Convert is really strong, maybe the strongest non-mana skill in the game, but from floor…I’d say 26 on, the maps begin to outscale convert in terms of ridiculousness. Not that there aren’t conversion targets that are good, but they definitely stop being able to just solo maps
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Giving this game another play after my first try a couple years ago, ran into a bug on… uh, I don’t remember the level names or the floor number, but it was the one right before the fire area’s escort mission. I don’t think the bug’s level specific though, just the ‘rout enemies’ trigger didn’t go through when I killed the last enemy. He died via Afterburn damage at the start of his turn and the level went on, so I’m guessing that was to blame. I also had a Converted mage at map’s end, but that doesn’t usually cause problems so I figure it was the DoT.
If this is something you’re already aware of then sorry to bother you, I just didn’t see it in the “Known Bugs” section so I figured I’d leave a post. Playing on the most recent patch as of today, btw.
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Good catch, updated with a “fix” (it re-checks on unit wait).
Really REALLY enjoying this hack so far, just beat Floor 27 and hit Level 10. Honestly 10/10
Quick question:
Does equipping the Gale Spear (or being in range of Dazzle’s Gale Spear Aura) give you canto+ on all actions? For example if Zelg was to equip the gale spear, trade for a vulnerary, and use it, would he then get the Canto movement? Or is it only on attacks? Similarly, if Dazzle equips the gale spear and throws flag (with a different polearm, obviously) does he get to Canto afterward?
The reason I ask is because I started playing in “Everyone gets Canto+ mode” just in case I ever needed the help, but I realized I never needed it and think the game is a better experience without it. Now I manually never use it to try to stay consistent with the base game experience. Unfortunately by the time I realized this, I was far enough into the game that I didn’t want to restart, so I only use Canto/Canto+ in cases where units would actually have Canto/Canto+. Therefore I’d like to know how the vanilla mechanic works - there’s no way for me to manually test it since everyone already has Canto+.
Thanks!
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You get the Canto if the spear is equipped at all, not just if you’re using it. So Zelg having it equipped and using a vuln does allow him to Canto, same with the Dazzle question.
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Thanks for the quick reply!
Oh and one more thing…
What is the calculation for the Rank of Custom Arms weapons? I kind of glossed over it when it was first stated, and the Glossary doesn’t mention it.
Every 5 points of investment is a rank.
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Because I cannot help myself, I wrote this up while dissecting my thoughts about how to build the units so far & what to do with your MEM when reaching Level 10. I love reading stuff like this so I hope you do too, reader.
Time will tell if my opinions are solid, I’m looking forward to finding out.
Also definitely a Guide on how to build your units if you are not confident about how to. I love min/maxing games and I’m extremely confident with my decisions, or describe where I may have gone wrong in hindsight. The [understanding Fire Emblem / skill at Fire Emblem] bar is set fairly high when it comes to playing this game and if I could help a less experienced player manage to survive and enjoy it more, that’s pretty good in my book.
Unit/Skill Analysis as of beating Floor 27 & Reaching Level 10 (Spoiler Warning)
Notable Forges (IIRC):
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Custom Arms mechanic in this game. It feels incredibly good to come up with a weapon with exactly the specifications you need. Here are the Forges I’ve used so far.
BIG IRON I/II/III/IV: Forge a Bow, Max Hit, 1 Mt - For Floors 13-20, I went with this. The Tempered Bow is just as strong, but its hit rate is atrocious. Hardman used this as his delete button and occasionally traded it with Zelg as well. Made it exactly strong enough for Zelg to one-shot the Shamans at the beginning of the Dragon Boss map to save on uses. Reforge every Level to add +5 Hit, thus the Roman Numerals. Once I gained access to Hunting Bows, this became much less necessary and opened up my forge for other uses.
DOG KICKER 2000: Forge a Lance, Make it cost Mana, Horseslayer, +Hit as much as you can but keep it at C Rank. Used this on the Capture the Flag mission (23 or 24 I think) where there are Dogs on either side of the field. I sent everyone except for Hero to the left, while Hero solo’d the right. Hero had the DOG KICKER 2000 to one-shot Dogs on counter (I think I used a Power Glove and didn’t need to invest in his non-existent STR), Fire Tome to one-round Archers, and Two Vulneraries. His Mana was irrelevant. Distracted the entire right side alone until the map was completed. I REALLY liked this one not only for the silly name, but because it felt like a truly unique solution to a map only possible thanks to the Forge mechanic. Plus bonus points because I actually found a use for the Mana effect.
