I think I missed the joke somewhere… why do you call Secret Books Rob Books? Has he got low skill? Or is it because he wants to be a writer?
I haven’t used him much so maybe I just have to to figure out this mystery
After beating the game today in hard, i just have to say that it is one of my favorite rom hacks. I would want to provide meaningful feedback but i’ll wait until i finish maddening. Either way, it was a pretty fun experience, the gameplay was really nice and the story was interesting from start to finish.
2 Likes
Hey uhhhhh Gaiden chapter requirements?
Thank you, @EmanuelDryndak. Happy that you had fun and enjoyed the gameplay and story. I am curious about your impression on Maddening. There are some tough moments, but because you have gone through Hard, you won’t be caught off guard on most the maps. Good luck. 
1 Like
@jpragata: There are two Gaiden maps right now. The best way to find them is to follow the recruitment guide for recruiting Danika and Mercer. I have included the details below too.
Unlock Chapter 17x on Maddening
Enter one of the ruined houses with Caspian on Chapter 11. This will trigger an event on Chapter 15 after seizing the gate. Use Caspian, Travis, or Winifred to speak with Tynan. This will lead to another encounter with Tynan on Chapter 17. Again, speak to Tynan with Caspian, Travis, or Winifred. After the map, see the scene and choose to trigger Chapter 17x by siding with the character who initiated conversation with Tynan.
Unlock Chapter 18x on Maddening
Refusing the item from Mercer on Chapter 9 or Chapter 15 will automatically trigger 18x.
Option 1: On Chapter 9, visit the southern house with Boone, Caspian, Travis, or Winifred. Choose to not buy the item from Mercer. This will automatically unlock Chapter 18x.
Option 2: Choose to purchase the item from Mercer on Chapter 9. Find Mercer again on Chapter 15 in the rightmost red house. Enter with Boone, Ariel, Myles, Capsian, Winifred, Travis, or Saoirse, and refuse the item. This will automatically unlock Chapter 18x.
I hope this helps.
1 Like
Character Spotlight: Amanda
October is all about the scares, so this month’s spotlight will be all about Judge Amanda. Amanda scored very high on the popularity poll too, and she is both a playable character and a major villain representation.
Background:
Judge Amanda is the leader of Rosenna, which is considered the wealthiest and strongest state in the Jacotta Republic in thanks to Amanda ruling her state with an iron fist. However, some of the other states in the Jacotta Republic believe the only reason that Rosenna is successful is because they are in possession of one of the Sacred Instruments, Kuro’s Horn.
As Judge Amanda’s influence and tyrannical rule begins to spread into the other Jacotta states, tensions escalate when three senators initiate a rebellion to take down Rosenna and obtain control of Kuro’s Horn.
Judge Amanda is disinterested in the internal act of aggression against her and Rosenna, because she feels the other states are inefficient, irrelevant, and sacrificial fodder that will ultimately give her more power. Instead, Judge Amanda’s main concern is to find a husband worthy of her perfection. She desires a high-quality husband that thinks, believes and does everything Amanda’s way. Amanda’s objective created good relations with Celyste, because of their incentives – King Caden wanted to protect Kuro’s Horn, and Judge Amanda wants a worthy suitor.
Judge Amanda’s decides to both test the White Lions and eliminate any opposition against her by manipulating a battle at Rosenna Cathedral for Kuro’s Horn. When the White Lions are victorious, they confront her at her manor and battle for Kuro’s Horn. Judge Amanda ultimately loses the battle and custody of Kuro’s Horn. She is left angered and frustrated by not having a husband or her wedding present to her husband.
Judge Amanda chases after the White Lions and for retribution, and if the right condition is met, she decides to join their cause in the hope of spending time with the men. Even though she joins the White Lions’ cause, she still requires things to go her way and will never apologize.
Appearance:
Judge Amanda is a heavier woman with dark, medium-length hair. Amanda wears heavy armor that is all pink with a gold trim accent. She also wears a pinkish-gray undershirt below her armor. Judge Amanda is usually angered and frustrated in most of her interaction, and rarely smiles unless she is talking about being with a man.
