Fire Emblem Engage: Twelve Rings to Rule Them All

[Zevox]

Four Rings for the Blue-Hair Lords, with swords held high,
Three for the Green Maidens and the Teacher enthroned,
Two for the Red-heads, whose enemies fry,
One for the White Mage, with her light tome,
And two for the misfits whose hair isn't dyed.
Twelve Rings to rule them all, Twelve Rings to find them,
Twelve Rings to unite them all; against the Fell Dragon, bind him.
In the land of Elyos where sleeping dragons lie.

Ahem. So, I know there's at least a few of us playing this - what's everyone think so far?

Personally, it's been about what I was expecting. Basically a return to the usual for the series. Characters feel a lot flatter and more one-note than in Three Houses, and the plot is another variant of the same sort that the series started with way back in game 1. The only plot twists that I feel like have been set up at the point I'm at (Chapter 9)...

Spoiler

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I think that Alear will turn out not to be related to Queen Lumera directly, but adopted in some way. Her dying remarks that "becoming" Alear's mother was the happiest thing to ever happen to her, and the way she corrected herself from saying "being" to "becoming," seems quite suspect; and when you see the villains talk amongst themselves, they express that they didn't know Alear existed (despite this seemingly being common knowledge to the rest of the world...) and not being sure when Lumera had a child. So yeah, seems to me to point to a "she's not your real mother" reveal coming at some point.

I also think there's some shenanigans afoot with what really put Alear in their coma, likely involving time travel in some fashion. Because that opening scene that the game seems to set up as being the end of the war a thousand years ago very conspicuously includes four characters that will join you throughout this game - Princes Alfred of Firene and Diamant of Brodia, Princess Ivy of Elusia, and the other girl who I assume is the Princess of the fourth nation I haven't run into yet. All using the Emblems their nation hold during the events of the game (again, assuming the fourth one matches, but that seems a forgone conclusion since the other three do). I also thought that Alfred saying he thinks of you as a "very old friend" specifically, and then seeming more concerned about your amnesia than the others pointed to him having known you before, but after meeting Diamant and Ivy there's been no similar hints of them knowing Alear already, so that's more up in the air for me at the moment. Regardless though, unless they were just super lazy and decided that those characters' ancestors look exactly like them because it saves on making new character models, something's up with that opening scene, and it feels like it probably points to time travel in one direction or another being involved at some point.

Although maybe it was just a flash-forward to something that happens later in the game just to confuse us I guess - IIRC they did a similar thing in Awakening, now that I'm thinking about it...

Gameplay-wise, it's fun. I like that weapon durability is nixed again, like in Fates - repairs were so easy in Three Houses that it had negligible impact on things besides limiting how much you used the Heroes Relics, but still, it's not a mechanic I've ever felt was really a positive for any game. I also like the Emblem mechanic in concept, although in practice sometimes they feel rather overpowered. Marth especially with how much evade he adds and how easily his Loadstar Rush attack just slaughters anything that isn't high-defense, but also Sigurd's ridiculous mobility and getting extra damage for how many spaces you move before attacking, and Celica's Warp Ragnarok move, just for the first three you pick up. For the other three I have already, I'll toss it in a spoiler just to be safe.

Spoiler: That one being..

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Roy's ridiculous thing is giving the character that engages with him a temporary +5 to their level and corresponding stat increase, so yeah, obviously nuts. And Leif has an ability that causes your character to automatically equip the most advantageous weapon versus an attacker when attacked, and he gives you proficiency in just about everything as you level him up, and has a move that lets you attack four times if you have specifically a sword, axe, lance, and bow to use - and his special weapon is an axe, so he provides one of the three automatically. Yeah, also nuts.

The only one that isn't crazy is Micaiah. Her main thing is just letting anyone use staffs and turning any heal staff into esentially a physic when engaged, which is good, but not crazy like the others. Her big move is an instant full heal to all allies, but reduces the unit she's engaged with to 1 health to use it. It's theoretically reall strong, but I've yet to have need of it, and I'm playing on hard difficulty.

There's other interesting things, like the "chain guard" ability that healer/monks get being a neat addition to their repetoire - although I'm not a big fan of fist combat now being a thing for the healers, since it's, ah, ridiculously weak on them. Poison from thieves' knives now causing characters to take extra damage from any hits they take thereafter instead of being the usual damage-over-time thing is neat as well, though in practice I don't find myself using it much - might just be because my thief is still lagging behind the team in levels, so I'm usually trying to give her kills, though. The new mechanics from the "great" weapons are interesting too, I'm only just getting to play around with that.

I like that they kept the home base you visit in between missions thing going with the Somniel as well, and included cooking/sharing a meal with teammates from Three Houses there - also fishing, although they made that a touch more elaborate in how it works, which I'm not sure I'm fond of. Strangely, I kind of like the new working out mini-games too - at least, pushups and situps, I haven't done squats yet, since it's hard to pick a dex boost over strength or health - even though I couldn't tell you why. It is sad that talking to the characters around the Somniel feels a lot less engaging than doing the same in the Monastery in Three Houses though.

I am very disappointed to see that the "bond" conversations between characters and Emblems are literally just one line apiece at each rank (technically I haven't seen an A rank yet, but I'm not holding out hope). I know it'd be a lot to have unique conversations for every character with all twelve emblems, but if even Marth and Alear don't have more than that, they clearly went minimalist on all of them, so we don't even get select characters getting more to their "supports." Which is sad, because other than maybe Marth, it's not looking like the Emblems get much in the way of a presence as actual characters in the game's story, and them mostly being a gameplay thing and mcguffin for the story feels like a big missed opportunity. The Emblems are the game's big gimmick and draw compared to other games in the series, they should've been taking as much advantage of it as possible.

Okay, that's enough wall of text from me at this point. What's everyone else think?

[LaZodiac]

I'm really enjoying it. Not too far in (currently just got Hiya Papaya'd) but I more or less second everything you've said... minus a few things.

For one, the Emblem stuff. I don't think the ghosts of old characters should get that much development. I do kiiinda wish they got more, in the sense of "it'd be neat to see them be a bit more characterful" but they're ghost power ups, I don't need them to do this. Sigurd noting he also left a child behind when he died is all I need (also it's really funny that Lumera asked Sigurd of all people what to do with regards to long term thinking. Girl his answer's gonna be "uh... invade a country?".)

For two, I don't think the characters are that flat. They've all got the standard level of Fire Emblem nuance, with differing levels of how deep and wide they go. Nothing about them feels out of place or off for the series- maybe they're a BIT light, but I'm going to blame that on the old faithful flaw of "permadeath as an option means we can't make any of these characters too important". I also... don't think the talking with characters around the sleep-house is any different at all from Three Houses? It is lacking the missing item thing, I guess!

One thing I'll add to this: I'm not that far in but already I can tell this game is gonna go sicko mode when it comes to just how much you can break it over your knee. Tomes with melee only range, long bows that go 2-3, putting riders bane on your axe haver due to Sigurd- hell, the fact that Sigurd's Override can hit and kill as many people as are in a sequential straight line, there is a lot of wild **** going on here and I am excited to see where it goes.

