Ideas for a Maddening Team (Possibly with Xenologue characters included)

[Barren]

Hi, after putting this game off after I beat it on hard classic (the way they handled acquiring the xenologue characters and the xenologue itself really turned me off), I'm going to go for a maddening run. I'm thinking of two separate runs. One with the Xenologue characters and one without them. Fixed growths is going to be interesting.

 

Here is what I am thinking for a team:

Alear (Divine Dragon). May turn her into a Griffon Knight or Wyvern Knight for a bit pending on my team comp.

Framme (Martial Master). I've been hearing good things about her with Lucina's Bonded Shield. Plus she supports a lot of good units like Chloe and Kagetsu.

Chloe (Griffon/Wyvern Knight). She's really good. I might even try Mage Knight since Chaos Style helps her double enemies.

Yunaka (Thief). Figured her higher res could make a difference. Though Zelkov hits harder.

Alycrst (Tireur D'Elite) His high dex growth should pay off by the end.

Anna (Warrior) Despite people saying that Sage or Mage Knight are natural fits (and yes they are), I kind of like the low investment build of Radiant Bow/Hurricane Axe Anna.

Lapis (Hero/Wyvern Knight) She could be a low investment Hero as a chain attack bot with Dual Assist+. I could also go for Citrinne as a Dire Thunder bot for a bit

Ivy (Lindwurm) She is quite good despite her shortcomings which can be pathed up easily. Could do either Draconic Hex Thoron poke for support or a typical speedtaker sweeping set.

Kagetsu (Hero/Wyvern Knight) He's great. Very good bases even for a Swordmaster. I understand that Swordmaster is underwhelming though I don't think Run Through is that bad. But I can agree that Swordmaster is not his best option.

Pandreo (Sage/Mage Knight) He's another really solid mage. Party Animal is a cool ability.

Merrin (Wolf Knight/Wyvern Knight) I like the idea of a mounted dagger unit that can poison with dual assist. Could give her Erika or Corrin for piercing/debuff support.

Pannette (Warrior) I love this woman so much! She's so great. A good user of Vantage + Wrath.

Hortensia (Slepnir Rider) Probably the best healer in the game. Enough said honestly.

Seadall (Dancer) Self Explanatory 

 

Now this is just a WIP for me as I could easily replace one of them with Goldmary, Mauvier, or even Velye. I know that Etie and Fogado are also worth mentioning but that's only if youre willing to invest into them. Please any tips or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Barren
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[samthedigital]

Your team looks fine. I would probably use another unit (probably Veyle) over Yunaka so that I don't have to invest in as many characters early on, and I don't find thieves to be that useful in this game, but Maddening is balanced enough that you can use whatever team you want and still have success.

[Dark Holy Elf]

It's a solid team, but at 14 units it's definitely larger than it needs to be. You never have more than 12 deployment slots until very late, at which point it makes more sense just to use Mauvier and Veyle in filler roles (or even Lindon/Saphir if you really want to use someone different and/or someone dies), rather than training and rotating at every point before then.

To be clear you can definitely still use 14 units if you want, but your team will be a bit weaker as a result.

[samthedigital]

25 minutes ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

It's a solid team, but at 14 units it's definitely larger than it needs to be. You never have more than 12 deployment slots until very late, at which point it makes more sense just to use Mauvier and Veyle in filler roles (or even Lindon/Saphir if you really want to use someone different and/or someone dies), rather than training and rotating at every point before then.

I think that it's a good idea to add the fact that Hortensia can be used in this kind of fashion too. She isn't really meant to be a combat unit, so she can come in and out of the lineup depending on need and doesn't take away from the exp the rest of the team wants.

[Shadow Mir]

Personally, I do not think Alcryst is very good. Luna hardly makes up for his cruddy damage output without it. I'd rather use Etie instead.

1 hour ago, samthedigital said:

Your team looks fine. I would probably use another unit (probably Veyle) over Yunaka so that I don't have to invest in as many characters early on, and I don't find thieves to be that useful in this game, but Maddening is balanced enough that you can use whatever team you want and still have success.

