FE: SoV "Lightning War" Achievement

[Generic_Enemy_Knight_#???]

*EDITED* 

Special Thanks to Emerson, SatsumaFSoysoy, Armagon and VincentASM

This post is dedicated to fellow "FE game" completionists alike.

This is perhaps one of the hardest medals to unlock for many players due to its obscure description. I'll walk you through it step by step.

*Disclaimer* : This guide may not apply to players who use DLCs because I have not verified whether 'Turn Count' from DLC maps is included for your 'Total Turn Count'. Just to be safe, avoid using DLCs until further notice. 

1) First and foremost, the medal is not tied to difficulties/modes, so you are able to obtain it by playing through 'Normal/Casual', 'Normal/Classic', 'Hard/Casual', or 'Hard/Classic' 

(I was able to secure mine during my 'Normal/Casual' run)

2) '# of Turns' is the only relevant factor. 'Play Time' and '# of Days' are not associated with the medal.

(Finish the game under 500 turns. For clarity, refer to Serenesforest's FE: SoV guide)

3) AVOID fighting wandering enemies in the dungeons, IF NECESSARY; only fight "unavoidable/stationary" enemies, though some can be skipped entirely; however, it's recommended to fight all of them for the EXP. They are: "Theif Leader - Theif Shrine (Alm's Scenario, entrance leading to Mila's Statue)", "Draco-zombie - Dragon Shrine (Celica's Scenario, near the 'Revival Spring') *can be skipped*, "Summoner - Fear Mountain (Alm's Scenario, guarding the 'Magic Shield') *can be skipped*", "Generic Dastards - Duma's Tower (Celica's Scenario, every staircase leading to the floor above), "Mr.Stuck-up(a.k.a my favourite FE:SoV character) - Duma's Temple (Alm's Scenario) 

(These skirmishes contributes to your 'total turn count'. Be mindful.) 

4) My total turn count = 339 (It'll be helpful if you record down your 'turn count' after every single battle). # of Days = 164 (Ch.1 - 18 days, Ch. 2 - 27 days, Ch. 3 - 60 days, Ch. 4 - 58 days, Ch. 5 - 1 day)

(Don't backtrack too much. Only do it if you forgot to pick up important items in the previous location)

(For "total # of days", follow the Serenesforest description: within 500 days)

(For "total turn count", aim for a range within 330 - 350 turns) 

 

General Strategy - Both Heroes' Scenarios:
a) As for which characters to bring on your journey, it's totally up to you. For late-game, reserve party spots for Masked Knight, Nomah, Zeke, Tita and Mycen, as you probably won't have enough Third-Tier units.

(Alm's Scenario, Core party members - 10 : Alm - Hero Lv 12 (Mandatory), Kliff - Dread Fighter Lv 9 (Good SPD & DEF growth), Ephie/Faye - Sister Lv 5 (Early 'PHYSICS' and 'RESCUE'; good support bonuses from Alm = early-game 65% 'Resire/Nosferatu'), Clair - Falcon Knight Lv 5 (Good SPD growth), Lute/Luthier - Sage Lv 4 (Solid mage with 'EXCALIBUR'), Dewte/Delthea - Mage Lv 10 (She's just good), Tita/Tatiana - Sister Lv 5 (Has access to 'RESERVE/FORTIFY'), Zeke - Gold Knight Lv 4 (He's 'sirius'ly good), Mycen - Gold Knight Lv 7 (Good STR; good support bonuses for Alm, Celica, Kliff and Ephie) and Silque - Sister Lv 1 (Has access to 'WARP')

(Celica's Scenario, Core party members - 10: Celica - Princess Lv 5 (Mandatory), Saber - Dread Fighter Lv 9 (Good HP & SPD growth), Genny - Sister Lv 4 ('INVOKE' provides great distraction for 'Bosses', especially the final one), Dean - Myrmidon Lv 10 (Chose him over Sonya because Sonya's crew is more fragile), Catria - Falcon Knight Lv 6 (Well rounded, fantastic mage killer), Palla - Falcon Knight Lv 4 (Good STR growth), Leon - Sniper Lv 10 (Good STR & SPD growth), Valbar - Armour/Knight Lv 7 (Provides good support bonuses for Leon; also, Leon needs him), Masked Knight - Paladin Lv 9 (Solid stats) and Nomah - Sage Lv 8 (Offers good support bonuses for Celica and Genny; also, I just like his support conversation with Celica)

b) Remember to collect as many cogs as possible for Mila's Turn-wheel

(You get these by playing through the game normally. For detailed info, refer to Serenesforest's guide. By Ch. 5, you should have 11 uses of your Turn-wheel. The last remaining cog is tied to a 'Sub-Quest', which requires you give "cute" stuff to a girl in the 'Forest Village - where you recruit Lute/Luthier. Don't fret over it, as 11 uses are plenty for this playthrough.)

c) Grab everything you see when exploring various locations

(Take your time to examine your surroundings. Be Patient. For example, in Ch. 3, on Celica's route, I almost missed the 'Javelin' near Est's jail cell. That 'Javelin' is EXTREMELY beneficial for Alm's group)

d) When you have a character that's about to level up, save on the "Over-world Map", not during "Pre-battle Menu" before every battle.

