So, I like Fire Emblem, and I heard that the newer games are actually good! So I've decided to give Path of Radiance a shot before I play the Wii game. I hear it has Ike and it's all kinds of fun!
I know, I know. Everyone voted for me to finish playing The World Ends With You, and I have been working on that! But I want to play an RTS something fierce. So while I'm working on TWEWY (I think I have like, two-three chapters left?) I'll be starting on this game too!
So, basic rules on this playthrough topic: Do not spoil me. I don't want to be spoiled. However, I am willing to get hints or tips on stuff! So if there's someone awesome I could miss getting, I'd appreciate being told that so I'm not screwed out of him or her. Those are basically the only two things I have to say.
I'll be keeping a list of the levels everyone is at, like I did for my Fire Emblem 7 playthrough topic a while ago (in which my boy CANAS dominated everything in that game!) and I'll be probably asking for tips.
A few things I wanted to ask before I get started: Are there any new mechanics in this game or is it the standard Sword > Axe > Lance > Sword fighting style? And is the buddy system thing where you place people by each other to increase their stats in this game? And if so, is it still set to three different times you can unlock that per character? That was one of the things that ticked me off about Fire Emblem 7, because I wanted to unlock all the conversations with everyone and make everybody friends!
Anyway, I'm about to begin, so wish me luck!
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
Supports are in this game, but I believe it's based on simply being in the same battle rather than needing to stick next to each other to build it up. Magic has a new triangle with Anima replaced with Wind/Thunder/Fire as separate things, but I forget how their triangle works.
From: WarThaNemesis2 | #003 Supports are in this game, but I believe it's based on simply being in the same battle rather than needing to stick next to each other to build it up. Magic has a new triangle with Anima replaced with Wind/Thunder/Fire as separate things, but I forget how their triangle works.
It's Thunder > Fire > Wind > Thunder
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
Best game for supports, this game did it much better than the GBA titles. Every time two characters are together on any map, they get one point towards their supports.
Anima triangle is fire -> wind -> thunder -> fire, with light being a neutral 4th option.
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Congrats to 2011 Rivalry Rumble Guru winner, SuperNiceDog http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
Articuno2001 posted... Best game for supports, this game did it much better than the GBA titles. Every time two characters are together on any map, they get one point towards their supports.
Anima triangle is fire -> wind -> thunder -> fire, with light being a neutral 4th option.
Good to hear they improved upon the support system. It was annoying and tedious to have to put the characters I wanted to support next to each other and just wait turn after turn until the "Support' option came up.
That triangle doesn't make a lick of sense... There's no ice element?!
Hmm, missables... The only really dumb missable is a character in chapter 15, who requires you step on a particular square with one of two particular characters for him to even appear. And he's worth it, so yeah. Till then, your previous Fire Emblem experience should prevent you from missing out on much!
On the magic system, there's the magic triangle, but also Fire beats land beasts, wind beats flying beasts/falcon knights, and thunder beats dragons/dragon riders. Fire has the highest base power, wind has the highest accuracy, and thunder has the highest crit.
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"Duel audio? You mean like rap battles?" - termina_rzident KrahenProphet and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
Default is Easy mode!? Do I look like a baby!? F*** no, we do this on normal difficulty!
Prologue: Mercenaries
So, my adventure starts with Ike going down like a B to some older dude in a sparring fight while a cutesy girl runs after him. And oh god the girl's voice acting. And so we get Ike, our hero, Greil, who is an old tough dude, and Mist, who is the daughter of old tough dude! And apparently Greil is Ike's daddy too! I'm sure he won't die at some point and make Ike a hero later.
Ike and Greil are about to go at it again when some dude named Boyd runs up! Boyd seems kinda cool. Boyd is told to fight Ike and Boyd's like "eff that, I'm better." WE SHALL SEE, SLIGHTLY ARROGANT FRIEND OF IKE. I turned off the tutorial, because I know how to play Fire Emblem, so hopefully I'm not missing anything important! I take Boyd down to zero health, so I guess I killed him. AND HE'S GONE FOR GOOD!
