Fire Emblem: Three Houses |OT2| Greetings, Era! Nothing to Report!

[Jinfash]

The last FE I played before this was Awakening (absolutely loved it). How many did I miss?

A quick Google shows Fates (three versions) and Echoes (remake of FE1?) were released on the 3DS. How good were those games and are there any plans of releasing them in any fashion on the switch?

 

[HBK]

The last FE I played before this was Awakening (absolutely loved it). How many did I miss?

A quick Google shows Fates (three versions) and Echoes (remake of FE1?) were released on the 3DS. How good were those games and are there any plans of releasing them in any fashion on the switch?

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You missed two games.

Fire Emblem Fates (technicall three "games" with Birthright, Conquest, and Revelations).

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, technically Fire Emblem 2).

Fates (no matter the version) is a very good game with shit story and meh characters.

SoV is a ... meh game with neat presentation.

So far, no plans for a Switch port. They're very unlikely if you ask me (too much to adapt with the dual screen setup).

 

[LunaSerena]

The last FE I played before this was Awakening (absolutely loved it). How many did I miss?

A quick Google shows Fates (three versions) and Echoes (remake of FE1?) were released on the 3DS. How good were those games and are there any plans of releasing them in any fashion on the switch?

Click to shrink...

Fates isn't worth it, at all. It was a big misstep in the series. Conquest has good map design but the story and characters in all three versions took a pretty big nosedive from Awakening.
Echoes is a remake of FE Gaiden (FE 2 if I'm not remembering wrong). It doesn't have many mechanics from Awakening (for example, pair up doesn't exist) but it introduces the mechanic of winding time back.

I don't think either are expected to be ported - you would have to remake them for them to be acceptable on a visual level in the Switch, plus you can grab a Nintendo 2DS on the cheap.

 

[effingvic]

If I do I'm 100% going female Byleth. I went with the male option the first two times.

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I did that for BL too haha. BL has the best boys.

 

[Anteo]

Chapter 6 on Maddening right now.

Jesus fucking christ.

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Yeah thats a hard one. The archers specially. I accidentaly exploited their ai, there is an spot i was standing in with ignatz that made the archers think they could just poke from highground instead of advancing with the rest of the enemies. Getting in and out that spot made them swithc between trying to get to my position going around the whole map and going back trying to get the highground, effectivelly removing them from battle for several turns.

Now my next battle is the eagle and lion. That one is going to be insane, no idea how i will take the middle area haha

 

[Dee Dee]

I got over my sulkiness and beat BE-E chapter 17. Took me 26 turns, and yes, I killed absolutely everything in the worst way possible, but I did it. I did it.

The ending was stupid though.

Spoiler: BE-E route ending vs. its own ending cards

"We did it guys! We abolished the noble system and all status! We destroyed the church!"
Ending cards:
"Lorenz and Marianne become the countess and vicomte of..."
Wait a minute...
"Hannemann and Manuela returned to the Monastery after the church was restored..."
WTF??

Anyway, on BE-C now, I completely forgot how much Seteth this route would have, kinda regretting playing as M!Byleth now. Hanging out with him like this would have made for better context for his S Support (which I really liked).

 

[Reyes]

Spoiler

I mean Edelgard never said nobility and such would be destroyed, its all about destroying the corruption in societies like the church and nobles that hold the power making it fair for commernor, those with no crests etc, Edelgard recognizes the Church serves a good purpose giving out things such as emotional support.

 

[Anteo]

Spoiler

I mean Edelgard never said nobility and such would be destroyed, its all about destroying the corruption in societies like the church and nobles that hold the power making it fair for commernor, those with no crests etc, Edelgard recognizes the Church serves a good purpose giving out things such as emotional support.

Seems again bad poster above who can't read.

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I dont remember Edel saying thay about the church

Spoiler

In BL Dimitri says something like that in the coversation he has with edel. Edel still says fuck the church right there haha

 

[Reyes]

I dont remember Edel saying thay about the church

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Spoiler

Edelgard and Manuela support basically says it all

To Quote a brief bit from the end:
"I don't want you to misunderstand and think I'm against everything that the church represents, there good (the emotional and spiritual support) there buried in corruption Still...I find it very difficult to step back and accept the good overlooking all the rest"

Considering Edelgard does class reforms, its not shocking to see Edelgard push for changing the Church to better serve and help the people

And growing up Catholic and seeing the good it can do I still say fuck the church so nothing wrong there :P

 

[Freaking Limit]

Gosh, Chapter 3 on Maddening was a wake up notice. Enemies are level 11, and my team was 5 going into it. I won with some careful thought though. Doing BL this run, and Ingrid is a monster. She's Level 8, 15 Strength and 14 Speed, with solid Magic, Res and Dex. Girl is basically carrying my team, along with Lysithea (always recruit her first). My only concerns are with Speed. Seems like my whole crew (minus Ingrid) are getting disappointing speed boosts. Lysithea is especially concerning, since she has no defense. Time to start farming speed herbs I guess.

 

[Caz]

Spoiler

I mean Edelgard never said nobility and such would be destroyed, its all about destroying the corruption in societies like the church and nobles that hold the power making it fair for commernor, those with no crests etc, Edelgard recognizes the Church serves a good purpose giving out things such as emotional support.

Seems again bad poster above who can't read.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Which is why she decides to demonize the Church by blaming them for the war crime her allies committed in destroying an entire city and thus potentially turn away people who may be seeking spiritual fulfillment while also largely keeping in place a hierarchical structure where nobles who possess the very crests she feels are in a position of power rather than the meritocracy she says she would put in place in "the world she will forge".