[Rising Phoenix]

Hiya Papaya to you pumpkin seeds!

I think I am at chapter 13 and because I hate myself I am playing on lunatic on my first go. It's fun.

I'll agree with Zodiac on the emblems. They say plenty for one liners. If you know their backstories they make plenty of implied references to their games.

The characters are overall fine to good. Many appear one dimensional at first but that quickly gets dispelled when you delve into a couple of supports. The twins in particular start of as very one dimensional and cringe worthy but I find them ok now (not great). Notable highlights are Yunaka who in addition to being a powerhouse is all around fun with a severe edge. Celine and Louis are also good. In fact I would describe most of the characters as fun. This is not 3H levels of writing and its a good thing that many characters don't take themselves seriously. Its definitely better then fates and awakening.

As for the emblems. Boy is it entertaining. You can make whatever unit you want! Want a fast armor knight? Give Sigurd to Louis- so long as there are no mages nothing will be able to kill him or run away from him (you can even give him Celica so that he pops on top of people. Its funny but a gimmick- not viable). Want Ike 2.0? Give Ike to Diamant and make him tank 10+ units on enemy phase- not creative, but effective. Want a good berserker? Give Lyn to one of your axes and watch them stack speed taker that eventually they will become untouchable.

The story started of very weak at first, I now find it to be quite good.

Edit: Grammar, typos.

[LaZodiac]

Honestly aside from the Dead Mom Speedrun at the start I've quite liked the plot. Sometimes you want a super complicated game of 4D hyper chess like Three Houses, and sometimes you want a very basic but solid "the evil dragon woke up go kill him".

And then despite that vibe there is this underlying tension of "it seems entirely likely that the evil dragon what woke up is You, Actually" and I'm really liking it. There's this very thin line of "oh I'm evil and I just forgot didn't I?". Genuinely intrigued by this, especially all the evil cultist folk who oh boy they sure do have a lot of red and blue ornamentation on them just like us huh. It is a wild secret twist to this otherwise pretty normal Fremblem plot!

[Wayac]

So what's everyone's record for targets in a single Sigurd's Line o' Death? I've managed 4 so far.

And then despite that vibe there is this underlying tension of "it seems entirely likely that the evil dragon what woke up is You, Actually" and I'm really liking it. There's this very thin line of "oh I'm evil and I just forgot didn't I?".

Spoiler: Wild Theorizing based on scenes in the first 3-4 chapters

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Hmm, Lumera did mention she was pumping Divine Dragon power into Alear over the 1000 year slumber and there was that one early flashback/dream that showed Alear with just red hair (Lumera seemed to sound younger too but I could be wrong). So maybe they were evil, were put to sleep, then Lumera worked on "uncorrupting" them and got about halfway done if the hair color ratio is any indicator.

I'm not surprised I miss battalions, that was something I was prepping myself for going into it. However I was surprised that I missed combat arts. I didn't use them too much in Three Houses (the actual combat ones anyway), but getting to a unit who doesn't have an emblem ring and realizing their options are restricted solely to what's in their inventory is a bit jarring.

[Rising Phoenix]

Honestly aside from the Dead Mom Speedrun at the start I've quite liked the plot. Sometimes you want a super complicated game of 4D hyper chess like Three Houses, and sometimes you want a very basic but solid "the evil dragon woke up go kill him".

And then despite that vibe there is this underlying tension of "it seems entirely likely that the evil dragon what woke up is You, Actually" and I'm really liking it. There's this very thin line of "oh I'm evil and I just forgot didn't I?". Genuinely intrigued by this, especially all the evil cultist folk who oh boy they sure do have a lot of red and blue ornamentation on them just like us huh. It is a wild secret twist to this otherwise pretty normal Fremblem plot!

I am thinking that it might be more Lumera and Sombron have/had a dysfunctional relationship and you're the product.

You then went on a rampage to destroy the world because "It's just a faze MUM! I will grow out of it (in 1000 years)"

[LaZodiac]

I am thinking that it might be more Lumera and Sombron have/had a dysfunctional relationship and you're the product.

You then went on a rampage to destroy the world because "It's just a faze MUM! I will grow out of it (in 1000 years)"

I've been rotating a few theories in my head. The red and blue together implies Fell and Divine blood so we're definitely half satan, but also the people who worship Sombron all seem to wear blue-and-red iconography. We may be evil by birth, we may have become evil, we may have become good- hell, as far as I can tell it may just be that we're pulling a Disgaea 2 and we ARE Sombron, and the current Sombron is some loser who took our name for clout in our absence.

I am curious to see how it goes.

[Zevox]

For one, the Emblem stuff. I don't think the ghosts of old characters should get that much development. I do kiiinda wish they got more, in the sense of "it'd be neat to see them be a bit more characterful" but they're ghost power ups, I don't need them to do this. Sigurd noting he also left a child behind when he died is all I need (also it's really funny that Lumera asked Sigurd of all people what to do with regards to long term thinking. Girl his answer's gonna be "uh... invade a country?".)

I don't think they need development per se - I'm not expecting a whole new character arc for Marth and the rest in a game they're basically guest-starring in - but I would like to see them interact more with characters of this game, and even each other. Their presence is a selling point of the game, and I don't think most people who are interested in that like them just for stats.

For two, I don't think the characters are that flat. They've all got the standard level of Fire Emblem nuance, with differing levels of how deep and wide they go. Nothing about them feels out of place or off for the series- maybe they're a BIT light, but I'm going to blame that on the old faithful flaw of "permadeath as an option means we can't make any of these characters too important". I also... don't think the talking with characters around the sleep-house is any different at all from Three Houses? It is lacking the missing item thing, I guess!

That's the thing, standard Fire Emblem level of nuance isn't much. For instance, Chloé. I like that she has this love of fairy tales that inspires her, it's an endearing character trait; but a lot of the time it feels like its her only character trait. I think of the supports I've seen, there's maybe one or two where she doesn't mention it. Kind of feels like that's the case for a lot of characters - for Etie it's muscles/training, for Celine it's tea, for Louis it's people-watching. It's like everyone comes back to the same one thing in their conversations as much as Rafael did in Three Houses - except Rafael was the exception in that game, being the loveable oaf who took simple pleasure in a few things (training and food) and made the other characters' lives brighter by his generally uplifting presence because of it. Whereas here I struggle to find characters that don't feel like they're just that simple.

As for talking to characters around the base, it's a matter of what they have to say. In Three Houses you got very different remarks after every chapter, usually commenting on what happened in the last month, or what was going to happen in the coming month, giving you a good gauge of each character's feelings at that point in the story, and making the whole place feel more alive. With the Somniel it's often the same few basic lines being repeated regardless of what just happened in the story, aside from maybe one or two characters who were closely connected to what just happened. In Three Houses I made sure to go talk to every character in the Monastery every month, because it felt not only worth my time to do so, but like I'd be missing out if I didn't; in Engage, I'm not feeling that at all, after having done it thus far out of habit.

