Two tactical questions from a new player

[DukeSerkol]

Something strange happened to me today. I was playing through Chapter 15 and all was going smoothly. At some point a mage attacks Lowen with fire. Lowen kills the mage the following turn. Life is cool.
However, later on, I have to confront another mage. Having no shaman and remembering that in Chapter 10 I sent Kent to efficiently take out a mage, I try doing so again... but horror! With a single thunder Kent is slain!
Cursing, I decide to try magic against magic but my thunders do little damage compared to his and Erk falls. I decide I -have- to take this guy down before restarting the chapter, but I don't feel like dragging Florina all the way from the starting point (which is where I always leave her, seeing how many archers and how few magicians are around... and yes, this means she isn't getting much XP)
So I send Lowen... and he triumphs again!

Now I'm left wondering, does Kent hate thunders, or is it Lowen that is blessed against magic for some reason?

Also another thing... I'm having my pegasus knight, thief, mage and paladin sitting out of most battles.
The first I explained above, the thief because Matthew himself seemed to ask me to be left in a corner, Erk I often left in the back because I used to think of him as some amazing character to use only on special occasions (like against knight and generals) but know that I see how often the game sells magic and how weak he was compared to the enemy mage, I'm starting to realize my mistake.

So with the exception of "XP hog Marcus", I ask: am I going to regret the above? Should I have fought some more with Florina, Matthew and Erk? (Rather than perhaps Bartz and Dorca)

[TheEnd]

First, bow to your new god: the RNG, Random Number Generator. It explains Lowen and Kent. Lowen was lucky. Kent wasn't.

You shouldn't leave good characters in the bench. If you do, they won't get XP and will be left behind... Magic users are useful. Very useful. Soon, though, you'll face an arena. I don't remember the chapter - it's the one you fight pirates. There, you may be able to level up your characters, if you're willing to get a poor rating at the endgame (something I don't really care about).

In fact, you may already be regretting what you did. A common tactics in a FE game is to have a few powerful characters that can take care of everything, if needed. Erk has potential to be one of these.

So, use your favored characters. If you fear archers, leave Florina away from them, or kill them first.

[superbus]

Don't branch off too much. You want to have your group together, so that the weaker characters initially (Erk, Rebecca, Florina, Eliwood and Hector) can get the kills. If you were smart, you should have Lyn up to a passable level already. Try to have every archer turn be a kill, because they can turn into killing machines later on. And you should only be using Marcus to protect the tent, if at all. And you see that nice, shiny Silver Spear he uses? Put it away. Give it to Oswin later on instead.

And heal every turn you can. I don't care if it's one HP, heal. The faster you get your healers up in level, the better.

And you really need to take into account resistance levels before sending someone off to fight a magic user. Kent got killed because his resistance is pitiful usually. Marcus is actually the best Paladin/Cavalier when it comes to resistance, but don't use him.

[BigBeuBeu]

Many of characters are able to become a great unit if you train them right and if RNG likes you with them....
Don't forget weak units must be leveled like pegasus or archers to become a top of your team, you can hurt ennemies with your cavalier or units with good hp, and finish them with your weaks for having much more XP....
At least you know about Jeigans like Marcus I think....

[LadyDragon]

Yeah if I were you I'd take out the archers with another unit, (perhaps your Lowen, for no reason except he seems like a decent unit for you, or maybe a lord.) Then bring your Florina in. She can be great when leveled up. So yes, you should you her as much as possible since from the way you're talking it sounds like she hasn't leveled up much maybe not at all. At least you realize that Marcus hogs XP and he ain't worth it, it's good to learn that early on. I personally don't like Erk, feeling of course that I need only one good anima magic unit, (NINO!!!!) so I usually never bother with him, of course other people will argue that he's essential...basically you should try and use the units you think will do the best, or you can be like many other people, (I do it sometimes) and merely train the units you like.

[DukeSerkol]

Ah, so I can redeem myself with the arena (I don't mind the score either, I already got one star in the tactic/speed category with perfect score in all others and Marcus says I'm doing well)
I ran into an arena in FE3, but I don't quite get the point of it... how is it different from killing the chapter's enemies? Does it award more XP? (Or am I supposed to use it again and again once I'm done with the Chapter's enemies?)

I always fight with this strategy: I look for a bottleneck in the path and make a front line of melee combat character and place archers (and now Erk too) behind them; waiting for the enemy to come. It has worked so far, although it results in loooong chapters. Is this what you people do too?

Lyn is cool, she's one level below Eliwood but way stronger than him... too bad she has so little HP and not a great defense either.

Lowen isn't way over the top in my game, but he's still stronger than Eliwood and Hector, the latter missing the enemy once every two attacks I think I'll give him the secret book (I'm not even going to mention the fighters). I guess being better at rushing around, Lowen probably got more enemies in the starting chapters.

