Maniac Mode, Fixed Mode Playthrough

[XeKr]

[spoiler=Links for MM, Fixed, LTC]

Prologue (4/4), Chapter 1 (2/6), Chapter 2 (5/11)

Chapter 3 (3/14)

Edited April 12, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Hey all, with Awakening coming out I’ve been easing back into FE. I used to post a bit on the Gamefaqs RD board as Voidtemplar, tier lists and whatnot. Lurk SF occasionally too.

PoR is probably my most played FE and I recently saw the English patch for Maniac. Playing Fixed mode just because. Not LTC b/c I’m easing in and I find some of those strats boring/luck-based and I like routing enemies. And who knows how hard Maniac is? >_> Probably standard relatively-efficient, recruit everyone, get every item, etc. I may do a LTC on another playthrough.

Team will be pretty cookie-cutter. Oscar-Kieran-Marcia-Tanith and Jill-Mist-Boyd-Titania-Ike-Soren. Probably no Astrid/Makalov because less Bexp and sharing Knight Ward in fixed mode is harder. Probably round out endgame with Geoffery/Elincia if deployment is the same.

With Soul’s playthrough in progress I won’t really comment as much on the earlier chapters. He’s covered those very well. Overall, I’ll mainly be noting differences with Hard since I played that a bunch. Maybe comment some on implications due to Fixed mode and stuff.

Briefly:

Prologue: Same. Maybe less exp? It has been a while. <_<

Chapter 1: Pretty hard actually, since I’m not letting Titania kill everything. Oscar and Boyd switch Bands. Seraph robe goes to Ike b/c he looks like he might like it. Also, no free Iron Swords as in the U.S. version. Strat is to use fence near bottom where enemies can attack but not move through. Need to be careful of Myrms that double Boyd. Bosskill to Boyd since he benefits most from these early levels to get the Str/Spd to use axes.

Chapter 2: Again fairly hard without Titania slaughterfest. Make a formation near the rock to protect Rhys. The Seraph Robe paid off and Ike tanked 3 enemies per turn nicely. Didn’t use Titania much at all. Feed kills to Boyd where possible. He can double some enemies, but has some accuracy issues (Tempest…). He got to level 5 by the end of this chapter which is where he gets a crucial Str/Spd point in Fixed mode. He’ll get the Speedwing too.

Chapter 3: Pretty easy if Ike gets the Seraph, since all your units will have good durability. Not much to say here. Shinion gonna weaken things. Gatrie gonna tank. Titania gonna Titania. Ike gets Knight Band also.

Chapter 4: Hard without Titania abuse until you realize Soren and Rhys can both take 1 hit from anything. Start moving to upper right initially then move across. The Seraph Robe is really helping Ike. Mostly fed kills to Soren. He gets Paladin Band. Titania/Boyd with Thief/Archer.

Chapter 5: It's pretty significant Boyd/Oscar missed the previous chapters and are pretty behind. Oscar, Gatrie, Titania south. Everyone else west. Need to be careful with Oscar and not let him get attacked by all the Cavs. Oscar is running low on Iron Lances so Gatrie traded him one since we won’t see him for a while. Ended up having Titania murder the bottom to get the Ashera Icon and Iron Blade. Probably used too many Hand Axe uses.

Chapter 6: Way more enemies and no one but Titania can orko. And they actually chase you once you leave the forest, which I don’t remember from before. Boyd has more accuracy issues, despite otherwise doing decent damage. Knight have really high defense. Mages do solid damage at good accuracy, making the top of the level pretty scary for anyone but Titania. Ended up having Boyd and Oscar stall on the bridge while Ike with Titania support takes on the top. After the boss talks, the bottom half rushes you. Oh, and Soren is running out of Wind spells :(.

Chapter 7: Had Titania rush the left because thieves come so early (Turn 2). Ike solo up from starting place. Others toward the middle. Wasn’t so bad, with Boyd now orko-ing some of the soldiers. Mainly just need to watch out for the reinforcements, especially the mages which hurt.

Chapter 8: You can forge Steel already, which is unexpected. Expensive though. Speaking of, Steel sucks in Fixed mode with –Spd and –Def. Unfortunately the extra might is probably necessary. –Str from Iron also no fun… Paladins at least get the Knight Ward later to compensate for speed loss from Steel. Marcia/Tanith might overkill speed. Boyd/Jill are sad.

Bexp’d Boyd to level 13, giving a great level up. Now at 14/14 Str/Spd and 8 Def. Sold the Ashera Icon and forged him an Iron Axe to solo the bottom though he didn’t really need it in retrospect with the Cavs around 25/9/9 Hp/AS/Def. Probably should have forged a Hand Axe or something. Bought a few Hand Axes because I anticipate the shop not cooperating like in Hard Mode. Ike/Soren on the left, though Ike still almost died. Titania solo right no problem. I forgot to buy an Iron Lance for Oscar and he was barely not doubling with Steel so he mainly played backup to Titania and Boyd.

Also, no Soldier Band? +Def is sadly lacking. Boyd would like it.

Summary so far:

Should be the real Hard Mode. Really fun.

Titania = op

Ike = ok with Seraph Robe. Probably terrible without. At least doubles everything and has the Regal Blade.

Oscar = meh

Boyd = pretty meh, but getting really good these last few chapters. WTA against lots of Cavs/Soldiers and ORKOs.

Soren = lolchip. Decent enough against Knights.

I’ll start taking some screenshots and such for the coming chapters. Progress will probably be slower. Moar later today maybe.

__________________________________________________

Chapter 9:

Forged an Iron Lance for Oscar/Marcia. Saving Bexp for Marcia/Kieran/Jill

[spoiler=Chpt 9 map overview]

Main difference is the enemy density in the north, particularly the mages.

[spoiler=Myrm stats]

Enemy stats are decent. Oscar/Ike/Boyd 3 or 2 round with a forge and still some accuracy issues. Don't have too much money yet either. Knights have 28/16 Hp/Def. Soldiers/Mages are weak overall.

Titania and Laguz go north because we're trying to get all the items. Others go south. Boyd is probably the MVP since orkos the knights with the Hammer. Soren is actually useful against them as well. Oscar/Ike act as tanks, especially for the Myrms.

[spoiler=Saving the village]

As it turns out, manually directing the Laguz barely gets them to block the village in time, since the sand slows Titania. Oh well, it still worked out. All for a Restore staff...

[spoiler=Reinforcements near castle]

Reinforcements after passing the tree are more numerous. Oscar/Ike tank them. You may want Titania using Lances if you're trying to blast through them for LTC, ignoring the villages. I don't think she doubles though, which may be troublesome. Maybe Spd-Blessed/higher level with the Speedwing. I feed Marcia some enemies and the boss using the Forged Iron.

For Chapter 10, Stealth is probably better since the bexp is the same. But I think I'll fight everything anyway, especially to get the treasure.

Any comments and suggestions very welcome.

Edited April 12, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Chapter 10:

Forged a Steel Lance for Oscar. Marcia/Jill will both use it too, and Steel Lances aren’t buyable this chapter. Buying Iron seems like a waste. Bought lots of Steel Axes and Hand Axes for later use, however. Sold some useless items like the Beorcguard and could sell others like the Talisman, Arms Scroll, or useless Bands for even more money. Gave all Bexp to Marcia, making her level 13.

[spoiler=Halberdier stats]

There’s few more enemies to kill, but it's not too hard. Most significant enemy is this guy on the Escape tile. Promoted enemies have way higher stats in MM.

For LTC you probably want to use the Stealth Bexp all on Marcia and Master Seal her if she's not already promoted by then. I’m not using any Master Seals because it doesn’t look like I'll need them. Also, I haven’t officially tested this, but if growth points don’t reset on promotion, leveling 20-21 actually gives you extra level worth of growth points, which is nice.

Chapter 11:

Forged Steel Axe for Kieran. Save Bexp for Jill. Map overview below. The right side didn’t change much.

[spoiler=Chpt 11 map overview]

Thieves start very close to the villages, so I send Titania toward the middle. She deals with the Mages the best by far as well. The Cavs at this point have 13/13/13 Str/Spd/Def which makes them fairly dangerous. Between all the enemies in the middle Titania used an Elixir. Marcia solo’d the right and top since she happened to one-round the Cavs with a forged Steel Lance. The Laguz worked as backup for her. Not that hard overall if you use Titania initially and then team up on the Cavs in the middle. Volke steals a Physic too, which probably wasn’t there before.

Boyd is really great and one rounds lots of things, even some Knights without a forge. He has 17/17 Str/Spd now. He also gets the Dracoshield since he doesn’t have high def, Earth support, or access to Sol.

Chapter 12:

Really no different except the Ravens have slightly higher stats. No one really has good offense against them, mostly 3hkos without doubling. Since they only come at you a few at a time, it’s still pretty easy to team up on them, feeding kills to your weaker units. Lots of exp to be had.

Chapter 13:

Bexp all to Jill. Seraph Robe to Marcia since she really needs the HP now. Her durability later on will be decent with Supports but those still need to build up. Also most of the other characters will have def, Sol, or Earth supports so I feel she’s the best candidate.

[spoiler=Chpt 13 map overview]

This is a much harder chapter due to several factors. The enemy density, the fact they all rush you across the 3 planks, and Ravens that want to steal your treasure.

If you want all the treasure, the easiest way is to let the ravens purposely steal a few on the left, but kill them before they escape. Volke grabs the right ones. You could rush all the chests, but it’s pretty hard to push toward the Occult scroll in the upper left quickly. Much easier this way. Keep in mind Ravens won't attack on enemy phase if Naesala has commanded them over to thieving mode. However, they will enter the green square for a gameover, so sit Gatrie or someone there.

Basically, Jill and Marcia take on the Ravens already on the field. Marcia ORKOs them with Forged Steel. Ike is shoved to recruit Astrid on the first turn. The Knight Ward will be shared between Oscar/Kieran until they have enough Speed. Then Titania will get it to finish up her leveling.

Oscar and Kieran take the right side, but actually had a hard time since they weren’t doubling and had accuracy issues. The Mages hurt them very hard as well. Titania went and helped out.

Boyd/Ike/Soren thin out the middle, with help from Jill/Marcia who hit-and-run. Boyd promotes.

[spoiler=Promoted Boyd stats]

The Speedwing has really helped Boyd. Ever since Chapter 7 or 8 his offense has been very reliable. The high Hp + Dracoshield make his durability quite good for now as well.

The swarms of enemies are still dangerous and then there’s these enemies…

[spoiler=Halberdier stats]

These guys guard the planks and are quite hard to kill, with no one doubling (Like 3 rounds with a forge). They don’t move at all though.

Why are they wearing white? >_>. I suppose Crimea is more Green-ish in this game...

[spoiler=Archer stats]

Just figured I’d show the weird stat distribution of these archers.

Still, everything worked pretty well and I even had time to farm some Exp on the Raven reinforcements with Jill/Marcia.

Chapter 14:

Jill gets the Speedwing because she doesn’t get the Knight Ward and her spd base is quite low. Titania gets Sol. Bexp to Soren since having another Staff user soon would be nice. He also gets the Energy Drop for the Str to use Thunder magic. Probably a waste but oh well, his offense is decent now.

The Chapter itself is quite easy, not so different from Hard. Marcia/Kieran/Oscar head up the left. Everyone else through the main bridge.

The only difference is these guys (and the Boss) moving which I don’t remember.

[spoiler=Tiger stats]

Pretty scary and caught me off guard at first. The Boss has a Killer Axe and can cause you to restart as well.

Chapter 15:

Really felt exactly the same, maybe the Laguz stats were higher. Some of them have 1-use Laguz Stones, which I don’t remember.

The Bexp is halved from Hard mode, so I routed the chapter for the exp. Oscar/Kieran/Marcia/Jill/Soren all promoted. Felt bad for the laguz slaves though :(.

Afterwards, Jill gets Vantage and Guard for the durability. She only gets a Mist support, and flies off on her own so I think it’ll be nice.

Between selling Master Seals, useless Stat Boosters (Secret Book, Statue Frag, etc), and the money the game throws at you, I’ve been easily funding all my Forging. Maybe I should save some for Silvers later, but right now it’s mostly used on the 1-2 range weapons. Don’t feel like using the Slim glitch atm. Overall I haven't been keeping track of specific forges as much and min-maxing stuff now that chapters are getting easier.

Chapter 16:

Haven’t beaten it yet. It’s annoying the Thieves come so early from way across the map. I only did 1 attempt before running out of time though.

[spoiler=Chpt 16 map overview]

The Myrms near the beginning are hard to double. The few promoted units are hard to kill. The mages are annoying (probably going to use Ward next time). The Knights in the middle congest everything. The stats of unpromoted enemies haven’t really changed that much though, which just goes to show why the earlier chapters were so hard.

[spoiler=Sniper stats]

Just showcasing the Sniper stats.

In summary:

Ike: lvl20lol. Tanky, but offense isn't great. He doubles most enemies but doesn't one-round them because lolswords. Mainly weakening enemies for others now.

Titania: still op. Starting to get about equal with the rest of the party now.

Oscar: Not great, but now promoted so we'll see. Also, Knight Ward should help. Durable though.

