The biggest pitfall is wasting boosts on units that it won’t fix. Like louis and speed boost. Hp is generally universal. Str for your good fast units like kagetsu and chloe Mag is kind of unnecessary because most good mages will reach close to cap besides like framme, celine, pandero Dex for royal units with dex trigger skills Speed for mid speed units like ivy timerra Def for bruisers Res for bruisers Luck for anna
You forgot boots. Generally I put them on fliers because they always get the maximum benefit from the extra movement due to ignoring terrain, though sometimes on the main lord or dancer too
Just to add to that, boots can be very good on a unit that is using Lucina ring for dual assists, can make them do their chain attack from 1 tile further away. Just 1 thing to consider
I don't agree with Speed on Ivy because Ivy is slow to begin with because the tomes way her down like a truck so she automatically just will never double. Of course, using Elfire doesn't weigh her down but she is just going to ditch that as soon as Bolganone is obtained.
On my first playthrough, I just dumped all of my stat boosters on Alear, so they could try to replicate Byleth's ability to be horribly mispositioned and still clear a bloody swathe through the map.
I give him 1 of the boots and if there are low deployment slots I also give him sigurd XD its crazy when you are basically able to dance someone across the map
I find that 5 move is enough in most circumstances. And for when it isn't enough I just put Camilla on him, I find that she isn't that amazing on other units in general. There are better emblems to use. And she does give him 2+ move and flying unit perks, which can be invaluable Seadall so it's just perfect.
Meanwhile, here's me using my divine pulses and throwing Alear into a dodge or die scenario to keep VANDER alive. Yes, that Vander who will never be deployed beyond chapter 6.
If you know you are gonna take a magic attack being prepped for a counter can help too. If they don’t use lightning magic… which they aren’t doubling even if they do so that’s okay anyway. Use the water, switch to spear or tomahawk. Can often one tap on the counter hit
If you play on Normal and Hard and enjoy Relay Trials, then you should totally use all those stat boosters on a meme character you didn't use in the main game, like Vander, Amber or Alfred... you get to show off your meme char in relays and also reduce the chance of duplicates locking you out of your invested characters.
Been waiting for this guide. Good stuff. I honestly just horde those items because I can never decide who to feed em to. I gave my Louis a "boot" and I'm slowly thinking he would be great to run in my maddening run.
Putting boots on Louis is acceptable as long as he's not armour Knight/General. Why would you want a low mov unit to be able to get to movement that is just like your other infantry when you can use it on a flier and have them zoom and be able to go where even other fliers can't go
@@yes1667 Armor knights are really useful on the front lines thanks to being unbreakable, I gave Louis Sigurd and be could hold off waves of enemies easily. He's definitely not the best choice in the late game, but it does make sense
Please do not take this the wrong way, because I do like how informative your videos are. However, i often have to watch them a few times because while I'm listening to your video, your voice makes me sleepy and I zone out lol.
"If these characters are good, then they don't need boosters, right?" That was my argument to a friend who told me to not put them on Etie and Vander on a run lol
@@timm8998 you don't need to use them on anyone. This game is easy enough to beat without them. In terms of efficiency, you solely use them on your characters that will reach certain thresholds. But they're not needed, and by my 4th run, I'm playing Vander no matter what, soooooo
I like boots on Byleth character for increased dance range and/or the siege item. I like boots on momentum units for that +1 damage. But above all, I love boots on the Leif user for that +4 Quadruple hit damage. (Yes, I am aware Quadruple Hit isn't very good)
@A Prinny On Break I'm not grinding money on any difficulty. Bonded Shield is just so strong that maddening enemies will deal 0 damage to you. If you protect units who can one shot (Ivy, Anna, Chloe, etc.) No enemy will be able to touch you for 4-8 turns in a row.
Dex should be used to improve the Dex% trigger skills (minus Diamant and Ivy due to their low Dex caps) and not hit rate since hit rate (generally speaking) cause you can inherit Hit+ skills to fix hit rates. Spd boosting shouldn't be done for avoid cause like with hit rate, you can just inherit Avo+ skills so Spd boosting is best on those who skirt the line for doubling. Damage boosting items follows a similar rule of thumb as Spd boosting. The bulk raising items for those you expect to take hits, though keep in mind with Generals that too much Def can be a bad thing cause then maddening AI will often just ignore them unless a backup attack is available for them. Lck for Ana, if you're concerned about dodging crits, use engravings. Or if you're not using Ana, whoever has Byleth can get use out of it to trigger Divine Pulse.
The way you just ended the video had me cracking up man. I haven't played a Maddening-esque level of difficulty on Fire Emblem in a LONG time but I'm really enjoying it on Engage so far, even if I'm only on Chapter 6. Looking forward to playing it out.
Idk what others run but I put draco shield, secret books, and talisman on Timerra for no reason other than having a really reliable unit that can survive through a lot more than otherwise (I think secret books are best on her due to quadding with dex passive and accuracy helps a lot). Energy drops have too many good candidates so I end up putting them on whoever falls behind (usually always chloe), goddess Icon I put on Anna for passive gold gen. Magic dust and Speed wings I put on Celine last run because she started to fall off but think might be better to put Magic dust on Ivy if using her with Lyn just to hit those damage thresholds a bit easier and speed wing on Timerra to quad more for more sandstorm without having to take up a slot on speed so she can possible take dex + defense or something else.
I always do boots on my dancer. I've seen people say give them to whoever you run Byleth on, but Byleth's dance is really good but also not nearly as reliable as Seadall.
I mean, if you have Canter on your party, I could definitely see merits to both. You definitely don't want your Byleth ring user or dancer to be one square away from formation.
