone, then.

Franz - If I need to explain this one, get out.

Moulder - I meatshield with my healers on occasion, and Moulder can take a hit (and I'll need it on the Pirate Ship). On Eirika's route, he promotes right before Chapter 12. I'm aiming for Chapter 11 here.

Tana - Last time I used Cormag, he was screwed in every stat I thought was important (in short, I regretted drafting him). She'll recruit Cormag anyway, so why not?

Tethys - Rushing faster, and I can pull some funny Warp shenanigans with her. Why else?

Colm - Free stuff, FoW sight, and will promote to Assassin. I know Silencer is unreliable, but it helps when it hits!

Innes - I did not want Eirika having to fend off all that crap alone once Chapter 15 hit, and Saleh felt redundant. I'm also a sucker for Longbows.

Marisa - It was her or Rennac (Amelia without the tower is a waste of time), and I already had a thief. Denying everyone else items was tempting. I remember Marisa does decently well as a dodgetank.

If I leverage this right, I should be okay. Ground and air transportation shall be most interesting.

[zahlman]

Moulder - I meatshield with my healers on occasion

This should be interesting...

Colm - Free stuff, FoW sight, and will promote to Assassin.

You do know Assassins lose some thief abilities, right? AFAICT, they can't steal from enemies (although they can still use Lockpicks), and they don't automatically find things in the desert. This is the real reason I thought you should have gone with Rennac over Marisa. Dodge-tanking is cool, though.

Innes - I did not want Eirika having to fend off all that crap alone once Chapter 15 hit, and Saleh felt redundant. I'm also a sucker for Longbows.

On second thought, if you're counting on Eirika and Innes doing a lot of work in the desert, having Moulder as well might be a very good idea.

If I leverage this right, I should be okay. Ground and air transportation shall be most interesting.

GL! If anyone can do this you can. (Well, or Horace or other people like that...)

Have you thought about the allocation of stat boosters, or are you planning to just see what's needed to fix screwages? My Franz was frail early on and I ended up giving him the Angelic Robe, which I later would have really really liked to put on Myrrh instead. (Although I managed to work around her less than stellar HP buffer... I'm actually pretty impressed with the results)

Edited December 13, 2011 by zahlman

[eclipse]

I know Colm will lose some of his thieving abilities, but by that time, I don't think it'll be worth it to steal stuff. Knowing my play style, he probably won't see promotion until right after the desert.

I usually give the RNG a chance before allotting stat boosters. If I feel it's necessary, Franz will get the Angelic Robe, since he'll be front and center almost all of the time. Otherwise, it goes to Tana/Ephraim/Tethys (if I feel like using her as a meatshield).

Edited December 13, 2011 by eclipse

[General Horace]

If Franz doesn't need the ring, save it for Moulder, to help his warping range!

[FalconVegeta1986]

And now, for the FE8 run with the worst turn counts in history! Also, I suck at synopsis', so these'll likely be short.

Prologue - 4 turns - 4 attempts

Yeah, it took 4 tries just to beat this. Thing is, it's too easy to get the RNG to screw Eirika over getting hit with 40%, and she dies in 2 hits, plus I can't just have Seth run over them. So I fail. Eirika also can't double O'Neill, which I obviously never knew before. Never got a crit either.

Chapter 1 - 10 turns - 1 attempt

And the fun starts here. Eirika took the fort and took out most of the enemies and the reinforcements, while Gilliam killed whatever attacked him or he could attack. They worked together weakining and killing Breguet, and Eirika seized.

Chapter 2 - 9 turns - 1 attempt

Didn't think i'd make it past this for some reason. Gilliam took the villages, while Eirika cleared out the bandits. NPC Ross was derpy, actually dodging until I got to him, then took kills from weakened enemies. Eirika killed Bone.

[spoiler=stats at this point]

Eirika lvl 7

HP 21

STR 7

SKL 14

SPD 14

LCK 9

DEF 5

RES 3

Gilliam lvl 5

HP 26

STR 10

SKL 6

SPD 4

LCK 3

DEF 9

RES 3

Ross lvl 2

HP 16

STR 6

SKL 2

SPD 3

LCK 8

DEF 3

RES 0

Chapter 3 - 10 turns - 1 attempt

An annoying chapter, but easy for my units to get kills. Everyone broke the walls, while Ross and Neimi got kills and avoided some close calls. Eirika killed the mighty Bazba, and that's really about it. Somehow, Colm joined my team at the end, bringing everything he pilfered with him. Score for me.