Boyd: gdlk. Stat booster'd though.

Soren: Attacking res is good. Staves

Mist: Staves

Marcia: Pretty great since she has the highest speed. Forges help her offense so she one-rounds lots of things others can't. She might fall behind later.

Kieran: Same as Oscar. Low speed hurts but it's picking up.

Jill: Not as good as Marcia due to the low base speed, but after catching up her durability is better. Speedwing helps.

This is almost a mini-walkthrough at this point. Any comments/suggestions welcome.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Xekr

[XeKr]

Chapter 16:

The chapter’s really not that bad if your units are promoted since the enemy is mostly not. With a lot of mounted units, it's easy to rush to the left treasure room with everyone and kill the Thief just as he opens the door. Without mounts...it's probably much harder. Could always use a leveled Volke to steal back stuff.

Chapter 17-1:

Dracoshield to Jill since she doesn’t have much avoid/Supports. Also she’ll be using the Full Guard.

In hindsight I shouldn’t have sold all my Master Seals, since now it’ll take Mist forever to promote. Since everyone else is promoted I use all my bexp on Mist.

Easy enough, with just a few more units than HM but they’re mostly weak. There’s a few strong units like a SM reinforcement with 21-22 speed and a Killing Edge.

Chapter 17-2

Again not that bad. The promoted enemies are still a little hard to kill, but they’re still pretty rare. The Paladins have solid stats around 17 Str/Spd/Def. Forgot to screenshot the map.

Chapter 17-3:

Ah, here’s an interesting chapter. From the start you can see the sheer numbers you’re up against.

[spoiler=Chpt 17-3 map overview]

Apologizes for the fog. Dolphin doesn’t render it well.

[spoiler=magic, bows, and swords]

Without lots of Javelins/Hand Axes, this chapter is pretty annoying. Luckily I bought tons in advance. The combination of Bow Users + Mages mean you’ll probably want a Pegasus w/ Full Guard or any defensive unit with Pure Water/Ward.

Anyways, Kieran/Oscar with Ward take on the south. Soren/Marcia take on the mages/myrms in the northeast corner.

Boyd/Titania/Jill to the upper left. I brought Muarim and Stefan as reinforcements for supplies and for backup. Not hard if you have enough 1-2 range weapons and the durability to survive the Bow/Magic combination.

[spoiler=Sage stats]

These Sages have some nice stats though. There’s a few interspersed in the South.

Chapter 17-4

This chapter is rather hard. There’s tons of enemies, many promoted, and the swamp to slow you down.

[spoiler=Chpt 17-4 map overview]

In general it’s pretty hard to one-round the promoted enemies, even with forges. They often have just enough Spd so that you can’t double. Or enough defense that your speedy units (Really just Marcia for me, since even Knight Ward’d Kieran/Oscar are borderline spd) can’t kill. And these guys…

[spoiler=That defense...]

Max Strength Ike with Ragnell can’t one-round these (43 mt with WTD for 18x2 damage). Yeah…

The objective is defeat boss, but Oliver seems to have gotten a buff…

[spoiler=So beautiful]

Jill, for example, probably has a hard time breaking through that Nosferatu. Also, Oliver’s bodyguards move in MM and actually do decent damage. There’s a Sniper, Sage, General with Silver Weapons.

A super bexp’d flier probably still can end it quickly but fliers on a balanced team like mine actually face a good chance of death if rushing the boss. I sent Jill over there (level 20/6, with Dracoshield, Full Guard, and Vantage/Guard) and she got pretty easily killed.

What ended up happening is I accidently triggered Tibarn and co. really early when killing the Meteor mage. They meatshielded while I cleaned up the starting area and pushed through the bottom. Then, rush to grab Adept from the Sniper in the corner and team up on Oliver.

I’m thinking a MM playthrough without all these toptier Horse/Flier units would be quite interesting. The mobility makes a big difference in the available strats.

Chapter 18:

Marcia gets Adept since her offense is already starting to lag with 3hkos everywhere. Ike gets Aether. It’ll give much needed, not overkill in MM, durability and offense. It is pretty OP, being Adept+Sol+Luna at Skill%.

He will get Resolve/Wrath later on for sure. I’m pretty lazy about manipulating Hp and abusing Wrath, so I’ll just keep it unused until then.

About the chapter, 17-4 seems to mark a turning point both in the story and the difficulty. Nearly all enemies are promoted now and so are quite strong.

[spoiler=Chpt 18 map overview left]

[spoiler=Chpt 18 map overview right]

Actually tbh some of the enemies stats are lower compared to 17-4. Only around 16 spd on the Halberdiers and etc. Still, there’s quite a significant number of Siege tomes which caught me off guard on my first attempt.

We get Tanith and Reyson, pretty much completing the team. Reyson gets the boots because it’s convenient for me. Also, apparently Reinforce gets MM bonuses…

[spoiler=op Falconknight]

Lol how ridiculous. About equal to 20/20 Tanith statwise. The Pegasus Knights can work as meat shields since they have max speed and decent avoid (~60).

Also a side note, my combat units are leveling like crazy, already at around 20/7 (Titania is like 20/11), which is way higher than I remember in HM. I think the enemy density contributes a lot to that. Consequently, Ike is pretty behind, though his stats are still pretty good because of his great promotion gains.

There's some weirdness in exp gain I've noticed, since some overleveled units like Titania actually get more or similar exp just hitting enemies without killing. It works well since they keep their levels up without taking kills. I forgot if it was that way in HM.

Edited December 18, 2012 by XeKr

[Hawk King]

Sorry this is a little late but LV 20-21 doesn't give an extra LV of "stat growth points" (IDK what to call them). It's complicated, but i've tested this out.

You can technically gain an extra LVs worth of stat points before promotion if you go from LV 19.99 - LV 20.99, but from promoted LV 1.00 to LV 1.99 you will gain absolutely nothing.

[XeKr]

Sorry this is a little late but LV 20-21 doesn't give an extra LV of "stat growth points" (IDK what to call them). It's complicated, but i've tested this out.

You can technically gain an extra LVs worth of stat points before promotion if you go from LV 19.99 - LV 20.99, but from promoted LV 1.00 to LV 1.99 you will gain absolutely nothing.

Ah interesting, I wonder why that is. This way, I suppose you’d actually lose a level if you use a Master Seal before 20? Or promoted level 1-2 exp does count in that case? Seems unnecessarily complicated...

_______________________________________

Chapter 18:

As seen in an earlier post, there are 6 Sages with Siege Tomes (around 3HKO on low res units) and the winding path + enemy density makes it annoying to get over there. Boyd is the only one who one-rounds most enemies without a forge. It doesn’t help lvl 1 Rolf needs to come along to recruit Shinion.

Using Reinforce to distract the Siege Tomes worked well. Looking back, I think Pure Waters were buyable as well (they definitely are by Chapter 19).

Chapter 19:

Didn’t feel that different except the enemies are slightly stronger. There’s not actually that many in a concentrated area, so it’s easy enough to team up on them. Push forward, lure Naesala, etc.

[spoiler=Chpt 19 map overview]

Surprising sparse map, especially when the ravens are gone.

[spoiler=Wyvern lord stats]

Falcon Knights against these = low damage.

Chapter 20:

Another fairly easy map. There are 2 Siege Tomes to watch out for those and a lot of enemies overall. The mounted support square goes northeast along with Jill. Fliers hit and run over the mountain.

These chapters are “easy” in the sense that the enemies don’t do that much damage, though it’s still relatively hard to kill them as well (especially Generals and Wyvern Lords). Most characters require forges for the more standard soldiers (Halberdiers, Warriors, Paladins) and are borderline one-rounding them.

For some units like Marcia/Tanith with low defense and Supports not built up yet, they face decent hit rates (~40%) and can die if you’re not careful and they get swarmed/focused by Siege tomes. Other units like Titania/Boyd without Avoid supports can also die in the same circumstances if you’re not careful. But they’re less likely to fly off on their own, rather they’re often pushing in a group, so it’s not as big a deal.

[spoiler=Chpt 20 map overview]

Generals and Sages are the most dangerous, with accurate, solid damage. There’s not that many of them, however. Most enemies are still pretty weak. Reinforce distractions are always nice. The Falconknights will probably kill some of the Siege tome Sages for you as well.

Chapter 21:

A fun chapter. Lots of enemies and treasure. Sleep staves are annoying. I can never seem to dodge any, even my Falconknights w/ Pure Water.

[spoiler=Chpt 21 map overview]

The combination of Sleep Staff + Siege Tome is very dangerous, so moar Reinforce distractions!

I was actually caught off guard by the thieves arriving really early, so I had to send Marcia/Tanith to the bottom treasure room. Jill flew to take out the top Sleep Staff Bishop. But then Tauroneo started moving (I’m not sure if it’s a zone-triggered or turn-triggered movement. He reached the bottom treasure room just as the thief and my Falcon Knights were). I had to backtrack and fly Ike over. Meanwhile my other units cut through the main enemy force. Standard tactics apply.

[spoiler=Sage stats]

These Siege Tome users are the main challenge in the last few maps. Blizzard hits Pegasi hard as well. Coupled with Sleep Staves and the canals separating fliers from Restore Staff users, and it gets a little tricky.

[spoiler=General stats]

Oh look these guys again. Just wear them down with lots of weak hits you say?

[spoiler=wat]

Wat. Wrath? >_>

That definitely caught me off guard at first. Definitely should use high avoid units like Oscar/Kieran with A support and Axes.

[spoiler=Warrior stats]

[spoiler=Enemy reinforcements]

Also lots of reinforcements joining in on the fun with high Hp/Def and many with Short Axes.

I ended up routing the map with lots of distraction and weakening done by this lady…

[spoiler=MVP, MVP, MVP]

She even reached Ena first… >_>

[spoiler=stahp]

All-in-all, a good, really fun, way to cap off the Daein conquest.

Boyd gets Smite. Tanith gets Shade because Marcia is the main fighting Falcon. Kieran gets Sol first since he doesn’t have full Earth supports. Tanith gets the Energy Drop; maybe she’ll find it useful. Maybe should have given it to Titania, but I don’t think her offense is salvageable. I want Tanith to be reliably killing Sages at least and she should cap Str later with +Str Band and using Steel alot.

Next time…

[spoiler=Chpt 22 overview]

All the Bishops are armed too. -_-. Coupled with the highly mounted team, the status Bishops near the top, and the thieves already present on the map, I’ll probably just rout the map. I’m way too lazy to shove and watch all the Light magic animations. Why would the bishops be armed if they’re hostages….

In summary:

MM isn’t thaaat hard, though obviously lolfe9paladins, lolearthsupport and such. Really the enemies just aren't thaat threatening overall. I think it’s more appropriate to be HM and there should be another Lunatic mode-like setting where the enemy gets max Forged Weapons and skills. Don’t really need much adjustment to the enemy stats in my opinion. Just some +5 mt, +25 hit and some vantage/wrath/adept and it could be quite the challenge. Resolve in particular would be interesting to play around lategame. So much potential…

Again, Exp seems very plentiful compared to HM, with my combat units already around 20/12. They all have great stats, most have like 24+ spd, though offense is reliant on forges and even that’s often not enough to one-round.

[spoiler=Character summary/analysis]Ike: Ridiculous stats, but swordlock is terrible. He often doesn’t one-round even with Forged Steel. Basically relying on Killing Edge/Vague Katti/Aether which works well so far. Durability is absurd, as usual.

Titania: Ah Titania, it seems everyone just rushed past her. 17-4 when the enemy starts to get promoted there’s a big change in her performance. There was a point where she wasn’t even doubling but the Knight Ward is fixing that slowly. She mainly uses Killer Axes since Forged Steel doesn’t help. Still decent, considering people like Ike don’t really one-round either. Ike support and Sol ensure durability is fine.

Oscar: Very reliable. Solid offense, though borderline, and practically unkillable.

Boyd: By far the most reliable offense on the team. He’s the only one that orkos Generals, Wyvern Lords, and Warriors. He orkos Halberdiers, Snipers, Paladins at 1-2 range. That Str + Att Supports is not overkill in MM and instead very useful. The early Speedwing and Archer Band ensures he doubles mostly everything. Enemies like SMs no one really doubles. Though he doesn’t have a mount and doesn’t have the durability of the Paladins/Ike.

Soren: Attacking res is still good, particularly for the super def enemies. That Energy Drop and +Spd band means he consistently doubles most enemies with Elthunder, probably having the 2nd best offense next to Boyd. Staves are of course useful.

Mist: Staves are good. Sonic Sword can do some damage, but she’s way behind in levels. Probably will start using her more since Hammerne soon.

Marcia: Can no longer consistently one-round non-squishies, so her offense is mainly Killer Lance/Adept. Of course flight means she’s incredibly useful, particularly against Sages. Actually some durability problems even with a Seraph Robe since low defense and her Tanith support is still building.

Kieran: Nearly exactly the same as Oscar, even strength since Oscar has had a +Str band for more levels. Slightly worse durability but now has Sol.

Jill: A flying Oscar/Kieran. Vantage/Guard is an ok boost to durability. Main issue is Res, but Pure Water fixes it somewhat.