My very first playthrough on Hard, I gave all three Energy Drops to Alear because I was so sick of his abysmal strength. 😂 Now I know to use it on my good units like Diamant or Amber. Spirit Dusts usually goes to Ivy, any Goddess Icon also go to Ivy because no one else needs them and Timerra can also come into support. Speedwings usually goes to Diamant for me but I gave one to Amber most recently since he had Speedtaker and I just more Speed on my good units. Dracoshields went to my Ike user and Diamant (yes, I have a bias), until recently, that would be Alfred with Ike but I'm looking to try something different with Alfred soon. I always have issues with giving out Secret Books because no one really needs and I can always forge weapons' Hit. If I'm using Veyle, then one Seraph Robe definitely goes to her.
Great guide as usual, but I have to push back on Boots not being worth it for Seadall. A Dancer in FE is limited only by who the strongest unit on your team is at any given situation AND whether or not the Dancer can reach that unit. You seem to be an advocate for hyper-offensive, efficient plays, so I do find it a bit puzzling that you don't see the merit of possibly doubling your potential for hyper-offensive plays by allowing your Dancer to keep up with your hard carry, who might even have Canter. This is ESPECIALLY true for Engage because being Danced and acting against DOES NOT consume an Engage turn. If your Corrin user wants to freeze 5 enemies and run halfway across the map to freeze 5 more enemies waiting to flank you, your Dancer had better keep up with them. Especially especially true because you can Goddess Dance your Dancer in this game.
I'm frustrated with Alfred. Every time it comes to the boss, it feels like he deals middling damage and is always 1 rounded (or close to) in a counterattack.
@@westenevomg same Im trying to make him work i think ill just give him everything and make one of those wolf dagger guys but hes so hard to lvl im at lvl 2 chapter 13 and im in pain hoping he crits with the killer lance so he wont get one shot back
I used Yunaka x Corrin for my first full playtrough of Maddening and she does not need any speed wings at all. In fact with Corrin's fog (or natural avoid terrain) most enemies I encountered had 0 hit chance on her and outright ignored her, making me wish for slightly LOWER avoid instead so I could farm damage on counterattacks! I'm just lucky that enemy AI cannot see Pair Up, so they would still attack me at 0% hit when they think they're getting backup chip damage.
The first rule of thumb is: the more frequently a unit benefits from a booster, the more worthy they are of it. For energy drops and spirit drops, this is number of strikes a unit makes. A slow unit gets +2 damage per engagement. A fast unit would usually get +4. A brave weapon user could get up to +8. A fast high crit build could get up to +12, but more reliably +8. Tanks will generally just get +2 at a time, but will have many engagements, so it's not actually a bad idea. A tank that runs a killing weapon during enemy phase may be a very strong candidate. Dracoshield and Talisman logically go to the units that get hit with their respective damage types most frequently. Talisman is awkward, since there aren't typically groups of mages to tank. At some point though, your unit may become an impenetrable wall, and adding more defense/res won't help. I wouldn't recommend the Draco Shield for Louis, but I may for Jade, Diamant, Timerra. Angelic Robe is actually a little different, as it effectively only works when a units HP drops below 5. For lower defense units that get hit infrequently and die in 1 or 2 hits, this can actually be more effective than a Dracoshield. But tanky units use their defensive stats for the majority of their durability, so their HP doesn't need to do as much work. At some point though, extra attack could just become overkill. Much less so in maddening though! For secret book, you can never actually observe when you benefit from it. But if your hit rate was already 100%, you didn't benefit, so avoid that. Combat activation skills I'd consider pretty secondary here. If you've got a unit that benefits from the hit rate and the activation, great. But otherwise, I'd tend to prioritize hit rate. Speed wings is for that unit that can double some enemies, but is just out of reach of others. Goddess Icons go to low luck units. The main purpose is to avoid crits. Most units have high enough luck they don't need to worry about it, but Ivy is the most notable exception. Although I generally give her a more hefty weakness patch by adding dodge engravings to her tomes, or the dodge+10 skill, which are more than sufficient. Boots I think is the trickiest. You can enhance a strength, or patch a weakness. My preference is to use it on units that don't have a good 2 range option. Alear as a divine dragon tends to be my pick, as this puts a lot more enemies into reach. Advance can have a similar effect. Oh, and of course, if you're doing an iron man run, Alear becomes a better option all around, since she's guaranteed to keep the benefit throughout the entire run.
Who should I use my stat boosters on? I wanna give every single stat booster to EVERYONE! …Except Ivy. The only boost she needs is with her stand-up comedy.
Funnily enough I gave all of my luck booster to Ivy instead of Anna, but then decided Ivy’s luck is so abysmal anyway I might as well put a -dodge engraving on her tomes
Actually Luck is pretty much the exception booster, because you don't need MUCH luck to avoid floating crit rates from random enemies, putting it on "hopeless" Luck units is breddy gud. Though yeah, engraving Dodge on a unit's "defense" weapon is probably more reliable. Food for thought if you're gonna smoke the Luck Booster on Anna meth though. Just sell it, that's more than it will make you through Anna
If I’m being honest for the “best” characters Alcryst could use a few drops, his strength is his only struggle stat Magic for Ivy and Celine, Anna gonna pop off without it Dracoshield : Mid range bruisers, Alear, Diamant Dex books for Ivy, Celine or Diamant Speedwings are nice for units who are in the 40-45% range Diamant is an example Res? Do you use a general? Help them out bro, sure the cap is lower but it will make magic water more effective. I use boots to take a 5 to 6 The free boots went to Alear and the second boots went to Diamant, I dont like over spreading the army in this game, making a flyer go even further seems dangerous to me
Because there are not many good targets for +Res i would point out Zelkov. If you run him as a dodge tank, the only weakness is, that mages can hit him and actually do hurt if they get through. Im not sure if its enough to save him on a unlucky turn but in theory it sounds ok. Did enyone test this out?