Chapter 4 - 10 turns - 1attempt

Eirika took the south with Ross following eventually, and Gilliam took the reinforcements to the right, making his way to the left later on to intercept the reinforcements from the north. Gilliam can still double zombies with just 4 SPD, and countered a few mogalls with the javelin, and any damage he took wasn't enough to cause a real problem (he had 4 RES at this point). How pathetic. Which one of you said this chapter would give me trouble again?

Chapter 5 - 15(?) turns - 4 attempts

Now, this chapter was a bitch. Eirika went right to kill McCartney and his goon, and take a few soldiers. She led the fighters away from Joshua so Natasha could recruit him, while Gilliam meatshielded and hit things on the left so Ross and Neimi could get kills. Once I got Joshua, things sped up a bit. Crit after crit, Joshua proved his worth as a combat unit. He also killed Saar, and I only lost out on one village, but that's okay, because I did get the dragonshield village. Ross is ready to promote come chapter 6. He be a pirate, mate!

Funny thing about this chapter. It really only took 3 attempts, but for whatever reason, the game didn't suspend save after Joshua killed Saar the first time, which was good, because the first time, I forgot to get my turncounts and stats before killing Saar, since that ends the chapter. But stupid me forgot about that a second time, so i'll have to post stats after I do 5x, and turns after I beat the game. Gonna safely say 15, because that's what it took for the first completion.

I'll post again after chapter 8 (the route split, basically).

Edited December 14, 2011 by Richter Belmont

[zahlman]

If Franz doesn't need the ring, save it for Moulder, to help his warping range!

It only helps if he can get 10 Mag naturally (unless you want to give him more than one of them), which is at like 10/4 on average. I guess that's not infeasible with Slayer...

Still, there are definitely things you can do with 6 Warp range that you can't with 5. Single-turning Final pt 1 isn't one of them of course :P

Prologue - 4 turns - 4 attempts... Never got a crit either.

WTF?!? If you start from a hard reset, skip all the cutscenes (by just hitting Start right away), and just have Eirika attack, she gets a crit on the first attack. If you start from a hard reset, play through all the cutscenes (including the enemy dialogue ones after the event where you get the Rapier), and have Eirika attack, she also gets a crit on the first attack.

Eirika took the fort and took out most of the enemies and the reinforcements, while Gilliam killed whatever attacked him or he could attack. They worked together weakining and killing Breguet, and Eirika seized.

So she just sat there and waited for the aggro units to get to her? I really think you overestimate her frailness.

Also I don't think anyone really cares about your attempt counts, although I guess it's kinda cool that you're trying to avoid restarting.

Somehow, Colm joined my team at the end, bringing everything he pilfered with him. Score for me.

Yes, that's what normally happens unless he dies.

Gilliam can still double zombies with just 4 SPD, and countered a few mogalls with the javelin, and any damage he took wasn't enough to cause a real problem (he had 4 RES at this point).

I guess you're fine as long as you don't try to tank all the Mogalls at once, and this game gives you lots of Vulneraries and Elixirs so yeah.

How pathetic. Which one of you said this chapter would give me trouble again?

Me. But you have to understand that by my standards, 10 turns is having trouble with this chapter. Although it's not really disproportionate to the rest of what you're doing, so I guess it wasn't really a problem for you.

She led the fighters away from Joshua so Natasha could recruit him, while Gilliam meatshielded and hit things on the left so Ross and Neimi could get kills.

You know Joshua won't attack Natasha, right? If you can get her into that bush, she's very likely to survive even if she gets attacked by 3 non-Joshua enemies, since they'll have hitrates in the high 30s and none of them OHKOs her. Of course, if she does get hit once, protecting her and also having her recruit on that turn might be tricky.

I only lost out on one village, but that's okay, because I did get the dragonshield village.

Getting all the villages also gets you a Guiding Ring as a bonus, which would be nice for Natasha but maybe not a necessity. The next one on Ephraim's route is in Chapter 12.

