In future please make sure to use the topic search function to see if any questions have already been answered.
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Thanks
Well, Well, Well. How the turntables
Also, this is the result of me savescumming for like, a solid 30 minutes because forsyth kept missing a 53 with his hammer ;-;
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if you got the paralogue/gaiden just prior to this you should have at least one heavy spear as well
Oh yeah i did, but anyone using it usually had a measly 20 or 30ish hit, it was horrible
Congrats on this. Struggling with growths but it seems balanced enough to even it out.
Been waiting for this since the first post.
Iāve been playing this on Hard Mode for the past few days, currently at the tail end of Act 2. Some insights below.
- Enemy bulk seems too high. Itās common for units, especially physical ones wielding swords, to deal minuscule damage to enemies. Not only do some enemies carry shields, but enemy types such as Soldiers and Cavaliers have fairly high bulk, and Iāve even seen Mages on Celicaās route with a lot of bulk, both on the physical and magical side. Consequently, it can take several rounds of combat to kill one enemy - but because they typically donāt hit too hard unless they are doubling, itās just several rounds of whacking each other until one side dies. I really think itās essential to have two Mages on Almās route because of this; I went with only one (Tobin) and I gave him all stat boosters, but I would really rather have two. Celicaās route has an easier time, because the enemy composition there does not have as much bulk and you have several magical attackers from the start, but it can still be felt, especially when enemies have shields (which they commonly do as Act 2 progresses).
- The weapon triangle screws over Almās route mercs. Almās route Mercenaries have a really rough time, because many enemies they face use lances (Cavaliers, Soldiers, and their promoted variants), particularly early on. This means they fight at WTD a lot and deal even less damage than they normally would, while taking more. I went with two Mercenaries and itās a huge pain to have them do anything, particularly Kliff, who I think isnāt going to get anywhere this run.
- The doubling threshold of 2 + buffed enemy stats is a combination that really hurts certain units. The biggest example is Boey - he has good defensive stats, really good in fact, but he is so slow that he doesnāt even double Knights and Revenants due to Fire weight, his low base, and his low growth. He also gets doubled a lot, making his durability worse than it otherwise would be. Heās probably the biggest loser of this hack relative to Echoes, at least from what Iāve seen so far. The fact you donāt get any fountains at the Novis Priory definitely does not help, because you could get Speed there in Echoes. (I could refer to Gaiden here instead, and it would technically be more correct, but Iāve never played Gaiden.) Other than Boey, Iād say both Alm and Celica also suffer from this; mine consistently fail to double important enemy types in their respective routes, and if I have Celica use a sword to weigh her down less than Fire does, she deals less damage due to targeting Defense + enemies having shields. Alm, on the other hand, couldnāt double the ballista in the very next chapter after getting the Levin Sword, which Iām pretty sure is the intended way to destroy that ballista, given its placement. Since he didnāt double, I couldnāt destroy it in a timely manner and my strategy took longer to execute.
- Some units have worse stats than generics. The primary examples Iāve seen so far are the cavs - Clive and Fernand. Fernand is a non-issue due to his availability being brief, but he can get one-shot and die in the first chapter of his availability due to his low Luck, and the Cavaliers there can double him. Clive definitely does not impress, either - at base, he has worse stats than generic Cavaliers in Chapter 8. Enemy Mercenaries also consistently doubled my Mercenaries on Almās route, for instance, no matter what weapons I had mine use. This isnāt me saying those units are useless, just that itās unusual. Act 2 doesnāt have this issue because the enemy composition does not match yours whatsoever, so there is no good point of comparison.
With that all said, I am definitely having a good time. The hack is visually polished, I enjoy the new dialogue and characterization (hello, Faye), and the gameplay is solid in my opinion. I enjoyed the sidequest chapter, and I feel like you rebalanced it - the enemies in it were weaker than the ones in a few previous, main story chapters, which makes sense because you have a more limited squad in the sidequest. I liked the fact the map encouraged you to utilize support bonuses so you can obtain all the loot, and I did obtain all the loot by doing so. Iām going to keep playing, for sure.
I also particularly enjoyed the visuals of the nighttime boat maps in Act 2 - Iām not sure why, but I really liked those. So far, my favorite map was Chapter 14. It had a fair bit going on, which made it more interesting than the average boat map.
Bug/potential bug reports and story things (spoilered because story spoilers):
Here
- After Chapter 15, when the Arcanist talks to Slayde, he mentions ādamn that one-eyed verminā and implies that this person prevented Celica from being kidnapped. Obviously, he means Saber. This makes sense in Echoes, because the map there is an ambush where you can control only Saber and Celica - but it no longer makes sense here, because the map has been repurposed into driving pirates out of Zofia Harbor. There are Shamans involved, as well as this Arcanist, but there is no indication this was an ambush of any sort. Therefore, the conversation between the Arcanist and Slayde seems out of place - it is as if they are talking about a different battle. Moreover, the Arcanistās defeat quote in this chapter doesnāt make it clear that he survived - I was definitely taken off-guard by him surviving, I forgot about that scene with Slayde.
- This set of lines by Celica in Zofia Castle: āā¦I never thought Iād set foot in these halls againā¦ But this is to see Almā¦ And in that caseā¦ ā¦Enough. I need to hurry.ā played twice in a row for me. Iām not sure why. I have kept everyone alive, so maybe that has something to do with it?
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Forgot one thing, in Chapter 15 thereās an enemy Knight with a Steel Axe he canāt use. The Steel Axe is D rank and he only has an E rank in axes.
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The fact you donāt get any fountains at the Novis Priory definitely does not help, because you could get Speed there in Echoes
The fountains were moved to the graveyard map right at the start of Act 2. Theyāre adjacent to the entrance of the building.
Honestly any time i play i just make Boey chug down the entire speed fountain to make up for his lack of speed
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Ohhhā¦ I feel silly now, I completely missed them if they are indeed there. Well, thatās something to consider for the next playthrough.
16C spoilers
At the start of 16C, Celica mentions āthis must be Garth and his men.ā This doesnāt seem strange, but in fact, Garth isnāt mentioned in the script at all before this, at least not by name - so itās weird that she brings up his name as if we should know him. Unless I missed something (like the fountains), but I donāt think I did.
This might seem nitpicky, but I do want to point out stuff like this to help this hack be perfected. Also, so far Iām having a blast in part 3.
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Is there a reason why Slique, as a Saint, still summons soldiers instead of dreadknights?
The discord is an easier place to search through, so Iād ask you join that. Thank you so much for your dedication to polish. I canāt tell you when 1.1 may be, but this kind of work is appreciated.
Sheās always supposed to summon DKs. Genny summons soldiers.
Do you have the .cia in the final version? I tried to convert it but when i install it dont work :c
Thought it was a bug. Also, I meant to say Genny not Slique.
Itās not. Itās literally the same as Gaiden and SOV.
Speaking of polishā¦
Minor Act 3 spoilers
Wolff (the boss of the bow fort) used the same battle quote as Zaxon (the gate-standing boss of the Alm chapter where you first fight Fernand as an enemy miniboss). Iām not sure if thatās the case in Echoes?
Edit: The death quote is also the same.
Some villagers mention him thorough cellicaās route so i guess thatās the reason she knows
This is the case in Echoes as well. Iāve tried to get Gamma to change one in the name of āyou donāt need to copy the bad references to SOV tooā, but, alas.
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