[FE8] Long Hike Draft

[MancerNecro]

Alright, I think we'll wait for him to speak on that. We won't be getting anywhere near getting any Trainees except Ross for now anyway, lol.

[Ring Wraith]

The trainee thing is standard for most drafts. Ross it doesn't really matter for, since he come before the tower.

Also, drafts can be fun or competitive, your turncounts are your own goals, do what you will.

[MancerNecro]

Can Undrafted Units visit villages? Like the villages in Chapter 2 for instance?

And, I think I'm likely to take a more casual playthrough, since it's my first Draft and all.

[Kon]

No, undrafted units can not visit villages. And don't sweat about turncounts, they're not that big of a deal.

EDIT: I'll put my chapter 2 progress here instead as it went over to the next page.

Chapter 2 9/17

Eirika got the Red Gem and killed shit like she always does. Oh, and Ross helped! Although he was at risk of dying a lot. ^_^;

Unit    Level HP  STR SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WPN     
Eirika  06.10 19   05  12  12  08  05  02 D Sword
Ross   04.77 16   06  03  04  08  05  02 E Axe

Edited October 4, 2012 by Kon

[MancerNecro]

[spoiler=Chapter 2: The Protected] [spoiler=Pre-Chapter Stuffs]

Received the 5000G from Fado.

Gave all of the other characters' items to Supply.

Gave Eirika Franz's Iron Sword and 2 Vulneraries.

[spoiler=Characters]

Our first Pegasus Knight, that is sadly on a Mount. She is useful as a Rescuer to help rescue NPCs and other stuff, much more so than the Cavaliers or Paladins because of her ability to ignore Terrain. Still, she'll be used seldom, cause there's not much Chapters that require that rescuing.

Our first healer/priest. Too bad he's not our Drafted Unit. He's just going to sit somewhere and do nothing, except for a bit of Rescuing in this Chapter.

The first Trainee, and the only one we'll have for a long time. He's not a Drafted Unit though.

Finally, our first non-Lord useable unit. He makes a decent Axe-Wielder, although I'm planning to Class Change him over to a Hero and not a Warrior. He's going to be our Garm-User in the lategame, if his worthiness makes it that far.

[spoiler=Attempt 1: 11 Turns]

I started out the Chapter slow, visiting both villagers, recruiting both NPCs.

After that, I rushed the Chapter with Eirika and Garcia. Garcia took a few kills while Eirika took the majority of the kills. The third village at the Southeast was destroyed, unfortunately, since I wasted time in getting all of the items from the villages.

[spoiler=Level Ups]

Several decent Level Ups in this Chapter. Eirika got Str blessed, gaining Str in all 3 Level Ups she got in this Chapter. This will really make her useable for quite a while after this, even when she can't promote and has to stay 20/-- after that.

Current Turn Count: 27

Edited October 4, 2012 by MancerNecro

[Kon]

Chapter 3 13/30

Ross got the boss kill! And I didn't bother with the chests, 'cause what's the point?

Unit    Level HP  STR SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WPN 	
Eirika  07.78 20   05  12  12  09  06  03 C Sword
Ross   08.79 20   08  04  04  10  07  02 D Axe
Colm    03.43 19   05  04  10  08  04  02 E Sword
Garcia  04.70            BASE

Eirika will gain Strength soon, right?

Edited October 4, 2012 by Kon

[MancerNecro]

[spoiler=Chapter 3: The Bandits of Borgo]

[spoiler=Pre-Chapter Stuffs]

Gave all of Ross's items to the Supply.

Gave Eirika's Rapier to the Supply and retrieved a Steel Sword (Seth's) for her.

Gave Ross's Hatchet and 2 Vulneraries to Garcia while relieving him of the Hand Axe.

[spoiler=Characters]

Oh yes, our first Drafted Unit. She's a pain to train in the beginning, but she's end up pretty good, strong and speedy in the end. Only problem is that I have to promote her into a Sniper and not a Ranger. Still good though, since she can use the odd Ballistaes now. Oh, and Neimi's going to be my Niddhogg user.

A Thief. One of the only two possible Rogues in the game (both of which are not Drafted by me). The only sad thing is that he wastes a Lockpick use right at the start when he opens that Door. Otherwise, he's just going to do nothing at all for the rest of the game. His Lockpick can be used by either Joshua or Marisa (leaning towards Marisa, since Joshua will be a decent fighter already when Marisa joins) if they promote into an Assassin. Otherwise, I'll have to rely on Door and Chest Keys for the most part to get by.

