LTC FE3 Book 1 & Book 2 Low Turns Run (BOOK 1 COMPLETE)

[Espinosa]

Chapter 8 in 6 turns. It's one of the coolest maps, I think.

[bottlegnomes]

It seems strange that they didn't make the fort count as inside.

[Refa]

I thought they did.

[Espinosa]

It seems strange that they didn't make the fort count as inside.

Good point, I expected the same. It's also surprising that the outdoor sections of these maps are off-limits to mounted units:

http://www.fireemblemwod.com/fe3/guia/fecapitulo5.htm

http://www.fireemblemwod.com/fe3/guia/fecapitulo10.htm

Then again, there actually used to be grass and trees there in FE1 and FE11 versions. Guess they just got lazy.

[Topazd]

I don't think it had any grass/trees in there in FE1, it was just green and butt-ugly. Oops, misunderstood that. Anyhow, Minerva might actually be the reason, since she is supposed to approach Marth right after recruiting/killing Maria and as an enemy is unable to dismount.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Topazd

[Espinosa]

4-turned chapter 13 today, breaking the first Warp staff. Minerva ended up not trying to crit the silver sword hero and instead equipped herself to ORKO one of the dracos attacking her reliably. I then baited the heroes to kill for some units' exp. Abel kept critting enemies whose exp was intended for Kashim (who didn't level up). Kashim still remains 2 points of wlv away from Partia (which is also important for assisting with a reliable killing of Camus on turn 4).

Not quite sure if I'll be keeping this clear or attempting another one - really want better/actual Kashim/Abel levelups, but Minerva and Sheeda both proccing strength seems rather appealing, even if Sheeda isn't becoming an attacker for me to rely on in the later maps (?).

Chapter 14 doesn't look nearly as straightforward as I thought it would be, though. The boss is a tough guy, and who knows if I'll actually be able to get one of the Bishops to drop his Reserve/Fortify staff when the two stand so close to each other, have actually good defence and can't be targeted at 1-range by cavalry. I imagine they'll be healing each other if I don't have Kashim/George proc crits against them, too. Then there's all that treasure to worry about...

[YoshiYogurt]

What counts as a turn? because the game just told me I took 7800 turns for book 2 alone lol, yep 7 THOUSAND beat that!! /s

Edited October 4, 2015 by YoshiYogurt

[Topazd]

Yeah, IIRC the translation patch goofs up and adds another zero on top of your turncounts in the epilogue.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Topazd

[Espinosa]

Completed chapter 15 and finally got access to to Camus's chapter. Got all the treasure that mattered (actually only forewent Bolganone and 10K gold), Kashim got to 12 wlv for Partia access, and Rena and Kashim both promoted (whatever difference the former makes). Sheeda should promote in the next map.

I currently have these useful stat boosters available for use, and I suppose they should be used ASAP in Camus's map:

- 1x Power Ring

- 1x Speed Ring

- 1x Angelic Robe

...for a total of +4 str, +5 spd and +7 spd.

Candidates for each?

Power Ring (4 str):

Marth - has 13 str and I think he really wants better combat in Gharnef's chapter to kill those heroes and whatnot (?). His bulk, while unimpressive, matches that of most of the party Abel excluded.

Minerva - will cap strength after using it.

Sheeda - will reach 18 str after using it and promoting.

Abel - will cap strength after using it.

Kashim already has 18 str and should cap the stat before Mediuth.

Speed Ring (5 spd):

Marth - at his current 15 spd, he fails to double tricky enemy types like heroes. Also gives him better avoid if we are to spend an enemy phase in either Gharnef's or Michael's chapter (which we definitely are).

Kashim - @ 12 AS, he needs to proc speed once on the way to Camus AND use the ring in order to avoid being doubled by the boss when attacking with Partia for max damage without crits. The same Kashim will also double Camus with a Killer Bow for less reliable damage output. If Kashim finishes off a weakened Camus, he needn't care about speed at all.

...that's it. Sheeda and Minerva have capped speed and Abel is one point away from doing so.

Angelic Robe (7 hp):

Marth - he'll have to take hits in either Gharnef's or Michael's chapter. His present bulk is 27 hp/10 def (base + 1 draco...)/1 res (proc). This should help him survive some of the enemy attacks, though how reliable it'll be is still a question.

Sheeda - at 21 HP/12 promoted def, her bulk leaves a bit to be desired. 2 defensive procs away from surviving a Gradivus at full HP, Sheeda doesn't care that much about bulk when she's too busy recruiting Lawrence to take part in killing Camus.

Everybody else wouldn't mind extra HP either. Kashim has awful defence (not sure if I care much though), and either of Abel or Minerva could use it should my chapter 16 strategy involve giving them just enough raw durability to survive a specific situational number of attacks.

Welp, this is the decisive map in this run I think!

[General Horace]

don't give anything to abel he doesn't do anything for the rest of the game really

All the boosters can go to Marth I think.

where's my Cecille option for book 2 trained units, she's way better than Luke and Rody in FE3.