I have my doubts on thieves too - Yunaka fell off HARD in hard mode to the point that come the homecoming, I retired her in favour of a Citrinne that I thought I was done with.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Shadow Mir

[Barren]

1 hour ago, Shadow Mir said:

Personally, I do not think Alcryst is very good. Luna hardly makes up for his cruddy damage output without it. I'd rather use Etie instead.

I have my doubts on thieves too - Yunaka fell off HARD in hard mode to the point that come the homecoming, I retired her in favour of a Citrinne that I thought I was done with.

I’ve had Alcryst trigger Luna like crazy for me when I was playing this on hard mode. Though I will give Etie a shot and see how she does. She only got 1 HP on her first level up so not exactly a great start for her. Plus Alcryst has a better passive than Etie so that is in his favor.

I have heard cases that Thieves struggle in the late game. Still, It’s to see at least she can contribute early game. I might replace her later on for a better unit down the line.

 

2 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

It's a solid team, but at 14 units it's definitely larger than it needs to be. You never have more than 12 deployment slots until very late, at which point it makes more sense just to use Mauvier and Veyle in filler roles (or even Lindon/Saphir if you really want to use someone different and/or someone dies), rather than training and rotating at every point before then.

To be clear you can definitely still use 14 units if you want, but your team will be a bit weaker as a result.

 

That’s good to note. I’ll have to remember to not spread exp too thinly as I go forward.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Barren

[Dark Holy Elf]

36 minutes ago, Barren said:

I’ve had Alcryst trigger Luna like crazy for me when I was playing this on hard mode. Though I will give Etie a shot and see how she does. She only got 1 HP on her first level up so not exactly a great start for her. Plus Alcryst has a better passive than Etie so that is in his favor.

While I don't think he's so much better that personal preference can't swing things, I do think Alcryst is the better of the two overall. The speed gap (in Alcryst's favour) is larger than the strength gap (in Etie's favour) even before factoring in that Alcryst frequently has +2 str due to his personal, and of course any time a Luna proc occurs Alcryst will win damage too. He's also more able to take hits, which may not matter too much if you're keeping both in Sniper/Tireur but will come into play if you make a switch to Warrior, for instance.

[Barren]

40 minutes ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

While I don't think he's so much better that personal preference can't swing things, I do think Alcryst is the better of the two overall. The speed gap (in Alcryst's favour) is larger than the strength gap (in Etie's favour) even before factoring in that Alcryst frequently has +2 str due to his personal, and of course any time a Luna proc occurs Alcryst will win damage too. He's also more able to take hits, which may not matter too much if you're keeping both in Sniper/Tireur but will come into play if you make a switch to Warrior, for instance.

Him being able to take more than one hit is what’s in it for me personally. To be fair, archers shouldn’t get hit at all but if I can’t avoid it at least Alcryst can take at least one at full hp.

[Dark Holy Elf]

45 minutes ago, Barren said:

Him being able to take more than one hit is what’s in it for me personally. To be fair, archers shouldn’t get hit at all but if I can’t avoid it at least Alcryst can take at least one at full hp.

While it's not really fair for a comparison (since it's before Alcryst even joins), I definitely found it frustrating that Etie couldn't take a hit from the boss of Chapter 5.

[Barren]

2 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

While it's not really fair for a comparison (since it's before Alcryst even joins), I definitely found it frustrating that Etie couldn't take a hit from the boss of Chapter 5.

I remember the hand axe boss hitting really hard. You would have to feed Etie that boss kill in order to get her going.

[Shadow Mir]

4 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

While I don't think he's so much better that personal preference can't swing things, I do think Alcryst is the better of the two overall. The speed gap (in Alcryst's favour) is larger than the strength gap (in Etie's favour) even before factoring in that Alcryst frequently has +2 str due to his personal, and of course any time a Luna proc occurs Alcryst will win damage too. He's also more able to take hits, which may not matter too much if you're keeping both in Sniper/Tireur but will come into play if you make a switch to Warrior, for instance.