Edited December 14, 2011 by zahlman

[Anouleth]

WTF?!? If you start from a hard reset, skip all the cutscenes (by just hitting Start right away), and just have Eirika attack, she gets a crit on the first attack. If you start from a hard reset, play through all the cutscenes (including the enemy dialogue ones after the event where you get the Rapier), and have Eirika attack, she also gets a crit on the first attack.

That's RNG abuse.

So she just sat there and waited for the aggro units to get to her? I really think you overestimate her frailness.

She gets 2HKOed by everything on the map...

You know Joshua won't attack Natasha, right? If you can get her into that bush, she's very likely to survive even if she gets attacked by 3 non-Joshua enemies, since they'll have hitrates in the high 30s and none of them OHKOs her. Of course, if she does get hit once, protecting her and also having her recruit on that turn might be tricky.

Well, that's only a 10% chance to die!

[zahlman]

...

>_>

Yeah, I guess that must be how things are being seen here.

[eclipse]

Prologue - 2/2

Eirika gains Speed and Strength with this method, which in turn will set the pace for the rest of the game. The RNG in this game is ridiculous.

Chapter 1 - 5/7

With the Prologue level, Eirika is able to ORKO the starting Fighter. This is crucial, because if she doesn't, she risks dying a turn or two later. Franz, meanwhile, beats up the spectator Soldier, then draws a bit of attention away from Eirika, THEN goes and beats up the reinforcements. He's so awesome~! Too bad all he gained was HP and Defense.

Chapter 2 - 6/13

I think this is how it went. Regardless it was a 6-turn clear, with the final enemy dying on EP.

Turn 1: Everyone heads south. Vanessa grabs Ross, so I can steal his vulnerary later.

Turn 2: Moulder shops for two Iron Swords and an Iron Lance. Eirika stands directly south of him and nabs one of the Iron Swords. Franz stops just to the west of Eirika.

Turn 3: Franz moves south and west, and misses a Javelin chuck on the nearby bandit. Moulder goes back north. Eirika doesn't move.

Turn 4: Franz gets the Pure Water (this is super-important), Eirika stays put, Moulder grabs one of the villages.

Turn 5: Franz runs north and attacks Bone. Eirika moves one square northwest to lure the other bandit. Moulder grabs the other village. On EP, Bone and his cohort attack Franz, but do so in such a way that he can run north.

Turn 6: Franz continues his run north, and finished the bandit Eirika failed to ORKO. Moulder is just in range to heal Franz, so he does. Eirika runs up and finishes Bone. On Enemy Phase, Bone's lackey suicides into Eirika.

Name      Class     Level  HP  Str  Skl  Spd  Lck  Def  Res
Eirika    Lord       6.83  19   7    9   12    9    4    3
Franz     Cavalier   2.72  21   7    5    7    2    7    1
Moulder   Priest     3.11  Base everything

Chapter 3 - 8/21

Got held up a bit here and there, but Colm gained Stregth. Franz needs more experience.

Jacked the other Pure Water, because Colm could do so. This should make Chapter 9 much less painful.

Name      Class     Level  HP  Str  Skl  Spd  Lck  Def  Res
Eirika    Lord       8.51  20   9   10   14   10    5    4
Franz     Cavalier   3.91  22   7    5    8    2    8    1
Moulder   Priest     3.11  Base everything
Colm      Thief      3.23  19   5    4   11    8    3    1

Edited December 14, 2011 by eclipse

[zahlman]

Wait, one of the Ch 3 treasures is another Pure Water?

(I worked out how to do 2 and 3 faster with Neimi instead of Moulder, but I didn't get any items beyond a couple that NPC!Colm steals. A 6th turn is probably required to get the Pure Water in Ch2. Also, Neimi makes Ch3 faster because she can contribute to smashing the walls. Pure Water is nice to have for Ch8 too, but maybe not strictly necessary.)

Edited December 14, 2011 by zahlman

[eclipse]

Nope. You steal it off the guy with the Steel Axe.

[charlie_]

Late, because I was almost finished up to Chapter 8, and then my browser crashed. So I'll do up to 3.

Prologue - 2 turns

Rigged crits. Got a decent level, everything but Strength and Defense.

Chapter 1 - 5 turns

The standard Eirika solo 5 turns. Gained a lot of strength. Seth avoided combat due to the soldier being dumb.

