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How hard is Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest on Lunatic Classic?


TheMarioMaster90
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I need some input from others that have experience with it because my goal right now is to beat every single Fire Emblem game on the hardest difficulty. So far I’ve beaten Sacred Stones, Echoes, and Awakening (Lunatic+ Classic). And I’ve heard that Conquest lunatic is harder than Awakening Lunatic+, which I thought Lunatic+ was normal (Not hard but not easy). I plan on going no dlc for Conquest because I don’t feel like paying money. 

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For posterity, this topic would belong in the Fates subforum.

If you want to talk to someone who has experience playing Conquest on Lunatic, hit up this thread.  There's at least one active member on there who likes to talk a lot about strategy on Lunatic, particularly for Conquest.

I'm gonna say that Fates is generally better balanced and better designed than Awakening.  However, as a result, Conquest's difficulty relies less on throwing ridiculously powerful enemies at you, and more on intricate elements like map design, objective difficulty (typically defense missions and those with turn limits), and tricky enemy abilities (e.g. ninjas with skills that allow them to debuff your stats straight down to zero after enough rounds of combat and long-range golems that will freeze your units in place if they hit you).

And because you can't grind at all without DLC, you won't be able to build your team as easily.  You'll actually have to think about who to use, how to use them, and when to use them.  Of course it's a no-brainer that you'd want to use Xander and Camilla for your first run, but other choices may not be so clear cut and you don't want to overuse any one particular unit because they'll just sap experience that could've gone to better uses.

All in all, Conquest Lunatic is entirely different from Awakening Lunatic+.  And those other games you listed are child's play compared to Conquest.  In fact, you can beat Sacred Stones by just using Seth, and you can beat Echoes by just using Alm and Celica.

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Lunatic Classic Conquest is very difficult for the ordinary player (ignore those junkies who scoff at it- they're exceptional). Enemy stats are always competent, the abundance of individually selected skills on each and every enemy is nasty, and the player cannot really out-level and steamroll things well ever.

This is good, since the game is constantly about using strategy as a result, and FE is a strategy RPG. But this can be a chore, and some battles depending on your perspective can become obnoxiously stacked against you in certain ways. 

Honestly, CQ Lunatic once is enough for me, I'd rather go for CQ Hard, which is still quite challenging, but more forgiving enough that I find it my go to mode for CQ. The difference until the very end amounts to nothing more than cherries, but cherries atop a sundae the size of Gonzales sitting atop Elise's back.

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Unfortunately, I have not completed other FE games other than Conquest to give you a broader comparison. Fortunately, I have completed Conquest Hard like twenty times and can give you a specific comparison.

My advice: If you have not completed Conquest Hard yet, do it first. Hard's difficulty is a huge step from Normal's, but it is quite similar to Lunatic's. So, most of the of strategies used in Hard will work with very few or no teaks on the same map in Lunatic (I am currently playing a campaign on Lunatic with the exact same ten units that I used to complete Hard the last time, precisely to test this.) It is only on the last third of the game that the enemy's positioning and skills require an extra independent analysis from what you know from Hard.

An example: On a certain map on Hard, there will be units with weapons that de-buffs your stats by -4 and skills that drain 40 % of your HP upon any attack. On Lunatic, there will be twice as many of them, equipped with an extra skill that lets the de-buffs stack instead of capping at the greatest de-buff, so that your unit could end the turn with 1 HP and at, say, -16 in various stats (and not only at -4.) On another map on Hard, you might want to enter a room through the doors on the opposite side of the bulk of the enemies. On Lunatic, two enemies are maliciously blocking those doors. You get the idea.

I really enjoy Conquest's gameplay, and Lunatic demands familiarisation with the mechanics particular to this game, or you will have a lot of restarts. This is why I suggest you to play it on Hard first, and learn the mechanics. Hard is still very challenging, but lets you fool around with some units and classes.

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I never tried Awakening Lunatic+, but Conquest Lunatic is definitely harder than the others you've played. It's the hardest FE experience I've had, and I've played most FE games on their hardest difficulty. If you're not prepared, Ch 25 can actually be outright impossible.

