Topic: RetroActive #21: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

[LittleIrves]

This is my first Fire Emblem, and though I'm not even that far into it (Chapter 6), I'm about 1000% more excited for the 3DS version now. A few quick thoughts (that have probably been stated above, so my apologies):

-I vote NO on voice-acting. To anyone who complains that this is like reading a book with all the text, um, that's the point right? I'd much rather imagine what these characters sound like than be forced to hear them in some unnatural way. Makes it quicker, too. Can read faster than I can listen to pre-recorded audio.

-Perma-death is a fascinating experience. This game is like the polar opposite of 3D Land in how it handles player lives. I think I have about 170 lives in 3D Land right now. Just played Chapter 5 in FE and two of my people died, and man does that hurt. Even if it screws me in the end, I can't make myself replay the level. Since that kind of defeats the point, right? If I lose, I lose. That's my story. Not every hero saves the day. Maybe he'll die valiantly. And if so, that will be my experience. Otherwise, the whole concept of permanent death is moot and becomes an impediment to playing the game (the annoyance of re-starting, etc.). I'll take my chances and feel the emotional tug of actual consequences.

-Umm....   it's complicated? But enjoyable enough so that even if you don't get all the quirks and nuances, there's a simpler way to play. Not as efficient probably, but I'm having fun. And because of the dire consequences, you learn fast how to better strategize.

-With about a half-dozen games on 3DS I want to be playing right now, I keep coming back to my little GBA Fire Emblem icon. A good sign. Good choice, Retroactive votes. Excited to hear the conversation....

[Pixelated Pixies]

In theory, I quite like these methodical and deliberate strategy games. I always get to a certain point, however, where the pacing becomes an issue. In particular, I seem to get frustrated by the penalty incurred as a result of a simple mistake. In the most recent chapter for instance I spent a good 45 - 60 minutes working my way cautiously across the map and although it was challenging I was doing quite well and leveling up nicely. As I was mopping up the few remaining enemies on the battlefield and making my way towards the boss I must have fell into a bit of a rhythm and I admittedly lost concentration, accidentally maneuvering Eirika within striking distance of the boss...game over. It was totally my fault, but I find it hard to remain interested after something like that.  I had the exact same experience with Ogre Battle 64 whereby I enjoyed everything about the way the game played, but was ultimately frustrated by the pacing and the penalty for losing. As a result the only strategy RPG I've actually seen to the end is Shining Force II.

[Da Jarvis]

Alright according to my timer I'm at 62 hours with this game on Chapter 16.

So I'm going way slower then I should.  Though I think a good chunk of that is were I forgot to back out of the game.

The flipside I'm pretty sure Ewan and Amelia could have soloed every Chapter since 13, (Yes the means Ewan would be soloing the mission you get Amelia.)

I'm tempted for kicks to buy a lot of Fire, since its the cheapest most use spell, and Iron Swords, same reason, and see how far up the tower I can get with just those two.

Right now though I'm trying to grind Knoll and Rennac.  I want to see a summoner.  I always forget about the Arena... I could use the gold.

Tethys is level 20.  I'm actually using her to tank for Knoll...

Yeah, those two units alone are ridiculous xD. Also, lately that is all I have been using. Fire, Iron Sword, they are cheaper and I usually kill them regardless of what weapon I am using xD.


Knoll is the better as a summoner, but I always find him rather difficult to train. Rennac I hardly use because I alway promote Colm to a Rouge because Rennac is pretty terrible in comparison xD.

[Ceric]

In theory, I quite like these methodical and deliberate strategy games. I always get to a certain point, however, where the pacing becomes an issue. In particular, I seem to get frustrated by the penalty incurred as a result of a simple mistake. In the most recent chapter for instance I spent a good 45 - 60 minutes working my way cautiously across the map and although it was challenging I was doing quite well and leveling up nicely. As I was mopping up the few remaining enemies on the battlefield and making my way towards the boss I must have fell into a bit of a rhythm and I admittedly lost concentration, accidentally maneuvering Eirika within striking distance of the boss...game over. It was totally my fault, but I find it hard to remain interested after something like that.  I had the exact same experience with Ogre Battle 64 whereby I enjoyed everything about the way the game played, but was ultimately frustrated by the pacing and the penalty for losing. As a result the only strategy RPG I've actually seen to the end is Shining Force II.

