Planning/obsessing over a Normal/Casual Lightning Speed Run

[Lucina's Husband]

I beat Hard Classic with a moderate amount of grinding, though honestly, I feel like the game HURLS a ton of outside chapter exp at you in the form of unavoidable skirmishes and poor dungeon corridor design. I'm currently mulling over getting that Lightning Speed Medal through any means yesterday, but I don't know which units to use and which to bench. I think I would prefer low-manning to make it easier to reset for growths, but don't know who to choose:

I can already tell this medal will stress me out immensely, so I don't mind cheesing it however possible to just get it out of the way before I make my perfect min-maxing, take all the time I need file. 

Maybe Alm, Cleric Faye, Clair, Lukas with Villager's Fork, Mathilda, Delthea, Zeke, Tatiana, and Mycen for Alm's story?

And Celica, Mae,  Genny. Saber, Palla, Leo, Valbar, Sonia, and Conrad for Celica's story? 

I tend to obsess about planning for these runs and really love taking my time in most cases. I won't mind waiting for 50-60 turns to boost up a character that needs a helping hand or turtling a horde of enemies.

1. Which DLC items and classes come without increasing turn count?

2. Is there a list of recommended turns to take for most chapters? 

3. On one of these runs since going back through a dungeon could be risky, should I promote everyone ASAP from Villagers to Tier 1s and 2 classes?

4. If I low man (3-5 characters) per route, who would be best?

5. Which stats should I prioritize on every character? Strength, defense, skill, and speed with res on someone like Alm so he can take the final boss's attacks better? Is it worth it to constantly reset for better level ups, even on normal?

6. Which weapons should I forge with my limited gold coins? Are Celica's Ultimate Dagger and art worth it at all?

 

 

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

What do you plan on Forking Lukas into? I'm not sure if he does well in any other class, while he's amazing in his base one for Chapter 1.

Chapter 1 is going to be Lukas, Merc Gray with Lightning Sword and Mage Tobin carrying.

Chapter 2 is basically Celica and Saber doing everything. Mae can help occasionally, and Boey is already droppable. You can use a Fork on Mae for an early flier, which actually works quite well, especially on the boat maps.

Chapter 3, Alm side starts off a little bit slow unfortunately, but the trio from Ch.1 should still be serviceable early on, and you also get the Ridersbane early. Have Clair sweep with the Ridersbane, then pass it on to Mathilda as soon as you get her. Alm should also be trained up. For Celica side, Saber and Celica are still pretty solid, but you're gonna want to start pumping up the Whitewings (not Est though), as well as Mae if she was made into a Peg. Leon will find some use too.

Deen vs Sonya doesn't really matter I guess, since both are serviceable but not necessary. Sonya's map might take slightly fewer turns because of the Witch Warps skipping the dumb desert, but it's probably also annoying to deal with.

Chapter 4, Alm side is still Mathilda land. I'd recommend getting Tatiana and Zeke instead of skipping, unless for some reason you're really behind in total turns. Mathilda and Alm should be nearly soloing stuff. Celica's side is basically all up to the Whitewings (and Peg Mae), and maybe a Dread Fighter or two. Conrad joins too late in a Tier 2 class to be worth the time.

Clerics/Saints are your best friend. Silque's Warp is actually important, so don't neglect her. Once Tatiana comes you should aim to get her Warp asap, and field both her and Silque for double Warping shenanigans.

Try to avoid skirmishes and even dungeon encounters if you can, unless they're mandatory or get you something good like the Duma Lance. You can skip the Blessed Sword, too, if you want.

Promoting ASAP is the name of the game for Gaiden/Echoes, even if you're not going for Blitzkrieg.

You probably don't need to reset for level ups, except for maybe Palla. It's very hard to get a screwed Alm or Mathilda imo, but Palla could possibly not get enough Speed.

Celica doesn't really need Blessed Zofia at all, since her Black Magic is her strong point, and you're realistically not getting Ragnarok Omega anyway if you're playing with Whitewings as the core. I'd recommend nabbing the Saunion (imo for Catria) first instead, but if you have a Gold Mark to spare and nothing much to do with it, The Zofia is still worth for the self-healing mitigating the swamp damage. No one really needs the Gold Marks on Celica side anyway, since Brave Sword doesn't require Gold, and forged Steel/Silver Lance (Steel for better arts, Silver for the regular damage) is what Palla wants.

On Alm side, forge the Ridersbane, but don't go Rhomphaia (it's alright to do so in Chapter 4 if you really want to, but I don't recommend it). You should also have a forged Steel/Silver Lance around. Saunion is still a good choice, but costs a bit more Silver on Alm side since you don't get Javelins to begin with iirc. If you have Gold to spare, buffing Alm's Royal Sword is also a good idea, because Double Lions is broken.

 

No idea about the DLC or turn count thing.

Edited May 26, 2017 by SatsumaFSoysoy

[Lord_Grima]

I'd say making Faye a cleric will help late-game, when she learns Anew. Refreshing units are very helpful/ needed for a Low Turn Count run. 

Pegasus riders are another good class to use, High movement, and no terrain penalties can get you through a lot, especially chapters that have a choke-point for infantry and cavalry units. 

Try running past as many dungeon enemies as you can, the less you can do, the less turns you take.

[Lucina's Husband]

30 minutes ago, Lord_Grima said:

I'd say making Faye a cleric will help late-game, when she learns Anew. Refreshing units are very helpful/ needed for a Low Turn Count run. 

Pegasus riders are another good class to use, High movement, and no terrain penalties can get you through a lot, especially chapters that have a choke-point for infantry and cavalry units. 

Try running past as many dungeon enemies as you can, the less you can do, the less turns you take.

Faye doesn't get anew until Level 14 promoted though... That's a LONG way to go haha.