FE Engage, one week later...
Jan. 28th, 2023 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waltzoidHow in the world am I 36 hours into Fire Emblem Engage in only a week? Obviously, that must mean I'm enjoying it (for the most part) if I've managed to get all the way up to Chapter 15, which I think is past the halfway point.
Unfortunately, just as I'd gotten used to experimenting with character/Emblem combinations, Chapter 11 yanks them all away from me, so I have to start building my collection all over again. (I don't care what the game says; Ivy was the real MVP of that chapter for ensuring I wouldn't meet my death at the hands of dragons that could one-shot anyone on the field.)
Now that I've had a chance to play some more (okay, a lot more), I think my "favorite characters" list is slowly becoming more defined. Diamant, Jean, Citrinne, and Anna are all growing on me. I think this incarnation of Anna wins out because she can support with way more people than the Anna from Awakening. There are still a few missing spots on my roster (Hortensia's retainers and the dancer Seadall), but I expect to run into them in the next few chapters.
Unfortunately, I don't have any favored pairings for this game at the moment, for Alear or anybody else. Support conversation-building opportunities have presented themselves aplenty, but I've spent more time trying to survive that I hadn't put much thought into them until I recruited the Solm gang. It certainly does seem like it takes longer to build support points here than in Awakening (from which this game seems to take most of its cues), and I think it's because there's no "generations" gimmick so you're not as pressured to hook characters up in order to bring their kids into battle.
Money has also been something of an issue, as you only get three large lump sum payments after meeting each nation's leader (excluding Elusia for plot-based reasons), so the only way I've been able to make money is by selling old weapons and staves I pick up from enemies and those spirits that are linked to online functionality. I'm surprised I've been able to keep up with the enemy for as long as I have, even with skirmishes.
That said, I'm still finding interesting ways to get through battles that I wouldn't have considered before. For instance: Lucina's main gimmick is that she makes chain attacks easier, and having a bunch of allies nearby can set off a chain of almost a dozen hits under the right conditions. However, I've gotten more use out of her other ability: Bonded Shield, which has a high chance of blocking the first of two strikes against adjacent allies. If you give Lucina's ring to Jean or Framme (who both have the "Qi Adept" trait and the Chain Guard command to take damage for an ally), that probability goes up to 100%, giving them surprising tanking capabilities. Now that I have Byleth in my collection, I notice that his two abilities, "Instruct" and "Goddess Dance", also increase support points to anyone within their area of effect, making it easier to solve the aforementioned "support conversations" problem.
I don't know whether or not this game has a New Game+ function, but it would be cool if I could carry some of this data over to future playthroughs.
Unfortunately, just as I'd gotten used to experimenting with character/Emblem combinations, Chapter 11 yanks them all away from me, so I have to start building my collection all over again. (I don't care what the game says; Ivy was the real MVP of that chapter for ensuring I wouldn't meet my death at the hands of dragons that could one-shot anyone on the field.)
Now that I've had a chance to play some more (okay, a lot more), I think my "favorite characters" list is slowly becoming more defined. Diamant, Jean, Citrinne, and Anna are all growing on me. I think this incarnation of Anna wins out because she can support with way more people than the Anna from Awakening. There are still a few missing spots on my roster (Hortensia's retainers and the dancer Seadall), but I expect to run into them in the next few chapters.
Unfortunately, I don't have any favored pairings for this game at the moment, for Alear or anybody else. Support conversation-building opportunities have presented themselves aplenty, but I've spent more time trying to survive that I hadn't put much thought into them until I recruited the Solm gang. It certainly does seem like it takes longer to build support points here than in Awakening (from which this game seems to take most of its cues), and I think it's because there's no "generations" gimmick so you're not as pressured to hook characters up in order to bring their kids into battle.
Money has also been something of an issue, as you only get three large lump sum payments after meeting each nation's leader (excluding Elusia for plot-based reasons), so the only way I've been able to make money is by selling old weapons and staves I pick up from enemies and those spirits that are linked to online functionality. I'm surprised I've been able to keep up with the enemy for as long as I have, even with skirmishes.
That said, I'm still finding interesting ways to get through battles that I wouldn't have considered before. For instance: Lucina's main gimmick is that she makes chain attacks easier, and having a bunch of allies nearby can set off a chain of almost a dozen hits under the right conditions. However, I've gotten more use out of her other ability: Bonded Shield, which has a high chance of blocking the first of two strikes against adjacent allies. If you give Lucina's ring to Jean or Framme (who both have the "Qi Adept" trait and the Chain Guard command to take damage for an ally), that probability goes up to 100%, giving them surprising tanking capabilities. Now that I have Byleth in my collection, I notice that his two abilities, "Instruct" and "Goddess Dance", also increase support points to anyone within their area of effect, making it easier to solve the aforementioned "support conversations" problem.
I don't know whether or not this game has a New Game+ function, but it would be cool if I could carry some of this data over to future playthroughs.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-28 06:40 pm (UTC)I hope so too. And yeah, the lack of support building opportunities is really noticeable after I've been so spoiled by Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses. I wonder if future DLC waves will add new things like chores and missions for the Somniel.
More weird tricks for boosting support points
Date: 2023-01-29 10:16 pm (UTC)Aside from the Byleth trick I told you about, today I discovered that Corrin has an ability that she learns at Bond level 3 called "Quality Time" that slightly boosts a character's support points with nearby allies and heals them for about 5 HP after they act.
Re: More weird tricks for boosting support points
Date: 2023-01-29 10:17 pm (UTC)