One thing I'll add to this: I'm not that far in but already I can tell this game is gonna go sicko mode when it comes to just how much you can break it over your knee. Tomes with melee only range, long bows that go 2-3, putting riders bane on your axe haver due to Sigurd- hell, the fact that Sigurd's Override can hit and kill as many people as are in a sequential straight line, there is a lot of wild **** going on here and I am excited to see where it goes.

Longbows going 2-3 is entirely normal for the series though? And the melee-only tome (at least, the one early one I've seen) seems like it's supposed to be a negative - yes, it gets slightly more damage than Fire in exchange for that, but not enough to justify actually using it most of the time.

Emblem abilities though, yeah, that's another story entirely, as I already commented.

Honestly aside from the Dead Mom Speedrun at the start I've quite liked the plot. Sometimes you want a super complicated game of 4D hyper chess like Three Houses, and sometimes you want a very basic but solid "the evil dragon woke up go kill him".

I don't think it's a matter of complicated versus simple, personally. You could have a simple story but with nuanced, fleshed-out characters; or you could have a simple story that isn't just reusing the same basic plot concept that the series has already used several times over.

And then despite that vibe there is this underlying tension of "it seems entirely likely that the evil dragon what woke up is You, Actually" and I'm really liking it. There's this very thin line of "oh I'm evil and I just forgot didn't I?". Genuinely intrigued by this, especially all the evil cultist folk who oh boy they sure do have a lot of red and blue ornamentation on them just like us huh. It is a wild secret twist to this otherwise pretty normal Fremblem plot!

I almost wish you hadn't said that, because I hadn't thought of that, but it would explain some things. Though perhaps not everything,

Spoiler: Chapter 7

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since the royals from the north-eastern Kingdom are using Emblems that they've used Sombra's power to corrupt. Not sure how they did that if you're Sombra.

So what's everyone's record for targets in a single Sigurd's Line o' Death? I've managed 4 so far.

Zero, actually - I've yet to use that ability, because I don't think I've ever had more than two targets for it at a time, and always felt there was a better use of that character's action for one reason or another. Sigurd's still pretty good though, between the stupidly massive mobility boost, Momentum, and the free Horseslayer.

And Canter, though it's really strange to not have that be a normal, default thing for mounted units in this game. I'm actually blanking on whether that was a thing before Three Houses - feels like it was, but I could just be misremembering because I've probably played more of Three Houses than any other one game in the series. Either way though, I definitely got so used to it that it was a "wait, what?" moment for me when I first moved Alfred and he didn't get to do that.

I'm not surprised I miss battalions, that was something I was prepping myself for going into it. However I was surprised that I missed combat arts. I didn't use them too much in Three Houses (the actual combat ones anyway), but getting to a unit who doesn't have an emblem ring and realizing their options are restricted solely to what's in their inventory is a bit jarring.

Yeah, I would definitely like to have those back myself, both very good additions to the series.

[LaZodiac]

I don't think they need development per se - I'm not expecting a whole new character arc for Marth and the rest in a game they're basically guest-starring in - but I would like to see them interact more with characters of this game, and even each other. Their presence is a selling point of the game, and I don't think most people who are interested in that like them just for stats.

That's the thing, standard Fire Emblem level of nuance isn't much. For instance, Chloé. I like that she has this love of fairy tales that inspires her, it's an endearing character trait; but a lot of the time it feels like its her only character trait. I think of the supports I've seen, there's maybe one or two where she doesn't mention it. Kind of feels like that's the case for a lot of characters - for Etie it's muscles/training, for Celine it's tea, for Louis it's people-watching. It's like everyone comes back to the same one thing in their conversations as much as Rafael did in Three Houses - except Rafael was the exception in that game, being the loveable oaf who took simple pleasure in a few things (training and food) and made the other characters' lives brighter by his generally uplifting presence because of it. Whereas here I struggle to find characters that don't feel like they're just that simple.

As for talking to characters around the base, it's a matter of what they have to say. In Three Houses you got very different remarks after every chapter, usually commenting on what happened in the last month, or what was going to happen in the coming month, giving you a good gauge of each character's feelings at that point in the story, and making the whole place feel more alive. With the Somniel it's often the same few basic lines being repeated regardless of what just happened in the story, aside from maybe one or two characters who were closely connected to what just happened. In Three Houses I made sure to go talk to every character in the Monastery every month, because it felt not only worth my time to do so, but like I'd be missing out if I didn't; in Engage, I'm not feeling that at all, after having done it thus far out of habit.

Longbows going 2-3 is entirely normal for the series though? And the melee-only tome (at least, the one early one I've seen) seems like it's supposed to be a negative - yes, it gets slightly more damage than Fire in exchange for that, but not enough to justify actually using it most of the time.

I almost wish you hadn't said that, because I hadn't thought of that, but it would explain some things. Though perhaps not everything,

Spoiler: Chapter 7

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since the royals from the north-eastern Kingdom are using Emblems that they've used Sombra's power to corrupt. Not sure how they did that if you're Sombra.

Zero, actually - I've yet to use that ability, because I don't think I've ever had more than two targets for it at a time, and always felt there was a better use of that character's action for one reason or another. Sigurd's still pretty good though, between the stupidly massive mobility boost, Momentum, and the free Horseslayer.

And Canter, though it's really strange to not have that be a normal, default thing for mounted units in this game. I'm actually blanking on whether that was a thing before Three Houses - feels like it was, but I could just be misremembering because I've probably played more of Three Houses than any other one game in the series. Either way though, I definitely got so used to it that it was a "wait, what?" moment for me when I first moved Alfred and he didn't get to do that.

Yeah, I would definitely like to have those back myself, both very good additions to the series.

All fair points. I've gotten Chloe's C rank with Louis and while it dips into her love of fairy tales a bit, it's more focused on how they both have a shared love of watching other people be in love, and focuses more on the serene (which, on that note, boy Celine it sure is neat how your retainers abilities synergize with all three of you together huh. Maybe that means something) a friend joked about them being a throuple and honestly I can dig it.

I've talked to them after every chapter and there HAVE been new dialogue every time? Or maybe I'm just not noticing when it is similar!

Okay I did forget Longbow do that normally, but them doing their thing on top of a bunch of other stuff having weird ranges? I can see it doing some wild stuff like Echoes letting you get to like range 5 or so. Also Surge also has INFINITE accuracy. No one is dodging this if you get up and plant a magic boot in their face, which that PLUS having enhanced power to Fire seems like a good trade.

My apologies!

Mine is also four. I prioritized killing that first thief in the map where you get Sigurd and he lined up real nice with three other guys and I just, assassinated him and wounded the others in a precision strike ballista bolt. It's incredibly satisfying and you get EXP for as if you fought all four which is wild.

Yeah some games have Canto/Canter as a native in-built feature of Horse, Peg, and Wyv, but not all of'em! Luckily the way skill points work you can... fairly easy just make all your mounties have it?

The lack of battalions is kinda sad, as well as combat arts, but I kinda get it to some degree. Wanna put emphasis on the stands, combat arts would take a bit away from having unique super moves if everyone could do a slightly less unique super move. Of course I say this, and all clerics can just also negate all damage in a cross around them for 20% of their max life so who knows, maybe they could have done more! Which is wild by the way, no other class seems to have... anything like this going on?

