Advice for first playthrough(s)

[DisobeyedCargo]

I finally decided on the game I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get Birthright first, then probably conquest later. 

I wanted to see if there was anything I should know about either game going in.

[Nym]

7 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

I finally decided on the game I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get Birthright first, then probably conquest later. 

I wanted to see if there was anything I should know about either game going in.

Don't use the silver weapons in this game.

[Lightchao42]

On Birthright, make sure that Corrin gets an A support with Kaze before Chapter 15.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Lightchao42

[DisobeyedCargo]

2 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:

On Birthright, make sure that Corrin gets an A support with Kaze ASAP.

 

2 minutes ago, Nym said:

Don't use the silver weapons in this game.

Any reason why?

[Lightchao42]

7 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Any reason why?

If you finish Birthright Chapter 15 when Corrin and Kaze don't have an A support,

Spoiler

Kaze will be lost permanently for that playthrough.

Also if Corrin is male and you want all the children, you can't marry any female who can marry anyone other than Corrin. Doing otherwise will leave one male without a partner, and their child will be unavailable.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Lightchao42

[eclipse]

Dive in.  It's Birthright, and plenty doable blind.

[Nym]

2 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

 

Any reason why?

About the Kaze thing... let's just say something will happen for him in Birthright only unless you have an A support with him. You get three ninjas though so if you don't play to use him.

About the silver weapon, basically in this game there are no weapon durability (meaning weapons have infinite uses, not for staffs). But they "balanced" the silver weapons by giving a debuff to the user every time they use it against an enemy.

Speaking of debuff, it's a very usuful mechanic that can be use to weak foes (with a specific weapon). The enemy will also be able to do the same to you.

You probably don't know what this is yet but personal skills can be usuful, situationel or almost useless depending of which character you use.

[Shadow Mir]

16 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

 

Any reason why?

Silver weapons debuff your stats (specifically, Skill and the relevant stat) every time they're used. They also have a -5 crit evade penalty. As for Kaze, as stated by the ninja above me, he'll be lost permanently after chapter 15. 

As for tips, do NOT wait until chapter 19 before picking up children. ESPECIALLY in the case of Ryoma's son Shiro.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Levant Mir Celestia

[anniec8711]

44 minutes ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

I'm gonna get Birthright first, then probably conquest later. 

Have you already gotten BR?  If not, I'd start with Conquest if I were you!  I think you're gonna find BR too easy.  And Conquest has . . . RALLYMAN!

And you also can capture Haitaka, who's a better Spear Fighter than Oboro, and Kumagera who who wipes the floor with Rinka.

All I know about BR is that Chapter 10 is a great place to train Sakura and Azama, if you make everyone stand in the snake pits.

Edited March 29, 2018 by anniec8711

[Bubba Jones]

Just play it and do/use whatever and whoever.

It’s easy for you to browse the fates board and hear things like “Silver and S weapons aren’t worth it”, “Subaki is bad”, “Takumi and Ryoma are broken.  But it’s more fun to figure out the hard way why we say those things by examining them over a playthrough.  Easier since Birthright is forgiving to people who take that route of discovery.

One PSA I can give if you’re coming from Awakening though is that pair-ups were nerfed so you don’t get the constant blocks, and children were also nerfed and are now more-or-less given stat averages of both parents scaled to their actual level without giving them the crazy base stats awakening did.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Bubba Jones

[Ertrick36]

24 minutes ago, anniec8711 said:

And you also can capture Haitaka, who's a better Spear Fighter than Oboro, and Kumagera who who wipes the floor with Rinka.

I would contest the former, as the slight difference in stats (which aren't all better than 'Boro) doesn't make up for lacking reclass and support options.  The latter, though...  Rinkah's got garbage growths in nearly every meaningful way, so you could honestly pit any unit against her.

 

As for my advice...  It'd be better to just jump in, but I'll give you this: Fates is not Awakening.  I mean duh, it isn't, but really.  Reclassing works very differently in Fates, you get fewer items for reclassing (by this, I mean you won't be getting infinite seals until you're close to endgame), pair-up was nerfed, and pretty much the whole game in general was rebalanced.  This is also to your benefit, as Lunatic isn't nearly as BS, and you can take on the paralogues whenever you want and they'll merely scale with your progress.  And then there's Phoenix Mode... which honestly just feels like cheating, though is good if you want to build your logbook up (I'd only think about that for post-game/online).

