anyone figure out how to recruit devin? i feel like ive tried talking to him with everyone
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It’s Ross 
I’ll try making that more apparent in the next update.
2 Likes
Alright, got around to updating the game again. As usual, download link is updated and here’s the change list:
Summary
Jun 21, 2025
- Rebalanced “Ch.5x: Unbroken Heart” by changing your unit’s equipment, enemy positions, droppable items, map terrain, and some character base stats.
- Fixed all Completion Flag conflicts on all chapters of the game.
- Removed stat debuff effects from Anima and Light Magic tomes.
- Changed Devin’s dialogue to hint that Ross is the person who recruits him.
Thanks to everyone who has helped give me things to update! I’m slowly running out of things to change and that’s a good thing. This thing feels alot more complete since letting you guys get your hands on it. 
I’ve been thinking about the modular minimug suggestion, but I kind of want my own custom setup instead of the 8 options offered (Catball 1 was the closest to what I want). Unfortunately, after downloading the 2018 version, I have absolutely no clue how to even read the files, let alone modify them lol. I may have to ask for help in the thread.
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Well, it’s been quiet here for about a week so I think I’ll wrap up my final update and call it good until someone vocalizes a need for further adjustment. I’ll probably be checking in alot less from now on but still ready to respond to any feedback.
So here’s what changed in this potentially final update:
Summary
- Slightly adjusted base stats for Lute, Artur, Tethys, Odion, and Laurel
- Changed some monsters in “Ch.4: Ancient Horrors” into the Bael class so that magic units are more useful to the player and Lute has some enemies she can actually kill effectively. (Spiders are weak to fire).
- Altered the map on “Ch.7: Waterside Renvall” to include an alternate path and also lessen the amount of unused map space.
- Increased the damage gained/lost from weapon advantage on the Magic Weapon Triangle from 1 to 3. Mages rarely fight each other so I wanted to make the triangle more impactful for when they do. Physical Weapon Triangle was not altered.
- Increased the number of uses on dancer rings from 15 to 20.
Download link updated.
In addition to these in-game changes, I also fixed some things here with its presentation. In my original post, the “Purpose of the Project” section was changed to be much more informative. The “Potentially Controversial Changes” section was also altered to include the reason behind changes to bows since those questions comes up the most. 10 more screenshots were added to the screenshot gallery, and pictures of map changes were replaced with full size side-by-side comparisons of the original maps vs the new ones. And finally, the “Credits” file included in the FE8 Expanded download zip has been updated to include the names of the people here whose feedback helped me make direct changes to the game or it’s presentation post-release. 
I still have not implemented the minimug idea however. I may have to get someone else to make my custom version for me even though I’m usually a DIY kind of guy. That might come in the future, but no promises there.
That’s all I’ve got for now. If attention to this game ever climbs, I’ll be here. I’ve got notifications active on my phone. If not, I hope everyone (or even just someone) that played the game managed to get something out of the experience. 
5 Likes
Is there still no recruitment guide? I cant seem to recruit Gerardo…
I didn’t think it needed one, but sure, I can add that. I’ll post it here and then add it to the top post afterwards.
- Gerardo: Recruited by Garcia
- Devin: Recruited by Ross
- Odion: Recruited by Vanessa or by having him survive the chapter
- Laurel: Recruited by Eirika or by having her survive the chapter
- Elias: Recruited by Cormag
- Sara: Recruited by Tana or Innes
Additionally, Joshua can also be recruited by Gerardo in addition to Natasha.
EDIT: Alright, added “New Character Recruitment and Support Guide” to the original post underneath “Other Noteworthy Changes” and before “Known Issues”. The guide also includes Supports and Battle Quote info for the new characters as well. 
2 Likes
Ohhh, no wonder I didnt see the mini speech bubble, I never moved Garcia this chapter, he was just… standing at the starting point, menacingly.
UPDATE!
