nah
unless they’re like fe6 merlinus in that i don’t need to deploy them to send items and can actually move, they’re a wasted deployment slot
it also doesn’t make sense that you can do actions like trade or supply before attacking, but it’s a nice QoL.
a weapon having a % chance to break is more realistic than always having x uses. But personally I’d prefer a set number of uses.
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I’d be more than happy with a version of FE6 Merlinus that didn’t take a slot, but I’ll take lord convoy over any version that FE’s produced. Just think about how much less painful staff-juggling would be in FE5… FE7 Merlinus not only was annoying to take shit from, but also tended to negate back reinforcements who would simply whiff their steel lance hits for turns on end. A more flexible in-map convoy means less time making sure everything’s perfect in preparations, and in my view, that’s a good thing.
Anyway, ‘realism’ is completely irrelevant. Your archer isn’t lugging around five different longbows. Your hero isn’t notably less weighed down by shouldering the axe and unsheathing the sword compared to vice versa. High-quality weaponry doesn’t lose its edge quicker. Weapons are an abstraction, top to bottom.
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TRUE! I never really understood the mentality of making things “more realistic” with FE where the more realistic things are the less fun it gets, like you draw the line with homeboy Marth being able to carry everything he needs in his now existent pants but not his magic shield that can just open boxes through the power of shield?
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I find it extremely funny that Nyna explains this, at least in the English localization, as Marth gaining the right to open treasure chests, not the ability to. It implies that the only reason you can’t just open treasure chests with anybody is because they have too much respect for the law. Thieves can open treasure chests because they don’t care about the legality of it
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Berwick ptsd activated.
I like convoy units, but most games have too few deployment slots to justify one, furthermore an inmobile tent is a stress machine as a player who thinks looking up reinforcements is boring/Anti-fun, because you never know if the tent is in danger or not.
Convoy lords are a happy compromise to avoid slowing down gameplay for little reason.
I admit a mix of Fe6 and Fe7 merlinus would be ideal, being a free deployment while letting the player manage the convoy (and dont forget being a dedicated trade and visit unit so others dont have to!), Would be very fun.
Also, there is no reason to have only one convoy unit or leave then without any extra utility.
what if you have different types of convoy units?
like a convoy that automatically heals surrounding units like a fort
or one that has high move, canto and can rescue units
or one that has a bargain skill and can get access to secret shops without an special item
or one that can partially repair weapons on his inventory while on the map.
Add any of this, and now you have a unit that can compete for a deployment slot.
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Even just giving them “Aura” skills like voice of peace, ‘stat’ spur skills, rose’s thorns/lyly’s poise, etc. Those can give massive value to the convoy unit, and since some of those skills can be a little broken, giving them to a combat-less unit can be a good compromise.
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I like early FE, so I like to have the main character also serve as a convoy.
In kaitou, the main character, Estelle, is the head of a gang of thieves, so she is in a position to manage her subordinates’ shinogi.(shinogi is the money that the mafia earns as a result of their economic activities.)
I think it is more mafia-like for the subordinates to give stolen items to the chieftain(boss).
Besides, the fact that the protagonist manages the items makes it necessary to place the protagonist in the center of the formation.
In kaitou, you need to manage items frequently, and the passing of items does not consume a turn.
Therefore, the more efficiently you play, the more the protagonist will be placed in the center of the formation.
It is more like a hero to have the hero in the center of the formation.
It is rare for the king to lead the charge, and we think it is more like the hero to be in the center of the formation.
In kaitou, the promotion of the main character is intentionally slowed down, so the period when the main character is managing goods in the center continues for quite a while.
What her subordinates earn, she donates to the boss in the center.
We consider it more like a chieftain.
When the protagonist is finally promoted and grows up to a certain extent, he will take the lead like a hero in an action movie, but his allies still come to entrust their shinogi to a dependable leader.
I believe that the subordinates are made to behave in such a way that they adore the leader.
In other FE works, the protagonist is also a king or a leader.
I would not be surprised if they manage goods.
If that is not realistic, then FE that ignores supply is not realistic in the first place.
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This also implies that literally every chest in Archanea no matter how sacred the treasure is just left unlocked which explains why lockpicks don’t exist on thieves.
It’s funny to think that literally only Rickard and Julian would ever open unlocked chests without the special shield or a key that should theoretically do nothing… Unless Marth just bashes the locks on chests with his shield which then brings into question how come the thieves don’t bring lockpicks
In the first place, the Fire Emblem is the mark of the thief who looted the Temple of Raman, so the Marth who gets it will be able to open the treasure chest.
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Again, I’m not necessarily talking about realism, but rather an explination of things. It’s not realistic to rewind time, but Echoes, 3H, and Engage explain this mechanic exists for some reason in the lore. And I just feel that would add more cohesion to the game.
That’s one of the reasons why I love the Elibe games so much. Because of Merlinus.
This I think is a good execution of explaining why a lord has convoy access. I like it.
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I really don’t get this, it seems more like a nitpick than anything else especially with mechanics other people brought up that are “unrealistic” such as the weapon weight system and item durability.
Explaining how protagonists carry their items is rarely ever a thing in games, no matter the genre. From Legend of Zelda to Super Mario to Hollow Knight to Minecraft it’s just something to be expected as the norm for the sake of gameplay.
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FE8 is supposed to rent a legion from King Freria.
