Can someone explain the entire genetics system in FE4?

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

I'm confused at the supports and the marriages and the everything after only seeing Awakening's genetics system. Please help me, I want to enjoy this game.

[General Banzai]

have Lewyn fuck someone, other than that it doesn't matter much

if all else fails you can coast through gen 2 on the backs of the overpowered units you get handed, like shanan

[Tables]

I don't think I can explain it better than the site does - at least not without putting in more time than I'm willing to. It's a pretty big question. So:

Read the first paragraph of: http://www.serenesforest.net/fe4/love.html

Then read the "Details of Inheritance" section of: http://www.serenesforest.net/fe4/inheritance.html

If that doesn't explain everything you need to know, read the rest of those pages, and perhaps take a look at the "Inheritance" section of: http://www.serenesforest.net/fe4/calc.html

[CT075]

i honestly had more trouble understanding fe13's pairing system than fe4's

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

i honestly had more trouble understanding fe13's pairing system than fe4's

It was the first FE I played, so everything else was confusing.

[Rainbow Skittles]

2 kids per mom, characters stats influence bases like fe13, personal skills pass down but not class ones

[Rehab]

Those are closer to instructions than explanations, Banzai.

Cam you're not helpin' >:

In terms of how you get people paired, the only thing you need to do to pair most characters is to have them end their turns next to each other, though you can only have them sit together in the first 50 turns of a chapter and actually get them closer to being paired. (most chapters can be completed in less time than that without too much difficulty, so this isn't a really dire limitation most of the time, though some characters take more turns together to pair than others.) Some characters can also have conversations, akin to some of those in other fire emblem games, where one ends their turn next to another and sees a "Talk" option available, at certain points in the story, which often get them closer to being paired, assuming the conversation is between characters of opposing sexes, and none of them are Sigurd, Ethlin, Cuan, or Deirdre. You aren't usually notified immediately when these can happen, but at any time you can check the second stat screen of any unit for a "Talk" tab, and if the name of any other unit is there, a conversation will be available. though I'd just look up when each one is available if I were you, and indeed that's how I played it first time through, because any given scene in the game could unlock another conversation, which will become unavailable when the chapter it can take place in is over. A good number of these conversations happen to be between characters that will have decent-to-great children together, though this shouldn't be taken as a hard rule.

There will be little direct feedback or notification that you've been successful, except that the "Lover" (or whatever synonym it is in the most recent translation) tab in the second stat screen will have somebody's name there once they've sat together long enough.

In terms of the gameplay effects of getting people paired, for the large part the only thing it'll do before the second part of the game (you'll know what I'm talking about when it transitions, if you don't already) is that if a paired unit gets in a fight while standing next to their partner, there's a chance the screen will flash, a heart will be traced over the units, and the unit fighting will strike a critical hit on the enemy. (the same can happen if the characters are siblings, though that only applies for Sigurd and Ethlin and I forget who else until the second part of the game.)

The actual meat of the answer to your question: each female character in the first part of the game will bear two children, one of each sex, who you'll get to control at some point in the second part of the game. Each child's class, what types (though not ranks) of weapons they can use, their appearance, and most of their backstory will be set in stone regardless of who their father is. The effects the fathers have are on what skills each child inherits, what ranks they'll have in the weapons they can use, their base stats and their growths, and what lineages/types of "holy blood" they'll inherit (essentially, the highest weapon rank a unit can have is a type of "major" holy blood, which will allow them to wield one unique and extremely powerful weapon, along with all the other weapons of its type. assuming they can use that kind of weapon to begin with.), alongside receiving some unique touches on parts of their backstories.

Generally, with regard to holy blood, both children will get "minor" versions of whatever holy blood type each parent had, and this increases their growths in different areas depending, but it may not grant them the ability to use a holy weapon- the parents usually only pass down any "major" holy blood down to their same-sex child (I think? anyway, in most cases this ends up with the boys being the ones who get to use the holy weapons (boo)). The parent characters also pass down the weapons and items (I forget what the deal with gold is) that they last had to their same-gender child, except for Cuan, Ethlin and Brigid and her husband, who each pass down their items and major holy blood types to the opposite-sex child.

Unfortunately, this means that, for the most part unlike Awakening, some fathers aren't just going to be sub-optimal fathers for certain children, they're going to make them almost dysfunctional! Or at least a lot worse than they could be. You may want to at least read up on the classes of each child unit, which will determine what weapons they can use, and what weapons (particularly holy ones!) they can inherit.

You can also end up not getting some child characters, or any at all, if you don't get their mothers paired, or if their mothers die before the first part is over (I think?) (if their fathers die, you'll still get the kid units, though I'm not sure what happens with the items he had. if the mother dies after getting paired, the would-be father can't love again, apparently, and can't be paired with any other potential mother! sad shit.) In any case where a mother didn't get to pass down children, you'll receive a substitute unit for those kids, with their own story and stats everything, but who'll have the same class as the would-be child. Most of the time, they're not going to be as good as the child units you could have gotten to use, but you'll probably still be able to complete the second part and finish the game even if every non-essential character in the first part wipes.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Rehab

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

Alright, that was extremely helpful. Thank you so much. It seems like just building supports in the GBA games. What are some pairs I should absolutely avoid? And what are some good ones?

