The Lunatic Club

[Czar_Yoshi]

Avatar can probably kill a good deal more stuff with a Fred or Chrom support (Chrom lets him double Fighters, Fred's DSes are usually OHKOes after Avatar's damage).

[Gradivus.]

You mean on C2 right? My current strat for that one involves: Stahl softens LHS Fighter (6/37 dmg), MU with a Chrom DS on pairup (16 AS, 12*2+7/31 dmg) finishes off. Virion, ferried by Sully, chips Merc, FredxVaike finishes Merc. Fred tanks two Luna+ soldiers, very barely if he procs def in between, otherwise death (or Dual Guard, for which Fred picked a god and preyed successfully 3 times on failed attempts). Turn 3 and 4 are a mess, though I have (hopefully) figured out a strat to at least survive those. No plan how to actually defeat them yet. No strat for the boss area either atm, and the fact that Awakening doesn't have map saves doesn't help.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Gradivus.

[Interceptor]

^ Why not just use the strategy I came up with for Ch2? That's why I posted it, and you have the stats to execute it.

Part of your issue is that you're using Sully to get Virion into position, and Vaike to help Fred survive, which keeps you from using them to peel the Soldier off to the far left. You're better off using Robin to get Virion into his spot, and having Chrom yank him over and Switch for the DS kill. That's two moves with three units, which is better than using four. SullyxVaike will ensure that Fred doesn't face two Soldiers, and you can still finish off both on Turn 2 regardless because of Miriel and Vaike.

Check my sig. I have a strat for handling the boss, too.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Would you recommend FeMU or MaMU?

What should I do with Chrom, if I actually use him?

I usually go with female Robin because her marriage with Chrom is really strong for the main story, not to mention Galeforce making it easier to protect a full deploy, not to mention a lot of positioning flexibility. That said, if you're not doing a full deploy and given that you're leaning on a bow strat, these advanatages won't benefit you a ton.

Male Robin can build a pretty hilarious crit setup, though. It's not nearly as reliable as Galeforce or bow strats, but there's just something fun about continually scoring Sol crits.

As for Chrom, he's one of the better support bots in the game. I generally throw him behind Robin (either gender) and leave him there for the majority of the game.

[Marston]

After months I've started playing again. Beat chapter 11 yesterday, but it could have been better. I don't grind (I play DLC maps only once), but I forgot that Gangrel starts moving as soon as someone comes in range of his "squad". So, I did survive it (after a few tries) but I probably lost quite a few reinforcements I could have killed to gain more Exp.

So, Valm arc next. I only have 4 couples at the moment, will get interesting. And I actually managed to win a single battle against Risen a few chapters back - but only because a Streetpass team spawned on the same location and pretty much trashed them, while I leeched some Exp. xD

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

If you're doing each DLC map once, they should bring in enough EXP to compensate for minor lost opportunities like that.

[Jedi]

I've gone through Lunatic once before, replaying on it again however several months later makes me realize. I still suck at Lunatic chapter 2.. uuuugh

[Marston]

I have no idea how I did it, but I managed to beat chapter 12 on the first try due to mad dodging and guard skills. The sad thing is that Chrom, Tharja and MU all got most of the experience, but eh, I survived. On the first try. Srsly, what the fuck.

I took a look and a try at chapter 13. Looks quite managable. I only lost because a sniper spawned and one shottet Henry. Also, I need another Nosferatu so that Tharja can tank again. The one I have only has 1 use left. ;___;

[Ownagepuffs]

I've gone through Lunatic once before, replaying on it again however several months later makes me realize. I still suck at Lunatic chapter 2.. uuuugh

You know, in retrospect C2 ain't so bad. Don't get me wrong, that chapter can go kick rocks but still...

I have no idea how I did it, but I managed to beat chapter 12 on the first try due to mad dodging and guard skills. The sad thing is that Chrom, Tharja and MU all got most of the experience, but eh, I survived. On the first try. Srsly, what the fuck.

