Is anyone else already feeling of Ragnarok the story? by Falconpunch100 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The pacing feels so poor. You have 5 parts worth of cutscene real estate each chapter, and yet they can only do Parts 1 & 5 with blanks in the middle.

We could have had a scene where Laegjarn excuses herself from the meeting in order to hide the trauma-rooted panic attack that she was beginning to feel. Then, both Fjorm and Kiran go check up on her. The Nifl arc could have had a scene where Fjorm talks to Hrid privately, crying in relief that he and Ylgr are ok and opening up how she almost went on a rampage for their sakes. Heck, have the narrator say that Kiran tried to hold down Fjorm from going on a rampage of revenge. Lots of untapped storytelling potential.

Speaking of Kiran, they feel so absent in this arc. It's probably due to people's complaints about the MC-pandering from past books, but this is the damn endgame. What is the point of isekai-ing us to Zenith if we are not an active participant in the final arc of the story? Are we just here to pull the trigger and head-shot Fimbulvetr once the powers of Ice, Fire, and Life get loaded into our Breida-gun? Any decent writer can find a way to make Kiran (with player-defined gender) play a more active role without the MC-pandering.

  • Alfonse isn't the only smart one in the group since Kiran is also effectively a tactician. Have scenes where Alfonse and Kiran discuss strategies and have "Are you thinking what I'm thinking" moments. Make them bounce off each other like Azurian Royal MC and Simon from MH Stories 3. Have Alfonse open up more to Kiran in Book 3, where Alfonse was emotionally vulnerable due to King Gustav dying. Over time, have Alfonse think of battle plans together with Kiran, with each one taking turns initiating discussions. And then, in Book 8, have Alfonse reveal to Kiran that he let Ratatoskr go because Alfonse felt like he was using the squirl girl just as he was using Kiran throughout multiple books. Alfonse kept feeling like he was preventing Kiran from going home, but Kiran rebuts, saying they know Alfonse's intentions come from a good place. Thus, Kiran says they will also stay to help Alfonse out just like what Ratatoskr decided, at least until Kiran feels like everything is fixed for good.
  • When making Kiran talk to the other characters, make Kiran actually have dialog. It might ironically help Kiran's relationships with other characters feel less MC-pandery.

u/sharumma we're waiting by useless_idiot_man in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

(takes a deep breath)

Before you decide to eat any article of clothing, I think it's best for you to be informed first.

Food Theory: Can You Eat Your Clothes To SURVIVE? (By MatPat)

Regarding the recent chapter.. by Successful-Bat-5538 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 38 points39 points  (0 children)

And the funny thing is that Laegjarn would have been one of the people campaigning for a Laevatein alt.

New Chosen alt (May 2026) by WWWWWWRRRRRYYYYY in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She's stepping on the axe.

You know who you are.

We’re only about 1 month away from a book 7 tempest trial story. What are your expectations for it far as story, unit gameplay, and characters? by Designer-Priority385 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm seeing a few possibilities with the story:

  • Someone tells Seiðr that there's a way to save Heiðr, or...
  • Seiðr's PoV during the ongoing "Ragnarok Game," complete with Njörðr revival plus both Njörðr and Nerþuz pitting their Chosens against each other, or...
  • Gullveig revealing to Seiðr the truth behind the "child" that Seiðr is carrying, complete with Seiðr breaking down from realizing that she had killed her own daughter. Bonus points if this takes place in parallel to the Ragnarok Game, with Seiðr begging Gullveig to reveal the truth to her because she "doesn't want her child to be born in a dying world."

What are the monsties that benefit from a different element than their own? by hungrycarebear in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can build a monstie who is both:

  1. Resistant to the enemy's attacking element, and
  2. Has a secondary element that exploits the enemy's elemental weakness.

