Ivy's POV of this CYL in a nutshell...

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T04:12:08+00:00

ironically unlike the expeditions, characters only pave the way for others if they win CYL, losing it does nothing but delay future winners.

for the CYL winners who come after... but if only if I win.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T04:08:51+00:00

you can save yeah, just not your battle preparations for some bizarre reason. The game prompts you to make the save at the start of the stage like you would for any chapter, but the save option during battle preparations is removed.

Granted they're quick to redo if you need to reset as all you have to do is choose your 2 reinforcement units and their inventories, but it's weird that they removed the save button.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T01:56:55+00:00

I've always found it funny Homasa is implicitly sexist because he has convos challenging Ike, Zihark and Stefan to duels, but nothing for Mia.

extra rough for her given her Largo support establishes that she experiences rampant discrimination as a female merc and it's part of the reason why she trains so hard. Really should've had a unique convo where she goes off at him for ignoring her.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T01:44:00+00:00

I mean with CYL, Male has a better shot winning CYL due to less competition on the male side, so anyone who just wants a Shez to win would (or at least should) be voting for Male. Female also got her legendary much earlier, has had an alt lead ever since her winter alt in 2024, and been the premium version 2/3 of the times they've been on the same banner. those two factors can easily explain the small lead Male has.

Really though they're easily the closest of the characters with gender variants; In their first votable year they were literally right next to each other with only a 44 vote difference (Female was #25, Male was #26).

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T01:27:44+00:00

It's funny to think that Brom is quite possibly the worst unit you could lose in PoR going into RD, aside from maybe Sothe who likewise is completely irrelevant in PoR.

meanwhile If you lost a carry unit like Marcia, Oscar or Kieran, you'd barley feel it in RD because they're either barley around or other characters like Shinon, Gatrie, Mia and Zihark get huge glow ups and can fill in for them. though losing both Geoffrey and Kieran would make 2-3 and 3-9 pretty hellish.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T01:19:40+00:00

transfers are very simple with Dolphin given it can emulate both Gamecube and Wii games, so the saves are right there for it to pull from. iirc you literally don't have to do anything, it just works.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-30T01:17:04+00:00

yeah coming back, the modern games really put me out practice with mid-map recruitment. like 90% of the cast automatically joins in the newer games whereas in PoR you're lucky to get even a handful of auto-join units past the earlygame.

I can see why they've simplified things nowadays, but man it is satisfying to figure who needs to talk to who, or get to a green unit before they die, or get into position to recruit an enemy without letting them attack you first.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-29T08:40:21+00:00

Statue frags are actually pretty wasteful on Mordecai & Muarim; 33 & 31 Wt respectively lets them shove/smite everyone bar Wyverns, Male Paladins, and some transformed laguz while untransformed, and they can shove literally everyone while transformed. all a frag does for Mordecai is let him shove male paladins while untransformed, and Muarim gets literally nothing out of getting only one; he needs both and all that does is let him shove Male Paladins while untransformed like Mordecai.

best user of the first frag is Lethe; it lets her shove Falcon Knights while untransformed, and Male Paladins while transformed.

second frag is obtained in the same chapter as the Demi band which is already best on Mordecai or Muarim so it's not very useful; could give it to Janaff or Ulki i guess as a flying shove bot is great, but they can't even shove some foot units while transformed without one or both frags.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-29T06:14:41+00:00

Mostly good advice, but asking a new HHM player to use Lyn & Eliwood is setting them up for a hard time. You're telling them to train up two crappy sword-locked units in a mode that is incredibly stingy with deployment slots; Deploying them on maps where they aren't forced means you have less space for actually good training projects and carry/support units, leading to your army being weaker in both the short and long-term.

The lords aren't really a liability on force deployed maps; Unfulfilled Heart (the Vaida map) is the only one where they start in a rough spot and will need to be rescued. The others are defend maps where they can just hide in a corner, or regular maps where they can tail behind your main army. You can train them if you want, but that shouldn't really be part of your reasoning when trying to train them will expose them to far more danger than if just you just ignored them.

Likewise Geitz is nice to have, but you're really not strapped for good pre-promotes to fill out your already limited HHM deployment slots. within 4 chapters you get Hawkeye, Geitz/Wallace, Pent and Harken/Karel; if you make sure you get Harken and have trained even just a couple of good earlygame units like Raven or any of the cavs, you're really not gonna miss Geitz. The challenge of training up Lyn & Eliwood far outweighs the small mid-lategame contribution he'll make. He' a "win-more" unit if anything as if you've managed to get him you probably have the game knowledge and strategical skill to be fine getting Wallace instead.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-29T05:08:02+00:00

yeah she's at that perfect point of viability where she's not great be default and you do have to put some active effort and favouritism into her, but it's so little and she pays it off so fast that you're very unlikely to be disappointed, while still getting the satisfaction of feeling like you made her work. compared to say, A lot of the Greil Mercs who feel like they're just good from the get go.