Also, putting aside my disdain for Edelgard's methods (not that the CoS are saints, the comparisons to the Catholic Church are quite apt given their appalling history), it's pretty disingenuous to pretend that the position of nobility is not intertwined with the classist structure in Three Houses and the Big Bad Wolf's crests, namely with how said nobles often abuse their power, to the detriment of the people they are supposed to be looking after (see: the death of Raphael's parents, the corruption of the Prime Minister). Hell, even young nobles with like Bernedetta, Lysithea and Marianne, among many others, are victims of the system, people who have faced various forms of abuse for their possession of a crest and the societal expectations that the noble class have imposed onto them and are socialized in, to say nothing of the commentary, however indirect, of the corrupting effect that the weaponry of crest-bearers is on non-bearers like Mikhail. For all intents and purpose, the crests are just another form of hereditary monarchical tradition whose removal wouldn't change the current system without radical reforms in terms of land possession, army recruitment, inheritance of titles, etc., it would likely just result in the nobility making slight adjustments without truly giving up the power and privilege they hold. I know people like to joke about how every student in Three Houses: The Housening needs therapy and/or a hug but those students are a prime example of the profoundly negative impact that the current system has on the people under it, so Edelgard's political revolution being not so revolutionary with how she consolidates and restructures governance in a united Foldan is...frustrating, to say the least, at least based on what little we see of it in the end credits. Maybe they'll explore said system more in a sequel (what became of Edelgard's reforms assuming that becomes the "canon" timeline) but based on the series' history with direct sequels, it seems unlikely.

 

[Common Knowledge]

The last FE I played before this was Awakening (absolutely loved it). How many did I miss?

A quick Google shows Fates (three versions) and Echoes (remake of FE1?) were released on the 3DS. How good were those games and are there any plans of releasing them in any fashion on the switch?

Click to shrink...

Fates is....all over the place in terms of quality. The gameplay ranges from pretty bad to quite good depending on the version you're playing, while the story is consistently shit throughout. Characters are hit or miss.


Echoes is a much more consistent quality throughout, and is probably the closest of the 3DS games to Three Houses. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though there are some elements of it, such as the 3D dungeons, that can be a bit underwhelming.

 

[Bovine]

Just started my second playthrough, a NG+ Maddening run. Chose Black Eagles this time, and oh god I chose the trainwreck house these students are way too zany. I miss my Blue Lions something terrible, might recruit a couple of them back with some renown.

 

[BarringGaffner]

I need some help against late game boss for Golden Deer playthrough-

Spoiler

Nemesis is kicking my ass. I am playing on hard but have easily beaten every level until now. After clearing the map he still one hits most my units and I can't do much damage to him (he heals it back end of turn anyways). Sword of the Creator barely hurts him as well and he kills my main in the process.

If I am truly stuck, what are my options? If I let everyone die will it kick me back to he bulletin board? Maybe I can reclass and win?

 

[Dee Dee]

I need some help against late game boss for Golden Deer playthrough-

Spoiler

Nemesis is kicking my ass. I am playing on hard but have easily beaten every level until now. After clearing the map he still one hits most my units and I can't do much damage to him (he heals it back end of turn anyways). Sword of the Creator barely hurts him as well and he kills my main in the process.

If I am truly stuck, what are my options? If I let everyone die will it kick me back to he bulletin board? Maybe I can reclass and win?

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Not sure if I need to spoiler tag, but I'll go ahead and do it.

Spoiler: GD end boss strategy suggestion

The thing that made him beatable for me was to lure him away from the heal tile he's standing on - if you get a few hits in, then move to a spot where he will have to pursue you, you can start doing more damage with your lesser units too. I'm still not sure if you can use a Gambit with positional change (i.e. Lure) to the same effect, some bosses are immune to gambits, but I *think* I saw some people pull it off on this dude.

Alternatively, if you are using Flayn, you can use "Rescue" to get a unit out of his range after they attacked him, so they don't get killed by him next turn.
For me, I got lucky, since he suddenly moved in on Raphael when I put him in his range, and Raphael, for the fvcking first time in my playthrough, activated Pavise and barely lived through the attack that should have killed him. That was so tense.

In other news, here's the latest Three Houses Cipher card reveal:

Her weirdo armor looks much nicer without the stupid fur stole or whatever that cape is supposed to be..

 

[Ramsay]

The last FE I played before this was Awakening (absolutely loved it). How many did I miss?

A quick Google shows Fates (three versions) and Echoes (remake of FE1?) were released on the 3DS. How good were those games and are there any plans of releasing them in any fashion on the switch?

Click to shrink...

Fates...sucks, to be brutally honest. It's gameplay ranges from pretty good, albeit inconsistent (in Conquest), to really boring (in Birthright), to gimmicky trash that makes me want to play Sonic 06 instead (in Revelation), and its story and characters are irredeemably awful. All but 5 or so characters are either one-dimensional caricatures (i.e. Camilla, Peri) or utterly hateable despite the game's efforts to portray them as "noble" and "heroic" (i.e. Corrin, Azura and Xander). Even if the gameplay was as good as BOTW or Mario Galaxy, Fates would still be a mediocre-at-best game overall due how often it shoves its awful writing in your face. It doesn't also help that Fates, as a game, feels cynically designed, with little passion from the developers, almost like an EA or Activision game.

Echoes is pretty good, albeit severely flawed. Its characters are very charming and quite well-written (my second-favorite cast in the series after Three Houses, although the Lords and the game's lack of supports really does hurt its cast quite a bit), and is ultimately the game's saving grace. The story, while not bad overall and a huge step up from Awakening and Fates, isn't particularly good either due to how messy the writing can get (Acts 1-3 are superb, probably on par with Three Houses and Path of Radiance, but Acts 4 and 5 are Fates-tier stupid and really soured me on the game initially). The maps, however, are considered by many to on par with Revelation as some of the worst in the series.

In that respect, Echoes feels a lot like Three Houses, although quite a bit weaker in every key aspect (granted, both games had the same director). Likewise, both Echoes and Three Houses feel like a deliberate correction on the part of the developers from Fates' worst flaws.

If you loved Three Houses, you'll probably like Echoes as well, but you probably won't like Fates much. I don't think either game will be released on the Switch, however.

 

[Rayne]

Xander hateable? I never got that impression.

Not even remotely honestly. I actually liked conquest and liked most of the royals (even if Sakura type of sucks). Like irredemably awful is a stretch. I agree the main plot and some of the characters are woof but irredeemably so? That said Birthright was a complete bore. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have the SE cart. Revelation is pretty meh too. But conquest was fine for me. The story was rough and Corrin's an idiot but it was perfectly serviceable.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Conquest is really fun. Not all the maps are great, but the variety was excellent and some of the gimmicks worked really well. Also has really good balancing for FE standards for it's harder difficulties.