I took a look and a try at chapter 13. Looks quite managable. I only lost because a sniper spawned and one shottet Henry. Also, I need another Nosferatu so that Tharja can tank again. The one I have only has 1 use left. ;___;

IIRC Nosferatus are buyable at the C13 shop so if you can pull through without Nosferatu you'll be in the clear. Haha, at least you're not like me and frantically had to have Sumia murder the fuck out of everything so she could learn Galeforce by the end of the chapter to pass it to Lucina. Quick question, aside from obvious lolnos spam, how is Tharja doing in your run? I benched her ass, but I'm curious about her long term viability. Has her speed kept up? I was impressed by her base of 13, and I'm wondering if her growth keeps it high enough.

Anyway, I've got an updaaaaate~! C15 is done because yeah. I was lazy as shit and playing other games to prevent burnout. Namely, Path of Radiance and Sacred Stones. I needed something brainless since Lunatic is making me try so hard

I got lucky with a streetpass and they were selling a speedwing, so I bought one. Cherche took it because bias and because Cherche is my flying tank of death. Lots of shit happened in this chapter. Maribelle hit A staves, Cherche got that lovely D Lances for Beastkillers and Lucina, Morgan, and Nah gained like 2-3 levels each. Have I mentioned how much I fucking love Galeforce because I fucking love Galeforce. The amount of flexibility that it enables blows my mind. Oh yeah and I decided to Have Cherche pair up w/ Paladin Frederick instead of Hero Gregor because Paladin Fred gives better pair up bonuses, has better weapon ranks, and is statistically superior to Hero Gregor in just about every way. I regret nothing (though Gregor x Cherche is one of the best supportS ever...).

So yeah, start of the chapter. Cherche pairs w/ Fred and flys over to the left beach. She only needs a speed tonic to double the 17 Speed cavaliers. Without getting too numerical, basically she wounds 1 with a bronze lance with a 30% to KO after a dual strike. If she didn't kill it then Cordelia would just swoop in for the kill. Maribelle rescues Say'ri, Olivia dances her, Mary switches to Henry and Mire bombs the second unwounded cavalier on the beach so that it would suicide onto Cherche on EP. Sumia kills the first general then with Galeforce she moves to choke the middle area around where Say'ri was and also wounds the first Cavalier w/ Elthunder. Sumia w/ Elthunder was kinda funny in this map because she left every unpromoted enemy with exactly either 1 or 2 HP. Oh yeah and as usual nothing had over 45% displayed hit on her. I wonder how long this dodge tanking glory will last. Lucina kills the Cavalier that Sumia weakened and with Galeforce she switches to Morgan then choked the stair case next to Nah+Avatar. Both of which where next to Henry so his Anathema kicked in on EP when the Cavalier attacked Morgan. Sumia weakened everything down to like nothing in her glorious EP. Blah blah blah stuff happends and everybody cleans up what Sumia partially murdered. Sumia then moves on to the area surrounding the boss and continues to weaken everything down to nothing and then people pick up the scraps. My manaketes gained pretty terrible levels but Manaketes kinda rape without levels anyway so eh. Lucina hates procing Str, kind of like her mommy Sumia. Still, she's very close statistically to Chrom and Sumia despite being unpromoted. Oh yeah Cordelia got a level here too. Gained skill and luck which pissed me off. After a while only the boss was left so I let everyone chip at him for free EXP and gave Cordy the kill because why not. Somewhere along the line Cherche got a level and got everything but magic. Love this character~ Oh yeah and Say'ri was on collection duty in the houses. I may or may not use the Arms Scroll on Cherche when she hits B axes beacause then she'd have C lance/A axes which would make her identical to Minerva in FE12. Sumia's got A lances and A tomes which opens up so many fun toys for her. Kinda funny how Cherche has better stats than both my fliers despite joining like half a game later. Even with minor favoritism. Love Wyvern Riders <3

Edit: Oh yeah, a look at Say'ri. 19 base Str coupled with high ass speed and skill would actually be pretty dang solid if this game weren't so focused on supports and paired units. Still she supports Tiki though and they both give each other the bonuses they like. Maybe I'll use that team. Maybe.