Tanith: Offense is reserved for killing squishies. Durability is like Marcia, though Shade helps slightly. Flight is of course useful. Reinforce is amazing utility.

Reyson: Heron. Knight Ring + Boots is quite fun.

Edited December 19, 2012 by XeKr

[Hawk King]

No, if you promote at LV 20.00 the the exp for LV 1.00 - 1.99 will count.

Basically the exp for LV 20-21 and 1-2 are linked. I assume to prevent the player from gaining the "extra LV".

For any LV you can gain the next levels stat increases early. If you go from someone's base LV, give them 99 exp, and the give them 100 Bexp up to 99 exp on the next LV you will gain a ton of stats. In some cases you will see +2's. But then when you give that character 1 exp for the next LV, they will be guaranteed to get nothing when they LV up because the stat points were already given on the previous LV up.

Good job on the play log btw. Maniac mode actually looks alot harder than Hard mode. the biggest difference i've noticed seems to be Chapter 18. There are like twice as many enemies there.

[XeKr]

No, if you promote at LV 20.00 the the exp for LV 1.00 - 1.99 will count.

Basically the exp for LV 20-21 and 1-2 are linked. I assume to prevent the player from gaining the "extra LV".

For any LV you can gain the next levels stat increases early. If you go from someone's base LV, give them 99 exp, and the give them 100 Bexp up to 99 exp on the next LV you will gain a ton of stats. In some cases you will see +2's. But then when you give that character 1 exp for the next LV, they will be guaranteed to get nothing when they LV up because the stat points were already given on the previous LV up.

Good job on the play log btw. Maniac mode actually looks alot harder than Hard mode. the biggest difference i've noticed seems to be Chapter 18. There are like twice as many enemies there.

Hmm, makes sense.

Maniac mode is way harder than Hard, but that's not really saying much. High durability + Reinforce mostly trivializes the maps so far. The hardest chapters were the early ones where I avoided using Titania. I'm mostly on cruise control and can usually deal with unexpected happenings. Still, reseting is a pain because of the animations. <_<

Thanks, though. ^_^

_____________________________________________________________

Chapter 22:

I did try a shoving strat at first but the middle is too full of Bishops + Snipers + Warriors with range and I got tired watching all the animations. >_>. Soren didn't have the Tome rank to use Meteor or even the Bolting you can get this chapter. Could have used Calill but eh...I don't know if she kills in 1 turn.

Even killing all the priests, Sleep Staff + Purge + Bolting is quite annoying. Pure Water + Reinforce tactics as usual still work.

Split up the team, making sure a Restore Staff user is on the right for the sleep staff bishop just in case. Let the Thieves steal 1 item and kill them. Use the dropped Chest Keys for the others.

Chapter 23:

The pitfalls are gimmicky, but there’s only like 1 Siege Tome so no one is very threatened. Reinforce + Ike with Provoke distract the Siege tomes and Ballista. Just keep Reyson out of range.

[spoiler=Chpt 23 map overview east]

[spoiler=Chpt 23 map overview west]

The chapter is a pretty straightforward charge. The first few turns you can move forward recklessly without worrying too much due to Reinforce. By the time the enemy kills them off, Reyson is about to transform and it’s easy to run right through.

The enemy stats are the same story, most units are borderline (you need around 40 att) with Silver Weapons, which are finally buyable. Ike can one-round some with the Silver Blade and has Killing Edge/Aether for about a 76% overall chance of one-rounding. Mist's offense is actually great, but her low Skl results in some accuracy issues. Maybe should have saved Secret Books for her. I underestimated the money the game throws at you. Titania/Marcia/Tanith have a harder time, but there’s lots of Sages and Snipers for them to kill. Adept + Killer Lance is also ~75% for Marcia to kill. I probably should have forged a Silver Lance first for her.

[spoiler=Titania being good again]

But Titania can actually one-round something again. Sometimes. With Forged Silver. >_>

But you can see what I mean about the enemies not being that threatening. This is Titania with no supports and she’s not exactly one of the most durable members of the party. Warriors are among the strongest enemies here with no Generals/Wyvern Lords around.

However, we do see the appearance of some Feral Ones. They’re few, which makes them not threatening, but they do decent damage at high accuracy.

[spoiler=Tiger stats]

Tigers have a nice combination of stats.

[spoiler=Cat stats]

Cats are a little hard to double as well.

Haar arrives, so I send Jill along with some of the slower moving units like Boyd back to kill the enemy reinforcements. Crimea comes and helps out, but they’re pretty weak and mostly distracted by Wyverns in the back. Pretty easy clear overall, despite me running into tons of pitfalls. <_<

Next time, Chapter 24.

[spoiler=Chpt 24 map overview SW]

[spoiler=Chpt 24 map overview middle and NE]

Looking through the map, there are way more enemies and enemy stats increased a little more, with the Paladins now around 20/20/20 Str/Spd/Def. Wyverns are at like 45/24/24 Hp/Str/Def. SMs at 18/24 Str/Spd. Basically the enemies are stronger than Geoffery (and the boss for that matter) so it’s necessary to rush over there. Looks to be an interesting chapter.

Some character stats for reference. Fixed Mode, but it might be interesting to some. Around the average except Def suffers from using Steel so much. Consequently Str is higher. KW keeps Spd high. Boyd/Jill are sad.

Name    Lvl       Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Skills                Supports           Stat Boosters
Ike     20/14.06  54  25   8  25  27  17  22  14  Provoke Aether        A Soren B Titania  Seraph Robe
Titania --/16.46  46  20   7  22  23  18  17  13  Sol                   A Boyd B Ike
Oscar   20/14.32  48  24   8  25  25  14  20  11                        A Kieran B Tanith
Boyd    20/13.20  56  28   1  24  24  14  16   8  Miracle Counter Smite A Titania B Mist   Speedwing Dracoshield
Soren   20/13.37  38   6  26  27  23  13   8  28  Adept                 A Ike              Energy Drop
Mist    20/ 8.04  33  12  23  12  20  21   9  20  Miracle               A Jill B Boyd
Marcia  20/15.02  47  23   7  24  28  16  16  18  Adept                 B Tanith B Kieran  Seraph Robe
Kieran  20/14.81  47  24   6  23  25  13  20  10  Sol                   A Oscar B Marcia
Jill    20/14.23  45  23   8  24  24  12  22  10  Vantage Guard         A Mist             Speedwing Dracoshield
Tanith  --/13.24  34  20  11  20  25  19  16  13  Shade Reinforce       B Marcia B Oscar   Energy Drop

Shade is probably better on Mist, but I haven’t had much trouble with her getting attacked so far. Provoke on Ike actually works to direct Ballista shots and Siege tomes on him and his gdlk durability. Of course it sucks he has no 1-2 range and doesn’t consistently one-round. But only Boyd/Soren have good 2 range anyway and I don’t think forging a Silver Sword is worth it. You only get so many of those, plus Silver Blades usually work and he still has the Vague Katti/Brave Sword to use before Ragnell.

EDIT: Sorry, but most likely no updates until Jan.

Edited December 22, 2012 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Chapter 24:

Oscar/Kieran/Marcia/Tanith through the middle. Everyone else upward. Jill flies solo toward Geoffery. A strong flier like Jill really has no problems getting to the arrive square quickly for a LTC clear. The Falconsknights can also work, but they rely more on Supports and dodging. Plus, you only have 1 Full Guard and the Ballista do serious damage (~44 mt) at what appears to be very high accuracy. The Wyverns will also congest the river area. Many have 1-2 range and they’re rather hard to kill.

I routed the map like usual. Avoid the Ballistas with your fliers and the chapter is rather easy. Most of Geoffery’s troops have decent defense so they can hold out for a while. Most of the enemy will charge your units in the middle. The boss and his Paladin troop charges around turn 8.

[spoiler=NW corner reinforcements]

Lots of reinforcements like these come fairly early. They quickly swarm the starting area. It’s useful to have a trained Sage with good avoid like Soren since he’s really the only one who orkos the Wyvern Lords at 1-2 range and therefore cleans them up at a reasonable pace.

[spoiler=berserker stats]

There are many Berserker reinforcements like these that you won’t see in HM.

[spoiler=congestion in the middle]

I’d imagine this kind of enemy composition is fairly hard to deal with without high def/avoid units. Paladins really are ridiculous in this game. The Falconknights can’t rely too much on avoid, especially with the Ballista near so they hit and run from the river.

On a side note, I’ve noticed quite a bit of stat variance (~3 pts) which leads to things such as some SMs with 26 Spd, Paladins with 22 spd. There can be quite a swing. Many characters have borderline offense that go from one-rounding cleanly to 3HKOs without doubling.

Also, another interesting sight that I unfortunately didn’t screenshot. The 2nd hit of Aether doing ‘No Damage’. Apparently if your weapon breaks just after the first hit, the second hit will tink.

Chapter 25:

Pretty hard chapter, relatively speaking. Horses are slowed down. Ballista hurts the Falconknights. ~4 Blizzard Tomes + 1 Purge Tome. A moving boss with Resolve + tons of Wyverns reinforcements. Onagers + Rolling rocks are annoying without a map, especially against Reyson.

[spoiler=chpt 25 map overview]

Without Fliers, you’ll just have to slowly move up, probably chugging Pure Water while Blizzard spells get rained down on you. It’s probably possible to avoid-tank them as well since there’s no Sleep staves.

Anyways, I just send Jill, Marcia, Tanith up through the middle. Oscar, Kieran, Geoffrey slowly up left. Titania and Boyd fought off the starting enemy wave on the right then went left. Ike and Soren went up right.

I decided to train Geoffery since I had the spot for him and it seems there’s plenty of exp to go around. He has Paragon, which is good, considering his combat is terrible at this point. Mainly had him snipe kills with a Killer Bow.

The Fliers went and sniped the Siege Tome users, Snipers, and the Boss. Not an easy task with the enemy density up north (like 10 Wyvern Lord reinforcements too). Damage from the rocks/Siege tomes add up even with Pure Water and the Ballista destroys fliers without Full Guard.

[spoiler=getting nearly trapped...]

They ended up in this kind of situation (Tanith had like 5 Hp and she generally faces ~40% hit rates against Feral ones. Got a fortunate dodge.). Luckily, fliers can still push Rocks, so Jill made an escape path. I ended up using a few of the limited Physic staff uses as well.

It seems that for these kinds of chapters you’ll need numerous well-trained units for efficient clears since enemies are pretty hard to kill even with max or near-max stats. A max level Sage w/ stat boosters (or forge glitch Thunder…) is probably the only one who orkos everything consistently (and likely still misses the SMs if not glitching). Or else I’d imagine you’d use something ridiculous like max Str/Spd Jill with Forged Javelin/Hand Axe + Adept/Wrath.

Chapter 26:

Numerous, varied enemy units are present in this map. You can field up to 19 characters, but any prepromo fillers you bring are likely weaker than the enemies and probably liabilities.

[spoiler=chpt 26 map overview SW]

[spoiler=chpt 26 map overview NE]

The map itself is easy enough, since it’s large and the enemies are pretty spread out. They charge you in groups as you get into range. Mounted units mostly head up except Jill and Titania who tag along with the rest heading left. Lead with high durability units like Oscar, Kieran north or Titania, Ike west and you can grind the enemy down on player phase.

There are several Siege Tomes scattered about but at this point they tend to target low res units with high avoid like Oscar/Kieran/Tanith or Ike with Provoke who easily shrugs them off. There’s a single Sleep Staff but fliers can snipe the Bishop easily with Reyson’s help before it does anything.

The wide open space can make it difficult to setup a formation protect low def characters (if you don’t feel like thinking much like me <_<). However, Provoke made enemies mostly avoid Mist (only SMs who double her would attack her) and Marcia/Tanith have decent avoid. They do need to beware of the Paladins with Silver Bows. Soren had Ike support and Provoke directed attacks away. Reyson lagged behind, though I suppose I could have started using Laguz Stones.

[spoiler=wyvern lord reinforcements]

Lots of Wyvern Lords and Paladin reinforcements come from the north. Still, it’s easy to weaken them on the enemy phase and charge through them on player phase with Reyson’s help. You’d need ridiculous offense and durability to one-round them all. Soren may be able to, but his avoid isn’t that great even with Supports. Boyd can orko the 1 range ones with Forged Silver. etcetc

Let’s look at the next chapter…

[spoiler=chpt 27 map overview]

From a glance, the enemy stats are even higher. Some 28 Spd Swordmasters and 30 Def Generals. Funfun.

[spoiler=some more character analysis...]

Ike: He plays a pretty unique role since he has amazing durability, Provoke and the Aether/Critical combination. He attracts Siege tomes/Ballistas and protects low Def/avo units like Boyd/Soren/Mist. He’s the one that fights off strong, high durability enemies the best overall (Wyverns/Tigers/Generals and sometimes Warriors) since he’ll actually kill maybe 70-80% of them without forges while not worrying at all about dying. That’s not bad considering accuracy issues of some characters as well as random enemy stat variation causing borderline Str/Spd to fail. However, Ike still has less consistent offense against Halberdiers and Paladins and such compared to others like Oscar/Kieran who are also functionally immortal.

