Thinking of trying FE5.

[Jave]

I don't like it when people ask this, I know because of what I've heard.

Well, now you've heard that Amalda is a very good character to have around. And here's why, at least based on my own experience. Amalda comes with an A in Swords meaning that she has instant access to every non-personal sword in the game right off the bat. Outdoors AND indoors. If you trained a character like Fin, Glade or Kein chances are you got them to A in lances but no more than a D or C in swords, so they won't be very useful in indoor maps, which are plenty of the lategame maps. Amalda is a great replacement for anyone of those units since she has max weapon rank for every situation. That C rank in Staves means she can also be used to put those pesky lategame dark bishops to sleep, and that's a great help in this game. Oh, and an Authority Star, that's never a bad thing.

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, now you've heard that Amalda is a very good character to have around. And here's why, at least based on my own experience. Amalda comes with an A in Swords meaning that she has instant access to every non-personal sword in the game right off the bat. Outdoors AND indoors. If you trained a character like Fin, Glade or Kein chances are you got them to A in lances but no more than a D or C in swords, so they won't be very useful in indoor maps, which are plenty of the lategame maps. Amalda is a great replacement for anyone of those units since she has max weapon rank for every situation. That C rank in Staves means she can also be used to put those pesky lategame dark bishops to sleep, and that's a great help in this game. Oh, and an Authority Star, that's never a bad thing.

You might have had him going until you mentioned the staff thing. Remember, the guy hates mounted staff units for no logical reason? Of course, if you use her indoors then there's no mount thing. How about it crash? Only use her swords when mounted, but when she's on foot (indoors forces foot, fyi) she's just like a bishop + swords. And you love bishops, right?

Oh, and in case it hasn't been said often or clearly enough, Crash, Nanna is as much a Valkyrie as Amalda, if not more due to the lower sword rank.

Edited February 16, 2012 by Narga_Rocks

[MacLovin]

Evayle helps use her when she returns with Nanna

Use Dagda and the theives

Steal and capture alot

Because you get NO funds ad weapons are expensive

Oh, and vulneraries are cheap elixers

Oh

and get Asvel, hes worth it

Also

FOR THE LOVE OF **** TRAIN STAFF USERS, KARIN, THEIVES, AND SCROLL+LIFE RING+SPEED RING LEAF.

Also, remember

Fatigue

And, learn to fear this face

IN ALL FORMS

FEAR HIM

AND THOSE @@#&%#@&%@&%%@&ING AUTHORITY STARS.

Oh, and good luck with ch24x

Oh, and steal warp whenever possible

[General Banzai]

With the right scroll combos, everyone will be good by endgame. Use Marty, he's fun and that def is boss.

[Integrity]

You might have had him going until you mentioned the staff thing. Remember, the guy hates mounted staff units for no logical reason? Of course, if you use her indoors then there's no mount thing. How about it crash? Only use her swords when mounted, but when she's on foot (indoors forces foot, fyi) she's just like a bishop + swords. And you love bishops, right?

I...

This logic...

You're my hero, Narga.

[CrashGordon94]

Leaving all the Amalda stuff alone.

Everyone claims the forest map to be more of a pain than it actually is. Just use a map to be aware of the teleporter tiles, just like you would for finding buried treasure on desert maps, and it's really no big issue at all. It's made even easier if you're not afraid to make ample use of Warp/Rewarp. I'm not sure Shanam himself is going to really be good, as Bargain comes after purchaseable S-Drinks, and you get most of your gear through Capture anyways... but extra Pugi is always fun, and Miranda is kind of a neat character.

Well, duly noted I guess.

Use Dagda to capture everything that moves, and then have Marty take the enemies from him, steal their stuff, and do the catch and release. This is way better than trying to actually capture the enemies directly with Marty, in my experience. Evayle you can probably duplicated everything you need her for with Finn if you're taking your time on maps, so feel free to do so.

Okay, just one thing: Won't this be taking Experience away from other units?

Tanya was tricky for me. You're not likely to be able to get her trained high enough before she leaves on account of bow-lock, and then when she comes back the situation isn't exactly the best for her. Her most redeeming quality is making Othin better through support, IIRC. Not sure I'd frequently give up a deployment for that.

Yeah, I knew she'd be a bit of a pain. Hopefully she'd be workable.

Machua was very situational use, and may have trouble making it in the long-term. Or maybe mine just didn't want to cooperate.

