H5 "no deaths" playthrough & recruiting all, saving all villages

[eclipse]

Excalibur>Merric himself.

He's a good unit mind, but his tome is more useful for pesky dracos.

Wendell likes Excalibur. So does Boah, if Wendell is otherwise preoccupied.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

... finally finished chapter 4 (..late last night in bed...), with no deaths (incl. recruiting Matthis and Merric and getting 5'000 gold in the last village)...

it was hard, especially the beginning (again)..., but imo not as hard the beginning of chapter 1 and 3... (well, chapter 1 isn't that crazy hard, if you're willing to let Jagen steal some Exp.... just not all Exp.)...

and the 4th boss (compared to the previous bosses) really is a joke.. , but very usefull to level up characters with ranged weapons (with no risk)....,I could have abused the 4th boss much more...

_____

h5, beginning of chapter 5, used Characters level/stats:

Marth:

Lv.6

Exp.68

Lv.6 =>7

Exp.68 => 20

KP.21 =>22

Str.8 => 9

Mg.0

Skl. 7

Spd.10

Lck.10 => 11

Def.8 => 9

Res.0

(he only went up 1 level, but has good growth, well, he is the "hero"...... just wish his Skl or Spd would have grown a bit more...)

____________________

Shiida:

Lv.6 => 8

Exp.60 => 75

KP.20

Str.6 => 7

Mg.0 => 1

Skl.8 => 10

Spd.17 => 19

Lck.14 => 15

Def.7 => 9

Res.6

(she overtook Marth as the most used, thanx to her wing spear, ..her growth was good too)

______________________

Able:

Lv.4

Exp.9 => 79

KP.22

Str.8

Mg.0

Skl.9

Spd.9

Lck.3

Def.8

Res.0

(he didn't level up this time.. but he' still very dependable)

______________________

Ogma:

Lv.6

Exp.21 => 48

KP.24

Str.6

Mg.0

Skl.12

Spd.12

Lck.3

Def.6

Res.0

(use him and Able quite often.. but somehow on the last restart till the end, he and Able somehow ended up not beeing used as much as expected)

______________________

Barst:

Lv.5 => 7

Exp.24 => 39

KP.26 => 28

Str.12 => 14

Mg.0

Skl.7 => 9

Spd.10 => 11

Lck.6

Def.7 => 8

Res.0

(he and Shiida wher both very usefull againt the spears and cavaliers ,and he has good growth...)

______________________

Cain

Archer (re-classed)

Lv.1 => 2

Exp.70

KP.19

Str.7 => 8

Mg.0

Skl.6

Spd.4

Lck.3 => 4

Def.6

Res.0

(not much growth, but at least some growth..., still have hopes for him; ....he and Draug/Edrag got so much Exp. thanx to the boss, who keept healing and taking new damage from them..)

Draug/Edrag

Hunter (re-classed)

Lv.1 => 2

Exp.20

KP.20

Str.7

Mg.0

Skl.5

Spd.9

Lck.1

Def.3

Res:0

(with so much growth among the other characters, he's the "black sheep" with 0 growth.... think I'll have to drop him, Cain won this (sprint) race "who will be the next bow user"...)

______________________

Jagen:

Lv.4

Exp.62 => 41

KP.23 => 24

Str.7

Mg.1

Skl.12

Spd.8

Lck.1

Def.9

Res.6

(in this chapter, agiain, I didn't plan to use him near a much as I did..., but I did a mistake and he ended up having to take down a horseman on his own...., he will be dropped in chapter 5..)

_______

Merric

level 2

Exp 29

KP.20

Str.0

Mg.4

Skl.4

Spd.6

Lck.3

Def.4

Res.3

(he's suppose to be good.. I'll give him sometime to grow..., think I got him level 1, but I'm not sure anymore..)

____

Lena

level 3 => 5

Exp. 34 => 4

KP.16

Str.0

Mg.2 => 3

Skl.7 => 8

Spd.8

Lck.8 => 10

Def.3

Res.7 => 8

(her growth was ok-ish.., towards the end, I leveled her up a bit, using the healing staff instead of using forts....)