Swordlock still sucks but very few characters have good 1-2 range. It’s mostly chip damage and sometimes it’s worth killing all the 1 range enemies versus chipping everyone. You usually have enough characters to kill them on player phase regardless.

Titania: Knight Ward spd growth has made Titania ok again. Decently consistent doubling lets her kill Snipers/Sages/Bishops. She also has very high durability with Ike support and Sol. Not amazing overall, but her offense isn’t so much worse than Jill’s, for example, and is comparable to Marcia and company.

Oscar: Same story as usual. FE9 Paladins are still ridiculous. Can orko most medium durability units like Halberdiers/Paladins/Warriors/Cats (the majority of enemies) with regular Silver (I tend to be conservative with Forges <_<). Stat variation can cause him to be borderline att or miss one-rounding however. Actually has A Axes for Silver Axe and max strength, so he and Kieran are basically identical.

Boyd: Max str + Att supports is very useful, but Spd is sometimes borderline and durability can be an issue. Those concerns are mostly masked by Ike’s Provoke, but Boyd does take substantial beatings for a frontliner. Still, the sheer Att difference between Boyd and the rest of the team means he has a key role in having consistent offense and fighting high durability enemies.

Soren: Very good 1-2 range and high avoid makes Soren a useful combat unit particularly against Wyverns/Generals/Feral Ones/Warriors. Adept/Critical chance is decently high at ~65% as well. Durability is a problem if swarmed by too many enemies. Also, his Spd is sometimes borderline against Paladins, Cats and such. Staves are useful as always though the characters who see the most combat (Ike and Paladins) don’t need much healing. It’s usually one of the fliers who needs healing after rushing off somewhere.

Mist: Offense is good, like Soren, but there are serious accuracy problems and borderline Spd. Durability is not good but she doesn’t see much Enemy phase combat. She plays the same role as Soren in hitting high Def/low Res/low Spd enemies hard.

Marcia: Offense-wise she needs a Silver Forge against the medium durability enemies and still doesn’t kill the high def enemies. There’s a lot of 3hkos, so Adept definitely helps. Durability is a very real concern since she doesn’t get A support with Tanith until Chapter 28. Bows are both very hard-hitting and accurate as well. Blizzard tomes are common and hit hard. Of course, flight is still the most crucial and useful characteristic amidst the amount of heavy terrain like rivers in 24 and cliffs in 25.

Kieran: Like mentioned earlier, basically identical to Oscar. Oscar has slightly more avoid with Tanith support, Kieran has 1 more mt with Marcia support, slightly more hit that doesn’t matter, and Sol. Oscar does have S rank lances whereas Kieran is stuck at C.

Jill: Without Mist’s Support, her offense without a Silver Forge isn’t that great, barely missing one-rounding most medium Def enemies. However now she has A Axes so that might improve. Still probably should have used an Energy Drop on her. With the Full Guard and Pure Water, she’s also functionally unkillable.

Tanith: Without a complete Marcia support and low Hp/Def, she can have a decent chance of dying when she and Marcia fly off without the Paladin supports. Shade helps in that respect since Marcia has much better Hp/Def. When near Oscar, she’s pretty immortal. Reinforce is a less useful now. They still distract some enemies the first turn or so, but they die off pretty quick. Still useful for Ballista/Siege tome bait early on while Fliers head off and snipe those enemies.

Reyson: He’s a heron. He improves player phase by an enormous amount. That’s more important in MM since it’s much harder (nearly impossible) to one-round everything on enemy phase. He’s one of the most important characters in my lazy, cruise-control “strategy” because of the flexibility he offers. Boots and Knight Ring help his mobility tremendously, especially the 10 move after transforming.

Geoffrey: Low bases for MM, but catches up quickly due to Paragon. Though even with the Knight Ward his Spd is pretty borderline. Mostly useful for his Bow Rank, especially against Wyvern Lords. Also has great durability even without Supports.

Elincia: Mobile filler healer.

[XeKr]

So I got extremely careless and failed at 27 a few times. Also Ike doesn’t want to Aether the BK…

Anyways, I’ve been inspired by some LTC/draft runs recently so I’ve started a MM, Fixed, LTC/efficiency playthrough, though progress will undoubtedly be very, very (very) slow. I’m also playing FE12 for the first time as well as other games on the side. Plus Awakening soon (as well as finishing this game…)

The main reason I’m willing to try this is Fixed mode means I can’t really rig growths (Since I find that boring and really don’t want to RNG abuse or cut the consistency of my strategies. >_>). Save states do mean I can try strategies easily despite the animations. I won’t be luck-manipulating for crits and such, or bexp abusing Fixed mode. Fixed mode roughly simulates (with a little +Str, -Spd, -Def) an average playthrough for Tier List/efficiency purposes which bexp abusing breaks. Forge glitch maybe since it is there. I don’t think I’ll be recruiting everyone/getting all items. Consistency is the main theme, along with fast, safe play.

Prologue (4/4): Same

Chapter 1 (2/6):

I have a pretty consistent 2 turn of Chapter 1 (~87.5%) that gets both items. Essentially the only luck is Ike needs to dodge 1 of 3 Axe hits at ~50% hit. It’s actually tricky since Ike cannot be blocked to the Seize, Oscar cannot be blocked to the Seraph Robe, Titania cannot be blocked to the boss, Boyd cannot be blocked to the Steel Sword (yes that happened >_>). No one but Titania can one-round and no one really has an action on player phase that isn’t crucial. It’s easy if you give up one of the items or Ike/Oscar get a lucky crit. The key is actually unequipping Titania so that enemy priority is Ike > Titania > Oscar so Oscar isn’t blocked.

Turn 1: Oscar trades Titania the Paladin Band, rescues Ike and cantos as far up as possible. Titania moves above Oscar, equips the Paladin Band, unequips her Axe, takes and drops Ike above her, then cantos above Ike. This prevents enemies from blocking Ike and luckily it works out they also don’t block Titania. Boyd does whatever (can chip for exp).

After enemy phase it looks like this (I moved Boyd to get the Steel Sword already before screenshoting).

[spoiler=chpt 1. start of turn 2]

Turn 2: Boyd gets Steel Sword. Oscar gets Seraph Robe. Titania kills the boss with Iron. Ike seizes.

At this point I’m not sure how much min-maxing Fixed mode growth points I’m willing to do. However, right now I’m just going for as much Speed as possible on Titania since Steel/Ranged weapons will lower that growth. Spd is the primary limiting factor I’ve noticed in my first playthrough. However this does mean I’ll miss out on a Str proc on lvl 2. It is possible to micromanage the Str growth points due to the fighter/bandits and Fighter Band but I’m still more worried about running out of Steel Axes uses and Spd rather than Str. At this point I don’t think it matters, but I may be very wrong. Oh well. >_>.

Chapter 2: (5/11)

*sigh* This chapter…

Ike sucks. Oscar sucks. Boyd sucks and is inaccurate. All 3 have pretty low durability. There are 3 (9 uses) Vulneraries on Myrms near the start which are 3hko’d by your characters (not to mention Boyd can’t really hit them and is doubled). It is critical that you don’t let enemies into the single digit HP or they’ll run away and spam Vulneraries, which increases TCs by a lot.

The only 4 turn strategies I found rely heavily on a very low percent crit on the exact right enemy at the right time or dodging many relatively high percentage hits, combined with all the other misc RNG stuff. Maybe someone else will have better luck to find a good strat. Though I’m also in Fixed Mode so Ike has -1 Str/Spd/Def that he would have in a true LTC. It’s possible using the Seraph Robe may help so someone can survive an extra hit. It’s still tricky because you need player phase to heal sometimes, but you also need to kill the low HP units with Vulneraries then as well. It may also be possible to abuse the AI in some way. Some fighters always attack Ike, even over unequipped units and Rhys. Other enemies do not.

Instead, I’ll talk about am easy and consistent 5 turn strategy I found. The exact way it plays out will depend on certain hit/misses but it worked several times in a row for me. The most important part of this strat is no character really has much (if any) chance of dying, so at worst missing some hits will give you a 6 turn instead. There’s enough RNG variance on hit rates alone that a consistent 5 turn satisfies me for now.

Turn 1: Oscar attacks the nearby north myrm, then cantos as far north as possible. Boyd moves to the right. Ike moves to the right of him, trading for the Steel Sword and Fighter Band, equipping the later but still using Iron. Rhys moves down a bit out of all enemy range.

Here’s the situation after enemy phase. Boyd/Ike are attacked by only 1 enemy each. Oscar won’t die even if all the enemies hit.

[spoiler=chpt 2. start of turn 2]

Turn 2: Oscar attacks the south Myrm, killing it, then moves downward. Rhys moves below Oscar and heals him. Ike moves below Rhys and uses a Vulnerary if necessary. Boyd moves to the right of Rhys and also heals if necessary. Importantly, he unequips his Iron Axe. This serves several purposes. The remaining northward Myrm cannot double Boyd anymore and doesn’t have +1 Mt from WTA. In addition you actually don't want Boyd to hit because that will leave the Myrm in low Hp and he'll run away. No one has a free action to kill him. The Bandit is encouraged to attack Boyd so Ike doesn’t face 3 enemies and a chance of death.

See the below situation for the exact positioning and result after enemy phase.

[spoiler=chpt 2. start of turn 3]

Turn 3: At this point you want to split the enemy force to not get overwhelmed and clear them a reasonable speed. Therefore, Oscar must finish the Fighter above him (He has ~80 (~92 true) hit, and 5hkos and has up to 6 attacks. ~92% success overall, 66% in 5 hits avoiding a counter that shouldn't matter) and moves northward. Boyd moves north and reequips his Axe. Ike moves north and heals if necessary. Heal Boyd with Rhys from behind the formation on the left. Titania kills the top fighter (who can otherwise reach your formation) with Steel. And moves as far as possible as to still lure the south Bandit. The southern Bandit and the right Myrm should both suicide onto Titania. Fighters should attack Ike who can take both the hits (even if he was hit earlier). You’ll end up with something like this.

[spoiler=chpt 2. start of turn 4]

There are 2 player phases and enemy phases to clean up these units (who are all at or close to low hp, 1hko range). Titania has the same time to clean up the NE which is plenty of time even if she misses some hits on the Myrms. Unfortunately she is 1 space away from one of the NE bandits. The main issue that prevents the 4 turn clear is Titania needs to lure a Bandit the rest of the team can’t really handle in time, restricting her move just enough. Getting lucky with criticals allows you the firepower to deal with that extra enemy without letting them heal up.

Chpt 3 looks easy enough, but that's enough for now.

Right now, I’m planning on focusing resources to Ike/Titania/Oscar/Soren/Marcia/Kieran/Tanith/Calill. Maybe that’s too many but we’ll see. I'like to use Kieran if possible for the support and as another mount. Another Siege tome user should be nice. Is Ilyana better? Maybe. Titania/Calill might need Speedwings and I don't think Energy drops for Soren are as in demand. Soren also gives an Ike support.

Marcia/Jill debate as always is interesting. Marcia for a few reasons. I anticipate losing turns on 9 regardless, so recruiting her doesn’t cost many turns. Marcia and her spd (especially in Fixed mode) is still the best offense during midgame. She gives Kieran/Tanith supports. I’m unsure if the Att difference matters, even if so it’s mainly for Rout chapters which are few in the lategame. Durability may be an issue. You may actually need both?

I’m unsure if Mist/Rhys is better. Maybe it’s Rhys since he has Purge chip (if ever promoted/seal), better Staff rank, can be shoved/rescued (safer) and has greater physic/rescue range. Also I might be skipping the Seals. I’ll probably go with him. Soren likely can’t get the Staff Rank? Maybe if he’s promoted early…who knows…

Well that was a fun diversion. Anyways, back to finishing the original MM run… >_>

Edited April 12, 2013 by XeKr

[aku chi]

Calill might need Speedwings and I don't think Energy drops for Soren are as in demand.

An Energy Drop on Soren seems a waste. He's unlikely to ever double with siege tomes and a Thunder forge will more cheaply address any 1-2 range Spd loss issues. Better to use the Energy Drop(s) on Titania, Marcia, and/or Tanith, I think.

Marcia/Jill debate as always is interesting. Marcia for a few reasons. I anticipate losing turns on 9 regardless, so recruiting her doesn’t cost many turns. Marcia and her spd (especially in Fixed mode) is still the best offense during midgame. She gives Kieran/Tanith supports. I’m unsure if the Att difference matters, even if so it’s mainly for Rout chapters which are few in the lategame. Durability may be an issue. You may actually need both?

I think the most critical question is whether there's enough Bexp to get Marcia to 2-turn C12. If so, she can save more turns than Jill (and Jill shouldn't be recruited). If Marcia cannot be promoted by C12, it's probably worth recruiting Jill (you'll probably only lose one turn in C11). But at that point, I don't know if it's worth it to invest in Marcia, Jill, or both. A high-level tier 1 Marcia might be able to speed up C12 by 2-3 turns. But it will probably cost 2 turns to recruit her, so...