After reading what Lumi said, it sounds like the latter. I just hope I get lucky with mine (Scrolls could work too)

Shiva didn't impress me all that much, but he's almost certainly a better choice than say Trewd. You're probably better off with somebody on a horse though, all said and done.

Lifis is your thief until you get Pahn, and barring miraculous growths, is probably outclassed by the latter in every way.

Dalshien is only really worth using in the Manster chapters, because you have nobody else.

Tina, unlike everyone on this list up until now, is actually pretty damn amazing. She has a couple of Prf Staves, and a shit-ton of remove stars, making her very clutch at a lot of useful things. She's probably my favorite staffer of the bunch, barring Nanna.

Dean and Eda are both solid, IMO, though if you want to get Eda up and going, you'll probably need to invest a skill manual of some sort onto her, and it may or may not be overall worth it. It really depends how much you like extra fliers and if you want to invest any effort into her at that point in the game. Dean is just pick-up and go, though.

Not sure what to say here.

I would also recommend Selphina, if for nothing else, being good with a Brave bow and a pony.

Sure, I'll give her a go.

If you're using Olwen, then Fred is a solid accompaniment for her.

Heh, sounds like reasonable filler though.

Supports are nice, but I don't think the bonus from Tania will make much of a difference for Othin with how powerful he is already. Regardless, if Crash isn't concerned about having a perfect team (which he shouldn't be), she's certainly usable.

Yeah, I knew she'd be suboptimal but I still want to give her a go.

Evayle helps use her when she returns with Nanna

No. Bal told me that I can duplicate her utility with Fin (more or less).

Use Dagda and the theives

Sounds like the same thing with Dagda, okay to the Thieves.

Steal and capture alot

Because you get NO funds ad weapons are expensive

I was planning to.

Oh, and vulneraries are cheap elixers

Ah, cool! BTW, I heard that there's a 60-use one, is that true?

Oh

and get Asvel, hes worth it

I was planning to.

Also

FOR THE LOVE OF **** TRAIN STAFF USERS, KARIN, THEIVES, AND SCROLL+LIFE RING+SPEED RING LEAF.

Also, remember

Fatigue

And, learn to fear this face

IN ALL FORMS

FEAR HIM

AND THOSE @@#&%#@&%@&%%@&ING AUTHORITY STARS.

Got it x2

Oh, and good luck with ch24x

...No thanks, is there a way to skip it with Sara and the Kia Staff intact? (I already asked this as well, nobody answered...)

Oh, and steal warp whenever possible

Will do!

Marty should be used to strip equipment in early chapters and benched after Purple Dragon Mountain, IMO.

With the right scroll combos, everyone will be good by endgame. Use Marty, he's fun and that def is boss.

Dammit guys, can't you just agree?!

Also, I ask again: Normal Mode or Elite Mode?

[Integrity]

You're basically just asking Hard Mode or Normal Mode. Obviously you know your capabilities better than we do but, if you don't think you can just roll with this shit as it goes, obviously pick the easier mode.

[Thor Odinson]

If you care about Dagda "stealing exp" just go elite mode, there's plenty of exp to go around.

And you can still scrollspam just when they're all promoted. Caps are 20 except HP anyway, so it's not even that big of an issue.

Oh speaking of which, this is why you don't promote at 20 in this game unless you're out of Knight Proofs and had to wait until another one. Because all you really get out of it is a bunch of HP that you don't even really need.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Luminescent Blade

[Narga_Rocks]

Evayle helps use her when she returns with Nanna

No. Bal told me that I can duplicate her utility with Fin (more or less).

How about we make a bet, Crash.

If Evayle gets a kill "when she returns with Nanna", you have to use Amalda. If you manage to not use her at all (aside from moving her around to keep her out of combat) then I promise not to push for you to use Amalda. In fact, I'm tempted to add to the bet that I'll warn anyone who still pushes Amalda after that. Does anyone think Crash should take this bet?

[Balcerzak]

I forgot about that Manster chapter where Evayle and Nanna are in the gladiator pit. Crash, you will need to use Evayle to wall for Nanna there, and she will get kills. I don't think Nanna can Earth Sword all of them from safety. It's just unreasonable to even try.

Edit: Crash should still probably use Amalda, but I wouldn't know firsthand, as I never recruited her.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Balcerzak

[Silvercrow]

Yea, the game, unlike some of the others, forces you to use certain characters rather heavily in their joining chapters. There's a chapter where you'll need to use Dagda as well.

