How To Start LTCing

[Avarice Shadow]

So I've always been interested in LTC's since I see really cool and creative strategies but I've never tried it. I would like to give it a shot. Is there any tips that you guys could give me to help me start out? 

[Junkhead]

A big part of it is actually using these so called "experience leechers" and the like. They take a big role, mainly in earlygame. You can start by watching some videos, read some logs (look them up on Google) and then you work your way from there. When I started, I didn't think I had it, but a lot comes down to experience. 

[Avarice Shadow]

1 hour ago, Soul~! said:

A big part of it is actually using these so called "experience leechers" and the like. They take a big role, mainly in earlygame. You can start by watching some videos, read some logs (look them up on Google) and then you work your way from there. When I started, I didn't think I had it, but a lot comes down to experience. 

Yeah that makes a lot of sense about using the Jagan early on they're strong early game so they can kill things faster. I had some questions about fitting in enough time to train units through out the campaign while still saving turns but I'll take your advice and watch/read a lot of runs and try to figure out how they do it and get more experience with the game in general. Thanks for replying! 

Edited March 28, 2017 by Avarice_Shadow

[Junkhead]

Ask me for a game, I might be able to hitch something for you. I only did some FE9 Maniac Mode, FE10 & FE13. Regarding training people, while it is a concern, you sort of get by. You're not going for the usual "20/20", but you're also going on a smaller team as to make it all fit. 

[Avarice Shadow]

I was thinking of trying FE8, FE9, and FE14 Conquest. So any of those would be really cool. Hmm... So is it safe to say that you want to focus on using statboosters/promotion gains to make up for the missed level ups? 

[Florete]

Join a draft. They're a good way to get into the mindset while not being overwhelmed with every option the game makes available.

In general, determine what needs to be done on a map, look at the tools at your disposal, and think of how best to use them to achieve your goal. Rescue and pair up can be very helpful in extending how far you send units, especially when utilized by fliers. Warp and Rescue staves and dancers add a lot more options to what you can do with a turn.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Florete

[Irysa]

Get used to counting squares.

It's easier to start LTCing in a game with more easy to see limits. Games without rescue or pair up put a more discernable limit on how far you can travel in 1 turn without using stuff like warp, and seize or kill boss maps can be tile counted too. Basically, FE3 B1 or something is an extremely easy game to try to ease yourself into LTCing, since the lowest possible theoretical turncount on any given map (without using warp) is easy to figure out since you just have to work out how long it takes Marth to walk to the throne. Then you calculate how many turns each Warp would save, and so forth. You also can't Hammerne Warp so the uses aren't as nuts as some other versions of FE1.

OTOH, games like FE8 and FE9 have a bunch of rout maps that can be kinda annoying to figure out.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Irysa

[Avarice Shadow]

1 hour ago, Florete said:

Join a draft. They're a good way to get into the mindset while not being overwhelmed with every option the game makes available.

In general, determine what needs to be done on a map, look at the tools at your disposal, and think of how best to use them to achieve your goal. Rescue and pair up can be very helpful in extending how far you send units, especially when utilized by fliers. Warp and Rescue staves and dancers add a lot more options to what you can do with a turn.

I've never tried a draft but it does sound like a pretty neat idea! 

This is very useful things for me to take note of. Instead of thinking about beating the whole chapter like that, I just have to apply it to turns. Thanks for replying!

24 minutes ago, Irysa said:

Get used to counting squares.

It's easier to start LTCing in a game with more easy to see limits. Games without rescue or pair up put a more discernable limit on how far you can travel in 1 turn without using stuff like warp, and seize or kill boss maps can be tile counted too. Basically, FE3 B1 or something is an extremely easy game to try to ease yourself into LTCing, since the lowest possible theoretical turncount on any given map (without using warp) is easy to figure out since you just have to work out how long it takes Marth to walk to the throne. Then you calculate how many turns each Warp would save, and so forth. You also can't Hammerne Warp so the uses aren't as nuts as some other versions of FE1.

OTOH, games like FE8 and FE9 have a bunch of rout maps that can be kinda annoying to figure out.

Oh OK I see what you mean. That makes a lot of sense. I never planned on playing FE3 because of FE12 but I think this is a good enough reason for me to play it. 

Yeah I figured that those types of maps would be more difficult to LTC. But hey nothing comes easy right? :p Thanks for answering! 

 

[Irysa]

I mean FE11 and 12 are still going to fit the general bill if you play them on lower difficulties. FE3 B1 was just an example of the easiest possible one to start with.

[Avarice Shadow]

1 hour ago, Irysa said:

I mean FE11 and 12 are still going to fit the general bill if you play them on lower difficulties. FE3 B1 was just an example of the easiest possible one to start with.

Ah I see, fair enough. I'll probably still try to play FE3 at some point now that my interest has been piqued...

[General Horace]

As someone who's done FE8, I would strongly recommend against it as your first game for it.  It's lowkey one of the most difficult to figure out games imo, and due to how short the game is you need to meet some ridiculous stat/weapon rank benchmarks really fast, and rout maps can be tough to figure out.