CAN OPENER: Forge a Lance, Armorslayer, +Mt as needed, +Hit afterwards. For the first turn of Floor 25, Zelg equipped an Accuracy Lens and took care of the first three Generals and Swordmasters at the top of the platform (while supported by Dazzle to survive). The weapon had 9 uses, and that’s exactly how many he needed - 6 to double and kill three Generals, and 3 Remaining to counter three Swordmasters to within an inch of their life. This isn’t possible with a Hammer because 5 uses means that the 3rd General that attacks you cannot be doubled, not to mention because it loses weapon triangle to all the swords so you may miss or take too much damage. Another solution that just felt perfect.
OGs:
Zelg
Stats: Keep speed just fast enough to double slower enemies (Archers/Snipers, Knights/Generals, Shamans/Druids, Soldiers) while also just fast enough to not be doubled by anything but Myrmidons. Strength should be just high enough to one-round most targets (double or one-shot with a Horseslayer/Hammer/strong weapon). Keep defense relatively high and HP healthy (I had 16 DEF, 32 HP, 11 SPD on Floor 25) but don’t go overboard, there’s a lot of options to buff defenses in this game.
Level 5: Enrage 100% - Zelg will be tanking hits and therefore will often be below full health. The +1 MOV is necessary in my eyes to fix his movement problems and the +2 Damage helps him hit kill thresholds with weaker weapons, or while using something other than a Power Glove in his Trinket Slot.
Level 10: Keep slot open 100% - Zelg has everything he needs right now, and with 4 weapon types available it’s highly likely he will use at least one Weapon Rank buff to A or even S in the future. Easiest skip of my life.
Hardman
Hardman:
Stats: Keep speed high enough to double everything except myrmidons. Keep STR high enough to one-round virtually everything except for Knights/Generals. I invested 10 points in his luck for the Lava Floors because he could get Wyverns down to <25% hit rate by receiving them with an Armsreaver and then one-shotting them on counter. Keep HP healthy enough to not be one-shot plus a little extra (to allow yourself to take 2 hits if healed in-between).
Level 5: Enrage 80% - This one isn’t strictly necessary, but I don’t regret it. It’s not too hard to have Hardman take some damage while attacking an archer or mage, and +2 damage/+1 MOV can help him kill targets with weaker bows and stay out of range while hit-and-running, simple as that. Every other viable skill, other than Leadership, costs Mana to use, and Hardman has zero flexibility when it comes to having mana to spare, so those are non-options. Leadership is far better served on others, as Hardman is usually the one who wants the +15 hit and doesn’t want to be tied down to an area to provide defenses.
Level 10: Soulsteal 100% - Non-negotiable. Hardman’s biggest/only weakness is his mana usage, as he only has 6 turns of Canto+ per map without a refill. Hunter’s Mark is hardly used as a result because sacrificing 3 turns of Full-Move Canto+ for +4 damage is a terrible tradeoff unless the map is extremely short. At level 10 he gets Aimed Shot as well, that would destroy his ability to canto+ if used even once without a way to restore Mana. Furthermore Hardman is a character that should be killing once every turn, so Soulsteal is very consistently regenerating Mana for him. Lastly, Soulsteal allows Hardman to combine Aimed Shot/Killer Bow/Pet Rock to kill basically anything for as long as he wants to carry the Rock around and go Mana-neutral.
Loonie 2nes
Loonie 2nes:
Stats: Keep speed high enough to double everything except myrmidons. Double attacking = double the Mana regeneration from Osmose. Keep magic high enough to one-round most targets other than Mages with Fire. Keep HP Healthy enough to not be one-shot plus a little extra (to allow yourself to take 2 hits if healed in-between).
