On to Silesia (FE4)

[mark_asphodel]

Yeah, the PIRATES! weren't so bad in the end.  Briggid makes a pretty good meatshield.

In summary:

Alec and Noish performed respectably against PIRATES! and proved there's life in those two yet.  Props to Alec for guarding Madino without taking a hit.

Azel was babied along into killing Dobarl and getting his ring.  He still sucks, but I'm trying.  Hopefully he can make tracks in Silesia.

Cuan turned out to be awesome with the Gae Bolg, but at this point it really didn't matter.  Too much, too late.  At least with Briggid I can have some real fun with Ichival against Peg Knights.  Ethlin got an 11th-hour, 59th-minute promotion because hey, why not?  They'll make more impressive corpses that way, I guess.

Certain aspects of FE4 bring to mind this comic from Penny Arcade.  Gabe's complaint, obscene as it is, was in my head through most of this chapter.

Wedding bells finally ran for Lex'n'Aira and Beo'n'Lachy.  Finn and Tiltyu tried to make a go of things but the clock ran out on them.  I'd heard if you seized Silvail by the 25th turn, they'd need only one turn adjacent to one another and the crazy auto-love growths would do the rest.  I guess my math was wrong, because they got to 400+ points but never cracked 500.  I wanted at least one "unconventional" pairing per playthrough, so I guess it's gonna be unpaired Sylvia this time.  Or maybe I'll get evil and memetic and KILL TAILTO FOR LINDA.

Finn got to Level 23; by the end, he wasn't even stealing kills because the PIRATES! didn't want to touch him in spite of WTA.  He blocked off Pizarl's escape route and Pizarl just stood there going :0 instead of attacking, and the rest of Pizarl's goons decided to dogpile Holyn.  Which was a mistake on their part.  :)

Lachy finally scraped together enough cash to buy the Elite Ring thanks to Beo and Dew.  Gotta promote her and Fury next chapter.  And Azel.  He needs a horse.

Comments

[samuraiter]

Gae Bolg, you say? *insert Fate / Zero joke*

Pirates, you say? *insert Pirate Movie joke*

....

This game is oddly humorous.

[tornevas]

I actually paired up Ayra with Arden(I babied him a lot)! Their lovers conversations were very sweet.

Unfortunately unlike the other weapons, there is no one that can inherit axes but Lex's stats and the Elite Skill should come in handy.


Oh don't' make the same mistake I did with Claude, only children with Sylvia and Fury can inherit the Valkyrie Staff. I paired him up with Tiltyu thinking her son would become a mage fighter and would be able to use the Valkyrie staff, but her son promotes to Mage Knight instead and Male Mage Fighters can't use Staves anyway.

[swanchika]

About Finn/Tiltyu, I made the math earlier and according to the FE Wiki's info, Silvail needs to be seized before turn 19 and they have to spend at least one turn on adjacent tiles (otherwise, Finn will become Briggid's lover by default).

I never found a way to make the Gae Bolg useful in Cuan's hands, there's no real challenge that it would help overcoming, and using the pirates to start building kills on it is useless since Altenna then has Critical by default... Also, Cuan always got screwed Speed-wise for me, so his legendary lance didn't even help him for the Arena since that damn Dark Mage always got the first hit T^T

Also, not pairing Sylvia doesn't seem that unconventional to me. Laylea and Sharlow seem to be pretty well-liked because of the unique items their secret events yield. Hey, if Tiltyu is still celibate, why don't you try pairing her with Ardan since Lex is already taken ? Arthur and Tinny will probably have crappy stats, but it is the only game in the series where Ambush/Wrath is broken beyond belief...

[zyriex]

Oh man, I think I just kind of always gave up on using Noish and Alec after chapter 2 in most of my playthroughs of FE4.

I'm also the anti-efficiency player that obsesses about healing every damn point of damage that I can on people, so my healers always end up promoting twice as fast as everyone else, which made it slightly less painfull to get Lachesis to that glorious promotion level.

For unconvential Fin pairings have you ever tried Fin/Aideen? Kids get insane dodge from decent speed and crazy, seemingly Major Ulir levels of luck. I always kind of try to aim for Sylvia unpaired since three total charismas along with Celice's leadership stars and lover bonuses make pretty much anyone untouchable. Yeah, yeah, Second gen really doesn't need any more breaking but its cool to do it with characters that normally aren't supposed to be able to steamroll everything. Using sibling crits to kill Blume with Tinny on her joining chapter is always an amazing experience.

[mark_asphodel]

This game is oddly humorous.