Growth Rates:
| HP | Pow | Skl | Spe | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85% | 35% | 30% | 05% | 65% | 40% | 25% |
Unit Analysis:
Judge Amanda joins as a promoted unit with very high stats in HP, Power, Defense, Resistance, and Luck. Amanda also has passible Skill to connect with most of her attacked. Her only real weak stat is Speed, which is entirely unsalvageable with a base of 2 and only a 5% growth rate. Judge Amanda will never be double attacking any enemy and will find herself being double attacked by virtually anything in the game – including meteor tome mages. Amanda only has six levels to gain stats with not many levels left in the game, so any additional stat she gains is a nice bonus, but it will not be changing her role on the team. Expect her to level well in HP, Defense, and Luck.
Amanda comes with the unique Judge class, which gives her access to swords, staves, and axes, which are already at S rank. The Judge class functions the same as other armored classes, so Amanda can perform well as a chokepoint holder. Even though, Amanda can withstand double attacks from physical and magical strikes with relative ease, she cannot face too many consecutive attacks on enemy phase as they will eventually kill her.
The biggest downside to Judge Amanda is that she is the most difficult character in the game to recruit as it requires deploying a team of only male characters. The complete hassle to recruit her may not warrant the payout of her joining for most teams.
Overall, Amanda is a good addition an endgame team in need of an additional healer or an enemy bait unit. Defensively is where Amanda shine; her defensive base stats are so high that Judge Amanda can safely have battle with at least one enemy per enemy phase and survive, and this includes two meteors. Additionally, Judge Amanda’s high base power of 25 and access to staves can allow her to be an amazing support unit with rescues and physics after achieving one staff rank increase. Amanda’s unfortunate speed stat will hinder her offensively as she is incapable of killing most units with a single strike. She can still be used to help set up kills for other units or take out weakened enemies reliably.
Support Options:
Amanda’s affinity is Anima, which provides pretty nice boosts for her as Amanda will appreciate any additional power or defense to help her stay alive and do more damage with her one attack. Even though Amanda has a very late join time, all of her support options also join very late too, so she might not need to fight as much for a support option. All of Amanda’s support pairings could make sense in the right context.
- Caden - Thunder
- Shane - Wind
- Faith - Light
- Ozias - Fire
- Lionel - Fire
Faith’s light affinity boosts Amanda’s power, hit, and critical hit rate, which are the most important bonuses for Amanda to ensure her target is dead with one blow. The light and anima affinity provides max bonus to power and defense, which are mutually beneficial for Amanda and Faith. The only major downside is that Faith may not be hanging around Amanda on the battlefield due to their very different movement and roles on a team, and if Faith is used, Joseph or Kurtis might ultimately make more sense.
Fire affinity is also a great option for Amanda as it also improves power, hit, and critical hit rate. Ozias also joins around the same time as Amanda, so he might also be looking for support options if he is used. Lionel makes a great support option for Amanda, and their pairing is mutually beneficial. Amanda’s anima affinity helps to patch up Lionel’s poor dodge due to his bad luck. Additionally, Lionel will be starved for supports by the time he is available. The only downside to Lionel is that he is only available for three maps, and he would be reaching A support with Amanda on the last chapter of the game.
Wind affinity is a really good option for Amanda and it also improves power, hit, and critical hit rate. Shane joins on the same map as Amanda, so their pairing makes a lot of sense if both units will continue in the party. The Shane and Amanda support pairing has a similar problem as Faith and Amanda in that their roles on the battlefield are very different, so they will ultimately not be seeing too much of each other
A Thunder affinity support with Caden might be Amanda’s worst option. This is not due to the bonuses, as Thunder is going to be the best option for a defensive Amanda, which can be especially nice if Amanda takes on the role as a healer. Caden has the earliest join time out of all of Amanda’s options, and if Caden is taking an active role on a team, it might be unlikely for him to have a support option available. If Caden is available, this support can be greatly helpful.
