Blog Comments

  1. gesalt's Avatar
    You can basically solo FE8 with artur because of how broken bishops are (always critical damage vs monster units). Ross (with ewan and ameilia later) is special in that once he hits 10 he auto promotes into a regular unit after the chapter. Make him a pirate then go into berserker for easy crits
  2. Neir's Avatar
    FE8 is ez mode. Most people will cap many stats. Seth himself is absurdly broken.

    The trainees are absurdly broken regardless of what class you put them in.
  3. Imperial's Avatar
    I was warned that FEs always have that incredibly broken character from the start who is an emergency "I Win" button in case you're botching it, but otherwise shouldn't be used because they'll hog all the experience and get awful level ups out of it.

    So imagine my surprise when Seth's two level ups have given him stat increases in all but one category. The guy is locked into Beast Mode.

    Franz is a poor man's Seth, which is hardly a bad thing.

    Eirika is snatching up kills left and right, and it's only half-intentional. Bad guys seem to like going for her because she has such low HP and Defense, but then she dodges everything and kills them on the counterattack.

    Colm has been a surprise ace. He doesn't hit quite as hard as those three, but he dodges even more than Eirika. Not to mention the unlocking/stealing/seeing further in the fog bits

    Garcia is great, and Ross is shaky. He's starting to hit as hard as his dad and sometimes harder, but his HP and Defense are way behind. He doesn't have Garcia's staying power. But he gains EXP so quickly that leveling him isn't too much of a pain.

    Artur has been my go-to magic user. Thank God for him when I go up against armored units. His magic chews right through them. I haven't even bothered with that girl who comes with him. I don't like her personality, and Artur had already started gaining a lot of levels by the time I remembered she was available.

    Joshua crits left and right and still does decent damage even when he doesn't. I know they needed to make him frail to balance him out, but I still spend a lot of time crossing my fingers with him.

    Everyone else is decent-to-awful. Gilliam is a fantastic tank, but his piss-poor movement means he's usually a wasted spot, lagging behind the battle. Vanessa is great for traversing the map, but she never hits as hard as she needs to and folds like wet cardboard. I wanted to like Eimi, but she does pathetic damage and dies in one or two hits. I will probably bench all of them permanently once similar-but-better characters come along. I'm sure there are better tanks, Peg Knights and archers out there.
  4. You's Avatar
    But pre-promote hate.
  5. The Geek's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Imperial
    I wish I had seen that before I switched over to The Sacred Stones, Ratman, but I will keep that post in mind if/when I go back to it.

    The Sacred Stones is really what I was looking for. There have already been some trying levels (that damn Joshua kept killing my guys with critical hits when I tried to lure him close enough for the priestess to recruit him, but the upswing was the way he slaughtered the bad guys as easily as he had been killing mine once I got him) but it's not tooth-gnashing. Most of the challenge has been my blundering into another situation I didn't foresee.

    I'm such a novice I have to keep a tab with the rock-paper-scissors weapons triangle open at all times, but I'm still stumbling through a lot of the basics. Sure, I'll send my Pegasus Knight to go kill the swordsman over there, but, oh wait, there was an archer in range because I stupidly assumed he couldn't move that far. I like Pegasus Knights from what little I've seen of them in both games, but I tend to toss them to the wolves a lot.

    All of which is to say I must be a filthy casual if I don't typically like my games to come in flavors ranging from Brutal to Ball-Busting.
    Joshua won't attack Natasha. It's the axe fighters you really have to look out for. Also, feel free to rely on Seth and Eirika. Seth has good enough growths that he can be used throughout the entire game and Eirika is an amazing dodge tank.
  6. Ratman's Avatar
    Sacred Stones is the one GBA Fire Emblem that's solid, good that you've chosen to start with it. It's like 20 chapters though, so Rekka no Ken is completely massive compared to it. It'll help you git gud but it won't really last long.
  7. Imperial's Avatar
    I wish I had seen that before I switched over to The Sacred Stones, Ratman, but I will keep that post in mind if/when I go back to it.

    The Sacred Stones is really what I was looking for. There have already been some trying levels (that damn Joshua kept killing my guys with critical hits when I tried to lure him close enough for the priestess to recruit him, but the upswing was the way he slaughtered the bad guys as easily as he had been killing mine once I got him) but it's not tooth-gnashing. Most of the challenge has been my blundering into another situation I didn't foresee.

