Speedy Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I am about to dive into my first maddening playthrough, but I gotta be honest, I'm not sure what to fully expect. I heard you dont get really any skirmishes on Maddening, so your xp farming is very limited and also enemies now have skills. So I thought it might be better to ask more experienced players to not necessarily avoid but at least lower the amount of "trial and error" method used and these tips might be useful to others as well. I take any tips, who to invest in, what classes to pick for certain characters, ring combinations, what to buy and especially tips for forging and when to switch weapons. Or even stuff like what to pay attention or avoid on certain maps I guess the beauty of it is to discover these things on your own, but it's nice to have some pointers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRonin Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I am currently only chapter 23 in maddening.(blind playthrough) Some things I found useful: utility and playing smart will win. Skills like dragonic hex in combination with a ranged character is really good to allow front liners to get in safer ect. Or control (wolf knight has really grown on me. Because of hobble) Use offensive staves. Freeze, silence, obstruct can really come in clutch. Even more so with engaged Miciaha. (Hopefully I spelled that correctly). Dodge tanking is bitter sweet. The AI will ignore them if their avoid is too high. (Though at later chapters they have so much hit it is insane). It is still a good idea to grab one though. Corrin Yunaka is a personal favorite of mine. With her personal, in Combination of theif, pass, and covert bonus, and the ability from corrin to create avoid tiles at will... she is a monster. And because of Corrin she won't take damage from chain attacks. Canter is super useful on your flyers and dancer. Low budget stat boosts (str def ect) out of all of these, speed is your best bet. Speed is super important so you don't get doubled. Invest in at least 2 characters that can do magic damage. Armored units get pretty annoying at mid to late chapters. Lastly, Erika emblem is amazing. When engaged the entire group gains access to her bonus. The eclipse brace is super strong. It makes sense on why she is received so late. I could go on, but this reply is already lengthy enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viberum Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Since skirmishes are disabled until postgame, it’s best to only donate to each country for the animals (dogs!) and the rest towards forging and staves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltenvy Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) Not sure what the differences between Maddening and lower difficulties are, but here are some things I suspect may be different... Reinforcements past a certain point have a skill that makes them give no EXP, so you can't farm EXP off of them. Bosses all have skills that prevent them from being broken or being dealt effective damage. Maddening AI is different in that they ignore you if they have no chance of doing damage to you. This means if they have 0 damage or 0 hit they will move in, but won't attack - so you can bait groups in but not get free counter damage. You'll need to do some calcs and make sure that if you're trying to get EP damage, you just barely take damage instead of 0 damage, or just barely get hit. Barely any skirmishes, and EXP gain is severely reduced. You get about 10-15 EXP for killing enemies at your level, and Arena gives 10 EXP per run. Don't spread out your EXP too much into weird projects and instead try to snowball one or two units early on. Edit: 7 minutes ago, Viberum said: Since skirmishes are disabled until postgame, it’s best to only donate to each country for the animals (dogs!) and the rest towards forging and staves! Skirmishes are not disabled until post-game, I've gotten several of them, though not many. I think the earliest one I got was right after chapter 12 on the Anna paralogue map, but the level was too high for me at the time. I think this isn't random but set as well, since I've been watching another Maddening playthrough and they got the exact same skirmish on the same map. Edited January 30, 2023 by meltenvy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technoweirdo Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 40 minutes ago, BloodRonin said: Lastly, Erika emblem is amazing. When engaged the entire group gains access to her bonus. The eclipse brace is super strong. It makes sense on why she is received so late. I'm on Ch. 16 -- the chapter Eirika joins. Unless I'm doing something wrong, it doesn't work the way you're making it sound. Engaging doesn't grant Eclipse Brace to all allies, it turns Lunar Brace into Eclipse Brace for all allies. This is very, *very* different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, meltenvy said: Maddening AI is different in that they ignore you if they have no chance of doing damage to you. This means if they have 0 damage or 0 hit they will move in, but won't attack An exception to that is if they have chain attacks. You will still take the damage from those even if they would've done nada otherwise. Thus you want to get rid of backup type