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Hard Mode Tips?


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On 2/8/2017 at 3:14 PM, TheSilentChloey said:

I just said that I don't want to use Fred...

I never understood asking for advice then imposing all these artificial limitations.  However, if that's the case, you can just pair Fred with your Avatar.  Fred gives really good Pair-Up bonuses early on (the +1 MOV is especially nice, and I think he gives like +6 DEF which turns the Avatar into a tank).

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Another tip about Donnel and his paralogue is learning when and when not to Double Strike.  Have Donnel pick off most of the bad guys in his paralogue by having the others weaken them for Donnel.  Also pair Donnel up with either Vaike or Frederick at first to give Donnel that extra boost.  If you do this correctly, Donnel should be at level 5 by the end of his paralogue.  Also have Donnel kill all 3 thieves.

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22 hours ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I'm not so much as grinding as training a specific team and avoiding "Frederick" emblem.

Learning means you have to step out of your comfort zone. Even if Jeigans are difficult to use, you have to start somewhere. Nobody wakes up one day and pulls off a chapter wide rescue chain. Learning takes time, and this playthough can be used to take advantage of tools you felt uncomfortable using until now. Just because you don't have the proficiency of using a Jeigan now doesn't mean you can't develop that as a skill. Stepping up from normal to hard can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be if you're willing to try new concepts.

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2 hours ago, Vascela said:

Learning means you have to step out of your comfort zone. Even if Jeigans are difficult to use, you have to start somewhere. Nobody wakes up one day and pulls off a chapter wide rescue chain. Learning takes time, and this playthough can be used to take advantage of tools you felt uncomfortable using until now. Just because you don't have the proficiency of using a Jeigan now doesn't mean you can't develop that as a skill. Stepping up from normal to hard can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be if you're willing to try new concepts.

I know, however from what I have seen when using normal mode I would have thought that Lissa would actually benefit from Frederick's extra defense especially since she is at a risk of getting killed more so then Robin who would be able to at least fight back (plus I had attempted HM before with a +spd Robin but felt a little out of my depth...I think I should have gone with my usual Robin first I think)

Edited by TheSilentChloey
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Ooh, trying Hard? I remember that from PoR and how daunting it can be at first. Thankfully, Awakening's Hard mode isn't as big as a jump as other games.

I'm just going to put some stuff in spoilers as I can get lengthy at times:

Donnel

Spoiler

Much like the rest of the game, Pair-Up is going to be the big thing for him. Since his Paralogue is set levels, it actually can be easy to soften up foes for him as your team can be higher level than the enemies. The Thieves are probably the best for him to eat up. I usually use Kellam or Frederick as Donnel's partner as they give nice defensive and offensive buffs (helps that it will start building a support with Kellam). Aim to give him more than just the required level up if you plan to use him for the rest of the game. It's going to be harder for him to get the levels in other maps, but it's not hard to actually acquire the level in his Paralogue.

A good starting grinding spot is what someone else said: Edward's SpotPass team. The Thieves are good. I also used Wolt's team if I wasn't comfortable yet raising someone against Thieves.

Frederick 

Spoiler

Depends on what you mean by "use." I'd say those who don't want to use Frederick only use him for the early game. That's what Jeigans are for. To ease the early game when your units haven't grown yet. Heck, even make him a Pair-Up partner only sort of guy. He's still being useful despite not being in combat. I know that it may seem bad if he takes a kill but sometimes it's necessary. Besides, you're likely to make up the lost EXP later. You tend to outgrow the enemies even if Frederick took those early kills.

I can't recall when Frederick starts to drop from my team but it's pretty early. Probably after Chapter 4. I've never made Frederick a part of the main team as I liked other characters.

Even this part could apply to all characters you use in the early game but drop later on. Sometimes it's just necessary for them to take a kill because you don't have many options that early. I always drop Virion but that doesn't mean he does nothing on his joining chapter. He's chipping or being someone's partner. Had he not done those roles, I would have had a harder time. In the long run, it was good he did those things despite I drop him.

Always take into account range and damage you'll likely be receiving. The biggest fear I had when I played PoR Hard was more because I didn't know how damage worked. The game got significantly easier once I took into account range and damage output. Sometimes it means counting squares if, for example, you have a unit in the way of an enemy and you intend to pull them back.

 

3 hours ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I know, however from what I have seen when using normal mode I would have thought that Lissa would actually benefit from Frederick's extra defense especially since she is at a risk of getting killed more so then Robin who would be able to at least fight back (plus I had attempted HM before with a +spd Robin but felt a little out of my depth...I think I should have gone with my usual Robin first I think)

Nah. Keep Lissa out of range of enemies and you'll never have to worry about her dying. And heal spam is a thing. Do that and she may be one of the first people to promote--aside from Robin, that is.

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I understand the desire to avoid using Freddy, but it is necessary sometimes. Before I played Hard Mode, I reallyyy didn't want to give him experience. But after resetting a chapter five times, I finally learned my lesson and used him. It's definitely not necessary to abuse him in every chapter, since I benched him a lot at the beginning. Just don't feel guilty about using him every now and then!

Reeking boxes are more expensive in Hard Mode, so while you make a profit from grinding in Normal, you always lose gold in Hard. This is another reason why Freddy is useful. He's already a tank, so you don't need to waste your small amount of gold on grinding low-leveled units.

Also, I second the heal-spamming. Heal staves are cheap and it's really helpful to level up Lissa early on.

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