So, what characters are recommended for a first HHM run?

[Quirino]

Just having finished another HNM run, I wanted to finally push my limits and try HHM. I'm not sure what characters to use for HHM though, and how many are recommended.

First of all, stances on Lyn and Eliwood? My Eliwood would either turn out rubbish, or, like last playthrough, speedblessed and sturdy allround. Lyn turned out terrible last playthrough, but has been better other playthroughs. Just because they are lords, are they recommended training, even though they have a chance of turning out very badly?

And what about other units. How many should I seriously train beyond the first few chapters and what characters are good to use?

Currently I'm thinking about Marcus (obviously), Sain, Florina (damn, she turned out well last couple of playthroughs), Oswin, Raven (or Harken if Raven turns out not to be worth the exp feeding), Canas, Lucius and Priscilla. I'm not too sure about Canas, but he gets pretty often speedblessed on playthroughs and after promoting becomes beastly with luna.

And I like a diverse team, so I would also like a bow-user. I don't like Rebecca, so she's a definite no for me. I like Rath, because of swords upon promotion and horse, but I fear that his joining time will be too late. Will he be worth using or should I go with Wil instead?

Would a team like this be able to tackle HHM?

[Nobody]

I'd definitely recommend Marcus (really obvious), Hector (obvious as well), Sain, a flyer (Florina, Fiora if Florina turns out badly, or even Farina if the two of them get bad. It's surprisingly easy to train Farina, even on HHM), Raven AND Harken (there's no problem in having two heroes, and both of them are REALLY good, specially on HHM), Priscilla, Pent and the other Pre Promoted units.

Unlike the other modes, Guy is actually really useful for the few chapters after he joins, but I don't use him as a long term unit. I wouldn't recommend using any of the archers, but Rath is usable even being late. Wil is way worse than Rebecca, so if you want to use an early game archer, go for her.

Oh, and I think I'd recommend either Lucius or Erk over Canas, specially if you're going through LHM

Oswin is also an awesome short term unit, being basically marcus with half the move and not capable of doubling anything. If you don't mind his terrible move as a knight, he can actually last until endgame.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Nobody

[ZemZem]

Wil is way worse than Rebecca, so if you want to use an early game archer, go for her.

LHM!Wil > Rebecca

Are you going through LHM before HHM? If so, I recommend an early promoted Kent or Sain.

[BANRYU]

Eliwood in my current HHM has become quite strong, he just requires a lot of babying at first. Lyn is arguably the worse of the two, and relies much more on her signature weapon in my experience-- but you should definitely use both of them IMO, since they're force-deployed on the final maps.

I generally choose one or maybe two members for each class/weapon type and roll with them, but that's pretty much just personal preference. Also I have a weird predisposition not to pick prepremotes for some reason *shrug*

Here are my picks: (long-term/endgame choices are asterisked)

- Lowen* / Marcus* / Sain*

- Oswin

- Guy

- Matthew

- Raven*

- Bartre* / Geitz*

- Dart

- Rebecca

- Rath*

- Florina* (if not the Paladin you chose)

- Heath* (if not Paladin / Falco)

- Canas* of course

- Lucius*

- Priscilla

- Erk* / Pent* / Nino* (if you have the patience to raise her, otherwise take a pass)

I went through LHM but my Lowen and Rebecca wound up better than Sain and Wil before we met up with Lyn's squad again so I just went with them anyway. LHM is good to go through to give Rath and Lucius a good boost, though (as well as Matthew to boost his survivability in Hector chapter 1(1)). Also gives you plenty of time to raise Serra if you decide to use her as your Bishop for some reason.

Edited April 22, 2014 by BANRYU

[General Horace]

If you really want a bow user, Geitz is really good.

As for the lords, they both kinda struggle until promotion, but if you're playing Lyn mode beforehand, she really won't be too bad, although she won't be fantastic or anything, even if you give her the boosters. If Eliwood reaches promotion he's always going to be pretty reliable.

Heath is really good on HHM as well if you wanna give him a shot.

Make sure you have a couple units that can use restore!

Edited April 22, 2014 by General Horace

[dondon151]

if you do lyn mode, you'll want to promote sain with the knight crest and probably give the robe and ring to florina.

[Elieson]

Believe it or not, Lyn makes a decent Bow user (if promoted early on). Otherwise, go with Bartre (with a few early speed levels being absolutely key to his success), or Rath (who's all around good).

[Logience]

Oswin, Marcus, Dorcas (if you can rig his growths just right), Lowen, Priscilla, Raven, Canas (if also rigged) Fiora, Heath, and Harken.

Careful, 23 will have Fog of War, and 23x will have Kishuna moving along with Sleep, Bolting and Purge out the ass.

[Elieson]

Canas doesn't take that much rigging because Luna is just that broken in this game. As long as Canas has decent Mag, he'll always be useful at least for Potshots and pushing for Crithax with Ninian->Thor's Ire (or is it Set's Litany...I dunno, the Crit one).

[Logience]

So you actually trust his Speed stat to carry him, then? Do remember it's a mere 35% coupled with 25% Def and Luck.

[Elieson]

being 2 levels from promotion with a base 8 speed (He gets +3 speed when promoting), means he can Flux with 0 AS loss, and potshot with Luna for all that damage.

He doesn't need that much speed to be amazing, It'll be 11 at 10/1 on average, which is enough to keep him from getting doubled in most cases.

That, and he targets RES, which most enemies in FE7 lack (unless he's using Luna, in which case, he's targetting HP)

Edited April 22, 2014 by Elieson

[General Horace]

i still don't understand why people use Canas just for Luna

Sure is good against bosses, but bosses in general in FE7 are pretty weak until lategame (where Luna is indeed good) but against your average run of the mill enemies, Canas has better offence with flux. And he's really not that slow after promotion like Elie said.

