Fire Emblem

[Battleship789]

I much prefer Oujay to Deick. And Clarine's magic score is pitiful, but supporting her with Rutger allowed her to double a swordmaster that had about three levels on her.
/late as hell

Technically, the support has no bearing on the ability to double (unless you meant a two-shot kill, in which the only thing that a Clarine x Rutger support changes is Crit Chance/Accuracy.). Your point still stands, though: Clarine's speed growth is rather amazing.

[tonberrian]

Awakening's demo is pretty fun. I think I'm going to run a female Avatar for the first game, and pair her off with Crom. Dark Flier looks really nice.

That seems oddly familiar...

Awakening's demo is pretty fun. I think I'm going to run a female Avatar for the first game, and pair her off with Crom. Dark Flier looks really nice.

[Todasmile]

That seems oddly familiar...

Heh.

The game itself is also quite fun. I'm playing Hard Mode, and it's... still pretty easy, but it's getting a bit more difficult. Chapter 3 saw my mage girl being oneshotted by a Hammer Fighter.

[Zevox]

Heh.

The game itself is also quite fun. I'm playing Hard Mode, and it's... still pretty easy, but it's getting a bit more difficult. Chapter 3 saw my mage girl being oneshotted by a Hammer Fighter.

Hard mode is proving actually hard after the first two chapters. You really don't seem to have much breathing space for mistakes - a slight miscalculation will cost you a unit. Enemies have good speed, too, so double-attacking is rare with most units - my only consistent double attacker at this point is Sumia, your first Pegasus Knight (and my Avatar has speed as her strong stat!) - and some fast enemies (like Thieves) will double most of your units.

I must say, the pair up mechanic is proving quite handy. It made Frederick useful without feeding him xp early on, and it makes controlling which units get experience in general much easier. Also, of course, building points towards supports.

Speaking of, I'm starting to pick out pairs for marriages. I'm going with Sumia for Chrom - obvious crush is obvious, and rather cute. Also, I rather liked that scene where she swooped in and saved him at the start of chapter 3. I'm also thinking of pairing Sully and Vaike, and my Avatar with Stahl. Not really sure about the others yet.

Though speaking of, has anyone else tried the "Hubba Tester" feature in the Extras menu? It can be rather amusing.

[Todasmile]

Hard mode is proving actually hard after the first two chapters. You really don't seem to have much breathing space for mistakes - a slight miscalculation will cost you a unit. Enemies have good speed, too, so double-attacking is rare with most units - my only consistent double attacker at this point is Sumia, your first Pegasus Knight (and my Avatar has speed as her strong stat!) - and some fast enemies (like Thieves) will double most of your units.

I must say, the pair up mechanic is proving quite handy. It made Frederick useful without feeding him xp early on, and it makes controlling which units get experience in general much easier. Also, of course, building points towards supports.

Speaking of, I'm starting to pick out pairs for marriages. I'm going with Sumia for Chrom - obvious crush is obvious, and rather cute. Also, I rather liked that scene where she swooped in and saved him at the start of chapter 3. I'm also thinking of pairing Sully and Vaike, and my Avatar with Stahl. Not really sure about the others yet.

Though speaking of, has anyone else tried the "Hubba Tester" feature in the Extras menu? It can be rather amusing.

Yeah, I almost lost my Avatar in ch. 2 but he dodged a 78% chance.

I'm personally going with Sully and Chrom, and Avatar and... Chrom's sister.

[Zevox]

Yeah, I almost lost my Avatar in ch. 2 but he dodged a 78% chance.

I had the opposite luck there - had to restart that chapter because of a critical hit (that had a single-digit chance of triggering) one-shotting one of my units. Twice.

I'm personally going with Sully and Chrom, and Avatar and... Chrom's sister.

I don't know that I'll be able to pair off Lissa, honestly. She just seems too young for that. It's a tad creepy.

[A Rainy Knight]

Hubba Tester is pretty fun. "I'm not one to judge, ladies!"

So, I've already paired Chrom up with Sumia since it seemed like the obvious pairing, and now I'm just deciding on who to pair my avatar up with. Lissa, maybe?

Anyone have some favorite battle quotes yet? "It's Vaike time!" never gets old for me. Besides that, Gregor's pretty fun in general and I think I caught Nowi saying something like "RAAAAAGE!" on a critical once.

