Since I couldn't get the Whereabouts Unknown Knight Crest for the life of me...

[guardians_song]

I have to wait until KINSHIP'S BOND for the second Knight Crest?! And then until SANDS OF TIME to get any more?!

GAH!

Damn it, I KNEW I should have level-ground Sain to 20 in Lyn's Mode and promoted... *mutters angrily*

First Hero Crest will go to Guy (sorry, Raven), because I need someone to be able to both hit and critical Kishuna.

I'll have to promote Oswin at Kinship's Bond and have Sain be locked at 20. If I can pull off the desert chapter well enough, I can grab an Ocean Seal and have Dart be my super-powerful fighter. Can't promote Rebecca until we hit Four-Fanged Offense. If I play my cards right, I'll get three Guiding Rings by the desert chapter and four by Pale Flower of Darkness - bleck, one has to be reserved for Teh Nino, doesn't it? Priscilla is a shoo-in...

Uh, Erk? Lucius is the Hero Raven's boyfriend (and our only Light user to boot), and Canas is the Lunar God. You are... a good unit, but no one we can live without. Plus, we have both a decent prepromote and the Lady Nino to fill the anima role.

Seems Priscilla will be having a tragic ending with Guy after all.

WHAT OUR PROMOTION ITEMS CAN AFFORD:
-Dart
-the Lords
-ONE of Oswin or Sain, ultimately
-Nino, Canas, Priscilla, and ONE other
-TWO archers (if I'm reading it correctly)
-TWO units requiring a Hero Crest... also known as 'Raven' and 'Guy'... and another one if I do the desert chapter correctly. I will HAVE to aim for Pale Flower of Darkness [Magic Version], so no luck on the fourth Crest.
-TWO flyers, PLUS one if Crazed Beast goes well (Florina and Heath?)

And... that's.... that's all. DX DX DX That's 15 units - but Nino comes late, so really 14. And those are CRITICAL UNITS I'm constricted on. Jaffar being paired with Nino is helpful - but the others...

*in a daze* Oh, THIS is why it's called Hard Mode...

Bold if I'm almost certain to take them into the Final Chapter, italics if I'm mostly certain. I've never done HHM, so I don't know how viable Nino and Jaffar are in it.

1. Hector: Eliwood B, Lyn A
2. Eliwood: Hector B, Ninian A
3. Lyn: Hector A, Florina (?) B
4. Raven: Lucius A
5. Lucius: Raven A, Priscilla (?) B
6. Priscilla: Guy A, Lucius (?) B
7. Guy: Priscilla A, Matthew or Rath B
8. Canas: ??? Nino B, if she's on the team
9. Oswin: ??? Matthew A, no one else
10. Rebecca: Sain A, Lowen B (****!)
11. Sain: Rebecca A
12. Florina: Lyn B
--
13. OPTIONAL Rath: Guy (?) B
14. Dart: [nobody]
15. Matthew: Oswin A, Guy (?) B
16. Nino: Jaffar A, Canas B
17. Jaffar: Nino A

Predicted Final Chapter Team:
Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, Raven, Guy, Lucius, Canas, Priscilla, Nino, Jaffar, Oswin, Dart, Rebecca OR Rath

...This is going to be... interesting.

After HHM, I may end up detoxing on EHM...

 

Comments

[sarajayechan]

I was about to mention the steal-able Knight Crest in Unfulfilled Heart, but then I checked Serene's Forest. D: You really lost out on the one in Whereabouts Unknown...? Let me guess, HHM adds extra thieves that are just a little faster than Matthew.

[guardians_song]

It had two thieves, one of whom immediately ran offscreen (?!) and the other of which pillaged both chests right around the time I was saying hello to Raven. It was an effort even to get to the damn Caelin soldiers before the Archer by their room could off them - since the Archer, with HHM bonuses, could one-round each Caelin soldier. *shudder*

...The guides say to use Marcus and Lowen to bum-rush the middle, but I had not the guts. *shakes head* I had to go slowly due to fears of getting gang-smashed by the flock of units up the middle. I POTENTIALLY could have done some black wizardry with uberHector, a full Vulnerary, and several Hand Axes (or Oswin backing him up), but... again, lacked the guts. Ah well. If I'm crazy enough to do this mode again, I'll know better next time.

(Next time, for one, I won't bother saving Merlinus's scrawny hide. Took Sain AND Oswin both to fend off the horde of Nomads and Cavaliers that popped up. D| Sain pulled off some miraculous tomfoolery near the end with running around with 1 HP and no Vulneraries... Uh, yes, can you tell I'm not a Fire Emblem master?)

[sarajayechan]

@_@ Jeez. HHM sounds scary. I worry enough about the Caelin soldiers and Raven in NORMAL mode (though at least Hector mode!Raven moves, so you can sort of meet him halfway instead of worrying he'll slaughter the Caelin soldiers or get killed himself).

Uh, yes, can you tell I'm not a Fire Emblem master?

And you're still taking on HHM? You're either very brave or very foolish.

[guardians_song]

Its saving grace is that, because enemies get bonuses, recruitable 'enemies' do as well - Guy and Raven both come with ludicrous Skill and Speed for the levels at which they arrive. This also happens to make enemy!Guy a demonic hellbeast, if I recall correctly, so even THAT is a double-edged sword. XP At least Priscilla's movement range exceeds Raven's, so she doesn't fear getting smushed by her darling brother. MATTHEW is not nearly so lucky. D8

And you're still taking on HHM? You're either very brave or very foolish.

I'm HOPING Arena Abuse will drop it down to HNM levels. Assuming Arena Abuse hasn't turned hellish below 700 gold, that is. *shifty eyes*

*pained look* You know, I DID die four times on the very first level of HHM and a few more times on each level up to Noble Lady of Caelin (where the main challenge suddenly shifted to 'Don't get that idiot Merlinus killed' due to Lundgren-level-ground Sain). I DO realize it was... somewhat overstepping my abilities...

[sarajayechan]

That does sound pretty sweet. :3 Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to try it.

Heh, that's a relief. In my current game Raven and Marcus dealt blows, but luckily Marcus was too slow to double him.

Lundgren abuse...I think I may have tried that a few times. It's not as easy as it is in FE4, where mounted units can hit and run and the bosses have ridiculously high HP.