Fixed weapon ranks in Fire Emblem.

[Missile]

FE5 didn't have fixed weapon ranks...

It was so slow to level up a weapon rank that I thought it was fixed

[shadykid]

I suppose it could work if in addition to basic class weapon ranks, each character had their own bonuses, and it was actually balanced well (a balanced Fire Emblem, ha ha)

Is it worse than something like Nino being able to use a Fire tome while Canas (who is a scholar) can't?

this however, is an amazing strawman

[Refa]

It was so slow to level up a weapon rank that I thought it was fixed

Clearly you never used Saphy or Tina.

[Espinosa]

How about a proc system like that in the first game / TRS? It's pretty fun I think.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

As far as FE1 goes its basically become non existant after liek 2 - 3 levels(Cain, Abel), have no business of using higher rank weapons until very late(Marth), or never give a fuck about it(Hardin, Sheeda, Wendell)

Not sure for TRS though

[Missile]

Clearly you never used Saphy or Tina.

Yeah, of course, Staves are exception but the another weapon ranks are a huge pain in the ass to raise, especially for the tome :/

Edited July 21, 2013 by Missile

[shadykid]

fixed weapon ranks: Donnel starts with A Lances and crap for every other weapon

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

fixed weapon ranks: Donnel starts with A Lances and crap for every other weapon

the sad thing is he will STILL be worshipped

[shadykid]

the sad thing is he will STILL be worshipped

something something infinite glass weapons something

to be fair, glass weapons look cool

[dondon151]

How about a proc system like that in the first game / TRS? It's pretty fun I think.

dear god, no. weapon rank is one of the few things in this game that i can count on to be non-random.

[LunaSaint]

I don't actually have much of a problem with the standard weapon exp system.

I do have a problem with weapon ranks having hidden stat modifiers. :/

[AnonymousSpeed]

I like the idea of being able to raise the weapon ranks of a character. Part of the fun in FE is raising units, and if they are eternally stuck using iron and bronze weapons, prt of that fun leaves, in addition to making things like Apotheosis nigh impossible. And with reclassing, this would pretty much remove all the strategies and mix-matching that awakening introduced us to. Besides, as much as I think Leif and Seliph are cool, the mechanics of their games don't exactly work that well.

[shadykid]

I like the idea of being able to raise the weapon ranks of a character. Part of the fun in FE is raising units, and if they are eternally stuck using iron and bronze weapons, prt of that fun leaves, in addition to making things like Apotheosis nigh impossible. And with reclassing, this would pretty much remove all the strategies and mix-matching that awakening introduced us to. Besides, as much as I think Leif and Seliph are cool, the mechanics of their games don't exactly work that well.

to be fair, I'm sure promoted units would have at minimum like C rank for their primary weapon, so I don't think this would be an issue

and it'd make Donnel suck more

[Othin]

In games like FE5, the difficulty of gaining WExp makes starting WExp more of a differentiating factor between characters, which I think is nice to have. I don't think there's much of a need to take away regular WExp gain completely as long as it's made difficult enough to raise. Characters also could have variable WExp growths so some can master certain weapon types faster than others, or end up unable to train at all past a certain point. This could be especially interesting in games offering characters more control over their classes, like FE13, but it'd be cool regardless.

And of course more restricted weapons on either a class or character basis is another great solution, irrespective of this. I liked how FE13 locked certain weapons to Dark Mages, Archers, Myrmidons, and Lords, but it really could've taken it further; most of it was just setting aside a magic classification that was known for being set aside anyway.

[Espinosa]

WExp is by no means easy to rank up in the other FEs too, IMO. Allance in FE6 is a good example of that, as they're probably not seeing access to killer weaponry of more than one kind, silver access for a very long time and hardly getting any better axes than hand/iron/steel (which is admittedly more than enough though killer wouldn't hurt).

[BrightBow]

Well, I definitely do prefer that weapon proficiency can be raised and contribute to characters being more individual.

I mean, the FE4 system was kinda nice. But only because it was FE4.

Holy blood could still allow individual units to gain higher weapon ranks then their mere class base.

So I guess, I would prefer the return of the WLV stat. It's individual to a character and can be raised. It sucked in the Akaneia games but I think the mechanic worked really well in TRS.

Besides, it actually allows you to make use of a new weapon type.

I mean, what's the point about getting access to a new weapon type on promotion if you have to whack enemies like 50 times with a bronze weapon before gaining access to weapons that can actually hurt enemies?