I gave all 4 of mine to Goldmary after making her into a halberdier. Now, I wouldn't go as far as to call her a res tank, but she can now at least take a few more hits and her already high defense means I don't have to worry as much about her being on the front lines.
I usually give my early energy drops to Etie since she probably makes the best use of the damage. Her long term potential in strength with at least one is about the same as Panette. It is a little but of favortism towards Etie but she's all about the strength and why not make her best stat even better? It makes the crit engravings deal tons of damage as a warrior with 30 strength by chapter 15.
Damage equals your relevant attack stat (str or mag) added to the weapon's power, then reduced by the target's relevant defense stat. Or in case of fisticuffs, the average of your str and mag is used instead. You double if you have +5 speed over your opponent, and Bld determines the max weapon Wt (weight) you can use without taking a speed penalty. Every Wt point above this value will give you -1 speed. Dex increases your Hit and Crit values, Speed your Avoid, and Luck your Dodge. Actual Hit chance = your hit minus enemy avoid, Crit chance = your crit minus enemy dodge. Keep in mind terrain tiles like forest can +30 someone's avoid, or +60 (double) for Covert units. You can search online for previews of chapters and enemies to see what their stats are like, and calculate back from there what your stat benchmarks for that chapter should be. DLC maps scale on your army level though so you'll just have to check those manually.
I think my favorite reoccurring joke is that comparing Iced Coffee Gaming to any other FE content creator, his tech videos will always turn to his pocket pic Timerra/Sandstorm. This video really felt like: You can use statboosters to patch up a weakness or shortcoming, like Chloe's strength late game. Also everything can be fed to Timerra because she can just use everything It felt like the only mention she should have had is the Dracoshield because of its interaction with Sandstorm instead of a whole showcase😅 EDITED: Rewrote what I had because it read really, really toxic, and ICG + the FE community don't deserve that. My apologize, hope to see a new vid soon!
Honestly Timerra doesn't need stat boosters to be relevant, she has great bases and is a solid Unit. My opinion on Pannette has changed and she seems to be high A/possibly S with Ike+Brave Axe, Merrin is also very solid. Timerra isn't the only unit I like using, she is just a strong unit that can do a lot when used correctly and has a unique frame/set of mechanics that enable different tactics. Most tanks are slow and she is a fast off tank that can hit 30+ def midgame with high enough speed to double, making her able to 1 round some enemies on enemy phase even with low investment. Anna is similar, Alear is similar, so is Chloe. Ivy, Kagetsu, Zelkov, etc all require minimal investment to pop off.
@@IcedCoffeeGaming like I said it's just a hilarious quirk I've seen where it feels like you can't help yourself 😂 and it's not a bad thing, I didn't think she was great till you showed her off I love that I found your channel and you've done a bunch of great work for Engage (where the FE old guard hasn't been as quick to cover anything). Just thought this one was a bit too much hype on the Timerra train. You didn't have one to show but going over how you should feed your Goddess Icons to Anna for her passive is a good call out. The only brushing up I saw was the energy drop for Chloe and I was hoping to see more of that was all. But that was my takeaway because around 2:45 when you first mentioned Timerra it derailed into a spotlight/showcase for her and I was just thinking "well, yea"
@@alexterieur8813 I reread it and yea I apologize for making it sound crueler than what I intended. I was just hoping he would cover unique scenarios where the boosters really pivot a unit (like the dracoshield on Timerra is a really good example, or gIcons for Anna's passive which wasn't mentioned) but instead it was like. Too generic featuring Timerra (again) 😅
@@priestessii absolutely! I mean those three are strong if you use them, you don't need to heavily invest in them or use star boosters but that's kind of my point. Why mention either great characters who don't really benefit from it (they'll carry regardless) or units who can't be saved (don't give armors speed, or Vander anything, etc) This started great (Alear gets hp, Chloe some might to stay relevant/good) and then turned to a Timerra spotlight like so many other videos 😂
"Timerra is only a mid investment unit, but she needs 3 Secret Books, the Dracoshield, and maybe an Energy Drop" No hate, I just think it's funny how much you simp for this character, lmao
I'm mentioning how to stat boost her sandstorm build specifically. It is really strong. What units compete over dex books? Most units don't need them. Also with no investment Timerra can still tank hits and do ok, with investment she is insane.
@@IcedCoffeeGaming I get that, but I don't specifically think dumping that many stat boosters still classifies as "mid investment" when nearly any other unit will also perform very well with just as many boosters dropped on them. I'm not arguing it's not strong, I'm just saying it's an off classification. The Dex books could just as easily be used to patch up hit rates on mages or axe users, like Panette or Dire Thunder Citrene, for example, and they'll give you pretty similar results back. The Def and Str items could be used on Diamant to get just as decent a tank back, too. Any unit you dump 4 or 5 stat boosts into at one time is going to carry... for the most part
Personally I would sell all but the seraph Robe. 5+ hp can save your unit from being kill by a physical and magical attack. There are plenty of skills that give stat boosts if you really want them. The 1k from selling them is alot with how little the amount of money you earn early on. And buying tonics is the better route due to how cheap they are. Managing tonics on this game is a pain but I'm already used to spending 20 minutes to half an hour preparing for each chapter. But if you really want to use them give them to Alear, not only are they a safe choice but you will have to use them on chapters anyway.
