So... Imma do a FE8 run I guess

[BANRYU]

Yeah. Basically this, it's my first run of the game.

I'm planning to use one character in each class (cept the lord twins, they can both be used) and ditch everyone else, pretty much. Would like to use all three trainees if possible (won't be above ditching them though), and I'm planning to avoid grinding as much as possible.

So basically what I want to know is who functions best in the role of classes that lots of ppl can be, IE Wyvern Knights, Great Knights, Assassins, etc. Not too worried about difficulty or anything (gonna do Ephraim/Hard lol)

Here's my lineup:

* obligatory lord 1

* obligatory lord 2

- Hero:

- Warrior:

- Berserker:

- Swordmaster: likely Joshua, maybe Marisa

- Rogue:

- Assassin: Marisa?

- Sniper: Innes probably

- Ranger:

- Paladin:

- Great Knight:

- General: Gilliam probably?

- Falcoknight:

- Wyvern Knight: Vanessa and Tana have both been suggested

- Wyvern Lord: Cormag

- Bishop: Natasha

- Valkyrie: L'Arachel

- Sage: Lute

- Mage Knight:

- Druid: Ewan

- Summoner: Knoll

Guess you could call this a PMU of sorts? Please be kind though lol. Like I said, I'd prefer to avoid grinding so the best of each class is preferred. And yes, I definitely want to use one instance of each class so don't tell me not to use one of them. Telling me a class is terrible is a good heads-up and is okay, but I'll still use them lol.

Input always appreciated!

Edited November 17, 2016 by BANRYU

[eclipse]

IF you're dead-set on every class. . .

- Hero: Gerik (hard to screw him up)

- Warrior: Garcia (BTW it's gonna suck, but it can't be helped, since Ross is even worse IMO)

- 'zerker: Give Ross until Chapter 6 or so, and if he's awful, use Dozla

- Swordmaster: Joshua's better at it (barely)

- Assassin: Marisa, because the insta-kill will help her awful damage output

- Rogue: Rennac. Use Colm ONLY if you dropped Ross earlier, since they both use the same promotion item IIRC.

- Sniper: Innes

- Bow Knight: That leaves Neimi (I'm sorry)

- Paladin: Seth/Franz will be more than enough

- Great Knight: Duessel

- General: Gilliam, because Amelia's straight-up bad at it

- Falcoknight: Syrene

- Wyvern Knight: I prefer Tana over Vanessa, since the latter hates me

- Wyvern Lord: Cormag

- Bishop: Artur

- Valkyrie: Natasha

- Sage: Saleh (superior weapon ranks, and doesn't get screwed over as hard by Excalibur)

- Mage Knight: Lute

- Druid: Ewan

- Summoner: Knoll

That should cut down on promotion item use.

[BANRYU]

Aight thanks! much obliged!

ooh yeah the limited promotion item use wasn't even a factor in my head. Do we know how many of each item are available throughout the game?

EDIT: So Ranger / non-Innes archers in general are really that bad, huh? are Innes and Neimi the only options...??

Edited November 17, 2016 by BANRYU

[eclipse]

The ones you need to watch for are Orion's Bolt (1), Ocean Seal (1), and Elysian Whip (2). Master Seals exist, but that's after the secret shops. If you do everything correctly, you should have enough of the rest of them.

[BANRYU]

The ones you need to watch for are Orion's Bolt (1), Ocean Seal (1), and Elysian Whip (2). Master Seals exist, but that's after the secret shops. If you do everything correctly, you should have enough of the rest of them.

I see... then unless I'm going for Master Seals I guess I have to use Syrene for my falco (assuming she comes prepromoted, IIRC she does...?)

Is the Fell Contract not in this game? :0 Do thieves promote with the ocean seal too? (or did I misunderstand something somewhere)

[Alex95]

I see... then unless I'm going for Master Seals I guess I have to use Syrene for my falco (assuming she comes prepromoted, IIRC she does...?)

Is the Fell Contract not in this game? :0 Do thieves promote with the ocean seal too? (or did I misunderstand something somewhere)

Yes to the first, no to the second, and yes to the third.