Let alone comes even close to compare to the Silver weapons that you can already access? Melee weapons aren't different enough to be worth that trouble.

[Anouleth]

to be fair, I'm sure promoted units would have at minimum like C rank for their primary weapon, so I don't think this would be an issue

and it'd make Donnel suck more

I would think it would make Donnel better. Part of the problem with Donnel is that he takes too long to build weapon rank. But if a reclassed Donnel would immediately have the same weapon rank as Vaike or Gregor, he's suddenly a lot better since he no longer has to work his way up from E.

[LunaSaint]

Besides, it actually allows you to make use of a new weapon type.

I mean, what's the point about getting access to a new weapon type on promotion if you have to whack enemies like 50 times with a bronze weapon before gaining access to weapons that can actually hurt enemies?

Let alone comes even close to compare to the Silver weapons that you can already access? Melee weapons aren't different enough to be worth that trouble.

Absolutely. I hated how promoting would be lucky to give you D rank for most classes, and it's why I can't stand weapon ranks providing these hidden stat bonuses.

What's the point of gaining lances if you lose 3 str automatically and can only use the really crap lances?

It's not as bad if you get Javelin/Hand Axe access from the get-go, but in Awakening it was awful. Stuck with a bronze weapon with reduced stats for a couple chapters if you wanted 1-2 range on your lord/hero.

[Othin]

Absolutely. I hated how promoting would be lucky to give you D rank for most classes, and it's why I can't stand weapon ranks providing these hidden stat bonuses.

What's the point of gaining lances if you lose 3 str automatically and can only use the really crap lances?

It's not as bad if you get Javelin/Hand Axe access from the get-go, but in Awakening it was awful. Stuck with a bronze weapon with reduced stats for a couple chapters if you wanted 1-2 range on your lord/hero.

how horrible that you'd have to train a less dominant skill in order to learn to do something useful

[BrightBow]

how horrible that you'd have to train a less dominant skill in order to learn to do something useful

The problem is that that skill isn't useful.

A new melee weapon tree gives you an extremely slim amount of utility for an absurd amount of work.

Combine that with Awakening's map design consisting almost entirely of Zerg Rushs and instantly moving reinforcements coming from your starting position after a few turns and you have to decimate the enemies numbers quickly. There simply is no time for a unit to deal single digit damage for training.

And what do you get from it? A unit who can use a silver weapon with 15 damage and 65 hit instead of 11 dmg and 85 hit? Now worth it at all.

Edited July 22, 2013 by BrightBow

[LunaSaint]

how horrible that you'd have to train a less dominant skill in order to learn to do something useful

I appreciate and advocate that concept, but in a game balanced around no grind the skill you're training ought to be rewarding.

In Awakening, you're just doing this to catch up. Most other classes already have access to 1-2 range, and there's numerous points in the game where the enemy spams ranged attacks at you. The weapon triangle control isn't going to matter much and getting to use Beast Killers isn't even a perk if they're Great Lords and can use rapiers.

[NinjaMonkey]

Stuck with a bronze weapon with reduced stats for a couple chapters if you wanted 1-2 range on your lord/hero.

If only there was some way that you could increase the might of your weapon...

Oh wait, there's a "forging" option available at every armoury, never mind.

Edited July 22, 2013 by NinjaMonkey

[Othin]

I appreciate and advocate that concept, but in a game balanced around no grind the skill you're training ought to be rewarding.

In Awakening, you're just doing this to catch up. Most other classes already have access to 1-2 range, and there's numerous points in the game where the enemy spams ranged attacks at you. The weapon triangle control isn't going to matter much and getting to use Beast Killers isn't even a perk if they're Great Lords and can use rapiers.

Ranged weapons are meant to be difficult to counter. Is it surprising that some characters and classes might need some work to optimally handle them?

And if 1-2 range is such a big deal, who needs any other benefit to gaining weapon ranks?

[dondon151]

Oh wait, there's a "forging" option available at every armoury, never mind.

you could forge a stronger weapon instead. it's utterly bewildering how people manage to not understand this.

[NinjaMonkey]

Tell me, what other E Rank weapons (since we were talking about bronze weapons) would be worth forging, exactly? The Glass weapons only have 3 uses, and the joke weapons have lower starting might.

Edited July 22, 2013 by NinjaMonkey