Long time no see, but I haven’t spent that time doing nothing. I said I might update the game again if I got custom minimug boxes, and I did… But then I decided to spend 5 straight months cramming as many new things into that one update as possible and now it’s here! I’ll get to the patch notes last…
But firstly, this project has been renamed from “FE8 Expanded” to “FE8 Alternative” (burn me at the stake if you must).
The original post has been updated with a new download link, alterations to several sections including “Purpose of this Project”, and now has a Character Guide to help players understand how characters work. An additional Class Guide exists but the post size limit was reached. However all guides including that one are present within the full download. Credits is also now baked directly into the original post to better respect those whose work was used for this project.
Changes to the original older post may change the context or accuracy of earlier posts in this thread. Keep that in mind as features have changed alot.
I learned alot these past 5 months. Even got into minor animation a bit (I hate it btw) and at some point I plan on submitting what was used here to the repository. Some things are complete for this mod’s purposes but incomplete for public submission 
.
And now for the update itself! The following is a changelog of all differences between the previous Jun 27, 2025 version and this new Nov 17, 2025 version.
Update Changelog
NOV 17, 2025
Primary Game/Feature Changes:
- The entire mod has been renamed from “FE8 Expanded” to “FE8 Alternative” to more accurately represent what kind of FE8 mod this game is.
- Installed custom Minimug Box patch to give unit status window more details when unit is highlighted.
- Added a Fast Forward button to combat animations. Press and hold the B button during battle to speed it up. This also speeds up Exp gain and Level Up window when held, but only if performed during a battle animation. Cannot speed up Level Up window or Exp gain if it occurs without a battle animation (Rescue Staff and Summon Skill for example).
- Removed growth rate colors on stat screen due to inability to consistently represent the difference between a good “growth rate” and how good a stat ends up for that particular class (For example, Odion has a Def growth of 35% which is below average, but as a Druid he still caps Def by Lv20 promoted. Also, L’Arachel has a bad Spd growth but her Spd still ends up solid due to above average base stats). A Character Guide will be included with the mod to better inform people of what to expect from characters they are curious about using.
- Pressing the L button while highlighting an enemy unit now lets you cycle through enemy units the same way you could for player units.
- Installed “Less Annoying Fog” patch. When your unit bumps into an enemy inside of fog/darkness, you now have the option to act instead of being forced to end your movement. You can now attack, use items, support, talk etc.
- Installed “Limitless Trade” patch so that units can use the trade command an unlimited number of times per action.
- Allowed character portraits to blink when looking at units stat and inventory pages.
- Using the “Steal” function while having a full inventory now lets you send an item to Convoy.
- Installed the Casual Mode patch for players who want that option.
- Changed the dialogue of all of the non-reward villages to give the players tips and insights unique to playing this hack. Also added a few new ones to some maps as well.
- Adjusted the difficulty bonuses/penalties for several chapters. Most notably the early chapters of Hard mode received increased bonuses to more immediately differentiate the feeling between Normal/Hard, set the tone better, and prevent Seth from doubling everything into oblivion on Hard.
Secondary and/or Aesthetic Changes:
- Changed the Battle Animations for the Paladin(M), Knight, General, Great Knight, Wyvern Rider, Wyvern Knight, and Wyvern Lord classes to be helmetless. Male and female variants of each class is also now visually distinguishable (except Wyvern Knight which uses gender neutral animation). Repaletted the animations myself to put the colors in more accurate places to character portraits and recolored all related character palettes in the game.
- Updated menu descriptions for boss characters across the game.
- All songs in Sound Room unlocked by default.
- Fixed Sara’s Mini Portrait to look less bad.
- Changed Odion’s primary color palettes from blue to green per FE community vote.
- Fixed an error with Elias’s portrait having glitchy blinking frames.
- Fixed up some character and class palettes.
- Changed music for Chapters 9, 10, and 12 to “Rise Above” for both story routes.
- Changed music for Chapters 13, 14, and 15 to “Determination” for both story routes.
