Vanilla Lunatic Chrom Solo Playlog/Guide

[Sodium Hydroxide]

I can't help there, eclipse. However, I've completed Plegia 1. Chapters 10 and 11 are total massacres without spoiler tags, followed by Chrom marrying Maribelle due to the C support they got in Ch. 5. Since I'd already capped everything except Mag and Res somehow, the change from 3 should wind up being appreciated.

[eclipse]

The biggest problem was hit rates. The guys in RaR have a bunch of breaker skills, so something's gonna hit eventually. Alas, there's no gate, or I would've had a much better chance of getting Limit Breaker! My strategy for RaR would've been to scurry into one of the alcoves where only one melee enemy at a time could get to me, and shoot the rest. . .but that's nigh-impossible, because Hardin pulls some really good hit rates on me (and he's got Gradivus). Outdoor Fighter doesn't help that much FSR.

I think getting TO Grima's going to be a giant pain in the neck. There's not that many places to hide in Chapter 23, and I will absolutely need Chrom to pair up with Robin so I don't accidentally get a Game Over. Basilio's job will be to pair with Flavia and get off a Rally Strength. Chapter 24, at least, has those forts.

EDIT: So sorta-ninja'd. I don't think it would be possible barring an unattended pair-up (like Frederick), and even THAT would be pushing it. Chrom would have to deal with multiple breaker skills, and they all suck.

Edited January 18, 2016 by eclipse

[Czar_Yoshi]

Oh well. Go for more skills while you're stuck, maybe?

Actually, there is one trick I've used before that's really dumb but might save you if there's a specific enemy in your way: entering at a high level, then relassing in the middle of the map. If you could come in as a GK or something, Hammer Hardin to death (manipulation using other enemies to get him to attack at 1-range possible?), then store everything except the weapon you want next and transform, might that do something?

It's actually possible to do that twice, using promoted -> promoted -> DF, but RaR3 is so crowded that probably wouldn't help. Thought I'd mention it just in case, though. Dread Fighter with lots and lots of BoNs might still be your best bet- you can probably Celica's down Hardin if he's a problem there.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Is it possible to manipulate in a melee behind Hardin, such that your alcove will be out of range of the melee, but in range of the melee? If so, maybe you could use weapon-breaking strats (assuming that the legendaries are breakable—I have to admit that I've never played this map before).

I'm thinking the top-right corner of the big building would work best, since it's a long way to go around, which would make it less likely that the enemy 2-range units circle around to attack you over the wall. My idea would be to go in as a Sniper, which should lure Hardin into attacking in melee. Then that should body block the enemy melee from engaging. From here, pop Elixirs every turn until Gradivus breaks. Chrom can then use forged Longbows (he'll likely need a healthy stock of +5Mt/+15Hit, as well as a few +3Mt/+25Hit to address Bowbreakers) to pick enemies off at 3 range. Once everyone else is taken care of, reclass to Bow Knight and Armorslayer Hardin to death.

[Sodium Hydroxide]

Meanwhile, Chapters 12 to 17 and Brady's paralogue were easy meat for Falchion, and I got through Bow Knight, Great Lord and a bit of Great Knight. No spoiler tags due to chapter simplicity, just the note to PICK UP THE CH. 17 BOOTS, which contends with trading Avatar Virion's Elixir in Ch.1 as the most important move of the whole run.

All stats are capped except Mag and Res.

[eclipse]

Hardin is one issue out of 50. The sword guys are really accurate, and they do respectable damage as well. Then there's Sephiran, who bumrushes you immediately. . .and he's only one of the mages on the map. I could attempt to cheese things a little with Aegis. . .if I survive long enough!

For Chapter 19, All Stats+2/Strength Tonic and a +5 MT forged Beast Killer will one-shot everything that's not a Great Knight/scaly flying thingy. After that, it's a straight run to Walhart, who should die pretty quickly to a Killer Lance (Silver Lance works too, but I'm boring).

May have to go into IR for a Ragnell, since Walhart's axe is 1-2 range.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Hmm, just realized you'd need two melee behind Hardin and then if two powerful 2-rangers got close and could kill after Hardin, then they'd probably shift the melee out. Anyway, the way I was thinking, Hardin would have effectively been a solution, rather than a a problem (if a hard-earned one). While he hits hard, his proc is Vengeance, so you'd know exactly what level of damage to expect while breaking his weapon. Then he'd body block all the melee out, leaving you to hopefully snipe the ranged enemies (who would be body blocked by the melee that Hardin body blocked).

