Class idea-Legionary and Praetorian

[blah the Prussian]

So one of the many things I am is an incorrigable Romanophile, and I really want some FE to try something explicitly Roman based, especially after the dissapointment that was Nohr. So, I decided, why not make a class based on the soldiers that conquered Europe?

Legionary:

The Legionary is a frontline soldier of the Empire of Corvinia (I have this whole FE world, more on that later). They wield swords and lances. The Legionary, on his own, is a bad unit. They are below average in essentially everything; think the soldier class except with swords as well as lances. They do, however, have a unique asset: when two legionaries are adjacent, Dual Strikes do twice as much damage. When two legionaries are paired up, Dual Guard activates twice as often. Furthermore, all stat boosts from being ajacent or paired up are doubled. Finally, legionaries gain double the stats from rallying.

So, SF, what do you think? Would you use this class and crush the Manaketes and Laguz for the glory of Rome?

[solrocknroll]

far too gimmicky

I've pretty much had it with gimmicks after playing conquest and revelation, please never again

Landsknecht is the best real soldier idea honestly

Edited September 12, 2016 by Eneggmar

[Etrurian emperor]

As a fellow Romanophile I certainly would'n't mind a class being based on their soldiers. Its what made the reveal trailer of Fates so interesting to me.

But would I understand correctly if I'd say that the class would be kind of bad if you don't ensure you got multiple legionaries present in the same battle? Even two of those might not be enough to make up for their sub par abilities when fighting solo. So 3 legionaries might be needed to take full advantage of their gimmick. But if you want to use 3 then those are spots that must be taken from units of other classes like the cavalry or the mage. It leads to a less varied party.

[Sasori]

I like the idea of more roman based classes and a lance/sword wielding Legionary would be a very good fit in that. I'd make them more balanced like the mercenary line, but with sword/lance instead of sword/axe. The pair up idea with other Legionaries is interesting, if a bit unwielding. Having the class focus on teamwork, instead of raw stats would be an interesting idea though.

If I had to introduce a soldier class i'd probably go greek and have it be a Hoplite. They tend to be anti cavalry when used in RTS's and I think Fire Emblem could use that with the many positives the cavalry class has over other units.

[NekoKnight]

I think it would lead to restrictive gameplay. For starters, you're going to need multiple characters of the same class when people generally like to make more balanced teams. Also, because they only fight well together, you won't be able to use them for any other style or tactics. I wouldn't mind class skills that boost adjacent/paired allies (ex. "Def/Res +1 for each adjacent ally"), but to make them weak without that just makes them inferior to other units.

On a related note, I think they should rename Knight to something else. Centurion, hoplite, legionaire...something not 'knight' because several other classes use that affix and all of them are mounted.

[Augestein]

So one of the many things I am is an incorrigable Romanophile, and I really want some FE to try something explicitly Roman based, especially after the dissapointment that was Nohr. So, I decided, why not make a class based on the soldiers that conquered Europe?

Legionary:

The Legionary is a frontline soldier of the Empire of Corvinia (I have this whole FE world, more on that later). They wield swords and lances. The Legionary, on his own, is a bad unit. They are below average in essentially everything; think the soldier class except with swords as well as lances. They do, however, have a unique asset: when two legionaries are adjacent, Dual Strikes do twice as much damage. When two legionaries are paired up, Dual Guard activates twice as often. Furthermore, all stat boosts from being ajacent or paired up are doubled. Finally, legionaries gain double the stats from rallying.

So, SF, what do you think? Would you use this class and crush the Manaketes and Laguz for the glory of Rome?

It makes me want to play Gladius. What you're describing is the Legionaire class. They were medium class units that had like no active skills but instead had a ton of passives ... That only worked with other Legionaires and the Commander class counterpart the Centurion . So what ended up happening was that they were terrible units on 1 to 1 basis, but became pretty annoying when there were about 3 of them (or two of them with a Centurion).

What I would do is actually make them more unique than that honestly. Instead, they'd be like this:

Tactical Strike - The units can dual strike from adjacency with other units. IE, instead of being like this LLE they can dual strike from LEL. So Pincering a boss from both sides allows the units to attack for more damage. Heck, if we keep your passive of "double damage on dual strikes," then they'd be THE boss killers if you had enough of them.

Lance Formation - The unit gets + 10 avoid and + 1 def when being next to another lance unit of similar class (give them a list and this could be pretty useful).

Sword Formation - The unit gets + 10 hit and + 1 atk when being next to another sword unit of similar class (list again). Thus, using something like Lunge with Legionary and Tactical Strike could be all sorts of nasty.

Authoritarian: If authority stars come back, they get a 2 additional bonus for each authority star present and if the leader is within 3 spaces. So if the enemy gives + 10 avoid / hit per star, they get and extra 6 hit and avoid just from having the leader nearby.

Yeah, I really like the idea of a class that does stuff like this. Maybe not my skills, but sure. Bring it on I say. Especially if they plan on keeping dual strikes / dual guards.

I think it would lead to restrictive gameplay. For starters, you're going to need multiple characters of the same class when people generally like to make more balanced teams. Also, because they only fight well together, you won't be able to use them for any other style or tactics. I wouldn't mind class skills that boost adjacent/paired allies (ex. "Def/Res +1 for each adjacent ally"), but to make them weak without that just makes them inferior to other units.

