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[FE8] Hard Mode, Ephraim Route


charlie_
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Surely it's not as bad as that one dude who picked Dorcas first overall in an FE7 draft.

But yeah, Josh is a 3/4th round pick.

Dorcas is actually decent as a second or third pick if you play Lyn mode. If not, then yeah, he's kinda bad.

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It has to do with the draft mentality, which is lowest turn counts. Joshua is nowhere near as helpful as any of the early lance guys with good move (Gilliam's movement leaves much to be desired).

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It has to do with the draft mentality, which is lowest turn counts. Joshua is nowhere near as helpful as any of the early lance guys with good move (Gilliam's movement leaves much to be desired).

So are you saying that i'm a bad drafter because i'd rather pick solid units instead of frail units just because they save some turns? I'll give you this time, because I did get first pick, but usually I don't go first, which means units like pegs and dancers and such are usually drafted before I even get my first pick. And look at how many people never finish a draft. I pick whoever I feel will be the most helpful to me based on the conditions of the draft. HMEph route I would rather have Joshua and Gilliam than a peg or dancer in a situation where skirmishs and tower/ruins aren't allowed. They'll be alot more helpful than picking Vanessa first and having to wait for 7 more picks before I get my next one.

And you can't seriously be calling Joshua a bad pick. With 14 SPD? Even HM, i'll never have trouble doubling with him, he doesn't get bad STR, and he has no competition for the 10B hero crest that Duessel will gladly guard for me. Oh, and early lance guys with good move? Did you miss the part where I drafted Forde?

So I don't draft with the same mindset as you. Boo hoo. At least i'll be able to finish the damn thing.

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Ok, so you don't like frail units, so you draft Joshua? Uh...

They're just confused because you didn't draft Franz. Some people don't like Vanessa (myself included), but there is no real reason why Joshie would be a better pick than Franz.

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Joshua's problem is sword lock, and he's not getting out of it until the end of Chapter 19. This is BAD. Gilliam forever has movement problems, even after he's been turned into a Great Knight (trust me, I tried).

Meanwhile, Franz calls dibs on the Chapter 7 Knight Crest, and he'll probably be at level to use it. By the time you get Joshua his promotion item, Franz is running over everything with superior move and a common 1-2 range weapon (Javelin).

I don't mind if you draft with the mindset of "use my favorite units only", but there's a good chunk of us that draft to win. . .and Joshua as a first pick is not what I'd do. Ever.

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I just don't see why anyone has a problem with my picks. I don't see anyone else getting bothered about who they picked, so I don't see why anyone has a problem with mine. My picks aren't "use my favorite character", I don't know where you got that from. I picked who I picked for reasons stated above. Don't like it, deal with it.

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Here you go.

Teams:

1. Richter Belmont - Joshua, Ross, Forde, Gilliam, Natasha, Neimi, Ewan

2. Bolting - Vanessa, Kyle, Artur, Gerik, Dozla, L'Arachel,

3. Eclipse - Franz, Moulder, Tana, Tethys, Colm, Innes,

4. Toon Link - Dussel, Garcia, Cormag, Lute, Saleh, Syrene,

Amelia

Marisa

Rennac

Knoll

Edited by Toon Link
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I just don't see why anyone has a problem with my picks. I don't see anyone else getting bothered about who they picked, so I don't see why anyone has a problem with mine. My picks aren't "use my favorite character", I don't know where you got that from. I picked who I picked for reasons stated above. Don't like it, deal with it.

Joshua is absolutely horrible as a first pick. That's what most of it boils down to.