Originally, I thought it should be doable because of being dumb and thinking only one 2-ranger could get in, which would easily allow Elixir spam to break weaponry. Unfortunately, even if Sniper!Chrom comes in with AS +2, full Tonics and Res +10, he's looking at 43 Def and 42 Res, he's still looking at 30-35 damage taken per enemy. Perfectly manageable with 2 attackers, but not with 3.

[eclipse]

So, rather than trying to figure out how to get through a map featuring a lot of breaker skills, I forged on ahead. Here's my notes:

Chapter 20 - That Sol sword will make or break the run. When you get to Walhart, use it! I got rid of Cervantes, but not Excellus - the former had an item that sold for good money, while the latter just sucks. The other thing that'll determine the success of this run will be the number of times Pavise procs. Hopefully, it won't be a stupid amount of times (like one failed run where Walhart got it every single damn time).

Chapter 21 - Have at least one full Elixir before trying it. Run through with a Javelin, but switch to a Killing Edge right when Chrom hits that one-tile-wide gap on the right. The enemy won't be able to box you in, and it'll help to get rid of the 'zerkers on your way over. The boss can be safely challenged with a Javelin.

Chapter 22 - Have at least one shot of the forged Beastkiller from Chapter 19, as it's just enough to one-shot Aversa. Summon Hardin and grab a Brave Lance, too. I stopped for Yewfelle and Balmumg, as they both have significant Speed boosts, which Chrom sorely needs (since it's impossible to NOT be doubled by the Balmung chick, I used a Brave Lance to clear up the problem). You'll have to do a bit of creative kiting for Yewfelle, as the Brave weapon guys have insanely high accuracy (86% on the Assassin which includes WTD).

Chapter 23 - Pair up with Robin ('cause Robin needs to live, even on Casual), wreck Validar the First, then make sure that Basilio survives long enough to get off a single Rally Strength. If you're lucky, they'll take out an enemy or two. Otherwise, run from pillar to pillar, chugging Elixirs as you go. Eventually, the enemies will suicide, and you'll be able to take out Validar in peace. Max Strength with All Stats +2 or a Strength Tonic, a Killer Lance, and a critical Luna proc will do 60 damage, assuming that Dragonskin doesn't interfere.

Chapter 24 - Chrom needs to go Great Knight here, and down a Defense Tonic (if All +2 isn't an option, the HP tonic is also advisable). Those flying pieces of garbage have Swordbreaker and lances/axes, so the best way to deal with them is axes. Sit your butt on a fort and let the carnage come to you. Watch out for random Luna procs by the enemy, and things should work out all right. Aegis will help against the handful of magic users.

Chapter 25 - That was. . .idiotic, to say the least. Shove every tonic not named Magic Tonic down Chrom's throat. Then, get several Javelins and Hand Axes. As soon as the chapter starts, run backwards towards the Griffon Knights, and end the first turn next to the mountains. For the next 15ish turns, walk on the mountains, picking off anything stupid enough to challenge Chrom. With All Stats +2 and a Speed Tonic, Chrom can double the Dark Fliers who don't have Speed +2. Once everything is done chasing you, walk towards the fort near the mountains, and sit there. After things calm down, run to the next fort. From there, it shouldn't be too hard to get to Aversa and do her in with a Brave Lance (it'll need a +5 MT forge to ORKO her, and that's with All Stats +2 and a Strength Tonic).

Edited January 19, 2016 by eclipse

[eclipse]

So I hit Endgame, and did a bit of twiddling around, as a Great Knight ('cause clipsey's lazy). Here's the biggest pains in the asses I've found:

- An unpaired Chrom is VERY frail. Even with Aether and the Sol sword, he'll die in one round because dodging is really hard (this applies even if I was in a faster class - the enemies sport hit rates of 150+, with most being 165+).

- The guys near Grima don't move. . .but Chrom is in a ton of danger if I mosey him up to them and try to get them out of the way. As a Great Knight with All +2 and a Defense Tonic, Grima did 39 damage.

