Page 17 • Fire Emblem: Three Houses • Gaming • Switch • Eurogamer.net

ChiefGB 5 Aug 2019 22:48:37 13,815 posts
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For some reason none of my gambits were available on either of my combat units.

I made a save just before house choice in case I didn’t like my choice, I’ve rolled back there and started again. Least it’s saved me 90 mins.......

Rogueywon 5 Aug 2019 22:57:30 12,387 posts
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I'm on rotating manual saves for this. I live in terror of having a save go bad in a game like this ever since I had a duff memory card fuck up a PS2 Persona 3 save.

Suspect I'm getting very near the time-skip now. The tone has taken a turn for the darker. I'm basically trying to recruit as many characters as I can, so that I don't have to kill them later on. Yes, the reviews spoilered this game good.

So far, as Black Eagles, I have Sylvain, who it seemed to give me as a freebie in an early chapter. Since then, I've also managed to nab Mercedes, Annette, Ingrid, Lysithea and Leonie.

I guess it's also possible to recruit male characters, right? Meh...

ChiefGB 5 Aug 2019 23:23:13 13,815 posts
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Lol man after my own heart, well I can only assume it was my fuck up even though things don’t seem to have added up quite right, I guess time will tell but there aren’t all that many stories similar to mine out there just yet. Maybe I should have restarted without the classic mode but two hours clawed back is better than nothing.

It’s a testament to how good this game is that I’ve gone back and still struggle to skip through conversations etc as everything makes a bit more sense now. It’s also nice how streamlined the monastery is back here so I’m off and running again back into the 3 house mock battle.

Dombat 5 Aug 2019 23:51:15 1,918 posts
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Absolutely addicted to this. Currently about to start the main mission of Chapter 7.

I’m starting to regret picking normal difficulty though - for some reason I’ve always been intimidated by the tactical RPG sub-genre and thought I’d struggle with the combat or just not enjoy it much, but I’ve picked it up fairly quickly and not finding much challenge at the moment. Most of my team are verging on OP at the current point of the game.

I’ll definitely replay this with another house so I can up the difficulty then.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 04:15:18 26,196 posts
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I have a serviceable B-team now, made up of teachers and recruits from other houses. Which is good, because the main team is too high-levelled now, and it's making the story battles way too easy.

Hopefully the upcoming difficulty patch/free DLC will make it a smidge harder. Not too much though; Lunatic difficulty in other games is too far in the other direction imo.

Deleted user 6 August 2019 06:40:50

Dombat wrote:
Absolutely addicted to this. Currently about to start the main mission of Chapter 7.

I’m starting to regret picking normal difficulty though - for some reason I’ve always been intimidated by the tactical RPG sub-genre and thought I’d struggle with the combat or just not enjoy it much, but I’ve picked it up fairly quickly and not finding much challenge at the moment. Most of my team are verging on OP at the current point of the game.

I’ll definitely replay this with another house so I can up the difficulty then.

Honestly, having played on hard in my first playthrough, I would recommend normal anyway. It will let you get your renown up, you can grind support conversations and just give you a bit more of a chilled experience. Then when you pick another house you can whack it up to hard and get some of the new game plus benefits to ease some of the difficulty spikes.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 07:17:17 26,196 posts
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Well if the guy wants challenge, he's not going to get it on Normal. Especially not if he grinds.

Dombat 6 Aug 2019 07:23:21 1,918 posts
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I wasn't looking for a challenge when I started it - I was going into this with a play for the story mindset. Perhaps if I found the start too challenging on hard I would have bounced off it...

Not a problem anyway as I can see me replaying or playing NP+.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 07:45:00 26,196 posts
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I'd personally be bored out of my brain on Normal, but then I don't really care about grinding supports and such (which will give me more variety in another playthrough, as there are many I will have missed).

And the story in this is actually pretty good for a Fire Emblem game, but I've never played one for the story and probably never will.

But hey, people play things for different reasons! I can definitely see an argument for Normal if you like the story and support stuff enough.

THFourteen 6 Aug 2019 09:11:56 54,987 posts
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I think the lack of the weapon triangle has really hurt the game. The previous fire emblems weren't this easy on normal IIRC.

You at least had to pay attention to who you were positioning where. I'm only on chapter 6 or so, but i probably couldnt lose a unit even if i paid no attention to what i was doing at all.

Think i should have started on hard, but would have expected it to be a bit more frustrating, too late now.