[Wayac]

And Canter, though it's really strange to not have that be a normal, default thing for mounted units in this game. I'm actually blanking on whether that was a thing before Three Houses - feels like it was, but I could just be misremembering because I've probably played more of Three Houses than any other one game in the series. Either way though, I definitely got so used to it that it was a "wait, what?" moment for me when I first moved Alfred and he didn't get to do that.

I've only played Three Houses and the GBA games but I think Canto was just a default feature for mounted units in those. It feels like Canter is more like Canto from Heroes, which I guess makes sense since there are a lot of other similarities between Engage and FEH.

The lack of battalions is kinda sad, as well as combat arts, but I kinda get it to some degree. Wanna put emphasis on the stands, combat arts would take a bit away from having unique super moves if everyone could do a slightly less unique super move. Of course I say this, and all clerics can just also negate all damage in a cross around them for 20% of their max life so who knows, maybe they could have done more! Which is wild by the way, no other class seems to have... anything like this going on?

I think chain guard is part of the Qi Adept ... specification (not sure of the word the game uses). Learned this the hard way when I changed one into a class that could still heal but couldn't chain guard anymore. There are a lot of other specifications but from what I've seen the only other one with a new mechanic is Backup that can do chain attacks when another unit attacks a target within their range.

[Zevox]

I've talked to them after every chapter and there HAVE been new dialogue every time? Or maybe I'm just not noticing when it is similar!

As just one example, Framme's been giving me the same line about how being able to talk to me every day is "the best!" for like five chapters or so now.

There's a little variation to it, in that characters will have a different line if they're doing an activity, like working out, swimming, or fishing, but they only seem to have the one line per activity. Again, unless they're closely connected to whatever just happened in the story, in which case they might get something referencing that.

Okay I did forget Longbow do that normally, but them doing their thing on top of a bunch of other stuff having weird ranges? I can see it doing some wild stuff like Echoes letting you get to like range 5 or so. Also Surge also has INFINITE accuracy. No one is dodging this if you get up and plant a magic boot in their face, which that PLUS having enhanced power to Fire seems like a good trade.

I mean, Longbows could already become range 2-4 or 2-5 in Three Houses via the archer line's range +1/+2 (for Bow Knight) innate skills, so that wouldn't even be particularly new at this point.

And while that's true about the Surge tomes, the only things that are so dodgy you might want that are swordmasters, thieves, and pegasus knights - none of which are really things mages are generally happy to go toe-to-toe with when they can counter attack them, unless they're finishing them off after something else weakened them. Or just have such massive damage that they can one-shot them, I guess, but that's probably not happening often, especially with the pegasus knights.

My apologies!

No big. You were just speculating, so even if you'd thrown it in a spoiler block, I'd probably have read it anyway. I just think you're likely onto something and wonder if it might make things have more of an impact on me if I actually never caught it myself.

Yeah some games have Canto/Canter as a native in-built feature of Horse, Peg, and Wyv, but not all of'em! Luckily the way skill points work you can... fairly easy just make all your mounties have it?

Can you? SP seems to build pretty slowly. Heck, I don't think I was getting any at all until I put bond rings on everybody who wasn't using an Emblem Ring. So far I've only been able to afford to pick up some cheap (100-500 SP) skills - even characters who have been saving for a 1k skill like Canter are still a bit short.

I think chain guard is part of the Qi Adept ... specification (not sure of the word the game uses). Learned this the hard way when I changed one into a class that could still heal but couldn't chain guard anymore. There are a lot of other specifications but from what I've seen the only other one with a new mechanic is Backup that can do chain attacks when another unit attacks a target within their range.

The new class typing thing, yeah. So far, I believe I've seen:
- Dragon: gets bonuses to various effects when using Emblems (probably Alear only).
- Armored: does not get broken when attacked with the weapon their weapon loses to in the triangle. (Armored Knights, obviously.)
- Backup: adds a chain attack when in range of an enemy that an ally is attacking. (Unmounted melee classes that aren't Armored Knights.)
- Cavalry: extra movement. (Mounted non-fliers.)
- Covert: gain double the avoid bonus from terrain. (Archers and Thieves.)
- Flying: extra movement, ignores difficult terrain, can enter tiles other types can't, takes huge damage from bows. (Fliers, obviously.)
- Mystical: ignores dodge bonuses from terrain when attacking. (Mages, obviously.)
- Qi Adept: gets Chain Guard. (Monk/healers.)

Kind of feels like cavalry get the short end of the stick, since they're now down to just +1 movement compared to other classes (IIRC they used to be +2 compared to most, +1 compared to faster classes like Thief/Assassin), and don't get Canto/Canter naturally anymore.

[LaZodiac]

Can you? SP seems to build pretty slowly. Heck, I don't think I was getting any at all until I put bond rings on everybody who wasn't using an Emblem Ring. So far I've only been able to afford to pick up some cheap (100-500 SP) skills - even characters who have been saving for a 1k skill like Canter are still a bit short.


The new class typing thing, yeah. So far, I believe I've seen:
- Dragon: gets bonuses to various effects when using Emblems (probably Alear only).
- Armored: does not get broken when attacked with the weapon their weapon loses to in the triangle. (Armored Knights, obviously.)
- Backup: adds a chain attack when in range of an enemy that an ally is attacking. (Unmounted melee classes that aren't Armored Knights.)
- Cavalry: extra movement. (Mounted non-fliers.)
- Covert: gain double the avoid bonus from terrain. (Archers and Thieves.)
- Flying: extra movement, ignores difficult terrain, can enter tiles other types can't, takes huge damage from bows. (Fliers, obviously.)
- Mystical: ignores dodge bonuses from terrain when attacking. (Mages, obviously.)
- Qi Adept: gets Chain Guard. (Monk/healers.)

Kind of feels like cavalry get the short end of the stick, since they're now down to just +1 movement compared to other classes (IIRC they used to be +2 compared to most, +1 compared to faster classes like Thief/Assassin), and don't get Canto/Canter naturally anymore.

Correct! They actually mention that you gain no SP unless you've got some sort of ring on. Bond rings are slower than proper Emblems, though. A good way of getting SP is using Great Sacrifice while everyone is beat up- each person healed gives a bunch of SP... and usually gets you 100 exp straight up.

I completely forgot about those passives, except for Backup and Flying, obviously.

[Rising Phoenix]

I think I love and hate the game for making armors and axe users be good. Armor knights in particular are flipping amazing and a genuine threat. Mages are the only real way to deal with them, even with effective weapons you sometimes feel like you're only dealing chip damage. Of course this is on maddening not sure if that is the case on lower difficulties.

As for the Sigurd line I think 4 is the highest I've managed as well- in the Tiki paralogue. Speaking of Tiki holy sparks! Whoever thought that having an enemy that ignores res and def and also has 1-3 range needs to go think about his life decisions. My party was level 6-8 while the enemies where level 11. The ice dragons would do 20 damage per hit and root you...My highest HP unit I think had 37 health at the time... Not fun.