[Robert Stewart]

Alright, that was extremely helpful. Thank you so much. It seems like just building supports in the GBA games. What are some pairs I should absolutely avoid? And what are some good ones?

http://www.serenesforest.net/wiki/index.php/Genealogy_of_the_Holy_War_Pairing_Guide

[CT075]

the game throws enough hilarious genetics-unrelated units at you (see: base level shanan wrecking endgame) that you can really just do whatever

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

So Aideen/Midir, Aira/Dew, Lachesis/Beowolf, Sylvia/Claude, Fury/Levin, Tiltyu/Azel, Brigid/Holyn?

Damn, I sound like an Awakening newbie.

[CT075]

pairings are slightly (read: slightly) more important than in fe13 because it has such a huge impact on how your team looks for chapters 6-F

i honestly prefer finlachesis, alecsylvia, levintiltyu and lexayra (among others)

the big thing is that unlike awakening the way you set things up for gen 2 actually affects the order in which you get shit back (for example if you pair levin, his son inherits his prf tome; levinfury gets you an arguably better user but levintiltyu gets you an only slightly worse user halfway through the first chapter of gen 2)

i would argue that the most important thing to focus on is distributing holy weapons. with the exception of briggid, you'll need to make sure that every holy weapon user has a child of the same gender that can use it (note: weapon levels are fixed in this game). after that, focus on passing down pursuit, then other skills.

Edited October 20, 2013 by CT075

[Rehab]

Yeah, who you pair Levin with depends on whether you want a very good, but not invincible unit statwise, who gets a mount on promotion, early in part two (Tiltyu), or a unit you can throw at an army and watch rip open the sky and smite the wicked nearly by himself, but who doesn't get a mount (in a game where maps are huge :{ ), and a bit later in part two (Fury). (I'm biased, can you tell)

Can't go wrong if you're picking between them.

Those pairings you listed, and/or LevinxTiltyu, will all get you through the second part of the game easy enough, and are mostly the pairings I used my first time through, except I had Brigid/Jamka (who makes, I think, a really buff son, though at the daughter's expense- Holyn is probably better with her) and Aira/Holyn. I would say that Lex and Holyn are arguably better/more reliable for Ayra, but her kids are basically impossible to screw up anyway (for specifics, Dew gives some interesting growths and passes a weapon to his son where Lex doesn't, but Lex and Holyn (though only one can actually have it) can have an optional conversation with Ayra that gives her a Brave Sword that can't be gotten otherwise (!!) and improves their relationship level, but only if she's unpaired at that point. Holyn will give really solid sword user stats, but he can indeed arguably be put to better use with Brigid, whereas Lex gives the kids unreal defense by the standards of most swordies, and good enough stats everywhere else, but, again, no weapon. Their son will get a pretty good default weapon, though, so he's still considered a really good pairing.)

And my first time through the game went pretty well, despite the mechanics being unintuitive as heck.

Generally, if you can manage it, an alright dummy's shorthand is that a father whose class matches his son's will probably be alright statistically. Any dad who can get his kids good weapon ranks is usually serviceable, though a couple of the common favorites (Lex/Aira) are exceptions to the correlation.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Rehab

[CT075]

i like lexayra because it really makes the kids snowball out of control until the part of the game where it's "holy weapon or bust"

lex passes down elite to his kids and gives them really great stats as well (including defenses that most armorknights are jealous of). holyn passes down about the same stats (sans defense), but also gives luna (the broken luna that completely negates defense instead of the sissy fe13 one) and some weapons to his kid

as someone who's biased towards levintiltyu, the stat advantages levinfury's kid has over tiltyu's kid are (in the grand scheme of things) pretty minor; when you have a tome that grants you +20 speed and +10 skill it doesn't really matter that your cap is 3 higher

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

Well, Chapter 2 is kicking my ass, so I'm not sure I'll be there for a while.

[Agro]

So Aideen/Midir, Aira/Dew, Lachesis/Beowolf, Sylvia/Claude, Fury/Levin, Tiltyu/Azel, Brigid/Holyn?

Damn, I sound like an Awakening newbie.

These are pretty foolproof pairings and are almost exactly what I did the first time. They guarantee you functional units for everyone, at least, and decent characters, at most.

[Shin]

Generally, if someone passes down pursuit to kids who need it, or something else to kids who already have it, you'll be fine. I'm not a massive fan of the guide above, you can generally get away with most pairings.

[RJWalker]

Here are my preferences:

Adean/Finn: Finn gets a conversation with Lana that gives her a delicious +5 magic boost if Finn is her father.

Ayra/Jamke: Their children will get all the multi hit skills (Astra, Adept and Duel) meaning they'll just keep hitting until the enemy dies.

