Aircalipoor

With all the ressources (DLC, Statbooster, Arena, BEXP, Base, babysitting, boss-abuse, supports) every unit aside the odd joke unit can become valiable. Character discussions wouldn't be fruitfull if there weren't some sort of metric, restrictions and standards to label units as good or bad. Hence efficiency has quickly established itself as a decent guideline to compare characters and possiible ways to beat the game (by analyzing the map-design and objectives) once you have finished the game once. In short, be able to differentiate your subjective opinions from objective facts, don't take it personal and argue with reason. Naturally, an egregious mindset on the internet.

If you play it again, you could chose Fixed Mode. It doesn't allow rigging (though you can technically exploit the bexp system), so get a better glimpse of a units average performance rather than their class caps. Also watch the speedrun. Tons of strategies and units are rather abundant and most of the methods are surprisingly reliable and replicable, even fitting efficiency and LTC occasionally.

Three chapters left and 27 is giving you trouble? The sages are the most annoying along with chapter 25, but its otherwise simplier du to the terrain allowing chokepoints whenever convenient. 4 turns with 6 units in 10 minutes.

It's difficult to give a reason for Laguz being in Jugdral when you remove the reason for Lagus being in Tellius to begin with. Instead of Ashnuera, another power has to be responsible for the creation of the Lauguz. Could the dragons reproduce on mass and spawn more (Dragon) Laguz? Could their blood also manifest in humans who can pass it on via blood lines? Wouldn't they be worshipped and used as an energy source then, compared to the more elusive, mythical dragons in Jugdral?

Jill already struggling to ORKO threw me off. Makes her even more worse than Marcia. Checking the enemy stats, Jill can still beat Paladins, Warriors etc., but Wyvern Lords and Generals are bulky, even Boyd can have issues, though he could get additional +5 Atk via supports. Clash is tedious, but your units are bulky enough to take a few hits and strong enough to clear a quick path. The speedrun strategy doesn't even use Rescue, so its not even depending on specific units.

Where is that run? In only found a Hard Mode 100% growth run, which is vastly different from maniac. Ilyana has higher mag which is important since OHKOing isn't guaranted at first. It's not hard to believe. Titania is only marginally weaker than Oscar/Kieran, 2 points in Str. and Def after promotion, 3-4 points at max level. Knight Crest fixes her speed issues. She can keep a level lead if used excessively and she could even use energy-rings and draco-shields. Sure, there are simply better units, but Titania has all the requirements to stay a top unit. I refer to runs in which forged tomes and low turns are assumed. Just drop Ike in front of Ashnard and its done. It can take two turns (risky, but only one long enemy phase, so reseting is easy), and it can even be done with very high reliabilty, as shown in the speedrun video.

The Chiki one did.

Obviously because of the tome. He is still worse than Ilyana, since she has better bases and Soren can barely level-up in a fast paced early game (low exp, he deals shit damage).

Boyds unique ability to ORKO Wyverns (what Paladins and Falcon Knights with their lower Str. cap can't pull off) is redundant it you have blessed Jill. I don't mind employing him, but I wouldn't do it on a run that also includes Jill. They may even compete for the same ressources (Speedwing, Draco-Shield). Really funny to see such a shitty Soren, he is ridiculously overused in most runs I read about, usually with high Mag and Spd, Vantage, Shade and A Ike. The speedrun proves that he has too much of a bad start and movement and physical defense is important in this game. If you have 1300 BEXP (a number you could gather through chapter 18-24), you could level Geoffrey up to level 17 to make him a valid Oscar light. He could barely ORKO even nasty 22-23 AS Paladins in chapter 26 with a forged Silver Lance. Though he sucks in chapter 25 and the game is ending very soon. Next chapter is the hardest in endgame just because of the condition: Route forces you to engage all these numerous bulky enemies, while you can ignore a bunch of them in Seize/Arrive/Kill Boss chapters. Also shitty terrain. We'll see how this turns out, I lost Jill on one of my playthroughs there and didn't even reset because doing this chapter again is more of a hassle than 26, 27 and Ike Soloing 28 and Finale.

