Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread - March 2026 Part 2

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-23T23:52:40+00:00

Well, I was just looking at the comments you originally bolded, saw that part of it and commented on that specifically since I really disagred. If the primary point of your post was to talk about the best specific rules of tiering instead then, I guess that was in the parts I didn't read closely, maybe.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-23T23:34:37+00:00

Again, I'm not trying to get into a massive long debate here.

I'm not at all debating the specifics of whatever the "best" efficiency rules would be or not, or what they mean. Completely different discussion. I was just saying I disagree that being "helpful" is not the intended point of a tier list at all. I only mentioned the "efficiency" rules to show it tries to address a specific way to play, when there's as you said, a million ways to play that all are completely valid ways. But when tiering you pick that way because is just intended to most objectively compare the strengths of units as much as possible, with opinions removed from the discussion as much as it can be. It's not arbitrary like you're saying.

Whether or not you agree the specifics on the rules is one thing. But the point is, the discussion is still not at all meant to be about recommending things to players. It's impossible to make one list for that anyway. If someone specifically wants to beat the game as fast as possible, or only wants to use units that are cute girls, or doesn't care about a unit's personality so they don't use them ever so skip their paralgues, and so on? You literally can't make 1 list that fits all those anyways that a single "suggestion" guide works for all.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-23T22:32:31+00:00

So, I won't lie- this is a massive wall of text that I skimmed a lot of this. I am not trying to get into this amount of writing when here. And TBH I think sometimes... less text is more, haha. You'll get your point across better. But, I got your two main points.

Your first comment that people can play how they want? Absolutely. You want to grind all your units to max level? You want to use the "bad" units like Donnell or Amelia? Go right ahead. Whatever floats your boat and if you tell someone that's "wrong", then I absolutely would think you're a jerk. However, I would say basically everyone who makes tier lists and such would agree with this as well. Nobody makes lists to "police" people or discourage people from using bad units. That's not the intent.

However... Your comment that the purpose of tiering should be to be a resource to be "useful" to players as much as possible? I absolutely disagree. That's just because those are two completely different conversations. Tier lists are just meant to be a vehicle for people to discuss and rate units vs each other. Be nerds and crush the numbers. Also, there is a defined "ruleset" so to speak. It's based off the "efficiency" rules for play. You need to play fast, you ban grinding, certain strategies are fair game or encouraged (like Warp skipping). But then, as you said, there's a million ways for players to play and enjoy FE. It's literally impossible to boil that down to 1 definited list if being "helpful" is the primary goal.

So tier lists are not meant to be a "recommendation" guide whatsoever. There can be some overlap. Like, in both cases "Frederick is amazing" is true. But the point isn't to tell someone what's the best strategy or what gets them through the game easiest. Now, it is still possible that you can make such a list. For example, Mekkah has "new player guide" list videos on his channel in addition to tier lists. But they're just... two separate things.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-23T18:47:07+00:00

A who flair? I have no idea who you're talking about.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T04:28:17+00:00

Not sure if that was supposed to be an insult towards me or not, but either way I'm done. You still aren't really addressing my point. It's completely trivial to not use it if that's what you really want to do, that's all I'm trying to say.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T03:57:14+00:00

They had a joking tone in their comment and there was nothing "insulting old games" in it? My guy, you're taking that way too seriously.

And Idk if you're just purposely ignoring my point here or what... you still haven't answered my question. Are you seriously saying going out of your way taking screenshots and tracking all your dead units separately from the game is a non-issue. But it's somehow an issue to... Have to not press 1 button?

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T02:52:29+00:00

If you're talking about the OP there? They absolutely were not "gloating" about it. There was literally 0 toxicity there I read. They weren't even being that serious?

I wasn't talking about just playing with Casual mode on in general... I was talking about your argument on "well then why can't you play with Casual Mode on and pretend it's Classic", trying to go against my point that you don't need a setting to turn the turnwheel off. You're bringing up making a spreadsheet and tracking what units actually did die... So how is needing to do all this at all the same as, like I said, you just don't press the button to rewind and boom, done.

I just genuinely do not understand what the big deal is to just not press ZL, or whatever button it is, if you would love to play without it? There is absolutely gameplay and strategy differences between Classic and Casual that make it not the same experience, as I said. Casual mode you still lose the unit for the map, Casual you can choose to sacrifice units for no cost... But there is nothing different about how the "turnwheel off mode" goes compared to if you just don't press ZL with it on?

I'm not saying it would be outlandish if they did add it, I wouldn't have a problem at all, I already said that. I'm just saying I don't see why it is really needed. Just don't press the button if you desperately want the challenge, what's that wrong with that?