But not really. Greil tells Boyd to buzz off so he can fight Ike. Mist gives Ike a vulnerary to fight father! And then Ike kills his father! He's a cold sumb****. But Ike levels up. Yaaaay. Everyone is trashing on Boyd in this game. Damn. I feel like I need to root for him just to be a bro! But Ike is ready and everyone agrees! So yay for Ike! And now our adventure really begins.
Levels: Ike: Level 2*
(The number of stars means the number of times they leveled up in the battle.)
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
The way it works, you get stat boosts for if you maxed out a particular stat in the first game- ie, if you max out your HP, you'll start with like... 2 or 4 or so more HP with that character in the next game. Actual levels don't carry over. Don't really remember about supports though!
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"Duel audio? You mean like rap battles?" - termina_rzident KrahenProphet and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
From: agesboy | #018 The way it works, you get stat boosts for if you maxed out a particular stat in the first game- ie, if you max out your HP, you'll start with like... 2 or 4 or so more HP with that character in the next game. Actual levels don't carry over. Don't really remember about supports though!
It's +2 for non-HP stats and +5 for HP, IIRC. ...But maybe HP is just +2 also.
As for Supports, Radiant Dawn has a FE9 Support Convo Record that it'll add them to, but in terms of gameplay, any FE9 A-Support becomes a Bond Support which is +5 Crit/Crit Avoid. The actual supports for the characters are wiped out and you start from nothing, though the Bond Support doesn't "count" against you as one of your 5 supports there.
Edit: Also, the bond support bonus only works if the characters are adjacent, whereas "normal" supports have the three tile range.
Also, with at least one FE9 A-Support carried over you can get an additional scene in FE10. ...Think it's only one particular A-Support though.
-- xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out? GotD (219/384) Melee v FFX
Oh hi, Titania. We get a new character! Except her and Greil are being jerks to Ike because he came in late. "What's my first job?" "I'm talking with Titania right now. Wait outside until we're done." Ouch dude. Titania and Greil decide it'll be Ike, Boyd, and some dude named Oscar taking out some bandits yeeeeeah. Oscar is a green haired nice guy who is not nearly as brodacious as Boyd who even Titania is trashing on!
Boyd: Ike! Listen up! All this stuff is old news to me, but I can give a rookie like you a few tips.
Thanks bro! I get a bunch of standard tips and then get the basics of the weapon triangle as well.
"Swords over axes... I won't forget. Not if I remember that I'll always have that advantage over you, Boyd." "Do you think you could maybe find a different way of remembering? Yeah, thanks." :( Boooyd.
It looks like Titania has already leveled up. Which is laaaaaame. I hate units that are already leveled up. So I'll probably be leveling up the rest of my guys if I can help it! She can visit all the locales! I basically run wild with Ike, Boyd, and Oscar while Titania chilled.
It's an easy map, so I go through and kill the boss with Ike and then I get information from Titania about Ike's father supposedly being something, Boyd talking about how Ike did good, but not as good as how he did his first time, but Oscar told him that he broke his own axe his first time. Oh Boyd. And that's it for the first stage!
So this chapter begins with Titania talking to her friend Rhys (who is probably a romantic interest). Rhys was hurt or scared or something. He apparently wields a staff, which means he's likely a mage. If he's our healer, he's my favorite by default! Rhys gives her a letter and Titania has a freak out and says PREPARE FOR THE WAAAAAAR! Apparently Mist and Rolf (who da hell is Rolf?) were taken by bandits. OH NO! It's hard seeing Oscar as outraged since he always looks like n_n all the time. And Ike storms out because that's what upstart heroes do without thinking of the consequences GRR!
So Ike storms out and has no idea where he's going. lol And him and Boyd go at it before Oscar walks up and Boyd calls him a chambermaid. Dissssss. Oscar actually knows where he's going though, so we're ready to fight! We talk with the random bad boss guy and he says that he has Mist and Rolf locked up. And then I find out that Rhys IS my healer! YAAAAAY!
I start the battle and after the first turn, I find that Rolf is a kid. I hate the kid characters in this game. ...Even if they do have cool powers sometimes like a dancer. Mist tells Rolf not to worry though! I also learn that the shove command is actually pretty good. Also, Oscar totally took a hit from a swordsman and didn't even take damage. He's pretty good. After two rounds though, Titania comes around for me to not use her again! I also found a glowing plant, but I don't know what to do with it. Towards the end, Ike was in terrible condition and probably would have probably died to another hit, and the swordsman and the axe boss decided to both attack Oscar, who was in good shape. He proceeded to murder the s*** out of them to end the stage. Gotta love when AI helps you out!
