*Possible* evidence for enemy pair-up, along with other observations

[Ryo]

EDIT: It seems I've made some misconceptions regarding the bridge being a 1-tile bridge, but it's likely at least 2-tile wide, so I guess it's still accessible from the left side. Some of the conjectures below were based on this misconception, so beware.

Please note that the key word here is possible. I don't deny that there may be another explanation.

Anyway, first look at this screenshot (btw you cannot see the specific details in the NA trailer):

You can notice that the left side of the bridge at the top is damaged, while the right side is blocked with a stone wall of some sort, denying access from both sides. However, an enemy myrmidon is clear shown on the bridge. The question is: How did he end up there in the first place?

There can be two explanations:

1. Assuming that the stone wall was already how it is shown in this picture right from the start, the only way for a foot unit to stand on that bridge is to pair-up with a flying unit, and has that flying unit drop him on the bridge. In fact, I can actually prove that this flying unit exists. Over the head of said myrmidon, you can see the HP bar of another enemy, the only problem here being that beyond the bridge is mid-air.

2. The stone wall was not what it seems when the map starts. It was probably manipulated by one of the sides to block the other's road. The myrmidon probably ended up there before this happens. I think this explanation also makes sense considering how the enemies AI make them gather at the right side of a bridge that is seemingly uncrossable. It makes no sense for the AI to do that if the wall is a pre-programmed obstacle that cannot be removed/manipulated manually afterwards (because logically, they would directly go find another path right when the battle starts).

Both scenarios are interesting to me. No matter which explanation is the correct answer (or both), I still think it's safe to conclude that there is at least one flying enemy unit because of the aforementioned reasons.

Another interesting thing I notice is that at the top-right corner of this image, you can see a myrmidon with more HP than the rest of the mooks. He doesn't look like a pre-promoted though.

Also, people probably have noticed this already but there's another spot where you can use Dragon's Vein below.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Ryo

[VincentASM]

I think I know what you're talking about, but I'm a bit confused. Isn't the bridge where he's on 2 tiles high? If so, the bridge to his top-left could still be passable.

My intelligent guess is that the gang were trying to cross the bridges, but the enemy destroyed the bridge. In the first trailer, there's a bandit-looking character, Ganz, who seems to be mocking the Avatar. Maybe the Avatar fell straight into a trap?

But then he/she safely gets away from the broken bridge and cleverly uses Dragon's Vein to reach the other side (as shown in the second trailer).

EDIT: The bridge in the above screenshot seems to be to the left of your screenshot. You can also see the wider bridge to the right.

Edited April 24, 2015 by VincentASM

[Gryz]

while the right side is blocked with a stone wall of some sort

I think it's a fort. It looks similar to Awakening's forts. There's also another one in the bottom-left corner.

[Rapier]

I thought that was a given? If enemy units can fight together, then it is very likely that they can pair up.

[Jagged Jagen]

What's at the lower right hand corner of the map? A part of suspects it may be a village, but I'm not fully sure. Perhaps a cobblestone altar?

[Vascela]

I thought that was a given? If enemy units can fight together, then it is very likely that they can pair up.

Being able to use the dual system != being able to pair up. That's jumping to conclusions.

[Hardin]

What's at the lower right hand corner of the map? A part of suspects it may be a village, but I'm not fully sure. Perhaps a cobblestone altar?

That's a Japanese styled castle. You can see it in the trailer when Camilla talks with Kamui on the map.

[VincentASM]

Being able to use the dual system != being able to pair up. That's jumping to conclusions.

To add to that, if enemies could pair up, it would add another level of complexity, which I'm unsure if it's fair. That is, when you defeat a paired up enemy, the support partner would appear on the map unharmed, meaning you'd need 2 units minimum to defeat a paired up unit.

Unless IS fixed it so that defeating a pair kills both units, but I doubt it.

Edited April 24, 2015 by VincentASM

[Ambulz]

So are we just not addressing the fact that in the top-right of the screenshot, there's two enemy units (and their health bars) that look a little closer than usual?

[falcoknights]

yeah, this is a bit of old news- enemies can pair up now- this is from the april 1st trailer:

[Book of Ereshkigal]

So are we just not addressing the fact that in the top-right of the screenshot, there's two enemy units (and their health bars) that look a little closer than usual?

They're close, but nowhere near on the same tile like Awakening's pair up, what I remember of it anyway.

Edited April 24, 2015 by L95

[Asoleos]

They're close, but nowhere near on the same tile like Awakening's pair up, what I remember of it anyway.

Also in Awakenings Pair up, the secondary unit has no health bar. If I'm looking at the right two enemy units there are two separate health bars. If enemies do have pair, it is possible that only named units can use pair up but regular grunts can only use the dual system when next to each other.

[Jedi]

yeah, this is a bit of old news- enemies can pair up now- this is from the april 1st trailer:

This confirms they can use the dual system, not that they can completely pair up though.

[Ryo]

I think it's a fort. It looks similar to Awakening's forts. There's also another one in the bottom-left corner.