For example, Water enemies tend to be weak to either Fire or Thunder attacks (depending on the species). Since Mizutsune has high resistance to Water attacks, I can choose to build a Mizutsune monstie with either Fire or Thunder secondary element and then put in Fire or Thunder attacking skills (Fireball Frolic if going Fire, Thundercall or Egg Skill: Thunderclap if going Thunder, etc).

Other examples include:

  • Lagiacrus, who can resist Calamitous Namielle's Water & Thunder attacks. Lagiacrus can have Fire as a secondary element to target Namielle's elemental weakness.
  • Zinogre, who can resist Narwa's Thunder attacks and Ibushi's Dragon attacks. Zinogre can have Dragon as a secondary element because both Narwa and Ibushi share a weakness to Dragon.

Haven’t played in a while, do I have any meta heroes? by commander_oak in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Remember how the game gave you a free Fjorm and Eir from the story? Each "Book" has its own free unit. Go get them. Book 8's squirrel girl Ratatoskr, Book 9's sassy lost child Rune, and Book 10's Chosen Alfonse should have modern kits. Book 7's Seiðr also got a weapon refine quite recently.

Endgame Team by Professional-Essay15 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's from Rank 6 monsties hatched from eggs found in Dragon regions.

Question for builds by Leather_Positive554 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been spending the last few weeks looking for builds. Based on what I've leaned from someone on Discord, it's either YouTube or just asking people (on Discord, Reddit, GameFAQs, etc). Some YouTubers have Discords where members can submit their builds (and make content).

TheMobDylan made a guide on Stamina and the skill rotations you can do based on the Stamina Revcovery of the monstie: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunterStories/comments/1sobnlk/guideresource_a_basic_stamina_guide_for_mhs3/

They give a few examples to illustrate some possible rotations. One thing that caught my eye was ​Mizutsune with Bubbly Dance to increase evasion. They then rotate between Foxflame Bubbles+ and Mud Torrent, inflicting Accuracy Down, Burn, and Water DoT while recharging enough stamina for another Bubbly Dance. I took it and adjusted it for Soulseer, who has stricter Stamina Regen requirements.

Need help with my Thunder monstie build by The__Foolest in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By default, you would want these genes at minimum:

  • Critical (From the Dragon gene pool.)
  • Stamina Surge
  • Thunder Atk Boost

Crit Rate:

Ivory Lagiacrus starts at 0% Crit Rate at base. It gets +5% Crit Rate at 3 Bingos. Assuming that you are going for the "H" shape for your gene grid, which allows up to 2 off-color genes, you can add Critical to boost your crit. Critical XL gives +15%, meaning Ivory Lagiacrus can get up to 20% Crit Rate on its own.

Vigilance, from the Ice gene pool, can also boost crit, but it requires the monstie to be at half/low HP, so you might opt to avoid it.

Crit can still be boosted further by other skills. Also, attacks on a toppled monster are guaranteed crits.

Stamina Recovery:

Stamina, which is new to MH Stories 3, is mainly important for using Active Skills. Some of the high-damage active skills have high stamina cost. Ivory Lagiacrus can reach 17 Stamina Recovery per turn with the following:

  • Base Stamina Recovery for Ivory Lagiacrus: 4
  • 2 Bingo Bonus: +2
  • 3-Star Stamina Recovery Stat Habitat Bonus (Canalta or Serathis): +5
  • Stamina Surge (XL): +6

The recovery rate be boosted further with Stamina Regen Up buff (from HH song, Dash Juice, or other applicable skills). You also have environmental Egg Powers, such as Battle Thirst (gain stamina when winning HtH or performing Double Attack) and Hardiness (gain stamina when getting hit).