[John Cribati]

Something that bugs me.

An Iron Lance has 8 Weight. A Javelin has 11 Weight.

Iron Axe has 10 Weight, but the Hand Axe has 12.

The weapons specifically designed for throwing at people are heavier. I get that the game does this for balance issues, but I can't help but wonder what the blacksmith was thinking.

[TheSummoner]

Maybe they need more weight keep their balance when thrown....?

[Starsign]

So when I get Awakening, I'm gonna go do a playthrough without using Second Seals, try to play through like this is Sacred Stones with only the Branching Promotions. Of course this doesn't mean that I won't be pairing everyone like crazy I already have an idea on who Chrom, Sumia, Avatar, and Lissa will marry.

For those who have played Awakening, how well does the Pair Up system work for characters who are generally very different in movement? (Chrom and Sumia in particular) Will it give Chrom Sumia's flight benefits or are characters generally better pairing up with a unit with similar classes? (ie: Fighter and Mercenary)

[Dragoon]

For those who have played Awakening, how well does the Pair Up system work for characters who are generally very different in movement? (Chrom and Sumia in particular) Will it give Chrom Sumia's flight benefits or are characters generally better pairing up with a unit with similar classes? (ie: Fighter and Mercenary)

I believe for the Pair Up System, based on the demo, the movement is based on who is in front of the Pair Up.

Also, from what I have heard from various places about the delay, that a few EB stores in Canada released the game early last week, and because of that, Nintendo retaliated by sending the game late to GameStop and similar stores. I believe that GameStop and EB are owned by the same parent company. So blame Canada, maybe.

[huttj509]

I believe for the Pair Up System, based on the demo, the movement is based on who is in front of the Pair Up.

Also, from what I have heard from various places about the delay, that a few EB stores in Canada released the game early last week, and because of that, Nintendo retaliated by sending the game late to GameStop and similar stores. I believe that GameStop and EB are owned by the same parent company. So blame Canada, maybe.

Only if Nintendo retaliated against Gamestop, Target, Wal-Mart, AND Best Buy.

And made the decision on when to ship over the weekend before a Monday release because that's the timeframe they had after learning some stores in Canada had it late last week.

And sent it to Canada stores before other places BEFORE deciding to retaliate.

...I don't buy the retaliation theory.

[dgnslyr]

Something that bugs me.

An Iron Lance has 8 Weight. A Javelin has 11 Weight.

Iron Axe has 10 Weight, but the Hand Axe has 12.

The weapons specifically designed for throwing at people are heavier. I get that the game does this for balance issues, but I can't help but wonder what the blacksmith was thinking.

Maybe throwing weapons aren't actually more massive but just a bit more unwieldy to use? A throwing spear is made specifically for throwing, so stabbing with it could feel clumsier than stabbing with a stabbing spear, and even just throwing it like intended is tricky business.

[Goldfly]

Anyone have some favorite battle quotes yet? "It's Vaike time!" never gets old for me. Besides that, Gregor's pretty fun in general and I think I caught Nowi saying something like "RAAAAAGE!" on a critical once.

YES. Nowi is the perfect source of hilarious battle quotes, I swear. Owain is pretty good as well, but quite to the level of Nowi.

Can I also say that Lucina and Cynthia have just about the cutest sibling supports possible?

[McNum]

I am so jealous of you all playing Awakening right now. Ah well, I'll just have to wait a bit. Playing some Sacred Stones to keep the urge to play Fire Emblem down a bit.

I've pushed on a bit more in Sacred Stones, and I'm finding Gold to be an issue. Need more of it for weapons and Heal staves. Also need to see if I want to train Amelia. Ross is turning out to be an awesome Pirate, so the trainee classes could be worth it. Amelia is just so terribly weak at the moment.

And for just a touch of sillyness, I present to you a Natural 1 on a Knowledge(Nobility) check:

Spoiler

Show

Prince Innes is a ruthless tactician and his spies are everywhere!


He's taking it in stride, though, apart from an aside glance. You'd almost think he's taking it as a compliment.

Sorry for the phone-quality picture, but the 3DS doesn't do screenshots in GBA games.

