Hard Mode Playthrough

[VGE]

[Currently in progress]

I'm on Chapter 7 [Mia's chapter], and I'm wondering who I should use on this playthrough to make it...not as hard. I'm already planning on using Ike/Oscar, and Zihark/Ilyana. Who else should I use?

As for my healer, I'll most likely use Mist. Please be serious about this, and don't mention anyone who will make it harder, like Sothe.

Edited November 3, 2012 by etern

[dondon151]

use marcia, jill, and cavs; don't use anyone else (it'll make the game harder)

[Anouleth]

use marcia, jill, and cavs; don't use anyone else (it'll make the game harder)

Tanith, Muarim, and Reyson could all be added to that.

[Dr. Silent]

Ike, Oscar, Boyd, Soren, Marcia, Jill, Kieran, Mist and Reyson.

Nephenee, Calill, Ilyana (Randon growths only), Muarim, Astrid, Makalov, Tormod and possibly Stefan are all pretty good additions, too, although most are difficult to raise due to low joining levels.

It's better not to take on too many units or your team, minus Ike of course, can only realistically get to level 14 or thereabouts by Endgame.

Generals aren't recommended as, although they are great tanks in the first half of the game, fall well below par in the second half.

Myrmidons are really poor because they can't deal enough damage (something they never really get over due to average Str growths, low Str caps and being locked onto Swords) and are too fragile. Stefan is an exception as he joins pre-promoted with good stats for his level, although there are better units to use.

Never use more than two Sages, usually Soren + one who can wield heavier tomes.

Volke is also essential for treasure looting and occasionally stealing an item or two, but don't bother training him up.

For the most mobile team, Ike w. Knight Ring + Boots, Oscar, Kieran, Makalov, Astrid, Jill, Marcia, Mist and Reyson (and possibly Muarim if you feel there's room) is your best bet. Probably the best team in Random mode where you have more offensive freedom.

Oh, and for Endgame, Giffca is by far the best Royal to call.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Dr. Silent

[VGE]

Isn't there any way I can use a Good Ilyana support? It took me a while to get her, while keeping Boyd alive, so I wanna use her. :x

[ClLoulD]

Isn't there any way I can use a Good Ilyana support? It took me a while to get her, while keeping Boyd alive, so I wanna use her. :x

of course, although I myself prefer tormod (he would be more of a pain to train but he would end up slightly better) use Ilyana and soren (Use Ilyana to cover Sorens weaknesses like heavier tombs for example) also don't bother training units like rolf and arguably (and I will probably get criticized for this) Marcia, she comes at way too low a level at a crucial time when you get a lot of under leveled units joining like nephenee, kieran, mist and you will still probably be training Ilyana and units like Soren too, I usually wait for Tanith.

[Dr. Silent]

Isn't there any way I can use a Good Ilyana support? It took me a while to get her, while keeping Boyd alive, so I wanna use her. :x

Her five possible supports are Gatrie, Mia, Zihark, Mordecai and Lucia, who all range from mediocre to terrible. So no. However, she's a backliner who doesn't really need supports. Personally, I prefer Calill. The majority of her stats won't be as good as Ilyana's, but she is guaranteed better Spd and can wield the Rexbolt effectively (although an Arms Scroll will probably be needed to raise her weapon level from A to S by the time you get it), plus she can support with a character who's actually good (Nephenee). She joins pre-promoted too, which is a bonus as you have one less early-game unit to train up.

As for going through all that trouble to recruit her (although I have no idea why you sent Boyd, and not Ike, that way. Ike goes west with whatever, Boyd goes south with Poleaxe and Hammer to destroy the mounted units and the boss with little effort).

of course, although I myself prefer tormod (he would be more of a pain to train but he would end up slightly better) use Ilyana and soren (Use Ilyana to cover Sorens weaknesses like heavier tombs for example) also don't bother training units like rolf and arguably (and I will probably get criticized for this) Marcia, she comes at way too low a level at a crucial time when you get a lot of under leveled units joining like nephenee, kieran, mist and you will still probably be training Ilyana and units like Soren too, I usually wait for Tanith.

You're right. You are going to get criticized for that. If it's a toss up between Marcia and Nephenee, you want Marcia. Her aerial ability is incredibly useful and she will always have superior stats to Tanith when both are at the same level (except for less important things like Magic and Luck), although Tanith is usable enough in her own right. Marcia is worth training over all of the other units you mentioned, except Kieran. It is possible to use Tanith over her (much more possible than it is to use Haar over Jill, by any means), but the difference is very noticeable.

I agree that Tormod > Ilyana, and that Rolf isn't worth using, though.

[ClLoulD]

Also try not to use slow units like knights/generals or units like shinon either (No counter can become a problem) and try to complete each map in as few turns as possible (such as the prison map) so you can get the ultimate amount of BEXP.