Chapter 2 - 6 turns

Kind of tricky due to Vanessa's low durability but it worked. Vanessa went east, and Eirika went South. NPC Garcia/Ross contributed with assists, and Vanessa flew back over to take out the reinforcements on the fifth turn, leaving the boss and one lacky. The boss killed Ross that turn, but he was taken down by Eirika, and the other Brigand suicided on her in enemy phase 6.

Chapter 3 - 7 turns

Had to use the Rapier to ensure that Eirika and Vanessa could take down one wall per turn. Eirika rushed, Vanessa finished any left behinds. NPC Colm looted, meaning I got free weapons.

Unit	Class	Level	Exp	HP	Str	Skl	Spd	Luck	Def	Res	Weapon 
Eirika	Lord	8	80	20	9	15	14	9	3	6	Sword - C
Vanessa	Pegasus	4	8	20	7	10	14	4	6	5	Lance - D	

That Strength Eirika. That Strength.

Also, how should I promote Gerik? Hero for stats or Ranger for movement?

Edited December 14, 2011 by Bolting

[zahlman]

Nope. You steal it off the guy with the Steel Axe.

Ohhh, right. Totally forgot about that guy. Yeah, I can see why that'd take a couple extra turns. :/

Unit	Class	Level	Exp	HP	Str	Skl	Spd	Luck	Def	Res	Weapon 
Eirika	Lord	8	80	20	9	15	14	9	3	6	Sword - C
Vanessa	Pegasus	4	8	20	7	10	14	4	6	5	Lance - D	

That Strength Eirika. That Strength.

Technically, that Skill is further above average. She's procced it every time. Damn. Also, Res > Def is really weird for her.

Also, how should I promote Gerik? Hero for stats or Ranger for movement?

He's rather unlikely to hit caps either way, and the promotion bonuses don't seem to be that much different from each other... but Hero!Gerik also gets access to axes. A Hand Axe gives him 1-2 range which added to his durability and offense is the magic formula for monstrous EP.

Edited December 14, 2011 by zahlman

[zahlman]

Edit: Merged posts.

Edited December 14, 2011 by zahlman

[FalconVegeta1986]

WTF?!? If you start from a hard reset, skip all the cutscenes (by just hitting Start right away), and just have Eirika attack, she gets a crit on the first attack. If you start from a hard reset, play through all the cutscenes (including the enemy dialogue ones after the event where you get the Rapier), and have Eirika attack, she also gets a crit on the first attack.

Well, I didn't know that, but it's too late to do anything about it now.

So she just sat there and waited for the aggro units to get to her? I really think you overestimate her frailness.

At that point, with base DEF, she was taking on more enemies than you're probably thinking of. Plus, it was pretty much guaranteed she wasn't going to die even against soldiers.

Also I don't think anyone really cares about your attempt counts, although I guess it's kinda cool that you're trying to avoid restarting.

Sorry for trying to add something new to my chapter synopsis.

Yes, that's what normally happens unless he dies.

I should've figured that, but I was mostly just happy that the treasures weren't lost is all.

I guess you're fine as long as you don't try to tank all the Mogalls at once, and this game gives you lots of Vulneraries and Elixirs so yeah.

There were only like 2-3 of them in the first place, I don't get why that was a concern. And making Gilliam take all at once would have been stupid, that's almost insulting that you would have even thought that.

Me. But you have to understand that by my standards, 10 turns is having trouble with this chapter. Although it's not really disproportionate to the rest of what you're doing, so I guess it wasn't really a problem for you.

Your standards =/= my standards. And I thought we established that my turncounts were gonna blow anyway.

You know Joshua won't attack Natasha, right? If you can get her into that bush, she's very likely to survive even if she gets attacked by 3 non-Joshua enemies, since they'll have hitrates in the high 30s and none of them OHKOs her. Of course, if she does get hit once, protecting her and also having her recruit on that turn might be tricky.

I knew Joshua won't attack Natasha, that was part of my plan. But even with the bush, after 3 attempts, getting her hit/killed was not something I was going to risk, and Eirika was over there anyway, so why risk it when she can kill the fighters on her next turn?

Getting all the villages also gets you a Guiding Ring as a bonus, which would be nice for Natasha but maybe not a necessity. The next one on Ephraim's route is in Chapter 12.