I do think the Can't be Killed character of the mission should be slightly special and allow you to have a turn to rescue them after they've been knocked to Zero.  Make them unable to do anything after that till you get out of the chapter.

Alright according to my timer I'm at 62 hours with this game on Chapter 16.

So I'm going way slower then I should.  Though I think a good chunk of that is were I forgot to back out of the game.

The flipside I'm pretty sure Ewan and Amelia could have soloed every Chapter since 13, (Yes the means Ewan would be soloing the mission you get Amelia.)

I'm tempted for kicks to buy a lot of Fire, since its the cheapest most use spell, and Iron Swords, same reason, and see how far up the tower I can get with just those two.

Right now though I'm trying to grind Knoll and Rennac.  I want to see a summoner.  I always forget about the Arena... I could use the gold.

Tethys is level 20.  I'm actually using her to tank for Knoll...

Yeah, those two units alone are ridiculous xD. Also, lately that is all I have been using. Fire, Iron Sword, they are cheaper and I usually kill them regardless of what weapon I am using xD.


Knoll is the better as a summoner, but I always find him rather difficult to train. Rennac I hardly use because I alway promote Colm to a Rouge because Rennac is pretty terrible in comparison xD.

Colm I couldn't get leveled.  Rennac I'm doing ok with.

On Knoll some strategic Tower play and I got him to level 20 pretty fast.  Changed him to a Summoner and now he's level 6 Summoner.  The trick was I had a tank for him and let him clean up, either Tethys or Amelia with no weapons (She actually got a full level from just being attacked...), was what I used.

I do think it sort of stinks you can have only 1 summoned creature and when they kill someone Knoll doesn't get the XP for it.

He is definetly a Summoner.  Unlike Ewan, who I can walk into a warzone and ignore, Knoll is fragile.  Ewan was pretty invisible before being a Shaman but Knoll every battle was a trial.  I'm glad I did the work though because he can be quiet powerful.  Also that mean I now have another Healing capable unit.

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

[Da Jarvis]

Umm....   it's complicated? But enjoyable enough so that even if you don't get all the quirks and nuances, there's a simpler way to play. Not as efficient probably, but I'm having fun. And because of the dire consequences, you learn fast how to better strategize.

I know what you mean. Usually you don't even get into the complicated stuff until multiple playthroughs. I didn't know about Special Tile Bonuses like placing units in Trees and Thrones until my 4th playthough of Fire Emblem 7 (the first one on the GBA). There are other stuff to learn to, and things start getting really complicated when you get up to Gamecube and Wii game xD.

[Da Jarvis]

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

I see. Well, the Healers can be quite good if you train them properly. They can easily become some of the most powerful untis in your arsenal as they can easily max out there Staff to S rank and they can be pretty deadly to additions to any team. Natasha makes a great Bishop and the ability Slayer really helps out when you are going through the tower or just fighting the monsters-only missions later on in the game. L'Arachel is a amazing Valkeryie or Mage Knight depending on if you need Light or Anima magic. Moulder is alright, as he is the only Healer that can become a Sage, but there is no point after you beat the game since all you can really do is fight Monster-Only Maps and complete the Tower and Ruins.


I find healers really easy to train. They get the same amount of EXP no matter how much health they recover and what the amount of EXP you gain is really based off the staff you use. The more advanced staffs will give you more EXP. If you just heal often and every turn and bring them to every battle, they usually hit level 20 pretty quickly. I already have Natasha as a Bishop and L'Arachel is 39 EXP away from hitting 20 xD.