_____

Wrys

level 3 => 4

Exp 4 => 91

KP.16

Str.0

Mg.2

Skl.6

Spd.7

Lck.3

Def.3

Res. 8

(like Draug/Edrag => 0 growth... (!)....., I wanted to drop Wrys, but need a 2nd healer..., and I suppose I'll use him again in chapter 5, till I can find a better 2nd healer)

_____

I was hopping to use Cord more and try to level up as a 2nd axe user (besides Barst), but it turned out to be too risky and he ended up staying in the "safe zones" the whole time..., with Nabarl, Julian and (new) Matthis (all practicly not used, but "participated" in chapter 4)..

..is Cord worth trying to level up as an axe user? or is there another better axe user sometime to come?? (maybe another unit re-classed into a axe user) ... ,

_____

EDIT I:

I didn't see the post(s) on page 13, till now.. (eventhough I kept refreshing... must have thought I was on page 13 or something, and kept refreshing on page 12...),.. sorry for the late response...

Are you doing a run in which you need to recruit every possible character, or are you only trying to recruit the useful characters? If it is the second, I would suggest killing Matthis off.

As for saving, you should do everything you can to prepare your units before you even start the battle. You really should save the save point for after the first difficult part of the battle, if possible. Imagine if you beat all of the enemies coming at you, and then you lose an important character before you are able to get to the next save point. You would have to start from before you killed all of those enemies, which would make it take even longer to complete the chapter.

While you are on chapter four, make absolutely certain you recruit Merric, if you can manage it. In my opinion, he is one of the most helpful characters in the game. Also, if you feel the need for more units that can take a few hits when needed, I would suggest trying Barst out. This is also my opinion, but I think he is one of the best units in the game. In my current run, which is also on Hard 5, or Merciless difficulty, Barst is my best unit.

I'm trying to recruit everyone, and not let anyone die... (this is my 1st run with FE SD.... , but not my first FE)...

when first playing FE SD, I was dispointed... (expected a more "animé" look of the characters, a better story ect..)

so I decided to tried it on h5 (if the characters and story aren't so great, then let's a least get the most out of the gameplay) ..., but it seemed soo crazy hard on h5 ...(much harder than other FE's on hard), I wasn't sure if it's possible to play h5 "without any sacrificed/without letting any character die".., but here I was told it's possible, and so I tried it resp. held thru, and so far it has been possible...(also because the beginning is the hardest part.., it should get easier, I've been able to hold thru so long)

___

agree, I should try to save "after" the battles... but after so many re-starts, I ended up saving before the battles.. (I was like on "fire".. ,when finally surviving the big battle in chapter 4, but not having any more save points..., till the boss, with still about 5-6 enemies lurking around....)

I got Merric.. his weapon seems cool.. (but he himself doesn't seem to great yet.., but I'm going to use him in chapter 5)

agree, Barst is developing great.. (in chapter 3 is was ok, now he's really good..).. used him a lot in chapter 4 and.. (also because of his 2 ranged axe.., hope I can buy a new one soon..)... and Barst can take a few hits..

EDIT II:

is a thief usefull resp. needed??... (going to drop Julian.., who's suppose to be the best thief??..)...,

thinking of re-classing Nabarl.... (it would be a pitty not to use him, he has good stats.. just don't need another sword user..)

EDIT III:

Wyrs or Wendell as a 2nd healer??.. Wendell, right??.. (drop Wyrs and Merric for Wendell??..., Wendell has seemling good stats.... in the walkthough, Wendell doesn't seem to be great, but better than Wyrs.. , agree on that he's better than Wyrs..)

EDIT IV:

wow... so many new characters... (Wolf and Sedgar look cool... and are supossed to be good to...)

Edited September 12, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[charlie_]

Juilian is the best thief. Don't try and use him for combat or you'll get a headache. Wendell can use Merric's tome and has an okay staff rank so you'll want him. Wolf, Sedgar and Hardin are all really good. Wolf and Sedgar make Heroes or Generals, maybe even Warrior Wolf for the extra str growth and a guaranteed str every level (possibly +2). Don't use Cord, he takes too long to get going, and Nabarl is a worse version of Ogma mostly.