Popularity Poll:
My current plan is to have 5 more character spotlights. I pretty much have already decided on the final lineup based on requests and the popularity poll, but it could change. Vote for your favorite characters and tell me why you like them, or feel free to request any too.
7 Likes
So, where is the download link?
I took the download link down at the beginning of this week in preparation for a major update that is coming soon. The link will be be re-added real soon.
The new update will not be compatible with existing playthroughs, so I didn’t want people to begin a new game right now. It will be better to wait a week. You can certainly use the link provided by @AtomicBanjo to check out the game now if you’d like.
8 Likes
I hadn’t even noticed that we got official artwork of Amanda a week back. That’s amazing, I love it.
And a big update, you say? I’ll be keeping an eye on it. I quite enjoyed this game back when I first played it, even though I missed both gaidens and I did have some problems with the difficulty in a couple places. Might be up for a replay, depending on the content of this update.
Kurtis spotlight when, I want that beard in HD, c’mon everyone help here out here, vote for Kurtis now
1 Like
A major update you say? Guess I will keep a look out on that.
Already available
But waiting is advised due to it being an early release
It is on the Dropbox, but I am still in the process of updating stuff. It is a little buggy, so I would still suggest waiting until the full update. You can certainly play around with it though.
5 Likes
It is time to officially announce The Lonely Mirror version 3.0 update. I have also reinstated the linked to download The Lonely Mirror. I had previously removed it a week or so ago, because I didn’t want anyone started a new file on an old version. Older save files of The Lonely Mirror will not work with 3.0 versions.
Two New Gaiden Chapters Available:
Guides to trigger the new Gaiden maps have been added too.
-
Chapter 21x
-
Chapter 26x:
New Difficulty Options:
The Lonely Mirror is split into two UPS files now with each having a different difficulty. Play whichever is suitable for you.
The Lonely Mirror CLASSIC (FE_LonelyMirror_FullGame_v3_0_Classic.ups)
This is the classic experience of The Lonely Mirror that a lot of players will be familiar with. Enemies tend to be bulkier and some chapters may feel like a puzzle
- Normal: Intended play for new players that enjoy a bit of a challenge. Enemies will be bulky.
- Hard: For experienced players that want even more challenge. Enemies will be bulkier.
- Maddening: For true Lonely Miror champions. Offers the hardest level of play.
The Lonely Mirror FRIENDLY (FE_LonelyMirror_FullGame_v3_0_Friendly.ups)
This is a more accessible version of The Lonely Mirror. Enemies will in general have a lot lower HP, Defense, and Resistance. Leah also begins with slightly higher stats, and EXP gains will be higher.
- Easy: Intended play for new players that want to enjoy the story and enjoy a classic experience.
- Standard: A good place to start for players that want a classic experience with some challenge.
- Difficult: For experienced Lonely Mirror players looking for a challenge.
New Weapons and Items available:
- Guard Lance (armor units only, +5 Def and +5 Res)
- Palladium (armor units only, 10 might sword that ignores defense)
- Lucky Coin (+4 Luck when held or sell for 3000 Gold)
- Gospel (Irina’s personal tome. A long-ranged dark magic strike)
- Nevermore (S-ranked Knife. Absurdly good)
New Supports Written:
- Ariel x Travis
- Shiloh x Eamon
- Caspian x Winifred
- Boone x Lionel
- Grant x Mercer
- Brett x Parvati
- Atticus x Sterling
- Travis x Vergil
Portrait Updates (Special thanks to carringcarrot for this):
- Devante
- Lael
Rebalancing:
- Armor Class now has access to Sword as well as Lances.
- Armored units also have access to two personal weapons - the Guard Lance and Palladium.
- Irina has been given her own person tome.
- Helga received a buff to her base stats.
- Mercer is now available in ALL difficulties by completing Mercer’s Secret Shop sidequest. He can have an early join on Maddening and Difficult only.