Speaking of Innes, a prepromoted Sniper? Hm, is he worth sticking with? I already got a decent archer in Neimi. But Innes seems fun as a character, so... Dual archers? I mean, I don't really have to worry about EXP loss due to the tower and the skirmishes.

[dgnslyr]

Gold becomes scarce if you do a lot of grinding at the Tower. Grinding at an arena will give you more gold than you know what to do with, but in Sacred Stones the last chance is the same map you recruit Marisa, so you're basically out of luck. Monsters in the Tower sometimes carry little parcels of gold, but it's always much, much less than the gold spent on weapon uses clearing out the same floor. Some chests in the Tower also randomly carry gems, but those are very rare.

Really, in Fire Emblem, you're at the game's mercy when it comes to gold, even with the arena. Fortunately, most games are pretty generous about this, and I'm pretty stingy when it comes to buying weapons, so it's rarely an issue. Sacred Stones is one game where gold deficiency stands out, though, because it's so tempting to grind out the tower and inadvertently spend all your money on replacing weapons.

As for Innes, he's a prepromote, which is sorta bad, and a Sniper, which is also sorta bad. Archers and snipers are considered weak because, for the most part, they can only fight on the player phase, and are mostly on the enemy phase, when most of the fighting happens. This is why Ranger is such a god-send for archers, actually.

I actually like Amelia quite a bit, partly because she's a good Paladin (and Great Knight and General, but Movement is King so I go with the fastest horse), but mostly because she's adorable and murdersome once she gets going.

[McNum]

I was considering General for Amelia if I train her, because, you know, little girl in giant armor is funny. I kind of like archers in Fire Emblem, it's true they rarely have moments where they take out half an army on the Enemy Phase, but most bosses start out with their melee only weapon equipped, making them easy prey for an archer. If the archer can hurt the boss.

My Vanessa is absolutely crazy, though. She capped speed at level 10 and has more Defense than my Gilliam. The only thing she lacks is a little Strength, but she still has 7 levels left until promotion time. Tana is... okay. Should probably run her in a skirmish or something to get her better. Eirika got an Angelic Robe so she can take a hit more. She may be a Myrmidon-like Lord, but she has had terrible luck with Defense gains.

[Zevox]

For those who have played Awakening, how well does the Pair Up system work for characters who are generally very different in movement? (Chrom and Sumia in particular) Will it give Chrom Sumia's flight benefits or are characters generally better pairing up with a unit with similar classes? (ie: Fighter and Mercenary)

As Dragoon said, movement is based on the active unit of the pair. However, I do know that pairing up Frederick, the game's Jeigan character (a Great Knight), with anyone resulted in a +1 movement to that unit, so perhaps promoted mounted units give that benefit.

I do find that pairing Chrom with Sumia is very useful in general though, since it gives him enough speed to double-attack most enemies (on hard, mind you), and shores up his resistance, plus a minor boost to a couple of other stats. As support rank increases it seems that the stat boost and odds of a dual attack occurring raise as well, so that helps too.

[tonberrian]

Each class has a set of bonuses that it grants to characters upon pairing up; this is usually weighted depending on what the class is generally good at - mages give more magic, thieves grant movement, etc. This is the bonus that supports increase. There's a separate bonus for high stats that is not affected by supports.

[Todasmile]

As Dragoon said, movement is based on the active unit of the pair. However, I do know that pairing up Frederick, the game's Jeigan character (a Great Knight), with anyone resulted in a +1 movement to that unit, so perhaps promoted mounted units give that benefit.

I do find that pairing Chrom with Sumia is very useful in general though, since it gives him enough speed to double-attack most enemies (on hard, mind you), and shores up his resistance, plus a minor boost to a couple of other stats. As support rank increases it seems that the stat boost and odds of a dual attack occurring raise as well, so that helps too.

Best pairing I've found so far is Vaike and Sumia. If those two could support it would be PERFECT.

[Zevox]

Hm, so, when do you get access to Second Seals? I've gotten my Avatar and Lissa to level 10, and am eager to change them into a Pegasus Knight and Troubador respectively.

Also, looking over the class list on Serenes Forest, is it just me, or is the War Monk/Cleric class a pretty pointless addition? I mean, since it can only be promoted to via classes that have very poor strength, giving your healer an axe is rendered highly impractical, especially compared to the alternatives, Sage and Valkyrie, which use a stat healers are at least okay with, magic.