[Ceric]

Umm....   it's complicated? But enjoyable enough so that even if you don't get all the quirks and nuances, there's a simpler way to play. Not as efficient probably, but I'm having fun. And because of the dire consequences, you learn fast how to better strategize.

I know what you mean. Usually you don't even get into the complicated stuff until multiple playthroughs. I didn't know about Special Tile Bonuses like placing units in Trees and Thrones until my 4th playthough of Fire Emblem 7 (the first one on the GBA). There are other stuff to learn to, and things start getting really complicated when you get up to Gamecube and Wii game xD.

Really?  At least in this one when you go over a tile it tells you what it will add to Defense and Avoidance.  I noticed that quickly because it was a number on my Map UI.

[Ceric]

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

I see. Well, the Healers can be quite good if you train them properly. They can easily become some of the most powerful untis in your arsenal as they can easily max out there Staff to S rank and they can be pretty deadly to additions to any team. Natasha makes a great Bishop and the ability Slayer really helps out when you are going through the tower or just fighting the monsters-only missions later on in the game. L'Arachel is a amazing Valkeryie or Mage Knight depending on if you need Light or Anima magic. Moulder is alright, as he is the only Healer that can become a Sage, but there is no point after you beat the game since all you can really do is fight Monster-Only Maps and complete the Tower and Ruins.


I find healers really easy to train. They get the same amount of EXP no matter how much health they recover and what the amount of EXP you gain is really based off the staff you use. The more advanced staffs will give you more EXP. If you just heal often and every turn and bring them to every battle, they usually hit level 20 pretty quickly. I already have Natasha as a Bishop and L'Arachel is 39 EXP away from hitting 20 xD.

I'm Jealous.  I bring them to every battle and heal as often as possible and I'm only level 12 or so with Moulder and all the other ones are lower then that.

[noname2200]

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

Healing even 1 HP with a Heal staff should be netting you at least 11 exp. before promotion, and you get more with Mends or Physics. That's weird that you're getting so little.

A few things you can do to speed things up. Jehanna and Raustens' shops both sell staffs that let you recover from status effects or increase a character's Resistance. Doing either one will net you about 30 exp. If you've got the cash to blow, why not purchase a bunch of Barrier Staffs (staves?) from one of those places and use repeatedly during fights?

[Da Jarvis]

I am on Chapter 16 now, with only 6 more units to promote until I have my full team promoted. I think Colm is at level 14 or so, Amelia and Lute are at level 17, Gerik is at level 16, L'Arachel is 39 EXP away from hitting 20, and Neimi is at level 18. I have no idea if the next chapter is really that hard, but I hope I can finish them off in this chapter. Even though I have been switching character's in and out so other units can catch up, I have noticed I alway seem to bring 4 unit with me No Mater What (Aside from Ephraim obviously xD)


1) L'Archel - Just an overal suberb healer. She has great moblity, her high luck and speed help her miss a lot of deadly hits, and she can tank a lot of magic attacks thanks to her high resitance stat. I can't wait to promote her to Valkeryie she can become that much more of a key player.


2) Marisa - I LOVE ASSASSINS! They are my favorite class in the GBA Fire Emblems and they can be vital player. Joshua makes a better Sword Master, but Marisa is a killer Assassin. Thanks to her absurdly high luck and thanks to her Samir weapon, she can have anywehre fro 40-60% Critcial Hit Ratio! Also, her Silncer ability can ever slaughter the last boss if you get super lucky. Overal, she is just a really helpful unit and she seems to get me out of even the most tight of situations.


3 & 4) Tana and Cormag - These two have been my key scouting team pretty much since I got them! Tana makes for a great compliment to Cormag who can tank psychical attacks and deal a lot of damage, but is really fragile to magic users. Tana can take on Magic users like no tomorrow, and she has high enough speed and luck to have miss a good amount of times, not to mention a pretty good strenght stat. Now what makes these guys great is the fact they have one of, if not, the best support benafits in the game. Tana's already pretty good offensive potential skyrockets if you manage to gain a A rank support with Cormag and Cormag gains a buff on he offensive capablities as well, making this duo just flat out instane. Even against Bow units, Cormag can usually tank them and only take about 7-11 points of damage depending on the bow user, but this isn't a problem since Cormag can have anywhere btween 50-60 HP when you max out his levels. And to top it all off, once you get the item that makes flyers immune to bows... yeah, that's pretty much the dream team. I always send the around to the harderst areas together with L'Arachel tagging behind to heal them just incase. These two defiantly are my favorite units and will never start a mission without them!