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28 minutes ago, Florete said:

I never tried Awakening Lunatic+, but Conquest Lunatic is definitely harder than the others you've played. It's the hardest FE experience I've had, and I've played most FE games on their hardest difficulty. If you're not prepared, Ch 25 can actually be outright impossible.

Thanks for your input. I’ll tell you if I give up or not lol

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Everyone above me gave great advice so I don't see the need to repeat it.

What I will say is that Conquest is pretty much one of if not the only game in the series that is made easier by spreading exp. Remeber how in pretty much every FE the late game is dumpstered by a few select units? Well, the game throws units that hard counter certain units, and more than just archers mind you. Also as others have said the game ensures inflating one of your units stats to have him break the game is impossible with ninjas and infinite enfeeble staves. The game also spreads your units out a lot.

I'm not sure how you play FE games but if you generally play fast/efficiently then this advice most definitely applies to you and this is one of the reasons I like CQ so much is that I feel way more rewarded for building a balanced team rather than having Caeda/jagen/seth etc. destroy the map.

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2 hours ago, starburst said:

Unfortunately, I have not completed other FE games other than Conquest to give you a broader comparison. Fortunately, I have completed Conquest Hard like twenty times and can give you a specific comparison.

My advice: If you have not completed Conquest Hard yet, do it first. Hard's difficulty is a huge step from Normal's, but it is quite similar to Lunatic's. So, most of the of strategies used in Hard will work with very few or no teaks on the same map in Lunatic (I am currently playing a campaign on Lunatic with the exact same ten units that I used to complete Hard the last time, precisely to test this.) It is only on the last third of the game that the enemy's positioning and skills require an extra independent analysis from what you know from Hard.

An example: On a certain map on Hard, there will be units with weapons that de-buffs your stats by -4 and skills that drain 40 % of your HP upon any attack. On Lunatic, there will be twice as many of them, equipped with an extra skill that lets the de-buffs stack instead of capping at the greatest de-buff, so that your unit could end the turn with 1 HP and at, say, -16 in various stats (and not only at -4.) On another map on Hard, you might want to enter a room through the doors on the opposite side of the bulk of the enemies. On Lunatic, two enemies are maliciously blocking those doors. You get the idea.

I really enjoy Conquest's gameplay, and Lunatic demands familiarisation with the mechanics particular to this game, or you will have a lot of restarts. This is why I suggest you to play it on Hard first, and learn the mechanics. Hard is still very challenging, but lets you fool around with some units and classes.

Sounds like a hassle, I wish you luck! Thank you for the input.

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4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Lunatic Classic Conquest is very difficult for the ordinary player (ignore those junkies who scoff at it- they're exceptional). Enemy stats are always competent, the abundance of individually selected skills on each and every enemy is nasty, and the player cannot really out-level and steamroll things well ever.

This is good, since the game is constantly about using strategy as a result, and FE is a strategy RPG. But this can be a chore, and some battles depending on your perspective can become obnoxiously stacked against you in certain ways. 

Honestly, CQ Lunatic once is enough for me, I'd rather go for CQ Hard, which is still quite challenging, but more forgiving enough that I find it my go to mode for CQ. The difference until the very end amounts to nothing more than cherries, but cherries atop a sundae the size of Gonzales sitting atop Elise's back.

I’ll try my best, thank you for the advice!

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4 hours ago, Ertrick36 said:

For posterity, this topic would belong in the Fates subforum.

If you want to talk to someone who has experience playing Conquest on Lunatic, hit up this thread.  There's at least one active member on there who likes to talk a lot about strategy on Lunatic, particularly for Conquest.

I'm gonna say that Fates is generally better balanced and better designed than Awakening.  However, as a result, Conquest's difficulty relies less on throwing ridiculously powerful enemies at you, and more on intricate elements like map design, objective difficulty (typically defense missions and those with turn limits), and tricky enemy abilities (e.g. ninjas with skills that allow them to debuff your stats straight down to zero after enough rounds of combat and long-range golems that will freeze your units in place if they hit you).

And because you can't grind at all without DLC, you won't be able to build your team as easily.  You'll actually have to think about who to use, how to use them, and when to use them.  Of course it's a no-brainer that you'd want to use Xander and Camilla for your first run, but other choices may not be so clear cut and you don't want to overuse any one particular unit because they'll just sap experience that could've gone to better uses.