[Wayac]

Whoever thought that having an enemy that ignores res and def and also has 1-3 range needs to go think about his life decisions. My party was level 6-8 while the enemies where level 11. The ice dragons would do 20 damage per hit and root you...My highest HP unit I think had 37 health at the time... Not fun.

My guess is that you're "supposed" to put your hardest hitting (and preferably fast enough to double) unit in range and then chain guard them. I say guess because the one battle I've had against that enemy type was the same battle where I discovered my healer no longer had access to chain guard.

Also how is the DLC? I was going to pick it up for the Three Houses lords but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[LaZodiac]

My guess is that you're "supposed" to put your hardest hitting (and preferably fast enough to double) unit in range and then chain guard them. I say guess because the one battle I've had against that enemy type was the same battle where I discovered my healer no longer had access to chain guard.

Also how is the DLC? I was going to pick it up for the Three Houses lords but haven't gotten around to it yet.

The DLC is pretty good. If it's a taste of what the future maps are going to be like... there is going to be some difficult times ahead. Only one Divine Paralogue is available, and it's a tricky but profitable little challenge. Both Tiki and the Rivals emblems are great.

[Fiery Diamond]

Especially Tiki, and not for her skills. Engage turning you into a dragon and boosting your stats along with giving you a superb weapon (her claws) can turn a weaker unit into a powerhouse for three turns, which is great for leveling up units that aren't up to par yet.

I'm enjoying the game a lot, but there are a few things that irk me.

1) Skirmishes scale based on your level (not sure if it's based on average level or highest level or some combination - I think it's a combination) and there's a massive difficulty spike once all the enemies are advanced classes. Due to the way all the enemies rush you and there aren't a lot of maps with good choke points, it's really hard to level up weaker units once you reach that point (which I did at chapter twelve because I didn't realize they scaled based on your level rather than story progress).

1B) Silver and Gold skirmishes usually have only one or two special units, making grinding for gold pretty hard to do, and I tried to level ALL my units AND outfit them with upgraded gear, so I ran out of gold.

2) The Tower of Trials. I don't do online gaming, so it's just the regular one that's of interest to me. I was expecting (and hoping) for it to be like the tower in Sacred Stones. Instead, the maps are insanely difficult, require you to make them scaled to your party level just to get a halfway decent reward, and don't even let you keep experience from the fights themselves. So much for replacing the too-difficult skirmishes for grinding gold and experience!

3) SPOILER

Spoiler: Story-related Emblem stuff

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After you lose your emblems to the fell dragon, you lose out on all the boosts that would have made the aforementioned stuff easier, AND you can't inherit skills from Emblems you formerly had even if you have the right bond level.

4) I've read that there's no NG+, which means all that hard work accumulating SP (and if you bothered with trying for specific upgraded bond rings) can't be used on future playthroughs. I really hope they change that in an update somewhere down the line.

I'm currently on chapter 13, probably going to do several chapters today.

[Rising Phoenix]

My guess is that you're "supposed" to put your hardest hitting (and preferably fast enough to double) unit in range and then chain guard them. I say guess because the one battle I've had against that enemy type was the same battle where I discovered my healer no longer had access to chain guard.

Also how is the DLC? I was going to pick it up for the Three Houses lords but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Doubling?! On Maddening?! You sweet sweet summer child.

As for chain guarding...yeah it works... Problem is the map constantly spams reinforcements every three turns which include (on top of mages and thieves) 2-3 ice dragons every wave in additions to the ones on the map...Yeah its a special kind of hell.

Tiki and 3H emblems are worth it though. In addition to making anyone near unkillable, Tiki also gives the holder an aptitude boost to their stat goods which is very nice. 3H emblem comes with an exp boost and a pseudo galeforce which are nice. Neither are game breaking on maddening unfortunately.

Edit: Also fun fact later chapters have soft enrage turn counts: AKA the longer you wait the more re-reinforcements spawn in. You might be able to deal with these on normal, but on higher difficulties you must blitzkrieg to the boss asap.

Edit 2: There is no new game plus atm. Though looking at how long it takes to grind inheritable skills I wouldn't be surprised at all if they add (and hopefully add it quite soon).

[Zevox]

Correct! They actually mention that you gain no SP unless you've got some sort of ring on. Bond rings are slower than proper Emblems, though. A good way of getting SP is using Great Sacrifice while everyone is beat up- each person healed gives a bunch of SP... and usually gets you 100 exp straight up.

Yeah, I randomly decided to use that move before finishing off a chapter's boss last night, just to see what it looked like, and was rather surprised to see Celine suddenly jump up a whole level doing it. Pretty crazy.

I think I love and hate the game for making armors and axe users be good. Armor knights in particular are flipping amazing and a genuine threat. Mages are the only real way to deal with them, even with effective weapons you sometimes feel like you're only dealing chip damage. Of course this is on maddening not sure if that is the case on lower difficulties.

Aside from effective weapons, that just sounds like what Armor Knights are usually like to me? Try to throw normal weapon-users at them and you'll have a rough time of getting their health down, so you use the effective weapons or mages. On hard at least I'm not having any trouble cutting through them with armorslayers and hammers.

Also how is the DLC? I was going to pick it up for the Three Houses lords but haven't gotten around to it yet.

The DLC is pretty good. If it's a taste of what the future maps are going to be like... there is going to be some difficult times ahead. Only one Divine Paralogue is available, and it's a tricky but profitable little challenge. Both Tiki and the Rivals emblems are great.

I'm not touching the DLC myself. If I could just buy the Edelgard/Dimitri/Claude Emblem for a reasonable price I would, maybe even Tiki, but a $30 pass for a bunch of stuff I'm otherwise not interested in, and future additions to the game that'll be coming after I've already finished playing it is a hard no. They eventually got me to do that with Three Houses, but that was primarily for Cindered Shadows, combined with the fact that Three Houses specifically impressed me so much.

On another note, I'm up through chapter 11 now, and oooh boy!

Spoiler

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Finally got Lyn's Emblem! I've been waiting for ones from games I've played (besides Marth, since Shadow Dragon was eh, and Micaiah, who I like but her Emblem is only okay), but especially Lyn's. And with one exception, I'm super happy with it. The illusory doubles ability is amazing - extra chain attacks or attack-soaking distractions? And it's a send-up to her old critical hit animations, which I love. And you seem to be able to do it repeatedly as long as you're engaged, it's not once per engage like most such abilities. Plus of course it's pumping your speed, because what else would it be doing stat-wise?

My one gripe is that they made her an archer. I mean, I get it, they want the Emblems to provide a variety of styles, she technically gets bow proficiency when she promotes, and if they made every emblem use their main weapon then the only one who wouldn't be a swordsman is Micaiah. But dang it, when I think of Lyn, I think the Mani Katti and Sol Katti, not archery. At least she still gets the former, though it takes until bond level 10 to get to use it instead of her killer bow.

Oh, and story-wise, you're definitely not Sombron, that's clear now. Given Veyle turned out to be his daughter and was looking for someone though, I have an idea who you might actually be. Almost a shame, honestly, I feel like that might've been a better twist.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, I randomly decided to use that move before finishing off a chapter's boss last night, just to see what it looked like, and was rather surprised to see Celine suddenly jump up a whole level doing it. Pretty crazy.