The question is... If you use boosts before a character has max stat depending on his class, does he still get the extra max stat point? If max ho is 50 and you use a boost when you have 48, can you now go up to 52? Or you reached your cap because of the stat boost? If you use stat boosts when you are at max you should get more points, above the max... This is what we need to check
I can confirm you can't use boosters on stats that are already at max, I'm not 100% sure if you can use them if the amount you gain would go over your max, but I'm going to assume it just takes the stat to cap and the rest of the points dissappear into the void.
Would you recommend celine or citrinne? Celine is fast but usually doesn’t double unless it’s an armored knight. I have Olwen ring for double thunder so I’m leaning toward citrinne because she’s a lot stronger. (Currently Maddening ch9)
I have not tried Celine past chapter 10 but I will say Citrinne is very very strong with dire thunder. Probably the best user of that ring with her high magic and low spd. Give her canter so she can stay safe and pocket her with seadal and she will carry your run with dire thunder. Engrave the thunder with the highest MT and maybe give her a dex stat up if she starts missing.
@@theolong6689 I've used Celine on a Maddening run and she's just mediocre on all accounts. Because of her balanced str/mag she's effective against both armors (trash res) and mages (trash def), and she has enough bulk and speed to not get bodied easily. However even with her Ignis skill helping out her damage cannot compare to a more specialized unit like Citrinne or Panette.
I'd actually disagree with the res on louis. It's exactly because his res is so low, that 2 extra res is a bigger percentage increase in his total res. Obviously you want to avoid mages as much as possible but sometimes you don't have that option and that 2 or 4 extra res can be exactly what you need.
You're looking at it wrong. The total damage is what you should be looking at. At 2 res, an enemy with 20 magic will hit for 18 damage. 18 vs 16 damage is only a 11% decrease in damage. Compare that to a unit with 14 res vs the same Mage. Before the Talisman they'll take 6 magic damage and after they'll take 4. That's a 33% decrease in damage for just 2 points. Using a Talisman on someone like Louis is a waste, he'd be better off using Pure Water.
@@HeartlessSeph I see. I concede my point. You are right on that. I guess the best way is focusing on just def/hp on louis but making sure you've enough units with good movement to get rid of the mages in the first place.
I think it depends on the goal and point of the game. Also depends on ring. I got louis strong enough on my first playthrough to ohko frail mages from 2 range, so with 2 talismans and a pure water up he could actually deal with mages fine on maddening. Extra value if he has ike as he will naturally also have more res. It works on a tank but only if you can stack them to a point where they actually can mixed tank.
I gave all my energy drops to Lapis. That + turning her into a hero fixed her only downside , that being her strength. Now, with her forged sword, she can just sit up front dodging every 5-10% chance hit and killing or almost killing everything.
Hey can you please to a "how to survive tiki paralogue before ch11 in maddening" guide I been beating my head against this for days it's not even a fun kind of hard like the first fog of war map the dragons are so cheap lol.
@Priestess_ii I said I was told. Anyhow doesn't protect you from being swarmed by the other 5 wyverns by trying to outlast the waves of torment lol they come forth charging if you waste too many turns farming reinforcements those add up to more than 3 all well.
The biggest pitfall is wasting boosts on units that it won’t fix. Like louis and speed boost. Hp is generally universal.
Str for your good fast units like kagetsu and chloe
Mag is kind of unnecessary because most good mages will reach close to cap besides like framme, celine, pandero
Dex for royal units with dex trigger skills
Speed for mid speed units like ivy timerra
Def for bruisers
Res for bruisers
Luck for anna
I like how we spoke generally untill he went into Luck. Oh, those are for Anna. All of em. :P
You forgot boots. Generally I put them on fliers because they always get the maximum benefit from the extra movement due to ignoring terrain, though sometimes on the main lord or dancer too
Just to add to that, boots can be very good on a unit that is using Lucina ring for dual assists, can make them do their chain attack from 1 tile further away.
Just 1 thing to consider
I don't agree with Speed on Ivy because Ivy is slow to begin with because the tomes way her down like a truck so she automatically just will never double. Of course, using Elfire doesn't weigh her down but she is just going to ditch that as soon as Bolganone is obtained.
@@GIR177 Boots are always interesting but Fliers are definitely the best users of Boots because they are also generally really good combat units.
This man is a content machine, truly a pure upside angle
Lmao pure upside angle, it is spiraling out of control!
He's been at this for a couple years now. Engage just unleashed his full powers
We need a pure upside counter haha
Everything for Yunaka it is
Vander*
Yunaka+all the energy drops= yaPPy
Damn rights.
On my first playthrough, I just dumped all of my stat boosters on Alear, so they could try to replicate Byleth's ability to be horribly mispositioned and still clear a bloody swathe through the map.
I gave boots to Seadall and the amount of times he had just enough Mov to get a dance I needed felt unreal.
I give him 1 of the boots and if there are low deployment slots I also give him sigurd XD its crazy when you are basically able to dance someone across the map
I find that 5 move is enough in most circumstances. And for when it isn't enough I just put Camilla on him, I find that she isn't that amazing on other units in general. There are better emblems to use. And she does give him 2+ move and flying unit perks, which can be invaluable Seadall so it's just perfect.
Alear gets everything because forced deploy. Tactically sacrifice the rest of the cast when needed
As a friend, you are replacable, goodbye "gunshot"
Tactically? You mean sacrifice them for minimal gain
Excel tactics have truly infected our community and I love it.
@@EZog58 his videos are just too good.
