Every map once run, no pairup, no braves, no einherjar (hard mode)

[Alastor15243]

Alright, I'm currently in the process of attempting a challenge run: Every chapter, every xenologue, and every paralogue I get access to (the child paralogues I don't unlock aren't required) must be completed exactly once, without any use of brave weapons, pair up, or einherjar. Adjacent fighting is still allowed.

This allows for a fun compromise between DLC and No DLC, in that it allows for a healthy, long campaign that, since I'm not using pair-up, is still full of challenge.

My party will be a VERY slight variation on my justice cabal playthrough party (Which I only mentioned, didn't actually detail, in another thread), since that was pretty darned successful. I will be focusing on the following units/families:

The Lon'qu/Panne family:

Lon'qu

Panne

Lon'qu!Yarne

+Skill-Def!Robin

Lon'qu!Yarne!Morgan

Mega Bunny Morgan ties for my favorite Morgan, along with Sumia!Lucina!Morgan. His great strength, ridiculous speed and godlike skill modifiers (which are plus five, seven and TEN respectively) make him a fantastic fighter who will have no trouble doubling and proccing skills against absolutely every foe I come across (which is important, considering a lack of pair-up bonuses).

The Ylissean Main Royal Family:

Chrom

Sumia

Sumia!Lucina

Chrom!Cynthia

What can I say? Chrom and Sumia are pretty much perfect together. Olivia and Maribelle, the only other options with galeforce, have pretty crappy modifiers and sons who don't inherit aether. Plus Sumia's by far the easiest to get Galeforce by the time Lucina shows up, another major plus. Once I started doing ChromXSumia, I never looked back.

The Ylissean Branch Royal Family:

Lissa

Henry

Henry!Owain

My favorite Owain, mostly because I can't stand to finish Owain as anything that doesn't use both magic and swords. Whatever the reason for Owain's sword hand twitch, it must not be a lack of a sword. And Henry!Owain makes a dread fighter who's perfectly balanced in magic and strength.

And finally:

THE DONNEL

Donnel

I'm including him for one major reason: The Renown Awards Leif's Blade. He's the character who can make the best use of it by far. He's got ludicrously high luck and armsthrift, so I'll be able to use Leif's blade to literally conjure up money whenever I want. After all, DLC doubles the campaign length pretty much, and I'm not sure if The Golden Gaffe will supply me with enough gold to last me through it all. Plus, after a quick rough patch at the beginning, he basically becomes a much longer-lasting Frederick, and an extremely useful and handy meatshield. Who knows how much I might need that.

Here are my main concerns:

1: Focus a good bit on Sumia and Donnel, but mostly Sumia once Donnel's no longer dead weight. Sumia's gotta be a level 15 Dark Flier by the end of chapter 13, or Lucina won't start with Galeforce. That is CRUCIAL, and while I have some flexibility and freebies here with the xenologues, I also am at the disadvantage of not having pair up to cover up Sumia's shortcomings.

2: Focus on adjacent dual strikes as much as possible, and be sure to set up my assaults to take the most advantage of it. This is crucial to building supports now that I can't use pair up.

3: Everyone will be, at least in the beginning, significantly less powerful than I'm used to without pair up. I'll have to focus on group assaults and be very careful of the battles I charge into.

4: I only get one of each xenologue reward. Only one AS+2, only one Paragon, only one Iote's Shield, only one Limit Breaker, only one Dread Scroll, only one Wedding Bouquet, and only three random regalia. I have to be careful about who I give it to, and obviously Paragon and Limit Breaker must go to the same person.

If anyone's interested in me writing my playthrough log here, I'll start with a summary of the first four chapters and Donnel's paralogue.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Alastor15243

[Czar_Yoshi]

What difficulty are you doing, and how do you intend to beat Apo with one LB, no Rallybots, no Staffbots, no Braves and no Pairup with limited resources to prepare? Also, is there any particular order you're doing the Paralouges/DLC in?

Edited November 16, 2014 by Czar_Yoshi

[Alastor15243]

What difficulty are you doing, and how do you intend to beat Apo with one LB, no Rallybots, no Staffbots, no Braves and no Pairup with limited resources to prepare? Also, is there any particular order you're doing the Paralouges/DLC in?

Hard mode. I can't even begin to imagine how to tackle lunatic without pairup.

As for apotheosis, if normal route proves to be way harder than I'm picturing, then I'll just try again with better knowledge. Also, no Rallybot isn't true. I'm going to be preparing Robin as a makeshift rally bot pretty much from the moment she gets galeforce. At the bare minimum she's going to have Rally Spectrum and Rally Heart, and I can probably throw in at least Rally Speed.

Also, I forgot to mention that I'm using Libra and Anna as staffbots throughout the game.

[Czar_Yoshi]

If it's just "get a listed turn count for clearing Apo", you could exit after wave 0.

Your Avatar will also be getting Rally Mov, most likely.

[Alastor15243]

If it's just "get a listed turn count for clearing Apo", you could exit after wave 0.

Your Avatar will also be getting Rally Mov, most likely.

Oh yes, dark flier has that, forgot.

The great thing about using my justice cabal set is that pretty much all of the children I'm using can reach A support with each other, so they have plenty of positioning options for dual strikes.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Do keep in mind that Apo never spawns enemies adjacent to eachother- they're always two spaces apart. You'll need an even mix of units who can hit at 2 range and ones that can hit at 1 range to make position-based DSes work.

[Alastor15243]

Do keep in mind that Apo never spawns enemies adjacent to eachother- they're always two spaces apart. You'll need an even mix of units who can hit at 2 range and ones that can hit at 1 range to make position-based DSes work.

I've got that covered. I'm aiming for Cynthia to be a sniper, Morgan an assassin, Owain a dread fighter, and Lucina a Dark Flier. Robin and Yarne I'm not sure of at the moment.