Aside from effective weapons, that just sounds like what Armor Knights are usually like to me? Try to throw normal weapon-users at them and you'll have a rough time of getting their health down, so you use the effective weapons or mages. On hard at least I'm not having any trouble cutting through them with armorslayers and hammers.



I'm not touching the DLC myself. If I could just buy the Edelgard/Dimitri/Claude Emblem for a reasonable price I would, maybe even Tiki, but a $30 pass for a bunch of stuff I'm otherwise not interested in, and future additions to the game that'll be coming after I've already finished playing it is a hard no. They eventually got me to do that with Three Houses, but that was primarily for Cindered Shadows, combined with the fact that Three Houses specifically impressed me so much.

On another note, I'm up through chapter 11 now, and oooh boy!

Spoiler

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Finally got Lyn's Emblem! I've been waiting for ones from games I've played (besides Marth, since Shadow Dragon was eh, and Micaiah, who I like but her Emblem is only okay), but especially Lyn's. And with one exception, I'm super happy with it. The illusory doubles ability is amazing - extra chain attacks or attack-soaking distractions? And it's a send-up to her old critical hit animations, which I love. And you seem to be able to do it repeatedly as long as you're engaged, it's not once per engage like most such abilities. Plus of course it's pumping your speed, because what else would it be doing stat-wise?

My one gripe is that they made her an archer. I mean, I get it, they want the Emblems to provide a variety of styles, she technically gets bow proficiency when she promotes, and if they made every emblem use their main weapon then the only one who wouldn't be a swordsman is Micaiah. But dang it, when I think of Lyn, I think the Mani Katti and Sol Katti, not archery. At least she still gets the former, though it takes until bond level 10 to get to use it instead of her killer bow.

Oh, and story-wise, you're definitely not Sombron, that's clear now. Given Veyle turned out to be his daughter and was looking for someone though, I have an idea who you might actually be. Almost a shame, honestly, I feel like that might've been a better twist.

The thing with Armour Knights is that they often have Bad movement, and focus on defense over any stat. The older Kaga-era emblems treated armour knights pretty poorly... and modern fremblems likewise did not really give them much. Gatrie is like, the first truly Solid knight, and I'm pretty sure he's still not that used overall, if I recall.

The explicit "they do not care about breaking" bonus, plus the seemingly enhanced "no" to non effective weapons they've gotten, seems like a buff. That, and having Emblems allows one to fix some of their issues: I stapled Sigurd to Louis and he just about tore through everything in his path.

[Rising Phoenix]

The thing with Armour Knights is that they often have Bad movement, and focus on defense over any stat. The older Kaga-era emblems treated armour knights pretty poorly... and modern fremblems likewise did not really give them much. Gatrie is like, the first truly Solid knight, and I'm pretty sure he's still not that used overall, if I recall.

The explicit "they do not care about breaking" bonus, plus the seemingly enhanced "no" to non effective weapons they've gotten, seems like a buff. That, and having Emblems allows one to fix some of their issues: I stapled Sigurd to Louis and he just about tore through everything in his path.

That’s my experience with Louis. He is pretty great.

Also I finally finished Ike’s paralogue by the skin of my teeth after five tries…that was something… sheesh…

[Zevox]

The thing with Armour Knights is that they often have Bad movement, and focus on defense over any stat. The older Kaga-era emblems treated armour knights pretty poorly... and modern fremblems likewise did not really give them much. Gatrie is like, the first truly Solid knight, and I'm pretty sure he's still not that used overall, if I recall.

The explicit "they do not care about breaking" bonus, plus the seemingly enhanced "no" to non effective weapons they've gotten, seems like a buff. That, and having Emblems allows one to fix some of their issues: I stapled Sigurd to Louis and he just about tore through everything in his path.

I thought we were discussing them as enemies? That seemed to be the context for the remark I was responding to.

But as for as our characters, I've never found their lack of mobility much of an issue. It's not like most characters move their maximum possible distance every turn, nor like you're often chasing enemies that are moving away from you. And they're always a solid wall against most non-mage enemies. I've always got one in my army.

Speaking of characters, who's everybody using? And who are you finding lacking? I'm getting curious, because I'm getting to the point (chapter 15 now) where I've got so many I really need to start making some choices, and sadly some I've wanted to use are falling off.

Spoiler: Because maybe people who aren't midway through the game will be reading.

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I'm at the point where I'm pretty much dumping Alfred and Celine. Alfred just been mediocre at everything for a long time, and he's not appearing to get better. Celine has the problem of being a mage who isn't gaining magic, which is an issue I already had with Clanne that caused me to ditch him early. There's enough good mages to go around (Citrine, Ivy, and I turned Jean into one as well) that I can't justify continuing to use her when her magic score is almost double-digits behind theirs. Granted, Citrine could use some speed, but she's less hopeless there than Celine is with magic, I feel.

Boucheron is also edging towards getting dumped due to his stats tending towards mediocrity... except that I don't really have a replacement axe user if I do that. I'm using Jade a little bit, but an armored knight with an axe isn't quite the same as a traditional axe user. I actually thought about class-changing Lapis into an axe fighter as a replacement, since that should shore up her slight strength issues, but then I noticed that her build stat is totally incapable of supporting the weight of axes even with her high speed. There is Bunet as well, but I'm not inclined to start using pre-promotes until I'm starting to promote my units, and he's another armored unit like Jade (albeit a mounted one). I don't know, maybe once I start promoting units I'll just have some that get axes as a secondary weapon, and that'll be good enough.

I'm also trying to salvage Etie, whose lack of speed has forced me to change to Alcryst as my archer of choice, by making her a sword fighter. I'll need to do some grinding for that though sadly, as I only just got the money to afford another second seal - that was a long string of missions that gave me no gold at all - and I left her on the sidelines for like five chapters now after deciding I wanted to do that, so she's behind.

Meanwhile, MVPs have been Alear (naturally), Chloé, and Diamant, with an honorable mention to Louis, Jean (changed to a Mage), and surprisingly Framme. I don't like Framme as a character at all, she's super annoying; but she is getting good stats for me, so I actually gave her Celica for a while so she could use magic when engaged, and that was working out very well. Once she promotes and can use magic naturally, she'll likely become one of my best or my outright best mage. In the meantime though, Alear of course is doing main character/swordmastery things very well, especially since I gave her Lyn's ring; Chloé is just a solid Pegasus Knight, occasionally lacking in strength as usual for the class, but never too badly; and Diamant is just all-around strong. Louis has been a dependable wall and better non-Pegasus lance user than Alfred (and this despite me never giving him Sigurd's ring; I had that on Boucheron, then Etie), and Jean has been my best Mage since I class changed him, but feels like he's starting to hit some bad luck with speed himself. Hopefully that'll just work itself out though, he is an Aptitude character after all. Or Expertise is what they're calling it now, I guess.

