Yay Awakening playlog time

[Shadow Mir]

How are you even getting by using Gaius in Lunatic mode...?

Edited April 16, 2013 by Levant Fortner

[Florete]

How are you even getting by using Gaius in Lunatic mode...?

At this point...I am not sure. However, once Panne gets another level and re-classes to Wyvern, she'll be giving him some much needed Str and Def with her support boost. Pair Up pretty much solves everything in this game, after all.

On that note, though, I am considering not using Cynthia and Yarne when I eventually get them and instead just having Lucina and Morgan be tight siblings. I'll have to see what they look like and consider whether or not adding another pair to the team will be worthwhile.

[Titamon]

Lissa's never gonna be a frontliner with that HP

Edited April 16, 2013 by Merry Sioux

[Florete]

Lissa's never gonna be a frontliner with that HP

When is Lissa ever a frontliner?

Ch 10: 5/120

I'll preface by saying: I got extremely lucky in this chapter. In the first enemy phase, Sumia dodged two Wyverns with 64% hit on her, which didn't matter then, but allowed me to swith out to her later for doubling prowess...and even then she was nearly killed but not for a dual guard from Fred.

But that's not all. On turn 2 enemy phase Libra got immediately knocked down to about 17 HP, then proceeded to dodge or get dual guarded (by Lon'qu) for 4 attacks that could have killed him, all with >50% hit chances, killing the two that didn't attack with range in return.

In general, I got a lot of dodges in this map. I don't know what Fox's chance to die was, but I don't think she was ever hit despite often seeing 30-50% hit rates. I also got pretty good level ups in general. As Gaius would say: Sweet.

Anyway...Chrom and Fox immediately headed west, handling whatever came to them, trying to break through to the Thieves (in the end, they didn't kill any). Sumia took Fred and headed straight north for some luck mentioned above, then literally proceeded to kill one Thief per turn until the end. And the last one, with the Seraph Robe, was next to the boss by that point. Fred having A Sword/Lance/Axe is damn helpful when you've got Vengeance and Sigurd's Lance at your disposal. The latter was particularly useful for OHKOing the third Thief, eliminating chance based on hitting (Vengeance) or dual attack triggering. Also, one more level and I re-class him.

Gaius/Panne and Kellam!Anna headed north. Wyrmslayer helped both of them, as one time I actually had Gaius take it from Anna for a well-positioned Wyvern kill before she killed a Brigand. Panne got to 10 and actually re-classed mid-map (though this wasn't important in the end). They still didn't do a whole lot, but they got more combat in here than they have previously. Maribelle was also around to help with healing.

Libra took Lon'qu to help out an unexpected amount behind Fox and Chrom, sticking behind when those two went on to deal with the rangers.

Everyone got some good action this time around. Well, except Chrom, who only killed the boss.

Oh, also, throwing Anna in because she's fucking Anna. I might do some Anna x Tiki.

Unit        Class        Lv    HP    Str    Mag    Skl    Spd    Lck    Def    Res    Weapon            Support        Skills
Fox        Grandmaster    11    48    25    30    17    24    19    14    17    D Sword, A Tome        S Chrom        Veteran, Solidarity, Ignis
Chrom        Lord        17    32    21    3    15    18    18    15    5    A Sword            S Fox        Dual Strike+, Charm
Frederick    Great Knight    14    42    20    4    19    14    12    19    8    A Sword, A Lance, A Axe    S Sumia        Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa        Troubadour    4    24    5    14    10    11    15    5    10    B Staff                    Miracle, Healtouch, Res +2
Sumia        Pegasus Knight    16    30    13    3    20    23    16    9    15    A Lance            S Fred        Spd +2, Relief
Panne        Wyvern Rider    1    33    16    2    15    12    9    15    3    E Axe            B Gaius        Even Rhythm, Str +2
Gaius        Thief        8    25    9    0    14    17    9    6    4    C Sword            B Panne        Locktouch
Libra        War Monk    2    41    16    16    14    15    12    13    17    C Axe, C Staff                Healtouch, Miracle
Anna        Trickster    2    38    13    18    24    23    28    9    12    C Sword, D Staff            Move +1, Locktouch

[Interceptor]

Oh, also, throwing Anna in because she's fucking Anna. I might do some Anna x Tiki.