[Ceric]

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

Healing even 1 HP with a Heal staff should be netting you at least 11 exp. before promotion, and you get more with Mends or Physics. That's weird that you're getting so little.

A few things you can do to speed things up. Jehanna and Raustens' shops both sell staffs that let you recover from status effects or increase a character's Resistance. Doing either one will net you about 30 exp. If you've got the cash to blow, why not purchase a bunch of Barrier Staffs (staves?) from one of those places and use repeatedly during fights?

I also have a money problem.  I always buy the cheapest weapons because they are just as effective with most of my units, 1 Weapon use = 1 Kill, and I have less then 5k gold on Chapter 16.

3,182g to be precise.

Also I've gotten only 1 other support besides the first gimme.  Even though a lot of my units just stand there by each other a lot while I'm leveling someone else.  I must just be playing this game wrong.

[Da Jarvis]

Umm....   it's complicated? But enjoyable enough so that even if you don't get all the quirks and nuances, there's a simpler way to play. Not as efficient probably, but I'm having fun. And because of the dire consequences, you learn fast how to better strategize.

I know what you mean. Usually you don't even get into the complicated stuff until multiple playthroughs. I didn't know about Special Tile Bonuses like placing units in Trees and Thrones until my 4th playthough of Fire Emblem 7 (the first one on the GBA). There are other stuff to learn to, and things start getting really complicated when you get up to Gamecube and Wii game xD.

Really?  At least in this one when you go over a tile it tells you what it will add to Defense and Avoidance.  I noticed that quickly because it was a number on my Map UI.

LOL! I guess just never noticed what that little box meant my first times playing this back when I was like 12 xD

[Da Jarvis]

I haven't been able to get any of my Healers even close to 20 and that's with a lot of unneeded healing in the tower.  1 HP of Damage Heal.  I really think they should have given more XP for healing then they do.  At least 10 per time like with Tethys Dancing.

Healing even 1 HP with a Heal staff should be netting you at least 11 exp. before promotion, and you get more with Mends or Physics. That's weird that you're getting so little.

A few things you can do to speed things up. Jehanna and Raustens' shops both sell staffs that let you recover from status effects or increase a character's Resistance. Doing either one will net you about 30 exp. If you've got the cash to blow, why not purchase a bunch of Barrier Staffs (staves?) from one of those places and use repeatedly during fights?

I also have a money problem.  I always buy the cheapest weapons because they are just as effective with most of my units, 1 Weapon use = 1 Kill, and I have less then 5k gold on Chapter 16.

3,182g to be precise.

Intersting. Hopefully there will be a chance to for you to Arena grind later in the game, as that can neat you a lot of money very quickly, not to mention can help boast characters that normally struggle to gain EXP quickly. If there is another chapter that wiil let you do that, you should definallty take advantage. Plus, you can train your healers by healing the character who came out the Arena. Last I can remember, only chapters 5 and 12 allowed you to use the Arena. If someone else can name another level farther in the game, that would be fantastic.

[noname2200]

I also have a money problem.  I always buy the cheapest weapons because they are just as effective with most of my units, 1 Weapon use = 1 Kill, and I have less then 5k gold on Chapter 16.

3,182g to be precise.

Also I've gotten only 1 other support besides the first gimme.  Even though a lot of my units just stand there by each other a lot while I'm leveling someone else.  I must just be playing this game wrong.

Hit up the Tower and bring a Rogue with you. The treasure chests tend to hold expensive things, and the higher floors in particular have enemies that drop valuable goodies. You're past the point where you can abuse arenas (and fun fact: the sequels ditch them completely), so until you reach the Ruins the Tower would be your best bet.

