PoR+RD run, fixed mode questions

[Zelgius150]

So here I am, pretty clueless about how to abuse fixed mode.

I want to make a themed run using all of Greil Mercenaries. Yes, including Mist. I started to plan stat maximization and have already planned Ike and Mist, but I think I'm not doing it right.

For Ike, I had planned to give him a Seraph Robe to increase his HP average from 51.5 to 58.5, and two Talismans to increase his Resistance average from 17.2 to 21.2. Additionally, I would give Ike two levels of BExp with 2 exp increments. That way, he would get +2 HP, +1 Defence and +1 Resistance in these levels. I thought that, maybe, that way his average stats would increase and match his caps, since I would have forced Ike to increase one more point on these stats than he would normally increase over the course of two level ups. But I don't think is that simple.

What about in-battle effects? I hadn't decided which bands and weapons to equip to Ike yet. And it seems to me that taking care of defeating only the type of enemy that doesn't slow down the desired growths must be almost impossible, or a huge pain. I also don't want to be calculating every damn time a battle occurs :/

For Mist, I had planned to give her the three Secret Books available to increase her terrible Skill average from 14 to 24. And level up her 10 times using BExp with 2 exp increments. In the course of these level ups, she would get a +5 in Strength, Skill, Speed and Resistance, theoretically incresing her averages to caps.

And well, that's all. Of course I'm wrong, right? :/ By the way, I plan to play in HM. I want to enjoy playing, too, and HM is already easy. Do you think it's possible to take all of Greil Mercenaries to 20/20 level? I would boss abuse if necessary, of course. But not with Bertram, since I want that nice Runesword for Mist.

Any help is welcome. Thanks in advance.

[Zeus]

Honestly, the only way you can "abuse" fixed mode easily is by using bexp, and you get very little bexp. You can kinda plan in battle to gain more points in different stats when you take class alterations in account but that is obviously quite time consuming. I personally would advise you to play on random, although it is more of a gamble, its still heck of a lot easier, and if you really need points in certain stat you can always just level and reset in the preperation menu till you get a desirable stat boost.

But if you're set on fixed mode I can give you a few simple tips, but, I am by no means an expert.

First off, when ever you're using the bexp trick, try to make sure to get most of your growths => 25%/50%, for example, lets take Mist (as a Valkyrie): Her growths are all equal or above 25% except for DEF, so if you give her +2 bexp for 2 levels you will get at least +1 in every stat except for DEF, BUT if you equip her with the Soldiers Band and a killer sword her defense growth will equal 25%, which means that she will gain +1 DEF as well.

Same thing goes with Ike, he has a 40% DEF growth but if you equip the Soldiers Band and a killer sword, that growth gets boosted to 50%, so if you give a level of +1 bexp he will get a stat in HP, STR, SKL, SPD, and DEF as well. So basically when ever you use the bexp trick try to maximise your growths accordingly with equipment growth boosts.

As for in battle, just try to adjust your equipment to whatever the character's weak point is, and be mindful of enemies growth alterations too.

I hope I was able to help out a little bit.

Also, regarding getting ALL of the Greil Mercaneries to 20/20... Probably not going to happen on HM. I mean you can get a few of them, but I've never gotten more than four characters to 20/20.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Badger D. Zeus

[Zelgius150]

Also, regarding getting ALL of the Greil Mercaneries to 20/20... Probably not going to happen on HM. I mean you can get a few of them, but I've never gotten more than four characters to 20/20.

Mmm, I've been checking it and you can get a total of 15390 BExp in HM. I suppose I should use it as early as possible to get the maximum profit out of it. Anyway, it woud be good if more people gave their experience about that matter too. If worse comes to worst, I could always focus on leveling to 20/20 only the characters able to max stats on their own and/or the ones that need the bonuses the most.

And then you gave me this idea about Mist. I think that giving her 16 levels worth of bonus experience just after recruiting her would require only 1550 out of these 15390 BExp points. That would give her +3 Strength, +4 Skill, +2 Speed and +2 Resistance compared to her normal level up (also a nerf on Luck, but doesn't matter). So that would increase her averages to 19 Strength, 18 Skill, 27 Speed (max is 26) and 26 Resistance. And if I give her two Seraph Robes, one Energy Drop, three Secret Books and two Talismans, I think she would max out everything except Luck and Defence. And because Mist doesn't fight until promoted, I wouldn't have to worry about getting growth-screwed by fighting the wrong enemy units.

