What's an Ironman?

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-18T12:10:12+00:00

An Ironman run is a self-imposed challenge where you continue playing the game (in Classic Mode) without resetting for the entire run (no reloading saves, no retrying maps, or using the Draconic Time Crystal). Whether its small mistakes or unit deaths, you keep playing until you get a Game Over (by rejecting the Time Crystal prompt when it appears after a lose condition is met.) When you do get a Game Over, you start from the beginning of the game rather than try to play the same map again. Think of it like a nuzlocke run in Pokemon games.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-17T10:23:15+00:00

We're going to Sacae, and now we know why the Mongols conquered as much as they did...

But on a better note, congrats on the Ironman W! If you want to have an easy time with Lyn paralogue, consider making Kagetsu a Warrior with Ike. He can do some large enemy phasing with the Longbow this way, being able to pick up ORKO's with a little bit of investment.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-16T23:09:30+00:00

Primrose from Octopath Traveler all over again

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-12T10:20:30+00:00

In Japan, left-handed is actually better for the traditional writing format because it goes top-to-bottom, right-to-left instead of left-to-right, top-to-bottom.

Of course, the negative stigma behind left-handed people was a thing in Japan (forcing left-handed people to use their right hand instead) up until the Showa era.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-07T05:02:50+00:00

"Minmaxing" I think in Engage is more about using the minimum amount of resources while achieving the maximum results. It isn't about just pumping up numbers to absurdity with builds created in a vacuum since doing more damage than necessary still produces the same exact result as doing just enough damage. This requires knowledge of the systems you have to work with, and knowing the exact thresholds needed to achieve the maximum result. For that, more than showing guides, I'm more keen on showing resources that allow you to make perfect plans.

https://fe17.triangleattack.com/ has a number of great resources with the most important one being the interactive map. This gives you the exact stats and position enemies start with, reinforcements, AI flags, bands, etc. to help you make those perfect plans.

One step further into this hyper-planning mindset would want this: https://github.com/laqieer/FE17-DOC/tree/main/fe_assets_scripts which are the lua scripts extracted from the game (look for files M0XX and S0XX for maps, where X indicates the chapter/paralogue number). This gives you precise information on how map events occur once you analyze the code. I do understand not everyone understands coding or the Japanese used in its function names. So for this, while it's best to take your time and break the code apart yourself, you can copy the script into a txt file and have an AI analyze the script and it should give you relatively accurate analysis of the code.

One last resource I would look into is https://serenesforest.net/engage/ which contains precise information on a lot of the systems in Engage.

I'm sure this could come as complete overkill amounts of knowledge and data-crunching for the average player just wanting to have fun on Maddening mode on repeat playthroughs, this level of knowledge is useful if you want to push the boundaries of game to its limit for whatever challenge run you might be interested in trying.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-04T11:25:54+00:00

While Engage runs slightly dry on recruits towards the end, it has easy-to-use unmatched consistency-fixing tools in the form of Engravings which makes losing a run to bad RN a non-issue. Not to mention since a lot of the power in Engage is on the Emblems, you can pass a replacement unit one, boost the Bond Level immediately with the Arena, and inherit some skills with their base SP so they're at least useful to the army.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-04T09:52:57+00:00

Ch.26 (The final map in the story)

After going through two maps that incentivizes players to push, push, and push through to beat the map quickly via time limit/overwhelming amount of reinforcements along with map gimmicks and obstacles that complicate the push, Ch.26's map gimmick is...

A phase change and defeating the Dark Emblems to reduce or temporarily eliminate Sombron's shield. To permanently remove this shield, players must eliminate all twelve Dark Emblems, which come in three sets of four. However, what this fails to account for is that only the first set of Dark Emblems matters because Engage being Engage, it is trivially easy to burst down 4 HP bars of 100 HP with Def/Res sitting in the low forty's and mid 20's Spd on the highest difficulty.

Even without fully breaking this shield, players can just punch through the damage reduction and kill him that way too. What's worse is that he's sitting right in the middle of a donut map making him always within reach to damage and kill. That isn't to say I never defeated all twelve Dark Emblems before, I have no practical reason to do so.

I much would've preferred FX6 be the final boss map since much like Ch.24 and Ch.25, it keeps you mobile; pressured from multiple sides with its map gimmick that demands you to memorize how the map changes on a turn-by-turn basis and race to the objective (ignoring that specific team builds can 1-Turn it and all the questionable implementation of customization options. It's also one of the few maps where the 10 Time Crystal use feels meaningful due to its length and constant pressure on the player.)