Good luck! Hope you have a better run than I did :P

[eclipse]

I see... then unless I'm going for Master Seals I guess I have to use Syrene for my falco (assuming she comes prepromoted, IIRC she does...?)

Is the Fell Contract not in this game? :0 Do thieves promote with the ocean seal too? (or did I misunderstand something somewhere)

Syrene starts as a Falcoknight.

No Fell Contract.

Thieves promote with the Ocean Seal.

And the last bit is that Master Seals can work in place of the Ocean Seal, unlike FE7.

[BANRYU]

Yes to the first, no to the second, and yes to the third.

Good luck! Hope you have a better run than I did :P

thanks man! I'm not too worried, I did all right with Roy's horribly imbalanced, nonsense game lol. Hoping this one will be more fun haha, I know the story is at least pretty good.

Syrene starts as a Falcoknight.

No Fell Contract.

Thieves promote with the Ocean Seal.

And the last bit is that Master Seals can work in place of the Ocean Seal, unlike FE7.

Thieves with ocean seal is so bizarre and off-flavor though....?? how bizarre lol. Ohwell shrug. the Master Seal thing is nice at least.

Oh, one more question. The twins have a set promotion period, right? or do they use Heaven Seals like the FE7 lords?

[eclipse]

The twins get their own promotion item, and it's impossible to miss.

[BANRYU]

The twins get their own promotion item, and it's impossible to miss.

Good good. (thanks for the input btw everyone :3 )

I wouldn't assume so, but is there any other blindsidey stuff I should be aware of going in the first time?

[eclipse]

Good good. (thanks for the input btw everyone :3 )

I wouldn't assume so, but is there any other blindsidey stuff I should be aware of going in the first time?

1. The desert contains some insanely good items, so take the time to pick them up.

2. You'll get rewards for doing certain things in a few maps - the game will outright tell you one of them. Each route split has one sub-goal (one is fairly obvious if you've played the older games, one requires a bit of thought).

3. Pay attention to what the enemies hold. There's some EXTREMELY GOOD ITEMS that can be stolen.

4. There's a couple of early enemy units with wonky AI, but that's not going to be an issue unless you're trying to LTC the map.

5. No, you can't use Hammerne on a Dragonstone.

6. There's a reason why shops carry Restore/Torch, and Lute really likes the staff experience from the latter.

7. Warpskipping is a viable endgame tactic, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're struggling.

8. You can enter a skirmish, then choose Retreat to get rid of it (and go shopping).

9. Speaking of, shops sell different items within a chapter, and on the world map. The latter is usually better.

10. If you need to pay Rennac to join you, you did it wrong.

[BANRYU]

Yes good, most of these I habitually do anyway hohoho~ (treasure-laden deserts seem to be a trend in the GBA games lol)

5. No, you can't use Hammerne on a Dragonstone.

WHY THOUGHHHHHHHHH

I mean, I learned this from FE6 so kinda knew already BUT SERIOUSLY WHYYYYY

Edited November 17, 2016 by BANRYU

[ping]

Here's my lineup:

* obligatory lord 1

* obligatory lord 2

- Hero: Gerik's really solid and Hero is most likely the better promotion choice for him anyway.

- Warrior: Garcia is your only option here...

- Berserker: ...at least if you choose Ross for this spot. I actually like him as a Pirate/Berserker, even though his average stats are nothing special.

- Swordmaster: likely Joshua, maybe Marisa Yeah, Joshua is way better, simply because Marisa is criminally underleveled when she finally joins.

- Rogue: Rennac, because you only find one Ocean Seal.

- Assassin: Marisa? Yep, because you only find one Ocean Seal. ;)

- Sniper: Innes probably Yep, because...

- Ranger: ...you need Neimi for this spot. I hope for your sake that her strength will go up nicely.

- Paladin: Seth if you want to make the game easy. Forde if you don't.

- Great Knight: If you want to use Amelia, I'd keep this spot for her (and I really, really recommend going Cavalier for her 1st tier). If you get to your senses ;) use Duessel or maybe Kyle instead.