I've seen a lot of people use Alcryst in their runs, but his performance was almost always lackluster, with him generally doing shit damage without Luna. On his personal, that's fair, but to me it's like "Big deal. Adding 2 to a small number still gets you a small number. Whoopee." Doesn't help that it's not made clear as to precisely how it works, because when I think of "one turn" I think it's gonna wear off once that enemy phase ends. Sure, he may do more damage if Luna procs, but the key word there is "if". That doesn't bode well...

12 hours ago, Barren said:

Pandreo (Sage/Mage Knight) He's another really solid mage. Party Animal is a cool ability.

Hope you can stomach his godawful howling. That's gotta be the most aggravating sound in all of video gaming, especially in recent memory. It's a shame, as his character had potential, but that single-handedly ruins him.

12 hours ago, Barren said:

Pannette (Warrior) I love this woman so much! She's so great. A good user of Vantage + Wrath.

I tried Warrior Panette, but her performance was, to be blunt, shit. So much so she didn't even level up before I pulled the rip cord and put her into something else (Great Knight, to be specific). Despite Warrior supposedly being a good class, I found she only shined when she was OUT of it.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Shadow Mir

[Dark Holy Elf]

6 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I've seen a lot of people use Alcryst in their runs, but his performance was almost always lackluster, with him generally doing shit damage without Luna. On his personal, that's fair, but to me it's like "Big deal. Adding 2 to a small number still gets you a small number. Whoopee." Doesn't help that it's not made clear as to precisely how it works, because when I think of "one turn" I think it's gonna wear off once that enemy phase ends.

What about adding 3 to a small number? Because that's the difference between Etie and Alcryst for strength at Alcryst's base level (assuming Etie is even at that level when he joins).

As for the second part, well, it's fine that you made that mistake once, but even the most basic observation should correct you; you check Alcryst's stats or observe his damage and notice that yes, it's 2 higher the next turn. Though I can't blame you for assuming his personal might just be useless, as so many are in this game (including Etie's).

8 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I tried Warrior Panette, but her performance was, to be blunt, shit. So much so she didn't even level up before I pulled the rip cord and put her into something else (Great Knight, to be specific). Despite Warrior supposedly being a good class, I found she only shined when she was OUT of it.

You should be aware that this is an extremely uncommon personal experience. I, and many, many others, found Warrior Panette extremely good. Maybe you had some RNG weirdness.

[Shadow Mir]

10 minutes ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

You should be aware that this is an extremely uncommon personal experience. I, and many, many others, found Warrior Panette extremely good. Maybe you had some RNG weirdness.

Maybe. But even with Ike (which I bring up because she and Ike are hyped up as being a dream team), her ability to take hits was lacking, which is a recipe for disaster when she's also slow. "Slow" and "takes massive damage when hit" aren't two things I'd want to be the case with you when you're a melee fighter. . . Hell, that's something I have constantly complained about when it comes to fighters and warriors.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Shadow Mir

[samthedigital]

1 hour ago, Shadow Mir said:

Maybe. But even with Ike (which I bring up because she and Ike are hyped up as being a dream team), her ability to take hits was lacking, which is a recipe for disaster when she's also slow. "Slow" and "takes massive damage when hit" aren't two things I'd want to be the case with you when you're a melee fighter.

People pair her with Ike to take advantage of the free Wrath. I also wonder if you had done the Ike paralogue before giving up on Warrior Panette or not. She isn't really meant to actually take a lot of damage. If Vantage isn't your thing she is probably not going to be an effective enemy phase unit in that class, but she should still be capable of killing just about everything in the game in one hit with a Killer Axe. The class options really just comes down to a matter of playstyle and build choice though.

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

What about adding 3 to a small number? Because that's the difference between Etie and Alcryst for strength at Alcryst's base level (assuming Etie is even at that level when he joins).