Deleted user 6 August 2019 09:21:14

I’ve stumbled along with ease on hard/classic until the one map I’m now on which has just turned ridiculous. The spike in difficulty is fecking stupid! Doing a paralogue (I think) on chapter 7 (I think) but it’s just daft with monsters attacking from nowhere with no warning, just getting totally ganked from all angles. It’s the first time I’ve struggled to complete any map in the game after around 20 hours of play and the difficulty went from 1 to 10 with nothing between.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 09:22:46 26,196 posts
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Yep, I really miss the weapon triangle too. It really made you think "OK, I want my spear guy to kill that sword guy, but then he'll be in range of this other guy with an axe, so what do I do about that?", stuff like that. It was easy to understand, but made the game tactically richer.

Here, aside from slightly different stats and combat arts, swords, spears and axes feel basically the same. In most cases I don't really see a need to use one over the other, unless I'm trying to raise a stat for a class exam or something.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 09:24:19 26,196 posts
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AaronTurner wrote:
I’ve stumbled along with ease on hard/classic until the one map I’m now on which has just turned ridiculous. The spike in difficulty is fecking stupid! Doing a paralogue (I think) on chapter 7 (I think) but it’s just daft with monsters attacking from nowhere with no warning, just getting totally ganked from all angles. It’s the first time I’ve struggled to complete any map in the game after around 20 hours of play and the difficulty went from 1 to 10 with nothing between.

Which paralogue is that? Is it the one that Sothis gives you, where your main character is by themselves a bit to the north of everyone else?

Deleted user 6 August 2019 09:27:45

Mola_Ram wrote:

AaronTurner wrote:
I’ve stumbled along with ease on hard/classic until the one map I’m now on which has just turned ridiculous. The spike in difficulty is fecking stupid! Doing a paralogue (I think) on chapter 7 (I think) but it’s just daft with monsters attacking from nowhere with no warning, just getting totally ganked from all angles. It’s the first time I’ve struggled to complete any map in the game after around 20 hours of play and the difficulty went from 1 to 10 with nothing between.
Which paralogue is that? Is it the one that Sothis gives you, where your main character is by themselves a bit to the north of everyone else?

That’s the one

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 09:38:46 26,196 posts
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AaronTurner wrote:

Mola_Ram wrote:

AaronTurner wrote:
I’ve stumbled along with ease on hard/classic until the one map I’m now on which has just turned ridiculous. The spike in difficulty is fecking stupid! Doing a paralogue (I think) on chapter 7 (I think) but it’s just daft with monsters attacking from nowhere with no warning, just getting totally ganked from all angles. It’s the first time I’ve struggled to complete any map in the game after around 20 hours of play and the difficulty went from 1 to 10 with nothing between.
Which paralogue is that? Is it the one that Sothis gives you, where your main character is by themselves a bit to the north of everyone else?
That’s the one

I didn't have much trouble, but maybe I was a higher level? You can always quit the paralogue and come back later if it's giving you grief.

But as for what to do, the map only requires that you kill the commanding monster. He summons other ones as he moves north, but that won't matter if you can kill him. And if one of your healers knows Rescue, you can save your main character without having to bother too much with the monsters threatening him at the start.

Gambits that increase movement are super valuable for me too, as they let you rush positions. It's easier if you have fliers, because they can more easily get behind the monsters to attack weak points there.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 09:40:39 26,196 posts
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And don't stress too much. The Paralogues are quite a bit more difficult than any of the main battles I've had, which is probably a good part of the reason why they're optional.

ChiefGB 6 Aug 2019 10:00:57 13,815 posts
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Maybe things just get worse as you go but I wasn’t massively overlevelled at around chapter 6 although my main two characters probably were. It didn’t help that they are counterattacking beasts so would sweep through anything that had the cheek to confront them but it’s fun to have some that can just crush. But it left some squishies in the edges of my group and I still haven’t found much use for lancers, even on horses they take massive hits from all but archers who are sparsely placed.

Dombat 6 Aug 2019 10:08:40 1,918 posts
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I might try just doing battles once a month. Picked battles on two free days in chapter 7, first for quests and then for paralogues (which still didn't trouble me much).

I doubt I'm that overlevelled because I'm not even grinding, and I'm trying to keep the levels balanced, but most of my team are capable of one shotting at least some enemy types and some (Byleth, Hilda, Raphael) can now do that whilst taking no damage or evading attacks.

Duffking 6 Aug 2019 10:09:58 16,964 posts
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Mola_Ram wrote:
Yep, I really miss the weapon triangle too. It really made you think "OK, I want my spear guy to kill that sword guy, but then he'll be in range of this other guy with an axe, so what do I do about that?", stuff like that. It was easy to understand, but made the game tactically richer.