units first. Otherwise, this might happen to you: Edited January 31, 2023 by Shadow Mir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xylaugheon Daily Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) Big one no one has mentioned yet, but growths are fixed on your first Maddening playthrough, meaning you will have the averages. As I've said to others, if you have a 50% HP Growth, you will receive 1 Hit Point every two levels. SP is hard to come by, and later units come with plenty of it. Just because they come in later doesn't mean they're benched. Don't feel bad for using a character you won't be using as a meat shield or decoy. Let them die! Take advantage of their death! Make their sacrifice mean something. Don't put off doing Tiki's Paralogue too long. Pretty much the chapter Alcryst joins. It only gets harder the longer you wait. Promote Alcryst, cook done high attack food, and have him use a strength tonic so he can ORKO the dragons. Do NOT waste resources on Jean or Anna. Their bases are too low to be any good. Give every unit you use Lineage from Edelgard asap. The longer you have it on, the more you get out of it. Skirmishes unlock after Chapter 16, but from all my test are all set encounters, meaning you can't force more. Also, they can be exceptionally unforgiving, in particular in leveling your lower units. Best to think of them as a little more exp for your main units. Enjoy yourself. If you aren't having fun, step away, ask for more specific advice, and try again later. Edited January 31, 2023 by Xylaugheon Daily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRonin Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 7 hours ago, Technoweirdo said: I'm on Ch. 16 -- the chapter Eirika joins. Unless I'm doing something wrong, it doesn't work the way you're making it sound. Engaging doesn't grant Eclipse Brace to all allies, it turns Lunar Brace into Eclipse Brace for all allies. This is very, *very* different. I should have rephrased. If you have her brace skill inherited on another unit, when the character with Erika engages, it will also upgrade the other unit's brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaramuccia Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Is someone happy with their Timerra on maddening? I want to use all 8 royals for my first maddening run, but can't figure what to do with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haarhaarhaar Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 17 hours ago, Speedy said: I am about to dive into my first maddening playthrough, but I gotta be honest, I'm not sure what to fully expect. I heard you dont get really any skirmishes on Maddening, so your xp farming is very limited and also enemies now have skills. So I thought it might be better to ask more experienced players to not necessarily avoid but at least lower the amount of "trial and error" method used and these tips might be useful to others as well. I take any tips, who to invest in, what classes to pick for certain characters, ring combinations, what to buy and especially tips for forging and when to switch weapons. Or even stuff like what to pay attention or avoid on certain maps I guess the beauty of it is to discover these things on your own, but it's nice to have some pointers. Am doing a mostly blind run of Maddening at the moment - I'm only about halfway through the run, but some tips (people above have mentioned some of these, reiterating because they're good): Maddening is very stingy about EXP and SP. If you've played the game before, a rough idea of who you're going to use at which points of the game is helpful, so that you make sure to field them for only as long as necessary, and stick Emblems on units you plan to use long-term as much as possible so they can build SP for good skills. That being said, it isn't the end of the world to make up your party as you go, it's just a bit less efficient. I don't think anybody is unusable on Maddening, but you shouldn't have more than a couple of units that need babying/huge focus to hit their build path. Canter on Backup units (Advance is cheaper and also helpful, but less versatile), Perceptive on high-Spd units, and Lineage on anybody (if you have the DLC) are solid picks if you're struggling for skill ideas, especially earlier on. You still get a lot of Bond Fragments on Maddening - use them on Bond Rings if you like, but they mostly aren't competitive with Emblems, and their best use is to provide some SP growth for units that aren't equipping Emblems. Apart from that, your Bond Fragments are for engravings, and buying Bond ranks with Emblems. Eat meals between every battle, and do Push-ups on Alear. The DLC is game-changing if you have it. Ideally, do Tiki's paralogue ASAP - it's very tough but doable from the moment it becomes accessible, and Tiki trivialises the game once you get her. The only reason to delay is if you plan on using Jean/Anna long-term - make sure to recruit them first and field them on this map so they can catch up to your main team on levels. Jean/Anna are usable, but require you to invest straightaway and fairly heavily - I personally won't be using both on this run. Enemy bosses are unbreakable from Ch. 3 onwards, and effective damage will not work on named fliers etc. - chain attacks (and therefore