As for the second part, well, it's fine that you made that mistake once, but even the most basic observation should correct you; you check Alcryst's stats or observe his damage and notice that yes, it's 2 higher the next turn. Though I can't blame you for assuming his personal might just be useless, as so many are in this game (including Etie's).

For what it's worth, I mostly was thinking lategame. Alcryst might be better in the short run (ergo, the Brodia arc, but I'd prolly use both at that point because there's a ton of fliers then), but I have reservations about his performance later on (ergo, from back to Elusia and afterwards).

15 minutes ago, samthedigital said:

People pair her with Ike to take advantage of the free Wrath. I also wonder if you had done the Ike paralogue before giving up on Warrior Panette or not. She isn't really meant to actually take a lot of damage. If Vantage isn't your thing she is probably not going to be an effective enemy phase unit in that class, but she should still be capable of killing just about everything in the game in one hit with a Killer Axe. The class options really just comes down to a matter of playstyle and build choice though.

I had, but I wasn't that serious about raising bond levels with fragments at the time due to cost concerns. Also, while she can be effective with Vantage/Wrath, that ain't infallible; it means she's walking an RNG tightrope where if Murphy's Law strikes, she's likely not making it out of that combat alive.

[samthedigital]

12 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Also, while she can be effective with Vantage/Wrath, that ain't infallible; it means she's walking an RNG tightrope where if Murphy's Law strikes, she's likely not making it out of that combat alive.

It's actually completely infallible in this game. With a +5 Killer Axe forge, Lyn Engrave, Wrath, and her personal active she reaches 100% crit. Her accuracy with the Lyn engrave and Hit+X reaches 100% against just about every enemy in the game too. There are some exceptions in the late game (she has 90-95% crit against the Wolk Knights in the Bond paralogue in Maddening iirc), but those are problems that other team members can solve while Panette's either off doing something else or not taking advantage of Vantage on that particular turn. So in short the build is very effective, but you can't turn your brain off completely to make it work either.

Her bulk can be good enough while engaged too. If I remember correctly my winning strategy for chapter 19 involved warping her in and tanking a few Wolf Knights to get Mauvier to Rescue Marnie, and she was able to kill a few enemies on the way too. It's kind of funny because I was expecting her to keel over with all the 1-2 range attacks she was taking, and I was testing stuff out rather than using it as a legitimate strategy.

[DefyingFates]

If DLC is on the table for both runs (i.e. the only distinction is that one uses the FX characters and one doesn't). I'd recommend having an Enchanter on your team (maybe Framme?) Some of the item surges are pretty useful, such as the Elixir one (increases the Engage meter of the user and adjacent allies by 2).

If you're ignoring FX entirely though, maybe you could use Soren? He's pretty good for Mages and Qi Adepts, and has good synergy with Veyle and her Obscurite.

[Barren]

26 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

If DLC is on the table for both runs (i.e. the only distinction is that one uses the FX characters and one doesn't). I'd recommend having an Enchanter on your team (maybe Framme?) Some of the item surges are pretty useful, such as the Elixir one (increases the Engage meter of the user and adjacent allies by 2).

If you're ignoring FX entirely though, maybe you could use Soren? He's pretty good for Mages and Qi Adepts, and has good synergy with Veyle and her Obscurite.

I am using DLC in this case. Is enchanter Qi Adept? If so then I think that this is going to shoot her utility to the top. Or at least higher up than normal.

Veyle and Soren do have good synergy since it adds a crit chance when using tomes. I might go for it.

[DefyingFates]

On 5/21/2023 at 1:40 PM, Barren said:

Is enchanter Qi Adept?

That it is! And yeah, the utility is very nice indeed~

On 5/21/2023 at 1:40 PM, Barren said:

Veyle and Soren do have good synergy since it adds a crit chance when using tomes. I might go for it.

Please keep us updated on this and everything else if/ when you go for your Maddening run!

[BloodRonin]

You said fixed growths? 100% use Zelkov over Yunaka. Her damage falls off hard. (Though I made mine into a warrior for radiant bow instead) 

I haven't actually played maddening with fixed growths in a while. I find rng to be more fun.