Meanwhile, here's me using my divine pulses and throwing Alear into a dodge or die scenario to keep VANDER alive. Yes, that Vander who will never be deployed beyond chapter 6.
Tanks should carry a pure water. Plus 7 res in a pinch. Might be enough for them to survive a double magic attack.
If you know you are gonna take a magic attack being prepped for a counter can help too. If they don’t use lightning magic… which they aren’t doubling even if they do so that’s okay anyway.
Use the water, switch to spear or tomahawk. Can often one tap on the counter hit
If you play on Normal and Hard and enjoy Relay Trials, then you should totally use all those stat boosters on a meme character you didn't use in the main game, like Vander, Amber or Alfred... you get to show off your meme char in relays and also reduce the chance of duplicates locking you out of your invested characters.
Sigurd gives Bld, Dex, and Def, so it's perfect for Timerra.
Been waiting for this guide. Good stuff. I honestly just horde those items because I can never decide who to feed em to. I gave my Louis a "boot" and I'm slowly thinking he would be great to run in my maddening run.
Putting boots on Louis is acceptable as long as he's not armour Knight/General. Why would you want a low mov unit to be able to get to movement that is just like your other infantry when you can use it on a flier and have them zoom and be able to go where even other fliers can't go
@@yes1667 to keep up with the rest of your army and be able to frontline (the role of a tank most of the time)?
@@yes1667 Armor knights are really useful on the front lines thanks to being unbreakable, I gave Louis Sigurd and be could hold off waves of enemies easily. He's definitely not the best choice in the late game, but it does make sense
Please do not take this the wrong way, because I do like how informative your videos are. However, i often have to watch them a few times because while I'm listening to your video, your voice makes me sleepy and I zone out lol.
I can start yelling randomly in the video if that helps
Everything on Vander. Time to make him less garbage
"If these characters are good, then they don't need boosters, right?"
That was my argument to a friend who told me to not put them on Etie and Vander on a run lol
@@toxicteapot7941 that is what I am thinking. Time to carry bad Vander to victory
@@toxicteapot7941 U dont use them on the best units, you use them on your almost best units. Def. dont use them on the worst units.
@@timm8998 you don't need to use them on anyone. This game is easy enough to beat without them. In terms of efficiency, you solely use them on your characters that will reach certain thresholds.
But they're not needed, and by my 4th run, I'm playing Vander no matter what, soooooo
Yes I needed this video. I always keep stats booster never sure when to use them, only to finish the game without using them :D
Hortensia is another one where she has a stat cap for her usual classes that is much higher than she'll reach end-game, in this case MAG
I like boots on Byleth character for increased dance range and/or the siege item.
I like boots on momentum units for that +1 damage.
But above all, I love boots on the Leif user for that +4 Quadruple hit damage. (Yes, I am aware Quadruple Hit isn't very good)
Quadruple Hit is fantastic.
...you ARE using Quadruple Hit on a Covert unit... right?
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I don't need to. They normally run into Anna, deal 0 damage, and then die.
@@toxicteapot7941
Why are you grinding money on Hard?
@A Prinny On Break I'm not grinding money on any difficulty. Bonded Shield is just so strong that maddening enemies will deal 0 damage to you. If you protect units who can one shot (Ivy, Anna, Chloe, etc.) No enemy will be able to touch you for 4-8 turns in a row.
Dex should be used to improve the Dex% trigger skills (minus Diamant and Ivy due to their low Dex caps) and not hit rate since hit rate (generally speaking) cause you can inherit Hit+ skills to fix hit rates.
Spd boosting shouldn't be done for avoid cause like with hit rate, you can just inherit Avo+ skills so Spd boosting is best on those who skirt the line for doubling.
Damage boosting items follows a similar rule of thumb as Spd boosting.
The bulk raising items for those you expect to take hits, though keep in mind with Generals that too much Def can be a bad thing cause then maddening AI will often just ignore them unless a backup attack is available for them.
Lck for Ana, if you're concerned about dodging crits, use engravings. Or if you're not using Ana, whoever has Byleth can get use out of it to trigger Divine Pulse.
The way you just ended the video had me cracking up man.
I haven't played a Maddening-esque level of difficulty on Fire Emblem in a LONG time but I'm really enjoying it on Engage so far, even if I'm only on Chapter 6. Looking forward to playing it out.
Love your content! Been watching you since FE engage camr out!
Thanks m8
I tend to use most of my stat boosters on Alear, except dex, which so many units need for their advanced class skills.
Chloe with Levin Sword is great to use Spirit Dust on early.
That last point you said legit made me spit out my drink dude. Started coming here for the guides and stayed for the personality 😂
Boots on seadall this is non negotiable
Boots on Byleth dancer.
@@toxicteapot7941 wrong as that can be anyone
@@blankblank6214 nah. He's from Solm. Those sandals will help him more than some boots with the sand.
@@toxicteapot7941 only quick sand reduces move after you end your turn on it so it's a non issue
@@blankblank6214 I was making a joke that those boots would be bad in the desert, lorewise.
Idk what others run but I put draco shield, secret books, and talisman on Timerra for no reason other than having a really reliable unit that can survive through a lot more than otherwise (I think secret books are best on her due to quadding with dex passive and accuracy helps a lot). Energy drops have too many good candidates so I end up putting them on whoever falls behind (usually always chloe), goddess Icon I put on Anna for passive gold gen. Magic dust and Speed wings I put on Celine last run because she started to fall off but think might be better to put Magic dust on Ivy if using her with Lyn just to hit those damage thresholds a bit easier and speed wing on Timerra to quad more for more sandstorm without having to take up a slot on speed so she can possible take dex + defense or something else.