[dondon151]

Tanith, Muarim, and Reyson could all be added to that.

i guess mordecai too

the point is, "make this playthrough not as hard" and "use zihark/ilyana" are contradictory

[ClLoulD]

i guess mordecai too

the point is, "make this playthrough not as hard" and "use zihark/ilyana" are contradictory

Ilyana is salavageable, Zihark seems pointless though as Stefan comes 5 chapters later with a 15 level leap.

[Dr. Silent]

i guess mordecai too

the point is, "make this playthrough not as hard" and "use zihark/ilyana" are contradictory

Mordecai joins too underlevelled to be much use. Because Laguz Exp metres grow really slowly, he'll be at a lower level than Muarim when Muarim joins, and they're pretty much the same unit if they're both at the same level, so just use Muarim.

[VGE]

As for going through all that trouble to recruit her (although I have no idea why you sent Boyd, and not Ike, that way. Ike goes west with whatever, Boyd goes south with Poleaxe and Hammer to destroy the mounted units and the boss with little effort).

> Boyd died when he went south

> Ike goes left so I can recruit Ilyana, and hope to have her get some experience.

Also try not to use slow units like knights/generals or units like shinon either (No counter can become a problem) and try to complete each map in as few turns as possible (such as the prison map) so you can get the ultimate amount of BEXP.

I currently am at the prison map. But I don't know how to do it stealth-wise, while getting Neph-Brom, and all the chests. :x

[dondon151]

Mordecai joins too underlevelled to be much use. Because Laguz Exp metres grow really slowly, he'll be at a lower level than Muarim when Muarim joins, and they're pretty much the same unit if they're both at the same level, so just use Muarim.

muarim doesn't have smite

[VGE]

You can give him Smite in about 5 chapters.

Muarim joins, Chapter 16. You get the Smite skill, Chapter 20, but can assign it in Chapter 21.

Edit: For the record, I DO want to use Rolf, but only to be able to kill that Meteor dick in Chapter 17, area 4. That is to say, I have no real intention of using him, it's just... he's the fastest way to kill that Meteor, if Jill & Marcia have received bad RNG level ups.

Edited November 8, 2012 by etern

[ClLoulD]

> Boyd died when he went south

> Ike goes left so I can recruit Ilyana, and hope to have her get some experience.

I currently am at the prison map. But I don't know how to do it stealth-wise, while getting Neph-Brom, and all the chests. :x

Someone made a thread on it with loads of different ways of getting characters and the chests (although the chests aren't necessary)

For the record, Nephenee yes, Brom no :( He'll fall behind in later chapters and besides I find gatrie to be better and on hard mode I'd be hesitant in using him.

[Dr. Silent]

Boyd shouldn't be getting killed going south unless you didn't level him up enough earlier on, but this is irrelevant anyway as you're past that point.

Mordecai gets Smite yes but that doesn't justify training him up. Muarim will be joining at a higher level with better stats.

Don't use Rolf, he's a waste of time. To avoid Jill and Marcia getting RNG screwed, use BExp resets. The chances of both of them getting RNG screwed are extremely slim, however.

Don't use Generals at all. Their piss-poor mobility and crap Res will easily get the better of them late-game. Great tanks early on, but you kinda need Gatrie in those chapters anyway.

[Shadow Mir]

Boyd shouldn't be getting killed going south unless you didn't level him up enough earlier on, but this is irrelevant anyway as you're past that point.

Personally, I consider him better off going east with a forged iron axe than chancing Boyd's life going south and equipping him with the mega-heavy poleax that'll likely reduce his AS and dodge to the point that he'll get battered because his evade was ruined. Since he's past that point though, it's moot.

....And thinking about it, even if you wanted Boyd going south, a forged iron would be better than the poleax due to not being drearily inaccurate.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[VGE]

Don't use Rolf, he's a waste of time. To avoid Jill and Marcia getting RNG screwed, use BExp resets. The chances of both of them getting RNG screwed are extremely slim, however.

There isn't much for BEXP (as far as I know) in Hard Mode. Plus, considering Mist is a piece of crap in the BEGINNING, you'll need to BEXP her as well. So how on Earth am I to BEXP Mist, Marcia, and Jill?

[dondon151]

You can give him Smite in about 5 chapters.

Muarim joins, Chapter 16. You get the Smite skill, Chapter 20, but can assign it in Chapter 21.

that's not the point, and furthermore, 2 smites are better than 1

Mordecai gets Smite yes but that doesn't justify training him up. Muarim will be joining at a higher level with better stats.

did i say that mordecai should be trained? please tell me where i said that.