[spoiler=Attempt 1: Failed]

I start of by breaking the wall just in front of us.

Eirika attacks the Brigand just behind and finishes him off on the Enemy Phase to receive a Door Key.

Colm recruited.

Eirika heals up with a Vulnerary.

While Garcia takes the Door Key from her and opens the door to the South.

The Brigand inside challenges us, but dies and we get his Chest Key.

Breaking the next wall.

Neimi dies cause she missed her attack on the Brigand when I tried to give her that kill.

[spoiler=Attempt 2: 12 Turns]

I start off the same way, by destroying the first wall.

Deja vu alert!

Garcia opens the door... Again...

Only thing different is that I Rescued Colm with Vanessa instead of recruiting him (see Vanessa carrying a Green Unit in the corner, I forgot to screenshot the Rescue).

And I set up Neimi to get the kill on the Brigand and receive the Chest Key.

Garcia and Eirika break that wall.

The Archer goes in to attack Neimi, the Brigand attacks Eirika. Neimi managed to kill the Archer while Eirika got the Brigand kill.

From there, I sent Neimi and Garcia up to the single Brigand for exp and to get the Hand Axe.

Eirika went by the main way and dealt with the other units (doubling even the Thief).

In the end, Eirika was the one who got the kill on the boss, since both Garcia and Neimi missed their shots.

Throne seized.

[spoiler=Level Ups]

Nice level ups. Sadly, Eirika didn't get any more points in Str, but she already has 9 Str, so I suppose that will last her for a while.

Current Turn Count: 39

Hmm, I think she should get more Str soon. Well, Eirika's Str Growth is at a level where it's either hit or miss for the stat ups. She can be Str Blessed or Str Screwed very easily.

Edited October 4, 2012 by MancerNecro

[Might Gaine]

Okay, I'm back. Was playing 'till 3AM, then sleeping 'till a bit ago. First, question-answering for Mancer: You aren't forced to use units you've drafted, although I would recommend that you do.

The Valni tower is banned EXCEPT for boosting trainees to their first promotion. I meant to include that, but forgot. Sorry.

Taking advantage of the RNG once, twice, or even three times is fine. Doing so repeatedly and consistently is abuse, which is not fine.

Anyhow, I cleared up through chapter 8 last night so there's a good bit to update for you all. Just lemme bring up the word document I saved it in.

Chapter 2: 8 turns

Chapter 3: 16 turns

Chapter 4: 9 turns

Chapter 5 (now with commentary!): 13/4 turns. Natasha got attacked, Moulder again looked death in the face and made death blink, Gilliam and Garcia got nice level ups and proceeded to just wreck shit. I was successfully able to overcome my instincts and never used the Arena once. Disappointed in that two enemy units weren't dead, but they weren't worth wasting a turn on. Decided to begin adding commentary.

Chapter 5x: 18 turns. Solo'd with Ephraim, as per the rules. Ephraim got several VERY awesome level ups. Once more, a few enemies managed to escape the bloodbath, but it's not a problem given how thoroughly Ephraim introduced them to the concept of terror by single-handedly slaughtering 95% of everything inside.

Ephraim: LV 12 EXP 84, STR 10, SKILL 12, SPD 14, LCK 12, DEF 11, RES 5

Chapter 6: turn count: 15. Moulder continues his grand tradition of giving death the middle finger. Given that he can't even fight back yet, ir'a likw he's suddenly the manliest man since they started keeping track of manliness. Either that, or he's secretly a ninja priest. Or a Time Lord. Sadly, however, even Moulder's nigh-invincible manliness wasn't enough to save the hapless Renais citizens. Garcia and Gilliam roughly tied for kills. Current LVs at this point: 15 Eirika, 14 Gilliam, 7 Moulder, and 15 Garcia.

Chapter 7: turn count: 15. Gilliam and Garcia go on a rampage towards Renvall, seekibng to avenge the Renais NPCs who got killed last chapter. Moulder finally gets a half-decent amount of manly experience points over the course of a single chapter.

Chapter 8: turn count: 19. Ephraim, upon arrival, immediately resumes the bloodbath from 5x and gets an awesome level up. Garcia heads over to rendezvous with him, while Eirika and Gilliam - supported by Moulder the Manly - go north, intent on the throne, leaving only broken corpses in their wake. Eirika gets beaten down to 2 HP, but a manly Mending from Moulder promptly fixes that. Eirika reaches LV 20. Several turns later, Garcia reaches LV19 and maxes out STR. Gilliam kills the boss and reaches LV20.

