So, what characters are recommended for a first HHM run?

[Florete]

no, bartre is bad

Bartre is indeed bad, but "a few early speed levels being key to his success" is actually pretty accurate.

Problem is, that's all luck and not at all reliable.

and i think at this point we've pretty much recommended everyone, so

kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? recommend me some units for my run -> recommend pretty much every unit!

I don't think Nino has been recommended yet. As far as the post quoted, none of it looks bad to me, though Dart can be a bit iffy and Heath can be tough to use.

Dang, from the sound of your original post I thought you'd need to be quoting everyone, but apparently the situation wasn't so bad.

[Baldrick]

That's why they're long-term prospects. From my memory, they have growths and levels and decent bases, so they will perform best deep into tier 2 if that's what you like. Though the exp gains are lower in HHM so it's not really practical. I guess they aren't that good.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Baldrick

[General Banzai]

The early chapters in HHM are the most difficult, in part due to the large number of shitter squad units you have. The best bet until Noble Lady of Caelin is to rush everything down with Marcus, giving Hector and Oswin any auxiliary exp that falls by the wayside as they're the most likely to make anything out of it

Using Eliwood is a trap and only makes the game more difficult, Matthew and Guy can have some early combat effectiveness but fall off fast, Lowen may deceive you into thinking he's useful but his stats blow so hard he somehow makes 8 move not worth it

Once you get to Noble Lady you get Kent and Sain who are both standard solid units who bring significant versatility and combat effectiveness to the team. Florina and Fiora also bring strong utility. Those four units are the only four unpromoted units I would recommend putting significant resources into, all the others either have little longterm use or are too problematic at join to be worth whatever they bring with training. I'd actually say Florina kinda falls into this latter category but dondon and crew seem to saddle her up mighty fine so whatever floats your boat

But if we're not using nonpromos who are we using? well obviously prepromos

Marcus can get through the entire game with only minimal falling off, and no falling off at all if you can snag a speedwing for him

Harken is god, Pent is god, and both of them join perfectly equipped to remain powerful combat units until the end of the game

Other prepromos are passable, Geitz if you do decide to use Eliwood and Lyn (not recommended), Isadora if you want to expend some defensive stat boosters on her; I used to think Isadora was worthless but she can actually do a lot with just a little resource expenditure, she needs the Angelic Robe she joins with though because 27 base HP is a surefire restart

Vaida's not bad but joins so late there's not much of a point

In general the team I run for standard not-dicking-around HHM runs is

Kent

Sain

Marcus

Isadora

Pent

Harken

Priss

Fiora

with guys like Oswin and Hector receiving situational/early use

EDIT: oh yeah if you're not concerned with how fast you're going, Canas is also a decent option, as well as Raven

Edited April 23, 2014 by General Banzai

[Logience]

Anyways, you think Dorcas could've made it if his growths weren't absolute shit to counterbalance his good bases?

[General Banzai]

Anyways, you think Dorcas could've made it if his growths weren't absolute shit to counterbalance his good bases?

He wouldve been usable at least

[BBM]

Lyn is actually decent if you do LHM first; she'll have okay starting stats and the Mani Katti is a pretty good PRF. Otherwise don't bother. Personally I like Eliwood because he's good after promotion but it is probably not worth your while to train him especially since it's your first time. I wouldn't recommend using both him and Lyn in any case (unless you really want Geitz); both would like that first Heaven Seal. It's definitely not worth training them JUST because they're locked into the last chapter; it's not difficult at all to stick them in Uhai's room after you kill him.

Raven is really good at killing anything that doesn't use magic. Sadly magic is everywhere in CoD, the hardest map. He's still a decent choice though. Harken won't come until late but is pretty awesome as well, mostly due to his high base stats (check out that RES). He'll be your MVP on CoD with a Pure Water

The Fighters are honestly not worth it (unless you want to recruit all characters in which case you might as well train Bartre). There's pretty much nothing they can do better than Raven other than that they come a few chapters earlier and have 1-2 range over him until he promotes, and as mentioned earlier, he himself is not even that good for the hardest maps. Comparing them to the character with arguably the best pure offence in the game is possibly not fair but there's only so many units you can use and even Guy is more useful because of HM boosts.