[Narga_Rocks]

I forgot about that Manster chapter where Evayle and Nanna are in the gladiator pit. Crash, you will need to use Evayle to wall for Nanna there, and she will get kills. I don't think Nanna can Earth Sword all of them from safety. It's just unreasonable to even try.

Edit: Crash should still probably use Amalda, but I wouldn't know firsthand, as I never recruited her.

Did you go B route or did you just not recruit her anyway?

Also, you are too nice.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Edit: Crash should still probably use Amalda, but I wouldn't know firsthand, as I never recruited her.

Think Nanna without the hassle of having to raise the staff rank from freaking E and instead starting at C which packs the more-common-than-Relive: Physic/Reblow staff. With that in mind, it is easy as hell to raise her from the get go by placing an Elite Sword with at least 1 use and then spamming C+ rank staves to increase her Staff rank and level up rather fast for a prepromote.

Toss the Heim Scroll on her if you want someone to sleep Elf.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Sirius

[CrashGordon94]

You're basically just asking Hard Mode or Normal Mode. Obviously you know your capabilities better than we do but, if you don't think you can just roll with this shit as it goes, obviously pick the easier mode.

If you care about Dagda "stealing exp" just go elite mode, there's plenty of exp to go around.

Sounds fair enough.

And you can still scrollspam just when they're all promoted. Caps are 20 except HP anyway, so it's not even that big of an issue.

Oh speaking of which, this is why you don't promote at 20 in this game unless you're out of Knight Proofs and had to wait until another one. Because all you really get out of it is a bunch of HP that you don't even really need.

I know about the caps and promotion already, it seems to be one of the more famous things about FE5's mechanics.

How about we make a bet, Crash.

If Evayle gets a kill "when she returns with Nanna", you have to use Amalda. If you manage to not use her at all (aside from moving her around to keep her out of combat) then I promise not to push for you to use Amalda. In fact, I'm tempted to add to the bet that I'll warn anyone who still pushes Amalda after that. Does anyone think Crash should take this bet?

No, I refuse. How about you stop going on about fucking Amalda?

I forgot about that Manster chapter where Evayle and Nanna are in the gladiator pit. Crash, you will need to use Evayle to wall for Nanna there, and she will get kills. I don't think Nanna can Earth Sword all of them from safety. It's just unreasonable to even try.

Ah, thanks for the heads up. All I knew about were the very early chapters were it sounds like Othin/Halvan/Fin are good enough so I didn't know about this part.

Yea, the game, unlike some of the others, forces you to use certain characters rather heavily in their joining chapters. There's a chapter where you'll need to use Dagda as well.

Thanks for the heads up about that too.

[Anouleth]

WRT taking weapons to Manster: Items in the inventory of Leaf and Eyvel get put into random chests in Chapter 4. I recommend you only take the Light Brand, most of the other items can wait, and you don't want to be running around Chapter 4 for an eternity opening chests.

Bargain isn't really that useful. Shops in FE5 just don't sell anything valuable, or at least nothing more valuable that you can't just take from enemies.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Anouleth

[Narga_Rocks]

No, I refuse. How about you stop going on about fucking Amalda?

How about no? Seriously, just use her for the leadership star. How can you possibly say no to +3 hit/avo? Also, A swords is nice. Anyway, if you go B route then Amalda doesn't matter anyway. The person you'll be able to recruit is Conomore (also has an authority star). So if you refuse to use Amalda, at least go B route so you get that juicy authority star anyway.

[General Banzai]

Bargain isn't really that useful. Shops in FE5 just don't sell anything valuable, or at least nothing more valuable that you can't just take from enemies.

Bargain got my Miranda to 80 HP >:D

[Dr. Tarrasque]

How about no? Seriously, just use her for the leadership star. How can you possibly say no to +3 hit/avo? Also, A swords is nice. Anyway, if you go B route then Amalda doesn't matter anyway. The person you'll be able to recruit is Conomore (also has an authority star). So if you refuse to use Amalda, at least go B route so you get that juicy authority star anyway.

Uh... how about, "Just let it go". If he doesn't wanna use Amalda, that's his decision and not something you should be trying to force.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Sirius

[Narga_Rocks]

Uh... how about, "Just let it go". If he doesn't wanna use Amalda, that's his decision and not something you should be trying to force.

You're no fun. I think what bothers me about it is that he's willing to use Nanna, who is even more of a valk than Amalda. Anyway, I did give him an alternative that still gets the leadership star, didn't I?