It's a pretty good pairing, comes recommended, although training Tiki without a +DEF support can be a bit of a lift.

[Shadow Mir]

When is Lissa ever a frontliner?

Oh, also, throwing Anna in because she's fucking Anna. I might do some Anna x Tiki.

Uhhh, never? TBH, I find her "I think I'm ready for the front lines" level up quote hilariously unfitting since, well...

She also makes good use of Levin Swords.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Levant Fortner

[Florete]

Ch 11: 5/125

4 would have been possible with some luck (more than I already used), or maybe a different setup, but this isn't the kind of run where I want to reset for one turn when everything has gone well. And everything went fairly well.

My goal was to kill Gangrel by turn 3 player phase so no reinforcements would show up. This is one of those odd cases where going faster can actually make things easier because the reinforcements will end up being a real pain. I put Fred and Sumia at the westernmost squares, had Chrom and Fox join up with each, then had Fred drop Fox in range of a Mercenary and had Sumia give Chrom to Fox. This put Fox in a position close enough to reach the Fort by turn 2, which Gangrel would attack.

On the other side, I put Libra in range of the Mage and Sage and had Lissa give him some Ward. The Mages ended up not being a big deal, but that Sage is a real pain. I ended up using Sumia's S rank with Fred and doubling to increase my chances of him getting in on the action, then Danced her so she could switch and be safe from the Arcwind while Fred cleaned up mages on enemy phase. Panne's Def and Str boosts allowed Gaius to both survive and kill the Wyverns. Really, despite still having few levels, Panne's re-class and their A support is helping them quite a lot.

Gangrel wasn't defeated on turn 2 enemy phase after Chrom's dual attack missed. I tried on turn 3 and Fox hit...but Chrom didn't join in. Luckily, backup in the form of Kellam!Anna was still there, and she was able to kill him off. Her durability is still poor, but she was able to avoid some enemy attacks by way of being immediately surrounded on 3 sides and not killing the Mercenaries that attacked her.

On turn 4 Gaius got the Goddess Icon chest and was then Danced by way of having Maribelle ferry Olivia so he could finish off one of the Mercs. Fred took the other, Libra took the remaining Wyvern, and Fox killed the Mercenary at the far left so Anna could safely open the remaining chest for a Large Bullion. Unfortunately, this meant one enemy, the thief, was left behind, and he doesn't attack. Oh well.

Used that last turn to 1) milk out some staff experience for Anna by healing Sumia, which put her in position to 2) milk out some staff experience for Lissa, which put her in position to 3) milk out some support between Libra and Lissa by having Libra attack the thief from range. Then Libra was Danced and attacked again, but the Thief still wasn't dead, so I finished him off with Gaius.

Why can't Fox gain any Defense?

Unit        Class        Lv    HP    Str    Mag    Skl    Spd    Lck    Def    Res    Weapon            Support        Skills
Fox        Grandmaster    13    48    26    31    18    25    21    14    18    D Sword, A Tome        S Chrom        Veteran, Solidarity, Ignis
Chrom        Lord        18    33    21    3    16    19    18    16    5    A Sword            S Fox        Dual Strike+, Charm
Frederick    Great Knight    14    42    20    4    19    14    12    19    8    A Sword, A Lance, A Axe    S Sumia        Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna
Lissa        Troubadour    5    25    5    15    10    12    16    5    11    B Staff                    Miracle, Healtouch, Res +2
Sumia        Pegasus Knight    17    31    14    4    21    24    17    9    16    A Lance            S Fred        Spd +2, Relief
Panne        Wyvern Rider    1    33    16    2    15    12    9    15    3    E Axe            A Gaius        Even Rhythm, Str +2
Gaius        Thief        10    27    11    1    15    18    10    6    4    C Sword            A Panne        Locktouch, Move +1
Libra        War Monk    2    41    16    16    14    15    12    13    17    C Axe, C Staff                Healtouch, Miracle
Anna        Trickster    3    39    13    19    24    23    29    9    12    C Sword, D Staff            Move +1, Locktouch

Damn it, these enemies keep getting in my way of Str and Def Tonics. But got a Micaiah's Pyre. Use y/n?

