De Geso

Now this is interesting. I didn't know that the stat requirements decreased based on the support level. That might change how I approach this in the future.

Oh, I didn't know that - I've never recruited that way so it didn't occur to me, but yeah that does sound marginally useful.

If you attain a B support with a student they will offer to join your house. Any support levels you attain in one playthrough can be purchased for the next one on New Game+. If you're playing, say, Black Eagles, and you have a B support with Ferdinand, next time you play you can buy that support rank and he'll ask to change to your class some time in the following weeks. This is far and away the easiest way to recruit students from other houses. You can also get a B support to recruit students on New Game, but this doesn't apply to Caspar and one other student because their B supports are locked behind the time-skip. Just throw gifts at them until they have their C conversation available, then do the same thing after reading the C support so you can unlock the B. Not long after that they should ask to join you. You can also try to get your stats and weapon ranks to the appropriate levels but I don't really see the value in this unless you just happen to hit those benchmarks prior to getting a B support with the unit (which is unlikely but not impossible).

In a sort of way we have that with Demonic Beasts, but that's not much like Laguz and their offshoots. I don't really think it suits the story. It wouldn't be so horrifying that people can be turned into Demonic Beasts if random people could also turn into various other things. Same with the Immaculate One - doesn't have much impact if there are manaketes running around.

Lyn isn't really a tank so a minor thing like a few points of defense doesn't matter much for her.

The first time I played the final map for CF, I lost Caspar and Lysithea to a Golem on the right hand side - nearly lost Ferdinand too but he kept preventing counters with this Crest + Swift Strikes and was thus able to finally kill the thing, what a badass. The Immaculate one killed Bernadetta and Dorothea, which was a pity since I was looking forward to their respective paired endings with Hubert and Ferdinand, but alas. I ended up saving in another slot and replaying the map to keep everyone alive, though.

Thanks!

Do the Crest items (Dark Dragon Sign et al) interact with Hero Relics? For example, if I am using the Aegis Shield, does carrying the Shield Dragon Sign make the game read that the user bears the Crest of Fraldarius?

I think the FIligrane version looks nicer but it's also more prone to breaking, while the Emboss is a lot sturdier.

Looks cool. I'll enjoy having an army of Battle Maids and Battle Butlers pre-timeskip. I wonder if they will appear different based on the house, like the lounge wear?

I chose Black Eagles first but I wish I would have gone Blue Lions first, as I'm finding that it answers a lot of the questions I had. On the other hand, I think going CF first made me think about those things more, so maybe it is for the best. Anyway, I recommend: 1. Azure Moon 2. Crimson Flower 3. Verdant Wind 4. Silver Snow I know that VW and SS are basically the same but I think that's fine. You should just play through the routes differently (use different units, build Byleth differently, maybe play it on Maddening since the story isn't as hugely important given it's the same as that of a prior route) so it isn't a complete repeat of the same playthrough.

It lets you get to the B support more quickly.

Oh, yeah, I made Ferdinand a Holy Knight, which I guess is kind of unconventional. Ward came in handy quite a few times.

I haven't done it but based on her spell list I think Gremory Bernadetta has serious potential to be a good unit in CF.

I just killed them before they ever got to use it, or didn't notice it/skipped enemy phase animations. In that case, it's fine.

HP Growths are notoriously low in Fates across the board. That said, having a Corrin with low health is not universally bad unless she is your only combat unit, which she won't be because freaking Subaki is viable in Birthright so you can use whoever you want. If anything you basically have Xander without Siegfried on your team as long as you don't instinctively heal Corrin until after Silas does what he needs to do. Also, I don't remember the map exactly but I certainly don't remember it giving me any real trouble - the first set of spikes are near immobile enemies so it isn't like you are blindsided in a field of dudes when you first come by them, and later on you have the Dragon Veins to use them. For that matter, doesn't clicking a Dragon Vein show you the area where the things appear?

I think enemy mounted units should get it too.

Crimson Flower because I really like the Eagles and Edelgard in particular. The other lords and students are great, too, and some of my favorites are non-Eagles, but the lord is the most important character in each route (obviously). I only wish it were more fleshed out.

S+ ranks are barely realizable in Hard NG. They also aren't really all that worth it, but that's besides the point.

From what I hear, if you've seen Black Eagles part 1 and Verdant Wind, you've seen the whole Church route...but maybe there are some changes people fail to mention.

I got Lysithea. It's actually very accurate. Funny enough, for "Who is your Three Houses Girlfriend?" I got Edelgard. Definitely okay with this...

Subaki is an armor knight riding a pegasus. He's a weird unit yeah.

You don't need to do this. The game lets you start from the "branch of fate", and you can make a new avatar starting at chapter 6. I really recommend only playing CQ and ignoring the other two routes, but if you plan to do all three anyway Birthright>Conquest>Revelation>Conquest ad infinitum is the natural progression.

1. Normally the game lets you decide which path you take after chapter 5, but it depends on the ROM. I would wager that you are in that situation, though, since I don't know of a ROM that isn't all three games together (doesn't mean they don't exist). 2. Conquest is the best because it has the most engaging map design and the most challenge. Every map contains a unique challenge and each of those challenges is difficult but fair. Birthright is easier than Awakening. Revelation likes to have it both ways, but unlike in Conquest the unique challenges are hamfisted or outright stupid, and they stop mattering when you can out-grind the enemy units. 3. It's pretty well-known to be bad.

I agree, it would be convenient if the game tracked that for you, but a part of me is nostalgic for times when you had to do that sort of thing yourself.