I’m unsure if Mist/Rhys is better. Maybe it’s Rhys since he has Purge chip (if ever promoted/seal), better Staff rank, can be shoved/rescued (safer) and has greater physic/rescue range. Also I might be skipping the Seals. I’ll probably go with him. Soren likely can’t get the Staff Rank? Maybe if he’s promoted early…who knows…

I think Mist would be better if you're getting either the C10 or C11 seal. The +2 mov and canto is quite valuable.

[XeKr]

An Energy Drop on Soren seems a waste. He's unlikely to ever double with siege tomes and a Thunder forge will more cheaply address any 1-2 range Spd loss issues. Better to use the Energy Drop(s) on Titania, Marcia, and/or Tanith, I think.

I was thinking of both Drops to Soren to possibly double with Siege Tomes. From my experience, those 3 are decidedly not orkoing without Forges, and either still do not or overkill Att to do so after. Caps limit Marcia/Tanith. So the Drops don't make too much of a difference. In addition, Marcia sees the majority of the relevant combat from her recruitment on and maxes Str early with +Str Band and Steel. I think she has like 17.70 Str by 20/1 so 20/12ish.

However, given Soren will be at a much lower level than my run where he's borderline, he may not have the Spd regardless. I forgot where exactly the C21 chest is, so maybe you can't get that one too. I'll save the Drop(s) until it looks like I need them. Maybe actually Oscar/Kieran will need them to reach their caps earlier.

I think the most critical question is whether there's enough Bexp to get Marcia to 2-turn C12. If so, she can save more turns than Jill (and Jill shouldn't be recruited). If Marcia cannot be promoted by C12, it's probably worth recruiting Jill (you'll probably only lose one turn in C11). But at that point, I don't know if it's worth it to invest in Marcia, Jill, or both. A high-level tier 1 Marcia might be able to speed up C12 by 2-3 turns. But it will probably cost 2 turns to recruit her, so...

I haven't tried HM LTC in a while, does Marcia need to orko Seeker? Because that's really hard as she needs 18 str, 22 AS with forged Iron (maybe 20/2-3ish?). Because you can forge Steel already where you cannot in HM, Marcia should exactly 2HKO Seeker if level 19 (15 str + 15 mt vs 36 hp/12 def). Alternatively, Glitched Slim is an ohko at 15 str + 9 mt which can be done on enemy phase alone. Do Seeker's stats vary? However, maybe the limiting factor in Maniac is the increased number of Ravens elsewhere and their stats. IIRC, Marcia can double them unpromoted so she should orko with Forged Steel/Slim.

I don't think you lose any turns on C11 with Marcia since she flies. But maybe so..

I'm not overly concerned with the absolute minimum LTC either, so I think I'll try this and see. Also, I may change my conditions slightly to include recruiting everyone. Still unsure.

EDIT: I also no longer think it's feasible to train both fliers, as Ike probably needs to get to lvl 20 and you still need the one Superflier. Soren/Oscar/Kieran all want exp as well.

I think Mist would be better if you're getting either the C10 or C11 seal. The +2 mov and canto is quite valuable.

I was planning skipping the Seals because I'm not sure if there's enough offense to LTC and get them. C11 seems hard because of the congestion in the middle. C10 maybe. Someone with a glitched forge may be able to nab the kills.

However, if I recruit everyone there's definitely time. Also, I read somewhere that Kieran, etc need to escape in MM to recruit them, though I haven't tested it, so that adds a lot of turns it seems.

__________________________________________________________

Also, regarding the playthrough, I did 27 and wrote some of that up. I was going to combine that with 28/E which should be Resolve/Wrath-fests. I could LTC them, but nah...

Here's a teaser though.

[spoiler=dat 41 str]

Edited January 4, 2013 by XeKr

[aku chi]

I haven't tried HM LTC in a while, does Marcia need to orko Seeker? Because that's really hard as she needs 18 str, 22 AS with forged Iron (maybe 20/2-3ish?). Because you can forge Steel already where you cannot in HM, Marcia should exactly 2HKO Seeker if level 19 (15 str + 15 mt vs 36 hp/12 def). Alternatively, Glitched Slim is an ohko at 15 str + 9 mt which can be done on enemy phase alone. Do Seeker's stats vary? However, maybe the limiting factor in Maniac is the increased number of Ravens elsewhere and their stats. IIRC, Marcia can double them unpromoted so she should orko with Forged Steel/Slim.

Seeker equips the Demi Band, so Marcia only needs 17 Str and 20 Spd to ORKO Seeker with an Iron Lance forge. It is necessary to ORKO Seeker to 2-turn C12. It looks like Marcia needs to be promoted to get the 20 Spd needed to double Seeker. Alternatively, 14 Str and a glitched Slim Lance forge will enable Marcia to crit-kill. Marcia will need to be very close to promotion to reach 14 Str, though. And unpromoted, her durability will be a problem (the Laguz Guard is unavailable in C12).

I don't think you lose any turns on C11 with Marcia since she flies. But maybe so..

I mean: to recruiit Jill in C12, you must not complete C11 in fewer than 5 turns. If you aren't recruiting Jill, you can likely save one turn in C11.

[XeKr]

Seeker equips the Demi Band, so Marcia only needs 17 Str and 20 Spd to ORKO Seeker with an Iron Lance forge. It is necessary to ORKO Seeker to 2-turn C12. It looks like Marcia needs to be promoted to get the 20 Spd needed to double Seeker. Alternatively, 14 Str and a glitched Slim Lance forge will enable Marcia to crit-kill. Marcia will need to be very close to promotion to reach 14 Str, though. And unpromoted, her durability will be a problem (the Laguz Guard is unavailable in C12).

Ah true. Well this is Fixed so, Marcia actually starts with 80 growth points in Spd, so she gets 20.05 Spd by lvl 20 without any help. Using Steel too much can cause her to lose that. However, she only needs 14 Str with a Steel Forge/Slim Forge as you said. Marcia gets up to 15.7 Str by lvl 20 with max +str band, and Steel usage. So I think it's very possible for 14 str/20 spd if not glitching for both Fixed and Random. I think this happened in my recent playthrough because I remember Marcia capping spd unpromoted. Additionally she probably gains levels on the way to Seeker, so bexp+Raven exp may be enough to promote. At this point I'm probably going to use the glitch to try it out and because it offers much more reliable flexibility in strats.

I'm hoping she's around lvl 20 and 35-36 hp (C1 Seraph Robe, 40 starting points, 55 growth, +hp from Steel), 13-14 Def (with C11 Dracoshield, Knight Band) and that's good enough. Depends how strong the other Ravens are, ofc. I think there's a good possibility for both Master Seals now too. Using a Master Seal is a free elixir if turn 2 player phase is free.

I mean: to recruiit Jill in C12, you must not complete C11 in fewer than 5 turns. If you aren't recruiting Jill, you can likely save one turn in C11.

Yes, I realize this. For some reason I'm thinking the LTC for C11 is 3? I thought Marcia was the limiting factor with her move, though I could easily be mistaken. With the C10 Seal Marcia can be promoted too if necessary. You do have a few advantages over HM, including Forged Hand Axes instead of a Short Axe (-2 mt, -15 hit) or Short Spear. Titania needs around 26 att (13-15 Str depending on WTA, 17 AS (depending on if Cavs are weighed down. She may get the C2 Speedwing anyway). Additionally, possibly a glitched forge for the boss/arrive knight or people in the way. Though I suppose Soren might get crushed unless I can lure the AI with a naked character somewhere and it's very possible Titania may not reach in time with the enemy density and higher stats. May settle for a consistent 4 turn. Moot if I recruit all.

As a side note, I've started some work on a very long set of planning notes for this run which I'll post sometime. I'd definitely like to get other thoughts.

Edited January 4, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Chapter 27:

So this chapter can be a little tricky. The enemies are near your stats and have great weapons like Braves. There’s Sleep Staves and Siege tomes, always a deadly combination.

I also gimped my team to bring Elincia/Geoffery (for Supports <_<) instead of Titania/Jill so there’s that. Elincia is just a healer and Geoffery has accuracy issues.

Initially you need to catch the thieves while dealing with 3 Siege tomes. Eventually I did the mounted support square + Elincia to the right. They’re obviously self-sufficient. Boyd/Mist/Geoffery/Reyson left. They can’t deal with the SMs on the right very well due to hit issues. Reyson uses a Laguz Stone first turn to help out. Soren/Ike middle then left. Soren hits these max def Generals the hardest and Ike deals with them decently with the Vague Katti/Aether. Also, he attracts some Siege Tomes which he usually dodges. I initially had the two go up through the middle but the left side characters really want the help.

The harder part comes after opening one of the side doors.

[spoiler=Upper room map]

There’re lots of enemies and 4 more Siege Tomes + 3 Sleep staves (one in each side room and the left Bishop in the top room). However, you can take advantage of the fact the top room Sages/Bishops don’t move and stay out of range until you can deal with them. This mainly involves not overextending the people in the left room to be in range of the top Sleep Staff. Kill the other Sleep Staff Bishops the turn you open the door. There are Generals with very high Def in the way so prepare to deal with that via magic or Braves. (though even Max Str Kieran with Brave Axe fails to ORKO some of the higher Def ones, 28-30 def…). Canto and Reyson are your best friends. It’s pretty easy after that.

Anyways, the BK fight is the same as HM iirc. The reinforcements are very weak, but I forgot to bring a physical sword for Mist to kill the Bishop (you only need like 24 att/18 spd, easy with a Forge) so I needed Aethers. If Mist can kill the Bishop then max str Ike should kill BK on time if he doesn’t miss (88 hit, 97 true for me). Yet, Ike got 2 consecutive Aethers when I did bring another Sword for Mist. -_-

Chapter 28:

There’s a huge number of enemies closely packed, 64 before reinforcements on a fairly small map.

[spoiler=Chpt 28 map overview west]

[spoiler=Chpt 28 map overview east]

However, the numerous Laguz are all very weak overall despite okay stats (mostly low 20s), mainly because Claws/Beaks are weak. Only Soren/Mist is much threatened. The enemy beorc do have near max or max stats (like a 29 Skl/30 Spd Brave Sword SM) and are much harder. There are 2 Sleep Staff Bishops. One near the boss moves while the other near the middle of the map doesn’t. There’s a large number of Siege Tomes, like 7, that all move. Use Pure Water to guard against Siege Tomes even if Sleep hits. For me, it just helped get Ike into Resolve/Wrath range. It’s easy to take advantage of the fact Laguz have only 1 range so Reyson can go deep into enemy territory if surrounded by friendly units afterwards. I also used Reinforce and Tibarn for distractions. Partner distractions + Reyson makes it easy to snipe the Bishops/Sages. Beware of Dragons though…

[spoiler=fighting dragons]

Uhhh…ok…

~40 str/23-24 Spd/35 Def/30 Res. No one fights them well except Ike with Resolve. Even Tibarn was killed in my run. <_<

However, most of the dragons actually have slightly lower stats, like 35 str/20 spd/30 def. Soren/Boyd can do significant damage to these. Laguzguard will help a lot, I gave one to Ike/Boyd.

Still, once taking care of the Sleep Staffs, it was basically an Ike critical fest.

[spoiler=Resolve is op]

It’s always fun to marvel at the stats, 58 att, 75 crit, 42 AS, 30 Def, 140 avoid with A Soren, B Titania.

This chapter seems stupidly hard to consistently LTC, but oh well…

Endgame:

Well, the enemy count wasn’t too impressive or interesting and they were spread out in groups throughout the large map. So no screenshots unless someone requests. However, the enemy do have quite high stats which makes it decently fun if routing the chapter like me. It’s not so different from HM otherwise.

There’s only 3 Siege Tomes, 1 left, 1 right, 1 middle and no Sleep so there’s not much threat. Lots of Paladins on the left with around 22-23 Str/Spd/Def. Some weak Halberdiers on the right, alongside some 20 str/30 Spd SMs. Many Generals up the middle with ~27 Str, 30 Def. Laguz interspersed throughout with higher stats. Like 27 str/22 spd/25 def for Tigers and 22 str/24 spd/22 def for Cats. However beast Laguz still aren’t that threatening because their Claw weapons are pretty weak. Wyverns up top with max Str/Def at 29. 7 Dragons around the ridiculous stats of the 28 one I screenshoted. There’s significant variation in enemy stats overall, like sometimes 4 pts.

Some enemies have skills. Generals with Guard. Wyvern Lords with Counter. SMs with Astra. A warrior with Vantage. A Wyvern Lord with Nihil and a Brave Weapon almost killed Ike. The most scary enemies are still by far the Dragons that 2hko everyone but Ike at high accuracy even with Supports. Laguzguard helps a lot.

I sent Boyd, Titania, Jill, Mist, Reyson west. Titania was pretty useless since she couldn’t double with 25 Spd. Boyd/Jill both orko. Mist healed and chipped, did some Runesword tanking and eventually got to lvl 20 like the rest of my main team. Reyson used a Laguz Stone to help them out. Oscar/Kieran/Marcia/Tanith along with Geoffery/Elincia to the east. Slowly but easily grinded through the units there. Ike solo’d the mid with Soren’s Support, healing and Siege tome backup, through Generals with Lances + Dragons is actually fairly dangerous even to Resolve Ike with Soren. Ike had a criticalfest with Bryce, General, and Dragons, Soren chugged a useless Speedwing to max Spd. Ike had a solo showdown with Ashnard, culminating in a double crit on Berserk Ashnard.