- Visually refurbished all of the castle maps in the game (Renais, Rausten, Jehanna, and Grado)
- Gave the Rausten Knights a custom portrait to distinguish them from other generic green soldiers in other cutscenes (new portrait by GenericPretsel)
- Gave the Rausted Armor Knight at the beginning of “Ch.19: Last Hope” a custom portrait to look like an Armored Knight instead of a Soldier.
- Changed Myrrh’s portrait to show her wings in all cutscenes after her introduction at the story split.
- Enemy units changed so that you encounter the female units of various classes more often and actually see the animations.
Playthrough Related Changes:
- Added cavalry units to “Ch.3: Bandits of Borgo” to give Neimi an opportunity to immediately demonstrate bow’s effectiveness against mounted units in a context other than Seth getting shot by the enemy (though that can still happen). Also moved them to an unused section of the map to make that section used.
- Changed the Player Unit spawn formation at the start of"Ch.5x: Unbroken Heart".
- Map modifications to “Ch.10A: Revolt at Carcino”. Changed wall structures and moved the empty ballista.
- Extended the dialogue and battle sequence between Valter and Glen at the end of “Ch.11A: Creeping Darkness” to give Glen a bit more spotlight, and elevate the drama of Valter’s treachery.
- Map modifications to “Ch.12B: Landing at Taizel”. Added empty ballista for player to use.
- Changed the order of events at the end of “Ch.13A: Hamill Canyon” to feel more natural. Also edited the cutscene between Aias and Caellach during the “boss survives” ending to have a quieter atmosphere and a slower fade out to emphasize the weight of the event.
- Changed some mercenaries into Myrmidons on “Ch.14A: Queen of the White Dunes”.
- Added dialogue for Eirika at the start of “Ch.15A: Scorched Sand”.
- Fixed an error in “Ch.15: Scorched Sand” where a Wyvern Rider was changed to an invalid class ID, and fixed another issue where Druid with Eclipse showed movement when it shouldn’t. ALSO, added a Turn Clock trigger for the bosses to launch their offensive. Caellach triggers on turn 10 and Valter on Turn 13 to keep the tempo of the chapter moving towards the end.
- Fixed issue on “Ch.16: Ruled by Madness” where enemy Rogue spawns from inside of a wall.
- Added 2 empty Iron Ballista to “Ch.17: River of Regrets” and edited both the map and some reinforcements.
- Altered the cutscene at the start of “Ch.19: Last Hope” to more visually express the patrolling armor knight’s confusion and fear before being killed by Riev.
- Some map changes and position changes for “Ch.20: Darkling Woods” to make the early turns more engaging.
- Added a battle preparations screen to “Final Chapter: Sacred Stone” to both give the player access to their inventory and prevent a glitch that allowed you to use the unit data screen to scroll to units not present on the battlefield and potentially crash the game.
- Added new unique conversations in “Ch.21: Lyon” when Knoll, Duessel, Myrrh, and/or Odion get near Lyon’s location. These 4 conversations are different between Eirika and Ephraim’s story routes due to Lyon being actively possessed in one story but not the other.
- Distributed various additional stealable but not droppable items to enemy units throughout the game to incentivise Thief/Assassin/Rogue usage and provide more purpose for the Steal feature.
- Upgraded all remaining enemy Mercenaries from “Sword” weapons to “Blade” weapons. Their class gets the most out of them, so they should represent since “Sword” weapons are already plentiful elsewhere.
- Reduced the HP of destructible walls in Valni and Lagdou from 50 to 30 to help avoid a glitch where hitting a 2-tile tall wall without breaking it in one shot would reset its durability to full when attacking it again.
- Fixed an error where you could open a chest on Lagdou 3 an infinite number of times… Whoopsie lol
Character and Item Related Changes:
- Characters in leadership/command positions (including major bosses) now have Personal Skills as well as select other units (Joshua, members of Gerik’s Mercenaries etc.)
- Gave Lute a Thunder tome upon recruitment.
- Adjusted growth rates for Garcia, Ross, Devin, Kyle, Forde, Gerik, Sara, and Ewan to fit their intended roles better and differentiate them from other units of similar classes more.
- Fixed issue where Rennac doesn’t get the “Shade” skill.