[Strunk]

Julian really is the best thief you are going to get. The other one is weaker in pretty much every way. If you want to make him stronger, you could forge him an iron sword with +10 might, although it may be expensive.

As for your second healer, you probably should not use Wrys, as he has some of the worst stats out of your options. Merric could be switched to a healer if you felt like using somebody else as your mage, although mages are pretty useful sometimes, so you may feel the need for more than one. Also, while I do not use him, Wendell is said to be really helpful on Hard 5, at least for a while.

As for Wolf and Sedgar, they are two of the best units in the game. This is not just my opinion. They really are. They have great growths, better than most units do, and they will almost always be as good (or better) than your other units when they get promoted and up to the same level. I have heard that they are so good, they can actually make Hard 5 a bit too easy.

Hardin is usually considered almost as good as Cain and Able, which is pretty good, and I have heard that Nabarl can be good as a Cavalier or Myrmidon.

Also, this game has pretty much the worst story in the series, not because it is bad, but because it is shallow. If they put a bit more into it to flesh it out, it would be better. I think supports would help with that, too.

While I am posting here, I should include this. It is completely possible to beat Hard 5 without killing anybody off. There is never a time you absolutely need to kill anybody.

[General Horace]

If you plan on using a larger party, i'd only recommend using one of Wolf and Sedgar. They suck up a lot of potential exp for others, (don't get me wrong, they are well worth it) but if you use both, the payoff won't be a strong. I recommend Wolf, his bases are better.

[Dark Sage]

Its probably best to throw Sedgar and Wolf into various classes and see what sticks. Some people like to make them Sorcerers temporarily so they can get exp quicker thanks to staff use while finishing off a level on the next map. Personally I prefer training them as Warriors.

And yeah, use Windell. His weapon ranks are great so even when his stats start to lag later, he still is useful for his ability to use staves. Also he's good reclassed too, he can function well as a Sniper and Dracoknight in some maps.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

is a thief needed, for getting important items or opening doors?..., just having him along, but not being able to use him in combat kind of s....ks...

I'll keep Wolf for sure, would he make a good warrior?? need an axe user, ..was hoping to be albe to use Cord.. but he's still to weak...

Nabarl and Wyrs are going to be kicked..

for now, going to use Wendell (when I get him)..., besides Lena, is there going to be any other good healers or magic users?

[eclipse]

You'll need a thief to open chests in Chapter 6. After that, Marth gets an item that allows him to do the same. Door Keys can be bought eventually (don't remember when), and bridge keys are sold in Chapter 10 (buy two). The boss of Chapter 6 also drops five Master Keys, which open anything.

As for mages, Lena/Wendell can handle staffbot duties. If you absolutely, positively need a third staffbot, Boah will suffice (his growths are awful, but his bases are not).

[RaiTheNoblesse]

in that case, Julian can be neglected.. expect for chapter 6... (that's soon.... )

.. need 2 healers.... but 3 could really help a lot.. (and since not so many are capable of fighting anyways.. maybe I'll try 3 staff healrs..., or is it a bad idea to use 3??)

.. it's not easy keeping Wolf & co alive.., even Wolf himself right now can barerly survie anything... (and I can't send Shiida to help out.., she need's to take care of the thiefs on the way to the upper village.)...

I'll try to send Marth over the river..,(maybe I should try to attrackt less hunters with Wolf & Co.. then it might be easier)

Edited September 13, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[eclipse]

You just got a Ridersbane; put that to use.

[charlie_]

If Jagen is still alive, reclass him to Dracoknight and send him to help out Hardin's group (bring the ridersbane and some other weapons).

