LunaSaint Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Lately, I've been playing hard mode without pairing up at all. And it feels great! There's a lot more strategy to it, and I'd heartily recommend others try it. There were one or two instances where I did succumb to pairing up; rescuing Ricken/Maribelle and marrying Chrom to Olivia came to mind. Both are perfectly possible without, though. I've grumbled before about PU reducing your party size to an effective 6 or 7, but it turns out a whole slew of mechanics are more interesting this way. Character diversity is back; space becomes relevant and enemies don't go down as easily, so having more powerful range 2 attacks than javelins is very useful. Because you have more units, it's also easier to protect squishy classes in these "really open" maps. Moreover, veteran doesn't work! Avatar won't be cruising ahead of everyone! Fliers are nerfed too, since they can't go zipping off alone without losing a sizeable amount of their offensive and defensive ability. I think the real exception is Great Knights. Luna and DG+ only get MORE powerful when you're unpaired, and because stats are lower, having that super high defense is a huge help. Their speed issue is much more pronounced, but you should be getting rally speed by then anyway. Supports are more flexible; because you're not pairing up, you don't have to feel as pressured about classes that you're supporting. This also has the advantage of making it harder to solo: If you want the flat +10-15 bonus, you need to be adjacent, on top of all the stats lost from not being paired. Having to work for your support bonuses means you also have to work for your dual attacks - positioning becomes a big deal. But because you're not paired up, it also becomes easier and more important to build up multiple supports. Rallies go from questionable relevance to being too important, mind you. Rally speed is great because it can save units like Libra who fall behind. Rally Spectrum is just too good, though. Giving 10+ units +4 to every stat makes a world from difference. Aforementioned Libra, who is likely struggling in combat at Ch23, suddenly starts doubling everything but assassins for heinous damage with his Bolt Axe. And that's not mentioning your actual combat units. At this point, I'm rambling though. - TL:DR Without pair up, class diversity, skill diversity, positioning and player phase actions all become more important. It's a lot of fun, and a good challenge if you're bored of cruising through regular hard mode! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust45 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I really wonder if Lunatic or Lunatic+ could be possible without the use of Pair-up and not letting any units die. It would be very interesting to see someone manage to pull it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 i'm pretty sure lunatic is impossible (chapters 2 and 3) with ZERO pairup, but other than that it'd be interesting i've done hard without pairup at all, it was a fun time grima was actually difficult to gank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Bear Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 i'm pretty sure lunatic is impossible (chapters 2 and 3) with ZERO pairup, but other than that it'd be interesting Someone on GFAQs claims to have finished LM with no pair up and a bunch of other restrictions. Not quite sure I believe him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 i suppose casual lunatic would be possible (maybe) but i still doubt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Bear Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 i suppose casual lunatic would be possible (maybe) but i still doubt it Well I'm trying it out right now so I'll tell you what happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrostyFireMage Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Someone on GFAQs claims to have finished LM with no pair up and a bunch of other restrictions. Not quite sure I believe him Westbrick, right? The same guy who gave Awakening the controversial rating of 4/10? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1% critted Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Westbrick, right? The same guy who gave Awakening the controversial rating of 4/10? No it wasn't him. It was guedesbrawl I think. Westbrick couldn't even finish his own challenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Bear Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Westbrick, right? The same guy who gave Awakening the controversial rating of 4/10? His name is Honzou. (if I remember correctly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilcrow Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 i'm pretty sure lunatic is impossible (chapters 2 and 3) with ZERO pairup, but other than that it'd be interesting i've done hard without pairup at all, it was a fun time grima was actually difficult to gank How did you take out Grima? I was thinking of doing a no-grind no-pairup Hard Classic and was wondering about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1% critted Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 How did you take out Grima? I was thinking of doing a no-grind no-pairup Hard Classic and was wondering about this. They see me Aether. They hatin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaSaint Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 How did you take out Grima? I was thinking of doing a no-grind no-pairup Hard Classic and was wondering about this.Mine usually involve grabbing a pair of rescue staves and rescuing Chrom/Lucina. Coupled with a mounted Brave weapon user, I can go for a cheeky two-turn kill. Still feels pretty dirty though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Bear Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Well... I beat LM Chapter 2 without pair up... Everyone but Lissa, MU, Chrom and Fred was dead by turn 2 EP <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1% critted Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Well... I beat LM Chapter 2 without pair up... Everyone but Lissa, MU, Chrom and Fred was dead by turn 2 EP <_< LORD MARTH, SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE FOR YOUR SAFETY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 No it wasn't him. It was guedesbrawl I think. Westbrick couldn't even finish his own challenge Guedesbrawl didn't. He was just trying and gave up saying chapter 2 was impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Bear Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Guedesbrawl didn't. He was just trying and gave up saying chapter 2 was impossible. When did this happen? Edited July 22, 2013 by bearclaw13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) When did this happen? In one of his pairing topics. I don't know if he tried it again and was able to beat it, but on one of those topis he said he gave up. Edited July 22, 2013 by Nobody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I'm probably going to try this next run. It sounds like an interesting concept for Awakening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 How did you take out Grima? I was thinking of doing a no-grind no-pairup Hard Classic and was wondering about this.I actually didn't go for the instagank like I usually do and made sure to clear out the area as much as I could (obviously with infinite reinforcements that wasn't gonna happen but I wanted to make sure I didn't get totally gibbed on enemy phase), and instead pretty much had Lucina and MU wail on him for two or three turns with forged braves (I didn't do anything like banning anna shops or renown so I had a Celica's Gale lying around). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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