Timerra I've only had for a couple of missions, but looks like she could be another really good one, and that despite the fact that I handed Ike off to Diamant since it feels like she shouldn't have an Emblem ring that actively makes her worse at dodging attacks. Thinking once I get the other rings back I'll give her one of those (besides Micaiah). Or maybe Corrin will end up looking like a good one for her, I should be getting him (her? I can't tell for sure from the card if it's male or female Corrin) soon from the sounds of things.

The mid-game here is actually kind of frustrating in a way related to all of that: maybe it's just because I'm on hard, but it seems to presume I've been grinding a fair bit, and is having missions levels raise faster than my own are. I'm now averaging most of my characters being 2 levels behind story missions recommended, and 3-4 behind the skirmishes - and it's now deciding to starting throwing promoted enemies in, too, which annoyingly I often don't find visually distinct enough to notice as promoted at a glance, so they can be a nasty surprise. I've actually even had all of my new recruits showing up above the rest of my squad's level for a little while, the recent ones are just coming in even higher than the ones from earlier - my most recent acquisition started at level 19, while most of my army is at 16-17, and my highest others (aside from pre-promotes) are 18. And the only one of those 18s who wasn't recruited in just the last couple of missions and basically started that high is Alear.

Basically, feels like the game is trying to force me to grind, and I do not appreciate that. It's not like I've not been doing any skirmishes either, just not more of them than I have story missions. I try to watch for Gold Corrupted ones, since I have money issues, though I've done a couple of others as well, plus the first paralogue.

[Wayac]

I try to watch for Gold Corrupted ones, since I have money issues, though I've done a couple of others as well, plus the first paralogue.

I did one Gold Corrupted skrimish, but I think I only got 1000g out of it (off an enemy drop). Whereas if I do a Training skirmish it rewards 3000g upon completion. Is that what everyone else is seeing?

Finally got Byleth and dumped a lot of the bond shards I'd been hoarding into Three Houses rings. Managed to get the three house leaders to A and noticed something interesting for their S rank in the upgrade menu: apparently in addition to extra stats they also get a passive skill. I've gotten random S rank rings for other characters but none of them had an additional skill so I'm guessing it's only for Lord characters for their respective title?

[Rising Phoenix]

So I've hit my first big major disappointment with the game and that's

Spoiler

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the paralogues. They are utterly soulless and the premise between each other is exactly the same- fight fabrications. Apart from a bit of a chat at the start and end there's nothing else. No character development nada.

At least give us some banter between retainers.

They are all quite hard particularly Ike's which has an enrage turn count. Micaiah's one which I am on atm appears to as well and I am not entirely sure how to take the fight to her atm given that you are so grossly outnumbered at every point of the fight.

As to who I am using.

Spoiler

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Diamant with Ike, Yunaka with Corrin along with Alear with Tiki are nigh unkillable. They can easily 1 vs 10 at the moment. Diamant and Alear due to being ridonkulously tanky with their set ups and Yunaka because Corrin lets her set up fog in a 3 by 3 square around her giving cover units 60 avoid and everyone else 30. This is extremely broken and I have used it to cheese some harder fights- stick everyone in a corner with two choke points and wait for the enemies to come to you.

Berserker!Boucheront with Lyn is also good along with Louis with Sigurd but they have durability and severe mage aversion problems respectively at this point of the game.\

Framme and Lanne are ok as mages. Etie may have no speed but she one shots any flyer at this point. Fogato is fantastic as magic bow user (he's basically another mobile mage). Seadal is a dance and does what dancer's do.

Bringing up the rear is Alfred. I have tried so hard, but he gets doubled by everything including armors! ATM he has been delegated to carrying Byleth around for Godde's Dance and instruct spam. Jean I've made into a martial monk, shielding other's is a cute tactic. But I think I would like the raw fire power of another mage at this stage.

The story is entertaining if predictable at this point as well.

[Zevox]

Apparently, dataminers have figured out who the other DLC Emblems will be, if anyone wants to know:

Spoiler

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Hector (Blazing Sword)
Veronica (Heroes)
Soren (Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn)
Camilla (Fates)
Chrom [possibly paired with Robin, details of that unclear] (Awakening)

Soren's a fun surprise in there. Otherwise, I suppose they're fairly predictable picks, aside from the Heroes character I've never heard of since I wouldn't touch that game with a thirty nine and a half foot pole. Still not selling me a $30 dlc pack personally, though, that price tag is just way too high.

I did one Gold Corrupted skrimish, but I think I only got 1000g out of it (off an enemy drop). Whereas if I do a Training skirmish it rewards 3000g upon completion. Is that what everyone else is seeing?

You know, I did not remember getting gold from a Training Skirmish, but I just did one to check, and you're absolutely right. Wish I'd know that a while ago, I could've second sealed Etie way back when I decided I wanted to, instead of grinding her now...

I have had Gold Corrupted skirmishes include two enemies with gold drops of up to 1500 gold on them, but that only brings it up to par with Training skirmishes sometimes, if that 3k is what they always give you. That's just stupid, why does the skirmish type that tells you "do this one for gold" give less than another random type of skirmish? Hopefully they'll notice how dumb that is and change it in a patch sometime.

Finally got Byleth and dumped a lot of the bond shards I'd been hoarding into Three Houses rings. Managed to get the three house leaders to A and noticed something interesting for their S rank in the upgrade menu: apparently in addition to extra stats they also get a passive skill. I've gotten random S rank rings for other characters but none of them had an additional skill so I'm guessing it's only for Lord characters for their respective title?

Ah, I see I'm not the only one who's focusing on bond rings from particular Emblems that I favor, then. Most of my early-game ones were from Micaiah, and now that I've got them I'm mostly focused on Lyn and Byleth's.

And I don't think it's Lords per se that get a special skill on their top-rank bond ring - the one I know I've seen is Elinicia, for instance. Though hers is questionable, it's a merciful effect that causes you to leave an enemy with 1 hp when you would otherwise kill them. Which I can only see you wanting when you're trying to baby-train a unit that's fallen way behind in levels, so it actually makes her ring worse for general use to take it to that top rank.

As to who I am using.

Spoiler

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Diamant with Ike, Yunaka with Corrin along with Alear with Tiki are nigh unkillable. They can easily 1 vs 10 at the moment. Diamant and Alear due to being ridonkulously tanky with their set ups and Yunaka because Corrin lets her set up fog in a 3 by 3 square around her giving cover units 60 avoid and everyone else 30. This is extremely broken and I have used it to cheese some harder fights- stick everyone in a corner with two choke points and wait for the enemies to come to you.

Berserker!Boucheront with Lyn is also good along with Louis with Sigurd but they have durability and severe mage aversion problems respectively at this point of the game.\

Framme and Lanne are ok as mages. Etie may have no speed but she one shots any flyer at this point. Fogato is fantastic as magic bow user (he's basically another mobile mage). Seadal is a dance and does what dancer's do.

Bringing up the rear is Alfred. I have tried so hard, but he gets doubled by everything including armors! ATM he has been delegated to carrying Byleth around for Godde's Dance and instruct spam. Jean I've made into a martial monk, shielding other's is a cute tactic. But I think I would like the raw fire power of another mage at this stage.