Lissa and Libra still can't even build a C. Grr...I'm not liking the look of this. I don't like the idea of grinding out a support between two main team units, but I want to do Owain's map when the enemies are level-appropriate, and I only have [Ch 12, Ch 13, Par 12] left. Thoughts?

[Interceptor]

Damn it, these enemies keep getting in my way of Str and Def Tonics.

I like buying in bulk for this reason. Useful to keep a stack of 4-5, more for the good ones like SPD. They are cheap enough, imo.

But got a Micaiah's Pyre. Use y/n?

N, Pyre is basically B-rank magic that you wouldn't normally get until after Valm.

Lissa and Libra still can't even build a C. Grr...I'm not liking the look of this. I don't like the idea of grinding out a support between two main team units, but I want to do Owain's map when the enemies are level-appropriate, and I only have [Ch 12, Ch 13, Par 12] left. Thoughts?

Spotpass support grinding? You wouldn't have to worry about making them over-leveled, since everything gives 1 EXP. Just throw Lissa on Libra, and go give Leonardo what-for or something.

[Florete]

I like buying in bulk for this reason. Useful to keep a stack of 4-5, more for the good ones like SPD. They are cheap enough, imo.

I actually did, but every time an enemy disappeared from there, a second had first appeared to keep it blocked off. I was also surprisingly low on money at certain points, but that's probably because of spending 7.5k on two Seals and an Arms Scroll.

Spotpass support grinding? You wouldn't have to worry about making them over-leveled, since everything gives 1 EXP. Just throw Lissa on Libra, and go give Leonardo what-for or something.

Yes, but he'll still gain weapon rank. I suppose that will be the least of my worries, though.

[Shadow Mir]

I actually did, but every time an enemy disappeared from there, a second had first appeared to keep it blocked off. I was also surprisingly low on money at certain points, but that's probably because of spending 7.5k on two Seals and an Arms Scroll.

Poor Red Fox... that sucks.

[Redwall]

Yes, but he'll still gain weapon rank. I suppose that will be the least of my worries, though.

No, he won't.

[Florete]

Oh, do units not get weapon rank from fighting Spotpass teams? Is that only a Lunatic thing? Because I could swear I've gotten weapon levels from support grinding in hard mode.

If so, awesome. Well, for this purpose.

[Interceptor]

Oh, do units not get weapon rank from fighting Spotpass teams? Is that only a Lunatic thing? Because I could swear I've gotten weapon levels from support grinding in hard mode.

If so, awesome. Well, for this purpose.

It's a Lunatic thing. Hard mode Spotpass fights give WExp and meaningful EXP. Lunatic's anti-grinding mechanic is apparently your accidentally-useful Support bakery.

[Florete]

N, Pyre is basically B-rank magic that you wouldn't normally get until after Valm.

On this note, I can actually buy one from Micaiah's Spotpass team (and B rank Magic from others). I mentioned Spotpass shopping earlier but ended up completely forgetting to do it. At this point I think I may as well just skip it.

Urgh, there are too many ways to break this game. I didn't want the run to be painful and so I wanted my only rule to be "no grinding," but taking everything else into account still ends up as so much. I mean, you can get basically every eventually buyable item from Spotpass teams (Braves!) and a bit more, and I already have good stuff from Renown and Bonus Box weapons. Good thing I didn't consider (though I wouldn't have anyway) hiring an old Avatar with Galeforce or something. This freaking game.

Lunatic's anti-grinding mechanic is apparently your accidentally-useful Support bakery.

...Lol.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Red Fox of Fire

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Lunatic gives 1 WEXP and 1 EXP

Also you can still use Shining Tiles

TBH it is accidentallly extremely useful for early game grinding

Edited April 16, 2013 by JSND

[Florete]

Some re-classing questions:

1. When Fred gets Dual Guard+, what should he re-class to? Paladin is currently my #1 for keeping well-balanced stats and support bonuses, move (over General), and Defender, but the lack of Axes might hurt. Griffon Rider is basically out of the question, but I'm also afraid to go Wyvern Lord because then I'll have too many units weak to anti-air.