C16 at a glance: More bullions and a speedwing! There is a notably higher density of promoted enemies though. I can most likely one turn this shit but there is beautiful EXP everywhere! Hmm...

Edited January 9, 2015 by Ownagepuffs

[Blaze The Great]

Done through C14. Lucina is absolutely ridiculous. Morgan is pretty amazing as well. I'm holding off on getting the other kids until after C15 because Laurent's and Nah's paralogues are so hard and the easiest way for me to reach Cynthia's is through C15. Hopefully I can get through it quickly.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Anyway, I've got an updaaaaate~! C15 is done because yeah. I was lazy as shit and playing other games to prevent burnout. Namely, Path of Radiance and Sacred Stones. I needed something brainless since Lunatic is making me try so hard

Well, I know I've been playing FE a little less than normal over the past week thanks to Awesome Games Done Quick... So you're definitely not alone.

Cht.16 is actually the last chapter to have any unpromoted enemies, so enjoy them while they last. Lots of mages coming up next chapter too, and they're actually the first ones since the jerks in the Prologue to be a serious threat.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi

[Ownagepuffs]

Well, I know I've been playing FE a little less than normal over the past week thanks to Awesome Games Done Quick... So you're definitely not alone.

Cht.16 is actually the last chapter to have any unpromoted enemies, so enjoy them while they last. Lots of mages coming up next chapter too, and they're actually the first ones since the jerks in the Prologue to be a serious threat.

I've been tuning in and out of AGDQ too. The Radiant Dawn run was the bee's knees.

About C16, is it really? Damn it that's just about the most depressing thing I've heard yet. Heroes are especially annoying. -sigh-

[Czar_Yoshi]

Agreed. FE really deserved a better showing than that SS run (openly taunting the RNG? What was the runner thinking), and RD and Gwimpage delivered.

Well, on the bright side there are a lot more riders, which means Beastkiller carnage if you still have it (if not, invest in another one. You're strong enough by now not to need a max forge).

Edited January 9, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi

[Volke29]

Just saw my first option for a skirmish ... The enemies are insane. They are a good 15 levels stronger than me (minus Fredrick).

Is this normal?

[Marston]

IIRC Nosferatus are buyable at the C13 shop so if you can pull through without Nosferatu you'll be in the clear. Haha, at least you're not like me and frantically had to have Sumia murder the fuck out of everything so she could learn Galeforce by the end of the chapter to pass it to Lucina. Quick question, aside from obvious lolnos spam, how is Tharja doing in your run? I benched her ass, but I'm curious about her long term viability. Has her speed kept up? I was impressed by her base of 13, and I'm wondering if her growth keeps it high enough.

Well, I promoted her in the middle of C13 when she reached level 20. And since I am pairing her with Lon'qu (who is currently level 17) she is doubling pretty much everything anyways. xD

Currently, as a level 1 sorceror she has 21 speed. Paired up with him she reaches 29. So, yeah... xD

My other pairs currently are Sully + Chrom (who could probably solo most maps, as Sully is already promoted), Lissa + Donnel (who is nearly level 16 at the moment), Nowi + MU (Nowi is also 15) and Cordelia + Virion (both unpromoted, but with their master weapons they both have 30-40%+ crit chance, which is quite neat). Maribelle + Frederick are only at B rank currently, but after this map I do hope they reach A rank (and Maribelle has also been promoted so she can actually fight back).

Edit @above:

Yes, that is normal. They have the average level of your team. And since Frederick is promoted and most likely 1 or 2 of your units are pretty strong compared to the rest, the overall level is higher then your average team.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Marston

[astrophys]

(Re)-started Lunatic/Classic a few days ago.