I'm not a fan of the character designs at all though outside of a few, it was probably my only big negative for the game (I just skipped through the story so i can't say anything about it one way or another)

 

[Ramsay]

Xander hateable? I never got that impression.

Not even remotely honestly. I actually liked conquest and liked most of the royals (even if Sakura type of sucks). Like irredemably awful is a stretch. I agree the main plot and some of the characters are woof but irredeemably so? That said Birthright was a complete bore. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have the SE cart. Revelation is pretty meh too. But conquest was fine for me. The story was rough and Corrin's an idiot but it was perfectly serviceable.

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We know from Chapter 14 in Conquest that while the Nohrian siblings can't openly rebel against Garon, they, at the very least, can use their influence to covertly work against Garon's schemes, and it is the reason why Leo is only remotely tolerable royal in Fates.

The problem is that Xander, from Chapter 26 in Birthright and his support with Corrin, is well aware of the fact that Garon is an irredeemable monster, and that Garon's orders are pointless, but he does absolutely nothing to stop him, despite him clearly having the political influence to do so (even more so than Leo, who actually attempts to protect the innocent against Garon). Heck, he doesn't even attempt to stop Garon's henchmen from committing atrocities until Corrin is directly threatened by them.

Even worse, Xander, in his support with Corrin, mentions that he's now brave enough to stand up to Garon, but when the chips are down and innocent lives are actually at risk, he does absolutely nothing.

Spoiler

What also angers me about Xander after playing Three Houses is how much potential was wasted with him. Xander would have made for an amazing character if the game portrayed him as a villain with agency, not a victim without any agency, similarly to Edelgard. Better yet, he could have been treated like Dimitri, where he eventually becomes aware that what he did was indefensible, is criticized by characters who are portrayed as reasonable people instead of cartoonishly evil villains, and makes a genuine attempt to change himself and atone for what he did. It is for this reason why Dimitri is my favorite character in the series.

Similarly, Xander had the potential to be one of the best FE characters, but he doesn't even attempt to atone or change, even after Elise dies in Birthright. Worse yet, despite having no opportunity to redeem himself, the game still attempts to get you to be proud of him at the end of Conquest, but it fails spectacularly as he did nothing to earn that respect.

The difference between Xander and Edelgard is that Three Houses goes out of its way to humanize Edelgard, but allows the player to determine whether her actions were justified, where as Fates goes out of its way to justify Xander's actions, despite the fact that his actions are very difficult to justify.

 

[Tochtli79]

Xander hateable? I never got that impression.

Not even remotely honestly. I actually liked conquest and liked most of the royals (even if Sakura type of sucks). Like irredemably awful is a stretch. I agree the main plot and some of the characters are woof but irredeemably so? That said Birthright was a complete bore. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have the SE cart. Revelation is pretty meh too. But conquest was fine for me. The story was rough and Corrin's an idiot but it was perfectly serviceable.

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Xander was indeed hateable. He goes on a holier than thou rant about how "justice is an illusion" while supporting his comically evil father as he razes peaceful neighbours for the lulz and destroys his own country, and that's on the route where he's on the protagonist's side. He doesn't like Garon's murderous retainer yet he personally employs Peri. He supports Garon 100%, even threatening Corrin and Azura should they be lying about the fact that

Spoiler

He's literally an evil goo monster

He plays the victim card on Birthright and it's pathetic considering his siblings all make better decisions and see Garon for what he is. He had no choice but to support his evil dad because he's the crown prince? Whine some more.

Sorry, I just had really high expectations for Xander and was terribly let down.

 

[PBalfredo]

Spoiler

I mean Edelgard never said nobility and such would be destroyed, its all about destroying the corruption in societies like the church and nobles that hold the power making it fair for commernor, those with no crests etc, Edelgard recognizes the Church serves a good purpose giving out things such as emotional support.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Which is why she decides to demonize the Church by blaming them for the war crime her allies committed in destroying an entire city and thus potentially turn away people who may be seeking spiritual fulfillment while also largely keeping in place a hierarchical structure where nobles who possess the very crests she feels are in a position of power rather than the meritocracy she says she would put in place in "the world she will forge".

Also, putting aside my disdain for Edelgard's methods (not that the CoS are saints, the comparisons to the Catholic Church are quite apt given their appalling history), it's pretty disingenuous to pretend that the position of nobility is not intertwined with the classist structure in Three Houses and the Big Bad Wolf's crests, namely with how said nobles often abuse their power, to the detriment of the people they are supposed to be looking after (see: the death of Raphael's parents, the corruption of the Prime Minister). Hell, even young nobles with like Bernedetta, Lysithea and Marianne, among many others, are victims of the system, people who have faced various forms of abuse for their possession of a crest and the societal expectations that the noble class have imposed onto them and are socialized in, to say nothing of the commentary, however indirect, of the corrupting effect that the weaponry of crest-bearers is on non-bearers like Mikhail. For all intents and purpose, the crests are just another form of hereditary monarchical tradition whose removal wouldn't change the current system without radical reforms in terms of land possession, army recruitment, inheritance of titles, etc., it would likely just result in the nobility making slight adjustments without truly giving up the power and privilege they hold. I know people like to joke about how every student in Three Houses: The Housening needs therapy and/or a hug but those students are a prime example of the profoundly negative impact that the current system has on the people under it, so Edelgard's political revolution being not so revolutionary with how she consolidates and restructures governance in a united Foldan is...frustrating, to say the least, at least based on what little we see of it in the end credits. Maybe they'll explore said system more in a sequel (what became of Edelgard's reforms assuming that becomes the "canon" timeline) but based on the series' history with direct sequels, it seems unlikely.

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Spoiler: Crimson Flower endings

Why are we taking the contradictory endings of characters (that can be recruited into any house) in the Crimson Flower route to suggest that Edelgard's led a toothless, do-nothing revolution that left the nobility untouched, when the endings exclusive to Crimson Flower, Hubert and Edelgard herself, are very explicit on doing away the the nobility?

Edelgard - Flame Emperor

As the new Adrestian emperor, Edelgard dedicated her life to reshaping the delicate political structure of Fódlan. With tireless work and great sacrifice, she reformed the class system to ensure a free and independent society for all. In her later years, she entrusted her life's work to a worthy successor before finally vanishing from the public eye.