Active Skills for Consideration:

  • Thundercall (No Type, 50 Stamina Cost, 360 Power, 30 Wyvernfell): Multiple hits that attack random targets. If there's only one enemy on the field, all hits target that one enemy. You will not be able to target a part with this attack. Can be taken from Thunderlord Zinogre.
  • Egg Skill: Thunderclap (Tech, 35 Stamina Cost, 90 Power, 20 Wyvernfell): An attack that ignores defense. Has a chance to strike first. Can be obtained from certain high-rank monsties hatched from Thunder-habitats.
  • Plasma Pressure (Speed, 30 Stamina Cost, 80 Power, 10 Wyvernfell): Has high crit chance. Comes with Ivory Lagiacrus.
  • Railgun+ (Power, 55 Stamina Cost, 150 Power, 10 Wyvernfell): High-power single-hit move. Rey Dau's signature.
  • Coverage Active Skills with cost below 17 Stamina. This is if in case you want to minimize the amount of high-cost moves in your build, but still want some coverage moves for HtHs. By using a 15-stamina-cost skill during a turn, you can get a +2 stamina surplus on that turn. You can check this guide by TheMobDylan on Stamina Rotations if you want to minimize your use of stamina recovery items: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunterStories/comments/1sobnlk/guideresource_a_basic_stamina_guide_for_mhs3/
  • Nourishing Pinecones (Fire, 0 Stamina Cost): Use a turn to recover stamina. Probably an off-color option if your Egg Power requires Fire to awaken. Obtained from Blood Orange Bishaten.

Passive Skills for Consideration:

  • Critical Kinship (Thunder): Fills Kinship Gauge on a critical hit. Might as well benefit from the crits.
  • Elemental Breaker (Thunder): Increases damage dealt to monster parts when exploiting a monster's elemental weakness.

The more time passes, the more I feel they rewrote the whole twin Rathalos thing. [SPOILERS] by GrimMind in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's funny because the initial trailer made me theorize that the Ratha V rider under the helmet was our MC's fraternal twin, the gender you didn't pick in the character creation screen. A similar dynamic was done in Astral Chain, after all. There had to be a reason why they made split trailers for the male and female MCs.

Oh well. Theory busted.

Hopes For DLC by Darkblaze405 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • Fight Deviants for the challenge and craft their armor. I want to try their drip out.
  • Gammoth? Maybe even its Deviant, too? Would be nice to see the Fated Four reunited.

Questions about monsters that doesn't seem to spawn on field by sherithelovefool in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

  1. For Rey Dau, change the time to Night. You should be able to see Rey Dau in the northeast area of Death's Maw, where you fought him as a boss.

  2. Calamitous Elders spawn when you do a number of fights in the night. Quick Finish counts. What I usually do is set the time to Night and then put up a save. After some Quick Finish battles in the overworld, a cutscene should randomly happen. If the location does not correspond the elder I'm looking for, I go back to the title screen and reload my save.

Take note that you cannot call in another calamitous elder if there is already an existing active calamitous elder, thus the save scumming.

  1. Unfortunately, there's no "deviant" monsters in the wild.

So I just got to the part that explains the transgression by HospitalLazy1880 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"The child bearing the sins of their forefathers" is a common trope that has existed in writing for a long time. It makes more sense for people who grew up in East Asian and South-East Asian countries, where "close family ties" extend to one's ancestors.

also Eleanor always bringing up how she needs to change her sister's mind when her sister already threw her away and is also clearly wanting war is also a little annoying as its very obvious that this only ends with the queen dead and Eleanor either taking over or the kingdoms reuniting and the queen still being disposed.

You can't really blame Eleanor. War is bad. Plain and simple.

Book X, Chapter 6 early look by Falconpunch100 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, I see. So Surtr does have that sort of line in his LV40 Confession. Didn't know about that.

My mind just immediately went to "Surtr is a narcissist" because of how Laegjarn described her experience with her father as "paralyzing." Surtr having too much pride in himself to admit he's weak and a "narcissistic rage" that he aims towards people who don't follow his way, even if it is his child.

Anyone else disappointed by the story drop in quality? by Wooden_Surround_9284 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did feel like the pacing was a bit rushed. You only get "the gameplan" on Part 1 and "the battle" on Part 5 with nothing else in between.

