How to improve Fire Emblem Awakening

[XeKr]

I’m assuming you don’t play on higher difficulties or just grind your way through. >_>

EDIT: To clarify, this is only relevant due to how FE mechanics work; class distinctions don't really matter if you have sufficiently overwhelming stats, but that's not enough to say they don't matter much otherwise.

Base stat differences, skills, and class paths matter a lot in-game, and deciding what to reclass into changes your team composition and overarching strategy. Given by how much people nitpick “optimal” pairings and such, I’m assuming it matters to some (or many?) people for Apotheosis as well.

Plus, growth differences spread out across more levels is a greater raw stat gap, even if the proportion of stats/level gained is the same and smaller.

Third tier is primarily just flavor. (fun, though)

So I thought up something that, while not strictly an improvement, could be fun for a certain people: an extra difficulty that uses NM enemy stats but LM enemy density and exp scaling. The game's already a lawnmower simulator, why not take it to the extreme?

Would people play that? You kinda said it, can just grind to simulate it, no?

I’d rather they add a mode with that halves Def values or something (and then adjust earlygame a bit). Makes player phase matter more, so more actual play compared to (skipping) watching enemies suicide.

Oh, if LightLelouch comes back I have a detailed post for him. I dunno, I kinda find strategic design discussion interesting.

Edited April 3, 2014 by XeKr

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

What difference would that make, considering the stats were inflated for this game?

Locked mastery skills? Making your units feel "special"?

Enemies in Radiant Dawn were 2nd tier but had the caps of a third tier because there was no other way to keep your units from being instantly killed.

I prefer the FE10 class system just because for one reason: Caps.

It is nice, that Grima has 45 speed on lunatic (+) and that you get a limitbreaker, which brings caps of 80. But these caps are gone over the top to my mind. The caps do NOT adapt to the reality of past Fire Emblem games. A trueblade speed cap of 40 would be absolutely enough.

FE10 made it almost perfect. Most of the characters are improved in their classes compared to FE9. So the veterans begin in second tier. The third tier class has to be added. The only real flaw is like you said, that in part 4 the enemy classes are distorted. A point, which I have not unterstood yet. Most of the enemies have even only good second tier stats except in the finale. It would make more sense, if the enemies were level 20 second tier with maxed caps, instead of fighting "pseudo" third tier units.

Edited April 3, 2014 by MisterIceTeaPeach

[BrightBow]

Base stat differences, skills, and class paths matter a lot in-game, and deciding what to reclass into changes your team composition and overarching strategy. Given by how much people nitpick “optimal” pairings and such, I’m assuming it matters to some (or many?) people for Apotheosis as well.

Those few points influence a lot on how one uses a unit and how the entire team is set up? In a game where stat gains are entirely random in the first place and can therefore disappear in a blink of an eye?

Plus, growth differences spread out across more levels is a greater raw stat gap, even if the proportion of stats gained is the same and smaller.

What I said about Knights and Swordmasters was the absolute exception. For the most part the dissonance is 5% for stats between classes that have that stat on an average level and the ones that specialize in that particular stat. Fighters have 5% strength on Cavaliers, Swordmasters have 5% speed and skill on Cavaliers, Generals have 5% Def on Paladins. And they have the very same HP growth as freaking Fighters.

10% is already the difference between classes who are bad at a stat and the ones who are good.

So for the vast majority, we are dealing with a difference in either 1 point in 10 levels or even 1 in 20 levels.

Yeah, the growths gained from a clever re-class can over the course of the game make the difference of a single tonic. Unless it raises HP. Then the tonic wins.

This is a pathetic difference for entire classes. The luck based differences are always going to render them insignificant by comparison.

Edited April 3, 2014 by BrightBow

[XeKr]

Firstly, the DS system is different in that you don’t make permanent decisions (and potentially reclassing mistakes). It makes sense the stat differences are larger, for various tactical reasons (cherrypicking is unnecessary to show this). Some people may prefer this style of reclassing (some days, I might even be one of them), but it doesn't give quite that feeling of customization if your choices are easily reversible.

Regardless, this doesn’t preclude class distinctions from mattering in FE13. The difference in performance between the more flimsy classes (Mages, SMs, Pegasus, etc) and the tanky classes (General, Wyvern, Manakete, etc), is significant in Lunatic(+). Or fast/slow classes or whatever. Teams composed of primarily one type or another will play differently. Certain skills (Veteran, Galeforce, Sol, Rally Spectrum, Rally Speed) have obvious substantial effects, while numerous other skills will matter (starting from around 10% per battle and up, which very quickly stacks given the enemy density), and particularly when considering different skill synergies.

Avatar can nearly solo/duo in any class (still more/less effectively or reliably in some classes than others, which again depends on bases/weapons/skills), but primarily because Veteran (a class skill, to note) essentially gives him/her the previously mentioned overwhelming stats.

Play Lunatic(+) without grinding and tell me again classes don’t matter. If you want to grind, then feel free to argue with the postgame/min-max crowd (though your references to growths imply to me that’s not what you’re going for).

Also, I don’t fully understand your points about luck/randomness. Do you know how probability works? If anything, your argument mitigates your (fairly good) point about the DS growth differences, as they might “disappear in a blink of an eye”, while bases/skills do not.

I also don’t understand your tonic point, as it’s a systematic increase in stats for everyone.

EDIT: can't words

Edited April 3, 2014 by XeKr

[xcel]

So I thought up something that, while not strictly an improvement, could be fun for a certain people: an extra difficulty that uses NM enemy stats but LM enemy density and exp scaling. The game's already a lawnmower simulator, why not take it to the extreme?

That might be fun. It gives a Dynasty Warriors-like feeling, for better or for worse.

I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned but it might be better (frustrating) if in Lunatic+, 2 range enemies with Counter intentionally attack at 1 range to deal more damage to a unit, even if it gets them killed.