2. When Fox gets Rally Spectrum, what then? I am considering Dark Knight for move + durability, but I also really like the Grandmaster class.

3. I'll be passing down Rally Spectrum to Morgan, so there's little reason to keep him as a Tactician. Dark Mage? Cavalier?

4. Last one: Dark Flier or Falcon for Sumia?

[Shadow Mir]

Some re-classing questions:

1. When Fred gets Dual Guard+, what should he re-class to? Paladin is currently my #1 for keeping well-balanced stats and support bonuses, move (over General), and Defender, but the lack of Axes might hurt. Griffon Rider is basically out of the question, but I'm also afraid to go Wyvern Lord because then I'll have too many units weak to anti-air.

2. When Fox gets Rally Spectrum, what then? I am considering Dark Knight for move + durability, but I also really like the Grandmaster class.

3. I'll be passing down Rally Spectrum to Morgan, so there's little reason to keep him as a Tactician. Dark Mage? Cavalier?

4. Last one: Dark Flier or Falcon for Sumia?

Dunno on the first one.

Given your history, I'd almost say Valkyrie, but instead I'll say THE DARK KNIGHT.

Errr, Cavalier.

And I prefer Falco for any of the pegasi in this game.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Levant Fortner

[Redwall]

1. I'd avoid reclassing him entirely and just phase him out of the lead support spot unless you feel you could benefit from a Rally Spd+Def Cynthia, in which case General Fred and Falco Sumia would be good.

2. Dark Knight is one of the more dependable choices. Dark Flier works for the next few non-Paralogue chapters since there won't be that many bow/Wind users for a while, and the ones that do appear have low accuracy; then again, I don't recall how much of a problem bows are on the Paralogues. Hero might be interesting because of Sol.

3. Dark Mage is probably the most effective, but Mercenary might be more fun. Armsthrift and decent Mag allow Morgan to go nuts with Levin Swords, and he'll be even better once acquiring Sol.

4. Falcon Knight; I don't think Sumia has the offense to make good use of Galeforce on Lunatic, and the better stats of Falcon Knight probably will help more than having access to low-ish magic damage.

[Florete]

Thanks for the responses!

1. Hm, not sure here. I know Sumia will overtake as the primary lead unit, but I still want Fred to be able to switch out and take the lead on occasion. General isn't something I was considering, although the prospect of a Rally Spd/Def Cynthia, even if she only ends up a Rally bot, is rather enticing.

2. Dark Knight it is.

3. Will have to continue thinking on this one. Having every male class available makes the choice rather difficult. Dark Mage, Cavalier, Mercenary, even leaving him as Tactician all are decent choices.

4. Falcon Knight it is. I was originally going to go Dark Flier for Galeforce, but I think better stats, better support bonuses, and Rally Speed will be more useful game-wide.

In other news, I discovered that I have a save file at Ch 15 with Owain's map unlocked. Ch 15 enemies are lv 19 while the enemies in Owain's are 20, so I've got more time to build Libra x Lissa. Probably still won't make S in time, but grinding ought to be minimal.

[Florete]

Ch 12: 8/133

I need to start using some boosters. Threw Panne an Arms Scroll, Fred a Wing, and Sumia a Robe. Might give a Drop or Shield to Gaius, but I want to see how well he performs with Panne first. Chrom also promoted.

This map in Lunatic actually kind of forces you to turtle, at least somewhat. It sends a lot of powerful enemies at you in waves with a promoted enemy mixed into each group and the only place that isn't fairly wide open is the starting area.

Starting at the west, Libra with Lon'qu and a Spd Tonic was able to double kill one Cavalier. Fred with Vengeance was barely able to survive the Beastkiller Paladin...but I almost wish he had been hit, as he triggered Vengeance, and then Sumia missed. Ugh. Anna took a third Cav over there. Panne and Fox had each taken out a Knight, and I had planned it out so Panne would not kill the first enemy that came to her afterward lest she be killed. Fox instead took the enemies.