    I'm such a novice I have to keep a tab with the rock-paper-scissors weapons triangle open at all times, but I'm still stumbling through a lot of the basics. Sure, I'll send my Pegasus Knight to go kill the swordsman over there, but, oh wait, there was an archer in range because I stupidly assumed he couldn't move that far. I like Pegasus Knights from what little I've seen of them in both games, but I tend to toss them to the wolves a lot.

    All of which is to say I must be a filthy casual if I don't typically like my games to come in flavors ranging from Brutal to Ball-Busting.
    Updated July 1st, 2014 at 05:08 PM by Imperial
  8. Ratman's Avatar
    It's not your fault. The Fire Emblem games are broken on the most fundamental level. You would think you can't possibly fuck something like this up but nooooope. Each new title does the premise freshly wrong and shits on former game balance in new and exciting ways.

    Like the Rutger mission how did anyone not lose a character on that without savescumming holy shit.
    Or the Linus/Lloyd one. Let's have a mission about endless scores of enemies BUT let's have myrmidion/hero boss at the end and let's also give him Light Brand because it will be fun to replay the mission over and over again after he always inevitably crits.

    Since you're playing Rekka no Ken's first route, here's a bunch of advice:
    - Eliwood promotes at something like mission 20. Don't give him kills or he becomes an exp sink. And fuck Eliwood in Eliwood's route. Use the fuck out of Hector instead. Matter of fact, he's the true MC of the game.
    - Myrmidions are broken. Get Guy for your first playthrough and use him, it will make a lot of the game less autistic.
    - DON'T LOSE FLORINA like half of the game's intended puzzle scenarios rely on the assumption that you have Florina.
    - Dark magic is broken. Canas is also very good even for a shaman. Anima magic is really nerfed from Binding Blade, but all the mages you get including Erk are amazing to make up for it.
    - Ranged magic is basically a win button. Conserve it.
    - Training Serra and Priscilla will eventualy really pay off if you do. Hitting with offensive staves gives much more experience than healing.
    - Weight limit exists in the game. If a character is carrying too much, he won't be able to double enemy units. The game never tells you this, but don't shove four weapons and a healing item on everything just because you can.
    - Relatedly, Thieves can steal. But they can only do that when their inventory has an empty spot in it, and if there is a lot to take from units, you can end up passing some of the loot to other units with them until you get Merlinus. It's a good idea to check enemy inventories before the start of the mission - everything that's not a weapon or green is stealable.
    - FOR THIS VERY REASON, DON'T LOSE MATTHEW IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE GAME OR YOU'RE FUCKED
    Updated July 1st, 2014 at 01:41 PM by Ratman
  9. Enhance's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by The Geek
    Rule #1 of Fire Emblem: never ever let anybody die.
    I am incredibly pedantic/obsessed with not letting any permanent deaths or losses happen in games of chance. I save and load like there's no tomorrow. I didn't lose a single unit in first three campaigns of Battle for Wesnoth...
  10. Neir's Avatar
    That's because in Shadow Dragon no one really interacts so it doesn't matter if they die.
  11. The Geek's Avatar
    Rule #1 of Fire Emblem: never ever let anybody die.

    I didn't know that at first, but I purely blame that on Shadow Dragon being my first game in the series.

    I would have personally recommended starting with Sacred Stones, because it is much easier. The whole game is like Lyn mode.
  12. You's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Imperial
    What makes you say that?
    It feel like a different game than the other fire emblems.

    I started with sacred stones then blazing sword then sealed sword, then the ds ones and fire emblem is one of the games the more you play the more you understand how it works etc.

    But with path of radiance I was like, "this doesn't play like fire emblem at all."

    So basically path of radiance feels like a different game entirely. That is to say, if you start, you should start with path of radiance or think of it as a different game than fire emblem, because a lot of the stuff you pick up in the handhelds don't really help you in path of radiance.

    Well that's only what happened to lil o'l me. Might be different for others.
  13. Neir's Avatar
    Hector is love.

    Hector is life.

    Hector x Lyn best pairing.
    Updated June 30th, 2014 at 11:23 PM by Neir
  14. Imperial's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by You
    Path of Radiance was horrible.
    What makes you say that?
  15. You's Avatar
    Path of Radiance was horrible.
  16. Imperial's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Elf
    I'm currently watching YJ too, and I'm actually really enjoying it.

    The characterization is really sound and the romance is actually handled really well. (Looking at Connor/Megan and Wally/Artemis).