Eirika: LV 20, HP 29, STR 11, SKILL 19, SPD 19, LCK 15, DEF 7, RES 6

Gilliam: LV 20, HP 40, STR 15, SKILL 10, SPD 6, LCK 8, DEF 17, RES 6

Moulder: LV 10, EXP 08, MAG 7, SKILL 9, SPD 13, LCK 3, DEF 6, RES 7

Garcia: LV 19, EXP 20, STR 20, SKILL 14, SPD 9, LCK 8, DEF 7, RES 5'

I forgot to record Ephraim's level and stats, but I recall that he's around LV16 or so and most of his stats are 14 or higher except for RES.

Embarked on Eirika route.

I've still got the Knight Crest, and am torn between using it now on Gilliam or saving it for Amelia, whom I will recruit next chapter.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[CT075]

i would recommend that you focus on the strongest units on your team and leave the rest in the dust

[Might Gaine]

Gilliam and Garcia might currently be my strongest units, but Amelia has consistently been THE strongest unit in most of my other playthroughs.... Wait a sec. I already have a Guiding Ring for Moulder, and I'm sure that at some point there'll be a Hero Crest for Garcia, so I can juse use the Master Seal on Amelia. Alright then. I'll make Gilliam into a Great Knight once I start up the game again.

EDIT: Just checked the item locations, so my general plan for the next few chapters is set.

Also, I need to edit this into the original post, but tower use for the recruits is not included for overall turncount.

Also, I haven't used any of the stat-boosting items yet, although use of them IS permitted. Just in case anybody was wondering.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[CT075]

a) amelia's averages aren't substantially higher than any other unit in this game - she in fact loses to garcia in basically everything that matters (garcia's speed is fixed by garm or a speedwing, where speedwings on amelia basically make her go from overkill speed to more overkill speed)

b) i guarantee you that amelia will never make up the turns you lose in training her, ESPECIALLY since you can't have her go paladin for rescuetrains

edit

god dammit i have free time this weekend i'm going to ghost one of these for the hell of it

Edited October 4, 2012 by CT075

[Might Gaine]

I almost never use Rescue anyway unless a unit is about to die and, well, in need of rescue.

Finally - and I don't mean to be rude or offensive - but it feels to me like you're preaching. About how one of my favorite characters is worthless. Please cut it out. I don't care if I win or lose this draft, or even if I come in dead last place. I'm just trying to have fun. Don't spoil the experience for me.

In the future - and this applies to everyone - PLEASE, no dissing units.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[Ring Wraith]

In the future - and this applies to everyone - PLEASE, no dissing units.

Gheb sucks. His only redeemable quality is the joy I get from seeing him die, which seems to happen every time I play the game. His character is the most awful thing I've ever seen, and his growths ensure that he won't have any use after the first chapter. Indeed, he seems impossible to level up.

Oh yeah, and Gheb's hideous to look upon. Seriously, the only thing that could possibly be more repulsive would be his mother.

[Might Gaine]

I let that slide only because I have no idea who it is and, more importantly, because he's not an FE8 unit and this is an FE8 draft thread. But I was being serious. I don't want unit bashing on this thread.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[Ring Wraith]

I let that slide only because I have no idea who it is and, more importantly, because he's not an FE8 unit and this is an FE8 draft thread. But I was being serious. I don't want unit bashing on this thread.

Gheb is an FE8 unit. He tries to rape Tana in 9B.

[Kon]

You mean you don't remember the guy who essentially sent your Goddess to die? That's a little surprising. And Cam isn't basing Amelia, she really isn't all that fantastic of a unit compared to her peers. TBH, Ross is the best of all the Trainees 'cause his availability isn't ass and he doesn't have much competition among Axe-users.

Chapter 4 9/39

Let's split up gang! Ross and Garcia, you'll go down the middle and wreck shit, Eirika will vanquish the evil snag and meet up with the other two. And Colm... can go sit in the forest to deal with those reinforcement zombies.

Chapter 5 11/50

Everyone slowly made their way up north, with Ross and Colm taking down those Bandits that spawn to the left. Colm took on Joshua like a man so he could be recruited and shoved out of the way. I got to all the villages but the Dracoshield village and Eirika killed the boss.

