Policy on grinding?

[Skynstein]

I'm attempting a Hard/Classic run and I can't fight the urge to fire up EXPonential Growth after I beat Chapter 4. However, I've seen lots of people who beat Hard without grinding at all, which is encouraging me to not use the Golden DLC.

But, on the other hand, I'm not skilled enough to use some units which are underleveled at the beginning but prove useful in the long run, such as Miriel and Sumia. So I'm kinda forced to bring them up to speed when I can. A Lv1 Sumia in Chapter 5 is just going to get destroyed, and you need to feed her kills at the beginning, which is not always easy when taking her to the front lines puts her under the risk of being one-shotted by an archer (like in Chapter 3). So instead of focusing on beating the enemy, I'm focusing on babying units, which IMO isn't ideal.

Speaking of Lunatic mode instead, I heard grinding is a must if you don't want to solo the game with MU, which is an eye opener.

The idea of a grinding DLC is appealing to me but I kinda wish it was replaced by better implementation of skirmishes. Skirmishes are limited for the day and may sometimes come with units that are harder than the story units in the chapter you're at, so it's not always viable to use them to grind (especially in Lunatic). And, of course, the Reeking Boxes cost 4800G in Hard and above, which means they're too expensive unless you use GG.

How do you view grinding in a game like this? I know it's supposed to be a strategy game where brains are more important than levels, but there are those people like me who enjoy having access to powerful units after a grinding session. But I feel bad about grinding when the game is beatable without grinding... You can say it's a matter of insecurity on my part.

[Thor Odinson]

Speaking of Lunatic mode instead, I heard grinding is a must if you don't want to solo the game with MU, which is an eye opener.

Bullshit I ran a team with like 5-6 combat units, their supports, and some healers and was totally fine

Granted 2 of those are MU!Lucina and Morgan so veteran plus huge bases really did help, and I basically spent the entirety of my statbooster collection from Renown on Sully but /still/

Anyway I am strictly nogrind until I beat Grima, and that includes for child paralogues. If I feel like it I'll pair everyone after I beat Grima and then go do theirs, but I'm not going to grind parents for supports prior to killing Grima on that pt at least once. For me it detracts from the strategic elements. Personally I play FE for the strategy and grinding is, well, hit end turn no strategy needed. Kinda boring if you ask me.

But I don't judge people who do like to grind and does it. I mean game gives you that option you're free to use it however the fuck you like, games are supposed to be enjoyed first and foremost so just play whatever way that you find most fun.

Edited October 17, 2013 by Ezio Auditore da Firenze

[Mighty Kamina]

On Lunatic aside from Gaius and Sumia (They get one shotted by almost everything when you get them) and Oliva (For Lucina's sake) I only grind units I'm not using so I can get the kid's paralogues.

[VincentASM]

If it's your first playthrough or one for fun, I wouldn't be opposed to grinding; just play the game how you want : )

However if you're playing the game to challenge yourself, definitely don't grind--at least on Hard on below.

On Lunatic you could probably afford to do a little when you hit a wall; you probably shouldn't need to, but I know sometimes things can go wrong and you end up with poor stats on your main characters, etc...

[Skynstein]

I think Vincent nailed it (Ezio too). Actually I have yet to complete the game, so I'm definitely not sharp enough to be playing on Hard or above...

Just for kicks, I tried Chapter 5 on Hard without grinding, and couldn't beat it the way I normally play, so I might have to resort to some cheap strategy to win. I *think* I also got bad level ups with Lissa, because the Rescue staff's range isn't enough to bring Maribelle and Ricken with the MAG my Lissa has. Interestingly enough, Chapter 4, which used to give me a lot of trouble, I beat on my first try. Sumia's RES is quite useful.

I do agree that beating stuff without grinding brings a wonderful sense of satisfaction, but I'm the kind of player who likes being safe most of the time, lol.