- Silvan is recruitable on Ch21x (Maddening and Difficult only) if he is not freed on Prelude 1.
- Lots of other minor rebalancing things that might be difficult to notice. Props if you do notice.
Two New Playable Characters:
Two new characters have been added to the game and are obtained by completing one of the new Gaiden chapters on Difficult or Maddening mode.
Character Spoilers
Alouette is the warden on Illwish Island, a prison that specializes in reforming problematic people. She is determined and believes there is a special role given by her ancestors that she must complete. Alouette might be encountered on various chapters depending on the player’s decision.
Knox is a prisoner at Illwish Island and a known murderer who’s actions resulted in one of the largest Elioran tribes dissolving. He is consumed by guilt and looks for redemption in life.
13 Likes
RIP Pink Narcian. Can’t say I’ll miss you. Devante got one heck of a glow-up!
Not gonna lie, what strikes me the most is the addition of the friendly version of the hack. I really enjoyed the hack the first time around, but while the elitist in me hates to admit it, I found the difficulty was a bit much at times. I only played maddening because I didn’t want to miss out on the gaidens… And then I ended up missing the gaidens. Oof.
I might do a replay in difficult mode one of these days. See if I actually get the gaidens this time around. Either way, I’m glad to see you keeping up the good work!
Also can I just say I love that one of the listed rewards for chapter 26x is just “lots of Judge Amanda dialogue”? I already look forward to that.
Congrats on the new update caladrius. Would you say any of the characters having an objectively “canon” class? I want to replay it with the intended classes. If not, that’s fine. I will just do the opposite of what I did last run.
1 Like
You mean a canonical promotion class? If so, then not really. No one has an objectively canonical final class outside of the characters that are already promoted.
I will give you 10 promotions that I think make more sense based on the character’s personality.
- Grant - Great Knight, because he hates being left behind due to his walking speed.
- Silvan - Berserker, because his fighting style is more chaotic and he doesn’t like wearing a shirt.
- Brett - Fire Sage, because he is interested in a lot of research and swords make less sense for him.
- Myles - Assassin, because he got some street smarts when he was younger and not a trained sword.
- Tanya - Scholar, because House Dalmask is known for research.
- Saoirse - Hero, because she criticizes healers for not having a weapon.
- Vergil - Great Knight, because he looks to protect Leah at all cost. Armor makes sense.
- Wise - Wyvern Knight, because he wants individuality from his brother.
- Kurtis - Falcon Knight, because he loves pegasi so much.
- Rob - General, because he would rather not move if he doesn’t have to.
Most of the characters would be difficult to pinpoint as both promotion options could represent a piece of their personality, like in the case of Shiloh. Then some characters, like Mercer, would just go with whichever is inspiring him in that moment.
5 Likes
Character Spotlight: Mercer
Mercer is the character spotlight for November. Mercer is one of the least popular characters according to the popularity poll, but he was also newly added to the poll, so he could be more liked than it shows. Mercer is The Lonely Mirror poster child for side quests and Gaiden maps, so an Amanda spotlight followed by Mercer aligns well with the recent 3.0 update.
Background:
Mercer is an eccentric merchant who runs Mercer’s Secret Shop, which is a direct competitor to the secret shop run by Anna. He claims to be the “original” secret shop, it was his idea, and that he is destined for success because merchant is in his name- MERChant, MERCer.
Mercer takes an interest in the White Lions throughout their journey as part of his business model to sell products to mercenaries, which he calls “mercer’aries.” He sells valuable items to visiting White Lion members for a low price. If the White Lions continue to support Mercer’s business, he will join in their cause as a way to give back to them and explore a new calling as a mercer’ary.
On the hardest difficulty, Mercer will abandon his secret shop to become a mercer’ary earlier if the White Lions do not support his secret shop during one of his first two meetings. He can be encountered enroute to Ametona after resolution in Burga. Mercer will declare to Boone that he hopes to be a competitor of the White Lions one day, but he also admits he might be way in over his head and needs formal training. He offers his services to the White Lions for a low price of 3000 gold.