Edelgard and Byleth

Byleth and Edelgard ended the tyranny of a godlike being. Byleth was wounded and lost the power of the progenitor god, but it mattered not, as he and Edelgard had each other. To ensure lasting peace, the two fought against those who slither in the dark, and to ensure a society where people can rise and fall by their own merits, they spent their lives reforming the antiquated class system. They achieved much in their time together, and it is said that they were sometimes spotted leaving the palace to privately enjoy the world they created. How they spent those precious moments, none but the two of them will ever know.


Edelgard and Hubert

As the new Adrestian emperor, Edelgard gave all she had to breathe new life into the government of Fódlan. With tireless work, great sacrifice, and her devoted servant Hubert by her side, she instituted new class reforms and helped to ensure the people's independence. Hubert was always close at hand, ready to dispose of unsavory burdens by any means necessary. In their later years, they passed the fruits of her labor on to Edelgard's successor and vanished from the public eye. Though it is said they spent the rest of their lives together, it is unlikely they ever gave voice to the true depth of their affections.

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Other Black Eagle members have endings that make mention of noble titles still, but that's clearly because they could be recruited into other houses and would have endings where Edelgard's revolution does not take place. Seeing how Crimson Flower is the route that got the most cuts, it seems they didn't rewrite many endings to accommodate only the Crimson Flower route.

 

[Deleted member 11008]

Chapter 9 was easy. My Byleth soloed a beast, well... maybe with the help of a dancer but she did almost all the work lol

 

[PBalfredo]

Someone told Xander that Fates is suppose to be a tragedy and he's going to make sure it is, all reason and basic character motivations be damned!

 

[Xita]

Ngl I could talk all day about what Fates did wrong but I still loved the game, though I know I'm one of like 10 people on Era with that opinion lol

 

[HBK]

Ngl I could talk all day about what Fates did wrong but I still loved the game, though I know I'm one of like 10 people on Era with that opinion lol

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Fates is very cool as a game. It's just the plot that's bonkers and characters which are poorly developed.

 

[Xita]

Fates is very cool as a game. It's just the plot that's bonkers and characters which are poorly developed.

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I don't disagree but people talk here as if it's the spawn of Satan.

Edit: This is going off-topic though so this'll be the last thing I say about that.

 

[HBK]

I don't disagree but people talk here as if it's the spawn of Satan.

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It's not just around here, and I never really understood that stance.

Fates has issues but is still a cool SRPG.

But whatever 🤷‍♀️

 

[ElephantShell]

Finally finished my first blind playthrough with Black Eagles on hard, classic. 69 hours and change. Looking at how long to beat, seems like I really took my time compared to the average. One of my bigger complaints about the game is that I really started to feel the length at the end and the months were really dragging. I feel like that weekly activity structure doesn't make as much sense as the game goes on and I was just trying to get through it.

Overall loved the game though, gonna put it down for now but may return for NG+ later.

 

[PBalfredo]

They really need to buff seminars and resting to be viable options on the calendar, because it's such an opportunity loss to do anything but explore or do paralogues. Especially since exploring lets you get skill ranks for Byleth, support points (with you, with each other), student motivation (which you can just buy with gifts, regardless of activity points), fishing, gardening, pick up side quests, tournaments, lost items, freebies from the amiibo gazebo, listening to incidental dialog (some of which is very important). It's so much in just one option and you're cutting yourself off at the legs if you don't take the time to take full advantage of it.

 

[Dee Dee]

At least Xander was HOT.
You know I'm not lying.
The real tragedy is, that he still calls you his sister, even after you get married. Ew.

Every time I think of Fates Conquest I think of that crazy map in the snow and Ninjas. So many Ninjas. And foxes. Wow. Fvck those foxes.
(Also swamp.)
Basically, I remember a lot more of the maps and enemy variety than I will of Three Houses in three years time.
The fact that you couldn't bait enemy units by moving a tanky dude in their attack radius on Hard in Conquest was so good. Enemies didn't even bother attacking units that were too good for them unless you made it easy for them - that game was really tense.
Unfortunately it also had Xander, who is a unit that easily ascends into godliness by virtue of being mounted, having a sword that gives Dodge +10 with a 1-2 range, also Elbow Room. *chef's kiss* So yeah, this + pair up made the game a solo adventure for Mr. and Ms. Gloomyface with horrible motivations (Corrin + Xander). You just maybe need Jakob to mop up the mages that dare look in your direction as a fitting third wheel.
Revelations is a joke just by virtue of giving you Xander AND Ryoma, lmao.

The only lord in this game that is as broken is Claude because he does the right thing and gets himself a Wyvern, because he is a smart boy.

 

[Tochtli79]

So I'm going around the monastery talking to people before heading to Enbarr and it's painful hearing everyone being all "let's go kick Edelgard's butt" and "frick the Black Eagles!" D: Where is my dialogue option for "Edelgard did nothing wrong" or "Claude just go talk to her first"?

Ngl I could talk all day about what Fates did wrong but I still loved the game, though I know I'm one of like 10 people on Era with that opinion lol

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Despite my post above I feel the same lol. Conquest is easily my favourite 3DS game, the maps just make it squeeze past SoV. And I really like most of the cast. Even Camilla.

 

[Rayne]

Xander was indeed hateable. He goes on a holier than thou rant about how "justice is an illusion" while supporting his comically evil father as he razes peaceful neighbours for the lulz and destroys his own country, and that's on the route where he's on the protagonist's side. He doesn't like Garon's murderous retainer yet he personally employs Peri. He supports Garon 100%, even threatening Corrin and Azura should they be lying about the fact that

Spoiler

He's literally an evil goo monster

He plays the victim card on Birthright and it's pathetic considering his siblings all make better decisions and see Garon for what he is. He had no choice but to support his evil dad because he's the crown prince? Whine some more.

Sorry, I just had really high expectations for Xander and was terribly let down.

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We know from Chapter 14 in Conquest that while the Nohrian siblings can't openly rebel against Garon, they, at the very least, can use their influence to covertly work against Garon's schemes, and it is the reason why Leo is only remotely tolerable royal in Fates.