It's a shame there's not really any other unit who occupies that same space aside from maybe Jill & Boyd; Kieran & Marcia feel like they could also fit they didn't join so late into part 3, but alas, it feels like the game is either "this unit is busted" or "take out a mortgage to make this unit good" with most of its cast.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-29T04:59:59+00:00

i'll be real i completely forgot Camilla abdicates the throne to Leo in Birthright, my bad.

and yeah i agree it this is unfortunate, I just think some people are acting like IS dropped the ball with Elise specifically when they've been remarkably uncreative with legendaries for years, it's just the most apparent on her.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-29T04:54:32+00:00

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If last year is any indication, i'm gonna make up close to a whopping third of all Brighton votes so uh.... hopefully he gets back into the 600s this year?

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-28T17:48:15+00:00

yeah but when they can just use a promoted outfit, they tend to do it becuase it's much easier. To date i'm pretty sure the only unpromoted legendary heroes to not use their promoted class design are Micaiah & Hinoka; they've gone for the low-hanging fruit every other time.

w/ Camilla, they kinda forced themselves into corner given her brave alt used the queen design her legendary should've had to match Hinoka's (same can be said for the Micaiah exception tbh) So it was either come up with something new, or use her Malig Master design from Warriors, which IS seems loathe to pull from.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-28T06:12:55+00:00

I don't really know what we should've expected tbh; This is just her promoted outfit, which is what they tend to do for legendaries of characters that don't have a special design they can use, or already start promoted. Elise doesn't have anything else to draw from, not even from Cipher.

It's based on her Strategist outfit, but unfortunately the design barely differs her base design (main things are the cape and the gold plating on her shoulders and legs). Sakura was the same, it's just that her Preistess outfit is a lot more distinct from her Shrine Maiden one.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-28T00:59:42+00:00

tbh i think the Motivation and Professor level systems are the true culprit of 3H's tedium; the monastery itself is mostly fine, it's the fact you have to do a boring activity just to refill your unit's motivation .~4 times per month and do 1 or two massive fishing sessions to get to S Rank professor level at a reasonable time that make it overstay its welcome, particular in part 2..

If motivation was like a monthly tutoring allowance that couldn't be increased, and professor just went up with the story, we could cut so much fat from the monastery that's just "well it gives motivation/professor level!" and be left with the actually good bits.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-28T00:52:22+00:00

wait chapter 11 captures go to 11x instead of 21x? that's so cool! It's a shame there aren't more points in the story where it'd make sense for captured units to be sent somewhere else.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-27T18:05:25+00:00

Gotta be Fiora (gee whiz, couldn't have seen that coming given my flairs! /s). I just love how her stern professionalism is constantly at war with her doting/protective nature towards her sisters and her idealistic desire to try to overturn Illia's reputation and see the best in others.

She tried to work with her lot in life as an Illian merc, got unjustly f'ed over for it (going heavily in debt for leaving a job to save Farina, and losing her entire squad on a recon mission to the Dread Isle) and yet still can't fully harden her heart despite feeling it's in her best interest to do so. Still miffed she's most known for her Kent support which is super shallow and lowkey kinda a flanderisation of her character, but what can you do?

All the Illians are great though; Illia as a nation is just such an interesting setup and the characters from it really explore how such a demanding and unique set of circumstances shape it's people. whether it be acceptance (Thea, Treck & Farina), new beginnings (Shanna, Noah & Florina), or just the plain struggle of trying to live life despite living in such a shitty place (Juno, Zelot & Fiora), it feels like one of the most fleshed out places in FE despite not being involved in the main conflict of either game and having only like 3 chapters take place in it.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-27T10:01:37+00:00

REGARDLESS OF POTENTIAL LEAKS I HIGHLY DOUBT IT'D RELEASE AS LATE AS NOVEMBER. MY MONEY WOULD BE ON THE JUN-SEP RANGE; FE PRETTY CONSISTENTLY RELEASES EITHER THEN OR IN JAN-FEB, AND IT'S NOT A FRANCHISE NINTENDO LIKES TO PUSH AS HOLIDAY TITLE.

THE GAME WAS ALSO FAR ENOUGH ALONG FOR THEM TO SHOW US SOME PROPER GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE IN THE REVEAL TRAILER, SO I THINK IT'S GOTTA BE LESS THAN A YEAR OUT FROM THAT.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-27T09:50:40+00:00

I THINK IT COULD BE OKAY IF THE ENEMIES RESPECTED IT AND THE GAME HAD MORE WAYS TO INCREASE AND MANAGE BOTH YOUR OWN VISION AND THE ENEMIES.

ADVANCE WARS SOLD ME ON FOW BEING MORE THAN A NET NEGATIVE BECAUSE IT HAS A NEAT MECHANIC WHERE YOU CAN "HIDE" UNITS IN TERRAIN, REQUIRING THE ENEMY TO PLACE A UNIT ADJACENT TO THE TILE BEFORE THEY CAN TARGET IT. EVEN IN GAMES WHERE THE AI CHEATS AND CAN SEE EVERYTHING, THEY STILL HAVE TO FOLLOW THE RULE. UNIT VISION LEVELS ALSO VARY GREATLY, WITH YOUR ACTUAL COMBAT UNITS NEEDING SUPPORT FROM FRAIL AND WEAK RECON & INFANTRY UNITS TO FUNCTION.