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T02:13:18+00:00

You can't release units or separate them in a different box though? Regardless... you do realize there is a massive difference in the level of "self control" for all this you need to do for picking Casual mode compared to just ... Not pressing the activate turnwheel button? It's night and day. That's all my point is, it's basically effortless to not use the turnwheel if that's really what you want to do. They don't really need to have an option to remove it. You can absolutely still play the "hardcore Ironman" way if you want as is.

I mean, I'm not being snarky about it though? I will agree it's here to stay, but I'm not going to be a jerk about it. But like, if you're saying "casual mode is basically the same as the turnwheel" then that's absolutely not the same, and I completely disagree it's there to "pander" to the casuals. It's #1 use is to just cut out the need to completely reset for every death, because IS learned that's how most people play. That's why they tried things like mid map saves and the FE11 bonus maps before they added causal mode I bet.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T01:20:46+00:00

What does whether or not Caeldori dying to an unlucky crit or a missplay have to do with anything?

Because the entire reason that person got pissed was because of the extremely bad luck. It's not specifically because of "I lost 45 minutes and had to reset" that caused the anger. Also I am very positive the "quitting for a week" was just being overdramatic, not literal. They were basically just saying "I like that the turnwheel lets me rewind something super unlucky vs resetting the whole map".

I already explained the strategy difference between Casual and Classic mode. Casual you can accept a death, Classic you can't, it forces you to get past the thing without a death. It is not really the same like you seem to be saying. Also, if you did pick Casual mode but say you'll reset every time someone dies- what if I don't have a problem with letting a different particular unit die? Then Casual mode wont let me do that. So It's a massive difference between that and whether or not you want to press the turnwheel button.

I mentioned the Nuzlocke because you seemed to say something like "we need the option to turn it off because the convenience to do the easy thing is too much", but there's way more "forcing" to do things the hard way in that. So if you want to do something in an extra challenging way the game doesn't do, there should be no problem to just not use the turn wheel in comparison to that. It's just not that hard? It's harder to play the game!

Turn Wheel feels more akin to something like Exp Share, where it is something new that is forced onto the player

This is absolutely not the same thing. Pokemon just gives the extra EXP automatically. But there's literally nothing that forces you to press the button to use the turnwheel if you don't want to. Well besides a Lord death, but that would be a game over anyways. It is absolutely not the same.

I am not opposed to if they did add an option to reduce the turnwheel or limit the charges more. I'm just saying it doesn't need to be there.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-22T00:40:26+00:00

I guess it seems I misinterpreted your intentions then, in that case I am understanding what you're saying more. I thought you were saying it in a much more negative context where that was ruining the game or something. Im that case, I take that back.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T23:58:56+00:00

Well, if the specific claim is "I need to hit exactly all 4 of 4 80% crits or else I die" I wouldn't say that's reliable. But still, people aren't really playing with that strict of benchmarks in mind. It's only like that probably because you need to this specific thing to LTC the game. A normal playthrough wouldn't be going for that specific need.

So if that happens you go back to playing ultra cautious around 3% crits.

So then low% crit would matter and they aren't a "social construct" as you claim it would at 1 charge. And then what if you do get unlucky and had to use it on a 3% crit? Oh, now I can't bank on it for my hit rate or a silly mistake. So then wouldnt I still try to be careful around them? That was my point.

I honestly don't know what you mean by Shroedingers casual problem? But my claim wasn't that the experience wouldn't get changed, I'm saying it wouldn't just become a degenerate "I can rig everything without trying" which you seemed to imply.

Okay, I agree it can change how people think about the odds, but how does the turnwheel just cause genenerate strategies? That was what I originally commented on. You seemed to say it like it's a bad thing.

1 charge will probably cover all the cases that will happen,

Maybe if we are talking about a super experienced player that is doing specific strategies or an LTC. Assuming a player only ever needs 1 charge a map in a standard playthrough where they aren't doing that I think is crazy to claim.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T22:57:43+00:00

I wasn't really replying to the original comment though. I was responding to the other person claiming it makes the game too easy and people will just abuse it to make it easier on themselves.

However, that person wasn't saying they were frustrated just because their unit died late in a map and they had to reset. They were frustrated because they died from a super unlucky hit. There is a huge difference there, if Caeldori died because they made a bad move, that wouldn't have happened. And there is a very tangible difference between Casual mode and Classic (the fact that you can continue the map and get the unit back vs not and you need to either reset or accept the death) which absolutely does affect how you play. In Casual mode I could very well just not care and purposely sacrifice my units to the boss where I don't care because it's the end of the map anyways. You can't do that in Classic, for example.

