Best Skill System?

[bookofholsety]

most of the systems do have very distinct merits and deficits so it's hard for me to consider one system absolutely superior, but i'm inclined to say fe5, mostly because of their level of relative prominence in gameplay: that is, not so much. in fe5 (and 4 i guess) they feel very low key and supplementary: that they're nice to have around and certainly helpful, but the gameplay doesn't feel particularly centralised around or dependent on them

in comparison, later skill systems - especially fe13's - feel like they're leaning heavily on skills and constantly insisting on putting them at the forefront of gameplay. in 9 and 10 this comes primarily in the rise of mastery skills, especially 10's versions, as SUPER HYPER FLASHY COOL BIG DEALS, and how crucial they are to even standing a chance at defeating certain bosses (ike depending on either an aether proc or a resolve combo to feasibly defeat fe9!black knight is a big one). that said, in hindsight i've come to really appreciate fe9 offering limited access to mastery skills per playthrough, 10 allowing you to remove skills without completely losing them forever was greatly appreciated, and i'm fond of the capacity system (even if the low capacity available to most beorc was annoying most of the time)

now fe13, on the other hand? it's just plain bloated when it comes to skills. it took 9 and 10's (arguably not all that bad) skill system problems, promptly lost all self-control and mutated into skill grinding simulator: the game. its system of learning skills through classes certainly had excellent potential to be an interesting and efficient way of handling skills, but the sheer quantity of skills (most of which are useless, the remainder of which are, as with 9 and 10, centralising forces for the gameplay) results in an outright mess of a system. i'd also argue it's a step down from tellius in that at least tellius only required you depend on skills for bosses, as opposed to a huge chunk of the entire game

i freely admit i'm likely off the mark about this, and i've never been the most adept at fe gameplay and certainly not at debating the theory side of it, but nonetheless in comparison to other games i've really grown fond of fe5's quieter approach to skills

(incidentally, i specify 5 alone since fe4's decision to tie double-attacking and critical hits to skill possession was kinda dumb enough for me not to want to mention it :P)

[The Geek]

I concur with Holsety's last point. The fact that a skill is required for the ability to double attack by itself is enough to makes FE4's the very worst skill system.

[Ownagepuffs]

I concur with Holsety's last point. The fact that a skill is required for the ability to double attack by itself is enough to makes FE4's the very worst skill system.

Sigurd Godstomps gen 1 and Pursuit is ubiquitous in gen 2. You're exaggerating.

[Shadow Mir]

Sigurd Godstomps gen 1 and Pursuit is ubiquitous in gen 2. You're exaggerating.

Personally, I consider FE4 a black sheep for that very reason Holsety stated regardless. It doesn't feel right for what was a fundamental mechanic in previous games to suddenly be tied to a skill...

[Refa]

Personally, I consider FE4 a black sheep for that very reason Holsety stated regardless. It doesn't feel right for what was a fundamental mechanic in previous games to suddenly be tied to a skill...

And yet you never complained about how Canto was a skill in FE10 lol.

[Shadow Mir]

And yet you never complained about how Canto was a skill in FE10 lol.

Whatever. But still, Canto wasn't added in until FE4, so yeah. Also, I do consider it kinda weird that it was a skill in RD, but it just doesn't raise any eyebrows to me relative to a skill being needed just to double in FE4. Also, what Ranger Jack Walker said.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Levant Caprice

[RJWalker]

And yet you never complained about how Canto was a skill in FE10 lol.

The skill that every that would normally have, had it by default.

[The Geek]

Sigurd Godstomps gen 1 and Pursuit is ubiquitous in gen 2. You're exaggerating.

Unlike some people people, I actually like doing more than just LOLKILLEVERYONEWITHONEGUY in FE. And for some reason Pursuit and Adept have never activated for me.

[dondon151]

And for some reason Pursuit and Adept have never activated for me.

i'm assuming this is a mistake and that you know what pursuit is.

[The Geek]

i'm assuming this is a mistake and that you know what pursuit is.

Oops. Got Pursuit mixed up with Continue.

[Refa]

Continue and Adept are the same skill. Do you mean Charge? Because that's the one that's much harder to activate.

[The Geek]

I dunno. Whichever one is the one that makes you attack forever. The one that Jamke has.

[Ownagepuffs]

I dunno. Whichever one is the one that makes you attack forever. The one that Jamke has.

... Jamke has both.

[Superfan959]

This is tough. I like the 10 system because it adds a little more value to recruiting a character that you aren't gonna use (besides their weapons). Yet 10 had the completely stupid mastery skills with the redundant secondary effects due to the insane damage, though I'm not sure that should be considered when answering this question.

But for Awakening, the system clearly effected the quality of the skills, as they clearly had too many to make and as a result were extremely uninspired. So I do hold the system responsible, and therefore making it the worst in my eyes.

I'd probably pick 4 for being a crucial component of a very cool inheritance system, or 9 for being one of the most balanced.