Or you can just say "screw it" and promote a healer early. I don't recommend it, but I've done so myself once or twice.

Edit: Thinking about it, you may actually have more cash in your storage than you think. Have you tried selling off all your gems, as well as junk you're never going to use?

[Glad0s]

Crap....well, as I guessed, now I'm stuck on Chapter 15. I can pretty much clear out the map, but the boss in the northwest always kills at least one of my party members, and I'm not willing to lose any party members at this point.

[Da Jarvis]

Crap....well, as I guessed, now I'm stuck on Chapter 15. I can pretty much clear out the map, but the boss in the northwest always kills at least one of my party members, and I'm not willing to lose any party members at this point.

Who do you have for the mission? It's the Dragon Guy you are having trouble with, yeah?

[Sarail]

Crap....well, as I guessed, now I'm stuck on Chapter 15. I can pretty much clear out the map, but the boss in the northwest always kills at least one of my party members, and I'm not willing to lose any party members at this point.

Who do you have for the mission? It's the Dragon Guy you are having trouble with, yeah?

This is where I'm stuck at now, too. I've cleared the entire map, found all of the hidden items, but I can't figure out who to use to kill each of the bosses. My party consists of:

Eirika, Joshua, Gerik, Moulder, Vanessa, Seth, Colm, Ross, Lute, Saleh, Amelia, and Neimi / and, of course: Ephraim, Knoll, and Deussel.

I can hit Valter with Saleh...to which his HP goes down to half, but then he criticals Saleh -- BAM.. dead. I just can't have it this way. I'm a pass each mission with all party members alive kind of player -- or else it's FISSION MAILED.

Help?

[Ceric]

Chapter 15

I walked Amelia right up to the boss on the Left Upper Corner with no backup at all and let them duke it out.

I did the same with Ewan in the lower Right Corner boss.  Just walked him down there and murdered him.

The one in the upper left I had to get hit first before it would let me close enough to melee than its a back and forth.

The one on the bottom was just walking up and ending his life.

I don't have Saleh, I might have just not used them.  Though if your Ross is well leveled he should be able to take the incoming damage from Valter.  I probably use him.

[Da Jarvis]

This is where I'm stuck at now, too. I've cleared the entire map, found all of the hidden items, but I can't figure out who to use to kill each of the bosses. My party consists of:

Eirika, Joshua, Gerik, Moulder, Vanessa, Seth, Colm, Ross, Lute, Saleh, Amelia, and Neimi / and, of course: Ephraim, Knoll, and Deussel.

I can hit Valter with Saleh...to which his HP goes down to half, but then he criticals Saleh -- BAM.. dead. I just can't have it this way. I'm a pass each mission with all party members alive kind of player -- or else it's FISSION MAILED.

Help?

That's not a terrible line up. You have one Flyer and two Magic Users who are reliable, so that is a good thing. The biggest thing on this mission is to focus your attention on 3 things early on:


1) Defend the Right and Top sides of the map. Wryven Riders come at you from the right side and Pagasas Riders come at you from the top. It's nothing that Neimi and Lute can't handle, so just have those two playing defense with maybe another unit like Colm, Amelia, Deussel, and Knoll (Once they make their way over to your stronghold) since they can't move very far in this mission and are better to play defense with anyways.


2) You want to keep Ephraim and his little squad alive and there are two ways you can do that: First is to just hold your ground until the chapter is over or the second is the focus all of your efforts to having him join up with your main squard (Which I will get to in the next step). I would recomend the second opition over the first since A LOT really hard to kill guys will spawn my Ephraim eventually, so it's better to just focus his little group to join up with your main one.