- General: Gilliam probably? Yeah, he should do OK as one.

- Falcoknight: Tana

- Wyvern Knight: Vanessa and Tana have both been suggested Vanessa, although I doubt it makes any difference if you switch her and Tana around.

- Wyvern Lord: Cormag It's not like you have a choice here, do you?

- Bishop: Natasha Looks fine - her and Moulder are both decent healers/monster hunters.

- Valkyrie: L'Arachel Have fun leveling her up :/ Maybe make Natasha a Valkyrie and Moulder your bishop?

- Sage: Lute Saleh, so that you can make...

- Mage Knight: ...Lute a Mage Knight. She actually appreciates the additional Con, so it's a very good choice despite the lower Mag cap.

- Druid: Ewan

- Summoner: Knoll No real choice here, either. ;)

Honestly, using 22 characters sounds like a real ordeal, and I don't know if it's really possible without any skirmish/tower grinding. Or rather, I suppose it is possible because the enemies aren't too scary most of the time and the prepromotes can carry you through the tough spots if the rest of your team is gloriously underleveled, but I don't know if it'll be fun in a first playthrough.

If I were you, I'd probably drop a few classes if leveling up your characters gets too tedious. Assassin, for example, is a rather lackluster class thanks to its promotional gains, its caps and the fact that Marisa is your best choice if you want both Swordmaster!Joshua and 'zerker!Ross.

Anyway, good luck no matter how you're going to do this! ;)

[BANRYU]

Honestly, using 22 characters sounds like a real ordeal, and I don't know if it's really possible without any skirmish/tower grinding. Or rather, I suppose it is possible because the enemies aren't too scary most of the time and the prepromotes can carry you through the tough spots if the rest of your team is gloriously underleveled, but I don't know if it'll be fun in a first playthrough.

If I were you, I'd probably drop a few classes if leveling up your characters gets too tedious. Assassin, for example, is a rather lackluster class thanks to its promotional gains, its caps and the fact that Marisa is your best choice if you want both Swordmaster!Joshua and 'zerker!Ross.

Anyway, good luck no matter how you're going to do this! ;)

Oh yeah, I don't doubt that. TBQH it's probably more of a nice notion that I may not necessarily end up seeing through to the end hahaha. We'll see how it goes, I'm not gonna be too much of a stickler for adhering to this, haha. Thanks man!

Edited November 17, 2016 by BANRYU

[BANRYU]

Ah okay, I have another question. What are some good support pairs/triangles to shoot for, under the grounds of the no-grind / mostly just using the above people? (thinking about nabbing early Seth/Erika supports but not planning to use Seth later, so....)

[Vaximillian]

Master Seals exist, but that's after the secret shops. If you do everything correctly, you should have enough of the rest of them.

A Master Seal is available in the village in the desert chapter as well.

[Moblin Major General]

A Master Seal is available in the village in the desert chapter as well.

The Secret shop for promo items is in Chapter 14, although it requires recruiting Rennac.

[Vaximillian]

The Secret shop for promo items is in Chapter 14, although it requires recruiting Rennac.

Ah yes, I always forget about secret shops, that's why I mixed that up.

[BANRYU]

Ah okay, I have another question. What are some good support pairs/triangles to shoot for, under the grounds of the no-grind / mostly just using the above people? (thinking about nabbing early Seth/Erika supports but not planning to use Seth later, so....)

*twiddles thumbs*

[ping]

L'Arachel / Rennac

Honestly, FE8's supports all grow at a reasonable pace (except L'Arachel/Rennac), so I'd just grab whatever is available. The twins both support with Tana and both her and Eirika can also support with Innes, so you could maybe fit him in, too. (so for example Tana/Ephraim A, Innes/Eirika A, Tana/Innes B, Ephraim/Eirika B) Only problem might be that Tana might often not be close to your main army, but that depends on your playing style.

In general, most characters have at least 4-5 support options, so if you're using 22 of them, just picking supports as the options appear should really work fine. I don't think many characters will remain sad and lonely even if you don't plan ahead too much.