Shove/Smite

[Sniper Knight]

I finally got around to starting FE9, and I've been curious about Shove. I've heard it mentioned a few times on Serenes alongside Rescue, so I assumed it would be some kind of incredibly OP skill. It turned out to be the ability to shove a unit one space, which is kind of underwhelming. I can see how it would be situationally useful, but it mostly seems like a "if I had one more Warp range" or "if only that tree wasn't there" utility, maybe good for saving three or four turns total in the game. Three turns is pretty important in LTC or on drafts, but not so much elsewhere. Have I been mistakenly hyping it up or am I being some idiot who fails to grasp the true power of Shove?

Also, Canto is now my favorite mechanic ever. All hail Canto.

[Shadow Mir]

Shove and Smite have their uses, yes. Primarily, getting Astrid in chapter 13 and getting the Ashera Staff in chapter 22.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[Refa]

Have I been mistakenly hyping it up or am I being some idiot who fails to grasp the true power of Shove?

Both, really. It seems incredibly underwhelming until you play other FE games afterwards and bemoan the lack of it. I'd say it saves way more than 3-4 turns though, it's amazingly useful in LTC runs (but it also makes planning for them a pain).

Edited December 13, 2015 by Refa

[ruadath]

Remember the awesomeness when you discovered trade/rescue chains after first playing Fire Emblem? Now imagine that except with Shoving. The possibilities are endless!

[Sniper Knight]

That's pretty much what I thought; pretty useful, though it wouldn't trivialize a large map the way rescue-chaining would. Thanks!

Another thing: since I'll be playing mostly blind, are there important things that I really shouldn't miss? Like gaidens in FE6, for instance, or missable top-tier units? Most importantly, are there bow users who don't suck? Shinon left me to suffer.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Sniper Knight

[maybe]

That's pretty much what I thought; pretty useful, though it wouldn't trivialize a large map the way rescue-chaining would. Thanks!

Another thing: since I'll be playing mostly blind, are there important things that I really shouldn't miss? Like gaidens in FE6, for instance, or missable top-tier units? Most importantly, are there bow users who don't suck? Shinon left me to suffer.

yes.

yes there are.

When you get to chapter 15, look up how to get Stefan. You will not figure it out on your own.

Getting back Shinon is similar, you have to talk to him with Rolf and have Ike kill him. Not quite as cryptic, but still pretty easy to miss. I've never used him myself, although I've heard he isn't quite "top-tier". Stefan's pretty great though. Aside from that, not much except maybe desert tiles with hidden stuff, which again, you should just look up when you reach the chapter.

Edited December 13, 2015 by maybe

[Snowy_One]

It's useful for speedrunners and LTC players. It's not useful for other people.

[Mekkah]

You'd be surprised, Snowy. I don't LTC or speedrun but I appreciate a good shove every now and then. The guaranteed quick recruitment of Astrid is just one of the many uses. You can shove people into enemy range or out of it, for one. It's like having one extra movement that sometimes ignores terrain and is transferred from one unit to another. It's _most_ useful for cutting turns or time but pretending it's useless otherwise is nonsense.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

In my runs I shoved as much as I could, because each shoved space can reduce the distance to an enemy.

So why not benefiting by it?

In general I do it more in FE9 than in 10 not only because there are two chapters you have to do it.

However in FE10 I like to shove my (slow) healers back that archers can't attack and kill them.

[CervusOpimusSilvae]

It can also shave off turns sleeping.