Level 5: Leadership 100% - Loonie can stack the Leadership -2 Damage with the Shield or Barrier tomes, which is an ideal synergy and constantly useful. The +15 hit is absurdly helpful into the midgame when 80’s and 90’s are common (I want to scream at the 1RN in this game sometimes - I have missed so many 88%s that it’s taken years off my life. It’s an ongoing gag for me that if Philo doesn’t have a 100%, then she has a 99% chance of missing one of her two attacks, cause it’s happened so often). Furthermore, Leadership works on Converted targets which she tends to spend a lot of time nearby, and her 6 move makes it easier for her to position an Aura 2 than for most.
Level 10: Keep slot open 85% - Loonie already has a lot of jobs to do on any given turn, her Mana Regen is usually at a healthy balance (Occasionally it can stretch, but just make sure she doubles and feed kills to her converts) so she doesn’t want more Mana-spenders nor badly require Mana regeneration, and she refuses to get her OOS skill (I cannot predict if this will last the whole game as a joke, or if eventually it’s revealed that it’s crazy broken. My money is on the former, but I hope to be joyfully surprised). Let’s keep her open. If it turns out using her as an Encourage mana battery is something she does often, maybe Soulstealer will be worth it, but I don’t like the idea of killing things with Loonie in order to spend turns to give Mana to the units that most often kill things. Feels like some unnecessary steps, and you could just get kills with converts for the same effect. Chance of going for higher weapon ranks later too.
Philo
Stats: Keep speed high enough to double everything except myrmidons. Keep magic high enough to one-round most targets with a Shroud, or Shadeslash for mages. Her Mana is technically infinite, but it trickles in slowly so conserving it for big blowouts with Encroach, for movement tech with Shift, for occasional use of Purify, and for consistent Convoy access is key, so being able to kill with 1-Mana spells is ideal. Keep HP Healthy enough to not be one-shot plus a little extra (to allow yourself to take 2 hits if healed in-between).
Level 5: Convoy 100% - The game is totally right when recommending this, and I’m glad it did as I was hesitating on committing to Convoy on Philo. Having a Convoy unit is absolutely necessary for taking on the longer Boss maps, as your Weapons will break and grabbing the right tool for the job is crucial for surviving. Many units will destroy their mana base by tapping into that 1-cost, but not Philo. Any turn she starts with 9-10 mana and isn’t attacking something, convoy is effectively free.
Level 10: Keep slot open 100% - Soulstealer seems helpful but definitely not necessary, Leadership is way better on other characters, and her OOS I feel is not as great as it first seems. Philo can only Nos-Tank a little before running completely out of mana, losing out on all of her amazing utility. I suspect it will be worth buffing her Dark rank to A or even S in the future, so keeping her open is a great choice in my eyes. If mana starts to get thin as higher cost tomes become available, you can always take Soulstealer later.
Floor 21s:
Hero
Stats: Hero simply does not have enough POW for everything he wants. His speed and therefore damage is extremely low, but his bulk does not need help for awhile which is nice. For Floor 25 I decided to get his speed up to 7+2 with a Nice Boots to be able to double Snipers/Generals/Ballistae and not get doubled by most enemies, while getting his Magic just high enough to kill the Generals on counter (so no Defender bonus) which REALLY helped in clearing the first Phase of the map. In hindsight, I should have given him 8+2 speed as the Wind Sword & Killer Lance Cavaliers have 13 and therefore do threaten him if unlucky, but it all worked out regardless.
Level 10: Keep slot open 80% - So far nothing really stands out to me. Leadership is fantastic, but Hero usually wants to be the one getting Leadership rather than supporting others. Worth mentioning the synergy with Abjure Anger, though if Abjure Anger gives -3 and Shield/Barrier an additional -3/-4 that seems high enough already. His high movement could be used to get Leadership into a good position, but it could also have him spending a lot of time away from your other units. A third Leadership is starting to get into Diminishing Returns with only 8 characters (I can see grabbing it for 16), and I think it’s much better on Dazzle than Hero. He already effectively has Soulstealer by using Light Dispersal, and doesn’t feel like he has any mana problems (granted, I’ve stayed away from using more expensive tomes on him). Enrage is similarly getting into diminishing returns, as 8 movement will be more than enough for 90% of turns and +2 Damage is worth less if you don’t double. Regen is best on a tank but extremely low value with how many healing options you have. Hero can/does keep his mana healthy enough for occasional Convoy access, but do you really need a second Convoy that badly with only 8 units? Finally his OOS skill seems niche - I haven’t used Brine once yet, and do you really need +7 damage if you’re already at x3 Mt? Out of all of these, Leadership is definitely the best, but you don’t have enough gold to skill everyone so I think Hero is one of the better ones to keep waiting.
