Tips for returning to the game

[haarhaarhaar]

It's been almost two years since I last picked up the game, or even really visited these forums (3H burnout + life I guess), but Three Hopes hype has gotten me thinking I wanna get back to playing 3H again.

Last time around I burnt out because I'm a massive micro-manager, and was working on a fairly long NG+ chain where I was trying to get all the supports/rack up lots of mastery skills to play around with for weird builds. This time I won't continue with the NG+ chain - for now I'm thinking either a Maddening NG run or play CS on Hard again. But I was wondering if people on here had tips on how to make the game fresh again? Maybe challenge runs or something like that? I'm aiming for a challenge (and I know the game fairly well now I think), but I don't think I have the time/energy to do really detailed build plans etc. this time around. What do people think?

[Barren]

Some ideas I know people could suggest is a no grind run where you just spend your time at the monastery every week until the chapter missions. Or maybe a LTC run which pretty self explanatory.

If you like to freshen things up as a “for fun” kind of play through you can make everyone a magic or a magic hybrid class like mortal savant or dark knight. 

[haarhaarhaar]

Yeah I don't think I've ever used the rest option on a weekend before, and battling 1-2 weekends per month on NG+ can quickly wear you down. Good point

For these purposes, I probably won't do an LTC run (I'd quickly get sucked into planning for them, and a deceptive amount of time goes into securing the lowest number of turns for a given map). 

The magic/magic hybrid one is worth thinking about. Forcing everyone to do it might reveal something interesting, although I have a feeling I'll look at people like Petra as wasted potential. 

[lenticular]

Nice to see you back.

I'd definitely recommend doing challenge runs of some description, and you can come up with some sort of challenge to suit pretty much any taste. I've done a no-items run and a no-monastery run. You can also do restricted class runs (no wyverns, only mages, everyone in different classes, everyone in off-build, no advanced or master classes, etc.), restricted item runs (swords only,  no relics, training weapons only, never use stat boosters, never sell bullion and try to accumulate as many bullions as you can by game end, etc.), restricted students (solo runs, duo runs, in-house students only, men only, women only, commoners only, etc.).

Really, just pick something that will put a focus on something you're interested in trying, or will ban something that you're sick of.

[haarhaarhaar]

5 minutes ago, lenticular said:

Nice to see you back.

I'd definitely recommend doing challenge runs of some description, and you can come up with some sort of challenge to suit pretty much any taste. I've done a no-items run and a no-monastery run. You can also do restricted class runs (no wyverns, only mages, everyone in different classes, everyone in off-build, no advanced or master classes, etc.), restricted item runs (swords only,  no relics, training weapons only, never use stat boosters, never sell bullion and try to accumulate as many bullions as you can by game end, etc.), restricted students (solo runs, duo runs, in-house students only, men only, women only, commoners only, etc.).

Really, just pick something that will put a focus on something you're interested in trying, or will ban something that you're sick of.

It's nice to be back! I've missed this community. 

I actually just came across your account of your no-items run, which I really enjoyed reading about! You came up with really creative solutions, and I've never played Normal before either, so that's something worth thinking about too. 

Yeah, I had a feeling challenge runs were the way to go. I often try to recruit as many people as possible, and raise everybody I recruit for as long as possible, so actively suppressing that urge this time around might be nice. The stuff in @Dark Holy Elf's thread seems a good place to start too. 

Hmm will have a think about what challenges suit in that case. Probably something Ashen Wolves-centric, as I definitely think I could do more with them (and it doesn't look like they'll get much/any attention in Three Hopes). 

[Barren]

41 minutes ago, haarhaarhaar said:

Yeah I don't think I've ever used the rest option on a weekend before, and battling 1-2 weekends per month on NG+ can quickly wear you down. Good point

For these purposes, I probably won't do an LTC run (I'd quickly get sucked into planning for them, and a deceptive amount of time goes into securing the lowest number of turns for a given map). 

The magic/magic hybrid one is worth thinking about. Forcing everyone to do it might reveal something interesting, although I have a feeling I'll look at people like Petra as wasted potential. 

Yeah Petra having a bane in both reason and faith would be a drag in this case. But she could still go Trickster if you like Duelists Blow for a safer PP + Foul Play combo for some movement tech shenanigans.

 

[RaIsMyPet]

28 minutes ago, Barren said:

Yeah Petra having a bane in both reason and faith would be a drag in this case. But she could still go Trickster if you like Duelists Blow for a safer PP + Foul Play combo for some movement tech shenanigans.