I’m too lazy to sit through the Epilogue/Credits at this point for TCs. Maybe sometime later. It hardly matters, since I think I routed every chapter, recruited everyone, and got nearly all of the treasure (no Ashera staff), even lots of useless ones. Most chapters should be single digits at least. But maybe not. >_>

Final stats below. Lots of Str/Spd caps. Fixed mode is fun.

Name      Lvl    Hp  Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res Skills                 Supports           Stat Boosters
Ike       20/20  58  26  10  27  28  19  24  16  Provoke Wrath Resolve  A Soren B Titania  Seraph Robe
Titania   --/20  49  22   8  24  25  20  18  15  Sol                    A Boyd B Ike
Oscar     20/20  52  26   8  26  27  15  22  12  Sol                    A Kieran B Tanith
Boyd      20/20  60  30   2  27  27  16  18   9  Nihil Smite            A Titania  B Mist  Speedwing Dracoshield
Soren     20/20  41   6  30  28  28  16   9  28  Adept Corrosion        A Ike              Energy Drop Speedwing
Mist      20/20  39  16  26  15  25  28  11  25  Miracle                A Jill B Boyd
Marcia    20/20  51  23   8  26  28  18  18  20  Adept Savior           A Tanith B Kieran  Seraph Robe
Kieran    20/20  50  26   6  25  27  15  22  12  Sol                    A Oscar B Marcia   
Jill      20/20  48  25   9  26  27  14  24  11  Vantage Guard          A Mist             Speedwing Dracoshield
Tanith    --/20  38  23  13  24  28  22  18  16  Shade Reinforce        A Marcia B Oscar   Energy Drop
Geoffrey  --/20  48  23  11  22  26  13  25  12  Paragon                A Elincia 

Long analysis post coming with wrap up, discussion of resource allocation (bexp, skills, forges, stat boosters, supports) as well as overall difficulty. Maybe later the LTC planning notes.

Edited January 5, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

[spoiler=Turn count]

P: 4/4

C1: 10/14

C2: 13/27

C3: 9/36

C4: 11/47

C5: 6/53

C6: 16/69

C7: 12/81

C8: 8/89

C9: 13/102

C10:13/115

C11: 8/123

C12: 9/132

C13: 10/142

C14: 6/148

C15: 9/157

C16: 15/172

C17: 30/202

C18: 12/214

C19: 6/220

C20: 7/227

C21: 16/243

C22: 8/251

C23: 9/260

C24: 9/269

C25: 8/277

C26: 9/286

C27: 11/297

C28: 7/304

E: 9/313

Not using Titania much adds all the turns early on. Getting all the treasure adds tons of turns for C16,21. Plus recruited everyone. Didn’t optimize anything and they were all routs even if that’s not the objective (some like C17-4 are pretty hard if routing). Many were done first try. So yeah, it’s not really worth looking at. Just for completeness.

[spoiler=Kills by main team]

Geoffery 23

Mist 25

Tanith 62

Soren 128

Jill 137

Kieran 144

Marcia 159

Titania 164

Oscar 175

Ike 190

Boyd 192

Kinda surprised Boyd is (barely) first. I felt like he didn’t do that much lategame, he was actually underleveled compared to others. He did promote first back in C13. The total enemy number is kinda crazy though. (1400+)

In lieu of character analysis/summary like before, where I’d mostly repeat myself, here’s some random extremely biased awards for fun.

The award for best earlygame (P-C16. Don’t mind the chapter cutoffs too much. <_<), where resources are limited and enemies are mostly unpromoted, goes to…

[spoiler=Best earlygame]

Well it’s Titania. Didn’t need a spoiler for that. >_>

Despite trying to not use her and instead holding her back, she’s simply too good. There are tasks no one else has really much chance of doing. She has offense, defense, mobility where your other characters are very lacking.

Honorable mention goes to Boyd who had incredible offense starting from C7-8 that never let up. And also Marcia for by far the highest speed and doubling ability, including orkoing Ravens.

The “award” for worst earlygame goes to…

[spoiler=Worst earlygame]

Oscar. Mainly because of not living up to expectations. He’s a FE9 cavalier after all. Steel weighed him down, Spd was always not enough. He couldn’t really kill anything and never got anything going until promotion at the very end of this earlygame range. I can respect Kieran coming in with similar combat at base, needing no bexp, and not sucking early on.

Dishonorable mention goes to everyone else not Titania really early on. Made those early chapters way harder than they needed to be. Also, specifically Soren but at least he could do his chip role very well and hit those super high Def Knights hard.

The award for best midgame (C17-C23), where suddenly the enemy promotes and gets like +5 stats and Siege tomes start to show up, goes to…

[spoiler=Best midgame]

Tanith. Reinforce was absolutely broken bringing out 20 str, max Spd Falconknights with Silver Lances. The Pegasus Knights were great distraction tools, dodging well for numerous turns. Tanith herself was a decent fighter. Often combat was borderline for others even with Forged Steel else Tanith and her great bases could handle them as well. Additionally, flying proved incredibly useful in nearly every chapter, where they were cliffs, canals, pitfalls, etc.

Honorable mention to Jill, a flying Paladin with great offense, defense, mobility. To Boyd for the continued amazing offense. And also to Pure water fo making Siege tomes manageable while supports were still building.

The award for worst midgame goes to…

[spoiler=Worst midgame]

Probably Titania. The enemy promotion bump caused her speed to be just too low. It wasn’t so bad, as others mostly had borderline offense as well, but it is notable.

Dishonorable mention to Marcia for causing the most (maybe all) of the resets during this period. Her durability was simply not that consistent and Bow weakness hurts. Yes, Tanith had the same problem but Reinforce was that good and she had Shade. >_>. Marcia was a combat unit without consistent orko-ing offense and who got attacked a lot and died.

The award for best lategame (C24-E), where enemy stats and density are crazy high and those 3rd tier stat dragons are paying a visit to FE9, goes to…

[spoiler=Best lategame]

Reyson and it’s not close. 4 characters plus otherwise impossible mobility are way better than any 1. Knight Ring and Boots allowed tons of flexibility in positioning. Canto on other units also helped a lot.

Honorable mention to Ike for being functionally immortal, taking hits and fighting for his friends, and fun offense with Aether/Criticals. Of course there’s also the Ragnell+Resolve+Wrath for 2 chapters. Also HM to Provoke for distracting Siege tomes/Sleep/Ballista and masking the low durability of other characters. And to Pure Water for being the drink of choice for the army.

The award for worst lategame goes to…

[spoiler=Worst lategame]

I’ll exclude Geoffrey here, so it’s Marcia. Stop causing resets please…With her only avoid coming from Tanith (slow buildup)/Kieran’s (only 5 avoid) support, no Full Guard, she had very real durability issues (though she did get really unlucky sometimes). Offense was often reliant on Crits/Adept. At least Tanith has Oscar support and Reinforce distracts a few enemies.

Dishonorable mention to Mist for terrible Sonic Sword accuracy. I’ll throw Geoffery here for mainly being a filler chipper, though at least he didn’t die and Bows were accurate and destroyed Wyverns. Also to all my max mt forges that were stupidly not accurate enough, really should have had max Hit as well.

The award for most annoying enemy class to kill (not counting Sages/Bishops then) goes to…

[spoiler=Most annoying to kill enemy class]

There’s a few hard to kill ones, but I’ll say Wyverns. Very high Hp, Str, Def (up tot 50+/29/29), 9 move, flying, pretty accurate and they come in swarms up to 10. Many have 1-2 range. Often times no one, not Boyd, Soren, or non-Resolve Ragnell Ike could orko them consistently on enemy phase. Reyson was important to grind them down on player phase.

Honorable mention to Generals for absurd defense, SMs for absurd speed, and Paladins for sometimes just borderline too high Hp/Spd/Def.

The award for most fun chapter, with a great combination of story significance, appropriate atmosphere, map design, and challenge, goes to…

[spoiler=Most fun chapter]

C21. The climax of the Daein campaign. Confronting a Dragon in the throne room. Lots of enemies and treasure with a need to rush to get them. Canals separating your fliers. A few status staves and siege tomes behind walls/canals but they can be dealt with smartly.

Honorable mention to C18 for being start of the Daein campaign and navigating the sidewinding map layout to catch the Siege tomes. C23 for being the start of the Crimea campaign and being a straightforward mounted chargefest. Also, C8, C17, C20, C24, C26, C27, E for the atmosphere. This game is really great imo.

Dishonorable mention to C22. Those armed Bishops that you're not supposed to kill. Those Status Staves and Siege Tomes that are impossible to reach behind walls (Who is threatening them to attack us anyways…). Those thieves starting in the treasure room.

The award for coolest, most “wat” moment goes to…

[spoiler=Most awesome moment]

The second hit of Aether tinking. In the rare case you have a 1 use weapon left.

Honorable mention to Ike's double Aether on the BK, double crit on Ashnard, or any of his Crit/Aether combinations. I turned on only his animations on for most of the lategame. Also doing the Pegasus Triangle Attack in Endgame.

Dishonorable mention to a Wrath!General obliterating Marcia.

The LVP, least important and valuable, as well as most annoying, player/character/factor/mechanic, goes to…

[spoiler=LVP]

Marcia. Stop dying

Uhh…everyone on the team was pretty good and brought something special. Probably just Sleep Staff bishops because they were annoying and no one seemed to ever dodge them.

Dishonorable mention to the RNG from which I witnessed some exceedingly rare and unfortunate sights.

Finally, the MVP goes to…

[spoiler=MVP]

Anticlimatic, but it’s hard to say a single character that was most valuable through the whole game so I’ll just say the most valuable and important factor was Mounts, namely the 9 move, canto, and flying for some. The potential flexibility of the strategies due to this huge mobility is just amazing.

Honorable mention to Supports for absurd avoid boosts, Forges for absurd att, hit boosts, and Reyson for being a heron.

Some discussion/analysis for those interested.

[spoiler=Discussion on resource allocation]

Overall I’m very happy with the resource allocation of Bands, KW, statboosters, Forges, Skills and Supports,

The final stats were all great and mostly everyone used their respective stat boosters well. Even in Fixed Mode, both Oscar/Kieran maxed Str/Spd, Titania did have a brief span where she didn’t double midgame and was pretty bad in endgame. I don’t think it worth not using her early (even less than I did) just try for max Spd. Or gimping Oscar/Kieran’s levels to try and overkill Spd faster. Geoffrey got KW for all his existence and got up to 26 spd. He needs the +2 Def/Res the most as well without good supports. Maybe Tanith’s energy drop should have gone to Jill for less borderline Str without forges. Books could have gone to Mist. Talismans could be used by Jill/Boyd to protect slightly against Siege Tomes though minor (Provoke, Pure water mostly took care of that). Dust to Elincia or someone for Flame Lance/Bolt Axe? Probably better sold. Frags/Icons are for small conveniences like Smite, small hit/avoid and are still better sold. Boots to Reyson was useful for me especially routing lategame, but it’s probably better on a flier. Should have saved a Seal for Mist.

Selling all that I did, I think I had enough money for all my +5 mt forges every chapter, including Silver every time after 22, without very careful optimization. I didn’t come close to using all of them. I also stopped forging Hit on weapons after a while though it would still be very useful. Accuracy is a very significant issue and it’s necessary to leverage Supports and WTA for consistent hit rates. The max Mt, Hit Steel Sword forge was probably a waste. +5 mt in general wasn’t really necessary, sometimes around +2-3 could work. Less forges, more with Hit, would probably be better. Really the 1-2 range ones weren’t that great since it was still hard to orko consistently for everyone but Boyd. They were good for the likes of Tanith to snipe Sages and such though I also did end up with unused Spears/Tomahawks. The hit advantage over those is still very important.

Most the Skill allocations didn’t matter much. Sol to Paladins is standard, but they were already almost immortal. Aether to Ike was useful since he didn’t consistently orko. Vantage/Guard to Jill was okay, but her durability was already usually good enough and it’s just not reliable. Adept to Marcia was decent since she 3hko’d a lot. Provoke on Ike was useful to attract Siege Tomes/Ballistas as well as mask durability deficiencies for Soren/Boyd/Mist. Shade on Tanith was marginally useful in directing attacks to Marcia or Oscar/Kieran.

It may be better for Ike to support Oscar since the bonus is earlier and better. Tanith support is late, she isn’t much of a fighter and isn’t near Oscar that much. But that still leaves Titania/Soren without Ike support. Mist probably wants both Titania/Boyd for the Hit, though that leaves Jill supportless. She doesn’t really need it, however.

Bexp was used for people to catch up. First Marcia, then Jill. Soren up to promotion. Mist up to promotion. Misc people, then Geoffery. The rest to Mist again. Obviously it can be way more optimized by focusing it to someone to trivialize mid-early lategame. Jill is a nice candidate who doesn’t require Supports and is functionally immortal with Full Guard and Pure Water.