[Dr. Tarrasque]

You're no fun. I think what bothers me about it is that he's willing to use Nanna, who is even more of a valk than Amalda. Anyway, I did give him an alternative that still gets the leadership star, didn't I?

Yes, and he refused. Leave it at that and let him have fun with the worse of the 2 "Valkyries" (in terms of staves at least, don't care enough to analyze their combat right now). E as the base staff rank with no personal staff to speed things up is by far the worst... at least she has 30/50 points to start for D rank but still.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Sirius

[Othin]

What the fuck, Narga.

FE5 is not so difficult of a game as to constrain players from doing what they want to. Anyone can do just fine passing up a +3% Hit/Avo bonus. If he doesn't want to use Amalda, let him not use Amalda; there's no need to harass him about it just because you don't like his reasons. Ultimately, the reason anyone makes any stylistic choice in playing a game is because they think it'll make them enjoy the game more. Sometimes strange things get associated with what people will enjoy in the game. We humans are weird like that. And that's okay; it's their business and no one else's.

[Mekkah]

FE5 is not so difficult of a game as to constrain players from doing what they want to.

I dunno man, CrashGordon is pretty bad. I can see him arguing with August and Dorias about what his units should actually do.

[Balcerzak]

Okay, just one thing: Won't this be taking Experience away from other units?

Not significant amounts. Pick and choose capture targets. Don't grab shitty short swords, but stick to like, Javelins or other useful things. If you try to nab everything, your convoy will be full ridiculously early.

Did you go B route or did you just not recruit her anyway?

Also, you are too nice.

I did indeed go Forest route, otherwise I would have recruited and used her.

I really am, sometimes...

[Klokinator]

I'm a pretty big fan of FE5 personally. That game was so hard the first time I played it. Also, why is there a topic about "which characters should I use" for your first time playing? You play the game, like I did, completely blind, and enjoy the fuck out of it. If you've already seen youtube videos and shit, you've pretty much ruined your first time. I had no idea what characters were good or not, etc. I used rewind states and a fucking ton of Arena abusing to AA Lara (That's the first thief chicks name, right?) to a 20 in every stat including CON and move. This allowed her to hilariously move around, grab an item from a chest on turn one that she shouldn't have gotten to until turn 4. It was funny as HELL lol.

But seriously, just play the damn game. Stop asking people what units to use. You might fail a lot, but it's fun failing at that game and trying a new strategy.

[CrashGordon94]

RE Amalda thing: Thank you Sirius and Othin, this actually means a lot to me.

Now, onto other things:

WRT taking weapons to Manster: Items in the inventory of Leaf and Eyvel get put into random chests in Chapter 4. I recommend you only take the Light Brand, most of the other items can wait, and you don't want to be running around Chapter 4 for an eternity opening chests.

Hmmm, you meant Leaf and Lifis, right?

Other than that, thanks for the heads up, I still think I might want to bring other things based on earlier advice but it does sound like I shouldn't bring too much.

Bargain isn't really that useful. Shops in FE5 just don't sell anything valuable, or at least nothing more valuable that you can't just take from enemies.

Fair enough. Though I think I saw Wind tomes and Silver Swords on the shops list, won't I want those?

I dunno man, CrashGordon is pretty bad. I can see him arguing with August and Dorias about what his units should actually do.

What the hell? How do you imagine such an argument going?

Not significant amounts. Pick and choose capture targets. Don't grab shitty short swords, but stick to like, Javelins or other useful things. If you try to nab everything, your convoy will be full ridiculously early.

Sounds fair enough to me, thank you.

I'm a pretty big fan of FE5 personally. That game was so hard the first time I played it. Also, why is there a topic about "which characters should I use" for your first time playing? You play the game, like I did, completely blind, and enjoy the fuck out of it. If you've already seen youtube videos and shit, you've pretty much ruined your first time. I had no idea what characters were good or not, etc. I used rewind states and a fucking ton of Arena abusing to AA Lara (That's the first thief chicks name, right?) to a 20 in every stat including CON and move. This allowed her to hilariously move around, grab an item from a chest on turn one that she shouldn't have gotten to until turn 4. It was funny as HELL lol.

But seriously, just play the damn game. Stop asking people what units to use. You might fail a lot, but it's fun failing at that game and trying a new strategy.

No thanks, I hate it when people say this sort of thing, I DO NOT have the capabilities to do this on my own. I already dismissed it once already (Integ said the same thing more or less).