Ironman Starting

[Samu_77]

I haven't ever posted here before so I decided to start out with the Binding Blade Ironman I have recently started. I'm playing on Hard Mode, which I have not done before, but my normal run was not too far ago. I decided to chronicle the journey in the important areas, here's the progress so far:

Currently on Chapter 7, Deaths: Allen, Ellen, Bors and Wade

Yeah so losing Ellen on an ambush reinforcement I didn't check is pretty bad but I unironically don't care too much about anything else. I had no intention of using Allen from the start as I wanted to focus on of the cavaliers, not multiple of them, so almost all training went specifically to Lance instead. Bors I couldn't care less about and the same goes for Wade, although I am slightly missing the equipment that they had.

I have been focusing a lot of EXP to the characters I plan to use long term, mainly Rutger, Shanna and Lance with a little bit of Deke favoritism. There has been some support abusing but I'm not going all in on making a massive support ball. Here are my plans for the upcoming chapters:

1: Promote Rutger: He's already level 13 by chapter 7, and I don't feel like waiting any longer, the sooner I get this character off the ground, the sooner I can start moving at a more comfortable pace and get a more reliable boss killer. This isn't revolutionary I know, but his EXP gain is already slowing down and I don't want to wait longer. 

2: Use Lilina: This is probably going to be my only concession to using a poor unit. I like the True Ending between her and Roy and I was pretty impressed with what she was doing in my Normal Mode Run, although I am aware she is vastly different in this context. Lugh hasn't been getting much magic or even that much speed to begin with, so Im going to just use both and see what I get, however my first Guiding Ring is going to go to Saul, not Clarine because I don't have her anywhere near the requirement

3: Use Tate: I couldn't stand Sacae even on Normal mode and going there on hard sounds terrible. I don't plan to train her full time but I want to give her like 4-5 levels just to ensure I'm not going to Sacae, although I am going to use Shin because there's too many damn Wyverns in Late Game.

 

If anybody has any tips I would appreciate them!

[Eltosian Kadath]

12 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

 

Currently on Chapter 7, Deaths: Allen, Ellen, Bors and Wade

Good luck, Chapter 7 is one of the toughest maps, so hopefully it turns out OK.

 

12 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

 

2: Use Lilina: This is probably going to be my only concession to using a poor unit. I like the True Ending between her and Roy and I was pretty impressed with what she was doing in my Normal Mode Run, although I am aware she is vastly different in this context. Lugh hasn't been getting much magic or even that much speed to begin with, so Im going to just use both and see what I get, however my first Guiding Ring is going to go to Saul, not Clarine because I don't have her anywhere near the requirement

Lugh is generally seen as better, but you can still get a lot of good work out of Lilina even on hard.

 

12 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

I couldn't stand Sacae even on Normal mode and going there on hard sounds terrible. I don't plan to train her full time but I want to give her like 4-5 levels just to ensure I'm not going to Sacae, although I am going to use Shin because there's too many damn Wyverns in Late Game.

Hopefully Jerrot (or is it Zealot, I keep forgetting what translation of his name is currently in vogue) lives chapter 7, so you don't get stuck in the awkward position of having to go to Sacae to even try for the true ending.

[samthedigital]

15 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

2: Use Lilina: This is probably going to be my only concession to using a poor unit. I like the True Ending between her and Roy and I was pretty impressed with what she was doing in my Normal Mode Run, although I am aware she is vastly different in this context. Lugh hasn't been getting much magic or even that much speed to begin with, so Im going to just use both and see what I get, however my first Guiding Ring is going to go to Saul, not Clarine because I don't have her anywhere near the requirement

I've always given her a speedwing or two to help her reach doubling thresholds.

[Shaky Jones]

18 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

Currently on Chapter 7, Deaths: Bors

It's over.

18 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

1: Promote Rutger: He's already level 13 by chapter 7, and I don't feel like waiting any longer, the sooner I get this character off the ground, the sooner I can start moving at a more comfortable pace and get a more reliable boss killer. This isn't revolutionary I know, but his EXP gain is already slowing down and I don't want to wait longer. 

And then he gets killed by a crit

18 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

3: Use Tate: I couldn't stand Sacae even on Normal mode and going there on hard sounds terrible. I don't plan to train her full time but I want to give her like 4-5 levels just to ensure I'm not going to Sacae, although I am going to use Shin because there's too many damn Wyverns in Late Game.