After some experimentation had the best success getting through the opening chapters (particularly Ch. 2) with a +Def/-Skl Avatar.

Things started becoming substantially easier after that.

Just beat Ch. 8.

The team I've been using so far is:

Avatar

Chrom (because you have to have him)

Frederick

Lissa (strictly staff support)

Sumia

Kellam (strictly pair-up support for +3 Str/+5 Def, has been reinforcing Frederick's defenses)

Cordelia

Avatar is now a Dark Mage (having gone through Tactician 20 -> Mercenary 10 -> Dark Mage). Planning to promote him to Sorcerer.

I should probably have no more than 3 combat pairs, I'd guess.

Considering whom I've been using and who is coming, I guess that it might fall along these lines:

Chrom x Sumia

Avatar x Cordelia

Frederick x Cherche (when she comes along)

Cherche because she has similar pair-up bonuses to those Kellam gives at the moment (+STR/+DEF) but will actually be able to form support ranks with Frederick.

[Ownagepuffs]

Agreed. FE really deserved a better showing than that SS run (openly taunting the RNG? What was the runner thinking), and RD and Gwimpage delivered.

Well, on the bright side there are a lot more riders, which means Beastkiller carnage if you still have it (if not, invest in another one. You're strong enough by now not to need a max forge).

We will never forget Marcia and Astrid sacrificing their life force unto

I have like 3 beastkillers so yeah. Walhart's going to regret specializing his army in something that there is a Weakness to, lol. Not looking forward to chapter 21...

Just saw my first option for a skirmish ... The enemies are insane. They are a good 15 levels stronger than me (minus Fredrick).

Is this normal?

Lunatic discourages grinding by putting wtf powerful enemies in skirmishes. So yeah it's normal.

Well, I promoted her in the middle of C13 when she reached level 20. And since I am pairing her with Lon'qu (who is currently level 17) she is doubling pretty much everything anyways. xD

Currently, as a level 1 sorceror she has 21 speed. Paired up with him she reaches 29. So, yeah... xD

My other pairs currently are Sully + Chrom (who could probably solo most maps, as Sully is already promoted), Lissa + Donnel (who is nearly level 16 at the moment), Nowi + MU (Nowi is also 15) and Cordelia + Virion (both unpromoted, but with their master weapons they both have 30-40%+ crit chance, which is quite neat). Maribelle + Frederick are only at B rank currently, but after this map I do hope they reach A rank (and Maribelle has also been promoted so she can actually fight back).

Dark mage --> Sorc gains +1 speed on promotion. Tharja's base level/spd is 10/13. 7 Spd procs in 10 levels? Sounds pretty good. Lol how the heck did you get Maribelle and Frederick to B support? And how's Donny doing? I only recruited him because OCD but he got benched even faster than Kellam!

I'm asking these questions out of just curiosity. I'm wondering how some of these characters perform in a Lunatic environment.

(Re)-started Lunatic/Classic a few days ago.

After some experimentation had the best success getting through the opening chapters (particularly Ch. 2) with a +Def/-Skl Avatar.

Things started becoming substantially easier after that.

Just beat Ch. 8.

The team I've been using so far is:

Avatar

Chrom (because you have to have him)

Frederick

Lissa (strictly staff support)

Sumia

Kellam (strictly pair-up support for +3 Str/+5 Def, has been reinforcing Frederick's defenses)

Cordelia

Avatar is now a Dark Mage (having gone through Tactician 20 -> Mercenary 10 -> Dark Mage). Planning to promote him to Sorcerer.

I should probably have no more than 3 combat pairs, I'd guess.

Considering whom I've been using and who is coming, I guess that it might fall along these lines:

Chrom x Sumia

Avatar x Cordelia

Frederick x Cherche (when she comes along)

Cherche because she has similar pair-up bonuses to those Kellam gives at the moment (+STR/+DEF) but will actually be able to form support ranks with Frederick.