[solrocknroll]

FE4/5 did it terribly. TERRIBLY. You basically mainly sticked to the guys like Sara or Othin who happened to get blessed by the skill angels.

Awakening did it okay. I mean, it's easily broken, but when you just play to have a good time/do something weird, it can be fun, like having a weird combination of Sol/Bowfaire or something.

Path of Radiance's was downright inhibiting. I don't LIKE this character, let me give their skill to someone else. Granted, PoR is still in my top 3, but still.

FE7/8 had barebone skills, doesn't count.

And thus, we come to Radiant Dawn, which did it almost perfectly, except for Canto/Shove, which were rather inhibiting. I didn't just throw everything on the royals, for instance, giving Mia Wrath/Resolve, or giving Nephenee both Vantage and Resolve, or same for Edward. It could help Fiona a lot, and it made putting everything on the people I actually want to use good.

[dondon151]

FE4/5 did it terribly. TERRIBLY. You basically mainly sticked to the guys like Sara or Othin who happened to get blessed by the skill angels.

uh some of the best non-staffbot characters in the game are lacking in skills. dagdar, finn, asvel, dean, karin, and leif. two of those guys have adept, but it's not like wrath == automatically amazing unit. orsin happens to be very good because of wrath + pugi, but most other units with innate wrath are pretty mediocre at combat.

[Icon of Sin]

uh some of the best non-staffbot characters in the game are lacking in skills. dagdar, finn, asvel, dean, karin, and leif. two of those guys have adept, but it's not like wrath == automatically amazing unit. orsin happens to be very good because of wrath + pugi, but most other units with innate wrath are pretty mediocre at combat.

One of them has Charge, another has Prayer with a boosting weapon and yet another brings a weapon with innate Ambush.

[Nicolas]

One of them has Charge, another has Prayer with a boosting weapon and yet another brings a weapon with innate Ambush.

"Weapon with innate Ambush" is not worth resources needed to get it. And Charge isn't anything amazing when you have Hero Axe.

[dondon151]

yeah see i almost never notice that dagdar has charge or that finn has prayer.

or rather, i only notice that dagdar has charge when he gets doubled by ballistae and magic users. users here on this forum have a tendency to nitpick the specific stuff and ignore the general point.

Edited September 13, 2014 by dondon151

[Icon of Sin]

"Weapon with innate Ambush" is not worth resources needed to get it. And Charge isn't anything amazing when you have Hero Axe.

That's a pretty poor excuse when you advocate using the Hero Axe with Dagda. It's not that complicated to get down there and retrieve it. There's no southern reinforcements aside from Dragon Knights and you might as well fight those for easy levels. The only ressource I'd consider would be using a Sleep staff on Paulus to ease capture, steal his items and remove his leadership stars from the field.

Charge also has defensive uses against ballistae rather than just "makes Dagda double easier". You could even try giving the axe to someone else who would actually need the doubling or massive might more than Dagda and not put all your eggs in the same basket.

yeah see i almost never notice that dagdar has charge or that finn has prayer.

or rather, i only notice that dagdar has charge when he gets doubled by ballistae and magic users. users here on this forum have a tendency to nitpick the specific stuff and ignore the general point.

what next then, a growthless sss run with no skills?

you could probably pull it off

Edited September 13, 2014 by Woodshooter

[dondon151]

That's a pretty poor excuse when you advocate using the Hero Axe with Dagda. It's not that complicated to get down there and retrieve it.

it is rather complicated in that it requires staff uses that could be better used elsewhere, but what nicolas should have said is that dean doesn't need the dragon lance at all. he destroys every enemy that he needs to face with a killer lance.

Charge also has defensive uses against ballistae rather than just "makes Dagda double easier". You could even try giving the axe to someone else who would actually need the doubling or massive might more than Dagda and not put all your eggs in the same basket.

no one needs the hero axe more than dagdar.

what next then, a growthless sss run with no skills?

you could probably pull it off

i need wrath on orsin for the min TC, and also occasionally wrath on brighton for a couple of chapters. also adept on asvel and ced provide buffers for failure but aren't necessarily essential.

oh, and linoan needs to be taught wrath for ch24x.

Edited September 13, 2014 by dondon151

[-Cynthia-]

I actually like the restrictions by FE9's skill system, since it makes units that would otherwise not be worth using (like Astrid or Tormod for instance) have some advantages over other units. If you could take Paragon or Celerity off, Astrid and Tormod would just be units who join late for their level.

[Mekkah]

FE3 has the best skill system.

[Nicolas]

FE3 has the best skill system.

BullShit.

FE3 don't even have skill system. Best skill system is in FE2!

[LeaderR Elliot]

I like to nickpick too!

defeating certain bosses (ike depending on either an aether proc or a resolve combo to feasibly defeat fe9!black knight is a big one).

You get resolve in the same chapter where you fight the black knight... thus using resolve there impossible, maybe you meant wrath! Ike.

On topic: Liked Awakening version of skills the most even if is far from perfect. And why has no one has even mentioned Tear ring saga or berwick saga yet? IIRC those were popular in this kind of topics!