If you really don't care going slow, you might as well support abuse? Kent x Sain is a good one; both will be near each other often. You can support triangle with Fiora but she might find herself going to different places due to flight. If you're going LHM Florina is definitely better than Fiora though.

Priscilla will never be good at fighting, but mounted staffing is pretty useful especially on CoD. You can use Erk/Lucius but there isn't really much of a point because Pent shows up and owns, though Canas has some utility due to Luna (Pent is still better). Erk could be useful as a temporary unit for a chapter or two; that's pretty much it. Same as Guy.

Honestly more than units, these two things become way more important on HHM as opposed to HNM: Restore and Pure Water. Make sure to have at least two Restore staves and several Pure Waters before CoD (get some in the Oleg chapter); they'll be a huge help.

[Quirino]

I'm going to play LHM mode beforehand yeah. About the suggestions for Heath, so far I've mostly ignored him because of rough start (not doubling stuff, mediocre state allround), I figured this would especially be painful on HHM, but he's still a good unit to bring if I read so? I also see Dart in the list sometimes, same story for him.

And about magic users, I'll have some thinking about bringing Canas or not. So far Lucius always turned out better than Erk, so I would definitely prefer Lucius. But will probably go with Pent anyway once he joins.

But thanks for the advices. My mind is mostly made up now!

Edited April 23, 2014 by WindMage25

[BANRYU]

I kind of feel like there's really no reason not to bring Canas since he's your only Dark-user up until endgame anyway. But hey I tend to have my weird predispositions, so I'm sure you could get by without him *shrug*

[General Banzai]

it's not like using dark magic is a prerequisite for beating the game

Canas does however bring strong offense and all around good other stats to the table

It may be possible to get him to D rank staffs for another restore user for CoD, unless Restore is C rank or something

If you're playing LHM first though you can really easily get Kent Sain and Florina to really strong levels by the end of it + the stat boosters you can slap onto Flor so that when you get them in HHM they are basically rip raring to go with no downsides

LHM also makes Erk a valid possibility but other than that I don't think there are any Lyn Mode units you'll want to cram significant resources into anyway

Dorcas sucks, Lucius is suboptimal, Serra sucks even with a level lead on Priss, Rath sucks and won't get much exp anyway, Wallace lol, Wil lol

You can maybe get Matthew some levels just to make the first few chapters of HHM a lot easier

[PKL]

What's the point of HHM if youre gonna play LHM first and take out any potential challenge with OP mounts?

[General Banzai]

What's the point of HHM if youre gonna play LHM first and take out any potential challenge with OP mounts?

Seriously this

Not only is LHM boring as fuck it also really nullifies the challenge of HHM

[Elieson]

Seriously this

Not only is LHM boring as fuck it also really nullifies the challenge of HHM

To familiarize yourself with enemy item locations and getting used to having a smaller party to balance equipment/deployment with?

THough personally I'd go EHM->HHM

[Florete]

Priscilla will never be good at fighting,

Priscilla is a plenty good fighter as long as she's not promoted super late.

I'm going to play LHM mode beforehand yeah. About the suggestions for Heath, so far I've mostly ignored him because of rough start (not doubling stuff, mediocre state allround), I figured this would especially be painful on HHM, but he's still a good unit to bring if I read so? I also see Dart in the list sometimes, same story for him.

Heath actually gets a stat boost on HHM, counteracting the enemy stat boosts, so the situation isn't much worse. But yes, he does have a rough start, so don't use him if you don't want that. He will, however, turn out very good if you put the investment in.

Dart is similar (no stat boost, though), but doesn't fly and his promotion costs 25k. He also is basically the only unit in the game with accuracy issues.

And about magic users, I'll have some thinking about bringing Canas or not. So far Lucius always turned out better than Erk, so I would definitely prefer Lucius. But will probably go with Pent anyway once he joins.

I did forget to mention earlier that Lucius comes with the advantage of C staves on promotion, which is actually pretty nifty in HHM, so that alone could be worth choosing him over Erk.

Seriously this

Not only is LHM boring as fuck it also really nullifies the challenge of HHM

You can give a few characters some bonus levels. It doesn't change things very much. It hardly "nullifies" the challenge.