Dark Mage avatar can solo as soon as he starts doubling with Nos. I'm guessing you don't want to Nos spam it though. Anyway, 3 combat pairs is kinda small. 5 is more reasonable because you want to make room for Morgan and Lucina. You're often given like 12 deployment slots anyway. Oh yeah and it is worth noting that Virion also gives +Str and +Def along with +Skl and can actually form a support with Frederick as well. Fred x Virion is a really good early game duo.

I'll just go ahead and put it a good word for Cherche because waifu bias I've underestimated her in the past. She joins at a base level of 12, comes with C axes and a hammer. She can grab Libra's Killer Axe too if you haven't used it. Unfortunately, unlike in the past, axes aren't as much of a dominating weapon type in this game. You can look to my comments in this thread to see how I raised her. She grows super fast due to her low internal level and her bases are kinda amazing. It also helps that she has a pretty good growth spread (we don't have exact numbers, but if her archetype is anything to go by they are bound to be good). All she wants is +Spd to help her double/not get doubled and +Def to help her soak up hits more. Hero or Paladin would be awesome for her. If Fred is level 10 by the time you get her (it's possible because chip damage) then I advise second sealing him to paladin and pairing him with Cherche. If he isn't, then promoted Gregor will do. She can also be instant promoted and used as a flying Frederick if you wish, but I wouldn't recommend that.

[Cat1803]

After reading some responses and doing a lot of consideration, I'm going to go FeMUxChrom. What really sold it for me was Morgan just automatically coming with Veteran without needing to inherit it from FeMU or reclass to Tactician for it.

With that in mind, Galeforce on FeMU is very much a goal. I'm thinking Tactician -> Mercenary -> Bow Knight -> Dark Flier -> Sniper.

Bowbreaker on Dark Flier FeMU will be helpful for obvious reasons: avoiding non-Hawkeye bow users. Chrom will be her pairup bot when we don't have Squishy-Easily-OHKO'd-New-Recruit episodes, and that of other characters otherwise (squishy new recruit/locktouch user will hide behind FeMU nine times out of ten).

That being said... I could use some recommendations on other units to use. I've recruited Donnel in Loony+ before (usually by letting a couple non-Luna enemies break their weapons on my MU then letting Donny smack them around until they die), but I don't think he'd see much use here with his bad bases. I tried to use him in a Lunatic run once, but he got speed-screwed and I've had a bad taste in my mouth about using him above Hard since. He could pass Apitude and Armsthrift access to someone, but bad bases due to his non-trained stats would make amazing growths not worth the trouble. I don't know how to train him outside of "let someone break their weapons", but if I could get him rolling, that could be swell.

Miriel could honestly see quite a bit of use. She's easy to train in Chapter 3 and can be a healer (Troubadour/Valkyrie/Sage) or a Dark Mage/Sorc if I need her to Mire things. Also, Laurent's recruitment chapter is not bad at all, so I'd get an additional unit (and some extra experience!) out of it, too!

I don't plan on running a full team, but Chrom/FeMU/Lucina/Morgan quad would likely make Protect-the-New-Unit/I-Need-A-Locktouch-User situations hairy.

Suggestions?

[eclipse]

Training Donnel, the boring way: Surround a non-Counter archer, and have Donnel poke it until he levels, or his lance rank advances enough to use better weapons.

Training Donnel, the efficient way: Uh, pair him with someone like Sully, and have her transport him to units he can OHKO?

For your team, I'm not sure what else you're looking for. Do you want more children? Just firt-gen units that can hold their own?

[Cat1803]

^Funny enough, that was how I got Donnel to finish off a level (he had 81 experience from archer poking) last time. Sully was the transport too. Lol @ my still-existing notes from my last Luna+ run, full of things that were stupid (like a few of my Ch. 3 fails) and things that were stupidly brilliant.

I consider children bonus units if I can get some competent first-gens going. As for kids, I'm not getting any with PITA paralogues (sorry, Inigo).