I figured it would be best to run boots on a slower unit to keep them up with the squad but putting it on flyer makes sense
Instructions unclear, dumping all stat boosters and dlc items on Etie.
I always do boots on my dancer. I've seen people say give them to whoever you run Byleth on, but Byleth's dance is really good but also not nearly as reliable as Seadall.
I mean, if you have Canter on your party, I could definitely see merits to both. You definitely don't want your Byleth ring user or dancer to be one square away from formation.
Yeah, traditionally a Dancer's only relevant stat is mobility.
Im stepping into the infamous chapter 17, just unwinding before checkinf it, nice timing coffeedood ~
My very first playthrough on Hard, I gave all three Energy Drops to Alear because I was so sick of his abysmal strength. 😂 Now I know to use it on my good units like Diamant or Amber.
Spirit Dusts usually goes to Ivy, any Goddess Icon also go to Ivy because no one else needs them and Timerra can also come into support.
Speedwings usually goes to Diamant for me but I gave one to Amber most recently since he had Speedtaker and I just more Speed on my good units.
Dracoshields went to my Ike user and Diamant (yes, I have a bias), until recently, that would be Alfred with Ike but I'm looking to try something different with Alfred soon.
I always have issues with giving out Secret Books because no one really needs and I can always forge weapons' Hit.
If I'm using Veyle, then one Seraph Robe definitely goes to her.
personally I like to feed all my stat boosters and tiki to boucheron so that he can have pure upside
The more I watch your videos the more I think this channel is secretly just a Timerra fan club 😂
Great guide as usual, but I have to push back on Boots not being worth it for Seadall.
A Dancer in FE is limited only by who the strongest unit on your team is at any given situation AND whether or not the Dancer can reach that unit.
You seem to be an advocate for hyper-offensive, efficient plays, so I do find it a bit puzzling that you don't see the merit of possibly doubling your potential for hyper-offensive plays by allowing your Dancer to keep up with your hard carry, who might even have Canter.
This is ESPECIALLY true for Engage because being Danced and acting against DOES NOT consume an Engage turn. If your Corrin user wants to freeze 5 enemies and run halfway across the map to freeze 5 more enemies waiting to flank you, your Dancer had better keep up with them.
Especially especially true because you can Goddess Dance your Dancer in this game.
The mantreads have to be the most powerful stat booster.
TF2 bros unite
When you *+20% faster move speed on wearer*
In desperation after watching this, I just fed Alfred +6 strength. He MIGHT be useful for boss lol
I'm frustrated with Alfred. Every time it comes to the boss, it feels like he deals middling damage and is always 1 rounded (or close to) in a counterattack.
@@westenevomg same
Im trying to make him work i think ill just give him everything and make one of those wolf dagger guys but hes so hard to lvl im at lvl 2 chapter 13 and im in pain hoping he crits with the killer lance so he wont get one shot back
It's so sad that he gets the coolest intro cutscene in the game, and you're like "this guy's gonna be my Lancelot" but he's so mediocre.
@@happyhappy685 I was thinking about reclassing him to halberdier, but his speed growths aren't horrible. I simply don't know what to do with him. xD
It speed wing can be useful for yunaka since it will help make her best doge tank
I used Yunaka x Corrin for my first full playtrough of Maddening and she does not need any speed wings at all. In fact with Corrin's fog (or natural avoid terrain) most enemies I encountered had 0 hit chance on her and outright ignored her, making me wish for slightly LOWER avoid instead so I could farm damage on counterattacks!
I'm just lucky that enemy AI cannot see Pair Up, so they would still attack me at 0% hit when they think they're getting backup chip damage.
I think boots on dancer is underrrated, being able to catch up and dance or reach for chainguard/corrin in general is big
The first rule of thumb is: the more frequently a unit benefits from a booster, the more worthy they are of it.
For energy drops and spirit drops, this is number of strikes a unit makes. A slow unit gets +2 damage per engagement. A fast unit would usually get +4. A brave weapon user could get up to +8. A fast high crit build could get up to +12, but more reliably +8. Tanks will generally just get +2 at a time, but will have many engagements, so it's not actually a bad idea. A tank that runs a killing weapon during enemy phase may be a very strong candidate.
Dracoshield and Talisman logically go to the units that get hit with their respective damage types most frequently. Talisman is awkward, since there aren't typically groups of mages to tank. At some point though, your unit may become an impenetrable wall, and adding more defense/res won't help. I wouldn't recommend the Draco Shield for Louis, but I may for Jade, Diamant, Timerra.
Angelic Robe is actually a little different, as it effectively only works when a units HP drops below 5. For lower defense units that get hit infrequently and die in 1 or 2 hits, this can actually be more effective than a Dracoshield. But tanky units use their defensive stats for the majority of their durability, so their HP doesn't need to do as much work.
At some point though, extra attack could just become overkill. Much less so in maddening though!
For secret book, you can never actually observe when you benefit from it. But if your hit rate was already 100%, you didn't benefit, so avoid that. Combat activation skills I'd consider pretty secondary here. If you've got a unit that benefits from the hit rate and the activation, great. But otherwise, I'd tend to prioritize hit rate.
Speed wings is for that unit that can double some enemies, but is just out of reach of others.
Goddess Icons go to low luck units. The main purpose is to avoid crits. Most units have high enough luck they don't need to worry about it, but Ivy is the most notable exception. Although I generally give her a more hefty weakness patch by adding dodge engravings to her tomes, or the dodge+10 skill, which are more than sufficient.