(This is a good way to cheese 'level ups'. From my observation, the RNG for 'level ups' is pre-determined whenever you enter a battle. It gets reset whenever you exit the battle. Therefore, you can keep reloading your save file until you get a satisfactory growth. If you accidentally saved during "Pre-battle Menu", pray that RNG'll have mercy on you. Or reload the save file, then wait until the third turn and retreat. It'll definitely disrupt the 'Turn Count', though.) *Note*: As Satsuma pointed out, it's possible to soft reset during "Pre-battle Menu" for good 'level ups'. The method did not work for me, as the outcome remains the same. Perhaps I got really unlucky. I'll do a couple more testing, and see what happens. 

UPDATE: Soft resetting during "Pre-battle Menu" also works. I guess I just had a streak of terrible luck (kept getting +1 LCK for Celica 7 times in a row whenever I soft reset my game)

That about covers everything I learned. Happy hunting, everyone! May Mila's light guide you. 

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Generic_Enemy_Knight_#???
Clarification

[Emerson]

14 minutes ago, Generic_Enemy_Knight_#??? said:

(For "total # of days", follow the Serenesforest description: within 500 days)

(For "total turn count", aim for a range within 330 - 350 turns)

I'm a little confused now.

This page on SF says it's in 500 turns rather than days, with no mention of day count at all.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Isn't the Draco Zombie detour for the Holy Sword skippable as well, if going for lowest turns/days? Or is it actually mandatory?

Also, I thought soft resetting at the pre-battle menu also changes level ups? I'm pretty sure it's happened to me before.

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Generic_Enemy_Knight_#??? said:

By Ch. 5, you should have 11 uses of your Turn-wheel. The last remaining cog is tied to a 'Sub-Quest', which requires you give "cute" stuff to a girl in the 'Forest Village - where you recruit Lute.

What? Lute? As in? 

Did you mean Luthier?

[VincentASM]

53 minutes ago, Emerson said:

I'm a little confused now.

This page on SF says it's in 500 turns rather than days, with no mention of day count at all.

It was corrected recently. 500 is the value to aim for, but it's apparently turns and not days.

That said there is a very small chance it could be 500 turns and days, but I doubt it.

[Emerson]

9 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

It was corrected recently. 500 is the value to aim for, but it's apparently turns and not days.

That said there is a very small chance it could be 500 turns and days, but I doubt it.

Considering it took the OP 160 days but 330 turns, I doubt it's even necessary to state the number of days if it is 500. Turns would most likely exceed it's limit far before days reached 500. If it was more like 300, that could be a little issue if you forget something.

I'll definitely go for this medal on my second run. I was planning on lowmanning that run anyways, so this works out perfectly. That said, Hard/Classic will probably be tougher to clear that quickly compared to Normal/Casual, but I honestly think I'll manage.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

What? Lute? As in? 

Did you mean Luthier?

He probably did, since Luthier's Japanese name is Ryuuto.

42 minutes ago, Emerson said:

I'll definitely go for this medal on my second run. I was planning on lowmanning that run anyways, so this works out perfectly. That said, Hard/Classic will probably be tougher to clear that quickly compared to Normal/Casual, but I honestly think I'll manage.

I fought a lot of extra battles and Hard/Classic was still pretty tough (for me, maybe I suck), but getting Lightning War would probably be extremely hard.

[Generic_Enemy_Knight_#???]

5 hours ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

Isn't the Draco Zombie detour for the Holy Sword skippable as well, if going for lowest turns/days? Or is it actually mandatory?

Also, I thought soft resetting at the pre-battle menu also changes level ups? I'm pretty sure it's happened to me before.

Hey, Satsuma, sorry about the confusion. About the Draco Zombie, you only have to fight it if you need the EXP. Forgot to mention that. As for the soft resetting method, I tried it, but didn't change the outcome. Maybe I just got really unlucky. Hopefully, more info in the future.