Double Down:
Stats: I am currently on Floor 28 and (IIRC) have yet to invest a single point into her other than 1 Luck to keep up with enemy Skill. There were a few moments in Chapter 25 where she fell a bit short, especially when it comes to speed, but she was able to Wary Stance through most of the scary sections and could Swap Trinkets to stay above some thresholds.
Level 10: Leave Slot Open 50%, Soulstealer 30%, Killer 20% - This one is definitely the hardest choice among all my characters. Like with Hardman, Double Down has no innate way of regenerating Mana and her skills are fairly expensive, especially when combined together which is often necessary. She doesn’t get kills as consistently as Hardman because of less movement and often reliance on 1-range, but that’s HARDly (sorry!) a fair comparison. Even just +4 mana across a large map can be massive, and it was mentioned at the beginning of the game that DPS characters don’t get Mana Regen abilities, so I doubt her mana issue will fix itself. Her other viable option is her OOS skill which gives 50% crit if the crit would kill. A valuable skill, but a bit gamble-y and I think consistency and longevity is correct to go for first. Killer is definitely better on the shorter maps though, which seems to apply to Floors 26-30, so I do doubt this choice a little. May want to leave this slot open until I see what floors 31-35 look like, or I run into a challenge where I need a skill. In the meantime, Loonie can feed Double Down some mana if absolutely necessary and PetRock/KillerAxe/RootedBlow is a viable substitute for Killer.
Dazzle
Stats: I am currently on Floor 28 and so far have only bought a few points of speed to keep it similar to Zelg’s. I’m unsure of where else to go with him, as I could see him as both a secondary tank or even an occasional damage dealer for one-shotting mages or cavaliers with a Pike - if his strength is pumped high enough. Tanky seems much more likely though, especially now that Zelg has Fortify and can have him Taunt things. I think the play is to invest the absolutely bare minimum into him, as the characters were right… you may get more gold as the game progresses, but much less gold per person. So if anybody is to get shafted, it should be the guy that mostly just needs to stand around.
When Recruited: OOS (Supporter) 100% - I immediately put it on him as soon as he joined the Party. It perfectly stacks with his Aura 3’s that you should already be taking maximum advantage of, and having +2/-2 damage at the ready is great for hitting damage/tanking thresholds on any character while investing minimally in stats. It also stacks with both Leadership and Shield/Barrier for a total of 7 DEF or 8 RES, which is insane for pulling enemies with Zelg especially.
Level 10: Leadership 95% (I actually thought to leave this slot open until I did this write-up, where I completely convinced myself to take Leadership, lmao) - I see the viable options as Leadership, Enrage, and Convoy. Enrage is valuable for the +1 MOV, as by attacking someone on Turn 1 you could take some damage and Dazzle won’t regen it since his auras don’t apply to himself. However, Charge Lance can do the same on most turns. Convoy is decent on Dazzle because of his “Break Lances” requirement which could over time empty his inventory, and because it feels like Dazzle doesn’t use Mana that much (but that may change with his new Throw Flag skill). Having to move Philo nearby to Dazzle to re-equip him every once in awhile doesn’t seem too hard a requirement though, and if you really struggle for some reason, a Silver Card can get you some options. Leadership, despite being on Loonie already, is not superfluous if taken as a 2nd copy. We already know it stacks with his Auras, albeit only in range 2 rather than 3. But being able to apply Leadership in two places at once seems great. This is especially true since (afaik, up until now) investing in Skill (Stat) is a AWFUL use of POW that can be spent on STR/MAG/SPD/DEF/HP. If I calculated correctly, 1 Skill = 2.66 Hit, so +15 hit is like saving yourself 5.6 POW and Gold on skill stat ups. And that’s PER CHARACTER that uses the leadership aura AND on Converted enemies as well. That’s not even mentioning the POW/gold value of the -2 damage. Will the Floor 30 or 35 skills be good enough to warrant skipping Leadership now, or putting it on Hero instead? I doubt it. But I’ll leave this one at 95% just in case I’m proven wrong or there’s a broken A-rank Lance.