I don't think it's a fort. Shouldn't forts be covered with 4 walls from all sides? It's kinda impractical (in FE at least) to build a fort that only covers one side while leaving the other vulnerable, since they're supposed to fend off attacks from all directions.

I think I know what you're talking about, but I'm a bit confused. Isn't the bridge where he's on 2 tiles high? If so, the bridge to his top-left could still be passable.

My intelligent guess is that the gang were trying to cross the bridges, but the enemy destroyed the bridge. In the first trailer, there's a bandit-looking character, Ganz, who seems to be mocking the Avatar. Maybe the Avatar fell straight into a trap?

But then he/she safely gets away from the broken bridge and cleverly uses Dragon's Vein to reach the other side (as shown in the second trailer).

EDIT: The bridge in the above screenshot seems to be to the left of your screenshot. You can also see the wider bridge to the right.

Well... now I think I'm confused about your post @_@ Are we talking about the same bridges? Can you elaborate your points in detail, because I don't think I have understood clearly. The bridge the myrmidon's standing on doesn't seem to be 2-tile wide (if that's what you meant), because it looks rather empty.on the side.

EDIT: Never mind, now that I stare at it closer, I think it's indeed a 2-tile bridge.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Ryo

[Rapier]

Being able to use the dual system != being able to pair up. That's jumping to conclusions.

I said likely, not always. I seldom remember seeing two enemy units being in adjacent titles in Fire Emblem (except FE4 and 5), so this also makes me think enemy units can pair up. Or they come paired up. Not sure how they'll work.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Rapier

[Philranger]

I don't think it's a fort. Shouldn't forts be covered with 4 walls from all sides? It's kinda impractical (in FE at least) to build a fort that only covers one side while leaving the other vulnerable, since they're supposed to fend off attacks from all directions.

Pretty sure it has 4 walls. Top wall is out of the frame, and bottom and right walls are obscured by the dude in front of them and the shadows.

Looks almost identical to the Awakening fort design

[Ryo]

Pretty sure it has 4 walls. Top wall is out of the frame, and bottom and right walls are obscured by the dude in front of them and the shadows.

Looks almost identical to the Awakening fort design

If there's a fourth wall then the archer on the right couldn't have been able to stand on the position he's at now. It would look really awkward. The myrmidon doesn't seem to be standing in the middle of the supposed fort either.

[Philranger]

If there's a fourth wall then the archer on the right couldn't have been able to stand on the position he's at now. It would look really awkward. The myrmidon doesn't seem to be standing in the middle of the supposed fort either.

?????

Uh yes he could, and yes he is? The archer can stand on the tile immediately in front of the fort which is where he is. What would prevent that? The wall of the fort?

It's also difficult to tell where the exact middle is when we have like a third of an edge showing on one corner and like one corner showing in the bottom left, but I'm of the opinion that he's standing in the middle.

[Ryo]

By "middle" I mean horizontally. Since a fort is a tile, then the myrmidon's map sprite or at least his HP bar should be in the middle of said tile. But there's a clear gap between the left wall and him. So supposedly there is a right wall, he's actually leaning towards or even penetrating it, which doesn't make sense design-wise.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Ryo

[falcoknights]

This confirms they can use the dual system, not that they can completely pair up though.

the dual system is basically lopsided if pairup isn't used in conjunction with it, and pair up was definitely overpowered- even without a pairup screenshot to display, i doubt that they'd use dual system for enemy units and not pair up, as well. therefore, it's safe to assume that as well as dual system, pair up is used as well, considering the fact that during chapters, enemy units often tend to spread out and be ~ 2, 3 spaces away from eachother on the map (unless you're holed up on a fort in a risen skirmish. in that case, they're all clumped up). dual system would hardly get used by the other side if it was simply "enemies can dual system now," and the mechanic would still be wildly skewed towards the player's favor.

so, the obvious solution is to introduce the pair-up function to that as well, therefore stabilizing it and making it less broken- as well as actually making enemy dual system a viable threat to your wellbeing ingame. in short, it's unlikely they introduced one without the other, as the two functions work in tandem- without one, the other is more or less functionally meaningless.

as well as that, on the top right corner there's two units that have status bars that are decidedly too close together to be on adjacent spaces (i'm not looking at the bridge). and considering the fact that this is player phase, it's decidedly not a screenshot of a unit in mid-movement.

Edited April 25, 2015 by falcoknights

[Cysx]

By "middle" I mean horizontally. Since a fort is a tile, then the myrmidon's map sprite or at least his HP bar should be in the middle of said tile. But there's a clear gap between the left wall and him. So supposedly there is a right wall, he's actually leaning towards or even penetrating it, which doesn't make sense design-wise.

I just checked, and something similar can happen in Awakening when two units are in that exact same situation and position in that corner of the screen. The difference is that the myrmidon seems to stand a bit lower on this fort(assuming that is a fort, but that seems likely to me) than he would have in FE13.

All of what was uncovered about this chapter really makes it look like the objective will be to escape, by the way...

Edited April 25, 2015 by Cysx