I counted on a dual attack with Fred and Sumia to remove the Beastkiller Paladin on turn 2 and it payed off. Libra and Anna took out the remaining Cavaliers, and as such I was able to focus all my efforts in one spot from the next turn on.

Since the enemies in this map are on a timer for when they move (or so it seems), you never end up overwhelmed, but you generally can't advance fast. Fox got Rally Spectrum in the middle, which helped quite a lot as one might expect, but when everyone in the boss area began moving towards us, I actually had to back up because we had started advancing but couldn't take so many enemies in such a wide open space. Chrom took a few out on that enemy phase and on the next player phase Fox blocked off the last Paladin while everyone cleaned enemies up. This was another situation where there was one enemy left for the last turn.

Panne got a lot of action here, getting a full 4 and a half levels. Fred got to level 15 for Dual Guard+ on the last enemy. Chrom got from E to D Lances in this one map. Levels overall were pretty good, but Fox still won't get Defense. Anna with a Levin Sword is really helpful.

Unit        Class        Lv    HP    Str    Mag    Skl    Spd    Lck    Def    Res    Weapon            Support        Skills
Fox        Grandmaster    15    49    28    31    19    27    21    14    19    D Sword, A Tome        S Chrom        Veteran, Solidarity, Ignis, Rally Spectrum
Chrom        Great Lord    3    40    27    3    19    22    19    20    8    A Sword, D Lance    S Fox        Dual Strike+, Charm
Frederick    Great Knight    15    43    21    4    20    17    12    20    8    A Sword, A Lance, A Axe    S Sumia        Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna, Dual Guard+
Lissa        Troubadour    7    26    6    16    11    14    18    5    11    B Staff                    Miracle, Healtouch, Res +2
Sumia        Pegasus Knight    19    38    14    5    22    25    18    10    17    A Lance            S Fred        Spd +2, Relief
Panne        Wyvern Rider    5    37    18    2    18    15    11    17    4    D Axe            A Gaius        Even Rhythm, Str +2
Gaius        Thief        10    27    11    1    15    18    10    6    4    C Sword            A Panne        Locktouch, Move +1
Libra        War Monk    4    42    16    17    15    17    14    13    19    C Axe, C Staff                Healtouch, Miracle
Anna        Trickster    4    40    14    20    24    24    30    9    12    C Sword, D Staff            Move +1, Locktouch

Ch 13: 2/135

Threw Gaius a Shield. It allowed him to survive the enemy phase and he'll need it anyway.

Since I had a two-turn strat ready, I knew I could afford to be precise about everything else. I started off by having Fox Rally Spectrum Chrom, Gaius, and Libra, then having them all move to their respective partners (Fox, Panne, Lon'qu) so they could get in position for enemy phase. Olivia Danced Fox so she could move toward the boss and switch with Chrom.

Gaius took the left hand side and Libra took the left. They killed some enemies on enemy phase and then one more each on player. Sumia with Fred flew over to the eastern Sniper to nab the Silver Bow and Anna healed Chrom to ensure he wouldn't die against the boss (it ended up not necessary, but safety first). The boss fight was kind of funny, actually. Chrom's two Javelin hits + Fox's Dying Blaze hit would have killed the boss 1 HP over, but Chrom got a crit...but that crit didn't actually change anything because another hit from him still wouldn't have killed anyway, and Fox only needed to hit once from the beginning, which she did. So, lol.

Easy stuff. Also, I didn't class change Fox yet because she was 4 XP from a level and I was planning on having Chrom do the lead fighting. I didn't class change Fred because...Well, I can't decide between Paladin and leaving him as Great Knight. I've decided against General because I don't like the loss of Spd and don't feel Rally Defense will be worth it, but both Paladin and Great Knight have good advantages the other doesn't have.