- The most "successful" run was because of. . .wait for it. . .Titania's Axe, which gave Chrom the necessary hit and dodge to keep himself alive. It doesn't do enough damage, though.

I'm starting to think that Book of Naga is the way to go, though I'd need a LOT of them for this to work.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Edited January 19, 2016 by eclipse

[Czar_Yoshi]

Hmm. So basically you haven't even been able to touch Grima yet?

Since you've got Boots and it's a huge, open map, I wonder how feasible it would be to win through attrition... Kite stuff in circles until there are 50 enemies on the screen (to stop reinforcements), then gently and very slowly break all the weapons? You'd likely need hundreds of Elixirs, but if you did that, you could even break all the Physics, killing Grima's recovery and making him easy to take down.

You'd want savestates, of course, since one mistake would cost so much. And you might not be able to survive the initial randomness involved in getting everything on your tail, and there would still be two movement groups, but it's probably the best thing to investigate as of now.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

For weapon-breaking strats, Great Knight is going to be have to be very careful. The Griffons bring hackforge Hammers and the Falcos bring hackforge Beast Killers. Even with the size of the map, they're gonna create a huge death zone—multiple death zones, thanks to the spawn rotation—and that's while trying to evade around 40 other units. What's worse is that the AI is probably going to shift unarmed units to let these Chrom-killers in, since they'll see that the huge damage from ganging up with the effective weapons will allow for an easy kill.

Dread Fighter with Book of Naga would work in theory if Chrom's Mag is still junk (with the added asset of maybe making the staffers heal those units if it's only mostly junk). Reason being he doesn't want to kill the enemy and lucky Aethers with max Mag might do just that. The big limiter here, though, will be that hundreds of uses will be needed to match the hundreds of Elixirs required for the strat. That's an obscene amount of farming.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Yeah GK isn't going to work, you'd really want Paladin or BK (mainly thinking of Mov here). The Falcos and their Beastkillers are still an issue, but maybe Paladin could use a Superior Lance to try to dodge them? They'd die after a few rounds, but you'd just let other things spawn in that could be tanked.

I doubt you'd ever stop moving for this, there might be enough room to run in circles the whole time, letting one or two per turn reach you. The bigger limited with DF, I think, is the fact that you can't outrun anything, so you'd eventually get cornered after a lap or two.

[eclipse]

As funny as that it, it still doesn't address the problem of getting TO Grima - the guys that surround him don't seem to move, ever, so I'll need at least one turn in his range. . .but if I'm doing weapon-breaking strats, AND if I miraculously manage to break everyone's weapons, I've still gotta contend with a lot of things trying to get to me.

Also, the reinforcements come from every single angle available. . .so I'm not sure how feasible running everyone out is. I can give it a try, but no guarantees!

(absolute worst case scenario, I pair up with Frederick to see if the extra movement helps)

[Czar_Yoshi]

When the reinforcements are still coming, they spawn in a consistent pattern. Thus, you can know what's coming ahead of time, and either position yourself so you can't get boxed in, or equip a suitable weapon to take one down and make a way out.

In theory, of course.

As for Grima's dudes, isn't it possible to stand in range of just one of them (plus Grima)? Or do they not aggro until attacked? If the latter, is it possible to poke them from outside of Grima's range with a Longbow (thinking of the double reclass thing I mentioned earlier- you'd start as a Paladin, then aggro them as a Sniper, then turn to a DF to fight them and Grima).

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

I believe they don't move unless they can secure a kill.

[eclipse]

When the reinforcements are still coming, they spawn in a consistent pattern. Thus, you can know what's coming ahead of time, and either position yourself so you can't get boxed in, or equip a suitable weapon to take one down and make a way out.

In theory, of course.

As for Grima's dudes, isn't it possible to stand in range of just one of them (plus Grima)? Or do they not aggro until attacked? If the latter, is it possible to poke them from outside of Grima's range with a Longbow (thinking of the double reclass thing I mentioned earlier- you'd start as a Paladin, then aggro them as a Sniper, then turn to a DF to fight them and Grima).

The pattern is. . .kinda wonky. It sort of rotates from top to bottom, which makes laps that much harder.

Grima's range is 1-5, so sniping one with a Longbow still puts Chrom in danger. When I do the generic 1-turn, I use a pair with Galeforce to kill one of 'em, then I have someone else fill the gap. I could try the Double Bow against Grima, but then I can't double (and I don't think I'd be able to kill him unless there's literally no weapons on the field).