Therefore, the supply is available from ch2.
I believe that King Freria not only gave us the old man with the beard and the weak pegasus, but also lent the supply to Eirika.
Rather, we should see those two as an addition to the supply.
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In general, I think the degree to which breaks from reality are acceptable in a video game is really dependent on the kind of precedent the framework has already set. No one is going to question something like archers being able to shoot through walls when it’s been a thing since the very first FE, and no one is going to question a lore explanation behind convoy lords when convoy lords have become a staple of the franchise. It’s like how in turn based RPGs you never see players asking why the enemies are just standing there politely waiting for the player characters to bash them.
But if you’re going to add something entirely new or break from what’s expected, I’d really rather have a lore reason for it, even if that lore reason is just “that’s the joke, so laugh with it” like Code of the Burger King does. Part of why I love LISA the Painful RPG so much is because it does this so consistently well—almost every single instance where things gets weird with gameplay mechanics ties into the story or enhances characterization in some way, and I really adore that kind of meaningful story intent behind a gameplay inclusion.
In other words, I’d be more inclined to agree with you if this were a brand new mechanic or gimmick, but it’s been around for a while now so I don’t really have an issue with it right now.
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I think I’m with the “fuck realism” crowd when it comes to this specific mechanic, but mostly because I don’t think Merlinus worked as a unit. He felt more of a minor inconvenience than something that changed the way you approached a map in a meaningful way. There’s also the issue of Merlinus becoming a dodge tank in FE7 which is a bit broken for a unit that can’t die.
With that said, I honestly wouldn’t mind if we went back to a Tellius-like system where there’s no way to access the convoy in battle. Or even something akin to Genealogy’s castles or FE1 tents. Just don’t force me to discard items.
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Convoy units are a good tactical idea, very not fun to use.
Convoy only units feel terrible to use. They have to be slow, they cannot attack, have niche uses, eat a unit slot, and otherwise are pretty anti-thetical to constant moving combat. Convoys are mostly used to grab the keys out of it when you forgot to pack them or didn’t really need a thief.
Really, a limited number of item swaps and requests that can be sent by any unit sounds better tbh. As opposed to slowly moving a character to the convoy, the convoy (by magic, flying creatures, w/e) sends and recieves the item a turn or 2 after, so you can very dynamic with the convoy as opposed to walking to the guy with it.
there might be a reason why IS has not bothered with convoy units after fe7 (im probably wrong lemme know)
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The issue I have with this sentiment, is that convoy units need not be pure convoy they could have thief utility or have healing or weapons, or be bulky as such essentially being a portable light rune, or even just have high move con and canto making them good at rescue, there is much more convoy units can be, if one wishes to experiment.
[although I prefer weaponless approaches]
I do feel however that one’s preference for/against convoy units is determined on how much they enjoy item management on the battlefield and in preps, similar to durability.
A unit dedicated to convoy provides a cost analysis and encourages good management and planing if you don’t want to bring them, If one enjoys planing and managing items is a boon while if one does not like this aspect of gameplay it only makes these sections more tedious as they are not guaranteed a safety-net for not engaging in item management.
Anyone having convoy access is way too much in my opinion it completely destroys the point of inventory, imagine sending a unit alone, this becomes much too easy with infinite convoy as anyone can send them items at any point, essentially whole map, any tile trade, weapons, elixir, antitoxin, key, statbooster, etc,
Convoy is very powerful, however limited anyone convoy could be interesting but… But… BUT…
NO LIMIT SHOULD EVER BE PLACED ON ITEMS SENT
this is absolutely abhorrent design it encourages players to turtle in treasure rooms and spend many turns trading items to avoid limits and it also means a single thief cannot clear a treasure room, it also means the player could softlock easier if inventory is full of treasure [undropable/unsellables], it also makes side objectives less rewarding, so players may ignore or even be frustrated by them.
It would also make battle prep less meaningful as anyone could patch up missing Inventory, very fast.
My assumption for why IS dropped convoy units is that it didn’t fit their design aims generally FE doesn’t focus on item/gold management opting to keep it simple as such investing in a unit whose whole function is tied to this aspect and adds complexity may have felt incongruent with this desire, and, as such they stuck it on the lord, and haven’t reinvested since as it is a rather unusual unit for the series.
Fair, I would like more utility on convoy units if using a deployment slot is necessary, and I also think a weaponless approach would be good, as you avoid infinite weapon byleth for example.
Its interesting you bring up weapon durability, because weapon durability should in theory ,ale a convoy good, But every item with low usages are either too much for a refular enemy or is a specific counter (ex. hammer). Most resource management then becomes either vulunaries, staffs, equipment, or keys
I also agree that limited sending to the convoy is horrible and I would not want that on anyone. My vision was more like 3-5 uses for weapon reloads and key catching, but that would still be counter to your point about management of resources, which imo is fun.
And yeah, as opposed to walking across the map to a stationary tent or watching the horse carriage limp towards close to a unit, I think shortcutting all of that, while maybe making the game a little easier, is a good quality of life change. Personally, something like a limited delayed air drop for 2-3 turns that you have to plan around would be a nice change of pace.
for the record tho, I do in fact think your idea of a utility convoy is probably better than opening a door and seeing two chest with one chest key and waiting 2-3 turns for the stork to deliver a key. instead conboy will just walk over there him self.
maybe im convoy wrong lmao
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