The list could be changed to things that are similar types of classes.

IE, Legionary only works with classes that are "knight" style classes. IE, they can't do things with Myrmidons, but they can work with the "Soldier," "knight" and "cavalier" classes. You could even go as far to make it work with say... Dark Knight but not Mage or Sorcerer-- which could have some influence on your promotion paths.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Augestein

[NekoKnight]

The list could be changed to things that are similar types of classes.

IE, Legionary only works with classes that are "knight" style classes. IE, they can't do things with Myrmidons, but they can work with the "Soldier," "knight" and "cavalier" classes. You could even go as far to make it work with say... Dark Knight but not Mage or Sorcerer-- which could have some influence on your promotion paths.

Hm, yeah, I could see class synergy becoming a thing future Fire Emblem titles. Currently, unit sub-types are only used to give them additional weakness but they could be given additional types (such as a 'soldier' type) to promote different class combinations. The only thing I didn't like about OP's suggestion is that the class be weak without the assistance of other classes.

[Moblin Major General]

I would just as soon introduce Hoplites because I have mild hellenophilia as opposed to romanophilia. Hoplites can operate alone and in groups, and aren't weighed down by their armor or armament. Legionnaires are too dependent on phalanx to operate alone. Granted, Hoplites could be locked to D rank, while Legionnaires could go all the way to B or A.

[blah the Prussian]

I would just as soon introduce Hoplites because I have mild hellenophilia as opposed to romanophilia. Hoplites can operate alone and in groups, and aren't weighed down by their armor or armament. Legionnaires are too dependent on phalanx to operate alone. Granted, Hoplites could be locked to D rank, while Legionnaires could go all the way to B or A.

Of course, the legions never needed to operate alone, because that wasn't their strategy. I also don't get where you're getting the idea that Hoplites were good at fighting alone; if anything, they were worse at it than the Romans, see the Battle of Pydnus where the Romans lured the Hoplites into uneven ground to isolate them from their phalanxes.

[Moblin Major General]

Thermopylae and the 1300 left to defend it. Even when phalanx broke, the Spartans held on for hours when it could've taken minutes because of the Persian pincer. Other than the Spartans, I see your point. I would fix this problem by giving the class tree a line attack, similar to a triangle attack, but with the three participants in a line.

[blah the Prussian]

Now that's a good idea. Although I will say with regard to the Spartans that if you cut off an army's path of retreat it's only natural they'll fight to the death.

[Tolvir]

So one of the many things I am is an incorrigable Romanophile, and I really want some FE to try something explicitly Roman based, especially after the dissapointment that was Nohr. So, I decided, why not make a class based on the soldiers that conquered Europe?

Legionary:

The Legionary is a frontline soldier of the Empire of Corvinia (I have this whole FE world, more on that later). They wield swords and lances. The Legionary, on his own, is a bad unit. They are below average in essentially everything; think the soldier class except with swords as well as lances. They do, however, have a unique asset: when two legionaries are adjacent, Dual Strikes do twice as much damage. When two legionaries are paired up, Dual Guard activates twice as often. Furthermore, all stat boosts from being ajacent or paired up are doubled. Finally, legionaries gain double the stats from rallying.

So, SF, what do you think? Would you use this class and crush the Manaketes and Laguz for the glory of Rome?

It could work under certain circumstances. Having the Legionary suck outside of having multiple would be a bad idea unless it is one type of situation. We no longer go with hero type characters, and go with the idea that they are soldiers. The reason for this is the way Fire emblem has worked in the past. Fire Emblem works much like Dungeons and Dragons does. You don't have a party of just random soldiers, you have a party of elite characters. Elite soldiers, gifted prodigies, people with supernatural abilities. Everyone stands out in some way. Lets look at Fire Emblem Conquest as an example.

Half of your cast here are already above the average soldier. Xander, Camilla, Leo, and even Elise are going to be way better than basic units of the same class. This is due to them being Royals, and having access to powerful weapons, and better trainers. Your retainers, Niles, Odin, Selena, Beruka, Peri, Laslow, arguably Kaze and Silas, are all above average as well. They are more along the lines of your elite forces. Much like a Navy Seal or a Special Forces unit. You go lower than that with characters like Benny and Charlotte, but they are still better than your average soldier. You cant even rate Keaton, Nyx, and Gunter on the same level either. Keaton has supernatural abilities, already putting him way above the rest. Nyx has her age on her side along with a natural gift with magic, making her way more powerful than your average mage. Gunter was offered to be Garon's personal Retainer, which means he had to of been good at what he does for the King to look at him and want him to be a retainer.

Your idea for the class is great, I love it, but parts of it require a fundamental change with the way Fire Emblem works. If we moved the next Fire Emblem to be based more around having a true army, and having more around 30 characters deployed rather than 15, this would work really, really well. But as Fire Emblem stands right now, the Legionary having a huge debuff when on its own is going to fall to the wayside when you can deploy say, a General, who will perform 10x better on its own that the Legionary does.

I do really like the Roman concept though. I would love for the next Fire Emblem to have a roman theme to it. The Lance/Sword user is an interesting concept too, outside of Mounted units there are no others like it. That and I love the look of the Roman's armor and designs.