Here, aside from slightly different stats and combat arts, swords, spears and axes feel basically the same. In most cases I don't really see a need to use one over the other, unless I'm trying to raise a stat for a class exam or something.

On the other hand I just found it quite prescriptive. It's like rock paper scissors, there's just a right way and wrong way to do it which doesn't really feel like tactics to me.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 10:18:32 26,196 posts
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Duffking wrote:
On the other hand I just found it quite prescriptive. It's like rock paper scissors, there's just a right way and wrong way to do it which doesn't really feel like tactics to me.

I can see that argument, but I'd rather having to really think about the mix of weapons I'm using. There's so much flexibility here that my choices don't feel like they actually matter.

Anyway, I personally prefer a structured approach to these kinds of games, rather than the "do whatever you want and break the game if you can" ethos of your Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea games. It's just a preference, sure, but it's one of the things that draws me to this series, and I don't want to see it disappear completely.

Edited by Mola_Ram at 10:30:29 06-08-2019

First_Kill 6 Aug 2019 10:35:43 21 posts
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The weapon triangle... :cry:

Dombat 6 Aug 2019 11:09:51 1,918 posts
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@ChiefGB lancers definitely seem to be the weakest in this, at least in the earlier stages of the game. They're good at chasing down and killing archers, but then my own archers are now strong enough and with good enough range and movement that they can do the same job anyway.

Rogueywon 6 Aug 2019 11:18:58 12,387 posts
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@Dombat Lancers get more useful once you can stick them on a horse or flappy-thing. Then they really do excel at chasing down ranged units.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 11:20:36 26,196 posts
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They're also good at killing horses, once you get good enough at them.

ghearoid 6 Aug 2019 11:26:13 3,758 posts
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The weapon triangle is kind of there though as certain classes unlock swordbreaker etc and specialist weapons also unlock as you progress.

Mola_Ram 6 Aug 2019 11:33:18 26,196 posts
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Yeah, but it's not really the same, and afaict isn't at all necessary.

Deleted user 6 August 2019 11:58:09

AaronTurner wrote:
I’ve stumbled along with ease on hard/classic until the one map I’m now on which has just turned ridiculous. The spike in difficulty is fecking stupid! Doing a paralogue (I think) on chapter 7 (I think) but it’s just daft with monsters attacking from nowhere with no warning, just getting totally ganked from all angles. It’s the first time I’ve struggled to complete any map in the game after around 20 hours of play and the difficulty went from 1 to 10 with nothing between.

It does that 3 or 4 times during a playthrough, chuck a ridiculous mission at you then go back to being easily beatable, and i beat all but the last mission on hard (that last mission can do one, i beat my head against a brick wall trying to keep everyone safe before giving in)

jack5255 7 Aug 2019 06:55:42 880 posts
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New game + with golden deer and its just as fun as the first run through. Think i’m gonna nab felix from BL and possibly one or two others but they’re actually quite rounded.

I only ever made one of my own in to a mounted unit (dark knight eventually) so might get 1 or 2 more this time.

Does anybody actually know of the class mastery bonuses are actually a permanent thing or are they only applicable when that class is equipped? 🤔

Mola_Ram 7 Aug 2019 07:40:45 26,196 posts
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I imagine Felix would be quite easy to get, as the main character naturally has a focus on swords and that's what Felix likes.

As for class mastery, the skills you get from that are equippable regardless of what class you are (my Felix, for example, has gotten a good amount of use from the Poison Strike of the Dark Mage). There are certain abilities that only some classes can use - the attack + move ability of mounted units, for example - but most are transferable.

Speaking of Felix, he's an absolute MVP for me now. The detour into magic hasn't hurt him at all, and he makes for a fine Assassin with almost A-level in swords. He's just begging to be upgraded to the sword/magic class at level 30.

jack5255 7 Aug 2019 08:12:32 880 posts
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Yea that was one of my reasons, it’s basically inevitable that i’ll be able to get him 😂 new game + means i can boost skills too so some targets will be easier.

And the abilities i get but it mentions about actual stat boosts upon mastery, though from memory they’re not actual stats but more a boost to skills/weapons so i really don’t know.

I’m actually doing all my lessons manually at the moment to make sure that everyone who has a little 3 star ability gets that boosted, just to see how they turn out whether they like it or not

Fire Emblem: Three Houses • Page 17