Combat exp in general was very high, though importantly I routed every chapter for tons of exp. Mostly combat characters promoted around C15. 20/6 by the end of C17. 20/14 by C24. 20/20 by C27-28. I spread EXP pretty evenly, focusing on low-leveled units, and everyone got to 20/20, even Mist. In casual play I expect many people do similarly. In efficient play it remains to be seen how significant the exp loss is. Probably severe. >_>

[spoiler=Discussion of difficulty in relation to other FE games. Also, is 0% growths possible? Maybe with one of the most op units in FE history...?]

Now about difficulty for casual runs, in comparison to other games. FE12 H3/4 are way harder, not a comparison. Maybe even H2. FE11 H5 I can’t say too much about, but lolwarp? Early game can be hard, I suppose. FE10 HM is easy since it throws op units at you, though I suppose some DB chapters are kinda hard the first time through. I don’t exactly remember how difficult FE7 HHM and FE6 HM are, but glancing at the enemy stats alone it’s not really close.

In addition, you get very competent prepromos (Percival, Pent, Harken) mid-lategame. In FE9 MM you get a few good ones, but not the “easily orko enemies while having good durability” type. Stefan is decent when you get him, but will have serious durability issues later. Tanith is good since she flies and has Reinforce, but her offense/durability still kinda suck. Calill chips. Geoffrey sucks at first but is okay if trained, but is mostly on par with enemy stats.

Let’s put it this way, I don’t think a 0% growth playthrough is feasible without severe RNG abuse, though I haven’t looked too closely into it. No Warp, limited stat boosters, and relatively weak base stat fliers for skipping. Effective damage is much less. Thinking slightly more, base Titania might be fine until Lethe/Mordy, who may be fine until Stefan/Muarim. Then after 17-3/4 which I don’t think will be easy at all, Tanith + Reinforce probably gets you very far. Calill helps out with chip. Later, maybe Tauroneo with Stat Boosters? Ena with Resolve/Wrath /Adept. The op-ness of Resolve…it would certainly be very interesting. Enemy Siege tomes might still be a dealbreaker.

TBH, I just realized base stats Calill + glitched Thunder is 28 att (32 att with spirit dusts), 255 crit + Vantage might just be immortal… (outside Dragons where you have Resolve!Ena). Maybe add Savior + Statue Frag + Tormod support for up to 35 attack. I really want to try that combo now. It’s probably one of the most op things in FE history. Well now I know what strat to use for my LTC run. <_<. And need to adjust my planning significantly.. Okay, I think I convinced myself 0% growth is probably possible. Without Forge glitch, maybe still debatable. >_>

FE5 is a different kind of difficulty and has Warp. FE4 is easy once you understand the mechanics. I haven’t played FE1-3.

Of course, FE9 happens to have units like Oscar/Kieran/Astrid/Makalov who have extremely high stats in all of Hp/Str/Skl/Spd/Def, plus 9 move, canto, WT control, and Supports with each other. Astrid/Makalov can overkill Spd much quicker which is important since sometimes midgame Oscar/Kieran are borderline. Jill probably needs a Speedwing and has worse supports, but otherwise is a flying version of those characters. Pure Water fixes res. (The Falconknights have very real offense and durability problems, but flying is too good to ignore).

Your "Jeigan", Titania, destroys the early game up to C17/18ish and is competent later on (Forges can fix her Str and up to 80% Spd growth from KW…). Bexp, even lessened in amount, means it’s easy to focus resources into one unit to trivialize midgame as well as train weaker units. Ike, Ragnell, Resolve make what could be relatively hard chapters into slaughterfests.

Your team in general has huge advantages over the enemy despite their high stats. Forging for offense and Supports for defense, plus Skills and Reyson. I think if more enemies had Skills like in Endgame, perhaps some forges, and healers (like with Fortify), it could appropriately be a lunatic-lite mode without super-buffing their stats. My playthrough was in Fixed mode, so no reliance on growths, had a mostly toptier team, and I found it pretty easy overall (even easier if you turtle). The main difficulty still comes from the numerous Sleep Staves and Siege tomes, but it’s not too much of a problem if you are aware and prepare for them. Still, I found MM to be really fun, probably at just the right difficulty for me as to not be frustrating but not completely steamrolling either.

Super long LTC planning post sometime.

EDIT: Also, Trial Maps have MM Endgame like stats, so I may do them sometime. Not a high priority though. >_>

Edited January 6, 2013 by XeKr

[fatgamecat]

Thanks for writing all that up. Your turn count isn't a huge amount better than my maniac fixed run which I did pretty casually (394 turns). I was told my count "really sucks" in another thread by someone who's probably never even tried maniac mode fixed, but anyway.

[XeKr]

Yeah I saw your guide, nice run. It's one of the few other MM playthroughs I've seen.

I think even with routing all+recruit all, one could probably do sub275-250 easily from more Titania use early. I think a non-optimized and "easiest" efficiency run (Titania -> Jill w/ Statboosters+Bexp+Boots) can probably be sub200.

Optimized, consistent LTC/Expected TC probably around sub150 if pushing it. Depends on Forge glitch, Random/Fixed and Bexp abusing ofc. Though I could easily be over/underestimating... Absolute minimum LTC likely still similar to HM like sub120. Though chances are way lower and way more abuse needed.

EDIT: Really I would like to do a non-optimized efficiency run for testing, but with FE13 and such coming out, it's more likely I'll very slowly do an optimized ETC run.

Edited January 7, 2013 by XeKr

[fatgamecat]

Yeah I'm sure my insistence on using the weaker non-Titania cast early on really screwed my turn counts.

FE13 you're going to have to do a laundry list of restrictions to make it anywhere near as difficult, otherwise it's pretty imbalanced and easy to break open.

[XeKr]

Eh, we'll see. The game looks good and polished enough to stand on its own for numerous playthroughs.

Though later, optimization through trivial strategies is not that interesting to me (I still want to try forge glitch at least once here, if only to document things); if DLC/Nosferatu qualifies, I'll likely personally restrict it for most runs. Whatever's more fun. <_<

Edited January 8, 2013 by XeKr

[XeKr]

Firstly I’ll just say I personally like expected turn count as a measure, so that’s mainly what I’m aiming for. That explains why I find 87.5% consistent enough for C1 and 5 turns for C2 good.

Anyways, at this point I think I’m going with the original conditions. Not recruiting everyone because C10 in MM would be a headache with Stealth, plus Stefan, Devdan, Shinion, Tauroneo. On the other hand, it’ll make exp considerably scarcer since the extra turns can be used to farm. I’ll note where recruiting characters would cost turns. Going to be using Forge glitch. I want to try it, it’s something different from other LTCs, and it allows a huge amount of flexibility and consistency in strategies. Calill with Vantage shall be the Goddess of Thunder reborn. Vantage may cost turn(s) on C14. However, I think it’s the only way for consistently orko-ing, invincible 2 range later on. Even Adept/Wrath isn’t consistent and prevents other lategame strategies. I will certainly note where glitches make a significant difference. Probably the most on bosses (though only Oliver got a stat buff), and certainly late rout chapters.

So to summarize, what’s different from other LTC/efficiency runs: Going for low(est) expected turn count, in Maniac Mode, in Fixed mode with no bexp abuse, and using Forge glitch. I’ll try to comment on Random vs. Fixed, Forge glitch vs. no, recruiting all vs. not.

Note that Fixed mode may have significant implications in stats, as you can get +1-2 your averages depending on equipped weapons and enemies.

Note this means planning on no Kieran. It seems C10 must be Stealth for the Bexp regardless.

[spoiler=Marcia vs. Jill in MM]

When planning and making the chapter outline it seems Jill does get a few boss kills (with 25 str) that Marcia cannot like Ena/Bertram without Siege tomes, so I started thinking a bit more about this.

If using her, I guess Jill will like (or need) both Wings which is fine as long as noone else needs a Wing. If C11 is 5 turned for Jill, the boss kill and other conditions are flexible so Titania will likely not need the Wing. Jill with both Speedwings can focus on Def growth (when bexping equip Killer Lance which should be easy to get in a 5 turn strat + Wyvern Band) and hopefully still make Str/Spd benchmarks (may need some micromanaging. Luckily Slim is +Spd, not –Str. It is –Def. 1-2 Range still same as Steel). Also give her 2x Seraph Robes, Energy Drop, Dracoshield. Getting Laguzguard may help in C15, and more. Wyvern Band frees up the Knight Band for Ike.

Durability wise, avo should be close when solo with Marcia slightly higher. WTA helps Jill way more. Marcia gets some cexp, but Jill joins 3 levels higher.

Roughly judging the growth points, +Def band for a few levels (Full Guard for others), 1x Dracoshield, 2x Seraph robe:

At 20/1, it’s probably like 50 hp, 20 def, 6 res vs 46 hp, 16 def, 13 res

At 20/10, it’s probably like 55 hp, 23 def, 9 res vs 51 hp, 18 def, 16 res

At 20/20, it’s probably like 60 hp, 25 def, 12 Res vs. 57 hp, 20 def, 20 Res

I wonder if these Hp/Def leads will matter significantly for the ferrying (16/19/21/23 are worrisome without Savior, maybe 24-28 also). Or if Marcia Res lead matters with high Hp/Ward/Pure Water. Siege tomes can probably be distracted. But the Sleep Stave accuracy is like ~40% different. Though if Ike goes to sleep instead it hardly matters. Maybe Siege/Silence them? Hopefully something like Pure Water on both + Reinforce and low Res distractions work.

Stats are slightly different from my run because in mine Jill used the Full Guard and Marcia used the Knight Band. Also no major bexp with Killer Lance. At 20/20, 30 att 6hkos Marcia while 12hkos Jill. 35 att 4hkos Marcia while 6hkos Jill. 40 att 3hkos Marcia while 4hkos Jill. WTA means Jill often gets +1 Def and +10 Avo, really good against the many lances and Warriors and maybe can take 1 more hit. Using swords for WTA is probably not feasible a lot of the time because of the needed 1-2 range.

Jill does have a 4-5 att lead between Str cap and Axes, slightly more when Support matters. There’s a tradeoff between C9 and C11 turns being lenient. Hmm…I may just use Jill… I really want to use her for the lategame ferrying. I feel Marcia’s durability may be a significant issue.

The earlygame cases:

Only recruit Marcia and not Jill

6 turns on C9

3-4 turns on C11

~2 turns on C12

Total is 11-12 turns and maybe (much) harder lategame maps.

Recruit both. Use Marcia for C12, then all bexp to Jill. Marcia probably doesn’t need all the saved Bexp in this case.

6 turns on C9

5 turns on C11

~5 turns on C12 hopefully

Total is 16 turns and less bexp for Jill, others. Another maybe competent fighter? Maybe using both is still feasible?

Only recruit Jill

4-5 turns on C9

5 turns on C11

~8 turns on C12 hopefully

Total is 17-18 turns, more bexp for Jill, others. Much more exp from C12?

Just Marcia is clearly better for absolute LTC or if rigging growths, but I want consistency too. Is shoving and WT a factor later on? Still thinking on this…

Also, for reference, note max mt glitched Slim Sword is 8 mt, cost ~20k, Slim Lance is 9 mt, ~13K, Thunder is 9 mt, ~15K. More gold if need +Hit, which they probably do. Some of them can be not max mt forged and be much much cheaper.

My planning notes with using just Marcia are below. I still may change to Jill. Planning in FE9 MM is annoying with fixed growths, forges, skills, actually getting supports, and bexp. Many of these resources are gone when used and have longterm planning implications. Normally you just worry about exp and statboosters and Staff uses and can focus more on actual strategies. <_< Also, who said I’m actually going to do this…

[spoiler=The team and supports]

Main team

Ike A Soren B Titania (Oscar/Lethe)

Soren A Ike

Titania B Ike B Mist

I figure 7 avoid for Soren is better than 5 for Titania. Soren might need as much as possible for the times he fights. Titania has actual Hp/Def and Sol, but is a frontliner too so maybe A support for her. She might get dropped. Might throw Oscar support in there instead since maybe Soren doesn’t see enough attacks for his support to matter.

Oscar A Tanith

Marcia B Tanith

Tanith A Oscar B Marcia

Marcia goes off on her own a lot. Hopefully this 30 avoid is enough for Oscar/Tanith when they need to be together. A supports for Tanith happen after C26, so it only matters for C27, grabbing Resolve, where Tanith is going to be with Oscar. Maybe C28 barely? Maybe Oscar supports Ike.

Calill A Tormod (maybe) B Geoffrey

Maybe rare cases where the att matters. If Tormod can be fielded for Supports, Calill can rescue (if C10 or C15 Statue Frag is obtainable) even without Savior and should be fine for +3 att. But that att is probably unnecessary and the Frags may be better for Shovers. Plus, no rescue-take drop in that case.

Utility/Fillers

Laguz

Shove/Smite

Mist A Jill B Titania

Elincia A Geoffrey

Staves

Ilyana

Tormod A Calill?

Bastian

Maybe filler forged thunder chip. I wonder if Geoffrey rescued Tormod gives all the bonuses. It should. >_>.

Tauroneo

Geoffery A Elincia B Calill

Filler forged slim. Maybe not recruiting Tauroneo.