Edited October 5, 2015 by General Horace

[YoshiYogurt]

don't give anything to abel he doesn't do anything for the rest of the game really

All the boosters can go to Marth I think.

where's my Cecille option for book 2 trained units, she's way better than Luke and Rody in FE3.

Cecille became kinda useless for me. Cain and Sirius were my go to Paladins.

[Espinosa]

I didn't include Cecile (and also Katua) in the second poll alongside the units from the first one because it seems quite obvious that these two would be seeing play. Everything else doesn't seem nearly as obvious, for example:

Sheeda

She gives Marth mutual support but has nothing unique to offer to a powerful party featuring Katua, Paola and later Minerva.

Rody / Luke / Alan

Alan can take shard pieces to have actual growths and stay relevant as the game progresses. With Sirius, Cecile and all the fliers (one of whom can take an Iote's Shield really early), you gotta wonder if you really need him most of the time. I'm not quite sure if I need an additional cav, either. Rody seems like a better idea than Luke due to his Cecile support.

Malliesia / Yumina

Yumina is the only possible user of Rescue; however, I haven't yet established if promoting her shaves off any turns, just as I'm not yet sure if I need promoted Gordon to recruit George more efficiently. If she needs that extra square of movement for better Rescues, then we're giving her whatever experience we can squeeze out ASAP. The only promoted caster available in this game is Wendel, so I may require an additional user of staves, and Malliesia could function as well in a pinch, or trained for longterm use. Hammerne access is useless when the staff can't repair Warp/Rescue/Again and the village takes a lot of turns + a Rescue to get to, and she can use Thief without any training.

Linde / Merich / Wendel

Linde is much more desirable this time around, starting early at a respectable level with Aura nuking the hell out of enemies. If she's out of range to engage enemies in combat, she could be one of the staffbots as wlv is shared between weapon types. Meanwhile, Merich is needed for the final map, but isn't good at slaying Mediuth due to the halving of atk. Something impressive can probably be made out of Wendel with the investment of boosters and shards, but he doesn't have any special tome or anything.

Oguma / Julian / Navarre

7 mov units to be used in indoor maps. I'm not sure if I need only one, or more, and if I absolutely need Julian to be able to fight / take a hit to survive the earth dragons in the final map for example. There's always dancing, the Again staff and taking an extra turn to help him survive there. Oguma seems solid but I'm afraid to invest into him after the current Book 1 run. Navarre has much better bases in Book 2 and his growths seem more reliable. Idk.

Kashim

Much better than Warren if I happen to need a guy with a bow and a lot of movement. Partia is now available super early. George can also use it at base though.

Chiki

Now has better availability, but her growths are noticeably worse than they were in Book 1. Has an actual defence against breath attacks.

[feplus]

You'll definitely be using rescue in the following places:

• Ch.4 (saves a ton of turns)
• Ch.10 (Merric)
• Ch.11 (saves a ton of turns)
• Ch.20 (Midia)

So you've got one more to play with. Other good rescue candidate maps are 8, 9, and 18.

Promoting Yumina won't save turns on 4, 10, or 20. Might save a turn on 8/9/18. Will save one turn on Ch.11.

[Topazd]

The C10 Rescue probably isn't necessary since you'll have two opportunities to get Reblow beforehand, and alternatively, there's a Silence attainable on the same map if you can spare a Thief charge. Elrean's crit is a bit unnerving, but the Rescue is definitely better made use of elsewhere. I'm not sure how the situation will be with Midia, though.

I recall Book 2 C1 as being somewhat LTC-unfriendly, I guess we'll have to wait and see!

[Espinosa]

I can't quite see the necessity to rescue Midia either atm. I will have Warp and Again by then; it makes sense to just crit Hardin with a legendary weapon and seize on the same turn.

Chapter 4/8/9/11 are all great times for rescuing for sure, but I'm also worried about chapter 14 where Marth needs to open a ridiculous number of doors to recruit Chiki and seize early. It seems that using Rescue and Warp in tandem has enormous contributions in that map.

Chapter 1 seems like a breeze for LTCing tbqh. There are now two mountains blocking the way between the cliffs to Lawrence, and Marth ends up just one square (or maybe two, I forget) short of seizing on turn 6/7 (?) so he can actually talk to Lawrence and allow Alan/Cecile to relax and not bother going for a silver lance crit to KO him before the seizing turn.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Espinosa

[feplus]

I do think a Merric rescue will be necessary. Game plan is to rush Marth / Feema across the water once Ellerean is out of harm's way, but if Merric hasn't been rescued then Ellerean will keep fixated on him and stay in the upper room. Wendel can't move across the water. If Merric tries moving west/east he'll be swarmed and killed, and if the killing edge merc moves (which I believe he does) then he's toast in a few turns anyway.

But we'll see.

