The Let's Play Archive

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest

by midnight_lasagna

Part 25: My Castle (Chapter 14)


Poor Laslow fights alone in the arena, his lack of supports means there's no-one to help him. Somehow this always happens to the womaniser characters in my playthroughs.



Anyway the important thing is now that Chapter 13 is done, I can upgrade my shops! This means we can start playing around with some of the cool Nohr-exclusive weapons, instead of just boring old bronze iron and steel.



Oh and I can also upgrade the lottery I guess. I'm still waiting to win some meat or wheat, I really want to make a ham sandwich.



This sale on swords is very well timed. I'll take a Levin Sword for Corrin and a second Armourslayer while it's cheap. Silver Swords don't particularly interest me because this game really nerfed silver weapons hard (they lower your stats after every battle and reduce your crit avoid to balance out their high might and lack of durability, which in practice makes them worse than forged iron or steel weapons and only worth either selling or saving for extremely rare situations in which you need to make a big attack and don't mind the debuffs). The Wyrmslayer is a bit too situational and I never particularly liked the Killing Edge in this game so I won't spend money on those.



I'll also take a Beast Killer to help in the next chapter and a Bolt Axe for Elise. There's a few other weapons I might want but none of them are any use to me right now so it makes more sense to wait for a sale.



Magic weapons have 1-2 range and are stronger than steel, but they also nerf your avoid severely and prevent you from activating offensive skills or getting critical hits. The huge increase in power is worth it though. The Levin Sword will absolutely be Corrin's main form of offense, and Elise will try to make use of the Bolt Axe when she can. It is unfortunately quite inaccurate which is a big problem for her.



Lastly, a reclass for Jakob. The Strategist class trades physical stats and speed for more movement and tome access. It's not really a good fit for a Jakob that cares about his offense, but it will make his healing better and get him to where he needs to be faster. I'm mostly doing this so he can grab some new skills. The loss of attack power from switching from the Flame Shurriken to a Fire tome is quite substantial, but I think it'll be worth it. He's likely going to be replaced by his children anyway.



Only one support this time, Corrin & Elise C. This isn't Three Houses so punch cleric Elise cannot be a thing.






My army's looking a little better now they're outfitted with cooler weapons. It's funny how I've got 3 different units with 13 in both defensive stats, all 3 of which aren't exactly known for their bulk.



Charlotte
Fighter (HS: Troubadour)
A+ Support Classes: Peri (Cavalier), Beruka (Wyvern Rider), Nyx (Dark Mage)
Personal Skill: Unmask (+4 damage and +20 crit against female enemies)
Growths (With Default Class):
HP: 65% (85)
STR: 55% (75)
MAG: 0% (0)
SKL: 35% (50)
SPD: 50% (65)
LCK: 45% (50)
DEF: 20% (25)
RES: 5% (5)

I don't really think Conquest has an "Est" type unit, but if anybody could be called one then I guess Charlotte would be it. She joins late (by this game's standards), her join level is low compared to the rest of your army, and her growths are very good.

Charlotte's very much a high investment character. The ideal Charlotte is a fast and strong Berserker who can tear through enemies with super high strength and speed, but Charlotte at base is not that unit. She can hit decently hard, but she'll struggle to double enemies and will be faced with accuracy problems when using anything better than a Bronze Axe. You absolutely should take Gamble off of her right away and only give it back once her skill and luck growths have kicked in. Charlotte's probably not going to be helping you much until she promotes.

When she does promote though, oh boy. Your average 20/1 Berserker Charlotte will have 27 strength and 22 speed, and she'll only get more ridiculous from there. She can absolutely destroy select enemies on player phase, and even if her defenses are bad her abnormally high HP will be enough to soak up a hit or two regardless. Nearly all of the generics you fight will be men so her special ability won't get much of a chance to shine, but when it does you'll see some screenshot worthy numbers and maybe even get the chance to see 100% crit if you stack absolutely every modifier she could possibly have. Her luck stat isn't great, but it's certainly not as terrible as Arthur's, and it'll only take a Goddess Icon or two to keep most of the random crit chances at bay.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, she's got one big problem - a unit paired with Charlotte can do pretty much anything she can, except most likely with better accuracy, bulk, or movement. A unit supported by an S rank support Berserker Charlotte (something she can promote into the instant she joins) gains a whopping 8 strength and 5 speed. Any physical attacker is going to become great with those stats, although units like Xander and Kaze who can shore up their mediocre speed or strength respectively and gain access to a 1-2 range weapon & Sol combo appreciate her support the most. It's not as if Charlotte can't access similar boosts by pairing up with someone like Arthur or Keaton too, but pairing up two amazing support partners does come at a bit of an oppurtunity cost.