 

I tried to make Petra magic. It was a huge drag, not because of bane, but because: she's too fast with Wind and doubles a lot and it runs out FAST. So she basically has no spell AT ALL when playing.

[Barren]

22 minutes ago, RaIsMyPet said:

I tried to make Petra magic. It was a huge drag, not because of bane, but because: she's too fast with Wind and doubles a lot and it runs out FAST. So she basically has no spell AT ALL when playing.

Damn. And wind had only how many? 6 uses assuming no magic class?

[Bylift]

Hi haarhaarhaar

I'm in a similar place, having come back to FE3H after playing Triangle Strategy after about a year hiatus.

I'm on record about how much I like Cindered Shadows so I'd suggest running that on Hard first before you start a 40-70hr journey on Maddening. But I'm admittedly in the minority about that I think.

I am quite enjoying my ladies-only challenge run (NG, SS, maddening). Maybe consider that, or a gentlemen-only run on Blue Lions or Golden Deer?

Also had fun doing a no-mounts challenge run.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 hours ago, Barren said:

Damn. And wind had only how many? 6 uses assuming no magic class?

Yeah, Wind would get 6 charges in Noble/Commoner, Trickster, and War Monk. This bumps up to 12 uses in all other magical classes, with Warlock and Gremory doubling again to 24 via their class skill.

Honestly, making units like Petra and Leonie Mages is conceptually interesting because, while they aren't proficient in Magic or spells, they do have significantly better Attack Speed than any of the "default" Mages. So there'll be cases where they outdamage the likes of Constance and Lysithea, merely by merit of actually doubling.

[haarhaarhaar]

12 minutes ago, Bylift said:

Hi haarhaarhaar

I'm in a similar place, having come back to FE3H after playing Triangle Strategy after about a year hiatus.

I'm on record about how much I like Cindered Shadows so I'd suggest running that on Hard first before you start a 40-70hr journey on Maddening. But I'm admittedly in the minority about that I think.

I am quite enjoying my ladies-only challenge run (NG, SS, maddening). Maybe consider that, or a gentlemen-only run on Blue Lions or Golden Deer?

Also had fun doing a no-mounts challenge run.

Your reasoning makes a lot of sense to me. I also really enjoyed Cindered Shadows (on Hard, haven't played it on Normal), and it's traditional and self-contained FE content in a way the main game isn't. I've also only run it once, as opposed to the main game, and it's definitely less time. I guess I was worried the lack of build choice/repetitiveness of chapter structure in CS compared to the main game, without the novelty of a first-time clear, would make me tune out a bit more. But yeah, I'm definitely considering it as a way back in.

I think if I were to go Maddening NG, it'd be with the Blue Lions, because I've spent the least time with them by far. If I did, though, I'd avoid a gender-locked run, only because I'd want to do Annette's paralogue (I stupidly never got C-rank between her and Gilbert last time, so have yet to play it). Blue Lions without mounts would be quite fun though! I could see Part 2 getting fairly tight as a result - worth thinking about! 

[RaIsMyPet]

2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Yeah, Wind would get 6 charges in Noble/Commoner, Trickster, and War Monk. This bumps up to 12 uses in all other magical classes, with Warlock and Gremory doubling again to 24 via their class skill.

Honestly, making units like Petra and Leonie Mages is conceptually interesting because, while they aren't proficient in Magic or spells, they do have significantly better Attack Speed than any of the "default" Mages. So there'll be cases where they outdamage the likes of Constance and Lysithea, merely by merit of actually doubling.

Yeah, especially when Valkyrie's tend to fall off in SPD and can't even double heavy armors in late game.

I wish there's some sort of consumable items that can restock weaker spells like fire, wind, and thunder on the field, so people actually can try out magic builds for some units.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

29 minutes ago, RaIsMyPet said:

Yeah, especially when Valkyrie's tend to fall off in SPD and can't even double heavy armors in late game.

I wish there's some sort of consumable items that can restock weaker spells like fire, wind, and thunder on the field, so people actually can try out magic builds for some units.

They should've just reworked the Pure Water and Ward spell to have this effect. Maybe have each one restore 50% of all partially depleted spells. So if Valkyrie Annette has dropped down to 3/12 Wind and 3/4 Excalibur, then using a Pure Water bumps her up to 9/12 and 4/4, respectively. It should at least work on offensive spells; I'm not sure if a way to get, say 3 Warps per map would be "overpowered".

As they exist, they're redundant with Rally Resistance existing. Why items and spells to boost Resistance, and no other stats? It made sense in FE1 where everyone had bad Res, but makes less sense in every subsequent appearance.