Mercer is always looking for new and inspiring ideas as he tries new business models such as a pet shop with Grant or starting a tavern with Silvan. Mercer cares more about making his customers happy rather than turning a profit but is the type of guy who always tries and tries after he fails.
Appearance:
Mercer has short purple hair that tapers into a close buzz around the side of his head. While Mercer is in his merchant attire, he wears a dark blue tunic with purple and yellow accent. Mercer puts on golden armor over the tunic when he decides to rebrand as a mercer’ary. Additionally, Mercer sports a gold pendant necklace and multiple ear piercings.
Growth Rates:
| HP | Pow | Skl | Spe | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 45% | 45% | 50% | 70% | 10% | 25% |
Unit Analysis:
Mercer is considered a growth unit and has all around solid base stats with incredible growth potential in HP and Luck as well as solid growths in Power, Skill, and Speed. His only weaker stats are Defense and Resistance, but neither stat is unsalvageable, and thanks to Mercer’s high HP and avoid, he can face most threats after he is leveled.
While Mercer joins with an E rank in swords in the mid or late game, which is uninviting, he is gifted with a very strong personal weapon, Merciless. Using Merciless allows Mercer to level up weapon rank very fast to the point where it is feasible to reach A rank in one chapter. Additionally, Merciless has 60 uses and a whopping 45 critical hit modifier with reliable hit rate, which allows the weapon to even stay relevant late into the game despite its poor power modifier. Merciless allows Mercer to achieve the highest reliable critical hit rate in the game, only losing out to Irina with the Ruin tome, which has no hit rate.
Mercer is the only character in the game with three possible final promotion options, which makes him the most customizable unit in the game. He has access to Hero, Swordmaster, and Assassin (only if his secret shop is not supported by Myles in Ch15). While Hero is a great well-rounded class and offers Mercer a consistent 1-2 range option in axes, Swordmaster and Assassin are the two classes that allow Mercer to utilities the strength of his personal weapon. Swordmaster is an incredible class for Mercer and it allows him to be a good solution to pesky, speedy units like other Assassins and Swordmasters as well as Wind Sages and Mauthe Doogs, enabling him to one-shot kill with possibily over 80% critical hit rate. As an Assassin, Mercer can have the highest possible silencer activation in the game, which while not a reliable strategy, it is a nice bonus thought to the added weapon support of knives and bows.
Mercer’s main weakness as a unit is his relatively late to extremely late join time, and never being a specifically useful character to deploy on any map near his joining chapter. Mercer does require some effort to get going, but he does snowball real, real fast. If Mercer joins in Chapter 18x, he makes a great candidate for the Dreamcatch found in Chapter 18.
Overall, Mercer is a great addition to a team if looking to train a unit to make the end game chapters easier; however, he may require feeding kills to get going – especially with his late join. A trained Mercer will not disappoint and offers to be a solution to many problematic enemies found in the later chapters. Mercer’s three promotion options allow him to fill a greater diversity of roles in the endgame. He is also one of the only four characters in the game capable of using Nevermore, the S-ranked knife, which is arguably one of the better weapons in the game. His access to great weapons, versatility, and a possible counter to problematic enemies makes Mercer one of the better mid to late game characters to feed EXP.
Support Options:
Mercer’s affinity is Thunder, which provides very nice boosts to Mercer all around. As defense and resistance tend to be Mercer’s weaker areas, the added defense boost that Thunder provides gives him that extra survivability that pairs well with his high HP. The extra boosts to avoid also pairs wells with his high speed and luck, and makes Mercer very hard to hit. Thunder also boosts critical hit rate, which is the most important bonus for Mercer given his role on the team. Mercer has a nice spread of support options that are eccentrically, wholesome:
- Caspian - Light
- Silvan - Anima
- Benji - Wind
- Atticus - Ice
- Grant - Dark
- Pepper - Ice
- Irina - Light
Caspian is most likely the best support option for Mercer, because the Light affinity provides max bonuses to both critical hit and defense, while also giving an appreciated boost to power and hit rate. Thunder is also very beneficial for Caspian to improve bulk as a frontline fighter. It should be noted that Mercer can form a support square with powerful frontline fighters: Caspian, Silvan, and Boone.