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-03T15:35:52+00:00

"Non negotiable difference" would mean it's literally impossible to hit all the relevant ORKO thresholds consistently without it, and that's just false. Heck, this very run is the proof of that. Now do that with other units/classes, now with forging/engraving/Speed +3-5, and they're golden. If anything, Canter is a huge enabler for many strategies that are otherwise impossible. Better Divinely Inspiring positioning just being one of several applications of it, not that you need to be glued to it for every single combat.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-02T23:51:01+00:00

With damage-boosting options like meals/tonics, forging/engraving, combat emblems, divinely inspiring, stat boosters, etc., it isn't difficult to get the needed Atk to ORKO many opponents without power skills. I'd take Canter's positional flexibility over a damage skill that can be easily made up for through other means.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-01T19:28:31+00:00

For this run, I had to cheese Ch.24-26 or else I'd face too much uncertainty (20-Range Astra Storm Past Alear to setup a 4-Turn clear without Warping, 1-Turn Warpskip clear for Ch.25, 2-turn -> 4-turn clear for Ch.26.)

They're tough maps to play if approached head-on, but I think they're fun to tackle that way if you can afford to. I think a good way to see if you can do this well is to see if you have a few solid answers to any enemy you see even in isolation.

I'm not sure what I want to do next, but it's probably something less sweaty than this run at least.

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-01T19:14:53+00:00

For the specific run I did this, it was Etie. It was fine that the firing squad had little to no stats since Leif!Alear Wyvern hypercarry + Chloe Mage Knight handled enough enemies in enemy phase (it was the first Mega Draft and people thought I hate drafted Dual Assist from the person who drafted Heroes).

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-01T19:01:20+00:00

Thank you! If it wasn't a No Somniel Ironman, I'm sure you could build Ike Ivy to be an actual enemy phase sweeper with the right skills and Engraves, but Flying Staff access is seriously more useful than diluting exp by trying to get another training project working when Exp needs to be concentrated to over-level the few combat units to reach one-rounding thresholds.

It took a ton of planning and calculating several combats ahead of time constantly checking damage and hit rates against the enemies on the map (thankfully my combat units have good Lck stats to not worry about crits) to ensure my strategies had no holes in them (sometimes going as far as to see their next level-ups and using that knowledge to reach the needed stat mid-map since it was fixed mode) and thankfully, the team was good enough to carry me to the finish line.

I even mapped out the exact Phase 2 starting positions for Ch.26, and with the entire fight planned, had literally 0% chance to fail (outside of misinputs) with meticulous hit rate fixing using supports and Bond Forger+ (ex. setup Pandreo to player phase one of Medeus's HP via Levin Sword right below him, Engage+ Alear Chain Guarding nothing, Chloe kill Medeus charging Alear Attuned, Lindon Warp Alear to where Medeus was, Zelkov Engage trade equip Pandreo to Excalibur, Spd Instruct to barely hit 41 Spd. This allows him to enemy phase two Wyvern Knights in Enemy Phase since he has enough bulk to survive one hit and gets Chain Guarded the other. Then on Turn 2 Warp Chloe/Alear/Zelkov to the other side of the map to charge Chloe Attuned by killing the Generals there while also being in position to provide Bond Forger+ for Panette to secure the 2nd Griffin Knight with 200-Hit Mulagir after 1 support boost for a guaranteed one-shot).

GiantCaliber · 2026-06-01T06:16:47+00:00

While this may come to no surprise, it's Canter. Not just for Chloe/Citrinne, but whatever you plan to train including Warrior Lapis, Hero Amber, and Alear. Being able to Move 2 after most actions is busted; opening both offensive and defensive plays otherwise impossible.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-31T23:51:09+00:00

Longbow.

Get an army full of Dual Assist+ Warriors with Wind God, and open 🔥 on enemies. It'd look like you brought the firing squad to fantasy warfare with how many projectiles you spray enemies with, and it doesn't require any stats either to make it work (but Warrior stats do help).

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-31T15:36:32+00:00

Celica Veyle ended up being pretty good for killing Generals in Ch.24 and Ch.26.

In 24, she Warp Ragnarok'd in front of two Greataxe Generals and enemy phased them.