Like mentioned above, playing a few drafts really gives you ideas on what units you need in what situations.  Like when drafting FE7, it's important to consider all the units that can rescue promoted Hector, for instance.  

[Refa]

I thought one of the main goals of LTC was to feed your Jeigan as little as possible, because you're rigging and dumping as much EXP as possible into your cavaliers and pegasus knights so they can get even more ridiculous.  They're definitely invaluable and worth deploying as much as possible, but you're still going to make a conscious effort to give other units EXP.

54 minutes ago, General Horace said:

As someone who's done FE8, I would strongly recommend against it as your first game for it.  It's lowkey one of the most difficult to figure out games imo, and due to how short the game is you need to meet some ridiculous stat/weapon rank benchmarks really fast, and rout maps can be tough to figure out.

Like mentioned above, playing a few drafts really gives you ideas on what units you need in what situations.  Like when drafting FE7, it's important to consider all the units that can rescue promoted Hector, for instance.  

FE8 is the worst.  Most of your units actually have a fairly mediocre start (not as bad in growths, but without them oh boy), some of the EXP benchmarks are ridiculously tight, getting anyone to Warp makes me want to kill myself, and some of the AI in the rout maps is set to not attack because haha fuck you.

Another thing drafts can do is help you to use all of the units and determine what each unit's strengths/weaknesses are.

[Avarice Shadow]

2 hours ago, General Horace said:

As someone who's done FE8, I would strongly recommend against it as your first game for it.  It's lowkey one of the most difficult to figure out games imo, and due to how short the game is you need to meet some ridiculous stat/weapon rank benchmarks really fast, and rout maps can be tough to figure out.

Like mentioned above, playing a few drafts really gives you ideas on what units you need in what situations.  Like when drafting FE7, it's important to consider all the units that can rescue promoted Hector, for instance.  

That sounds very tough. Maybe I'll hold off on FE8 until I get more experience with LTCing haha...

I can definitely see how that plays a very significant role. Thank you for your response! 

1 hour ago, Refa said:

I thought one of the main goals of LTC was to feed your Jeigan as little as possible, because you're rigging and dumping as much EXP as possible into your cavaliers and pegasus knights so they can get even more ridiculous.  They're definitely invaluable and worth deploying as much as possible, but you're still going to make a conscious effort to give other units EXP.

FE8 is the worst.  Most of your units actually have a fairly mediocre start (not as bad in growths, but without them oh boy), some of the EXP benchmarks are ridiculously tight, getting anyone to Warp makes me want to kill myself, and some of the AI in the rout maps is set to not attack because haha fuck you.

Another thing drafts can do is help you to use all of the units and determine what each unit's strengths/weaknesses are.

Powerful high move units are what seem to be the top tier of this type of playstyle which is seems very logical, all things considered. So I should definitely focus on training some. 

Man it's kinda funny how FE8 seems to be one of the harder games to LTC. 100% gonna wait until I'm more experienced before I do that one XD 

That sounds useful. Seems like a good thing to know when going into these types of runs. Thanks for replying! 

 

 

[Gradivus.]

I agree with the sentiment of starting with simple games. FE3 B1, FE11 and Birthright are pretty simple. Among the games with rescuing, FE6 is probably the simplest because you don't have to put up with big planning (as outlined by Horace) or defense maps (like in FE7; they are very boring in LTC because they have a fixed turncount). I recommend banning warp in FE3, 6 and 11 and playing on a lower difficulty like FE6 normal or FE11 H3 because HM/H5 earlygame is merciless (no pun intended) if you LTC it.

Extra rules are always a good idea, drafts and warpless are the most prominent in that respect, but you could think up some on your own, such as banning a broken jagen or randomizing your rom.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Gradivus.

[Avarice Shadow]

4 hours ago, Gradivus. said:

I agree with the sentiment of starting with simple games. FE3 B1, FE11 and Birthright are pretty simple. Among the games with rescuing, FE6 is probably the simplest because you don't have to put up with big planning (as outlined by Horace) or defense maps (like in FE7; they are very boring in LTC because they have a fixed turncount). I recommend banning warp in FE3, 6 and 11 and playing on a lower difficulty like FE6 normal or FE11 H3 because HM/H5 earlygame is merciless (no pun intended) if you LTC it.

Extra rules are always a good idea, drafts and warpless are the most prominent in that respect, but you could think up some on your own, such as banning a broken jagen or randomizing your rom.

Better put FE6 and Birthright on my list then. Yeah defense maps will probably give more turns instead of save especially for a newbie like me. I'll take that advice and play on the lower difficulties since it won't overwhelm me so much.

I really like the extra rules idea since I play most FE games with my own rules (usually no grinding) so I think it will be really engaging to do that in an LTC run. A randomized rom sounds like it would be very fascinating to attempt. I'll try that out when I get more familiar with LTCing. Thank you for your reply!