Nyaaaaan~ Moé Powers Go!
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Location: O' Canada
Rank: Ace Attorney
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:04 am
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Note: The points below refer to "Fire Emblem: GBA" overall, but some aspects will affect all Fire Emblem games.
A good tip to note from the start is the characters you recruit in their secondary class will be strong, but generally not as strong as one you'd train up from the lower levels and promote yourself. For instance, Harken is a powerful Hero you can recruit near the later chapters, but if you train Raven from the start and promote him to a Hero, his stats will be better than Harken's. If you have the option to, take full advantage of the chapters that have a boss that doesn't move and use the arena. Set a few healers nearby, and remember to press 'B' if your character is even remotely close to dying. You'll lose the money but you won't lose a character forever. If you are at a disadvantage in the arena, take note of the enemy and allow an advantageous ally to fight them- the opponent will not switch until a few turns are up.
If you can, use the arena and allow your characters to grow to Level 20 before promoting them. The upgrades to their stats will be quite useful during the later levels, so grind while you have the chance.
Classes, yes. There are some useful classes and there are some ridiculously pointless ones. It is safe to note that a majority of enemies in this game will use axes, swords and magic. There are soldiers that use lances, but they are among the slowest and weakest of the enemies in this game- even archers and knights can generally get 2 counterattacks in on them.
Having said the above, here are some tips I think are useful:
1.
While playing Lyn's story, level up as much as you can. Don't level grind everyone, but instead pick out the useful characters and rescue the weaker characters while grinding if you must. Both Sain and Kent are overshadowed later by Lowen, so don't bother too much with them. Of course, level up Lyn as quickly as possible. In order of appearance of Lyn's story, you'll want to train Florina, Matthew, Nils, and Lucius. You'll recruit these characters in their earlier stages, so they have large potentials for improvement. It should be noted that the levels and stats you gain in Lyn's story is transferred to Eliwood's story when you meet them again.
[Note] Why those characters? Here's why:
Florina - You recruit her early on, so her stats will improve beyond her sisters, who are already high-leveled when you recruit them. She'll promote to a Falcoknight, giving her the ability to use a sword and also gain ridiculous amounts of speed and evasion.
Matthew - Basically a thief you meet relatively early. When he gains enough levels, he'll gain insane amounts of evasion. The one problem with his promotion comes with the promotion item, the Fell Contract. The earliest you can possibly get one of these is Chapter 26x, the level after you get Nino. See how late this is? The item promotes Matthew to Assassin status, which is insanely useful, so level grind him all you can. Do enough grinding and he will easily surpass the powerful Jaffar.
Nils - No big reason. Nils is actually quite useless aside from allowing one character to move/attack again in a turn, but he is unable to class change. The reason you would train him is to allow him to fend for himself in the Eliwood stages where he is required to be in the battle. This especially refers to Chapter 30, where Limstella and her endless morphs can easily take him out if you aren't cautious. Plus, the fact that you can place Nils anywhere and allow anyone to move again is quite nice, but only if he has a high enough evasion and defense to survive an attack.
Lucius - A monk that will easily surpass the Bishop Renault that you get way too late into the game. He also has a high evasion and resistance, so train him early on and promote him to a Bishop, who can use light magic and staves.
2.
Swap between weapons. If a character can use multiple weapons, switch often between them and allow all weapon classes to grow in level. Later in the game, you'll start acquiring high-level weapons, and they'll be useless in the hands of a character who doesn't have the experience to use it. Basically, you'll want to at least get all the weapon classes to 'C' level, as they are required to use the Killing weapons- weapons that increase your chance to perform a critical hit. For magic and staves, get them to 'S'.
3.
Don't bother recruiting every character. Clutter increases with too many characters, and there way too many in this game. You could actually kill the people you don't need and gain experience for a character you do need. For example, Heath the Wyvern Knight is pretty useless so attack him with an archer to have them gain a lot of EXP.
4.