Her growths, as good as they are, aren't all that different from the other 5 girls in Conquest with 50% in strength and speed or over. Effie, Mozu, Camilla, Peri, and even Azura all have similar offenses. They might not start off as a Fighter like she does, but they all join a lot earlier. Her growths are still great though, so any unit Charlotte is the mother of is going to hit fast and hard and have a good amount of HP, in addition to guaranteed access to the amazing Fighter class.

Cavalier's not a bad class for Charlotte to grab skills from to increase her damage output, although it's not really one worth staying in either. Dark Mage gives her the incredibly useful Heartseeker but otherwise is useless. Wyvern Rider however is a very viable option - you trade a little strength and speed in exchange for good bulk and high movement. Wyvern Lord Charlotte might not make as many OHKOs as she can as a Berserker, but she'll be a lot tankier. Her Heart Seal class of Troubadour is a cruel joke played on her by the devs.

Pros
Cons
My Rating: Would own in a game where hand axes are good


Benny
Knight (HS: Fighter)
A+ Support Classes: Arthur (Fighter), Keaton (Fighter)
Personal Skill: Fierce Mein (Reduces avoid of enemies within two tiles by 10)
Growths (With Default Class):
HP: 50% (70)
STR: 40% (60)
MAG: 0% (0)
SKL: 50% (65)
SPD: 10% (15)
LCK: 35% (45)
DEF: 55% (75)
RES: 45% (45)

Okay first of all giving Benny Fighter as his Heart Seal class and then making all of his A+ support classes give Fighter as well was a really mean thing to do to him. Jakob's got the same problem in Conquest, but at least he can support Takumi in Birthight to get Archer...

Benny is the quintessential Knight. His bulk is high, his speed is low. 70% HP, 75% defense, and 15% speed tell you all you need to know about him up front. Benny won't get to his destination fast, but he will get there in one piece.

Besides his non-existant speed stat, Benny's growths are actually quite good. Obviously his HP and defense are through the roof, but he's not too bad in other areas - he's surprisingly accurate, his serviceable luck keeps away the critical hits, and his resistance is actually quite okay for a physical tank. His biggest problem can be fixed by giving him the Wary Fighter skill he gets as a level 5 General, which prevents him from being doubled (and also doubling but that is never a thing he will ever be able to do). Promoting him instantly isn't too bad a call if you want him to have it as soon as possible. The trick to using him is simple - place him in range of the enemies, and watch him not die. Sometimes the enemies might not want to attack him, in which case you march him over to them risk free. He's a great user of Javelins and Hand Axes since their drawbacks mean nothing to him anyway, but his avoid-lowering personal skill make him good at close combat too. Weaken an enemy with him at close range and someone else can finish the job.

Otherwise he's got a similar problem to Selena in that while he's quite good at not dying, he doesn't really do a whole lot besides. Tanking is useful, but his mediocre strength and complete inability to double make his retaliations not so threatening. A Benny with Wary Fighter can be a good tank in classes that aren't General if you want some extra movement or attack power, so Berserker Benny can be a thing if you want it to be.

A unit supported by Benny can do similar levels of tanking while also being much more effective in other areas. One unit who appreciates a Benny support is Beruka - it turns her into a flying brick wall who can tank while also having nearly twice the movement range Benny does. If you have no place in your army for a slow moving tank then consider pairing him up with someone faster to make them a tank instead.

Pros
Cons
My Rating: Beats Arthur for "best husband material in Conquest" because he wouldn't drop your wedding ring down a sewer grate by accident