Its not like you need money for anything else. If you forge six times you only spent 35k of your current 50k. 25 Hit may be overkill, unless you target a sworduser maybe, but +10-15 hit is also good. This chapter is more tedious than hard, the enemies can't swarm you due to the narrow layout (or if you screw up the reinforcements). The next chapter is brutal if you don't rush it with Jill in three turns.

What are Jills's and Astrid's weapon ranks? Soon its time for forged Silver Weapons. Astrid already capped, I'd give her Sol. Helps her low HP.

I never trained Volke. Damage output is weak and his base stats+promotion allow him to survive a hit in chapter 21. No need to deploy him afterwards. The only remaining chapters with chests are 21 (22 is skipped) and 27. Chest Keyes exists. Stealing in the endgame doesn't seem appealing to me. The first 2-3 Physics staves are all you need, you can also steal Mend staves before chapter 18 if you want to save money. Stealing Seize magic is a hassle and not worth it.

Since you need to beat him to recruit him, he drops the Brave Bow. Heck, since this is a route map, you always get the Brave Bow. If you bought a couple of Pure Waters, the Seize Magic can be negated just a little, but its difficult to ascertain that, since its not clear who they target etc. This map establishes the rest of the game, almost only prepromotes. Your own team shouldn't be unpromoted anymore and has stats around 20 to properly double and 2HKO, not that your teams lacks this. I would give Astrid Occult just like Kieran, their skills are the only usefull aside from Ike's Aithir, but he likely gets less and less action. What are you plans on Adept?

The only good Bow User is Astrid, since she trains it while being unpromoted. Brave Bow on Wyvern Lords is pretty dope and she has no competition. Weapon EXP is low in this game. Axe users have the benefit that Steel Axes are E-Rang, so the Paladins and Jill are more likely to reach A-Rank once forged Silver Axes are a thing. I also chose Lances on Kieran to be save in case a few Swordmasters swarm him, but I never even get him to D-Rank.

Blasphemy to deny Super Marcia. Of course, Jill has a few benefits in a slow-paced run, but you will truly learn about her shortcomings when you are bombarded with enemy seize magic. Hopefully Kieran and Astrid catch up on str, otherwise its fine, Titania can easily acompany the main group for the rest of the game, she is unlikely to ever get doubled aside from weak Swordmasters. Good news from the general maniac discussion abbreviating this thread: The ltc-record-history provided the Efficiency Emblem Informative and Useful Clears Repository and among them the NTSC-J MM Glitchless Speedrun Route by Fionordequester. While Speedrunning has a few quirks differentiating itself from other runs, this is a segmented run that focuses highly on reliability. It has fixed mode and no glitches. It also mandants Ike to defeat the Black Knight, which doesn't change the game tremendously, but it's noteworthy that over 700 BEXP is "wasted" for a 10/1 Mist just for 27 and Ike gets the precious Adept Scroll only for that fight, when it could heavily booster better units chapter 18 onwards. The biggest "flaw" I would attribute to the run is the usage of abusing the fixed BEXP. There is a trick to save BEXP by raising it to 99 and then to 99 again instead of raising it from the next level at 0. Then the BEXP is used subsequently instead of everything at once to allow for higher stats. This is used a dozen times and is a bit questionable, but 99% of the run is extremely viable, helpful insight in case of speed and reliability. And around two times the map is reseted so that Sleep Users have less Magic (= less range). Overall it still extremely reliable. Here were some notes with some benchmarks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PoumZCKrQiYVP42sp68JqvPxsyEcmDI6xvlq0UXlZwY/edit Maybe I make topic for this run. It boils down to Ike and Oscar getting the first BEXP (they still can level while Titania ltcs the early game), so that Oscar emerges chapter 9 promoted. The chapter 10 stealth is exactly my strategy (either they came to the same conclusion, or they adopted it, I'd be cool with it) and the bexp goes for a 18/1 Kieran. Marcia grinds to 21 in chapter 12, surprisingly, that chapter is the closest where it spends turns just grinding. Super Marcia shreds the rest of the game, Ike, Oscar and Kieran are the other top 3 unit that survive everything due to supports and have good stats to ORKO. Other units help occasionally, obviously Reyson and Tanith, the Laguz for showing (also Janaff for flying) but also Calill to Meteo three enemies, Stefan, Tauroneo and Haar to tank occasionally. No mages are trained, they are just not worth it, elixirs and dodging through earth-supports or Marcias raw stats is the key.