- Tethys can now use Swords, Anima, Light, and Dark weapons.
- Increased Short Bow crit rate to 15.
- Flux ability changed to grant +10 Hit/Avo on even numbered turns.
- Fenrir ability changed to +50 Hit/Avo vs Tome weapons (Tomebreaker skill).
- Garm ability changed to restore HP when getting a kill from unit initiated combat (Lifetaker skill)
- Fixed an error where the Resolve Ring wasn’t passively granting its effect to the holder.
- Thor’s Ire changed to grant +15 Crit for 3 turns.
- Set’s Litany changed to grant +20 Hit and Avoid for 3 turns.
- Ballistas, Bolting, Purge, Eclipse, and Shadowshot are no longer uncounterable. You can totally have seige battles now.
- Added Iron Blade, Javelin, Hatchet, and Short Bow to Preparations screen shop.
- Lances and Axes received Mt +1 (axes also got Wt +1) to bring them in line with intended weapon stat distribution pattern, and swords received Crit +10 to help compensate for their low Mt.
Class Related Changes:
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Replaced “Defiant Crit” with “Wrath” on Lord (M) and Great Lord (M) classes.
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Exchanged the Rogue’s “Tantivy” skill for “Steal+”.
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Gave Heroes the “Swap” skill.
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Gave Dancers the “Inspiring Tune”, “Drive Magic”, “Drive Strength”, “Drive Speed”, and “Re-Move” skills.
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Gave “Spectrum Stance” to the Holy Savant class.
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Fixed an error where male Manakete classes has 5 Mov instead of 6 like Myrrh.
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Buffed the growth rates on Phantoms to make them actually worth something as they grow.
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Adjusted enemy growth rates on some unporomoted classes to be a proper challenge now that counters to them are more common (Some enemies were heavily nerfed and were too easy to handle even on Hard Mode).
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Adjusted enemy growth rates on some promoted classes to smoothen out discrepancies that made some classes significantly more powerful than the rest at higher levels.
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Fixed error where Hero class had a max Con cap of 20 instead of 25 like all other non-magic promoted classes.
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Fixed an error where Spiders are classified as Armored Units but were not weak to Rapier, Reginleif etc.
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Changed the base stats and promotion bonuses of many classes to assist those classes in doing their jobs better and/or make more sense as well as perform immediately after promotion better. These changes are from previous stat lines of the mod, not from the base game so keep in mind some of these may sound a bit off without that context. The class changes are as follows:
Class Base Stat Changes:
- Increased “Great Lord (F)” class base HP/Skl/Def by 1, Str/Mag/Spd/Res by 2, and Str+3. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Great Lord (M)” class base HP by 1 and Str/Skl/Spd/Def/Res by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Paladin” class base HP/Str/Skl/Spd/Def by 1. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Hero” class base HP and Skl by 2. Decreased Base Res by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Assassin” class base Skl by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Swordmaster” class base Spd by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Knight” class base Spd by 2.
- Increased “General” class base HP by 4 and Spd by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Monarch” class base HP by 8 and Spd by 2.(Class is exclusive to Vigarde and Fado anyways).
- Decreased “Great Knight” class base HP by 3. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Sniper” class base Skl by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Ranger” class base Spd by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Warrior” class base Skl by 2. Descreased base HP by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Wyvern Knight” class base Spd by 1. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Mercenary” class base HP/Str by 1 and reduced base Skl by 1. Promotion bonuses for Hero adjusted to match.
- Increased “Myrmidon” class base HP by 2. Promotion bonuses for Swordmaster adjusted to match.
- Increased “Pegasus Kningt” class base HP by 3 and Mag by 1. Promotion bonuses for Falco Knight adjusted to match.
- Increased “Rogue” class base Spd by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Sage” class base Skl by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Druid” class base Mag by 2 and Skl by 3. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Summoner” class base Mag by 3 and Skl by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Valkyrie” class base Mag by 1. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Holy Savant” class base Skl and Res by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Necromancer” class base Mag and Skl by 2. Promotion bonuses adjusted to match.