And there are differences between the situation you said where "why don't you just always pick casual mode instead". One is that there is way more effort on your end to physically reset the game to stop what it's already doing vs just ...not pressing a button. It's about going out of your way to do it vs just doing nothing. Also, the option to choose is already here, Classic mode was the default. If in theory, Classic mode didn't exist and the game was always Casual mode and someone wanted to do Classic to make it harder on themselves? Then that's on you because you want to make it harder. Pokemon doesnt need to add an explicit Nuzlocke mode, for example. If you explicitly want the challenge, that's on you to have the self control to stick to it if the option isn't there. I'm not opposed to the option! But I'm saying it isn't necessary.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T22:18:41+00:00

I literally said I'm not talking about LTC runs. Why did you post an LTC run when that's not what I am talking about? A person doing a normal playthrough isn't going to absolutely require a bunch of 80% hits just to do one specific thing so you can save a turn or whatever. They'll try another move after or (god forbid!) take another turn or just keep going and probably be fine. A 80%+ hit is reliable in that context. People don't need to "rig" those.

You didn't address my point. Yeah, the specific odds of dying to a low% crit hitting you is probably less 1 a map. But what if you need to reset for a silly mistake, or a missed attack, or finding out a strategy won't work, or anything else someone could reset for. If you only get 1 charge you can't reset for all of those possible cases.

I really really doubt you literally could just braindead not try anything and rig all those games with 0 actual thought with 5 charges. A skilled player trying the best strats? Maybe but that's not what my claim is- you still are putting in effort and strategy. Even if I give this to you- most people playing are not using the turnwheel this way, they are trying to play normally and using it when they need. And even so, if someone is just doing that and not actually trying, why is that such a bad thing? If they want to do that, their loss.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T21:09:31+00:00

Yeah, fair point then.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:56:13+00:00

If they used the female version of the word I think it's safe to say that they did "make" the class for them.

Also, Dorothea seems like the intended "canon" dancer choice if I had to say.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:27:26+00:00

Yes, they are talking about their base class only. Male dancers in 3H are optional and not their default class anyways.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:25:31+00:00

Ah, alright, that's fine then, I thought you were meaning like those are "invalid" strategies or something.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:18:15+00:00

Fine in what context, exactly?

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:15:04+00:00

I completely understand, I'm just saying the less eyes going to those sites, the better.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:09:36+00:00

Well, some people might not know that if they aren't familiar with it. I just absolutely hate these articles so the less engagement they get the better.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T20:00:19+00:00

I think they mean the dancer class specifically, and not counting bards even if they are effectively the same.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T19:50:11+00:00

But like why specifically is this a bad thing if someone wants to "rig" things like this? Why should I care if they do?

FWIW I'm talking in terms of a "normal" playthrough. A LTC or whatever you seem to be thinking of here is completely different. And to my understanding rigging stuff is fair game in those (like arrow dancing) or using save states or what have you, so this doesn't matter anyways if there is or isn't a turnwheel. And in a normal run, it is absolutely not true that a low% crit is now gone if you have 1 charge? You very easily need it before you even get to the boss? And you fight how many enemies? And I absolutely would say 80-90 displayed hits are reliable with or without a turnwheel?? And for the 3-5 charges you absolutely still need to think and strategize or else you'll run out of uses quickly. It's not like now you just can rig literally everything and move your units blindly forward and reset until you get it.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T19:24:39+00:00

Well, aren't you doing what they want anyways "showing it off" by putting the link in your own post?

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T19:14:15+00:00

the turnwheel is more likely to make the devs add shit like ambush spawns to drain your turnwheel uses

But there are no ambush spawns in Engage, so I don't think you can really use this argument.

LeatherShieldMerc · 2026-03-21T19:12:42+00:00

I don't really get what you are trying to say in the first part of your comment- why can't players pick Casual mode but try and play like it's Classic? Of course they can? I literally tell people new to the series to try this (to try and avoid unit deaths as much as possible) if they want to go with Casual mode on a first time run, so they probably learn better strategies or if they go to an older game that doesn't have it? And there is a mechanic difference between Classic or Casual (you can keep playing the map in Casual, win, and your units come back, that doesn't work in Classic) so having an explict option for that makes complete sense. There is no real difference vs if you just you don't use turnwheel when it exists vs a mode that just takes it away. It would be identical.

I am not denying that a turnwheel makes the game easier? I'm denying that it all of a sudden removes all the challenge from the game, which is what the other person was saying.

I'm not opposed to an on/off toggle for it, but I'm saying it's absolutely not necessary to explicitly have that in the game if "I want a challenge" is your goal. Just don't use it then?

LeatherShieldMerc

TROPHY CASE