One unit alone is unlikely to get the thief without murdering Devdan. But if a second unit is in his range and has lesser defense, it should work. Next turn,that second unit can beat one enemy so that no one is in the way bwteen Marcia and the thief. The physic isn't needed, especially if you got the two that were possible obtained beforehand. Have fun for chapter 17. Let your reinforcements carry items because you can run out. 17-4 can be hell. A Super Marcia can theoretically 1-Turn it, but she needs to be beefy (Advantage and Guard helps) and 23 Str. (or 22 Str and Spear, but hit rates suck). You will love 17-4s reinforcements.

please delete

Nah, its only cheating if it pretends to be otherwise. The runs have clear rules and show whats possible under specific rules and restrictions Whats most important is how insightful the strategies used there are and many can be applied to other runs, making them very informative. Until chapter 8, forged weapons aren't a thing. Lategame 0% chapters can be comparable to ones with normal growths, instead of a crit forge they may have better offensive stats and a different weapon. Not always, certainly. Hence my wish to have more maniac runs so that we have a better understanding of the game and a tighter consens of what is good, what works and what is recommended.

Since most of the optional long range tomes are only available for chapter 26, 27, 28 and Finale it's not worth it. Using the first 4 is occasionally good. Decent LTC runs are lacking, since the two good ones involve crit bug and rigged stats. The 0% has poor Titania in chapter 1-7, due to not gaining any stats (which can make a difference in chapter 5-7), while the rigged one has a terrific way above average stats Titania. A lot of strategies can still apply without crit bug (decent Marcia 2-3 turning a bunch of chapters even without a Slim Lance) but other ones should show some alternatives. Fixed mode (without BEXP manipulation) and no crit bug would be interesting, I'm half interested to do it myself but aside from lacking recording tools I'm not as skilled. Maybe some rough scrub guide to finish the maps relatively quickly to fullfill sideobjectives and full BEXP could show insights in characters usefullness.

He has enough slots to deploy her and she is better than Lethe/Mordecai/Muarim. I don't get your Siege Tomes strategy. Aren't you only getting 3 tomes? Thats 15 attacks for the entire game and they have hit issues. Stealing additional seems extremely tedious. Volke needs to be deployed and he must reach the targets, who are afar, protected and eager to use them on your way to them. Is 15 Spd even good enough? Sages can have a bit of speed.

All NPCs could be killed in the very first enemy phase, but I suppose if Marcia, Titania and maybe Kieran and Jill block and provoke accordingly, the NPCs could make it. Securing the middle ship is a bit of a hassle, but if the first two turns are proper its mostly over. The enemy ship isn't aggroing much and Ravens are easy once you understand how their AI works. Jill is doing well, above average stats and possibly rigged level ups could make her to that best unit which isn' the case on fixed mode or with average stats. 27 in all main stats is excellent in endgame (if it happens). Kieran only has 12 Strenght? Man, you dropped Oscar because he was allegedly slightly off, now his partner isn't doing much better. Energy Drop: I would wait and see how Astrid turns out. Her growth is wonky in HP, Str and Def. Titania is unlikely to ORKO the tougher stuff even with 15 Str. and you have enough other units that soon surpass her and take over. She acts as a filler. There are also other units that could want it, like Kieran, maybe Tanith (or Soren lol). Though getting a penality from Steel Axes this late is embaressing, maybe rig a good level on her once. Speedwings: Kieran and Jill are good choices. Maybe Soren if he gets good level-ups and if Jill keeps getting Spd. Only sell the Armscrolls if you have no money. The early game tends to have more money issues than the mid- and endgame. They are good to bring a unit to A rank for Silver Weapons (or for your mage). Jill can be a bit troubling juggling both lances and axes. I almost always sell the master seals unless I want a 10/1 Mist or if Rhys takes too long (promotion barely changes him). I'd rather bexp Soren to 21 (may also rig for mag and spd lol). Unless you are in a rush, training Astrid is feasible in chapter 13-17, she catches up quickly. She is unreliable in her growth and can turn out bad, so its abit of a gamble. I have a bias for Makalov, he can become the best paladin statwise, but he does have a bad start, only a meh Astrid support and he wants weapon scrolls later on because he doesn't want to be stuck with Swords (B rank for Brave Sword is a neat niche). Ultimately, you are currently training enough units and can spare him. Stefan is wonky, since swords suck, he has low movements and his defense quickly gets frail, especially with his luck. His skill sucks, he has no crit bonus, his S-Weapon doesn't have much uses. Calill is not someone you need if you have a good Soren. Just chapter 22. Geoffrey can work if he gets some BEXP levels to rig his str/spd/def. He is bulky, but his offense is questionable. Also, he has poor availability. He has move issues in 25 and 27 allows only few units. Mostly just a filler for 26. Haar can work as a shield to distract enemies, but doubling is out of the picture, unless you give him BOTH speedwings and further rig it. He also needs a weapon scroll since he can't use silver weapons. And even his strenght is merely average at this point. Soren-A-Ike-B-Titania-A-Rhys-B-Kieran-A-Marcia-B-Tanith-A-Reyson and Boyd, Jill and Astrid seems good.