So, are there any units other than Marcus you would advise me to disregard entirely? As I said, I'm on chapter 15 and did not lose anybody (I even gave a few level ups to the fighters, rhougly half of Eliwood's for each of them... but I'm not sure they'll be of much use)

[NeonZ]

DukeSerkol said:

I ran into an arena in FE3, but I don't quite get the point of it... how is it different from killing the chapter's enemies? Does it award more XP? (Or am I supposed to use it again and again once I'm done with the Chapter's enemies?)

Yes, you're supposed to use it again and again and again and again...

But, if you're playing FE3... DO NOT send bad units to the arena. That's sending them to death.

[superbus]

Well, for one, if you've got Lyn one level below Eliwood at this point, either your Eliwood is strong enough to eat rocks, or you're not giving your lords enough levels. That WILL bite you in the ass later. To put things in perspective, I had my Lyn at Lv. 12 at the end of her stage, and Lv. 13 by the end of Chap. 15.

As for future units to disregard,... I'd say any pre-promoted character, except maybe Hawkeye, Pent and Louise (keep Louise around ONLY for support; you'll see why). Someone said earlier that Isadora "plays left bench", and since I like that saying so much, I'm going ot steal it. Harken also kinda blows. It's your choice as to weather or not you want to power up Serra, but I say go for it, if only because she gets REALLY powerful, and is good once she's able to counter attack.

Buy a LOT of heal staffs. Reason for this is because you should be healing every turn. I can not stress this enough. Someone went up a level and is one HP below max? Heal him - 11 free exp! Don't worry about Mend staffs too much; they're more expensive, and for the most part, depending on how well your healer's magic is, a Heal staff will be enough.

In conclusion, a couple bullet points:

* Give your weaker characters the kills in the early going, unless a weak unit is in BIG trouble of being killed.

* Heal every turn.

* Work on your unpromoted units - for the most part, they turn out very well.

* NEVER promote before lv. 20. Exception for this (and I WILL get argued with for this) is if you have an exclusive healer (Serra or Priscilla) late in the game.

[RebeccaTheSniper]

heres my strategy:
*lvl people up at lvl 15 or 20

*give your weak units a chance to beat the crap out of someone

*dont get killed

*kill long range people with short range attacks

*dont send someone out unless you know they will survive

*lvl your peg knights(they will become fast,furious and they look good too)

*dont under(or over)use a character.

[Blacken]

Use the arenas religiously, but only if you can get to Chapter 21 (because then you can use Ninian's special ability to make the arena characters more-or-less invulnerable and rescue them out so you only have to cast Ninis's Grace once...look on any cheats/tactics page for a full description).

As for characters...well, I got Lyn to over 13 in her chapters in my most recent game (and Kent at 20-2 paladin, but that's another story...I played Hard mode. The most you'd get is 20).

And I know I disagree with most people here, but Marcus is a viable character versus mages--but don't level him till one of the arenas. When you've got an entire party of level 20 unpromoted merry asskickers, having a promoted one is fun. (Or, alternatively, a 20-20 Raven after Badon...)

[CO Raptor]

And another thing, concentrate on about 16 characters max. Otherwise you'll spread you Exp. too thin, and end up with relatively low leveled/weak characters.
Try to keep some variety in your party, so you can cope with any situation.
And flyers are good. If this is your first playthrough, use Florina, as she usually becomes a great Mageslayer and character overall

[DukeSerkol]

Ah, good thing I came by and asked: the arena had me freaked out in FE3.

On chapter 15 I got Lyn on level 9/10 and Eliwood 10/11... but as said Lyn kills enemies much quicker (yet is rather frail)

I didn't mean what characters I should disregard in the future, I meant now. I don't think I can level up everybody. Are character like Bartz ever going to be of use? If, as you tell me, my lords are already underdeveloped, what will be of them if I give XP to the fighters and Matthew?

Anyway, thanks for the help everybody, I'll try to put all advice to good use.

[Blacken]

Lyn's "frail"? Did you give Matthew the angelic robe or something? (Give them all to Lyn--well, two of them--and she becomes fairly godly.)

Bartre sucks. If you were playing Hector's mode there's a reason to get him (lets you recruit a very good character later on) to level 5 promoted, but in Eliwood's there's no need. Also, if you're going to arena whore ("fast" characters that do excellent damage, such as Raven, don't need to wait until after the Dread Isle to do the arena...you can do it with other chars like Lyn, Matthew--the exception to the rule!--and...hrm...well, I did Erk and Lucius, too; do NOT do Hector or Oswin unless you use the arena select trick) the XP you distribute to your fighters isn't very important.

[TheEnd]

DukeSerkol said:

Ah, good thing I came by and asked: the arena had me freaked out in FE3.

FE7's arena isn't as evil. Base classes only face base class. So, you don't have to fear seeing your dear Myrmidon facing a Hero.

[DukeSerkol]

What's this arena select trick? (I'd go look for it myself, but I'd rather not spoil myself too much with other stuff I may run into)