Yeah, that would be a lot of effort and items put on Mist, but I think she's the one that needs it the most among all the Mercenaries. I would even give her the two Occult Scrolls so I could use Sonic and Rune swords and to get her to use Alondite in Radiant Dawn final chapters. An A support with Boyd would give her even more power in both games.

Soo I think I'm getting a better grasp to the fixed mode system, and it's because you made me rethink it all, so thank you!

Now if more people could help me a little more it would be great. Anyway, I'm glad I decided to post that here

PD1: These FE smileys are great

PD2: Maybe my English is a bit off, since it's not my first language.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Zelgius150

[Zelgius150]

Excuse me for the doublepost, but I've realized that I didn't take into account base growth points for the calculations.

Adding that to Mist stat averages and giving her +18 BExp levels from level 1 cleric to level 19 in amounts of 2 Exp points (because the formula is done with actual experience, not BExp, right?) would leave her with these averages: 19.50 Str // 19.80 Skill // 27.25 Speed // 26.50 Res. I would also give her 1 Energy Drop, 2 Secret Books and 2 Talismans. So she could max all four stats. And I would give her the thief band and try to get her sword rank to S between arms scrolls and actual weapon use.

For Mia, I would give her two BExp levels in amounts of 1 Exp points with an iron sword and a fighter band equipped. This way, her strength average would increase from 21.90 to 23.90. I should also probably equip her the fighter band during battles too. Too bad is the only band that increases strengh :(

And I've decided to play on normal mode. Trying to get all the bonus experience possible, to level up to 20/20 all Mercenaries (including Mist, Rhys and Soren) and playing taking extreme caution with weapons use and enemy selection will be enough of a challenge to me. And I'll play Radiant Dawn in hard anyway, so...

Edited May 26, 2014 by Zelgius150

[Zelgius150]

And then another important question would be... Do characters earn growh points at level 20 pre-promotion? I think they do, because the formula applies every time they earn battle experience, but I'm not totally sure. And that's a whole level of growth points, pretty important.

And what about staff experience? I can't find the experience each staff gives.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Zelgius150

[Elieson]

Where on sf is there a list of growths associated with weapons? I can't seem to locate it?

[Zeus]

And then another important question would be... Do characters earn growh points at level 20 pre-promotion? I think they do, because the formula applies every time they earn battle experience, but I'm not totally sure. And that's a whole level of growth points, pretty important.

And what about staff experience? I can't find the experience each staff gives.

I don't know whether or not you get growth points at lvl 20 before premotion. You could try testing it with Boyd by giving him +1 bexp at level 20, and after he promotes, raise him another level. If you do get growth points at lvl 20 then he should get a +2 HP at lvl 2 promoted.

You can find the exp gain from staves here. http://serenesforest.net/fe9/staff2.htm

Where on sf is there a list of growths associated with weapons? I can't seem to locate it?

I don't know if you've found it yet, but this is the link. http://serenesforest.net/fe9/item_exp.html

[Zelgius150]

Well, I do play on Wii so I can't just usa a save to check it. It's pretty important to know it beforehand, because a whole level of growth points can be key in some characters. So if anyone knows the answer to that, then please, that would be very helpful. By the way, if I remember correctly, Ike stops earning experience after he reaches level 20 before promotion, right?

Thank you for the link with the staffs experiencie, I didn't find it in Serenes. I'll see if I can you use that to "trick" the game so Rhys, Mist and Soren can earn more growth points than normal with each healing.

[Zelgius150]

By the way, I already know the answer to that difficult question. No, characters DON'T earn growth points in level 20 pre-promotion. A friend of mine looked at it in a Japanese Path of Radiance forum. It's a relief, because I couldn't continue planning my run without that information. In fact, I didn't advance at all in two weeks :__(

I'll post the results of the run so they can be of use to other people.