For first-gen units, I'm mostly looking for bow access, even if it's not immediate. Magic users are also gravy for (a) staff access or (b) mire bombing, whichever the character has access to. Heck, this is why I'm seriously considering Miriel despite her low defense - she can be either a healer or a mire user based on my team's needs.

So, to answer your question: the top priority would be first generation units that can hold their own or have a nice niche. If I can get a child unit with a decent paralogue (by decent I mean not miserable but exploitable for exp) out of it, than that's a bonus round that may make me favor a first-gen character over another first-gen in a situation where they'd otherwise be equal.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Just saw my first option for a skirmish ... The enemies are insane. They are a good 15 levels stronger than me (minus Fredrick).

Is this normal?

15 levels? Early game skirmishes have mostly high level base classes. Did you not train Avatar or something?

It's normal for them to be strong, but not that far ahead that immediately.

Edit @above:

Yes, that is normal. They have the average level of your team. And since Frederick is promoted and most likely 1 or 2 of your units are pretty strong compared to the rest, the overall level is higher then your average team.

They definitely don't. Otherwise all your benched units would weigh them down, but as is they wind up ahead of anything you can possibly have normally right after they start promoting, but staff grinding and the like doesn't affect their strength.

[eclipse]

^Funny enough, that was how I got Donnel to finish off a level (he had 81 experience from archer poking) last time. Sully was the transport too. Lol @ my still-existing notes from my last Luna+ run, full of things that were stupid (like a few of my Ch. 3 fails) and things that were stupidly brilliant.

I consider children bonus units if I can get some competent first-gens going. As for kids, I'm not getting any with PITA paralogues (sorry, Inigo).

For first-gen units, I'm mostly looking for bow access, even if it's not immediate. Magic users are also gravy for (a) staff access or (b) mire bombing, whichever the character has access to. Heck, this is why I'm seriously considering Miriel despite her low defense - she can be either a healer or a mire user based on my team's needs.

So, to answer your question: the top priority would be first generation units that can hold their own or have a nice niche. If I can get a child unit with a decent paralogue (by decent I mean not miserable but exploitable for exp) out of it, than that's a bonus round that may make me favor a first-gen character over another first-gen in a situation where they'd otherwise be equal.

Chrom CAN reclass to archer, but he'll lose out on a lot of cool things. You can either try for an assassin (Lon'qu or Gaius would be the best choices simply because they don't need a Second Seal to do it) or use Vaike, and go warrior. Gregor can go bow knight, if you're not happy with the previous choices. Everyone else requires a lot of work (like Panne/Stahl).

For mages, Miriel's better because she comes earlier and is less likely to be doubled. Tharja/Henry can try to cheese things, but they don't have staff access. If you're dead-set on both dark magic and staffbotting, and don't mind a lack of supports, you can use DLC Micaiah as a Sage. Otherwise, I'd use Libra as a staffbot, because he's got some bulk and Healtouch to his name, and can reclass to Sorcerer if absolutely necessary.

The only non-headache inducing paralogue I can think of is Morgan. Next-best would be Kjelle/Owain; of these, Kjelle will probably be ready before Owain. After that is Cynthia.

[Marston]

Dark mage --> Sorc gains +1 speed on promotion. Tharja's base level/spd is 10/13. 7 Spd procs in 10 levels? Sounds pretty good. Lol how the heck did you get Maribelle and Frederick to B support? And how's Donny doing? I only recruited him because OCD but he got benched even faster than Kellam!

I'm asking these questions out of just curiosity. I'm wondering how some of these characters perform in a Lunatic environment.