Boots I think is the trickiest. You can enhance a strength, or patch a weakness. My preference is to use it on units that don't have a good 2 range option. Alear as a divine dragon tends to be my pick, as this puts a lot more enemies into reach. Advance can have a similar effect.
Oh, and of course, if you're doing an iron man run, Alear becomes a better option all around, since she's guaranteed to keep the benefit throughout the entire run.
I put all my boots on seadall so he can zoom through the field
I try to save boosters until I see a certain threshold I want to achieve but then I always forget and just end up hoarding them all.
Ok I literally commented like 20 minutes ago on your last video asking to make a video of who to give the boots to but nvm I guess lol
Who should I use my stat boosters on? I wanna give every single stat booster to EVERYONE!
…Except Ivy. The only boost she needs is with her stand-up comedy.
Funnily enough I gave all of my luck booster to Ivy instead of Anna, but then decided Ivy’s luck is so abysmal anyway I might as well put a -dodge engraving on her tomes
Actually Luck is pretty much the exception booster, because you don't need MUCH luck to avoid floating crit rates from random enemies, putting it on "hopeless" Luck units is breddy gud.
Though yeah, engraving Dodge on a unit's "defense" weapon is probably more reliable.
Food for thought if you're gonna smoke the Luck Booster on Anna meth though.
Just sell it, that's more than it will make you through Anna
I put boots on my dancer because he struggles to keep up with my A team squad of flyers
Alear gets everything but Magic!
I’m mostly kidding but i do generally prefer to make the Lord the strongest
If I’m being honest for the “best” characters
Alcryst could use a few drops, his strength is his only struggle stat
Magic for Ivy and Celine, Anna gonna pop off without it
Dracoshield : Mid range bruisers, Alear, Diamant
Dex books for Ivy, Celine or Diamant
Speedwings are nice for units who are in the 40-45% range Diamant is an example
Res? Do you use a general? Help them out bro, sure the cap is lower but it will make magic water more effective.
I use boots to take a 5 to 6
The free boots went to Alear and the second boots went to Diamant, I dont like over spreading the army in this game, making a flyer go even further seems dangerous to me
@@erikbell1723 Anyone besides royals?
@@erikbell1723 Why even use diamant :D
Because there are not many good targets for +Res i would point out Zelkov. If you run him as a dodge tank, the only weakness is, that mages can hit him and actually do hurt if they get through. Im not sure if its enough to save him on a unlucky turn but in theory it sounds ok.
Did enyone test this out?
I gave all 4 of mine to Goldmary after making her into a halberdier. Now, I wouldn't go as far as to call her a res tank, but she can now at least take a few more hits and her already high defense means I don't have to worry as much about her being on the front lines.
Pure upside
I usually give my early energy drops to Etie since she probably makes the best use of the damage. Her long term potential in strength with at least one is about the same as Panette. It is a little but of favortism towards Etie but she's all about the strength and why not make her best stat even better? It makes the crit engravings deal tons of damage as a warrior with 30 strength by chapter 15.
I threw almost everything on Timerra and boots of kagetsu since he can dive units consistently
Boots on Seadall provides so much utility
Nice guide but this only for mading mode for hard mode you can use them on very useful people and it can be good
Is there a resource to find the important stat benchmarks like speed needed to double, etc...?
Difference of 5 speed to double in this game
Damage equals your relevant attack stat (str or mag) added to the weapon's power, then reduced by the target's relevant defense stat.
Or in case of fisticuffs, the average of your str and mag is used instead.
You double if you have +5 speed over your opponent, and Bld determines the max weapon Wt (weight) you can use without taking a speed penalty. Every Wt point above this value will give you -1 speed.
Dex increases your Hit and Crit values, Speed your Avoid, and Luck your Dodge. Actual Hit chance = your hit minus enemy avoid, Crit chance = your crit minus enemy dodge. Keep in mind terrain tiles like forest can +30 someone's avoid, or +60 (double) for Covert units.
You can search online for previews of chapters and enemies to see what their stats are like, and calculate back from there what your stat benchmarks for that chapter should be. DLC maps scale on your army level though so you'll just have to check those manually.
I just toss everything on Alear
I think my favorite reoccurring joke is that comparing Iced Coffee Gaming to any other FE content creator, his tech videos will always turn to his pocket pic Timerra/Sandstorm.
This video really felt like:
You can use statboosters to patch up a weakness or shortcoming, like Chloe's strength late game.
Also everything can be fed to Timerra because she can just use everything
It felt like the only mention she should have had is the Dracoshield because of its interaction with Sandstorm instead of a whole showcase😅
EDITED: Rewrote what I had because it read really, really toxic, and ICG + the FE community don't deserve that.
My apologize, hope to see a new vid soon!
Your comment is a bit passive agressive but i do agree that the Timerra love doesnt feel very objective
Honestly Timerra doesn't need stat boosters to be relevant, she has great bases and is a solid Unit. My opinion on Pannette has changed and she seems to be high A/possibly S with Ike+Brave Axe, Merrin is also very solid.
Timerra isn't the only unit I like using, she is just a strong unit that can do a lot when used correctly and has a unique frame/set of mechanics that enable different tactics.
Most tanks are slow and she is a fast off tank that can hit 30+ def midgame with high enough speed to double, making her able to 1 round some enemies on enemy phase even with low investment. Anna is similar, Alear is similar, so is Chloe. Ivy, Kagetsu, Zelkov, etc all require minimal investment to pop off.
@@IcedCoffeeGaming like I said it's just a hilarious quirk I've seen where it feels like you can't help yourself 😂 and it's not a bad thing, I didn't think she was great till you showed her off
I love that I found your channel and you've done a bunch of great work for Engage (where the FE old guard hasn't been as quick to cover anything). Just thought this one was a bit too much hype on the Timerra train.