There isn't much for BEXP (as far as I know) in Hard Mode. Plus, considering Mist is a piece of crap in the BEGINNING, you'll need to BEXP her as well. So how on Earth am I to BEXP Mist, Marcia, and Jill?

easy. don't BEXP mist, because it's not worth it

Edited November 10, 2012 by dondon151

[Hawk King]

As long as you play semi-efficiently, there is a ton of Bexp to go around. The turn limits for each chapter are pretty generous, and if you stay under them get stealth in Chapter 10 and pacifism in Chapter 15 there will be roughly 10,000 Bexp through the course of the game. So if you want to train Mist or Rolf go for it. Just DONT train BOTH of them.

Just keep a "core" group of units that you use in every fight of about 8 units. Give Marcia and Jill about 5-10 levels worth of Bexp as soon as you get them. Use 5-7 Fliers/Mounts. And use Bexp liberally. There is no point to leave ~500 Bexp in the bank and be bringing frail under-leveled units into a fight.

As long as youre not training 20+ units, or doing some other stupid thing, FE9 HM is actually really easy.

[Dr. Silent]

Personally, I consider him better off going east with a forged iron axe than chancing Boyd's life going south and equipping him with the mega-heavy poleax that'll likely reduce his AS and dodge to the point that he'll get battered because his evade was ruined. Since he's past that point though, it's moot.

....And thinking about it, even if you wanted Boyd going south, a forged iron would be better than the poleax due to not being drearily inaccurate.

If Boyd dodges 2/6 attacks then he'll live. His HP should hit 40 pretty quickly. As for the Poleaxe, it's all dependent on how much you actually trained him. Boyd has very reliable Str growth, and if he's leveled enough it shouldn't reduce his AS and Dodge too much.

I use the same strategy in any playthrough, any difficulty. Position Boyd in the chokepoint, the mounted knights with Javelins will attack first, then move one space to either side. The four close-range units attack, and Boyd hopefully one-shots all four of them with the Poleaxe. If he doesn't, it's possible to plan around it, as not a whole lot happens down there for a couple of turns. Either way, Rhys moves up, heals Boyd, Boyd moves one space forward (still preventing enemies passing him), one-shots one of the Javelin throwers. At the enemy phase on the next turn, chances are five of the mounted units will be dead and Boyd can safely chase down the remaining mounted unit (which will retreat further away from the castle after attacking on the second turn).

I prefer to forge a Lance of some kind for Oscar in this chapter, as his Str won't quite be at Boyd's level and there are few sword-wielding enemies he can dig into.

There isn't much for BEXP (as far as I know) in Hard Mode. Plus, considering Mist is a piece of crap in the BEGINNING, you'll need to BEXP her as well. So how on Earth am I to BEXP Mist, Marcia, and Jill?

...don't BExp Mist? Mist should be trained up by having her heal as much as possible, even if it's only for 1HP. If she's still unpromoted by Chapter 18, use a Master Seal. Never waste BExp on units that don't attack.

A good way to buff her up in Chapter 17 is to let your units get poisoned wherever possible (and when it won't be much trouble) and have her on hand with a Restore staff.

[Shadow Mir]

If Boyd dodges 2/6 attacks then he'll live. His HP should hit 40 pretty quickly. As for the Poleaxe, it's all dependent on how much you actually trained him. Boyd has very reliable Str growth, and if he's leveled enough it shouldn't reduce his AS and Dodge too much.

I use the same strategy in any playthrough, any difficulty. Position Boyd in the chokepoint, the mounted knights with Javelins will attack first, then move one space to either side. The four close-range units attack, and Boyd hopefully one-shots all four of them with the Poleaxe. If he doesn't, it's possible to plan around it, as not a whole lot happens down there for a couple of turns. Either way, Rhys moves up, heals Boyd, Boyd moves one space forward (still preventing enemies passing him), one-shots one of the Javelin throwers. At the enemy phase on the next turn, chances are five of the mounted units will be dead and Boyd can safely chase down the remaining mounted unit (which will retreat further away from the castle after attacking on the second turn).

I prefer to forge a Lance of some kind for Oscar in this chapter, as his Str won't quite be at Boyd's level and there are few sword-wielding enemies he can dig into.

It really should go without saying that implying Boyd would have leveled enough to have maxed out at 40 HP that early is quite unrealistic indeed... And just how many levels are we assuming he gets? Personally, I'd try something else rather than a dodgy (read: unreliable) strategy such as that one. Especially noting that in a more realistic scenario, Boyd most definitely will NOT be OHKOing the Iron Sword Knight with the Poleax, and the Steel Sword Knight is also liable to survive.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[ClLoulD]

I just send Oscar south with the short spear he got from earlier, that's just me though.

[VGE]

If it's of any use, I have recorded Chapter 8, and can show what happened to Boyd, and how much he died. :/

[Agility]

I agree with hawk king, Only thing to worry about is ashnard and with the right motive you can defeat him.