3) Establish a main traveling unit and have them move as a giant group from boss to boss. In your case, have Joshua, Gerik, Seth, and Ross take the front lines of the group to meet the enemy and take the hits. All of those guys either have pretty solid Defenses or they have no problems avoiding hits. Behind them have Erica, Saleh, and Ephraim as clean up crew to either finish off easy kills or kill off anyone in the way of the front line moving. Behind the Middle Men have Venessa and Moulder to help with Healing. In tight spots, Venessa can rescue your injured member and litterly take them to the back lines where Moulder can come in safely and heal them.


Once you have established this set up early on, it's pretty much a cake walk from there. Just remember to take it slow and stick to the layout I have given you and you should be fine. Just be sure to keep track of your health and don't be afraid to us an entire turn to have your guys use healing items. Remember you alway want to play Defense first in this game. IDK if you are having problems with the boss on the left upper corner (Name escapes me at the moment), but just have your little group travel that way first to meet up with Ephriam's gain and beat the boss, then work your way to the diagonally towards Vaulter and by the time you get there, you should have only a few enemys left, that or only have him left to beat.


The key to beating Vaulter is to use magic units on him since his stupid item makes bow users useless (I hate that about him). If you say Saleh does the most damage, use him, but it seems like you don't know to exploit bosses yet, so I will give you a little tip on how to beat him easliy:


First, have Saleh attack Vaulter from a distance. Saleh should have the advatage from a far. If Saleh doesn't take damage from Vaulter, use the end turn command and allow him to attack Saleh (IDK if Saleh your build of Saleh can take a single hit from Vaulter but if he can't, don't do this obviously xD). After you have taken damage, use either Seth or Vanessa to rescue Saleh. After they have rescued him, they should be allowed to move again (A perk of the mounted units). Move them back away from the attack range of the boss (They don't move, so don't worry about being chased). Use whatever unit you didn't use to rescue Saleh (Venessa or Seth) and have them go next to the unit who rescued him and select the "take" command. Right after, select drop, pick a tile, and there you go, your unit is out of attack range. You can then use Moulder from a safe distance without having to worry about taking damage.


I hope this helps and just remember to think defense first and take it slow. Good Luck

[Hey Einstein!]

I just just want to give a shout of approval to the RFN guys for allowing this forum to run it's course for a couple of weeks.
Like others of you have said, there are other 3DS games I could be playing right now but I keep coming back to Fire Emblem instead. And I am really enjoying reading about everybody's progress and tips on here.


Thanks to you all for making this a memorable experience!

[Pixelated Pixies]

I just just want to give a shout of approval to the RFN guys for allowing this forum to run it's course for a couple of weeks.
Like others of you have said, there are other 3DS games I could be playing right now but I keep coming back to Fire Emblem instead. And I am really enjoying reading about everybody's progress and tips on here.


Thanks to you all for making this a memorable experience!

Hear, Hear!

[Ceric]

Here's My Chapter 15.  I did it twice.  Any character that wasn't a major player I don't remember.

First Attempt,

This is always the kicks and giggle attempt.  I wanted to see just how powerful Amelia and Ewan had gotten.  Knowing I was just feeling the land this attempt I sent them both to a different boss.  Amelia got Tethys for support to make it faster.

I than proceeded to ignore everyone at there starting places.  This group was melee heavy. Ewan I hop from stronghold to stronghold when possible.  Amelia I just walk up as you would with a tank.

Both the bosses are dispatched the the Pagassi descend upon my men with no preparation.  It was a slaughter.  Restart.

Attempt 2:

Getting hip the the Pagasi trick I trade out melee to go with my archers and spell caster.  I also took out a healer.  My strategy was simple this time.

1.  Send out Amelia and Ewan to solo each of the bosses
2.  Form a tight knit ball of death for the Pagasi to run into
3.  Visit all the Homes
4.  Profit

I get my tight formation while watching waves of enemies be obliterated by Amelia and Ewan.  I also sent out Franz to do the houses not realizing the movement tax he get but I stuck with it giving him 2 turns with Tethys because it was good XP for her.  While Ewan was maiming the lower corner boss I noticed that the enemies Horsie Healers didn't move and made note I could ignore them.