I would 100%replace Lapis with Goldmary if you are going for chain attacks. 

That being said, with dlc maps ect it doesn't matter. You can easily make any unit into a good one. 

 

[Barren]

On 5/25/2023 at 12:46 PM, DefyingFates said:

That it is! And yeah, the utility is very nice indeed~

Please keep us updated on this and everything else if/ when you go for your Maddening run!

Definitely. I did beat chapter 5 a while ago. I haven’t gotten further because work has been taking up out a lot of my time. But ai do certainly plan on trucking through. I may even provide pics of their stats and what not so far.

 

21 hours ago, BloodRonin said:

You said fixed growths? 100% use Zelkov over Yunaka. Her damage falls off hard. (Though I made mine into a warrior for radiant bow instead) 

I haven't actually played maddening with fixed growths in a while. I find rng to be more fun.

I would 100%replace Lapis with Goldmary if you are going for chain attacks. 

That being said, with dlc maps ect it doesn't matter. You can easily make any unit into a good one. 

 

I am playing with fixed growths yes. And I’ll keep Zelkov and Goldmary in mind as I go on.

[BloodRonin]

17 hours ago, Barren said:

Definitely. I did beat chapter 5 a while ago. I haven’t gotten further because work has been taking up out a lot of my time. But ai do certainly plan on trucking through. I may even provide pics of their stats and what not so far.

 

I am playing with fixed growths yes. And I’ll keep Zelkov and Goldmary in mind as I go on.

Glad to hear it.  Keep us uo to date on your run. Would highly recommend a fun rng run after on maddening. It is (at least in my opinion) fun to see units you may have not used become God tier due to the rng aspect of it. 

[Barren]

So far I just completed Tiki's paralogue. It took me a number of tries but I managed to do it with only about 4 charges to spare. It was the reinforcements and admittedly some bad plays on my part that got me in trouble in the first place but then chain guarding Eite who thankfully got a speed point in one of her level ups to where she chip with a long bow without getting doubled by those phantom dragons. Tiki wasn't that bad if I'm being honest. Though it is because I'm facing her now with only 1 revival stone as opposed to if she had 2.

Anyways, I have 1 master seal to my name so far and I'm about to tackle chapter 7 and I'm trying to figure out who should it go to. I am thinking Chloe most likely, but I am open to other ideas. Hopefully you guys can see the pics from down below but these are the units I've been training so far.

And yes I was using the bond ring exploit to get the S rank rings with the abilities that I wanted. I even nabbed a couple of extra S rank rings along the way. As far as Clanne, Alfred or Boucheron goes, I could use them for another maddening run and see how well they do.

I know Mekkah recently talked about Alfred and Clanne and he had someone along side him talk about their good qualities that people tend to gloss over due to their rather bad first impression. Alfred's especially with his sub par base stats starting out.

 

Spoiler

Alear Pre Chapter 7

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Framme Pre Chapter 7

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Celine Pre Chapter 7

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Chloe Pre Chapter 7

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Anna Pre Chapter 7

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Etie Pre Chapter 7

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Yunaka Pre Chapter 7

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Louis Pre Chapter 7

 

[Barren]

Sorry for the double post since I was initially waiting for other’s responses on master seal recommendations. But I did already go ahead and promote Alear to Divine Dragon, Chloe to Wyvern Knight, and Anna to Warrior.

I’m probably going to do the Veronica paralogue next (haven’t done everyone else’s yet) and then create a separate save file for the Xenologue characters. That said, I’m thinking of promoting Framme next because her as a Martial Master will increase her build from 3 to 6 and equip her with a Shielding Art with Micaiah’s engraving on it which adds 40 avoid. I already gave her avoid +10 from Marth so she should be rocking +5 defense and 50 avoid.

I’m definitely saving the other master seals for Ivy, Hortensia, and maybe Alcryst pending on how many more I can accumulate throughout the play through.