Also, prisoner units are good as fodder.  Losing them is like losing bronze weapons, assuming you didn't use any resources to recruit them.  Though for Birthright, there shouldn't be very many instances where you might feel the need to use fodder units.  High defense units tend to receive higher favor in Birthright's meta, but again that shouldn't be a significant concern for you unless you really are lost with these games.

[anniec8711]

1 hour ago, Ertrick36 said:

I would contest the former, as the slight difference in stats (which aren't all better than 'Boro) doesn't make up for lacking reclass and support options.  The latter, though...  Rinkah's got garbage growths in nearly every meaningful way, so you could honestly pit any unit against her.

I mean Haitaka is already at a disadvantage, not having a personal skill, being able to support, or reclass outside of heart seals.  Other than that he beats her handily on offense, and doesn't fall to far behind on defense.  There's only 5 skill slots, so his natural set (which is quite good) and his 2 unique skills (the ever important Rally Defense and the handy Strong Riposte) are all he really needs. 

One more thing if you plan on playing BR you can capture the boss of Chapter 14, the strategist Daniela.  As far as I can tell she is the only capturable enemy in BR that possesses a unique skill outside her heart seal sets (Strategist, Maid).  The skill is Savage Blow which works really well on a range attacker.

Edited March 29, 2018 by anniec8711

[Shadow Mir]

 

1 hour ago, anniec8711 said:

Have you already gotten BR?  If not, I'd start with Conquest if I were you!  I think you're gonna find BR too easy.  And Conquest has . . .

RALLYMAN!

And you also can capture Haitaka, who's a better Spear Fighter than Oboro, and Kumagera who who wipes the floor with Rinka.

*thwacks over the head* Don't scare him. Conquest is not nearly as forgiving as Birthright is. And I would say Birthright is itself pretty unforgiving. Also, I might contest the former for reasons already stated.

[eclipse]

2 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

 

*thwacks over the head* Don't scare him. Conquest is not nearly as forgiving as Birthright is. And I would say Birthright is itself pretty unforgiving. Also, I might contest the former for reasons already stated.

. . .yeah, don't argue this here.

[Shadow Mir]

I should make note of the fact that Fates shuts down low-manning - basically, compared to Awakening (or for that matter, any other FE game), overleveled units start getting drastically less experience.

[DisobeyedCargo]

7 hours ago, anniec8711 said:

Have you already gotten BR?  If not, I'd start with Conquest if I were you!  I think you're gonna find BR too easy.  And Conquest has . . . RALLYMAN!

And you also can capture Haitaka, who's a better Spear Fighter than Oboro, and Kumagera who who wipes the floor with Rinka.

All I know about BR is that Chapter 10 is a great place to train Sakura and Azama, if you make everyone stand in the snake pits.

Haven't gotten the games yet. Still saving up a bit of money on the side to get them 

[starburst]

Since I got all three paths at the same time, I was lucky to try one or the other before I found out which one I liked the most.
In my opinion, if you are saving money to get just one path, choose Conquest.

Birthright is fine, I guess, but the maps are nowhere near as interesting as those in Conquest at the same stage. I did not like the characters either, but this is a personal opinion. I got bored at Chapter 15 or so of Birthright, and I never played it again. On the other hand, I have been playing Conquest a couple of hours every week since I got the games, trying multiple difficulty levels and parties.

Conquest may not be that forgiving, but it is always fair (well, except for Inevitable End.) And you can always start on Normal Mode and then make your way to Hard or Lunatic.

The story is weak no matter what, thus I suggest you to choose a path based on its gameplay, and Conquest is simply superior.

And I am not a Fire Emblem veteran or such. Hell!, other than having played a couple of chapters of The Sacred Stones, my only other approach to strategy games was 'Advance Wars.'

[De Geso]

Birthright isn't difficult enough to warrant advice beyond the Kaze support thing. And if you aren't planning to use him it doesn't matter anyhow lol.

[anniec8711]

4 hours ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Haven't gotten the games yet. Still saving up a bit of money on the side to get them 

I hear ya.  Those games aren't cheap!

