Dragon Vein

[Mackc2]

I surprised I haven't seen a single topic about this feature.

So how does it work in battle, Is it worth using.

Also the sadist in me must know if it can be used to kill units with dragon vein in unique ways such as taking out the bridge under them.

[Ryo]

Yes, it is worth using on most occasions, supposing that the enemies won't get too much benefit from it. Many (if not all) maps in the Hoshido version have DV, however this is not the case on the Nohr route. The DV-using enemies can get a bit annoying it seems. Some DV spots also have different effects other than changing the terrains, such as damaging the enemies, inflicting status ailments etc. You cannot take out a bridge though.

[gayserbeam]

There are points on the map that have a swirly glow. Put a unit with royal blood on the spot and they will change the environment.

The effects are one-way and permanent, so you cannot, say, build a bridge then destroy it when an enemy walks on. However, some do deal damage by making the ground a damage tile.

Only story chapters have Dragon's Vein. When heading back to that map for a generic enemy encounter, the effect of the Dragon Vein will be already active in every space available.

There is a text box telling you what will happen and showing all the spaces it will affect, so there is no suprise involved.

Some examples:

-building bridges

-removing mountains

-turning the ground into spikes

-creating gales of wind that block the movement of flying units

-turning sand into pavement

-freezing water, making it walkable

-turning floor tiles into healing tiles

Edited June 30, 2015 by gayserbeam

[Mackc2]

I heard someone complain about the difficulty of the ice chapter and one of the things the mentioned was that you could use dragon vein to either freeze or unfreeze the lake but it was pointless because it would revert every turn. Can someone confirm or de-confirm that?

Currently dragon vein sounds far more interesting than I originally though it would be.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Mackc2

[Ryo]

I don't remember about the Hoshido version but on the Nohr version, you can melt down the ice to hinder the enemies' movements, however, it will freeze again after a while due to the cold weather. There are many DV effects that will get reverted/destroyed after one or a few turns, forcing you to find another spot, so beware.

[Sky Soldier]

Possibly the most interesting benefit I've seen so far is one chapter where using DV makes it rain, making all the enemies lose half their strength and defenses temporarily.

Possibly the most annoying use by an enemy is one Protect chapter where the boss will drain the water away, removing all your choke points and making it a chaotic free for all for the second half of the fight.

And yes, it is all over the place on Hoshido maps. Nohr, not so much.

[SageOfAnys]

Possibly the most interesting benefit I've seen so far is one chapter where using DV makes it rain, making all the enemies lose half their strength and defenses temporarily.

Possibly the most annoying use by an enemy is one Protect chapter where the boss will drain the water away, removing all your choke points and making it a chaotic free for all for the second half of the fight.

And yes, it is all over the place on Hoshido maps. Nohr, not so much.

...That sounds like utter hell. What route is that in?

[NekoKnight]

For almost all of the maps, there is no reason not to use Dragon Vein and some arguably require it to be completed in a timely fashion (one map is basically nothing but mountains until you flatten them). There are a few exceptions to this that make for some challenging maps. For Hoshido (as far as chapter 16) there aren't many maps where the enemy will use Dragon Vein.

[Kirokan]

There were some really terrible ones on some levels. I wrote up a list of the Dragon Vein effects for the Hoshido side (and hope to go back through Nohr to write them) on my chapter guide. There are a great variety, and they are not always for you. Some maps have the bosses using infinite dragon vein...every single turn...

[CocoaGalaxy]

...That sounds like utter hell. What route is that in?

Nohr Chapter 10 I believe.

Basically it removes the river as a chokepoint, so it becomes slightly more chaotic

[know_naim]

I think it’s a great addition to FE’s gameplay. From the trailers I got the impression that this’ll just be shortcuts like building some bridges, melting ice and stuff – basically some extended, flashy “weak-wall-breaking”.

Then while playing some maps blew me away –

there’s a really cool vertical one you have to climb and escape with endless reinforcements coming at you from both sides (from Nohr’s path, I think). Crawling your way up that would be near impossible without using DVs to freeze enemy units. Or on Hoshido’s path there is a cave with statues where using DV was pretty much mandatory and choosing the wrong vein would cause the whole ground to be flooded by lava, sooo devious.

Also I don’t think bosses using infinite DVs is unfair. It’s a nice way to balance that they just stand around still doing nothing most of the time until one approaches them. For example there’s one boss slowing you down and chasing with flier reinforcements – things get pretty intense but the effect can be countered with using dragon veins yourself.

All in all it seems like a really good way to freshen up the standard Fire Emblem experience through some nice, unexpected twists.

edit: typos

Edited July 5, 2015 by know_naim

[Icy Toast]

I heard someone complain about the difficulty of the ice chapter and one of the things the mentioned was that you could use dragon vein to either freeze or unfreeze the lake but it was pointless because it would revert every turn. Can someone confirm or de-confirm that?

It's true that the lake only remains unfrozen for 1 turn, and you can only use it twice, but that doesn't mean it's pointless! Unfreezing the lake will stop any units from moving onto lake tiles, and any units who were standing on top of the lake when you used DV will be unable to move until the next turn. It can be pointless or insanely powerful depending on when and how you decide to use it. I thought it was a very clever way to spice up a map that was already pretty great without it.

...That sounds like utter hell. What route is that in?

It's hell, but in a really good way. It's one of the most satisfying chapters in the game (imo)! Edited July 5, 2015 by Icy Toast

[Ayra]

There were some really terrible ones on some levels. I wrote up a list of the Dragon Vein effects for the Hoshido side (and hope to go back through Nohr to write them) on my chapter guide. There are a great variety, and they are not always for you. Some maps have the bosses using infinite dragon vein...every single turn...

Yeah... There's one map in particular where the boss has access to three different Dragon Vein that have infinite uses, only harm your own units and she'll always use the Dragon Vein that will cause the most damage to you. That was the hardest map on the Hoshido side in my opinion. It's quite late in the game though.