The final option is to bring a sacrificial unit, to move the guys standing next to Grima.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Maybe you could manipulate an Aegis on Grima when pulling?

[eclipse]

I can give it a shot. . .if I'm patient enough! I can sort-of predict what will happen with the RNG, but I use battle saves for this, as I want to be absolutely, positively sure about popping all of those tonics first!

That means a minimum one Aegis rig, and it'll have to happen on turn 2. Otherwise, there's too much crap between me and Grima.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Hmmm, is it still possible to attack Grima on turn 3 PP if you were to go in as a Sniper? If so, going off my previous calculations, it may be possible to achieve a crit kill one-round (although very improbable).

Skills: Aether, Rightful King, AS +2, Aggressor, Bowfaire

Str: 42 Base + 2 Tonic + 2 AS + 5 Bowfaire

Skl: 49 Base + 2 Tonic + 2 AS

Assuming a +3Mt/+15Crit Killer Bow, Chrom's got 51 Str + 2 Proficiency + 13 Mt + 10 Aggressor = 76 Attack

Against Grima's 53 Def, that's 11 for a normal hit and 35 for Aether.

The Killer Bow inherently has 10 more Hit than the Brave Bow, but we're not forging for Hit, so it's a 5 net loss, resulting in 75 displayed Hit (87.75%).

53 Skl gives Chrom 26 Crit, then the Killer Bow adds another 45. Grima's got 45 Luck, so that brings it down to 26% Crit.

Now here's where the major luck factor comes in. Chrom needs to proc an Aether (36%), then land both 87.75% hits and they must both crit on 26% for 33 + 72 damage. The chances of all these things working out is 1.87%. In addition, Chrom's gonna need to crit blick or Longbow kill the Berserker, depending on how safe it looks to stand where during EP. The upside of this is that Chrom doesn't need to worry about tanking for multiple turns. He just needs to survive turn 2 EP and not be surrounded on turn 3 PP. He gets the first strike on Grima, so he either makes the kill or dies.

EDIT: Bow Knight could squeeze out enough damage too (102), but would have to contend with 5 less Skl and Def. However, I took a look at Grima's formation and it may be the best bet for success. In order to take down the Berserker, Chrom will have to be in range of the northern reinforcements. This is going to be way too much damage, so Chrom will likely have to park himself 2 tiles south of the Berserker with a Ragnell and hope he gets enough Aether procs to survive.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi

[eclipse]

The good news: I found a way to punch a hole through the defenders.

The bad news: It's going to take a LOT of runs through IR to get the requisite amount of weapons, as well as some creative kiting (can't take the Beast Killer pegasus and the Hammer dude in the same turn).

Helswath's +5 DEF gives Chrom the bulk necessary to survive everything - assuming he procs Aether often enough. I think I'm going to need something like 15 of 'em before I get a skill proc pattern that's favorable enough for me to change into a Sniper and attempt KTT's thing (which looks quite intriguing).

So, Sodium Hydroxide, if you're reading this, please stop for Helswath before punching out of Chapter 22.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Consider Ragnell, Gae Bolg and Armads since they all provide +5 Def too. The latter two don't have 1~2 range, but there might be times you can sneak it in when facing mostly melee. Should at least ease the amount of farming to some extent, anyway.

[Sodium Hydroxide]

Sorry, eclipse, but I already got up to Endgame using your strats (except Ch. 23, but I still based my strat off of yours)...

I'm currently farming IR for Ragnells and Helswaths, by letting the Thieves open their chests and killing them if they get either of those or resetting otherwise. I only stopped for Gungnir in Ch. 22 (forged Beastkiller ORKOs Equus as a Pally with either Str/Spd tonics or AS+2, by the way), so I'll need to get all my Helswaths from IR. I think maybe 3 of each should suffice?

[eclipse]

Oh, right, Ragnell exists too! May do Gae Bolg for a turn or two just to get rid of the swords, but don't want to stay in a weapon that's one-range only. Any Gradivus I get will be used in place of Elixirs.

Yeah, I'll be doing a bunch of farming for those, probably something like five each (one EP drained 20/25 Helswath charges). Poor Chrom's going to be a Great Knight for a VERY long time!