Lady Orchid
Stats: Orchid can go in many directions at the time you get her, and she doesn’t have much POW to spare. She needs Speed, Magic, and her bulk is atrocious. As of Floor 25, I decided to keep her speed at a level similar to Zelg’s, and Magic high enough to kill most targets she doubles with a Fire. Wildfire x2 + FirePact can often replace the need to double something, so holding off on maxing her speed is fine. My solution to her bulk issue is simply to never have her in range of anything except mages, which worked out fine.
Level 10: Soulsteal 90% - This has been one of the most thoughtful decisions in the game for me. She synergizes insanely well with both Enrage (because being damaged has nearly 100% uptime on her and going from 5 to 6 move is huge) and Soulsteal (as multi-Wildfire turns can be costly, especially with Inflame, and FirePact may not be able to keep up with that). I suspect she will eventually go for both, so the question is which to go for first. After much consideration, I think Soulsteal is the correct call. In a pinch, both Philo-Shift and Charge Lance banner from Dazzle can substitute for the extra MOV, while more liberal use of Inflame will stack damage better than Enrage by Turn 2 and even more from there. Two last notes: 1 = She is so squishy and could stack Burning so high that EVENTUALLY throwing a heal & restore her way will be necessary, and when you do it’ll turn Enrage back off for at least 1 Turn. And 2 = Her Personal Skill gives +20 Hit/Avoid when at 6+ Mana. Assuming this is a viable enough option to grab in the future - keeping her at 6+ while also using her to her fullest potential is tough, even with Mana Drops I suspect. Plus Mana Drops are crazy expensive, not unlimited, and uses your action and inventory - I predict they are better as a supplement rather than a crutch. I’ll leave this at 90% just on the off chance Mana Drops are enough but I’m pretty confident.
Working my way through the BigMood Trilogy TM(which I have enjoyed, through some tears of frustration) I really went into server 72 with a mix of apprehension and curiosity off of its reputation (from my perspective) as super hard and “bullshit” as described by some gamers. I can def say it was quite a hard hack, but I had a damn good time figuring things out!
Which you do alot of, I spent alot of times in preps, allocating resources, switching up weapons and items with the flexibility of selling things at their full value. Your characters do have access to a wide range of skill, combat arts, passive holdables, etc but I wouldn’t call it a skill bloated experience either. It really manages to capture the customization feeling of playing an actual mmo, and blending the Healer,dps,tank “holy trinity” into a fire emblem adjacent space.
I struggled for quite a while adapting to what this (initially) 4 unit gameplay loop was like, especially my mindset of "everybody’s gotta live!(sorry casual mode fans). But right around a certain long ranged chapter boss, who runs at you and tries to murder you I looked at my turn count realized, “this is an mmo” and stop worrying about finishing it super quick. I let said boss approach me and hid behind some line of sight blocking terrain, only to gank the boss once he got closer.
Was it the intended strat? Well no is what I have been told, but it worked! It made me realize, all’s fair in love and war. In universe we are clearing a super hard epic gamer online mmo dungeon, you gotta do what you gotta do to win. Though, this isn’t to say that turtling became the norm just that I had to become much more creative with the tools the game had offered me in the ever expanding anna’s shop you can access between maps.
Finally, Pumping Zelg’s speed early on and other offenses was the greatest decision of my life, only bought defense right near the end of the game. He’s the goat. I could gush about each character individually in their specific gameplay loops, mechanics, etc. Shout-out Double Down critting for 222 damage, and Slayer Banner Dazzle my king.
Through somewhat “hostile” at times enemy arrangements, and events I think Server 72 really captures what it wishes to emulate. A sweaty, complicated, but rewarding to some gamers like myself MMO experience. Backed by snappy dialogue and strong characters. Basically, it rocks and you should play it.
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