I'm not sure what's more amusing-- how dumb Sigurd is, or seeing these pseudo-medieval nobles using terms like "sucks" and "kick ass." A couple of the commoner PCs are really polite, but the little holy blood brats sound like they've been taking cues from Beavis and Butthead in this translation.

[mark_asphodel]

I haven't made sufficient use of Arden to roll him out in Chapter 4. I plan to do an Ayra/Noish run sometime, though.

Oh don't' make the same mistake I did with Claude, only children with Sylvia and Fury can inherit the Valkyrie Staff.

Yeah, that one I'd heard about. Really, this would be a most interesting game with a reclass option!

[mark_asphodel]

so my healers always end up promoting twice as fast as everyone else

Lena is almost always my first promoted unit in FE11. But I'm slightly less cautious in FE4, mostly because Lachy and Aideen can't reach the mounted units half the time.

For unconvential Fin pairings have you ever tried Fin/Aideen?

Oh, I am definitely trying that one some time. Storywise it's no-sense-making, but 5+ magic for Lana? Yes please.

[mark_asphodel]

Turn 19, huh? I wonder how I'll pull that one off...

Also, Cuan always got screwed Speed-wise for me, so his legendary lance didn't even help him for the Arena since that damn Dark Mage always got the first hit T^T

Yeah, me too. I've read he was originally supposed to be a Master Knight, which really would make him the resident Jagen-- unstoppable in the Prologue, frustrating as hell by Chapter 3.

Ardan's not up to the current crop of enemies, I'm afraid.

[swanchika]

Turn 19, huh? I wonder how I'll pull that one off...

Having Lachesis already promoted at the start of Chapter 3 certainly helps when it comes to dealing with the Cross Knights. Staff-abusing at Chapter 2 may be tedious, but the results are glorious :D

I didn't know about Cuan, but being in the most powerful class from the start wouldn't have helped his massive ego ^^

[tornevas]

I think there is hack of the game with branching promotions added.

[tornevas]

Now I'm thinking of Fin/Fury.

[mark_asphodel]

I've seen that recommended as one of her better pairings, it's just such a huge step down from Levin/Fury that "third-best" or "second-best" doesn't carry much weight. It'll cripple Sety's magic, and unlike Arthur, he's not going to promote to a sword-using class where the strength boost helps him any. Fee supposedly turns out pretty darned good, though.

I think the only Finn pairing that seems to be not worth trying is Finn/Sylvia; she has Prayer already, and her kids are unlikely fighters, so he's not adding much to the gene pool.

[tornevas]

Fury's daughter is one few second gen kids that can wield Lances(though I'm not sure if Fin passes down his weapons) and I know storywise they'd appreciate a father that stays with them on the battlefield.


Finn/Sylvia huh, they're about the same age but I can't see Finn with someone as lighthearted as Sylvia.

[tornevas]

Ardan's not that great unit of a unit and only becomes good when you put alot of effort into him. However his personality and lovers conversations are pretty interesting.

I like Arden's conversation with Ayra where he talks about retirement and how they'll open a vegetable stand.

[mark_asphodel]

Finn can't pass down any of his lances, but if he happens to be holding something one of his sons can use (like a Silver Blade for Delmud or Skasaher), they'll get it. Fee inherits her lances from Fury; Patty is the only daughter who can inherit her father's stuff besides Altenna, but of course she can't use lances (or axes) either, and so Finn and Lex can't pass those to her.

I can't see Finn with someone as lighthearted as Sylvia.

Yeah, I don't see that one working out. Mind you, I think Tiltyu is a bizarro match for him, too-- no wonder both pieces of fanart I've seen for it have her aggressively glomping him while he just looks nervous about it all.

[amielleon]

I suggest dumping something more lightweight than Fire on Azel if you haven't already. Fire's weight is dreadful. But Azel himself can be perfectly useful, if not as hax as Levin.

[amielleon]

It's a very liberal translation.

In ch 6, Levin will make reference to a "shrink". :p

[mark_asphodel]

Oh, believe me, he's been re-purposed as a Thunder Mage since I acquired that tome. Who the hell had the bright idea to make Fire-type tomes out of lead?

Azel is doing better in my parallel playthrough (using alternate pairings). Not as good as Levin, but not terrible either. But he acquired some free rings to help him along, and that's part of his success.

[mark_asphodel]

Oh, is this the same one? Yeah, in between "Shanan, you're the man!" and the Beavis'n'Butthead speak...

I guess it's meant to feel "contemporary" and "relatable," but honestly it makes the main cast seem even more in over their heads than they need to be.