Bows are one of my favorite weapons in FE, so I'm rarely screwed in this department. Using warriors like Lot or Bartre if doing B rout helps quite a bit when you can survive multiple wyverns and your secondary weapon has weapon triangle advantage, and you at least get 2 useful snipers (and everyone should be using Dorothy). Shin is incredibly broken, so good luck holding back to not overlevel him. 

6 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Lugh is generally seen as better, but you can still get a lot of good work out of Lilina even on hard.

I just know Lugh as the guy that always dies in chapter 4/5 of every FETuber's ironman streams. Unlucky.

6 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Hopefully Jerrot (or is it Zealot, I keep forgetting what translation of his name is currently in vogue) lives chapter 7, so you don't get stuck in the awkward position of having to go to Sacae to even try for the true ending.

Hopefully Treck lives chapter 7, so he can single handedly save the world.

[Samu_77]

I haven't posted here in a while, because after dying in that Chapter 7 I got sad and put this off for a while, but now I'm back with a run that's done with Chapter 12, here's generally what's happened

 

I trained Lugh, realized I didn't like his level ups, and then benched him, then I leveled Lilina up like crazy and promoted her, she's a little blessed in speed but honestly even with the speedwing that I fed her she's barely above average and is only able to double the very slow enemies

I also decided to train Fir for... honestly I don't know what reason. Maybe it's because Rutger is so cracked that I wanted another one, and it is kinda overkill but it's also pretty funny and she got a some pretty good level ups. This does mean I'm forgoing a raised Axe unit like Dieke or Gonzalos, but I think Echidna is going to do just fine for a while and by that time the game will be in really good hands. Axes feel terrible in this game anyways so I don't feel bad. 

Alas, there were no deaths up to Chapter 11, but then Marcus bit the dust and then Clarine died immediately after recruiting Klein because both of their lives were less valuable then the Orion's Bolt AKA another pair of boots. Clarine wasn't trained and Marcus was JUST starting to fall off, so I don't feel particularly bad about either death. 

The plans going forward are to give Tate a few levels so that I can avoid Sacae, bench Alan when he falls off which will probably be the next chapter (assuming he doesn't die to be honest, that looks likely as well) naturally promote Milady and give her a Dracoshield (unfortunately no Speedwing because of Lilina, who will probably one-round everything in the game after that second one) and then just keep swapping in and out the units that are and aren't useful, I'm debating using Tate full time but it sounds like a pretty bad idea because Ballistea's are scary and even though there aren't as many as Sacae I'm aware, this is still only my second full run and I've never played Ilia. My long-term economy is looking pretty good fortunately. I'm not really scared of Arcadia at all because as long as you have documentation it isn't that bad at all I find.

[Eltosian Kadath]

1 hour ago, Samu_77 said:

I haven't posted here in a while, because after dying in that Chapter 7 I got sad and put this off for a while, but now I'm back with a run that's done with Chapter 12, here's generally what's happened

Oof, yeah Chapter 7 is a tough cookie to crack, and good job getting back on the horse after a defeat to reach a new personal best.

 

1 hour ago, Samu_77 said:

 

I trained Lugh, realized I didn't like his level ups, and then benched him, then I leveled Lilina up like crazy and promoted her, she's a little blessed in speed but honestly even with the speedwing that I fed her she's barely above average and is only able to double the very slow enemies

Glad to see you still went with training Lilina, even after you had to buckle down and be more serious with the second run.

 

2 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

I also decided to train Fir for... honestly I don't know what reason. Maybe it's because Rutger is so cracked that I wanted another one, and it is kinda overkill but it's also pretty funny and she got a some pretty good level ups.

Eh, you get enough deployment slots for a few vanity picks, and Fir is a fun project to work on, and train into a little Rutger.

 

2 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

 

Alas, there were no deaths up to Chapter 11, but then Marcus bit the dust and then Clarine died immediately after recruiting Klein because both of their lives were less valuable then the Orion's Bolt AKA another pair of boots. Clarine wasn't trained and Marcus was JUST starting to fall off, so I don't feel particularly bad about either death. 

Nice job making it so far deathless, and even when blood was spilt, it sounds like some easily survivable losses. I find Marcus is starting to fall off as soon as you get Zealot to replace him, and if you weren't training Clarine anyway, that is little loss at all.

 

[Samu_77]

Small update time!

