Attempting S rank HMM run

[wissenschaft]

Well, I've beaten FE 6 Hard mode so I decided its time to replay HMM and this time S rank it. I'm using DarkBladeSeth S rank playlist as a guide on how to S rank HMM while playing ALL CHAPTERS (yes, CH19XX included). I can't follow it exactly because of RNG and my own opinions on optimization but its a wonderful guide. I never would thought you could get away with beating Lyn hard mode without buying any extra weapons but its 100% possible and easy. lol

Note, in ch10, I took the extra turns Nils need to grind Rath on the boss and grind Sera through healing. I actually used up all the boss' javelins. lol You would think all those combats without a kill would ruin my combat score but they actually don't. Funny that. Rath is near A rank bows and Sera already has B rank staves. LOL I'm hoping the overleveling doesn't effect my exp rank (since thats less levels for characters to gain in HMM). Well, I'm going to be finding out the hard way. lol Oh, and I also gave the Robe to Florina since she will be my main flyer and she got good level ups.

I've just beaten Lyn Hard mode and heres the stats for my units:

Lyn level 9 - average Lyn, will get to level 16 for Geitz and then drop

hp 21

str 8

skill 13

speed 15

luck 9

def 3

Res 1

Sain level 7 - I've keep my Cavaliers semi-lowish level so I can gain more exp in HMM with my most often used units.

hp 22

str 12

skill 6

speed 11

luck 5

def 7

Res 3

Kent level 7 - That health. ;)

hp 26

str 10

skill 7

speed 10

luck 4

def 9

Res 3

Dorcas level 6 - OMG, a speed proc. :P

hp 33

str 10

skill 7

speed 7

luck 4

def 4

Res 1

Erk level 6 - May promote if he continues to get decent level ups but I prefer Lucius for his higher staff rank on promotion.

hp 20

mag 9

skill 10

speed 9

luck 6

def 2

Res 6

Serra level 7 - may promote at 10 to work on her Anima rank asap. Not sure if that would hurt my EXP rank though.

hp 22

mag 8

skill 8

speed 10

luck 10

def 2

Res 8

Nils level 7 - dat speed. I like how the dancers in FE actually start with high speed for decent avoid. FE 6 and its lvl 1 dancer....ugh.

hp 20

str 0

skill 0

speed 17

luck 15

def 6

Res 8

Lucius Level 7 (nearly level 8) - My favorite FE 7 mage, pretty good start for him.

hp 19

mag 11

skill 9

speed 12

luck 3

def 2

Res 8

Florina level 5 - good levels up (got robe). Will almost certainly end up being promoted as my main flyer.

hp 25

str 9

skill

spd 12

luck 7

def 5

res 7

Matthew level 5 - didn't get lucky enough for another str proc so can't do the 6 turn clear of ch 1 of HHM. I'll have to settle for a 7 turn clear.

hp 20

str 5

skill 4

spd 14

luck 4

def 3

res 2

Will 4 - Archers suck. I guess I could have leveled him some more but I fed xp to my mages and Lyn instead. Good news is that leveling Wil shall be another source of exp for HHM.

Wil level 4

str 8

skill 6

spd 6

luck 8

def 5

res 0

So, any comments on my guys stats?

1) Was I lucky with some or unlucky? Am I doomed? lol

2) When should I buy weapons in how many because I always buy way too many weapons?

3) Should I early promote Sera since shes starting at such a high level or will that hurt my exp rank? I want to build her Anima ranks asap.

P.S. Again, I'd liked to thank DarkBladeSeth for that wonderful playlist. You are the sage that showth the way to the promise land. All hail the master! :P Rather lucky that I found this playlist among youtube's recommend videos.

Edited September 30, 2016 by wissenschaft

[wissenschaft]

Well, I've gotten to the pirate ship and have 5 stars in everything so far. I manage to get a 6 turn clear on ch 16 (noble lady) by using Florina to drop both Hector and guy and little RNG manipulation to get a crit I needed to quickly get through the the Cavalier at the top of the map. The S rank turn limit for ch 16 is a tiny 7 turns so basically some RNG manipulation is necessary to meet those demands.

Edited October 22, 2016 by wissenschaft

[Florete]

Didn't notice this before, but I'll help where I can. I've S ranked every mode in this game.

1) Was I lucky with some or unlucky? Am I doomed? lol

Post Lyn mode is way too early to answer such a question.

2) When should I buy weapons in how many because I always buy way too many weapons?

Buy only what you really need until you get the Silver Card. At that point you can be a little more spendy, but still try to only buy weaker, cheaper weapons.

3) Should I early promote Sera since shes starting at such a high level or will that hurt my exp rank? I want to build her Anima ranks asap.

Serra gets Light, and you should get both her and Priscilla to 20 before promoting. You need all the experience you can get, and you're just wasting if you promote them early. If you think yourself good enough to attempt S ranking HHM in the first place, you should be able to get them both promoted in good time.

I'm a little disappointed you plan to drop Lyn as she was one of my primary fighters in both my S rank hard mode runs, but if she's not your kind of unit then she can be done without. Her support with Florina is pretty nice, though.

[Mekkah]

Here's a sheet I used to keep track that might help you:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jj9oYDubTceVI1BSu5nLB6-JxZveVheqEOiKrTn7Dgc/edit?usp=sharing

In the yellow cells I filled in some very generous turn counts, showing that even taking your time you still have about 60 turns leftover to do whatever you want.

Edited October 23, 2016 by Mekkah

[wissenschaft]

Thanks for that sheet.

I'm going to get back into this S-rank run after a very long break. I got distracted by other games. lol

17X is a nightmare but I managed to clear out most of the enemies with just a little RNG manipulation. Sure, I could have just skipped most of the enemies but the lost EXP would drive me crazy, even if I don't technically need it. On the bright side, Raven gained 4 levels and Canas manged to gain a super level up. +1 hp +1 mag +1 spd +1 def +1 res. That one extra point of def saved his life when one of the pirates attacked him (survived with 1 hp). lol, talk about lucky breaks.

I'm at the pirate ship mission right now with 5 stars in everything. Time for Oswin to shine again as he holds the right flank nearly by himself against a horde of swordsmen. I think I'm going to use Rebecca since theres quite a few Pegasus on this map. Not to mention she can finish off anyone Oswin weakens.

Hector is level 12, Lyn is level 10, Eliwood is level 9. I need to make sure I get them to level 16 in time so I can get Geitz. (its a better map as well).

Edited January 7, 2017 by wissenschaft