[RaiTheNoblesse]

took a small break..., I'm back

to save the Wolf's group (why are they all sooo weak in that group??), I might really have to use Jagen and reclass him into Draconkight.. (eventhouth I really didn't want to use him any more, he already stole to many Exp....), ...and maybe give him the Ridersbane,

was even thinking of reclassing Lena into a pegasus,, then maybe after the chapter reclass her back into a healer (?? bad idea??)...why is she (besides Jagen) the only one, that can reclass into a flying unit..., Merric or Nabarl would have been cool..

Edited September 16, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[charlie_]

Alternatively if you don't care about warpskip (I don't think you do) you could warp some of your units over to help Hardin's team.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

never used warping.. (in any FE, or don't really recall ever really using it seriously)., thought it was ment like for only warping a character away from one field next to the warp user or something like that.... ,going to try it out (would prefer to use the warp staff more than Jagen)

EDIT I: you can really warp a character anywhere on the map :D... (makes sense..., it's called a "teleport stafff" after all...).. warping Able over to the Wolf group (might even warp a healer or another 2nd character too.., took Wyrs with me too, till I reach Wendell)

EDIT II: the warp staff can really be usefull in this chapter.., I can use Shiida/Caeda more (like to help out Wolf & co), then let her fly back to lena and teleport her on the village (where the thiefs are headed...) or if she doesn't make it back in time, teleport Able or Marth to the village..(...holding that village is going to be another problem ...)

the staff only holdes 7 uses.., hope there'll be a possibilty to by one soon again.. (glad I hadn't use the staff yet..., now seeing just how usefull it can be, I thinking of still saving it and maybe using Jagen as a Draco instead...)

keeping Wolf & co all alive and trying to save the village befor the thieves steal from it, really is making this chapter very difficult.. .. either they should have made Wolf & co, a bit stronger or only let one (not two) thieves go after the village... (well Ridersbane is making it a bit easier..., I'm giving it to Able.. Shida has the wingspear)

EDIT III: bringing Shiida/Caeda close to Wolf & co.can very tricky.., if she comes to close, bow users can get attracked from the very west....(not allways, but often..)

EDIT IV: it might be possible to trick the archers into coming to Wolf & Co from the west passage, but luring them with Shiida/Caed, then letting Wolf & co escape from the east passage..

Edited September 16, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[charlie_]

There are 3 more Warp staves in later chapters. Don't waste it, but don't be afraid to use it.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

thanx, I'll try not to waste it

chapter 5 is turning out to be the one of the most difficulte ones... (like the beginning 3rd and 1st chapter..., well a bit more difficult then the 1st) .. when not allowing anyone to die and trying to get to the village before the thieves loot it....

just beaming Able to Wolf & co aid hasn't been sufficant enough, I even reclassed Jagen into a Dracoknight and flew him there to help out.., then Wolf & co., allways surive, but then I'm having probleme protecting Marths group , not enough manpower there anymore....

(Shiida/Caeda can't help, she's blocking of the thieves and the pegasus at the upper village..., she's also having a hard time..)

.. up to about now, I'd useally have a good "start path" and use a fist save.. but either I can't save all of Wolfs group or not all of Marths group..., it's really hard.. ; maybe I should wait with beaming Able, and let him help out a bit more in Marths group, and send Jagen at first only... or send both, but fly Jagen back earlier to Marth group, before all threats are gone in Wolf's group..

(like you're Sig, I'm going to do one too)

Edited September 16, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[PKL]

Are you going for all villages too? If you are, note that you might have a hard time due to the reinforcements. I recommend blocking off the forts after you help Hardin and co. and recruit Wendell. After the coast is clear, have someone take Caeda's spot in one of the forts if shes blocking one and have her take down the boss with Wing Spear, maybe with a bit of help if needed. Or you could kill the boss quickly so you dont have to worry about reinforcements.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

@ CR S0I: ha ha (you're avatar,.. you know Noblesse?? vampire look, red eyes, sparkles, bishi look,.. you know one manga?...)

_____

I'm going for the vilage.., I'm also helping Hardin's group before dealing with the thieves.. but the pegasus at the beginnig is a problem: about 40:60 Caeda'll dodge the pegasus, and about 70:30 she'll double hit it, but it wont (barely) die..., when she dodges the pegasus and doulbe hit's it, then she's got a change, I'm trying to save when she can do that, ...right before or when the thieves arrive.