Spoiler

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I haven't gotten Corrin yet, but cool there. I'm still using Yunaka for now, but she's having serious strength issues. As in, she's gained 1 point of strength since I recruited her, and is now level 18. I slapped Micaiah's emblem on her iron dagger to make her an excellent doge-tank, but even with a silver dagger that she can consistently double with, damage is a struggle for her.

I kind of feel like almost anyone whose strength/magic didn't suck would be insane with Lyn's Emblem. Her and Ike are perhaps the two most powerful Emblems I've seen so far (which is all of them besides Corrin, Eirika, and the DLC ones). Though at this point I don't think I'm ever taking Lyn's Emblem off Alear, it feels too perfect to me. And I'm probably sticking with the Ike/Diamant duo as well myself, the synergy there is obvious and quite strong.

With Byleth, I find it kind of funny that he's one of only a handful of playable characters in his game who cannot ever become a dancer, but in this game he gets to be a super-dancer. I get what they're going for, but still amusing. Not sure who I'm going to have him land on long term, I'm using him to help train Etie to get her caught back up for the moment.

[Rising Phoenix]

Cute little exploit about bond rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Te5MmTrVE

Also I did not realize how good some of these are...

[LaZodiac]

Cute little exploit about bond rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Te5MmTrVE

Also I did not realize how good some of these are...

I love how, in the most simplest ways possible... this is just regular Fire Emblem RNG seed manipulation, the way Fire Emblem RNG seed manipulation has always worked since like forever? It always rolls every roll right away, as people who've emulated and used save states have no doubt experienced.

[Rising Phoenix]

Also Yunaka may be the best unit in the game...

Spoiler

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I was struggling so hard in Micaiah's paralogue. Had to restart five times...Then I thought screw it I will just dodge tank my way through it...and I cleared it in three turns. Didn't get any gold rewards, but its better then not being able to clear it at all...

Yeah Yunaka + Corrin is that good its ridiculous.

On a different note whoever designed the Micaiah and Ike paralogues must seriously love these games...These chapters are haaaaaaard.

Edit: Some Ike bond convos spoilers obviously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voBIVhxwgg4

[Rodin]

I love how, in the most simplest ways possible... this is just regular Fire Emblem RNG seed manipulation, the way Fire Emblem RNG seed manipulation has always worked since like forever? It always rolls every roll right away, as people who've emulated and used save states have no doubt experienced.

Figuring out how to get around Fire Emblem RNG is fun.

Example scenario - you have a 85% chance to hit an enemy. You miss that attack. If you roll back time and and try again, you miss again. Simple enough. But what if you try and hit with a different unit with a similar hit chance (say 90% this time)?

It'll miss again. Because the roll isn't stored on your unit, it's stored on your next dice roll. So you have to "break" the bad roll with a really high percentage hit, or deliberately waste an attack with a weak unit.

I spent about 5 dragon pulses earlier today trying to burn through a pair of Wolf Riders which lucked into incredible dodge RNG (90% chance plus required on three total hits, and I needed every hit to take them down).

-------

More generally, does anyone else feel like the game is harder than other recent Fire Emblems? I'm in Chapter 12 and one of the bosses has a Brave weapon already. Enemy bosses come with multiple health bars and bodyguards, and they do not sit around waiting for you to mass your troops and attack. Enemies are tankier, requiring much more coordination than the rocket tag that was Three Houses.

I never used to worry about the Smithy in the previous games - now it feels mandatory to keep up with enemy health numbers. I used to "equip and forget" such that the fancy Armorslayer would go on a character and be owned by them until it ran out of durability. Now I'm juggling equipment at the start of every battle to ensure the very best equipment is getting used. New recruits find their fancy swords confiscated.

It feels like a halfway step between Hard and Maddening from Three Houses. On Hard you could send units out in pairs or even solo. Maddening means three or four units teaming up to take down one enemy. Engage isn't quite that bad, but it still leaves me feeling I should have formed an A team and abandoned the rest of my useless units. And then abandoned some of my A team as higher level new recruits show up.

[Fiery Diamond]

I am terrible at videogames despite how much I like them, so I pretty much never play on harder difficulties. I've only beat two FE games on the hardest difficulty: FE7 and Path of Radiance, both of which were very difficult for me. Anyway, the point is that I've been playing the game on Normal_Casual (best decision they made, IMO, was adding Casual Mode to the series, as I'm the type to refuse to keep playing if I permalose a character and have to restart the chapter; Casual allows me to keep trucking). And I've still had a couple chapters where a character retreated, even on Normal, and for the skirmishes losing characters has been commonplace, especially when trying to level up characters with poor level-ups that are levels behind my leads. It really seems like the game is designed around you playing smart with the Emblems... which I'm extremely bad about, and the time frame right after the battle in the cathedral puts you at a disadvantage in the skirmishes in that regard.

I ended up leveling everyone up to level 5 advanced class before focusing on a core team. You all have had different luck than me when it comes to your level ups: I'm still deciding whether to keep Chloe or Ivy (I'm in the home stretch, on chapter 23) because both have been underwhelming, while Clanne is the best mage as a Sage. Framme and Jean were useful base class units, but I've pretty much offloaded healing duties to other units at this point. Louis is awesome, obviously, but Diamant (another of my core team) is sadly underwhelming. Kagetsu has terrible Str and is becoming worse as time goes on, though he was an amazing crit-master for a long while. I put Tiki on Anna for most of her first tier, so even though her Str is less than I'd like as a Warrior, she's still one of my main damage dealers. Seadal is a surprisingly good attacker against mage types in addition to his dancing. Etie basically got dropped because Alcryst is just better. Celine is an awful mage, and while Citrine has great Mag, she has awful Spd, so even as a Mage Knight she's not as good as Clanne, who can also heal on top of being better even with his lower Mag.

[Rising Phoenix]

More generally, does anyone else feel like the game is harder than other recent Fire Emblems? I'm in Chapter 12 and one of the bosses has a Brave weapon already. Enemy bosses come with multiple health bars and bodyguards, and they do not sit around waiting for you to mass your troops and attack. Enemies are tankier, requiring much more coordination than the rocket tag that was Three Houses.

I never used to worry about the Smithy in the previous games - now it feels mandatory to keep up with enemy health numbers. I used to "equip and forget" such that the fancy Armorslayer would go on a character and be owned by them until it ran out of durability. Now I'm juggling equipment at the start of every battle to ensure the very best equipment is getting used. New recruits find their fancy swords confiscated.

It feels like a halfway step between Hard and Maddening from Three Houses. On Hard you could send units out in pairs or even solo. Maddening means three or four units teaming up to take down one enemy. Engage isn't quite that bad, but it still leaves me feeling I should have formed an A team and abandoned the rest of my useless units. And then abandoned some of my A team as higher level new recruits show up.

I am playing on maddening and going into the game blind isn't helping but imo this game is harder then lunatic birthright... at the very least on some paralogues. Lack of funds means that you should definitely focus on your A team and dump everyone else. Every single stat point matters on maddening. Some maps I just cut my losses and run, being gold poor be damned.