The bosses where all cleared and here came the pagassi.   Even with the appropriate units they almost bested Neimi due to some poor positions.  I sent up Ross to save the day.

Pagassi crisis adverted I had ran into the house saying there was stuff in the sand so thinking I only had the Horsie Healers and a few stragglers to deal with I proceed to spread my group out in a search pattern.  By this time Ephraims group had arrived and they were mopping up the one in their corner and searching.  All was going well when all of a sudden...

Enemy units appeared in the upper portion of the map and deployed where Ephraim was.  He was pretty much all alone and the enemy was closing in.  I hunkered him down in the bottom stronghold ready for an onslaught and a possible reset.   The closest supporting unit I had was Knoll and he could only take care of the farthest one.

The enemy comes.  The first one strikes Ephraim, whose a level 15, takes damage.  Ephraim takes out the enemy.  A few enemy units get lucky and Ephraim is one good lick away from deaths sweet embrace.  The last unit.  He Dodges and Counter Strikes.  Victory is ours.

Then we searched all the map and Killed the Horsie Healers.


Though I have to say that Chapter 14 was more eventful.  At one point I had my party running away from a Berserked Franz and L'Archeal was down to 2hp after chasing down Rennac. (Which I found that conversation to be amusing.)

[Ceric]

I'm going to have to redo Chapter 16...

I wasn't aggressive enough and the thieves are robbing me blind.
I also am getting bombarded by his two artillery mages.
I need to take his two healers because even though Amelia can go toe to toe she can't get that much damage out.

Though Knoll the Summoner is getting his trial by fire.

The next time around:

Forget about concentrating XP to a character.  Its quick slaughter time. Going to blaze through the hall.
Leaving 2 hardy units and a healing capable unit in the starting hall to defend the Horsie Rush.  This will keep them out of the Artillery Mages range.
I'm just going to drop Knoll and his summon in to take care of the Room O' Mages.  Use Rennac to support him and move to open the chest.
Kill the healers.  Why did I never learn from all those WoW bosses mistakes?
Get someone over to Maim the competing thief.  Its my stuff.  Mine Mine.

[Da Jarvis]

Just got access to the Final Chapter in the game. So far haven't had any problems since Chapter 15. The last chapter seems promising enough for a challange! Hopefully it won't be super hard xD

[noname2200]

Crap....well, as I guessed, now I'm stuck on Chapter 15. I can pretty much clear out the map, but the boss in the northwest always kills at least one of my party members, and I'm not willing to lose any party members at this point.

A couple of ideas. Unless you got RNG screwed, Gerik should be able to withstand the boss' attacks, so give him a Silver Sword, some healing items, and replicate the strategy you used on the last level. As an added bonus, Caellech can't recover health between rounds, so this should go quicker than the last battle.

Alternatively, if Ephraim is around level 20 and you have an Axe-Reaver lance, now's the perfect time to bust it out. Gilliam's another strong candidate for this, especially if you made him a General.

Finally, the item that protects Caellach from critical hits can be stolen by a Rogue. I'm not sure if Rennac has enough speed to pull it off, but it couldn't hurt to try. Just make sure to rescue him with Seth or Duessel. Once Caellach's been stripped of his toy, Joshua and his Killer Edge can dispense some proper justice. Unless you get unlucky and have Josh get criticaled. :

I can hit Valter with Saleh...to which his HP goes down to half, but then he criticals Saleh -- BAM.. dead. I just can't have it this way. I'm a pass each mission with all party members alive kind of player -- or else it's FISSION MAILED.

Help?

 This is why I suggest taking out Caellach first: his item prevents critical hits, and Valter gets criticals with depressing regularity (especially in melee!).
 
 However, if you want to take out Valter first, have your best axe-user equip a Wyvern Axe. If you don't have one, there's an enemy in this stage that can drop it. While Valter's item stops arrows from being criticals, it doesn't protect him from the 3x damage effect of the Wyvern Axe. This is still a tad risky, since Valter's pretty good at dodging, but it's one of the more effective ways of going about it.