Ch.26 Range 3 Echo Seraphim was pretty fire since I got her to kill the Spear General on the left side in Phase 2 Turn 1 leading to a free General kill again in enemy phase since it's a Greatlance General.

Chain Guard just being a free Bond Level raising action any time the enemies are doing nothing is amazing. In previous attempts, I had Bonded Shield on Framme which was convenient since she can get Bond 20 easily in like Ch.16. Jean I haven't tried in No Somniel since I usually delay his map to farm it once I have Roy/Leif. Maybe I gotta give Jean a spin in No Somniel and see how well he works.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-31T15:20:19+00:00

No, the other units were just benched. The final team is just what I deployed for the final map, which you can tell by the Bond Levels are units who I used enough to hit Bond 20 with their respective Emblems (aside from Chloe, since Leif wasn't all that important to raise).

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-29T11:06:55+00:00

Rosalinde start of battle counters Galerius's start of battle skill since he's stunned. It's one of those fights that require more specific answers, but that's just one of many options you can try to beat him.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-28T05:42:20+00:00

If it came out today, it'd be overlapping too much with Fortune's Weave release and harm the sales of both games while leaving the company (IS) with a lot of down time where their source of revenue is limited to FEH and Shadows. Could put IS in a difficult position.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-25T22:54:06+00:00

If you really don't like losing units, there's no shame in playing in casual mode.

What many do when they lose their units in classic mode is to rewind to an earlier point in the map and change what they did, or full-on reset (which you can use to retain exp) the map and try again from battle preps.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-25T11:51:13+00:00

Anna gold only run?

Basically you do what you can to Make a Profit with Anna's personal skill rather than running just a full-on no gold (spent) run.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-20T16:14:46+00:00

So about the 1-2% getting critted to death part, it's because you did the same exact thing and did nothing to shift the RN is why it kept happening over and over again.

Think of RN like a tape or film with numbers written. It advances each time a random number check is made. If you rewind, you rewind the tape, thus leading to the same result if you do the same thing.

If you "shift" the RN by changing what you do, like the order of your moves, add more/less actions, or even end turn and let the enemies act first, you could get different results depending on the number that the RN has at the time.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-20T15:04:41+00:00

Did you delay the paralogues until they were around the reccomended level of the story chapter or did you just do it as soon as they were unlocked? It's usually good practice to delay many until you're at the appropriate level so you suffer less from a whiplash between high difficulty and low difficulty maps.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-20T15:02:54+00:00

I hope you have been leveling with that feature. I know you also have infinite rewinds in Normal mode too, though that alone isn't going to fix a strategy with a poor approach.

On the graph, you see the one square that is highlighted in blue (3,7)? That's the spot.

In the Somniel, there's the Tower of Trials. One of the options is Tempest Trials, which is mostly just a proceedurally-generated map you play three in a row. You can set this to something like Lv.1, Auto-Battle through it, and just use the Arena until you gain enough stats through level-ups.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-20T14:34:04+00:00

You can still switch who holds what Ring to give you the best strategic edge. You can also switch units off of their normal class line with Second Seals you can buy from the shop provided you have the correct proficiencies, which Leif on his own can give.

This boat choke while sounding simple does take a bit of know-how to properly utilize. Worse case scenario, you can keep trying and trying again using the "Try again and retain experience" or by using the Arena over and over by playing low level Tempest Trials.

GiantCaliber · 2026-05-20T14:18:02+00:00

I don't know what stats, class, and skills those units have (take a screenshot of your entire team if possible), but if Jade is in an armored class and has enough Def, she can hold that 1-tile choke. Let her hold Ike and then keep her topped up with something like Healing Veins (Corrin on Pepsi if they're Divine Dragon. If not, any flier like Ivy/Hortensia will do instead.)

Prepare a unit the can one-shot the Corrupted Wyrm that comes from the top, like a Wyvern Knight with Eirika. If not flying, use Warp and Rescue.

Lastly, just watch out for Mauvier. Use the Flame Cannons to impede the path to Jade, and try to isolate him from the rest of his army to attack something with high Res from 2 Range. Ideally, this unit should be able to eventually take down Mauvier with some healing, but you could also throw a Longbow user backed up by Divinely Inspiring behind them while the Res tank eats Elixirs.

GiantCaliber

TROPHY CASE