- Increased “Dancer” class base Mov by 1.
- Increased “Journeyman” class base Mov by 1.
- Increased “Recruit” class base Mov by 1.
- Increased “Pupil” class base Mov by 1.
Class Max Stat Changes:
- Changed “Great Lord (M)” Max Stats by Skl/Def+4.
- Changed “Hero” Max Stats by Str+1, Skl-4, and Res+3.
- Changed “Warrior” Max Stats by Str+3, Skl-3, Spd-1, Def+1.
- Changed “Sage” Max Stats by Res+5.
- Changed “Mage Knight” Max Stats by Skl+1, Spd-1, and Def/Res+2.
- Changed “Valkyrie” Max Stats by Mag+3, Skl-4, and Spd+1.
- Changed “Falco Knight” Max Stats by Mag+2
I know there’s alot of other mods to play, some of which are truly epic, but thanks again to everyone reading, playing, creating assets, and more! Hope you all have some fun 
Goes to bed exhausted
3 Likes
I noticed the project name changed from FE8 Expanded to FE8 Alternative, and I was wondering what made you decide to switch it. I’m just curious about what the new name means for the project and what made it feel like a better fit.
Well, when I first posted the project it became PAINFULLY apparent that my biggest weakness was communication of intent (still is tbh).
“Expanded” implies it’s the same game but more, which is only half correct. This leads to the expectation that anything that isn’t knew should be the same or close to it, most notably whatever someone considers fundamental identifying aspects of the game. The immediate example of Seth not being the early game super unit and turning him into a growth centralized character was thrown in my face for example. But I realized the concept itself wasn’t the problem, my failure to guide expectations was.
“Alternative” hopefully speaks more to the core of the idea which is difficult for me to put into words that accurately convey it because technically the game is “expanded” but also alot of fundamentals, jobs, tropes, and just “traditions” I guess were warped into something new but the story, personalities, events, and everything else are mostly the same but expanded upon and/or polished up a bit. It was hard for me to find a word that communicates both of these things.
“Alternative” feels the most accurate. You can consider this a substitute for the original because in a sense it still is, but built different. I don’t know how to be more precise about it without talking myself into circles though. I just hope the feeling gets through because that’s also a big part of this mod. The feeling of playing through it. An alternate way to thoroughly enjoy Sacred Stones. Not just another mod with boxes to check off to impress people or chain itself down to established norms, but to be an alternate way to Fire Emblem and an alternate (hopefully better) way to love the original story.
That’s the best I can describe it.
3 Likes
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you’re all enjoying time with your families for the holidays. 
It came to my attention that there were a few particularly oppressive points in Ch13B: Flourspar’s Oath" and “Ch14B: Father and Son” compared to the rest of the game, especially on Hard Mode. I decided to update the game to fix these specific trouble spots. But I don’t like posting simple 1 change patches so I went ahead and found some more stuff to improve 
I think I’ve fixed my “Dancer’s Dilemma” concerning combat value, support abilities, and the dancer rings. I also tuned up Lagdou Floor 10 to be more interesting.
Anyways, here’s the patch notes:
Nov 27, 2025 Patch Notes
NOV 27, 2025
- Gave Selena a Prf weapon that is a 1-4 range version of Bolting with 25 uses so that she can still fight effectively as a boss when her regular Bolting Tome breaks.
- Edited “Ch.13B: Flourspar’s Oath” to be less oppressive on the first few turns.
- Adjusted center room of “Ch.14B: Father and Son” so that the two Snipers do not interfere with the battles happening outside of that room.
- Fixed a typo with the 2nd “Arena Soldier” house encounter.
- Buffed the Tana Spear’s power, then added the Tana Spear and Hartzgarza to the post-game Secret Shops
- Increased Artur’s Mag growth from 70 to 85.
- Changed the names of Fila’s Might, Ninis’s Grace, Thor’s Ire, and Set’s Litany to Blaze Ring, Gaia Ring, Surge Ring, and Zephyr Ring respectively.