Chapter 5x 28/78

Wow, I took this one really slow, didn't I? Oh well, I did manage to get the treasure and got Ephraim some great levels, so I don't mind. And as a personal bonus, Orson died right before I claimed the throne. ;D

Unit Level HP STR SKL SPD LCK DEF RES WPN

Eirika 12.85 24 06 15 17 12 08 04 B Sword

Ross 03.09 25 12 07 07 11 08 03 C Axe

Garcia 08.09 32 08 07 07 04 07 01 C Axe

Colm 08.35 22 07 06 13 09 05 02 D Sword

Ephraim 12.22 30 13 12 13 15 08 02 C Lance

I made Ross eat the Secret Book to fix his cruddy Skill.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Kon

[CT075]

In the future - and this applies to everyone - PLEASE, no dissing units.

or what

[Might Gaine]

I don't pay attention to enemy names, and I've been skipping cutscenes on this playthrough. But when I said no dissing, I meant playable units. Kinda thought it was obvious.

Of course I can't enforce the "no dissing". I realize there's nothing I can do to make you. That's why I'm asking nicely and trying to be civil.

I'm going to go ahead and start up the game again, then.

Pre-chapter 9: promoting LV20 Gilliam to Great Knight.

HP 43, STR 17, SKILL 11, SPD 8, DEF 19, RES 7.

Ross is a great trainee. I just like Amelia better.

Amelia just showed up a turn or two ago, no sign of Gheb.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[Baldrick]

Gheb only appears on Ephraim's mode.

[Might Gaine]

Given that I haven't played Ephraim's mode in literally YEARS, then, that would explain why I hadn't the faintest clue of who he was.

Chapter 9: turncount 19.

Eirika and Gilliam charge towards the boss and where Amelia will be, while Garcia hangs back a bit to mop up the Pirates and reinforcements. Garcia reaches LV20. Amelia is recruited, and reaches LV 4.67. Without me having to spend a single extra turn taking care of her.

Stats: LV4.67, HP 18, STR 6, SKILL 8, SPD 7, LCK 8, DEF 6, RES 3.

Going to Tower her the rest of the way to Knight.

Now preparing to start chapter 10. Just promoted Amelia to Knight. Her new, current stats as a LV1 Knight are

HP 24, STR 10, SKILL 10, SPD 10, LCK 11, DEF 9, RES 4.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[Integrity]

Without me having to spend a single extra turn taking care of her.

Look, mate, you can go ahead and like who you want, and I really didn't want to get into this, but this is kind of terrible logic given

Chapter 9: turncount 19.

I hate to use myself as the metric here, but I did the Infantry Draft thing a while back (it was crashgordon's one good idea ever!), also went Eirika route, also recruited Amelia and, well,

9: 9 turns clear = 69 (huh huh) turns total

An 8 was EASILY possible but I decided to stall. One extra turn earned me both Amelia and the Rapier, and I thought it worthwhile.

Ross promoted and was like FUCK YOU I DO WHAT I WANT. Bishop!Artur started the map by critting like three dudes and I lol'd.

Oh yeah, went Eirika route.

My team was bigger, definitely (it was a three-man draft) but not eleven turns bigger. And I'm not even the super awesomest best at FE8.

tl;dr: of course amelia doesn't "take turns" to train at slower speeds - and I restate, like whatever units you please, just don't spout passive-aggressive stuff like this

[Might Gaine]

I really am sorry for getting in such a huff about it. I've been told repeatedly that I take things too seriously. It's just... it's starting become a sore topic.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[Integrity]

I really am sorry for getting in such a huff about it. I've been told repeatedly that I take things too seriously.

No worries. All you have to learn to do is divorce the concepts of "i like amelia" and "amelia is a good unit." For example, I love Neimi to death. Neimi is also basically objectively shit at just about everything. This does not cause a paradox.

[Might Gaine]

I think part of it is that I literally never bother with efficiency (usually I grind the hell out of EVERYTHING), so I appear to have a different perspective/definition of what does or doesn't make a good unit. Amelia and Nino - in my experience, and as an example - if given proper care and leveling, are often able to single-handedly wipe out massive swathes of enemies. I like this. I like it a lot. Marcus starts out fine, but I find that using him becomes less and less effective as time passes, as he's frequently unable to catch up with the rest of the army in terms of ability, until he's more of a hindrance than an asset.

Also, I noticed earlier, but might that be Yomiko Readman in your signature?

Edited October 4, 2012 by Might Gaine

[MancerNecro]

Oh wow, you guys made so much progress, it's not even funny... I'll continue my progress today after my school ends...

Edited October 4, 2012 by MancerNecro