The problem is that Xander, from Chapter 26 in Birthright and his support with Corrin, is well aware of the fact that Garon is an irredeemable monster, and that Garon's orders are pointless, but he does absolutely nothing to stop him, despite him clearly having the political influence to do so (even more so than Leo, who actually attempts to protect the innocent against Garon). Heck, he doesn't even attempt to stop Garon's henchmen from committing atrocities until Corrin is directly threatened by them.

Even worse, Xander, in his support with Corrin, mentions that he's now brave enough to stand up to Garon, but when the chips are down and innocent lives are actually at risk, he does absolutely nothing.

Spoiler

What also angers me about Xander after playing Three Houses is how much potential was wasted with him. Xander would have made for an amazing character if the game portrayed him as a villain with agency, not a victim without any agency, similarly to Edelgard. Better yet, he could have been treated like Dimitri, where he eventually becomes aware that what he did was indefensible, is criticized by characters who are portrayed as reasonable people instead of cartoonishly evil villains, and makes a genuine attempt to change himself and atone for what he did. It is for this reason why Dimitri is my favorite character in the series.

Similarly, Xander had the potential to be one of the best FE characters, but he doesn't even attempt to atone or change, even after Elise dies in Birthright. Worse yet, despite having no opportunity to redeem himself, the game still attempts to get you to be proud of him at the end of Conquest, but it fails spectacularly as he did nothing to earn that respect.

The difference between Xander and Edelgard is that Three Houses goes out of its way to humanize Edelgard, but allows the player to determine whether her actions were justified, where as Fates goes out of its way to justify Xander's actions, despite the fact that his actions are very difficult to justify.

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Hm that's fair. I guess I was too bothered by Corrin being really really dumb to care about much else. And him not attempting to change after that even in Birthright...made sense.

Spoiler

He clearly just wanted to be mercy killed at that point. Him changing there is about as sensible as Dimitri expecting Edel to grab his hand. Way too late for that really. I do agree conquest would've greatly benefitted from actually being portrayed as the you're the baddies route instead of the mess they ended up with.

That said that bit about the ending justifying everyone is true for three houses. Fire Emblem endings aren't very deep and very disneyfied from what I've seen (3ds era) and TH isn't an exception there save a few cases like Felix in non BL routes.

Also agreed on still remembering fates maps. That's probably the main reason I replayed it so many times XD

 

[DiceyRobot]

Fates...sucks, to be brutally honest. It's gameplay ranges from pretty good, albeit inconsistent (in Conquest), to really boring (in Birthright), to gimmicky trash that makes me want to play Sonic 06 instead (in Revelation), and its story and characters are irredeemably awful. All but 5 or so characters are either one-dimensional caricatures (i.e. Camilla, Peri) or utterly hateable despite the game's efforts to portray them as "noble" and "heroic" (i.e. Corrin, Azura and Xander). Even if the gameplay was as good as BOTW or Mario Galaxy, Fates would still be a mediocre-at-best game overall due how often it shoves its awful writing in your face. It doesn't also help that Fates, as a game, feels cynically designed, with little passion from the developers, almost like an EA or Activision game.

Echoes is pretty good, albeit severely flawed. Its characters are very charming and quite well-written (my second-favorite cast in the series after Three Houses, although the Lords and the game's lack of supports really does hurt its cast quite a bit), and is ultimately the game's saving grace. The story, while not bad overall and a huge step up from Awakening and Fates, isn't particularly good either due to how messy the writing can get (Acts 1-3 are superb, probably on par with Three Houses and Path of Radiance, but Acts 4 and 5 are Fates-tier stupid and really soured me on the game initially). The maps, however, are considered by many to on par with Revelation as some of the worst in the series.

In that respect, Echoes feels a lot like Three Houses, although quite a bit weaker in every key aspect (granted, both games had the same director). Likewise, both Echoes and Three Houses feel like a deliberate correction on the part of the developers from Fates' worst flaws.

If you loved Three Houses, you'll probably like Echoes as well, but you probably won't like Fates much. I don't think either game will be released on the Switch, however.

Click to shrink...

I agree with everything in this post. The only thing I'd add is that when the maps are good in Fates Conquest, they can be really, really good. The problem is that there's such high variance in the quality of maps...you'd play a really great one only to be met by a gimmicky chore. Really strange design decisions.

Conquest is probably my least favorite FE game of the 10 or so I've played. I didn't even bother with Birthright or Revelations after it.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

Camilla is honestly one of the few actually not 1 dimensional characters in Fates though...and when you are surrounded by some really fucking stupid people like corrin, azura, xander, hinoka, and ryoma its nice that she was decidedly not stupid. Her willingness to question current events and look past predefined biases was a rarity in the royals. Her defining character trait though remains omni-present and if you dislike that you will never like her, but calling her 1 dimensional is wrong.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

They really need to buff seminars and resting to be viable options on the calendar, because it's such an opportunity loss to do anything but explore or do paralogues. Especially since exploring lets you get skill ranks for Byleth, support points (with you, with each other), student motivation (which you can just buy with gifts, regardless of activity points), fishing, gardening, pick up side quests, tournaments, lost items, freebies from the amiibo gazebo, listening to incidental dialog (some of which is very important). It's so much in just one option and you're cutting yourself off at the legs if you don't take the time to take full advantage of it.

Click to shrink...

They'll probably never buff Rest, but Seminars are mostly fine? Uses for seminars:

1. It is really hard to get a class change for Byleth outside of a super traditional physical build early on, and Seminars are the only real way to get them early Reason or Faith enough for a change.
2. On Hard/Classic, late game side battles will give you crap exp gain, so it is plausibly better to just help the game pacing and get a batch of 6 A+/A/S seminar boosts.
3. On Maddening, it is probably good to use it to get Heal for a bunch of people early game, both because it is useful and because it translates to a massive level boost, because healing experience wasn't nerfed but combat exp was.

A 2nd explore in a month is rarely worth it, IMO. You always do 1 per month, and only 1. Yes, you get skill ranks for Byleth, but you'll rarely have access to enough teachers to focus on 1/2 skills in the way that Seminars can.

 

[Mzril]

Finally beat the three main routes, only one I didn't do was Silver Snow.

Golden Deer was my last route, and I decided to funny/OP builds in that one.