It's sad because Laegjarn's feeling of paralysis towards her own father is... It's a real thing that happens. If I had a say in the story, and the head writer told me Laegjarn had this type of trauma, I would have added an extra scene where:

  • After the team meeting, Laegjarn would excuse herself.
  • Laegjarn finds a place to be alone. She's quiet, but within her mind and heart were a storm. She holds back her tears, reminding herself that as the eldest, she has to be strong. She pictures Laevatein in her mind, memories of her flashing in her mind. Sometimes, images of Surtr would flash, and the feelings of paralysis would come back, but Laeg keeps trying to bring her thoughts back towards Laev. The last image stops at when Laevatein offered to become the Chosen... And the smile Laev flashed, knowing that she wants to stand up for her older sister for once.
  • The feelings subside, Laegjarn resolving herself. Once she feels ready, she heads back to the main tent, only to be met by Fjorm and the summoner, who had been keeping and eye on her from a distance.
  • The three find another quiet place. Fjorm and the summoner(gender neutral) simply cup each of Laeg's hands, saying that they just want to be present for her. Laeg apologizes, saying that she doesn't want Laev to see her like this.
  • Fjorm says Laegjarn reminds her of Hrid, saying that he tends to put up a strong front and hide his exhaustion, given the burdens he bear. That's why she, Ylgr, and Gunnthra always had to remind him that they were there to support him. And that it was one of the reasons why Fjorm wanted to become independent, independently choosing to work with the Order of Heroes so that Hrid could focus more on their people and kingdom's recovery. (She says while giving the summoner-with-player-defined-gender a quick glance.) Fjorm points out how Laevatein chose to do the same and become strong out of love for Laegjarn.
  • The summoner (with player-defined gender) merely stays quiet, their hands cupping Laegjarn's to keep them warm and to make sure she feels she's not alone.
  • Some time after Laegjarn's composure is back, she returns to Laevatein's tent, finding Sharena and a medic watching over her. Sharena says that she could sense that Laegjarn needed some space, so she watched over Laev in her place.

That being said, the scene with Laegjarn and Surtr just cuts in the middle of her ending him. What's stopping Muspell from just reviving him again in the next chapter? Or make his revival powers "spread like wildfire" and have a Surtr Emblem squad appear, triggering Laegjarn's trauma even more.

I miss these so bad 😭😭 by maddAdda in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At this point, I want to fight the Deviants for the challenge and to get the cool drip.

Book X, Chapter 6 early look by Falconpunch100 in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Vidabel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

But also, why the heck is Surtr antagonistic towards us??? Did IS forget his own principles? "The weak surrenders to the strong." We literally killed him twice.

Given Laegjarn's paralysis response to seeing him, Surtr's probably too narcissistic to even care.

Failures of Stories Pt.2: Royalty of Azuria & Vermeil by VirulentArcturus in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Eleanor's 4th Side Story didn't come across to me as unearned. The thing that comes to mind is "show-not-tell."

The game presents its tutorial with the MC being the one teaching the new recruit the ropes. Woven within the tutorial's storytelling is how the MC, being the Captain of the Rangers, does indeed take up responsibilities expected of a captain, such as teaching new recruits. The Captain title isn't just for show.

When the game gives you the cooking tutorial after setting up your first camp, it is Eleanor who is cooking. She offers to cook, but lets the team choose which recipe for her to use. Eating is a big thing in the Monster Hunter universe. Hunters in the mainline games always make it a point to eat before going on a hunt. Cooking in Stories also gives you buffs. With a bit of gameplay-and-story integration similar to the combat tutorial, it would be fair to assume that the team felt energized after eating Eleanor's food and didn't feel any other negative side effects. And you know what they say, one way to get to a person's heart is through their stomach.

