Emblem Tiki is the perfect implementation of manaketes/beast units

[Fabulously Olivier]

While it would be hard to justify Engage transformation style mechanics on normal units going forward, I think that Emblem Tiki in particular provides a perfect solution to the shapeshifter problem. That is, that dragon/beast units have always felt like they are either handicapped by their human form without due compensation (non-royal Laguz), or are just regular units with rarer, more powerful weapons (manaketes/wolfskin/kitsune).

 

By taking the Engage meter into future games for dragon/beast units specifically, IS could effectively bring back the Laguz meter, but in a much improved form that is both balanced and fun.

 

Untransformed, these units could be below average (but still viable) units with slightly lower stats. They would have access to regular weapons, and could even have 1 untransformed skill, while normal characters might have 2 class skills always active. The transformed state could raise their stats, remove their access to normal weapons, give them a new set of claw/breath/tail/etc. attacks as Tiki does, and replace their 1 untransformed skill with 3 transformed skills (making them temporarily stronger than a normal unit). This would be done manually like Engages.

 

This implementation would not only mean that transformation is a powerful mechanic to use wisely, but that there would also be gameplay incentive to use a unit in their untransformed state. Giving the human form of these units access to bows, hand-axes, etc. means that the human forms of these units would be advantageous in certain situations, and that results in shifters being more strategically interesting units.

[Jotari]

IMO the thing that mainly screws of laguz units in Radiant Dawn that Engage fixes is that their meter is full at the start of the battle. That would make a huge difference for usability (Path of Radiance has some units with a full meter at the start o the battle, but suffers from auto transforming wasting your opportunities you might want to hold out for).

[Acacia Sgt]

So basically an improved version of Chameleon/Freelancer? An already combat-capable unit with a turns-limited ability to transform.

As an aside, the dragon transformation on a timer harkens back to how it was in Mystery of the Emblem.

[Dayni]

31 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

As an aside, the dragon transformation on a timer harkens back to how it was in Mystery of the Emblem.

Still best manaketes imo

[Alastor15243]

Funny enough, I had this wild idea where instead of the dinky dragonstone they got, Corrin could "eat" a dragon vein (and thus not get to activate its effects) in order to get a draconic super form for a few turns, in exchange for being more of a Roy-esque lord otherwise. It's uncanny that we actually got "super forms" in a legit FE game.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Alastor15243

[X-Naut]

On 3/8/2023 at 7:54 PM, Jotari said:

IMO the thing that mainly screws of laguz units in Radiant Dawn that Engage fixes is that their meter is full at the start of the battle. That would make a huge difference for usability (Path of Radiance has some units with a full meter at the start o the battle, but suffers from auto transforming wasting your opportunities you might want to hold out for).

This. More liberal access to the transform command could also help, i.e. being able to shift at half gauge or above so you can hop out and back in the game more easily. It would make the resource balancing aspect of shifters a more playable balancing act.

I think another mechanical convention they could consider is using the transformed state as the base statwise, with being untransformed applying a penalty. Granted, this is mainly a suggestion for laguz due to their unique stat conventions in FE10 and would be harder for manaketes depending on how much you lean into their weapon giving bonuses. In Engage it would probably involve making the dragon transformation Emblem Tiki gives into its own unit that overwrites your character while active... isn't that what TRS's dragons did?