(if nothing else goes wrong of course, the level has a few danger zones at the beginning, especially Marths group..)

if she's too busy, I might send (beam) some one up to block the north fort... (or try to get exp from them??)

(but up to now, I haven't survived till turn 9 ...)

Edited September 16, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[eclipse]

First and foremost, don't piss off the entire map at once. Wendell's group will stay still until you wander into the pegasus' range, IIRC. As for the stuff bugging the Wolfguard, send Sedgar west and north on turn 1 (do NOT pass the fort in the chokehold), and have everyone else shy away. Once the main bulk starts moving south towards him, have him run back to the main group, then have the main group start running east and north once they're on your tail. You'll need to move in such a way that they're stuck in the forests south while the rest of your guys escape north. Meanwhile, if the armors are giving you grief, either use Excalibur as chip damage and finish with Wing Spear/Rapier, or make sure you don't take more than one of them.

Lastly, pegasi hate Steel Bows. Take advantage of this if you can.

[General Horace]

remember if you don't want to use Jeigan, Hardin can use his silver lance (if it's still around) and the new ridersbane from last chapter too!

[RaiTheNoblesse]

First and foremost, don't piss off the entire map at once. Wendell's group will stay still until you wander into the pegasus' range, IIRC. As for the stuff bugging the Wolfguard, send Sedgar west and north on turn 1 (do NOT pass the fort in the chokehold), and have everyone else shy away. Once the main bulk starts moving south towards him, have him run back to the main group, then have the main group start running east and north once they're on your tail. You'll need to move in such a way that they're stuck in the forests south while the rest of your guys escape north. Meanwhile, if the armors are giving you grief, either use Excalibur as chip damage and finish with Wing Spear/Rapier, or make sure you don't take more than one of them.

Lastly, pegasi hate Steel Bows. Take advantage of this if you can.

Wendell's cavaliers always start to move on turn one, but not Wendell's pegasus and archer, those two wait till someone is in range... agree on trying not to bring Wendell's pegasus into action, till needed resp. till the cavaliers are already engage in action further south

I've tried a similar (small) "diversion" trick with Wolf's group, to keep the archers of their back...; if I try to complety escape with Wolf's group eastwards (while one goes west to atrack the goup), then one of the pegasus of the west group starts to move in and usally has the frist strike and double hits/kills the first of Wolf's group it's first hits......, maybe I should send Jagen or Able to cover their backs and make the pegasus attack them first instead..

agree, when taking on the armors, I'll try to use magic..

remember if you don't want to use Jeigan, Hardin can use his silver lance (if it's still around) and the new ridersbane from last chapter too!

maybe I should give Able both, the the silver lance (has a few but not many uses) besides the ridersbane, when helping out Wolf & co (then give either the silver or riderbane to one of Wolfs units)...then I can keep Jagen at the main (Marth) groupe... (at first I was planing on having Jagen keep the silber lance.., he can otherwise take a hitting but doesn't do soo much damage without the silver lace)

____

compard to the beginnings of the other chapters.., where it often ended up having to find "the one ideal" path to start the chapter.. there doesn't seem to be only one ideal path to start with in chapter 5... (except "try to attract as few enemies as possible"..., that's kind of important at the start of chapter 5)

____

EDIT: the archers here are hell.. they can take out Jagen with one attack (ether double or critically hit)..

if had let a few die before (chapters 1-4), then I might have been able to use Jagen less and give Able, Barst & co. more Exp..; but right now, with these characters, it's not working somehow....

maybe I'll try to upgrade another weapon..., think I upgraded the wingspear in chapter 4, I can still upgrade one more for chapter 5..., but a good upgrade costs about 5000-10'000 gold and I still have a few good weapons at the beginning of chapter 5:

Wing spear -upgraded- 11/28 uses (Caeda),

Riderbane 20/20 uses (Able),

Silver spear 7/20 uses (Jagen),

Rapier 15/28 uses (Marth),

Devil axt 23/25 uses (Barst),

Killing Edge 18/20 uses (Ogma),

Excalibur 26/33 uses (Merric),

Teleport staff 7/7 uses (Lena),

alle important characters have good weapons & co. , ..still have one throw axe 13/25 uses (Barst) and a few Javelins (Shiida, Able, Jagen..,) but I'm not making any real progress in chapter 5...