Best Legendary Weapon is Gradivus, with its low weight and 1-2 range. Falcon Knight Catherine + Alert Stance Plus + Defiant Avo + Evasion Ring would just go balls deep into enemy territory wielding that thing and kill 5-6 units on each enemy phase. Her Swordmaster Growths so early in the game turn her into an insane party member.

I also gave most of my SpeedWings and Seraph Robe/Giant Shells to Lysithea, slapped on Thyrsus and Nosferatu on the later chapters and basically did a whole drain tank build with her at 32 AS. Single handedly killed most of the right side of the map in Golden deer final chapter.

In both cases Stride was hilarious at getting them into enemy attack ranges.

 

[LunaSerena]

I give up on maddening. The Black Eagles are far too squishy, and it's pure bullshit that I'm scared of facing more than 2 or 3 units at a time. Heck, a simple auxiliary battle has become a pain!
Edelgard's accuracy is shit, I'm already missing Hilda. She was godly.

 

[TYRANITARR]

I just finished up Edlegard's route last night, the one with 18 Chapters. Clocked in right at 50 hours. I played the entire game on Hard/Classic, until the final battle. It felt like too much of a grind, so I went down to Normal and bum rushed the final boss.

... So I felt like the story was VERY straight-forward. Here's my quick summary of the route:

Spoiler

You become a professor at the church. You do professor things and get to know your people. You learn there are some people who are intent on taking down the church. You learn Edglegard is that someone. She wants to burn it all down. You have a CHOICE: side with Edlegard or side with the church. I sided with Edlegard. We fight a battle and I get KO'd for five years. I wake up and Edlegard is leading THE RESISTANCE and you go on a campaign to kill the other two house leaders (the blue guys and gold guys) and then finally, kill the Lady in charge of the church and YAYAY Freedom for everyone, no more nobles and no more Crests hierarchy. END

I felt like the story was just okay. I mean it played out exactly how it said it was going to. There really were not any twists and turns along the way after the time-skip. It all played out exactly as they planned.

Are all the routes varaiations of this game route? I'm trying to decide if I want to see another house (or make the opposite choice of siding with Edlegard) or just move on to another game. I was pretty burnt out on battles by the end of the game. I'd mainly just curiuos if the story is intersting from another path, so are they all pretty much the same thing.

 

[Anteo]

If anyone is trying to do the sothis paralogue on maddening, you should know that the reinforcements spawn inmediatly when the last set dies, so you can delay the death of one of the last unit for a turn in order to give you a chance to reposition for the next set. These reinforcements do not move until the next turn either, so its manegeable. Also the boss is weak to axes, so baiting it with a hand axe works really well as it will stun it for the next turn.

I give up on maddening. The Black Eagles are far too squishy, and it's pure bullshit that I'm scared of facing more than 2 or 3 units at a time. Heck, a simple auxiliary battle has become a pain!
Edelgard's accuracy is shit, I'm already missing Hilda. She was godly.

Click to shrink...

What ch you are at? Im playing maddening GD, the battle of the eagle and the lion was stupidly hard because of the bolded, everyone is squishy and the enemy lords could 2 round any of my units, they even had shit like alert stance petra, darting blow felix and nullify silence dorothea, what the fuck, i dont remember them having those skill so early in the game. Enemy Edelgard had over 50 damage and a high AS, def and res, mages did nothing to her and she could kill them in return, if it wasnt for ignatz rally speed there is no way i could have baited her. Even characters like Ferdinand were out speeding my whole team, the whole mode is just insane

Now I have to deal with the "Land of the Golden Deer" paralogue, Lorenz paralogue where you have defend a fort, and there are 24 AS Peg knights deployed, not even 24 speed, but 24 AS!, they have weight -3 equiped on top of their 24 base speed to nullify the weight of the weapon, i barely have 20 base speed with a couple of chars what the fuck

 

[Dee Dee]

I just finished up Edlegard's route last night, the one with 18 Chapters. Clocked in right at 50 hours. I played the entire game on Hard/Classic, until the final battle. It felt like too much of a grind, so I went down to Normal and bum rushed the final boss.

... So I felt like the story was VERY straight-forward. Here's my quick summary of the route:

Spoiler

You become a professor at the church. You do professor things and get to know your people. You learn there are some people who are intent on taking down the church. You learn Edglegard is that someone. She wants to burn it all down. You have a CHOICE: side with Edlegard or side with the church. I sided with Edlegard. We fight a battle and I get KO'd for five years. I wake up and Edlegard is leading THE RESISTANCE and you go on a campaign to kill the other two house leaders (the blue guys and gold guys) and then finally, kill the Lady in charge of the church and YAYAY Freedom for everyone, no more nobles and no more Crests hierarchy. END

I felt like the story was just okay. I mean it played out exactly how it said it was going to. There really were not any twists and turns along the way after the time-skip. It all played out exactly as they planned.

Are all the routes varaiations of this game route? I'm trying to decide if I want to see another house (or make the opposite choice of siding with Edlegard) or just move on to another game. I was pretty burnt out on battles by the end of the game. I'd mainly just curiuos if the story is intersting from another path, so are they all pretty much the same thing.

Click to shrink...

I played all routes but BE-C (chapter 15 there now), and IMHO Blue Lions is worth it because it deals with the war on a more personal drama level - which results in less lore, more "..." and intense glares, but it's also kinda the other half of the coin to the route you just finished.
However, be warned that it's not very well paced and resolves a lot of inner conflicts in supports - you'll spend more chapters without "progress" to the story, unless you use battles to max out supports to see some development for some time in the second half. Some resolutions can then feel very abrupt (again: badly paced).

I'd still recommend it first.

BE-C and Golden Deer however play out VERY similarly to each other, but they answer a lot of questions the other routes don't - still pretty straight forward bar some stupid asspulls very late in the game.
If you want to know more about the church's world view, you could pick up either of those depending on which students appeal more to you.

To summarize though, the other routes aren't exactly full of twist or genius storytelling either, but I feel Blue Lions tries to at least on a surface level focus on a different enough retelling of the conflict.

 

[LunaSerena]

If anyone is trying to do the sothis paralogue on maddening, you should know that the reinforcements spawn inmediatly when the last set dies, so you can delay the death of one of the last unit for a turn in order to give you a chance to reposition for the next set. These reinforcements do not move until the next turn either, so its manegeable. Also the boss is weak to axes, so baiting it with a hand axe works really well as it will stun it for the next turn.