[Shadow Mir]

You can give a few characters some bonus levels. It doesn't change things very much. It hardly "nullifies" the challenge.

And since one of those characters is one that must be deployed in the final chapter... I dunno about anyone else, but I do NOT like having a mandatory deployment character be a liability AT ALL.

[General Banzai]

You can give a few characters some bonus levels. It doesn't change things very much. It hardly "nullifies" the challenge.

You can get Sain promoted and Kent and Florina to promotion level. You can also make Matthew a strong combat unit for the earlygame.

And since one of those characters is one that must be deployed in the final chapter... I dunno about anyone else, but I do NOT like having a mandatory deployment character be a liability AT ALL.

They're not, there's no reason either Eliwood or Lyn have to be in range of any enemies in the Final Chapter whatsoever

[dondon151]

keeping lyn away from doors that open one at a time is so hard! how do people do it?!

You can give a few characters some bonus levels. It doesn't change things very much. It hardly "nullifies" the challenge.

the easiest way to faceroll over the game is to use LHM-boosted sain and florina.

[Nobody]

You can get Sain promoted and Kent and Florina to promotion level. You can also make Matthew a strong combat unit for the earlygame.

They're not, there's no reason either Eliwood or Lyn have to be in range of any enemies in the Final Chapter whatsoever

That's only if you boss abuse

If you play LHM relatively efficiently, you won't trivialize HHM

[Elieson]

keeping lyn away from doors that open one at a time is so hard! how do people do it?!

the easiest way to faceroll over the game is to use LHM-boosted sain and florina.

then focus on LHM-boosting Dorcas and Wil

[Florete]

the easiest way to faceroll over the game is to use LHM-boosted sain and florina.

If that's your plan.

If you're a first-timer playing casually, the effect won't be nearly as big.

[General Banzai]

That's only if you boss abuse

No it isn't

[dondon151]

If that's your plan.

If you're a first-timer playing casually, the effect won't be nearly as big.

you're in an advice thread. we're telling the OP how to play optimally. how is this a valid point?

[Nobody]

you're in an advice thread. we're telling the OP how to play optimally. how is this a valid point?

I don't think that's what the op is asking for hahahaha

I don't think he'll go LTCing or aiming for low turn counts, if that's what you're implying with optimally

He probably just want to know what units are going to make surviving through HHM easier.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Nobody

[Florete]

you're in an advice thread. we're telling the OP how to play optimally. how is this a valid point?

I don't think that's what the op is asking for hahahaha

I don't think he'll go LTCing or aiming for low turn counts, if that's what you're implying with optimally

He probably just want to know what units are going to make surviving through HHM easier.

Pretty much that.

You're good at FE, dondon, but if you have any flaw, it's that you seem to have a tough time seeing the games from the eyes of those less experienced than you. LHM-boosted units will make HHM easier for sure, but a first-timer isn't going to "faceroll over the game" just because of that.

[dondon151]

I don't think that's what the op is asking for hahahaha

I don't think he'll go LTCing or aiming for low turn counts, if that's what you're implying with optimally

He probably just want to know what units are going to make surviving through HHM easier.

you misunderstand me. a super powered sain and florina is going to make HHM easy regardless of whether one LTCs or plays casually. if we tell the OP to train sain and florina while promoting the former at ~L12 and giving the latter an angelic robe and energy ring, then we are plainly explaining how to trivialize the game, and how he does so is merely contingent on the ability or willingness to follow instructions. it does not matter if the OP is playing quickly or slowly - it is very possible to easily stroll through the game at a leisurely rate.

Pretty much that.

You're good at FE, dondon, but if you have any flaw, it's that you seem to have a tough time seeing the games from the eyes of those less experienced than you. LHM-boosted units will make HHM easier for sure, but a first-timer isn't going to "faceroll over the game" just because of that.

oh, please. let's not hand-wave what i have to say by appealing to the bullshit fact that i'm "too good" at the game. it's not the first time...

Edited April 23, 2014 by dondon151

[PKL]

Dondon isnt even good at FE, he hasnt beaten FE13 Lunatic+! Which says for Fire Emblem masters!