Boucheron) are crucially important to beat early bosses, especially once Revival Stones kick in from Ch. 5. Support boosts from the Arena are really good, and the RNG for opponent characters is rolled after every battle, meaning that you can figure out who is coming if you save-scum (note that in some cases equipping different weapons can change the opponent faced). Ideally, the units you pick for Arena battles are both close to a level-up, and can gain support with the opponent. Metals for forging are limited, but don't let that stop you from doing it - good early-game targets are weapons that you use often (ie Javelins/Hand Axes), smash weapons, and high-range weapons (such as Longbows/Thunder line of tomes). Similarly, use stat boosters as and when you like - Alear is always a safe bet (except for magic, I guess). Edited January 31, 2023 by haarhaarhaar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRonin Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Scaramuccia said: Is someone happy with their Timerra on maddening? I want to use all 8 royals for my first maddening run, but can't figure what to do with her. Sadly her bld and str growths are so bad. Using Leif on her helps as he gives her a lot of BLD once bond is high, and access to other weapons. If you use a couple str increase items on her she becomes better, but overall I haven't found much use for her yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaramuccia Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 1 hour ago, BloodRonin said: but overall I haven't found much use for her yet. Yep. Was thinking to make her a mage knight, but even that is a bad idea as she joins at the wrong time - it will take several chapters to get magic prof on her(same with staff) Lol, it is really hard to build her. Ofc she is playable, but I can't make anything that looks great on her. Even Alfred - Warrior, Celine - Martial Master excite me more as I plan my "royal" run. Maybe I will make Timerra Berserker and just claim that she has really good growths in that class. Also "Axe to the face" connects well with the whole "be ready for fun" personality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltenvy Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Scaramuccia said: Is someone happy with their Timerra on maddening? I want to use all 8 royals for my first maddening run, but can't figure what to do with her. 4 hours ago, BloodRonin said: Sadly her bld and str growths are so bad. Using Leif on her helps as he gives her a lot of BLD once bond is high, and access to other weapons. If you use a couple str increase items on her she becomes better, but overall I haven't found much use for her yet. I think she's pretty good if you just leave Ike on her. She has solid balanced defenses without being in a class that can take effective damage, has good speed, and Sandstorm is a really good ability that's able to proc on each individual Great Aether hit allows her to score easy kills off of them. She has low strength and build so she will get weighed down by heavier weapons and thus lacks power when untransformed, but the way I circumvented that was by just giving her a Killer Lance with the Corrin engraving and hoped for a Sandstorm proc on the critical to deal damage when not engaged. Basically she kind of relies on Sandstorm for a lot of her power but she's really hard to kill. For what it's worth, this is my Timerra at the end of my Maddening playthrough. I think her internal level is 41 since I promoted her instantly and used a second seal to put her back to 1 after she hit 20, which is why she's level 3 now. She had Pair Up and Dual Assist for her inherited skills. Edited January 31, 2023 by meltenvy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, Xylaugheon Daily said: Big one no one has mentioned yet, but growths are fixed on your first Maddening playthrough, meaning you will have the averages. As I've said to others, if you have a 50% HP Growth, you will receive 1 Hit Point every two levels. SP is hard to come by, and later units come with plenty of it. Just because they come in later doesn't mean they're benched. Don't feel bad for using a character you won't be using as a meat shield or decoy. Let them die! Take advantage of their death! Make their sacrifice mean something. Don't put off doing Tiki's Paralogue too long. Pretty much the chapter Alcryst joins. It only gets harder the longer you wait. Promote Alcryst, cook done high attack food, and have him use a strength tonic so he can ORKO the dragons. Do NOT waste resources on Jean or Anna. Their bases are too low to be any good. Give every unit you use Lineage from Edelgard asap. The longer you have it on, the more you get out of it. Skirmishes unlock after Chapter 16, but from all my test are all set encounters, meaning you can't force more. Also, they can be exceptionally unforgiving, in particular in leveling your lower units. Best to think of them as a little more exp for your main units. Enjoy yourself. If you aren't having fun, step away, ask for more specific advice, and try again later. So do I understand that in every playthrough on maddening same character with same class is gonna have the same stats? Also I kinda wanted to use Anna, she really grew on me and her passive might be quite useful. Edited January 31, 2023 by Speedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 3 minutes ago, meltenvy said: She has low strength and build so she will get weighed down by heavier weapons The first game in a while where build increasing items woulda had a purpose, and they're nowhere to be found... *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 Haarhaarhaar's post actually reminded me of something I wanted to ask. What's the best point (at what chapter) should I do Tiki's divine paralogue? Soon as possible would be probably the obvious answer, but I remember that this mission was quite challenging and cant imagine how difficult it could be on maddening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRonin Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Shadow Mir said: The first game in a while where build increasing items woulda had a purpose, and they're nowhere to be found... *sigh* Relay battles can give you them. I have gotten a seraph robe and the item to give +2 str as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRonin Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 59 minutes ago, Speedy said: What's the best point (at what chapter) should I do Tiki's divine paralogue? Soon as possible would be probably the obvious answer, but I remember that this mission was quite challenging and cant imagine how difficult it could be on maddening. I did it as soon as as I was able and it was very challenging. Well worth it though because it also gives the silver card if done correctly. 100% do it before chapter 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 40 minutes ago, BloodRonin said: I did it as soon as as I was able and it was very challenging. Well worth it though because it also gives the silver card if done correctly. 100% do it before chapter 10. Oh yeah I almost forgot you get silver card from there, man I really need to do that as soon as possible, well seems I will need to invest in Etie early on. 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xylaugheon Daily Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Speedy said: So do I understand that in every playthrough on maddening same character with same class is gonna have the same stats? Also I kinda wanted to use Anna, she really grew on me and her passive might be quite useful. Yes, but after your first clear on Maddening you unlock the traditional mode and can decide how you want to play on subsequent playthroughs. Or so I've been told. I'm still nearing the endgame, but I should have the free time to finish up within the next two days. Raising Anna will be incredibly difficult, but you do you. Her potential in earning you gold is quite valuable in Maddening assuming you can get it to work. I address when you should be doing Tiki in my post already. After you get Alcryst, just be sure to promote him and get all this attack buffs going. PS, nice thumbnail, for pony. Edited January 31, 2023 by Xylaugheon Daily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CompteSecours Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 I'm playing on Hard but my guesses are : - Play with at least 2-3 magic users for the armored units. - Play with Backup unit. Even on Hard I'm having trouble 1turn-kill some bosses. I need the back-up assist. - Keep your Byleth Engage for bosses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 5 hours ago, Xylaugheon Daily said: Yes, but after your first clear on Maddening you unlock the traditional mode and can decide how you want to play on subsequent playthroughs. Or so I've been told. I'm still nearing the endgame, but I should have the free time to finish up within the next two days. Raising Anna will be incredibly difficult, but you do you. Her potential in earning you gold is quite valuable in Maddening assuming you can get it to work. I address when you should be doing Tiki in my post already. After you get Alcryst, just be sure to promote him and get all this attack buffs going. PS, nice thumbnail, for pony. I'm just thinking what class I'm gonna give to Anna. In my first playthrough her as a warrior completely replaced all my archer, but I guess there are better classes for her. PS: Thx, I slightly modified it, cause he served as an inspiration for my DnD character. Btw I like yours as well, Nephenee + Rolf carried my run of Radiant Dawn. That reminds my that the DnD character I mentioned was named Rolf (no connection to the FE character though, didnt knew who Rolf was back then) 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdawgsizzle Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Currently on Chapter 20 of a blind Maddening run - I echo all of the sentiments other people have already provided. I haven't used the DLC so I can't speak to that. Some additional things that have been helping me: -There's a point around midgame where every enemy has absurdly high defense but average res, meaning that magic becomes immensely helpful. I added in Pandreo from the bench just to get some more magic damage (he's been really great, btw). In addition to having dedicated magic users, giving a few units - even if their magic is only average - some magic weapons immensely helps damage output -Dire Thunder seems pretty great - I haven't been using it the whole game (but you definitely should) and only got it post-chapter 17 (when you get Leif