Ike: Somehow we did it. Boyd: What do you mean somehow? We did it because we're great!
Damn right, B-dog. Titania is all b****y because we disobeyed a direct order, and Rhys and Oscar are taking fault for them. Aww, dudes. You don't need to do that. Ike's the dumbass! And oh my god, Rolf feels better whenever he sees that Oscar is there, but then Boyd says that he's there and Rolf starts crying. XD Oh man, that's rich. Everyone puts down their weapons to save the kids from one bandit left behind. The bandit goes back on his word stupidly and then goes to kill Ralf, when suddenly an arrow comes from nowhere and kills the bandit!
Why, of course it's Shinon who shot the arrow! (I think I like him) And then some dude named Gatrie drops by too!
"In the end, I got to feather someone. So it was worth the rush."
Shinon is kind of a badass. So everything wraps up and that's it for this chapter!
Oh, hah. That's alright then. One other question I have is... Titania doesn't get an upgrade, right? So she'll always be weaker than the rest of the guys when they catch up, correct? I've always ignored the already upgraded units to work on the ones without upgrades. Is that a good way to go about it?
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
Titania should be weaponless and used as your tank until everyone else catches up, but yeah, she's useful when everyone else is near her level. You can also try letting her get the final hits on some bosses and she won't waste experience like if she kills normal enemies.
Also, keep Ike around the same level as everyone else. It's hard to resist using him to beat everyone silly, but it's worth it in the end!
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"Duel audio? You mean like rap battles?" - termina_rzident KrahenProphet and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
Uh oh, Greil is piiiiiissed. Ike tries to take all of the blame for everyone leaving, and then Boyd comes in and yells about how he refuses to let Ike be the martyr and says he should be punished too. And then immediately after, he says, "Wait, what am I saying?" Good ol' Boyd. Rhys and Oscar step up too, and all of them are punished to no work for 10 days. But apparently this is happening only after things calm down! Greil takes a few people, and then Titania takes a few people as well, Ike included.
We cut to a port with a bunch of bandits there. Our mission is to get rid of all of the bandits on the ship! Shinon continues to be a badass. And Gatrie is pretty rad too. THUNDER AND LIGHTNING BABY! But Titania wants herself and Ike to hold back while Gatrie and Shinon fight? Hell no! Ike needs that XP too!
So Gatrie ends up being the gawd-like Knight of our game here, and Shinon is an already upgraded Archer, which is laaaaaame. And he gets like, no XP. It's super lame. So I've tried to level up Gatrie and Ike since they're so much lower and can use the XP. Unfortunately, while I tried to break down the HP of some enemies with Shinon, he used his ridiculous crit rate to dominate and destroy them. And gets 5 XP for it. Arrrrgh.
Anyway, eventually we get a Paladin Knight, WHO HAD BETTER BE BETTER THAN F***ING FLORINA! Anyway, this Marcia chick learns that these pirates all killed her brother and tossed him in the ocean. Damn. Eventually, I make it over to Marcia who says... "Oh, crackers! There's too many of them!" ...Kay, babe. Ike tells her to peace out while they kill off the rest of them and she keeps saying that she needs to show her gratitude somehow! Ike can't think of squat, BUT I CAN THINK OF A FEW THINGS HUR HUR HUR. I mean, this chick is throwing herself at Ike and he's all like "A female, what do I do with one of these?"
So Ike has to keep healing up while the enemies try to gang up on him, but he keeps persevering and eventually takes out the boss. When we're done, this old bastard is telling us that we should work for the Crimean army, but Titania is like screw that noise. Except that Shinon and Gatrie agree with the old dude. Titania is pissed over this, but chills out when Gatrie apologizes. Shinon still thinks it's dumb though. And that's it for this chapter!
From: agesboy | #034 Also, keep Ike around the same level as everyone else. It's hard to resist using him to beat everyone silly, but it's worth it in the end!