[Logience]

Fire Dragon.

Nuff said.

[Nobody]

So you actually trust his Speed stat to carry him, then? Do remember it's a mere 35% coupled with 25% Def and Luck.

35% SPD and 25%DEF are actually decent enough in FE7

I'd say his def growth is actually good, all things considered (that is, the fact he's a mage).

Edited April 22, 2014 by Nobody

[General Horace]

Fire Dragon.

Nuff said.

Athos is there for a reason.

Regardless the Fire Dragon isn't really a problematic boss in the first place.

[Elieson]

Luna is most helpful for lategame bosses like Sonia, Limstella, and some of the Morphs that aren't easily dispatched by others, like Linus, Lloyd and Jerme.

Hector should be able to handle the Fire Dragon just fine, or with some Athos backup.

[Florete]

First of all, stances on Lyn and Eliwood? My Eliwood would either turn out rubbish, or, like last playthrough, speedblessed and sturdy allround. Lyn turned out terrible last playthrough, but has been better other playthroughs. Just because they are lords, are they recommended training, even though they have a chance of turning out very badly?

Only use Lyn if you're playing through LHM first. If you have an LHM-prepped Lyn and support her with Florina, they're a pretty good duo.

Eliwood I would not recommend, but he's a mixed bag. He makes for a good support with Hector, at least, and you need to level him if you want Geitz.

And what about other units. How many should I seriously train beyond the first few chapters and what characters are good to use?

I'd limit it to 6-8 base class units, throwing in good prepromotes whenever you get them and have the slots. Good pre-promotes include: Geitz, Pent, Harken, Marcus early on, and Jaffar. Isadora and Louise can also be useful, but use with caution.

Currently I'm thinking about Marcus (obviously), Sain, Florina (damn, she turned out well last couple of playthroughs), Oswin, Raven (or Harken if Raven turns out not to be worth the exp feeding), Canas, Lucius and Priscilla. I'm not too sure about Canas, but he gets pretty often speedblessed on playthroughs and after promoting becomes beastly with luna.

I would take out Canas and Lucius. If you want a magic user before Priscilla promotes, use Erk. Canas has speed problems (Luna does not make up for this) and Lucius doesn't really do anything that Erk doesn't do better.

And I like a diverse team, so I would also like a bow-user. I don't like Rebecca, so she's a definite no for me. I like Rath, because of swords upon promotion and horse, but I fear that his joining time will be too late. Will he be worth using or should I go with Wil instead?

Between Wil and Rath, Rath. He does come a little late, but he's still not tough to get up to par, and the results will be much, much better than Wil, who will just never be good.

Would a team like this be able to tackle HHM?

Yes.

if you do lyn mode, you'll want to promote sain with the knight crest and probably give the robe and ring to florina.

Robe and Ring: Yes, though obviously if Florina gets significantly blessed they can be saved for someone else.

Sain promotion: I would not recommend this for a first-timer unless you're fine with his growth being hindered and possibly letting him be dropped later on.

[Logience]

Athos is there for a reason.

Regardless the Fire Dragon isn't really a problematic boss in the first place.

Athos only has 40 HP. Fire Dragon does 42 damage.

[Florete]

Athos only has 40 HP. Fire Dragon does 42 damage.

Fire Dragon does 37 damage.

EDIT: Or was that 39 damage on HM? Either way it's not enough to kill Athos.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Red Fox of Fire

[General Horace]

The fire dragon can do 40 damage on if he proc's an extra point of strength in HHM and OHKO Athos, but if you're that worried just save the 28x robe for athos, and he's golden.

Canas is in danger of being doubled by the dragon anyway.

EDIT: Meant Canas won't double the dragon anyway.

Edited April 23, 2014 by General Horace

[Baldrick]

OP's team looks pretty solid. Add Guy and Erk for the short-term (keep them if they get good level-ups; Guy's strength is crucial, and Erk doesn't have Luna or C Staves on promotion but could be better in combat). Dart and Heath are long-term units. Pent is very good, and Geitz, (bow-user) Jaffar and Vaida for lategame fillers.

[dondon151]

there's sooo much bad advice in this thread

[Florete]

there's sooo much bad advice in this thread

We know you're the god of FE and all, but instead of forcing us to just bask unknowingly in your glory, could you please either elaborate or not say anything?

[PKL]

He isn't the god of FE. He's the pope! Anyway, my advice is to love those prepromoted units. Love them, cherish them, spam them etc. Such bases, much awesome, very useful, so good, WOW.

[dondon151]

We know you're the god of FE and all, but instead of forcing us to just bask unknowingly in your glory, could you please either elaborate or not say anything?

Otherwise, go with Bartre (with a few early speed levels being absolutely key to his success),

no, bartre is bad

Oswin, Marcus, Dorcas (if you can rig his growths just right), Lowen, Priscilla, Raven, Canas (if also rigged) Fiora, Heath, and Harken.

you know you have a problem if you're recommending to some average player to use characters as long as their growths are rigged properly.

OP's team looks pretty solid. Add Guy and Erk for the short-term (keep them if they get good level-ups; Guy's strength is crucial, and Erk doesn't have Luna or C Staves on promotion but could be better in combat). Dart and Heath are long-term units. Pent is very good, and Geitz, (bow-user) Jaffar and Vaida for lategame fillers.

and i think at this point we've pretty much recommended everyone, so

kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? recommend me some units for my run -> recommend pretty much every unit!