Not too much of a loss, although I did forget that the guiding ring was the reward for that. But I don't expect Natasha to ever promote anyway, or at least not till late, and Ewan comes late and gets his free promotion before needing the ring, if he even levels that much to need it.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Richter Belmont

[Anouleth]

Eirika gains Speed and Strength with this method, which in turn will set the pace for the rest of the game. The RNG in this game is ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure that this game uses a similar RNG to other FEs, and even if it were the case that lower RNs were more likely to come about (making crits and stat gains more likely) that would in turn make it more likely that Eirika gets hit.

[zahlman]

Well, I didn't know that, but it's too late to do anything about it now.

I was more just amazed that you somehow managed not to crit at a 14% rate in so many opportunities. And/or trying to guess where exactly you were ending the cutscene :/

she was taking on more enemies than you're probably thinking of.

I tried it out a few times and found that if you try too hard to be totally safe against the initial enemies, the reinforcements catch up and you're basically unprepared for them. Breguet doesn't OHKO Eirika, so you can have her try on EP and back away if she fails. But the thing is you pretty much have to just go for it anyway, because Gilliam's hit rate is worse and he can barely scratch the guy anyway. If you happen to only hit once on that EP and decide to back off and heal, then you're left needing to hit him again twice anyway. So you might as well try to do it quickly and restart if it doesn't work, because going slowly and thus having to tank the reinforcements really just adds to the risk. (Although I guess it does simplify the question of how to keep Seth and Franz out of the way...)

Sorry for trying to add something new to my chapter synopsis.

I was just saying, really. Snark not intended.

Your standards =/= my standards. And I thought we established that my turncounts were gonna blow anyway.

The point was more that a team with a Franz might not have to double back to get the reinforcements (because with careful planning and a strong enough unit, you can finish everything on the EP of the same turn that you would trigger them), and a team with Vanessa could get back there faster, and a team with more than one early-game draft could have someone hang back to handle them. These are all tactical advantages that a team that aren't available to a team with only Gilliam at this point.

I did a quick check of the Mogalls - there are 3 of them; two are right next to each other and have basically perfectly overlapping attack ranges so you'll have to take them at the same time. Gilliam needs 3 or 4 Str procs to OHKO them (since Steel Lances aren't available yet), which probably isn't too realistic, and he's going to be 4HKO'd by them (the other monsters are insignificant). So he needs to have a Javelin ready for the first two on EP, finish one off on the next PP (still using the Javelin), and then heal up before advancing for the third. You'd have to be suicidal/trying really hard to get the third one involved at the same time with a low-mov unit, agreed. So it's not a real problem to clear, but it does still force you to slow down in a few ways.

Anyway, turncounts "blowing" is relative; you might be expecting to get stomped by your draft-mates from the get-go, but you can still try to surpass your own expectations. I'm mostly just trying to teach something here.

I'm pretty sure that this game uses a similar RNG to other FEs, and even if it were the case that lower RNs were more likely to come about (making crits and stat gains more likely) that would in turn make it more likely that Eirika gets hit.

That seems like a lot of words to say "PEMN"...

Edited December 14, 2011 by zahlman

[eclipse]

I'm pretty sure that this game uses a similar RNG to other FEs, and even if it were the case that lower RNs were more likely to come about (making crits and stat gains more likely) that would in turn make it more likely that Eirika gets hit.

It's ridiculous in the fact that you can get that string of crits and a godly level so early.

Oh, right, stuff. . .

Chapter 4 - 8/29

I think this was eight turns, but I'll check once the credits roll. I finished on EP again.

I had fun missing the zombie on the mountain. Franz rushed over to kill various other things, then backtracked to take care of the zombie reinforcements. I had him kill the pacifist zombie on the final PP, so the final one would suicide on EP. Eirika rushed all the way to Lute's village, to kill stuff there. Colm hung out near the boss, and managed to kill it. Moulder was used as bait twice. Lots of experience around~!

Name      Class     Level  HP  Str  Skl  Spd  Lck  Def  Res
Eirika    Lord      10.48  21  11   11   16   12    5    5
Franz     Cavalier   6.85  25   8    6   11    3    8    3
Moulder   Priest     3.79  Base everything
Colm      Thief      5.93  21   6    5   12   10    4    2