[spoiler=Resource allocation]

Assigned skills

Ike Aether? -> Resolve, Wrath, Provoke? Shade?

Titania Sol?

Oscar Sol?

Marcia Savior, Guard?, Provoke? Shade?

Tanith Shade?

Calill Vantage, Guard?, Provoke?

Muarim/Ranulf Smite

Aether can help Ike’s durability and orko chances for the seize drops later on. If Sol is unnecessary, he can take it. No Stefan Occult, maybe no Tauroneo Occult.

Guard, if it’s obtainable in time, could help durability marginally. Probably skip.

Provoke, if obtainable, to Calill, Ike, or Marcia. I’m unsure. Calill so she wipes out everything. I wonder if there are AI tricks since her durability without Vantage/Crit is low. Like purposely lower her Hp into ohko range? Provoke to Ike to distract from Marcia. Or Marcia to distract from Ike. Depends on their durability. Maybe if Tanith doesn’t need Shade it goes to one or the other.

Stat boosters

Ike

Titania maybe C2 Speedwing?

Oscar

Soren Arms Scrolls?

Marcia Boots, Seraph Robe (2x). Dracoshields (1x, maybe 2). Talismans (if any).

Tanith

Calill Spirit Dust(s). May be unnecessary and to Soren instead.

Geoffery

Others undecided.

Regarding Master Seals, if I get both early ones which seems likely, probably Mist and either Soren/other Mage/Rhys or Oscar/Marcia.

Bands

Ike +Str

Titania +Spd -> KW

Oscar +Str -> KW

Soren +Spd -> Mage

Marcia Knight

Tanith +Str/Sword/Priest? doesn’t matter

Calill Mage? Likely doesn’t matter

Geoffery KW? doesn’t matter

BEXP priorities

Save all for Marcia when she joins.

Get Soren to benchmark mag if close

To Oscar if he needs to catch up.

Get Ike to level 20

Get Marcia to max str (20/12ish)

Get Ike to max Str (20/13ish)

Level Calill if necessary. Probably not.

Level Oscar/Tanith if necessary for the Str. Probably not.

Level Marcia/Ike to improve durability.

Honestly maybe lvl 20 Ike isn’t necessary. I would still like as much durability as possible.

[spoiler=Brief chapter outline]

Via liable to change. Still need to nail down Rescue uses and forges per chapter. Glitchforges are max mt/hit, 255 crit Slim Sword or Lance. Other made-up terms are more descriptive.

Other comments are whatever I feel is important.

Completed

P (4/4): standard

C1 (2/6): Get Seraph/Steel Sword

C2 (5/11)): standard. A 4 turn that can transition into a consistent 5 turn would be ideal. I think a slight modification to my strat (moving Titania further turn 3) does give a very small 4 turn chance via crits but also a chance of death plus higher 6 turn chance due to enemy healing.

Todo

C3: Talk to Marcia, get Elixir.

C4: Easy?

C5: Train Ike, Oscar, Soren. Mainly Oscar for C6?

C6: Ike rescued by Oscar escapes. Maybe can’t orko boss…need 26 att or 14 str Titania. It’s possible with lvl 5 Titania even with lots of Iron use. Maybe lvl 4 with lots of Str stacking + Bandit/Knight kills. Might adjust C1, C2 to give her Fighter Band and use Steel. I hope that doesn’t destroy the speed benchmarks later. Needs more thought/tests. I’ll likely try +Spd Stacking and reaching lvl 5 first. Is orko boss even necessary?

C7: Hard? Get Ward

C8: Train Ike, Oscar, Soren. Need to start planning forges.

C9: Recruit Marcia. Titania kills stuff with glitchlance. Save Arms Scroll

C10: Stealth. 12 Mag to glitchthunder for ohko on boss. 24 att (14 str with WTA), 14 AS to glitchlance orko. Soren/Marcia/Titania should work. Promote Mist, Soren or Marcia?

C11: Forged hand axe to clear mid. Soren needs 15 mag to glitchthunder ohko the boss (lvl 14, unlikely). 20 att, 17 AS or 26 att (16/17 str) to glitchlance. Titania with Speedwing? There’s also the matter of the arrive square Knight. Maybe Titania can do it in time. Soren has no durability. Distract with naked characters? Lure boss and use chip? Promote Mist, Soren or Marcia? Get Killer Lance

C12: 23 att, 14 str on Marcia to glitchlance the boss. Marcia needs Seraph/Draco? Save Arms Scroll

C13: Forged 1-2 range to clear in 7 turns. Glitchforge for Halberdiers/Boss. Bring Chest keys.

C14: 17 str to ohko glitchlance. Or 18 AS. Titania/Marcia? Get laguz lance? Definitely get Vantage.

C15: 22 att, 21 AS. Easy for Marcia. Pacifism bexp? Get Boots, Physic. Maybe Guard, Frag? The good thing is finishing this on second player phase + Laguz need stones first enemy phase means Volke/Sothe are mostly safe.

C16: 23 att, 15 AS to glitchlance. Easy for Marcia. Watch Snipers. Get Full Guard. Maybe Dracoshield is worth a turn if have extra Chest key. Other items?

C17-1: Rout. Bring forged 1-2 range. Get Ike final levels

C17-2: Marcia skip. Get Ike final levels

C17-3: Train Oscar, Soren, Ike if possible, maybe Marcia. Probably mostly Oscar. Need lots of Javelins.

C17-4: Hopefully 1 turn with Forged Javelin with Marcia. May depend on Nosferatu hit rate.

C18: Probably super hard to optimize…Get Wrath and Shade. Bring Forged 1-2 range.

C19: 18 att, 24 AS or 24 att to glitchlance the boss. Easy for Marcia. (For fun, 31 att (22 str) can glitchlance and 2hko Naesala. 26 Mag att can glitchthunder and 2hko. 35 Mag att can ohko.)

C20: Base Calill can glitchthunder for perfect ohko. Rescuing without Savior may be an issue? Use cliff+ Reinforce? Watch Siege tomes. Get Smite/Rescue/Provoke if possible

C21: Probably super hard…34 att, 24 AS to glitchlance which isn’t going to happen. Probably plan enemy phase + player phase attack with Marcia? Else use Siege tome. Watch out for Sleep, Siege. Get Energy Drop/Talisman/Brave Sword?

C22: 1 turn Meteor 3hko boss. Get Bolting. Other items probably not possible.

C23: Looks ridiculous…31 att, 27 AS to glitchforge orko boss. Marcia should manage. Likely big durability issues with no Savior. Hopefully Marcia + statboosters + Pure water can manage with reinforce distractions. Aether for Ike? Rescue take drop Calill with Oscar/Tanith, Ranulf carries Reyson? Get Blizzard.

C24: Marcia skip. Get Savior.

C25: Probably super hard again… Drop Calill up top to destroy. Forged 1-2 range elsewhere. Bring Bastian, Soren for glitchthunder.

C26: 34 att, 26 AS to glitchforge orko. Not happening, so need Siege tome. Durability issues?

C27: Very tricky. Marcia/Ike right. Oscar/Tanith rescue-take-drop Calill left? Bastian/Geoffery/Soren/Reyson to wherever they need to be. Ideally take out door, General, Sleep Staff Bishops in a single turn. 30 att, 24 AS to glitchforge orko the boss.

C28: Yeah this is not easy…Sleep, Siege again. A million laguz. Some 68 hp/36 def/28 res Dragons. Boss is nothing. Use Laguzguard.

E: Standard

[spoiler=Forges WIP]

Most important early on when money is still low, bexp is limited to make stat benchmarks. Probably make 1-2 range where there are free forges. Also, buy Javelins for accuracy and Forge Hand Axes for mt.

C8: Sell Ashera Icon, non-necessary bands. Forge glitchlance, + 1 mt or more and +hit as necessary.

C9:

C10: max mt glitchlance or thunder for boss and escape tile Halberdier/Knights.

[spoiler=Stat benchmarks with and without glitching WIP]

Matters more for Fixed mode. No glitching benchmarks in ().

Ike:

Titania:

C6: 14 Str for Boss. Maybe --/4-5

C9: ~14 Str + 1 Mt glitchlance Myrms. 14 Str, 16 Spd for Boss. --/5. (15 Str + max mt Steel Axe for boss. Enemy Myrms likely cost turns, could use Speedwing)

C10: (Escape tile halberdier is really hard to kill without Speedwing. May need 19 Spd.

C11: ~15 Str and 17 Spd for Cavs. Maybe --/7

Soren:

Marcia:

C10: (May be necessary for escape tile Halberdier. 19 Spd.)

Calill:

In the interest of completing this in a reasonable time frame, which still likely won’t happen…, I’ll probably accept suboptimal strategies in chapters with silly requirements (later routs). Plus I’m sure there’s tons of stuff I’m not thinking of. Goal is sub150 turns. >_>

Long post, but the most important issue is Marcia vs. Jill right now. Actually, probably leaning toward Jill. I like her better anyway.

EDIT: Google doc for updated note versions. *link redacted*. Contact me if curious.

I can probably also share my Dolphin saves/memcards if anyone wants to try themselves on various chapters as I get to them.

Also, depending how my time shakes out I may still do a non-optimized efficiency run with Titania -> Jill without too detailed strategies. There’s too much stuff to theorycraft and test since my previous run was a rout all and I really want to see how stuff like Jill’s durability, dealing with Sleep Staffs efficiently, and Vantage!Glitchthunder!Calill work out lategame. <_<

Edited April 24, 2014 by XeKr

[XeKr]

So Chpt 3:

Turns: (3/14)

I thought this was going to be easy, but I spent probably waaaaaay too much time trying to get all 3 of Marcia, the Hand Axe, and the Elixer.

There are easy, though tricky strategies that get Marcia and the Hand Axe, by rushing everyone upward. Just need clever positioning so that the ramp isn't blocked. The loss of the Elixer probably matters little. There are also strategies that get Marcia and the Elixer, but I assume those aren't optimal since the Hand Axe is necessary for later chapters, at the very least C4. If not using Marcia (like me), it's probably best to use a simple Titania rush and optimize Ike's exp.

However, in the end, I think there's a fairly consistent 3 turn strat. Referencing with aku chi's LTC HM strategies, it's nearly identical to one of them, though I think we came up with it by thinking differently (since he was going for 2 turns?) and there are slight variations. Also, it seems much more consistent in MM in terms of acquiring everything than his notes. Olwen's 114 turn run uses Ike somehow to the kill the Hand Axe fighter, which I don't see as possible in MM. He has both offense and durability problems.

Anyways, my thinking. Note that Marcia mostly likely faces a 3hko the very first turn at 41, 43, 61 disp hit or 34, 37.4, 70 true hit or a 9% chance of death first turn alone. The only way to avoid this is to lure the Hand Axe fighter to attack Shinion at 1 range so Provoke is in effect and he can't counter. However, moving Shinion all the way up there, he needs to be cleverly positioned so that he isn't surrounded and the ramp isn't congested afterward. Therefore, Titania must head up there and kill something. This leaves Ike very undefended. It is however possible to block off 2 spaces with Shinion and Titania, leaving Shinion only open to 1 attack that also doesn't block the ramp. This formation protects Ike from the left enemies while also making several of them suicide into Titania, leaving the area uncongested. Ike, however, still can die from the right enemies. Gatrie unequipping his weapon solves that problem. Ike also needs 1 shove to reach Marcia turn 3.

In summary, Titania SW spot, Shinion NW spot. Gatrie E spot. Ike gets Knight Band. Shinion up and kills a Bandit just below the ramp with Steel (near 100% depending on bio). Titania moves up and kills another bandit right of the ramp (100%) with Iron. Ike up. Gatrie up and shoves Ike left and unequips.

[spoiler=Start of turn 2]

It's necessary to lure and damage the boss on this turn and he has a Hand Axe, so Shinion must kill the Hand Axe fighter with Steel (100%. I've always seen Shinion 2hko this fighter with 27 hp/4 def), Titania must trade for it and move into the boss's range near the top of the boat. Ike moves just above Shinion, healing should not be necessary, but still you can if you want. Gatrie moves toward the house.

On enemy phase, I think Marcia can still die depending on stat variation. Either she is 4hko'd even with a vulnerary use or 3hko'd and the first hit doesn't trigger her healing AI. Or neither case kills her. Anyways I haven't seen it happen once I started luring the Hand Axe fighter, it's probably around 5% at worst. Titania can actually crit the boss here if you want a 2 turn clear (12%), but you lose Marcia and the Elixer. No one else has a chance of dying.

[spoiler=Start of turn 3]

Depending on how Titania fought the Myrms (like 40% to kill them), you might trade some Hand Axe uses for a little exp. The important part is she hits 3/4 at ~90% true hit or ~95% success on the boss. Kill the Myrm in the way with Shinion, talk to Marcia, maybe chip for some exp if you're brave (~15% death). Gatrie gets the Elixer. It can transition to a ~100% 4 turn if you're cautious with Ike.

I'll probably continue to optimize the earlier chapters since there's not much resource allocation and decisions to be made. Later on I'll decide whether to switch to a more non-optimized run and probably will simplify the reliability percentages even further.

Edited April 12, 2013 by XeKr