Unit        Class        Lv    HP    Str    Mag    Skl    Spd    Lck    Def    Res    Weapon            Support        Skills
Fox        Grandmaster    16    50    28    31    20    27    22    15    19    D Sword, A Tome        S Chrom        Veteran, Solidarity, Ignis, Rally Spectrum
Chrom        Great Lord    4    41    28    3    20    23    20    21    8    A Sword, D Lance    S Fox        Dual Strike+, Charm
Frederick    Great Knight    15    43    21    4    20    17    12    20    8    A Sword, A Lance, A Axe    S Sumia        Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna, Dual Guard+
Lissa        Troubadour    7    26    6    16    11    14    18    5    11    B Staff            C Libra        Miracle, Healtouch, Res +2
Sumia        Falcon Knight    1    38    14    5    22    25    18    10    17    A Lance            S Fred        Spd +2, Relief
Panne        Wyvern Rider    5    37    18    2    18    15    11    17    4    D Axe            S Gaius        Even Rhythm, Str +2
Gaius        Thief        12    29    13    1    16    20    10    9    5    C Sword            S Panne        Locktouch, Move +1
Libra        War Monk    4    42    16    17    15    17    14    13    19    B Axe, C Staff        C Lissa        Healtouch, Miracle
Anna        Trickster    4    40    14    20    24    24    30    9    12    C Sword, D Staff            Move +1, Locktouch

Edited April 17, 2013 by Red Fox of Fire

[grandjackal]

If I may make a suggestion concerning Fred?

Consider that Cynthia is level 10. I can tell you right now there's not much point in super training her, so you might as well instant promote. Considering she can inherit RallySpeed or Move from mom and then Rally Def from dad, she can get the other rally available to her skillset so she has a 3 point rally. There will be times where the Rally will be much more important than having Fred attempt to do combat in the near future. Much as General will be sacrificing a lot, at the same time staying as a GK is of no real benefit later, and most other classes he's just a crappier version of other people. You might as well give him one last thing to boast about.

Also, General's additional defense, no matter how slightly small, will still add to Guard+ activation rate. You may also consider that General gives greater support bonuses, aside from the -1 move which kinda sucks, yeah.

Edited April 17, 2013 by grandjackal

[Raven]

Yeah, we know this chapter.

I don't know this chapter... :(

[Florete]

If I may make a suggestion concerning Fred?

Consider that Cynthia is level 10. I can tell you right now there's not much point in super training her, so you might as well instant promote. Considering she can inherit RallySpeed or Move from mom and then Rally Def from dad, she can get the other rally available to her skillset so she has a 3 point rally. There will be times where the Rally will be much more important than having Fred attempt to do combat in the near future. Much as General will be sacrificing a lot, at the same time staying as a GK is of no real benefit later, and most other classes he's just a crappier version of other people. You might as well give him one last thing to boast about.

Also, General's additional defense, no matter how slightly small, will still add to Guard+ activation rate. You may also consider that General gives greater support bonuses, aside from the -1 move which kinda sucks, yeah.

In the end this is probably what I'll do. To be honest, Rally Movement I find usually isn't a big deal, but the reason I had stopped considering General was because a single Rally Defense boost didn't seem like it would be enough given how hard enemies hit...but not only will I have two Rally Defense users - one with Rally Speed as well - I'll have two Rally Spectrum users, making +8 Def bonuses rather easy to spread around, which ought to be noticeable.

I don't know this chapter... :(

You will. One day, young Raven, one day you will know the sadistic nature of Lunatic Ch 2.

[Shadow Mir]

In the end this is probably what I'll do. To be honest, Rally Movement I find usually isn't a big deal, but the reason I had stopped considering General was because a single Rally Defense boost didn't seem like it would be enough given how hard enemies hit...but not only will I have two Rally Defense users - one with Rally Speed as well - I'll have two Rally Spectrum users, making +8 Def bonuses rather easy to spread around, which ought to be noticeable.

You will. One day, young Raven, one day you will know the sadistic nature of Lunatic Ch 2.

Sounds good to me.

I don't know the sadistic nature of chapter 2 on psychiatric ward mode either, and I intend to stay that way.

[Interceptor]

Concrete DEF is one of those things where the Rally bonuses aren't that great unless you already have a good base to work with. It's "whatever" if you only go from 2HKOed to 3HKOed, but if a unit was already fairly tanky (even something like 5HKOed) it can make them basically invincible. Easier to get there if you combine it with a DEF tonic/support, as well.

Same concept that makes Kellam really good earlygame as a support unit.