What ch you are at? Im playing maddening GD, the battle of the eagle and the lion was stupidly hard because of the bolded, everyone is squishy and the enemy lords could 2 round any of my units, they even had shit like alert stance petra, darting blow felix and nullify silence dorothea, what the fuck, i dont remember them having those skill so early in the game. Enemy Edelgard had over 50 damage and a high AS, def and res, mages did nothing to her and she could kill them in return, if it wasnt for ignatz rally speed there is no way i could have baited her. Even characters like Ferdinand were out speeding my whole team, the whole mode is just insane

Now I have to deal with the "Land of the Golden Deer" paralogue, Lorenz paralogue where you have defend a fort, and there are 24 AS Peg knights deployed, not even 24 speed, but 24 AS!, they have weight -3 equiped on top of their 24 base speed to nullify the weight of the weapon, i barely have 20 base speed with a couple of chars what the fuck

Click to shrink...

I got to the chapter of the Gautier Inheritance and the sheer bullshitness that was even Edelgard getting doubled and OHKO was... irritating. She couldn't hit anything with her axe, on top of that. Not having a Jeigan to tank in this first part certainly hurts - they could have given us Jeralt at the very least or early access to other units.
I want a harder mode, maybe with more units and more reinforcements on all the maps, but outright making your units earn little experience and inflating stats is not a fun way to increase difficulty.

If you stick with maddening, then good luck sir, you'll need it. We're back on Awakening's level of insanity with Lunatic.

 

[Beren]

I finished Golden Deer on Hard the other day, and just started Blue Lions on Maddening on NG+. The first couple maps were fine, but reading the accounts of people here has me ready to tone it back down to Hard if it gets too silly.

 

[HBK]

I just finished up Edlegard's route last night, the one with 18 Chapters. Clocked in right at 50 hours. I played the entire game on Hard/Classic, until the final battle. It felt like too much of a grind, so I went down to Normal and bum rushed the final boss.

... So I felt like the story was VERY straight-forward. Here's my quick summary of the route:

Spoiler

You become a professor at the church. You do professor things and get to know your people. You learn there are some people who are intent on taking down the church. You learn Edglegard is that someone. She wants to burn it all down. You have a CHOICE: side with Edlegard or side with the church. I sided with Edlegard. We fight a battle and I get KO'd for five years. I wake up and Edlegard is leading THE RESISTANCE and you go on a campaign to kill the other two house leaders (the blue guys and gold guys) and then finally, kill the Lady in charge of the church and YAYAY Freedom for everyone, no more nobles and no more Crests hierarchy. END

I felt like the story was just okay. I mean it played out exactly how it said it was going to. There really were not any twists and turns along the way after the time-skip. It all played out exactly as they planned.

Are all the routes varaiations of this game route? I'm trying to decide if I want to see another house (or make the opposite choice of siding with Edlegard) or just move on to another game. I was pretty burnt out on battles by the end of the game. I'd mainly just curiuos if the story is intersting from another path, so are they all pretty much the same thing.

Click to shrink...

You played the "different" route. As in the route with lots of differences from the other routes which all have A LOT of copy/pasta.

The other routes may have some final boss twist (as in "hey, out of nowhere, a true final boss!"), or some "unexpected" character development, but other than that they're all pretty straightforward with no big twist.

(like: battle, battle, battle, boss defeated, a wild hidden boss appears, congratz you won)

If you want something different, play GD. That's probably the most different route than the one you played. Also that's the one which will give you the most additional lore answers.

 

[NoName999]

Just finished chapter 11 of Black Eagles.

I said in the previous OT that I grow tired of having FE protagonists being super duper special and charismatic when it doesn't feel earned.

But holy shit, does Black Eagles just... flat out made no sense as a narrative

Spoiler: BE CH11

Like everyone just decides to join Edelgard because BYLETH did? Like... they can't think for themselves? It's pretty weird that they're going to risk their livelihood for someone else's war because a third party decides to.

And the worst part, the students already have legitimate, non-Byleth reasons to join Edelgard's crusade.

Bernadetta and Dorothea flatout hate the nobility
Ferdinand knows the current nobility system is rotten to the core
Caspar, in his B support with Edelgard, pretty much supports her meritocracy vision because he knows he will benefit from it
Linhardt feels that the nobility puts him in a box and he just wants to live his life. To say nothing that he thinks Crests are just used for destruction and war
Petra's the only one who gave a decent reason for joining

It just feels silly. Edelgard's vision is to clean up the nobility and open Fodlan to the outside world. If they focused on Edelgard's opinions on those more in the first few chapters, I'd feel the Black Eagles would be more believable to stay with Edelgard. At least I would be able to say "So that's why they stayed with her in the other routes. I understand"

Instead it feels more like Stockholm syndrome

 

[Anteo]

Just finished chapter 11 of Black Eagles.

I said in the previous OT that I grow tired of having FE protagonists being super duper special and charismatic when it doesn't feel earned.

But holy shit, does Black Eagles just... flat out made no sense as a narrative

Spoiler: BE CH11

Like everyone just decides to join Edelgard because BYLETH did? Like... they can't think for themselves? It's pretty weird that they're going to risk their livelihood for someone else's war because a third party decides to.

And the worst part, the students already have legitimate, non-Byleth reasons to join Edelgard's crusade.

Bernadetta and Dorothea flatout hate the nobility
Ferdinand knows the current nobility system is rotten to the core
Caspar, in his B support with Edelgard, pretty much supports her meritocracy vision because he knows he will benefit from it
Linhardt feels that the nobility puts him in a box and he just wants to live his life. To say nothing that he thinks Crests are just used for destruction and war
Petra's the only one who gave a decent reason for joining

It just feels silly. Edelgard's vision is to clean up the nobility and open Fodlan to the outside world. If they focused on Edelgard's opinions on those more in the first few chapters, I'd feel the Black Eagles would be more believable to stay with Edelgard. At least I would be able to say "So that's why they stayed with her in the other routes. I understand"

Instead it feels more like Stockholm syndrome

Click to shrink...

I think you have it backwards? Though you point still stands

Spoiler

Black Eagles students always join edelgard in all routes, they are loyal to the empire after all.