[Espinosa]

That chapter is going to be tricky no matter how we go about the rescuing, I think. Ellerean needs to be recruited by Wendel going all the way around, so ideally, Merrick needs to start pulling him in a certain direction, and I guess that means surviving the enemy attacks there. It's a full recruitment run, so the quicker we recruit Ellerean, the sooner we seize.

[Espinosa]

Chapter 9 in 6 turns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8g-IFv5hjc

The deadly duo of mamakute/sniper kept ruining the better of my attempts by killing my units on the turn before seizing. At least I got my power ring!

[SSJDennis]

I begin to dislike Shadow Dragon more and more... The original maps looked much cooler! So, they made up the Chapter 9 map in SD? Also, that Manakete looks soo cool.

[Darrman]

7:00: 98% miss. 1RN system strikes, I suppose. I see the stealth name debate. "Mamkute? Manakete? Manakute."

[Nintales]

I begin to dislike Shadow Dragon more and more... The original maps looked much cooler! So, they made up the Chapter 9 map in SD? Also, that Manakete looks soo cool.

No, they didn't. It was from FE1, but it got removed in FE3, like a lot of things (prolly for game data).

[Espinosa]

Okay, so now that I've cleared Camus's and Michael's chapters, I seem to be stuck in Gharnef's map, which I've been trying to 3-turn with Horace's strategy.

Marth has 34 hp/10 def/1+6 res (has never proc'd defence in 10 levelups; has proc'd 1 point of res)

He is facing the following on turn 2 EP:

Maph Gharnef 17 dmg 40 hit
2x Thoron Gharnef 12 dmg 80 hit
2x KillSw Hero 8 dmg 90 hit
DrgKl Hero 10 dmg 70 hit

Boss/fake Gharnef also sometimes chips in with Meteor at 60 displayed hit, 12 dmg.

Hit rates could be further reduced with Chainey holding the Earth Orb for +10 hit. No Sheeda in range possible.

Let's assume the Maph Gharnef always misses and the boss Gharnef forgets to move. That's still 12+12+8+8+10=50 damage Marth will be taking, or 40 if the inaccurate Wyrmslayer Hero misses as well. The easiest way to reduce the damage would be to grow extra points of defence and resistence (and even hp). But when and how?

Marth does nothing against the enemies in Michael's chapter, seizing on turn 1. Abel handles the Paladins in Camus's chapter for him, but Marth could level up a couple times there (with the Star Orb no less) and gain some defence/res (33% res growth is actually a potential proc). If I go for a much riskier turn 1 tactic, Marth could take on the four black knights there and gain a couple levels. It'd be even better if he could do it with the Mercurius equipped for doubled experience but one just can't time travel at will.

Looks like +2 hp and +2 def and +1 res OR +1 def +2 res will do the job.

I think we can do it.... Just gotta re-do Camus's map again and proc some defensive stats.

Marth and Chainey also need to figure out a way to deal with the two mages blocking their way in the beginning without having to resort to Thunder Sword crits. The second turn is already as unreliable as it gets.

[Espinosa]

The turn 1 mages thing is much worse than I thought. Marth and Chainey have to end the turn on specific tiles, and they're the only ones whom mages can ever target. Should any of the mages survive, Marth and Chainey are the only ones who can finish them off next turn (meaning they HAVE to die on turn 1 EP for the two to advance).

So basically, Chainey needs to proc a thunder sword crit on each of the two mages. He has 8 skl, and with Marth getting the Earth Orb that translates into 18 crit on two attempts per round of combat. He has a ~32% chance of ORKOing a mage, or a 10% chance of ORKOing them both. However, Chainey ends up not giving Marth the Earth Orb boost on turn 2, so this is a bad strategy.

Marth has a Sheeda support though, so we could postpone giving him a Barrier boost until the next turn (this solves the problem of having to proc res in Camus's map since he'll have a point more), and he'll have 28 crit, which is far better than 18. 49% chance to ORKO a mage, 24% chance to ORKO both. He should also has slightly more skl by getting more levelups if we give him 2-3 extra levels before then (I could go back to Chiki's map, as much as I hate to, to re-do it and give Marth his Speed Ring a map earlier).

A 2-turn of Michael's map is another option, also. To make it more reliable, Marth needs to have 20 str by then (not impossible if I return to my Chiki's map save) to cleanly 2HKO Michael with the Mercurius, and defence that's high enough to not die and yet not higher than 14 to prevent a javelin peg from occupying the gate.

[Espinosa]

Chapter 10 in 4 turns. Props to Horace for proving that Marth can get to the boss on time on turn 3.

Today I have completed the Book 1 portion of the LTC, felling Mediuth and reaching the estimated final turn count of 74 turns. All that's left now is to upload all the remaining videos. I guess I'll begin LTCing Book 2 soon enough, though I might do it on a separate file with a "Super Marth" to see what kind of stat benchmarks are required and what investments are best made.

[Topazd]

Congrats on finishing Book 1!

Yeah, the fan translation, for some reason, keeps referring to it as the 'golden capital Pales', but it's simply known as the royal palace in the actual localization.