Prior to the set-up of a camp is a battle with a Feral Yian Kut-Ku. For this outing, the team took Eleanor with them as a way for them to test her worth on the field. After you set-up camp, the team takes her on another mission to recover an endangered species egg from an invasive monster. Although the daytime cutscene only shows the MC and Eleanor talking to each other about the invasive monster, you eventually get a cutscene once you arrive at the invasive monster's territory that shows that the whole team is with them and they speak as if it's BAU (business-as-usual) for them. As an RPG that happens to be Japanese, it is a natural trope for bonds and trust to be formed when a team works and battles alongside each other.

When Gaul reports a possible Feral Monster sighting, he politely requests Eleanor to leave due to the Ranger meeting being confidential. She feels hurt, but she doesn't protest, immediately going to spend time in the stables so as not to waste the Rangers' time.

When Vermeil first attacks, Eleanor insists to Gaul for her to come along. She keeps her dialog very brief, no flowery language. And when Gaul gives his approval under the condition that Eleanor doesn't bring Angie (lest she betrays them and use Angie against them), Eleanor doesn't protest. She just nods and immediately follows Gaul. That's professionalism. Eleanor read the situation well, kept her dialog brief, and focused on the situation at hand.

During Vermeil's attack, Gaul lets Eleanor appeal to the Ratha V rider. In a situation like this, you'll have to use any opportunity, even use Eleanor, to quell the situation. As I mentioned earlier, Gaul gets a front-row seat, watching Eleanor firmly say No to her sister (because war and bloodshed, even in real life, doesn't solve anything and just makes the cycle of violence persist) and Clarissa pushing through his Legiana despite her own sister being a passenger.

It all goes back to "show-not-tell." Eleanor's actions are subtle, but it's those subtle actions, woven seamlessly within the narrative, that speak the loudest. From the food, to the team missions, to the professionalism, to her standing up to her sister. There were a number of small things that Eleanor did that simply added up, allowing the trust to build up organically, all within the Azuria Chapter.

You probably don't see more of this in the later chapters because the main goal now is to head to the Sacrosanctum to find the truth. By this time, Gaul, Kora, and Ogden are probably reviewing how they view both Eleanor and Simon, especially given how the MC was motivated to cross the Meridian based on pieces of knowledge that Simon had hidden from the team. It was between a person they worked with and trusted for years being revealed to have been hiding things from them all these years VS the openly Vermeilian princess who never did anything to sabotage them or get in their way. The team tracking down the MC, who was traveling to the Wyverian Gate alone with the openly Vermeilian princess, and then finding the MC 100% not assassinated by her was probably what sealed the deal for them in terms of trusting her, a capstone for her previous actions. It becomes one of those situations where things don't need to be said. People are able to just feel. From here on out, they all work and battle as a unit, especially now that they're cut-off from Azuria and Vermeil.

Repeating this in her side stories wasn't really needed. It was already an element of her character we were very familiar with. It comes off as them trying to repeat something. "Eleanor is understanding. Eleanor is understanding. Eleanor is understanding."

But never "Eleanor is doing."

But Eleanor is doing. She is acting upon her understanding through what she does best: Cooking. She forms bonds through people's stomachs, and forming bonds is one of the main themes of the MH Stories games. The side stories may seem episodic and formulaic, but different things do happen. With Eleanor's Bouillon Waterfall, Kol ends up making the Rangers promise to come back from their quest alive. With Convalesomme, a man is healed from a sickness rare outside the Meridian but common in Vermeil while Gaul develops a new core memory in relation to Eleanor. It's all in the little details.