- Gave the Dancer Rings passive buffs for holding the items so that non-dancer units can hold them for benefits and gave them infinite uses for when Dancers wield them.
- Gave Tethys a new Support conversation with Saleh that also explains why she is able to wield magic.
- Changed Floor 10 of Lagdou Ruins to deploy reinforcements of increasing power if you do not kill all the dragons in 4 turns.
2 Likes
Alright, it’s the New Year and I’m ending my 2025 with another update to my hack here. This time, I’ve decided to tackle some issues I found with the structure of Eirika’s story. Some of you probably saw this coming when I created this thread here:
This pretty much explains the biggest thing this new patch fo uses on fixing. Chapter 11A has now been replaced with a new chapter called “Greed and Treason” which focuses more on Pablo, his plans for Carcino, and how it all falls apart as Eirika and Innes proceed toward Jehanna. Also, other chapter’s dialoge was changed to accommodate this narrative and also to add some awareness, context, and reason to events throughout Eirika’s story. For example, we find out Jehanna is under attack BEFORE Hamill Canyon instead of after to create urgency for the characters to move forward, and the Hamill Canyon battle itself is turned into a blockade to keep Eirika from supporting Jehanna instead of just being a random force Caellach sends to intercept them for no particular reason after like 4 chapters of not directly engaging Grado. 
But anyways, here are some screenshots I took followed by the patch notes. I wish I could have done more but I got the Stomach Flu for Chriatmas, so this is what I got
Happy New Year everyone! 
Patch Notes: Dec 31, 2025
====================
Dec 31, 2025
- Changed Rennac’s personal skill from “Steal+” to “Tantivy” due to Steal+ ability being built into Rogues directly without the Skill System.
- Changed Shadowshot due to glitch involved with previous concept. It is not a long range Luna spell instead.
- Changed Falco Knight’s Desperation skill to “Assassination” which was renamed to “Dive Bomb”.
- Gave theHeroe class “Bracing Stance”.
- Reduced Warrior base Str by 2 and Max Str by 4, but increased their max Skl by 3 and gave them Axefaith.
- Gave Wyvern Knights the “Swordbreaker” and “Wind Disciple” skills.
- Installed the Devil Axe backfire calculation underflow fix.
- Adjusted speed of Support level gains to be just a bit faster.
- Changed the stats of Claw and Fang weapons to make them less similar in power, then redistributed them to enemies.
- Changed “Ch.11A: Creeping Darkness” into a brand new chapter called “Greed and Treason” to give Eirika’s story more structure, more consistency for its path and objectives, make it easier to follow and focus on, and grant some more opportunities for Eirika and Innes to be characterized.
- Changed some dialogue for Chapters 10A, 12A, and 13A to blend better with the changes to 11A. Also changed some of the chapter introduction text when selecting the mission from the world maps.
- Changed dialoge for “A New Journey” before the story split so that both stories being told are easier to undestand, follow, and have expectations for as well as making goals more clear.
2 Likes
Its complete rom?
For the most part, yes. I’m always open to making improvements in the future so I’m not sure if I can truly call it “complete” because I don’t know what the future holds for it. It could still continue to evolve.
But this hack has everything from start to finish that I want it to have as of right now and can be played all the way through properly. 
1 Like
A very interesting re-skin FE8 work, with a considerable number of original characters and equipment systems. Unfortunately, cavalier and soldier are still the original models. I hope the community models can be applied in the future.
Besides, I’m very interested in the original characters. Would the author be interested in making an additional hack for them? I would be looking forward to it very much.
Possibly. Haven’t looked into those animations much since I never had a problem with the default cav animations and I don’t want to do anything too over the top or out of place, but considering the other changes I’ve made, there’s no reason to not be open to the idea.
I hadn’t thought about that honestly. I created each of these characters because I felt that people wouldn’t pay my hack any attention if there wasn’t something obviously new. Everything else about them kind of developed on the fly as . Not sure if I’d be up for doing a full project about them, but I wouldn’t be upset if someone else wanted to.
2 Likes