I sadly can't really answer that, because I started that run sometime last year and have no idea what exactly I did to level up Donnel. Maribelle and Frederick are paired together for the simply reason that all my other units already had better supports and those were the only ones on my active team that didn't have any support beyond C level. So, yeah, since then they are together, but Frederick (who is lvel 9 1/2 curretnly) doesn't really do much. One reason is he can't double enemies and the other is Maribelle who has to heal pretty much every turn. Donnel has the same problem, he is nearly level 16 but can't double enemies (but also won't get doubled, unless he faces myrmidons or promoted units) but can't do much because Lissa has to heal. I also think about reclassing him since he already learned his two skills, but he has like 93 exp, so 1 or 2 more levels are probably better instead of reclassing now (I also have no idea what exactly I would do then, he would be more useless because his stats would probably change for the worse).

They definitely don't. Otherwise all your benched units would weigh them down, but as is they wind up ahead of anything you can possibly have normally right after they start promoting, but staff grinding and the like doesn't affect their strength.

Huh, okay, just thought so because even in early levels they get stronger, so locations doesn't seem to matter on lunatic anymore.

[Interceptor]

For first-gen units, I'm mostly looking for bow access, even if it's not immediate. Magic users are also gravy for (a) staff access or (b) mire bombing, whichever the character has access to. Heck, this is why I'm seriously considering Miriel despite her low defense - she can be either a healer or a mire user based on my team's needs.

Miriel is a great pickup for an L+ run. She's easy to train (perfect opportunity for it in Chapter 3), and very useful in the difficult early chapters. Speaking frankly, her durability is a complete dumpster fire, but much of L+ is about offensive efficiency (especially early), and that's what she brings in double-handfuls. As you noted, she can Mire-bomb or staff-bot as necessary, although I think you'll find that having a secondary magic attacker next to Robin might be too good to give up.

I may be the only one driving this bandwagon, but the other good reason to pick her up is to pair her with Gregor (he does not necessarily need to be trained), who passes down Armsthrift to LAURENT! and thus creates a godless killing machine. Once you get LAURENT! to Dark Mage and give him a forged Nosferatu that never breaks, it's Game Over. LAURENT! also makes an excellent partner for Lucina: with her as a Bow Knight, you have a Pair that can handle a wide variety of situations.

[Cat1803]

Thanks for the responses! Goodness I love this place.

@eclipse: Gregor is near the top of the list because Armsthrift, and I've tried to use Vaike in the past but I've gotten Speed-screwed with him. I'm willing to try out Lon'qu/Gaius though, and Miriel's almost guaranteed to be a part of my run now the harder I look. Tharja and Henry don't have staff utility, and have issues (Skl and Spd, respectively) that I'm more willing to put up with in vanilla Lunatic or a grind run, but not something like this, if I'm being perfectly honest.

@Interceptor: Considering I almost always go +Spd/-Def, I'm willing to work with units with awful durability if they have plenty of assets to compensate for it, and Miriel is definitely one of them. I'll make sure to train her in chapter 3. I'm thinking her class path would be a Sage promotion followed by class change to Valkyrie, then I'd go from there. This may change based on my team's needs, though.

Anyway, GregorxMiriel has always sounded super tempting, but I've never really given it a chance as I've always favored Lon'qu!Laurent or Henry/Libra/Ricken!Laurent. However, Armsthrift on Dark Mage Laurent is just too good to pass up in this run.

I've played the prologue enough to fairly reliably get my Avatar to level 8, so I've got a goal I'm willing to reset for: 14 Speed. With 14 Speed + 1 from Fred, I can double all the enemies in Chapter 1 (including the Archer), which makes the stage so much easier to deal with, especially since I'm less likely to get tinked with a Def flaw (though I did have a run where I wound up with 10 Def and got a Def level in Chapter 1, and it was hilarious getting tinked on a fort with a Def flaw). I'm a bit more picky than most when it comes to enemy skills earlygame, but I tend to let up when Avatar and a few other units get the ball rolling.

...Since I tend to handwrite playlogs (down to the level-ups!) anyway, would here be a good place to post them, or should I make a separate thread? I'm really curious to see how this no-DLC run will go, especially since it's been months since I've done FeMUxChrom.