Always keep your useful characters fully equipped. The less useful characters also have weapons- take them away and give them to your useful characters! This is especially important for your Lords, who definitely need to be leveled up as much as possible.
5.
Lure out piles of enemies with a high evasion/defense character. When you are out of an enemy's attack range, they will not budge. Get a good unit in to draw them out, but make sure they're not overpowered enough to steal all the kills and EXP. Once flushed out, rush them with your other characters to distribute EXP.
6.
As mentioned earlier, level up your Lords as quickly as possible. At any point in the game, the death of a Lord will immediately result in a game over. Since there are levels in which your Lords must participate, you cannot leave them at a low level. Eliwood is often placed in the back, but there is a stage where only him and 4 others are allowed to fight. As they are all separated as well, Eliwood will easily die in the fight. Same goes for Lyn and Hector.
7.
Try to get all the side-quests. Side-quests not only provide you with extra EXP, but will often have an arena to utilize, or a new character to recruit. A great example is in Chapter 13x, where you will gain Merlinus early. With each stage you defeat with his tent still safe, it will gain a level and eventually be able to move around as well.
8.
Kent says to use the forest and forts, so do it! The forests will give you a higher evasion, avoiding damage in the first place. Fortresses not only have the same effect, but will also slightly heal your units each turn.
9.
Move quickly. If you're wanting to dawdle and train in an arena, do it when only the boss is left. Often, you'll have to protect an individual or reach a valuable treasure chest, and if you sit around, the enemy will reach them first.
10.
During Eliwood/Hector's campaign, also consider the useful and less useful characters. In order for Eliwood's story, you should train Eliwood, Rebecca, Lowen, Hector, Matthew, Guy, Priscilla, Lyn, Florina, Raven, and Lucius.
[Note] Once again, why?
Eliwood - As forementioned, Eliwood is a Lord, and needs to fight in almost every chapter. The chapters near the end of the game has insanely tough enemies that will target him from far away, and if he is easily killed, you will lose the game. He'll promote to a Knight Lord, who can use lances and move farther on his steed.
Rebecca - You get her at Level 1, which gives you a full range of upgrades. Once she promotes to a Sniper, her evasion will be insanely high, making her a good decoy or distance attacker.
Lowen - Marcus may seem like a good choice, but Lowen will easily surpass him if you work up to the Paladin level. At the Paladin level, Lowen has a good range of axes, swords and lances, making him a powerful attacker.
Hector - Same reason, but he'll only be forced to fight in some chapters. Still, his accuracy isn't great to begin with, so level him up and get his ridiculously high defense even higher. He'll become a Great Lord with the Heaven Seal, who can use swords and take a ton of punishment.
Guy - This guy is possibly the best character in the entire game to have. Level him up quickly and promote him to the Swordmaster rank. Swordmasters have a ridiculously high evasion, speed, attack strength, and critical ratio. Basically, give a high level Swordmaster a Killing Edge or Wo Dao, and he'll score critical hits 45-50 percent of the time, and avoid almost any attack.
Priscilla - I left out all the anima mages just for Priscilla. She won't gain as much as some of the other mages, but with her early ability to master staves and move on horseback is insanely useful. Once promoted to the Valkyrie class, she can also defend herself with anima magic. Basically, she'll have the same abilities as a Sage but can move around on horseback, have a higher HP, and greater evasion.
Lyn - Should mention that Lyn will promote to a Blade Lord, probably the most useful of the Lords. Not only is Lyn very speedy, but she has a great critical hit ratio and evasion as well. As a Blade Lord, she can also use bows, which is insanely useful.
Raven - You'll recruit Raven with Priscilla, who in turn should recruit Lucius. Complicated, right? Anyways, Raven is decently well rounded as a Mercenary, but his it's his promotional class that will dish out the pain. As a Hero, Raven will have a high strength, evasion, critical ratio, and defense. Give him a Brave Sword to attack up to 4 times in one turn.
Of course, this really isn't how you have to play. I'd say I'm a veteran of this game and just wanted to share what I thought worked best.
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