A general tip for playing fates series would be to plan out your supports (who will marry who and what not) especially if you plan on optimizing the kids who get pretty high stat caps. These are great resources that helped me on my first playthrough:

Optimal Pairings

Fates Pairing Recommendations

Everyone has their own metric for what is considered optimal so others might not fully agree with what the best pairings are.  But these serve as great starting points when figuring out who to pair with who.  Have fun with it and find pairings that suit your play style.

Also know there are 3 types of seals with regards to classes:

- Heart Seals: unit switches to his/her secondary class (example: Silas re-classing from cavalier to mercenary)

- Friendship Seals: unit switches to main class of another unit with which he/she has formed an A+ support (example: Silas re-classing to Swordmaster or Master of Arms through his support with Ryoma).  A+ supports are formed with units of the same sex and only one A+ support is allowed per unit.  The Avatar/Corrin is the only exception and can Friendship Seal with all units of the same sex through A-supports.

- Partner Seals: unit switches to main class of unit he/she is married, also called an S-support (example: Silas re-classing to Sky Knight through his support with Hinoka).  Only one S-support is allowed per unit, including the Avatar.  The Avatar can marry any character of the opposite sex, including 2-gen units.

-  Note: If a unit A+ or S supports with another unit of the same class, he/she will inherit their secondary class (example: if Silas marries Peri, he will inherit the Dark Mage class line from her because he already has Cavalier)

 

[Shoblongoo]

3 hours ago, YouSquiddinMe said:

Birthright isn't difficult enough to warrant advice beyond the Kaze support thing. 

Pretty much this.

I'll add only that they nerfed brave weapons to shit in this game, and they cost like 8,000g a piece IIRC.

Don't waste your gold on them. 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[DisobeyedCargo]

1 hour ago, anniec8711 said:

I hear ya.  Those games aren't cheap!

A general tip for playing fates series would be to plan out your supports (who will marry who and what not) especially if you plan on optimizing the kids who get pretty high stat caps. These are great resources that helped me on my first playthrough:

Optimal Pairings

Fates Pairing Recommendations

Everyone has their own metric for what is considered optimal so others might not fully agree with what the best pairings are.  But these serve as great starting points when figuring out who to pair with who.  Have fun with it and find pairings that suit your play style.

Also know there are 3 types of seals with regards to classes:

- Heart Seals: unit switches to his/her secondary class (example: Silas re-classing from cavalier to mercenary)

- Friendship Seals: unit switches to main class of another unit with which he/she has formed an A+ support (example: Silas re-classing to Swordmaster or Master of Arms through his support with Ryoma).  A+ supports are formed with units of the same sex and only one A+ support is allowed per unit.  The Avatar/Corrin is the only exception and can Friendship Seal with all units of the same sex through A-supports.

- Partner Seals: unit switches to main class of unit he/she is married, also called an S-support (example: Silas re-classing to Sky Knight through his support with Hinoka).  Only one S-support is allowed per unit, including the Avatar.  The Avatar can marry any character of the opposite sex, including 2-gen units.

-  Note: If a unit A+ or S supports with another unit of the same class, he/she will inherit their secondary class (example: if Silas marries Peri, he will inherit the Dark Mage class line from her because he already has Cavalier)

 

Oh dear lord. Friendship sets sound confusing 

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, anniec8711 said:

I hear ya.  Those games aren't cheap!

A general tip for playing fates series would be to plan out your supports (who will marry who and what not) especially if you plan on optimizing the kids who get pretty high stat caps. These are great resources that helped me on my first playthrough:

Optimal Pairings

Fates Pairing Recommendations

Everyone has their own metric for what is considered optimal so others might not fully agree with what the best pairings are.  But these serve as great starting points when figuring out who to pair with who.  Have fun with it and find pairings that suit your play style.

Also know there are 3 types of seals with regards to classes:

- Heart Seals: unit switches to his/her secondary class (example: Silas re-classing from cavalier to mercenary)

- Friendship Seals: unit switches to main class of another unit with which he/she has formed an A+ support (example: Silas re-classing to Swordmaster or Master of Arms through his support with Ryoma).  A+ supports are formed with units of the same sex and only one A+ support is allowed per unit.  The Avatar/Corrin is the only exception and can Friendship Seal with all units of the same sex through A-supports.

- Partner Seals: unit switches to main class of unit he/she is married, also called an S-support (example: Silas re-classing to Sky Knight through his support with Hinoka).  Only one S-support is allowed per unit, including the Avatar.  The Avatar can marry any character of the opposite sex, including 2-gen units.