back). Ivy had been starting to fall off and this ring really saved her - I'm debating whether I should keep the ring on her the whole game or not... her build/speed is just not even close to decent. -Radiant Bow seems exceptionally good - I've been using it on Fogado, who doesn't even have the best magic but with a few upgrades it's at 23 mt, meaning it kills everything that flies - doesn't matter how high the res on the Griffin Knights is - and is super helpful for Great Knights, Generals... honestly probably everything that's not a mage or needs to be Longbow-ed -Levin Sword seems to be strictly better than Flame Lance, so reclass appropriately -Stacking Heroes and Dual Assist(+) provides a lot of player phase damage - 3 dmg with a Longbow can become 20+ damage pretty easily -3 range in general is really good, esp if you have a lots of Dual Assists - Draconic Hex on 3 range is also a nice combo to soften the enemy up before moving in -Don't run Lucina on Alear - I know the game defaults to that combination, but turning a non-backup unit into a backup unit is a precious resource and should be given to someone with a lot of range who can provide assists to a lot of space on the map e.g. Bow Knight ...but -Some people have been making some really impressive use out of Bonded Shield (a skill I don't really use that often) so maybe that's a better fit for you and you can make something out of that -Freeze staves and Corrin's Dreadful Aura are immensely useful, esp on chapters where there are multiple bosses coming for you at once -Similar to the comment about Lineage, I gave a bunch of units Mentorship after getting Byleth - pretty cheap and even the units that don't have it equipped can benefit - can't equip it from the beginning though Somniel: -Money is extremely extremely tight in the Ch. 15-Ch. 20 run of the game, so plan accordingly -Ring polishing seems to be underrated since no one has mentioned it - it seems to give ~1/3 of a bond level and on the higher bond levels that can save you a lot of bond points! This is especially important if you're trying to buy high level skills like Dual Assist(+) - the game gives you a ton of bond points but those high levels are still extremely costly, esp if you have a lot of Heroes -Buying up to at least level 5 Bond ASAP always seems worth it - you get some good stat bonuses from the rings and if you don't level up to 5 before a battle you'll get stuck at 5 until you can return to the Somniel to have the bond conversation -I don't know how to exactly optimize the cooking but there seems to be a pretty big swing in how many stats the game will give you based on rank - if anyone knows how to manipulate this, I'd be very interested -5 dogs seems the way to go... the Eagles do provide meats though, and the meats are used in some of the (much) better recipes. I'm not sure if you can find meats any other way -Cooking Boosts, Tonics, and Activity boosts do NOT stack, which is something I just learned after 50+ hours with this game - maybe do cooking first (since it's the most volatile) and then pick which of Alfred's activities you'd like to do. I've been doing pushups the whole time but I think a lot of times I've actually been making the wrong choice bc I usually cook for +str and +spd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haarhaarhaar Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 2 hours ago, hdawgsizzle said: -Ring polishing seems to be underrated since no one has mentioned it - it seems to give ~1/3 of a bond level and on the higher bond levels that can save you a lot of bond points! This is especially important if you're trying to buy high level skills like Dual Assist(+) - the game gives you a ton of bond points but those high levels are still extremely costly, esp if you have a lot of Heroes -Buying up to at least level 5 Bond ASAP always seems worth it - you get some good stat bonuses from the rings and if you don't level up to 5 before a battle you'll get stuck at 5 until you can return to the Somniel to have the bond conversation Completely agree - wish I'd said this. I'd especially highlight what you said about polishing being proportional. Do not waste ring polishing on low bond levels - buy those with bond fragments and use polishing once buying levels gets expensive for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinLucinaFan Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Don't waste your divine pulses (especially if your first run of the game is on maddening). Only use them when you absolutely have to (i.e. avoid permadeath). I spent two hours on Tiki's parologue and wasted just about all of my divine pulse to effectively prevent units from missing attacks or being damaged by them. I cleared out everything but the last room with Tiki in it and was fresh out of divine pulses. Had to play old school Fire Emblem then and wiped out everyone but Tiki and some calvary unit. I was on the verge of winning and just needed to last one more turn. Due to the strategy I used on the previous turn, Yunaka was in the enemy calvary unit's range (but had low health), but her avoid stat was relatively high and I wasn't worried. Big mistake. Two hours of my life I will never get back.😱 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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