All in all, Conquest Lunatic is entirely different from Awakening Lunatic+.  And those other games you listed are child's play compared to Conquest.  In fact, you can beat Sacred Stones by just using Seth, and you can beat Echoes by just using Alm and Celica.

Yep, I’ll just have to play more strategically this time around compared to Awakening where you just throw strong units back at them. I beat the last few chapters of Awakening with MU and Tharja having nosferatu tones and just sending them in the center of the map. Thank you for the help.

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9 minutes ago, JimmyBeans said:

Everyone above me gave great advice so I don't see the need to repeat it.

What I will say is that Conquest is pretty much one of if not the only game in the series that is made easier by spreading exp. Remeber how in pretty much every FE the late game is dumpstered by a few select units? Well, the game throws units that hard counter certain units, and more than just archers mind you. Also as others have said the game ensures inflating one of your units stats to have him break the game is impossible with ninjas and infinite enfeeble staves. The game also spreads your units out a lot.

I'm not sure how you play FE games but if you generally play fast/efficiently then this advice most definitely applies to you and this is one of the reasons I like CQ so much is that I feel way more rewarded for building a balanced team rather than having Caeda/jagen/seth etc. destroy the map.

Yep, sounds like my kind of style, I like to rush the enemies instead of waiting for them to come to me. I’ll just have to play more strategically this time around as aposed to Awakening. Thank you for the advice.

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I am up the Chapter where you have to rescue the Hoshido Siblings from whatshisname on CQ Lunatic. The only reason i didn't continue is because the Fox Chapter is coming up soon and i absolutely hate that map.

It was pretty tough. Especially the defense map was super hard, i was stuck on it for like 2 Months. However, the challenge is also pretty fun, if i say so myself^^

Edited by Shrimperor
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2 hours ago, TheMarioMaster90 said:

Sounds like a hassle, I wish you luck! Thank you for the input.

Oh! I did not mean to scared you. I, literally, just completed the mentioned map [1]; twice, actually, for I could not grab a valuable chest the first time. The de-buffs never get that high if one anticipates and deal with those annoying enemies first, before they can start a de-buffing gangbang.
I wanted to illustrate how the difficulty from Hard to Lunatic has less to do with enemy flooding or overpowered enemies, and more with positioning and skills that encourage you to pay attention, use a team (opposed to an overpowered unit) and take the initiative.

You should definitely try Conquest Hard and Lunatic, both are fun, thrilling rides.


[1] https://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?/topic/86015-what-is-your-strategy-for-conquest-ch-25/

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1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

I am up the Chapter where you have to rescue the Hoshido Siblings from whatshisname on CQ Lunatic. The only reason i didn't continue is because the Fox Chapter is coming up soon and i absolutely hate that map.

Hey!, why do you not post your team on the Lunatic Club thread? I might be able to help you with Ch 19, for I always complete it with all my ten units (no soloing cheese), and I do not even use the royal siblings. And even if my approach could not be adapted for your party, I am pretty sure that other members will be able to help you.

I firmly believe that the first experiences leave a long lasting impression, and that is why many of us hate some chapters, even when we have not actually tried alternate strategies. See, I probably got lucky on my first tries of Ch 17 and Ch 19, but because of those early succeeds, I have never been scared of them. For me, Ch 17 is so methodical and slow paced, that it can be used to level-up under-levelled units or to learn skills on alternate classes. I have way more troubles with Ch 21 and 23.

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@starburst It's not that i am afraid of the map, i just find the fox map so damn unfun (unlike most of the other CQ maps). CQ is my fav. FE gameplay wise (and also my first FE xD), and the one i replayed the most of all FEs, but everytime i replay i just hate that map. I already have some Tactics in mind when i reach there, but i need some motivation to pick up Conquest again, especially when my free time is consumed by other games atm. 

Once i pick it up again however and continue, i will make sure to post on that Thread^^

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Every FE?  Uh, good luck with New Mystery.

Anyway, pay attention to enemy skills, and use Capture as appropriate.  Some of them, like Rallyman (late dude) can help you through some of the gimmicks.

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