Exceptions being if they were recruited by Byleth to another house or if as Black Eagles Byleth decides to fight against Edelgard in which case they stay with Byleth and betray Edelgard

The game does try to explain when a studend decides to go against their country of origin and join Byleth instead, but the results go from okay to clearly an excuse to have you not lose that character.

 

[Magnemania]

I give up on maddening. The Black Eagles are far too squishy, and it's pure bullshit that I'm scared of facing more than 2 or 3 units at a time. Heck, a simple auxiliary battle has become a pain!
Edelgard's accuracy is shit, I'm already missing Hilda. She was godly.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's a Black Eagles problem; Edelgard is still one of the game's best tanks. Compared to Hilda, she has better Str, Mag, Dex, Res, and Cha, but 10% worse HP and Spd. Growthwise, Edelgard's biggest flaw is having a bizarrely high Mag growth at the expense of other stats. She has excellent Dex for an axe user, and Smashing with an Iron Axe+ gives her very good accuracy and damage. You also get Ferdinand, who is roughly as good as Edelgard in tanking stats.

I've been doing a Black Eagle playthrough while doing as much recruiting as I can get away with in NG, and I find that the only units I can reliably tank with are Byleth, Edelgard, and Felix. My horsemen don't tank as well as they do in Hard since their mediocre speed results in getting doubled, and that goes for all the natural cavaliers (Ferdinand, Sylvain, Lorenz, Leonie). Recruiting the horsemen seems to be *worse* than starting out with them, unlike most characters, since the game auto-levels them from 1 using the -10% speed growth on Cavalier. Cavaliers in general just seem to be awful in Maddening, particularly when compared to air units that don't get a speed penalty.

If you stick with maddening, then good luck sir, you'll need it. We're back on Awakening's level of insanity with Lunatic.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's fair to compare Maddening to Awakening's Lunatic. Awakening's Lunatic relies heavily on rng-based skills for enemies and forces the player to rely on dodging key attacks; Awakening's first three maps on Lunatic are infamous for their difficulty, but they're difficult because they require so much luck to beat. Maddening is extremely punishing and requires the player to know about reinforcements and enemy placements in advance, but actually executing a winning strategy doesn't require too much luck; linked attacks, early-game rallies, weapon arts, and Divine Pulse are pretty good about dealing with shaky hit rates.

I do think that playing on Hard with self-imposed limitations (avoiding flying classes, finishing maps quickly without mopping up all the exp, ignoring half the stuff in the Monastery) is a bit of a better way to fix Hard's difficulty problems than playing Maddening, though. Maddening forces the player to use everything.

 

[NHarmonic.]

I'm finishing my 3d hard playthrough, GD NG+ run and i've actually been struggling more on the final maps (ch20+). I managed to snatch the victory with 0 divine pulses left and a bit of luck, but still.

I don't think i'll try Maddening for BE-E

 

[PBalfredo]

So I'm going around the monastery talking to people before heading to Enbarr and it's painful hearing everyone being all "let's go kick Edelgard's butt" and "frick the Black Eagles!" D: Where is my dialogue option for "Edelgard did nothing wrong" or "Claude just go talk to her first"?

Click to shrink...

I'll be doing GD next, so I'm curious to see what's Claude's motivations from his perspective since in other routes...

Spoiler: BE + BL

he doesn't seem to have much skin in the game. After the capital gets invaded, he just goes "Guess the alliance is done, lol" and peaces out to Almyra. I've caught some loose talk that his route is about trying to end racism or achieve open borders in Fodlan, which makes me curious as to why he opposes Edelgarde in each route. Sounds pretty aligned with Edelgard's goals, especially since open borders sounds completely incompatible with a rigid class-based feudal system.

 

[effingvic]

Ngl I could talk all day about what Fates did wrong but I still loved the game, though I know I'm one of like 10 people on Era with that opinion lol

Click to shrink...

Fates ruled, bad story and all.

I just finished up Edlegard's route last night, the one with 18 Chapters. Clocked in right at 50 hours. I played the entire game on Hard/Classic, until the final battle. It felt like too much of a grind, so I went down to Normal and bum rushed the final boss.

... So I felt like the story was VERY straight-forward. Here's my quick summary of the route:

Spoiler

You become a professor at the church. You do professor things and get to know your people. You learn there are some people who are intent on taking down the church. You learn Edglegard is that someone. She wants to burn it all down. You have a CHOICE: side with Edlegard or side with the church. I sided with Edlegard. We fight a battle and I get KO'd for five years. I wake up and Edlegard is leading THE RESISTANCE and you go on a campaign to kill the other two house leaders (the blue guys and gold guys) and then finally, kill the Lady in charge of the church and YAYAY Freedom for everyone, no more nobles and no more Crests hierarchy. END

I felt like the story was just okay. I mean it played out exactly how it said it was going to. There really were not any twists and turns along the way after the time-skip. It all played out exactly as they planned.

Are all the routes varaiations of this game route? I'm trying to decide if I want to see another house (or make the opposite choice of siding with Edlegard) or just move on to another game. I was pretty burnt out on battles by the end of the game. I'd mainly just curiuos if the story is intersting from another path, so are they all pretty much the same thing.

Click to shrink...

Edelgard's route is the weakest one out of the four IMO. Golden Deer and Blue Lions are significantly better experiences. If you can only do one of them, I'd go with Golden Deer but they both deserve to be played.

 

[Lumination]

Whew, just beat the Death Knight in Ch4(?) Maddening with BE on a fresh save. That was... not easy. Byleth and Edelgard were lv 7, but the rest of my team were hovering 3-4. I couldn't fight him on his +40Avo tile, but the only way to get him to move was to hire Felix, unequip his sword, and sit him on a +2Def tile to the west. So each run involved clearing the whole left side of the map before actually fighting him. My gambits would do a piddling 1-6 dmg apiece, I needed my lv 4 Ferdinand to proc his no-counterattack crest with Knightkneeler for 16dmg followed by Edelgard's Steel Axe + combat art for 24 dmg.

Somehow, it "only" took me 3 tries to figure out how to cheese him and then execute on it. Hopefully, I'll have at least 1 horse slayer dark mage by the next encounter. What are the crest activation rates anyway?