 

I am now past everybody's favorite map in FE6, Aracadia! Yaaaay. Nobody died in the chapter which was to be expected because as long as you have documentation its not a hard map at all. Somewhat unnecessarily all of the items were obtained (I say unnecessarily because I don't know if I can find a use for the Silver Blade lmao) and I am now moving forward. 

Unfortunately Echidna died in chapter 13, and I am at a loss as to what to do with the Armads. My decision tree is probably 

1: Train up base Gonzolas (yikes)

2: Have Douglas be the one to use it (double yikes)

3: Forgoe using it altogether

And I have no idea what to do!

I like the idea of using all of the Divine Weapons across my units, but I know it's not necessary. Boss abuse is always an option but considering the semi-high amount of supports I've been using in this game already it's... feeling a little too cheap. It would give Lilina another partner besides Roy I guess, although naturally they are alread long past A rank. 

Also I decided after a few good level ups to just go ahead and use Kate, and she's pretty fun, I'm definitely out of Sacae now so hopefully I'll get to use TRIANGLE ATTACK BABY
 

 

[Samu_77]

Going to do one last post on this for the rest of the game, since I'm on 20x now and if I get past 21 it's almost certain I will finish the run.

I went to Ilia... for obvious reasons, and outside of Astol getting killed (thankfully without anything TOO valuable on him), everything went swimmingly. I am so glad they give you 3 thieves in this game. Due to being scared of losing the best Ending, I had been neglecting the Divine Weapons outside of occasional Durandal usage, however coming into chapter 21 I am going to deploy most of them because those Wyvern Knights are tough. 

My main party is about what you would expect outside of not having a Beserker in lieu of Fir: Roy, Lilina, Rutger, Fir, Miledy, Percival, Saul, Shanna, Tate, Shin, Lalum, Niime and then makeup flunkies of Lance, Ceclilia, a thief, and like one time Igrene. None of my losses so far have hurt, and I bought a LOT of Angelic Robes in 16 so that everybody will live, but I still have at least 10 boots lying in wait, with more to come, so hopefully I will get to use them later.

And now I will prepare for the second-hardest chapter in the game after 7. 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

6 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

My main party is about what you would expect outside of not having a Beserker in lieu of Fir: Roy, Lilina, Rutger, Fir, Miledy, Percival, Saul, Shanna, Tate, Shin, Lalum, Niime and then makeup flunkies of Lance, Ceclilia, a thief, and like one time Igrene.

Aw, no Douglas? That's a shame. Very good-looking squad, though!

6 hours ago, Samu_77 said:

And now I will prepare for the second-hardest chapter in the game after 7. 

Good luck in Wyvern Hell!

[Samu_77]

I am now past Wyvern Hell, with only two deaths in Alan and Igrene, which is good because I wanted to kill off some more characters anyways. I bought about 14 pairs of Boots, and now I am ready for Endgame, I will post my final results when I slay Idunn.

[Whisky]

Nice! You’re at the end now, you should be able to complete it, and with the good ending too! Good luck on the last few chapters! Don’t get complacent, the last few chapters are still pretty challenging!

[Samu_77]

Idunn has been defeated, let us take a moment to say goodbye to our fallen allies 

Was a fun playthrough, I still really hate chapter 7, but I enjoyed most of everything, I think I got never punished with Roy dodging a fatal blow like twice, and probably had like 5 dodges of losing out on the best ending like with a Divine Weapon User or a character necessary for a later chapter not dying, but I like to think I played alright in the end. Niime died holding Apocolypse in 23 and Miledy died at the very end of the Chapter holding Matlet, but obviously a good ending was set in stone by that point.

Fir was a ton of fun to use, although I thought Tate wasn't doing it for me (she died in Ch. 22, so I had basically the entire game to use her) I do wish I had used Gonzolas but I can save that for a future playthrough. Most of the rest was just mainly a squad of really solid units throughout the game, basically the ones I listed above. More then most games I find Binding Blade does a really good job of mixing up your Army. 

But yeah was a fun time. Outside of Chapter 7 and maybe 4 I think this game is really good for an Ironman context, and ironically I think the added Accuracy issues in this game make you have to play very risk-adverse and make you choose your units very carefully. Every decision being permanent too makes you really consider the value of all of that gold that is so important to spend and hold onto. Was a good time although I don't see myself picking up this game for a while because it's exhausting play for me personally.

[Whisky]

Nice, good job! Congrats on not only beating it but also getting the good ending! I’m glad you had fun with it. I think that Binding Blade is one of the better games for iron manning, for the most part.