    However, I do like the idea that Superman is basically treating Superboy like he's the byproduct of some girl he knocked up at prom while Batman is telling him to man up. Also family is something that is important to Bruce because he never had one. He wants Clark to help the boy for a multitude of reasons, but Clark, who did grow up with a stable family is bucking. Maybe he sees Connor as some sort of accident, or something he didn't actively take part in.

    Ironically, Lex is acting more like a proper parental figure despite his ulterior motives.
    YJ Lex is fantastic. The Light as a whole has this problem of getting off unscathed and being entirely successful in almost every venture (I think Wally getting the heart in time was the only real setback), but it actually makes sense with Lex. He's such a smooth operator, and it fits his MO to keep his hands clean in such a way.

    I don't dislike Superman and Batman acting the way they do. I like that YJ is willing to experiment with things to keep us guessing, as seen in the Sportsmaster family. It's not afraid to use familiar trappings in unfamiliar ways. I just find it jarring that Bruce and Clark have essentially switched roles. You would think Clark would be receptive to the idea of Kryptonian family, too, given that he's alone in the world. Green Arrow even made a note of it by accusing Clark of only wanting Icon and Captain Marvel on the League because Supes thought they were Kryptonians, too.

    As for romance, YJ is striking out pretty damn hard.

    Superboy and Miss Martian is working wonderfully, but Wally and Artemis are symptomatic of one of the worst romantic writing cliches in the world. Two people who snipe at each other and have such an adversarial relationship are not on the way to romance. I loathe writers who use that "fighting like an old married couple" idea to justify attraction. That's not attraction. That's aversion. I can't tell you how big a pet peeve it is to see two people who can't stand each other being awkwardly smashed into a love affair because writers all over the world seem to love this idea that disdain and irritation are the key ingredients to a lasting love. I hope Wally and Artemis go into season 2 and realize how awful they are for each other.

    Robin and Zatanna rubbed me the wrong way, too, but that's because most of theirs scenes were about him comforting her about her dad. They have a great sense of camaraderie and trust, but I don't see any romantic chemistry. That said, I am curious to see where that goes in season 2. It has potential, but it's been handled very poorly, which is true of a lot of things in YJ.

    I'm definitely going to watch season 2 (cliffhanger be damned!). I just hope the writers can work out all of these kinks and live up to the show at its best instead of jack knifing so severely between great and mediocre.
  17. Imperial's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Sherrinford
    YJ is one of my favorite shows of all time, and pretty much an almost perfect example of how a plot should be carried out. The poin of YJ is that it carries on its plot slowly but steadily through all the episodes. It doesn't get better in season 2, it's always good. For example, YJ is probably the only series where you (I) actually have trouble believing the heroes will save the world this time.
    If it's not your cup of tea, fine, sad, but fine, although I really have trouble understanding your critique.
    I binged my way through the first season, so a lot of my complaints have asterisks now. It did markedly improve, but I think that has more to do with the incredible animation and a great season-long buildup than any of the characters. And even the plot fumbled near the end with how easily Vandal's plan was foiled and how quickly everyone gave up their secrets all at once. YJ has done a better job of handling itself as it goes on, but it's still very uneven.
    Updated June 9th, 2014 at 11:04 AM by Imperial
  18. Elf's Avatar
    I'm currently watching YJ too, and I'm actually really enjoying it.

    The characterization is really sound and the romance is actually handled really well. (Looking at Connor/Megan and Wally/Artemis).

    However, I do like the idea that Superman is basically treating Superboy like he's the byproduct of some girl he knocked up at prom while Batman is telling him to man up. Also family is something that is important to Bruce because he never had one. He wants Clark to help the boy for a multitude of reasons, but Clark, who did grow up with a stable family is bucking. Maybe he sees Connor as some sort of accident, or something he didn't actively take part in.

    Ironically, Lex is acting more like a proper parental figure despite his ulterior motives.
  19. Sherrinford's Avatar
    YJ is one of my favorite shows of all time, and pretty much an almost perfect example of how a plot should be carried out. The poin of YJ is that it carries on its plot slowly but steadily through all the episodes. It doesn't get better in season 2, it's always good. For example, YJ is probably the only series where you (I) actually have trouble believing the heroes will save the world this time.
    If it's not your cup of tea, fine, sad, but fine, although I really have trouble understanding your critique.
  20. ItsaRandomUsername's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Imperial
    She is the same woman, yes. She kicked her addiction, and we got back together. 90% of our problems vanished as soon as she sobered up.
    That's actually pretty good news. I'm glad to hear that.
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