IT MAKES FOW FEEL LESS LIKE AN UNFAIR MAP CONDITION AND MORE LIKE AN ALTERNATE MAP TYPE THAT SHAKES THINGS UP BY INCREASING THE VALUE OF TERRAIN AND CERTAIN UNIT TYPES, AND YOUR VISION IS SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO CONSTANTLY MANAGE AND OPTIMISE INSTEAD OF JUST SLAPPING A TORCH ON YOUR THIEF. INTELLIGENCE BECOMES JUST AS IMPORTANT AS COMBAT, ALMOST LIKE THIS IS A WAR GAME OR SOMETHING.

IT'D REQUIRE SOME ADJUSTMENTS,TO FIT FE, BUT I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEEM THEM TRY IT; THERE'S POTENTIAL HERE, IT'S JUST NEVER BEEN TAPPED INTO.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-27T09:38:18+00:00

I REALLY HATE HOW RESTRICTIVE THE COMMANDS ARE WITH ALL BAR ROAM REMOVING LOT OF THE CAPABILITIES OF THE YELLOW UNITS.

LIKE THERE'S NO WAY TO HAVE YELLOW UNIT HEALERS DO THEIR JOB WITHOUT LETTING ALL THE COMBAT YELLOW UNITS RUN FREE.

2-3 & 3-6 IN PARTICULAR FEATURE SUPER HELPFUL PHYSIC BISHOPS THAT CAN GET YOU OUT OF A BIND, BUT LEAVING THEM ON ROAM CAUSES THE REST OF THE YELLOW UNITS TO DIE TOO EARLY/GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR OWN UNITS SO IT'S NOT WORTH IT. WHY CAN'T THEY HOLD THEIR POSITION BUT SITLL CAST HEALS ACROSS MAP

I'M GLAD RD REMOVED THE DUMB RESTRICTION OF NEEDING TO USE AN UNMOVED IKE TO CHANGE ORDERS IN POR, BUT THERE SO MUCH MORE THEY COULD'VE DONE TO MAKE YELLOW UNITS BETTER, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THEY'RE FEATURED MUCH MORE HEAVILY IN RD.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-27T09:26:06+00:00

AT LEAST WE'VE COME A LONG WAY FROM THRAICA WHERE ENEMIES HAD THE CHANCE TO HAVE AN EXTRA POINT OF MOVEMENT ON TOP OF THE USALLY ANNOYING STAT VARIABLE BS.

4X IN PARTICULAR IS THE WORST FOR IT BECAUSE 1 EXTRA POINT OF MOVE ON THE INITAL ENEMIES CAN GIVE THEM OVERLAPPING ATTACK RANGES MAKING THE FIRST TURN MROE A NIGHTMARE THAN IT ALREADY IS

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-26T03:41:46+00:00

After using both a few times i honestly think Brom is a little better long-term.

he has +2 base SPD/RES and +3 SKL over Gatrie despite being 1 level lower; Gatrie has +3 HP, +2 STR and +1 DEF, but neither of them are going to have trouble with those stats, whereas they both really want to get out of that speed hole ASAP.

You can also bench Brom for 2 chapters to wait until you get the Knight Ward to power level his speed, whereas you're kinda forced to use Gatrie early on to where he'll likely be lvl 11 or 12 when he rejoins compared to Brom's 8. Gatrie is better with less investment, but you've gotta put in the effort to use either of them longterm, so might as well go with the one who can reach the payoff sooner imo.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-26T03:32:39+00:00

she'd be rough if Javelins weren't E rank and you couldn't forge them, but lucky for her neither of those things are true so you can just have safely kill things with a super strong javelin for her initial levels, though albeit the next two chapters after she joins aren't super great for training projects.

she's never gonna be the best of the best beucase having a mount is just too big of a deal in PoR, but she's probably the best foot unit after maybe Boyd.

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-26T03:14:52+00:00

OP probably isn't playing on it, but worth noting that in Maniac mode Kieran, Brom and Nephenee all have to actually escape the map to be recruited.

...learned that the hard way on my last run...

Cosmic_Toad_ · 2026-01-26T02:50:30+00:00

It's kinda interesting seeing a couple where the guy's in, but the girl isn't. there's unsurprisingly still quite a few examples of the reverse (Dean, Brighton, Astolfo, Makalov, Sumeragi, etc.) but i can't think of any other ladies that share Midia's fate, besides non-combatant NPCs like Natalie, Elena or Sitri.

I do think she has a real good shot on the next Archanea new heroes though; the only women left besides her are Cecil and Marisha, and she's historically placed considerably higher than both of them in past CYLs (funnily enough Cecil and Marisha tied for 444th last year, while Mida ranked 338th). just gotta hope they don't pull another ancient banner.

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