Raquesis/Beowulf: Can't go wrong with this.

Ferry/Lewyn: Gives you God (Ced).

Tiltyu/Azel: Gives the children pursuit and great magic.

Briggid/Lex: Due to the skills and Sleep Sword that Patty gets, she'll never lose in the arena. It might take forever and she'll fail multiple times but she's guaranteed to win eventually.

[Jedi]

Ardan/Fury makes a hilariously tanky Fee and Ced still does well enough.

Fe4 is one of those games fun to replay because of all the pairings and seeing the differences be they good, meh or really silly. Heck the silly and meh ones still work well enough

Like my otp Briggid/Finn gets some hilarious luck stats

[ZemZem]

Jamke/Ayra is definitely my personal favorite pairing for the reasons Ranger Jack Walker stated. Plus, the first time I did it, Jamke killed an enemy that dropped a silver blade, and he passed it down to Ulster, who already has an A rank in swords thanks to minor Odo. gg chapter 6

Here are a few wacky pairs like Jamke/Ayra I like to do:

Azel/Sylvia: Gives Corple his highest MAG potential and Leen a crazy MAG growth where she can actually put magic swords to use (she'll still blow in combat, but it's funny).

Ardan/Fury: Makes an INSANELY tanky Fee. Her growths are all around solid, too. And Ced's unscrewable, so just throw him a Magic Ring and he'll be competent enough.

Lewyn/Raquesis: FORDELMUD/HOLDELMUD. If you want a crazy fast Delmud (100% SPD growth), this pairing fulfills it. His STR growth is still competent, too (50%), thanks to minor Hezul. Nanna's really fast, too, and hey, her MAG growth is marginally better than some of her other potential pairs! Lack of Pursuit blows, however, and Lewyn definitely wants Fury, Tiltyu, and hell, even Sylvia (Lewyn/Sylvia is my most preferred out of these three, though.).

Edited October 20, 2013 by Z the M

[BrightBow]

I would like to point out the importance of the difference between class skills and personal skills. Class skills are hardwired to a class and therefore won't be inherited.

For example, Alec and Jamuka both have Pursuit. But in Alec's case it's a Personal Skill, so his kids will both get Pursuit. But in Jamuka's case it's a Class Skill, so his kids won't inherit Pursuit.

Also, items are inherited as well. Though, only if the kid can actually use them.

Most Items that end up not inherited by anyone will eventually show up in the shop or be dropped by bosses over the course of the second generation.

Oh, and btw: Astra, Luna and Sol can only be inherited by kids who can use swords.

Edited October 20, 2013 by BrightBow

[Rehab]

Thanks for filling out that part, for some reason I wasn't sure at the time how to get into personal skills vs. class skills.

[Cymbalina's Revenge]

Jamke/Ayra is definitely my personal favorite pairing for the reasons Ranger Jack Walker stated. Plus, the first time I did it, Jamke killed an enemy that dropped a silver blade, and he passed it down to Ulster, who already has an A rank in swords thanks to minor Odo. gg chapter 6

Here are a few wacky pairs like Jamke/Ayra I like to do:

Azel/Sylvia: Gives Corple his highest MAG potential and Leen a crazy MAG growth where she can actually put magic swords to use (she'll still blow in combat, but it's funny).

Ardan/Fury: Makes an INSANELY tanky Fee. Her growths are all around solid, too. And Ced's unscrewable, so just throw him a Magic Ring and he'll be competent enough.

Lewyn/Raquesis: FORDELMUD/HOLDELMUD. If you want a crazy fast Delmud (100% SPD growth), this pairing fulfills it. His STR growth is still competent, too (50%), thanks to minor Hezul. Nanna's really fast, too, and hey, her MAG growth is marginally better than some of her other potential pairs! Lack of Pursuit blows, however, and Lewyn definitely wants Fury, Tiltyu, and hell, even Sylvia (Lewyn/Sylvia is my most preferred out of these three, though.).

Yeah, gotta put in another vote for Jamke/Ayra. As far as totally wacked pairings go, that's a favorite of mine. Noish/Ayra isn't bad either. Lex/Tiltyu and Finn/Tiltyu also produce some pretty amazing results as far as skillset hijinks go-- in each case you can do some hilarious damage with Mage Knight Arthur making use of his Ambush/Wrath or Prayer/Wrath skillz.

I also did Lex/Sylvia by accident once and honestly it wasn't bad. Leen could defend herself OK and Corple had Elite.

[MacLovin]

Noish!Fury, Dew!Fury, and Jamka!Fury are all decentish.

Holsplatty is fun though. [Levin!Briggid]

Lex pairs well with anyone; he passes elite, which everyone enjoys, and he also passes neir blood.

Oh yeah, and DewXRackesis with pursuit ring.

Lex should pass the pursuit ring on his non-mage kids, since it gives them a better start.

[Jedi]

Holyn/Sylvia is hilarious and amazing too, Leen gets Luna