Oh, and I grabbed the DLC and completed it. While it's nice to have Marth and all, I'm left really questioning whether DLC like this will be worth it when it actually costs something. One mission which, aside from involving familiar faces from the rest of the series as your opponents, wasn't all that interesting, plus one new character doesn't seem like it would be worth much money to me. Maybe if they're just a dollar or two I'd be okay, but much more and I'd only pick up ones that let me recruit personal favorite characters (Lyn, maybe Ike, maybe Eirika because she comes with an item that lets other characters reclass to her unique class).

[tonberrian]

For my first Second Seal, I got a merchant to show up to sell me one. You can also get one as one of the Renown rewards (open up your wireless menu, you don't actually have to be online to receive them; you need to complete approximately 10-15 battles to have enough Renown to get it). There's one in one of the villages in Chapter 8 as well. Aside from that, I don't know.

[A Rainy Knight]

Oh, and I grabbed the DLC and completed it. While it's nice to have Marth and all, I'm left really questioning whether DLC like this will be worth it when it actually costs something. One mission which, aside from involving familiar faces from the rest of the series as your opponents, wasn't all that interesting, plus one new character doesn't seem like it would be worth much money to me. Maybe if they're just a dollar or two I'd be okay, but much more and I'd only pick up ones that let me recruit personal favorite characters (Lyn, maybe Ike, maybe Eirika because she comes with an item that lets other characters reclass to her unique class).

I also picked up the DLC for free, but I'm not really planning on paying for any of the other "Champions of Yore" or any other DLC that's just about recruiting characters from the previous games. I'm holding out for stuff like the Summer of Bonds and its glorious load of fanservice and steel drums.

[Zevox]

For my first Second Seal, I got a merchant to show up to sell me one.

That seems to imply you're not talking about a regular shop. How's that work?

[A Rainy Knight]

That seems to imply you're not talking about a regular shop. How's that work?

The little Anna merchants that show up on the world map from time to time sell a random handful of unique items each time, and Master Seals and Second Seals can show up there.

[tonberrian]

There's an item that summons them, much like Reeky Box does for Risen.

[CoffeeIncluded]

So I want to get the game really, really badly, but I've got enough self-control to hold off until my first round of prelims is done; then I'll either go to the gamestop in the mall or download it.

Anyway, just so I know going in, I'm really not sure how this marriage and children thing works, along with the extra stuff that supports come with this time. Can someone please explain it to me, along with telling me which characters are best to use? Also, how exactly does the spotpass thing work? Thanks.

[Todasmile]

So I want to get the game really, really badly, but I've got enough self-control to hold off until my first round of prelims is done; then I'll either go to the gamestop in the mall or download it.

Anyway, just so I know going in, I'm really not sure how this marriage and children thing works, along with the extra stuff that supports come with this time. Can someone please explain it to me, along with telling me which characters are best to use? Also, how exactly does the spotpass thing work? Thanks.

Children are just characters that show up sometime after a female gets a max-level support with a male. They have certain stat boosts and skills and class-sets based on their parents.

Interestingly, since the Avatar can support with anyone, they can actually get an S-support with a child character and have THEIR kid be super powerful.

New support stuff is basically just chances of either the character jumping in and attacking alongside the other, or increasing the chances that they'll leap in and negate the damage from an attack. These chances can get very ridiculous very fast - it soon ends up near like an 80% chance for the former.

Spotpass: Teams will just sort of show up and you can fight them or something. Honestly no clue.

[Mando Knight]

Children are just characters that show up sometime after a female gets a max-level support with a male. They have certain stat boosts and skills and class-sets based on their parents.

Also, children are all linked to the mothers for existence (except for Chrom, whose kid is plot-related and that's why he is forced into marriage, and the Avatar, who could be male and then have a daughter... except for those two, the identity of the kid is dependent on the mother), and the dad (or the mom, in the case of of female Morgan (male Avatar's daughter)) provides the hair color.

Basically, the purpose of S-rank supports in Awakening is to have babies. Lots of babies. Who then travel through time so they can save the world alongside their parents without having a 16-20 year timeskip.

[Acanous]

Interestingly, since the Avatar can support with anyone, they can actually get an S-support with a child character and have THEIR kid be super powerful.

that smacks of Wife Husbandry.