This, but make sure you have Ike leveled up as much as possible. Not gonna say why for spoilers but just keep an eye out. And yes, Titania, much like FE8's Seth, is one of those exceptions to the whole "this early prepromoted unit must suck!"
From: PrivateBiscuit1 | #036 Shinon is an already upgraded Archer, which is laaaaaame. And he gets like, no XP. It's super lame.
Shinon has beastly growths, though, so he's actually worth using later on.
Mist wakes up Ike to tell him Soren is back! I don't know who that is! Ike goes over to the mess hall to find Soren and his dad tells him to get the hell out. XD Ike's dad is such a d. And so I don't know if Soren is a chick or not. Soren is a he though, after Greil reveals this amazing discovery. Apparently Crimea and Daein are going to war. Titania wants to get involved, but Soren says that they shouldn't. Which is f***ing stupid on Soren's part, imo, because obviously Daein is going to start screwing with their mercenary group and Soren is an emo doomsayer. And then we get Ike being in charge of a scouting party!
Shinon gets pissed at that, saying he's not ready. So Greil makes Shinon go. lulz And we also get... Gatrie da boss, Rhys, my healer, and Soren, the emo. It just occurred to me that the player isn't a character like s/he was in the GBA Fire Emblems. Ike goes on this journey but doesn't get wtf his daddy's thinking. Rhys makes his doubtful ass feel better. We come across Daein soldiers and then Shinon asks for his orders. Ike can't think, and then he says that Mist would be a better commander than him. INCINERATED. I'm upset I can't play my boys Boyd and Oscar again. :( I'm even more disappointed that Soren won't match even half the incredibleness of my boy CANAS. But what can you do?
So the fight went good until f***ing Rhys had to get himself killed. A sword guy took the long road around to kill him, so uh.... time for a reset!
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
So far, this is going much better with everyone bunched up and Titania and Shinon blocking for everyone. Except for when Soren leveled up and got NO STAT UPGRADES. That was pure BS. Anyway, it went well. The end guy with the Javelin tried to kill Soren, but he just dodged and triple hit him and then I let Soren finish him off anyway!
After the fight, Shinon starts looting corpses before everyone scolds him. We also hear noises... and it's some chick called Elincia. Soren doesn't like that we're rescuing a chick though. BIG SURPRISE THAT SOREN DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING. Anyway, that's it for this chapter.
So Elincia wakes up and everyone keeps talking about how Ike found her. RHYS FOUND HER, GIVE THE CREDIT TO MY HEALER, DAMNIT. Oh, and apparently Elincia is the princess. Well, that's just some kind of luck. And they just pretended like she doesn't exist so there is no blood feud over who takes up the throne when her father dies. lolz Her mom and dad are dead, and she was running away to go seek shelter in another city. She asks Greil to take her to that city, but he doesn't really answer.
Apparently a bunch of soldiers come out at night though, and we must fight so they can't get the princess! Titania wants to save the princess while Soren wants to ditch her. Man, is Soren supposed to be such an unlikeable twit? Shinon says that we should give the princess away too. Gatrie talks about what a hottie Elincia is. Oscar and Boyd are bros and say we should keep her alive. And Rhys says it doesn't matter if she's the princess or not, we ought to save this chick, and the children pipe in agreements. Ike agrees with Titania as well! In a clever move, Greil reveals that they plan to attack anyway since everything is so quiet. Greil says we're going to fight and he peaces out and leaves Ike in charge. Oooooh boy. And so we begin our fight with everyone at our disposal!
So basically, I had my boys Oscar and Gatrie tanking in the south area while I had Ike and Boyd kill in the left using Shinon and Titania as meat shields. Soren basically just picked up whatever scraps were around. Overall, not too bad. Oscar got close to dying a couple times, but the last time he did, the leader commanded everyone to retreat because we're too tough. Yeah, we probably could've decimated you bro. BEAST.
Anyway, after they retreat, Greil says that we're all going to go retreat and go on the run to avoid them since we've made enemies of the Daeil army. Ooooh well. Elincia is talking to Mist and looks at this creepy flaming medallion she has. Then we go to another scene of that general getting punished by some Petrine chick for FAILURE. And so Petrine herself will go after us because she's evil and cocky. BRING IT.