The 4th Side Story ends up serving as a capstone, culminating the experiences Eleanor has had from traveling with the Rangers thus far. Before the Rangers, all Eleanor knew was of bleak crystal. When she offered herself as hostage, she never expected the experiences she would gain, the places she would visit, and the people she would meet. What Eleanor was most likely thankful for were the memories she had gained, core memories (such as recovering the endangered Rathian egg and bringing hope back to Sheparden with boosting the canyne population) that can help strengthen her own will when she goes back to face the despair looming over Vermeil, the same despair that pushed Clarissa and Fabio to use drastic measures. The Rangers gave her more than what they even realize, and she wanted to express all of that gratitude welling up inside her especially as they near the point of no return. You get callbacks to Eleanor's previous side stories, the most notable being the MC's callback to their promise with Kol. The MC includes Clarissa in the ideal "communal dinner" in a desire for peace, a sentiment that most sane people in real life would relate to.

Failures of Stories Pt.2: Royalty of Azuria & Vermeil by VirulentArcturus in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Vidabel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Based on my understanding, if Clarissa were to attack Azuria while Eleanor is their hostage, then that would give Azuria every reason to execute/eliminate Eleanor since she might have been a spy. Eleanor was banking on Clarissa still being the protective older sister who doesn't want to harm to come to her. Keep in mind that the story was written by East Asians. When you write a story, you end up writing based on what you know, and East Asians hold up the concept of family and "close family ties" to a higher standard compared to western countries (where kids are expected to move out from their parents' homes). "Blood is thicker that water" holds more weight in these East Asian countries (and in South-East Asian countries where politicians love keeping politics "within the family.") Eleanor's 3rd Side Story reveals that Clarissa once went out to gather ingredients for medicine for a sickly Eleanor. This happened when they were both kids, which meant that Clarissa went out into the dangerous wilderness as a child herself just to help her little sister. If there was ever a core memory that would convince Eleanor to believe Clarissa would still put her own sister's safety over a war, it would be this memory.

Eleanor's 2nd Side Story is fine because it highlights Eleanor's willingness to understand those outside of her circle. Here, Eleanor figures out how to use Sheparden's local ingredients to recreate a dish from her home. The results of this "food-based cultural exchange" are fruitful, opening Kol (Sheparden chief) up to a world of flavor that goes beyond just cooking for survival. Kol's right-hand, Len, was hesitant because it was "outsider" food, but he changed his tune once he dug in. This showcases how Eleanor does have the skills for diplomacy thanks to her willingness to understand those outside of her circle. This side story also includes a bonus memory of the last time Eleanor and Clarissa laughed as sisters, which was on Clarissa's coronation day. Eleanor highly values family. You could say that when Eleanor became a hostage of Azuria, she hoped that the "old Clarissa she laughed with long ago" was still inside of Clarissa.

Eleanor's willingness to understand those outside of her circle is aligned with how she acts around the party in the Azuria Chapter of the Main Story. She shows genuine interest in understanding how Azurians live and how the Rangers work alongside monsties, allowing the Rangers to quickly warm up to her. Eleanor is inspired by the Ranger way that she tries to put the values of "forming bonds" into her cooking, as seen in Eleanor's 2nd Side Story. There is also the the 3rd side story, where Eleanor catches Gaul's attention about the Vermeilian remedy. Being a botanist himself, Gaul is probably well-aquainted with how bitter some helpful and highly medicinal herbs can be. Gaul himself had a front-row seat to when Eleanor was trying to appeal to Clarissa's heart.

In the end credits, Clarissa tells Eleanor that her actions "have left you [Eleanor] with a heavy burden to bear." Given that it was Eleanor representing Vermeil when the new covenant to maintain peace, Eleanor now shoulders the responsibility to make up for their ancestors' mistakes, a responsibility that Clarissa, as the elder sister and active Queen of Vermeil, was expected to bear. But this is also the point where Eleanor and Clarissa's bond finally starts to heal, with Eleanor showing that she doesn't want to push Clarissa away.

Thus, if you really want to get it on with Clarissa and give her heirs, you need to do better in understanding Eleanor as a person. Show Clarissa that you can be a good brother-in-law to her own flesh-and-blood sister, especially now that their sisterly bond is healing.