Armscroll, Seraph Robe and Secret Book. Its possible that you missed the latter, since on turn 13 the final ones with one statbooster appear. Yeah, this map is just some clunky exp of one enemy type. Kieran is worrysome, but Super Marcia carries you through the game. Still the best unit aside from Titanias early game contributions, flying is still supreme. She may want to double the chapter 17 Falcon Knights with their 19-21 Spd, so don't hesitate to use her to crush Ravens and clean some sections in other chapters with forged Javelins. Too bad that Boyds Def didn't improve, but he is still solid. Maybe he won't be as amazing in the next chapter as he could be (lot's of swordusers and mages to to take advantage of his low defense stats), but still good.

Forged tomes, while unconventional, are totally viable. Maniac Mode encourages you to get creative with your money and forges to optimize your individual units because the enemies are so bulky and force you to adapt. Hard Mode is just Javelin/Handaxes to ORKO, eg.g Tanith can ORKO almost everything in her starting chapter. Other forges I do once in a while: A 110 Hit iron Bow for Astrid with some Might, so that she could be trained better. It depends how quickly she catches up and it can be redundant but if you slow down to train her, may make it less frustrating (60-80 hit rates with regurlar Iron Bow can suck). Could also be done with a Steel Bow for more Mt, but less hit and more money. Ike, Mia, Zihark, Makalov etc. don't mind a Steel Sword with reduced weight and more mt and hit, though this reaches 10k vs the 4-6k that Steel Lance/Axe and Javelin/Handaxe do. I did one early for Mia in chapter 8 and had to sell my elixir and other stuff for it. edit: Here a small forge list: 16 Mt, 90 Hit Steel Axe: 4689 12 Mt, 80 Hit Handaxe: 6102 15 Mt, 95 Hit Steel Lance: 6417 11 Mt, 85 Hit Javelin: 8920 13 Mt, 100 Hit Steel Sword: 9164, Weight adds 700, 700, 800, 800 and 900. 110 Hit Iron Bow costs 2361, but Mt adds 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400 and 1600 for up to 8746 9 Mt 110 Hit Thunder costs 15441 and is the cheapest tome, the others are not worth it. 25 Hit and -2 Wt is quite cheap (3254), but Mt is expensive. 1700, 2100, 2400, 2800 and 3200 for up to 12878 (15441 for Hit and Wt). Kind of questionable for one mage, but a 7 Mt, 100 Hit and 2 Wt Thunder costs 8247, which is more feasible.

You can play fast and semi-route and still maintain a bunch of regulary trained units, but going in-depth for this would require a lenghty answer and derail the topic. I try to keep in on topic on forging handaxes vs steel/silver weapons in the mid-end game: What is the point of retalation if it doesn't ORKO the enemy? The enemies are still alive and need to be killed in the player phase. So in the player phase they have to be killed and this is easier with forged steel/silver weapons than handaxes. 4x 12 Mt is less useful vs 2x16 Mt and especially 2x 21 Mt, if the enemies have high def. You can miss the 4HKO but succeed at 2HKO.

Could be, my bad in that case. The equiped weapon was mainly bad since it lowered Rhys already low AS.