The problem with my playstyle is that I come from Pokémon, where the wild monsters you catch to fill your party are usually way lower level than your main monsters, so I grind the weak monsters to the level of the more powerful ones. I tend to do the same in Awakening whenever I get a new character, because I like variety, but I didn't know it was frowned upon by FE players.

My only gripe with grinding in this game is that the Golden DLC is kinda lame. It's a "on your face" kind of thing, like "THIS WAS MADE FOR GRINDING AND GRINDING ALONE!!!!111!".

Edited October 17, 2013 by Malebolganone

[Meteor]

Pair Lissa with Miriel or your Avatar to get a +Mag boost for Rescue. Once you beat chapter 6 things get a bit easier IMO, so I would try to hold off on grinding for at least that long if possible

[Skynstein]

Pair Lissa with Miriel or your Avatar to get a +Mag boost for Rescue. Once you beat chapter 6 things get a bit easier IMO, so I would try to hold off on grinding for at least that long if possible

I feel silly for not thinking of that. Thanks for the help.

BTW I believe it must be possible to rescue them without Rescue staff, but I haven't figured out how to do that without getting my characters killed.

[Sifer]

I am still on my first run on Awakening and I did 0% grind on Hard till chapter 15, then half my team was promoted the other half wasn't So I grinded till they all promoted. I decided to leave off the main ques thent and start training and making those chilluns. My Vaike was lv 3 and Donny was lv 2 villager . It was so many resets :( . Now I am continueing on with my formerly no grind run :P .

[WyvernSurfer]

I think you'd do just fine without grinding if you plan on just beating the game, even on Lunatic. Since I'm playing on Lunatic and plan on using everyone in my team for endgame, I grind to bring my benched units up to speed. Risen hordes on Hard and EXP growth on Lunatic.

Just do what you want to do. I'd recommend not grinding for your already-able units.

[Jedi]

I would say do whatever you feel like. Some runs I grind, some I dont really depends on who I am using or what kind of run I am doing

[LordFrigid]

I'm at the end of play through 3 on Hard mode...did my 1st 2 on Normal since Awakening is my 1st Fire Emblem Game. I personally don't mind grinding, it's just that it's so...tedious. I don't do DLC (although I'd like to give some of the maps a try at some point), so that leaves Reeking Boxes and Spotpass. Reeking Boxes I don't find too bad, but 4800G each was not going to happen...and after a few attempts, I decided summoning SpotPass teams over and over bores me. So I ended up just plowing through the main storyline (and watched as some of the units I gathered early game started to languish from disuse lol...). I think I'll restart again either on Hard or Lunatic (probably Hard) to 1) see if I can get some more balanced leveling in the building and 2) play around with pairings & such in an effort to (finally) create a StreetPass team (just to see if I can really, I've never even checked to see if there are any Awakening players where I am...).

Honestly though, I'd just play however you want, not like anyone's going to know unless you shout it out to the whole world .

[Loki Laufeyson]

But I don't judge people who do like to grind and does it. I mean game gives you that option you're free to use it however the fuck you like, games are supposed to be enjoyed first and foremost so just play whatever way that you find most fun.

This. Fuck the police. You want to play the game without grinding? Do eet. Wanna grind instead? Do eet. Who cares?! Its your game, your file, play the game however you want. There is no "policy of grinding" and i will chuckle if someone tries to enforce one.

[Skynstein]

Wow thank you all, I expected harsher responses! Guess I'll just do whatever I feel like then.

I accidentally erased my Hard/Classic file, though.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Start a new one. Hell, i play Hard/Casual. I have no shame in doing so. If someone wants to point at me and go "WUSS!", that says more about them than it does me.

I may do a Lunatic/Casual run some time. I still havent attempted Lunatic. (yeah, i would most likely grind on that run.)

[Skynstein]

I will once I finish my Normal/Classic file. Idea is to have one file for each difficulty (not Lunatic+ because I ain't never doing that).

[Loki Laufeyson]

because I ain't never doing that

Yeah Lunatic+ can fuck right off.

Good luck. My first run was Normal/Classic of course. It was pretty easy.