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Final Teams:

1. Richter Belmont - Joshua, Ross, Forde, Gilliam, Natasha, Neimi, Ewan

2. Bolting - Vanessa, Kyle, Artur, Gerik, Dozla, L'Arachel, Knoll

3. Eclipse - Franz, Moulder, Tana, Tethys, Colm, Innes, Marisa

4. Toon Link - Dussel, Garcia, Cormag, Lute, Saleh, Syrene, Rennac

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My analysis (keep in mind that I have only ever played through Eph's route on HM once, and hated it):

Richter Belmont - Joshua, Ross, Forde, Gilliam, Natasha, Neimi, Ewan

Even with the tower rule I would never take a trainee for second pick (although Ross is surely the best of the three overall by a wide margin, if only because of availability), and without that rule this is going to be a huge challenge. Mr. Hat is "solid" and definitely usable, but loses to Franz in just about everything that matters. Overall this team is built for meeting the enemy head-on and relying on teamwork, which is a decent tactic survival-wise but is quite slow compared to a team that can break through enemy lines, tank a bunch of them with a super-star unit (like Duessel or Saleh or a trained Franz) anyway, and get the lords to the destination. There are no fliers, which limits tactical maneuvers, and will make enemy fliers on the Pirate Ship very annoying. There is very limited offensive magic (Natz is not all that easy to get to lv. 10) so effective weapons will have to be used, well, effectively. Forde should be a big help here.

Chapter 4 will not be much fun due to the difficulty in tanking the Mogalls (only Gilliam can counter and while he has good Def, his Res is lacking; and early game he won't have a huge HP buffer either) and also in just getting around the map with two non-mounted units (I don't see a way to avoid triggering the reinforcements, which may mean backtracking to them).

I predict that when all is said and done, this team will have the highest-level Ephraim.

Bolting - Vanessa, Kyle, Artur, Gerik, Dozla, L'Arachel, Knoll

Knoll has improved availability on Ephraim's route; I'm not sure if that makes him suck significantly less. Certainly there are spots where he has very nice tactical use. L'Arachel shows up too late and too low-level to be useful as a healer IMO, and will be a serious pain to train as a warper. Artur should do fairly well with these teammates. There's a pretty decent amount of combat here (Gerik is a beast and Dozla can shine in the right environment - although I'm not sure Eph's route provides that environment to him very often), plus one of Eph's escort Cavs. Vanessa is a high-availability flier, but it seems like she'll be relied upon for combat in a couple of early-game chapters, which might not be terribly much fun. (Eirika can pretty much solo the early game anyway if she gets good level-ups, but it's not especially fast and she risks using up the Rapier before she's run out of good uses for it).

3. Eclipse - Franz, Moulder, Tana, Tethys, Colm, Innes, Marisa

Honestly I don't think it's clear that this is the best team (although Kopf's confidence may have at least as much to do with Clipsy's playing skills). Tethys is a major boost to any team, but only as long as it can survive at rushing speeds. We have Franz who will be awesome, but we've taken Tana rather than Cormag (less physical durability, although Res will be important for the Pirate Ship and maybe some other things), Colm rather than Saleh (Saleh's availability in Ephraim's route is quite low, but even so I doubt if Colm can ever really catch up in durability or offense) and Marisa over Rennac (she can dish it out but she can't take it; Rennac's combat is not bad, and taking both thieves would open up the option of Assassin!Colm which is a nice offensive boost IMO). Also, Moulder was second pick rather than another offensive unit. Basically, these are good units, but the drafting strategy seems... inconsistent to me.

Aside: I really don't understand why Moulder is so highly rated compared to Natasha (witness how far apart they were drafted here, for example). Unless you are stuffing all the Energy Rings into your healer, Natasha gets to 12 Mag faster on average (the minimum needed to actually make a difference in Warp range) - not that either of them ever realistically do in a draft - and durability should be mostly a non-issue for healers, as healers having to take a hit is usually not part of the plan. Given that neither will realistically be more than a basic warper (assuming you either have Saleh or a Str-screwed offensive unit) and that there's only a small difference in availability, I'd consider the two of them pretty much interchangeable.

Toon Link - Dussel, Garcia, Cormag, Lute, Saleh, Syrene, Rennac

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. There are two fliers, both of whom are reasonably durable, and Rennac who... is Rennac.

Edited by zahlman
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Syrene isn't reasonably durable >.>

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

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