Silvan is actually a really great support option for Mercer in the right context. While Anima does not provide the coveted boost to critical hit, it will provide max bonus to defense, avoid, and critical avoid, while also providing a nice bonus to power. Anima is a great support option for Mercer to focus more on Mercer’s ability to dodge tank while also boosting his offensive power. Thunder is also one of the better support affinities for Silvan, especially if using him as a Berserker.
Irina also shares Light affinity, and therefore, is a very good support option for Mercer for similar reasons as Caspian. Irina and Mercer also join on the same chapter if not playing on the hardest difficulty, so they can immediately pair up if intending to use them. Irina is ranked lower than Caspian due to her late join time, and her possibly not being as feasible of a support option when factoring in Mercer’s earlier join time on the highest difficulty.
Mercer appreciates the boost to power and critical hit most from Benji’s Wind affinity, and if Light is not available, Wind is Mercer’s next best offensive support option to consider. Benji also values any support option that boosts his horrendous critical avoid, so Thunder has him covered.
Grant’s Dark affinity is a great option for Mercer if he has leveled well in power. Dark boosts both critical hit rate and avoid and works well if looking to boost Mercer’s dodge tanking ability while also increase offense in the form of critical hits. Mercer’s Thunder is also a solid choice for Grant to improve his tanking ability. Grant also may join the chapter after Mercer if he is recruited at his earlier join.
Atticus and Pepper’s Ice affinity are the worst support option for Mercer. While Ice further improves Mercer’s defensive capabilities, it does so without contributing to either power or critical hit rate.
Popularity Poll:
My current plan is to share 4 more character spotlights on FE Universe. There will be two more male characters and two more female characters coming. Vote for your favorite characters and tell me why you like them, or feel free to request any too.
8 Likes
Awesome trailer. Two more spotlights for each gender, you say? Alas, I suppose the Kurtis dream will never happen. Too bad.
Anyway, while I’m here, I suppose I might as well do this now. In my first run, I took note of all the typos and issues I encountered and posted them here. Since I’ve been trying to pick different choices and see events I missed the first time, I’ve been doing the same in my second run. I’m up to chapter 17. So far it’s mostly small typos, as well as a couple of irrelevant issues, but just like last time, here they are in case you wish to fix them.
Typos
To start, one that feels rather familiar. Back in my first run, I reported all misspellings of “aid” as “aide”… However, in these two instances, the spelling was correct. An aide is an assistant, aid is help
Ametonan scum.
I’d like to step in.
I will ensure. I checked on Google and apparently “insure” is used like this in the US, but still, “ensure” sounds more natural to me.
Kinda works, but I think “we strive to set criminals on the right path” would be better.
There is a plan.
You kids need
Unnecessary on.
to save you
We will definitely
Without hesitation
Mercenaries bearing
a certain spirit within you
I refrain from speaking
And I was just promoted too
any chance of
The pleasure is mine
For a noble district.
than in our last encounter
They’re talking about obtaining an item. I believe “to get what we need” would be better in this context.
Or maybe we don’t
you hear?
Cross my heart.
Double now.
Issues
Fiske has no personal palette. Dagger shares this issue, but the basic brigand palette suits him well enough, so it’s not as noticeable. Fiske looks completely different, though. Actually, you could just give him Hemlock’s palette, their colors are the same.
There’s a single soldier in chapter 13 belonging in the unknown faction. Completely irrelevant issue, but well, they all are.
2 Likes
Thanks @SaintRubenio. I always appreciate these text correction messages. They are super helpful in refining the dialogue. 
I honestly don’t know how you catch these so well. I have corrected all the issues that you brought up and have created new 3.1 patches for anyone who wants a little less typos.
Dreams do come true.
7 Likes