-  Note: If a unit A+ or S supports with another unit of the same class, he/she will inherit their secondary class (example: if Silas marries Peri, he will inherit the Dark Mage class line from her because he already has Cavalier)

 

I would also add that if the secondary class of a unit is the same as the primary class of the unit they S or A+ supported, they get nothing.

37 minutes ago, Shoblongoo said:

I'll add only that they nerfed brave weapons to shit in this game, and they cost like 8,000g a piece IIRC.

Don't waste your gold on them. 

Seconding this. Also, killer weapons and Nosferatu got nerfed hard.

[anniec8711]

1 hour ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Oh dear lord. Friendship sets sound confusing 

Yea, Friendship Seals aren't as straightforward as Partner Seals.  Just know that obtaining an A+ rank isn't reciprocal like S-rank.  Here's what I mean:

With S-ranks (using Silas as an example): Silas marries Hinoka - so Silas get's Sky Knight and Hinoka gets Cavalier with Partner Seal. Simple.

With A+ ranks: Silas gets A+ with Ryoma and gets Samurai with Friendship Seal.  This does NOT mean that Ryoma automatically gets Cavalier.  He still has the choice to A+ with either Silas, Saizo, or Takumi, but can only choose ONE.  Also know that multiple characters can A+ with the same character at the same time.  Using the current example Silas, Saizo, and Takumi all can get Swordmaster through an A+ with Ryoma.

Avatar/Corrin can Friendship seal with all units of the same sex with whom he/she has obtained an A support with (A+ not required).  This means that Corrin can gain access to all (or close to all) Hoshido classes in BR and Nohrian classes in CQ through Friendship seals.  This is why I recommend to choose a Nohrian class as your talent/secondary class when playing BR.  Vice versa when playing CQ.

[Bubba Jones]

2 hours ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Oh dear lord. Friendship sets sound confusing 

That’s why you shouldn’t worry about it at first playthrough.  It starts to make sense as you play.  Honestly, fumbling with the system and figuring it out is part of the amusement that goes with the game.

On the subject of capturing since it is being brought up way too much - it’s irrelevant on normal difficulty and can be safely ignored on your first playthrough if you don’t want to experiment with it.  It only becomes meaningful in hard and especially attractive in lunatic which has enemies with higher base stats and more diverse skills appear.  Haikata for example only has one rally skill in nm, but a rally, seal def, and strong riposte in lunatic.  Rallyman is a skillless generic master of arms on normal, has two rally skills on hard and all four on lunatic.

[Ertrick36]

1 hour ago, DisobeyedCargo said:

Oh dear lord. Friendship sets sound confusing 

Friendship sets are basically Partner sets except with platonic partners, and it only has to be one-sided.  Also, Corrin can do it with any ally that he/she can't get an S rank support with so long as he/she simply has an A rank (not A+ like most would need) in supports with the prospective units.

I wouldn't worry about the nitty gritty of it; you know, all that stuff about parallel classes and whatnot.  I don't think you should really even concern yourself with Partner/Friendship Seals at all for a first playthrough; aside from the occasional oddball unit like Hinata or Rinkah, the units in BR tend to be fairly suited to their base classes.  Suited enough that you shouldn't have any problems if you don't want to use Friendship or Partner Seals.

Birthright is the path that's probably my personal favorite, but even then I'd say it's not the kind of game you need to fret about the meta much.  Conquest is the path you choose if that's the kind of thing you want to be worried about, but even then you could probably manage just fine if you play on Normal; Birthright's more for uneasy players who don't think they can play through a difficult FE game without grinding, or those who like to fiddle around with different options without too much repercussion.  I'd almost say the same of Revelation, but that'd imply the devs actually put thought into the level design in that path, which is a laughable notion at best; even folks who'd list Revelation as their favorite path would agree.

Also just in case you aren't aware, when you buy one path the other two paths are marked down in price considerably in the digital store.  So if you buy Birthright (which tends to be roughly $40 USD, digital or retail), Conquest will only cost $20 USD if you purchase it from the in-game menus (the option is something like "Explore Paths", and it'll take you to the eShop).  You won't be spending $120 for the whole game.  And I think you might be more likely to find Birthright marked down in price than Conquest, though you probably won't find either marked down to anything less than $30, I think.