(it's starting to feel like the "most difficult" chapter so far, more difficult then the beginning of chapter 1 and 3 )

Edited September 17, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[eclipse]

How many turns is it taking for you to kill off the three cavaliers near Wendell?

[RaiTheNoblesse]

How many turns is it taking for you to kill off the three cavaliers near Wendell?

till about turn 5-6...

finally reached turn 7 with the 2nd save, without any deaths and almost all in a health postition ...( ...).. ... excpet at the beginning Caeda has to OHKO an archer, or it Jagen dies in the same turn

EDIT: omg totally forgot about the teleport staff!!... up to now, Caeda hasn't been able to take down that archer in the same turn (and therefore Jagen kept dying in turn 7...), but I can teleport someone to give that Archer the final blow

Edited September 17, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse

[Balcerzak]

if we were to split it, then maybe best into a

"h5 playthrough without any deaths, saving all villages and recruiting all characters (excpet for the bonus level charaters)" - thread..

or something like that.. (but for me I wouldn't mind if stayed or if it got split)

If you don't like the name I've chosen, you should have the ability to alter it by doing a "Use Full Editor" edit of your first post.

[RaiTheNoblesse]

If you don't like the name I've chosen, you should have the ability to alter it by doing a "Use Full Editor" edit of your first post.

thanx for everything!

changed the name a bit (the thread wasn't my idea, so I took my name out of the title).. also to encourage others to post their:

"h5 withtout any deaths" - playthroughs and/or tips..

_____________________________________________________

EDIT:

don't have anymore saves,

but at turn 7, ... finally made it through saving all of Wolfs & Marths group, fending of the thievs (from the village) recruiting Wendell and surving all of Wendell's enemies... and not having any critical threats within range (but still have a few enemies, Kights and pegasus ect. around)...

used the warp staff twice (once to warp Able to Wolfs group and once to take down an archer at turn 7....)

.not really sure how I made it so far...trying to reconstruct it complely would be harder than reconstructing chapter 3 or 1... (imo the hardest besides chapter 5)..

needed a bit of luck, like Wendell chose to attack Merric instead of Barst (very lucky ..), or having Caeda OHKO once in a while ect. ect....

=>

- but thanx to warping Able (with the ridersbane) and flying Jagen (as a Draco Knight) to Wolfs group ..then pulling Jagen back to Marths group, when 50% of the threat in Wols group was over (and not waiting till the thread in Wolfs group as completly over)

- also trying push and pull the archers back and forth, so they'd almost like not reach anyone till very late :they'd march towards Marths group then backward to Wolfs' groupe and forward again Marths.., something like that... ( Jagen helped there a bit too, attracking the archers a bit....)

- also in general not moving to far anywhere attracking to many enemies at once ("not pissing off the entire map at once"), except for those archers.. and later on moving towards the village (with Caeda)

- also having Caeda use an -upgraded- wing spear helped too... (she had to survive alone, without any help, while fending of one of "Wendells pegasus's" and the 2 thieves...)

.....

well, stil haven't finshed the chapter (still about 6 enmies left, and some reinforcements should show up soon too) .. but the most difficult part is survived...imo the most difficult beginning so far in FE SD h5.. (without any deaths. ect..).., just hope the boss wont turn out to be like the 3rd or 1st boss. (like the 4th boss would be nice, after such a hard level...)

__

@ Wolf, Sedgar(, Hardin) and Able...

Wolf and Sedgar are better (or will end up better) than Able? should I start to concentrate on Wolf (and Sedgar) instead of Able? or keep Able and Wolf or Sedgar?

Edited September 17, 2012 by RaiTheNoblesse