You didn't have one to show but going over how you should feed your Goddess Icons to Anna for her passive is a good call out. The only brushing up I saw was the energy drop for Chloe and I was hoping to see more of that was all.
But that was my takeaway because around 2:45 when you first mentioned Timerra it derailed into a spotlight/showcase for her and I was just thinking "well, yea"
@@alexterieur8813 I reread it and yea I apologize for making it sound crueler than what I intended.
I was just hoping he would cover unique scenarios where the boosters really pivot a unit (like the dracoshield on Timerra is a really good example, or gIcons for Anna's passive which wasn't mentioned) but instead it was like. Too generic featuring Timerra (again) 😅
@@priestessii absolutely! I mean those three are strong if you use them, you don't need to heavily invest in them or use star boosters but that's kind of my point.
Why mention either great characters who don't really benefit from it (they'll carry regardless) or units who can't be saved (don't give armors speed, or Vander anything, etc)
This started great (Alear gets hp, Chloe some might to stay relevant/good) and then turned to a Timerra spotlight like so many other videos 😂
"Timerra is only a mid investment unit, but she needs 3 Secret Books, the Dracoshield, and maybe an Energy Drop"
No hate, I just think it's funny how much you simp for this character, lmao
I'm mentioning how to stat boost her sandstorm build specifically. It is really strong.
What units compete over dex books? Most units don't need them.
Also with no investment Timerra can still tank hits and do ok, with investment she is insane.
@@IcedCoffeeGaming I get that, but I don't specifically think dumping that many stat boosters still classifies as "mid investment" when nearly any other unit will also perform very well with just as many boosters dropped on them. I'm not arguing it's not strong, I'm just saying it's an off classification.
The Dex books could just as easily be used to patch up hit rates on mages or axe users, like Panette or Dire Thunder Citrene, for example, and they'll give you pretty similar results back. The Def and Str items could be used on Diamant to get just as decent a tank back, too. Any unit you dump 4 or 5 stat boosts into at one time is going to carry... for the most part
Everything into Etie.
My fan boy ass gave em all to Alear except the Mag +2 💀
Personally I would sell all but the seraph Robe. 5+ hp can save your unit from being kill by a physical and magical attack. There are plenty of skills that give stat boosts if you really want them. The 1k from selling them is alot with how little the amount of money you earn early on. And buying tonics is the better route due to how cheap they are. Managing tonics on this game is a pain but I'm already used to spending 20 minutes to half an hour preparing for each chapter. But if you really want to use them give them to Alear, not only are they a safe choice but you will have to use them on chapters anyway.
Tonics the new meta? Do you sell Energy Drops and Spirit dust as well?
Thanks for the tip m8 :)
@@IcedCoffeeGaming YES...
The question is... If you use boosts before a character has max stat depending on his class, does he still get the extra max stat point? If max ho is 50 and you use a boost when you have 48, can you now go up to 52? Or you reached your cap because of the stat boost? If you use stat boosts when you are at max you should get more points, above the max... This is what we need to check
I can confirm you can't use boosters on stats that are already at max, I'm not 100% sure if you can use them if the amount you gain would go over your max, but I'm going to assume it just takes the stat to cap and the rest of the points dissappear into the void.
Would you recommend celine or citrinne? Celine is fast but usually doesn’t double unless it’s an armored knight. I have Olwen ring for double thunder so I’m leaning toward citrinne because she’s a lot stronger. (Currently Maddening ch9)
I have not tried Celine past chapter 10 but I will say Citrinne is very very strong with dire thunder. Probably the best user of that ring with her high magic and low spd. Give her canter so she can stay safe and pocket her with seadal and she will carry your run with dire thunder. Engrave the thunder with the highest MT and maybe give her a dex stat up if she starts missing.
Yeah, give Citrinne Olwen S and and an engraving that increases Mt and/or Hit in exchange for increased weight.
@@theolong6689 I've used Celine on a Maddening run and she's just mediocre on all accounts. Because of her balanced str/mag she's effective against both armors (trash res) and mages (trash def), and she has enough bulk and speed to not get bodied easily. However even with her Ignis skill helping out her damage cannot compare to a more specialized unit like Citrinne or Panette.
You want a spicy Celine meme?
Here's a spicy Celine meme.
Celine. Thief. Lief. Quadruple Hit.
Cha-ching $$$
Did u get Hector? Thinking on try on timerra? The ring give so much Def
I'd actually disagree with the res on louis. It's exactly because his res is so low, that 2 extra res is a bigger percentage increase in his total res. Obviously you want to avoid mages as much as possible but sometimes you don't have that option and that 2 or 4 extra res can be exactly what you need.
May just be me, but I didn't feel getting doubled for 26 instead of 28 was a big improvement in the mid game.
You're looking at it wrong. The total damage is what you should be looking at. At 2 res, an enemy with 20 magic will hit for 18 damage. 18 vs 16 damage is only a 11% decrease in damage.
Compare that to a unit with 14 res vs the same Mage. Before the Talisman they'll take 6 magic damage and after they'll take 4. That's a 33% decrease in damage for just 2 points. Using a Talisman on someone like Louis is a waste, he'd be better off using Pure Water.
@@HeartlessSeph I see. I concede my point. You are right on that. I guess the best way is focusing on just def/hp on louis but making sure you've enough units with good movement to get rid of the mages in the first place.
I think it depends on the goal and point of the game. Also depends on ring. I got louis strong enough on my first playthrough to ohko frail mages from 2 range, so with 2 talismans and a pure water up he could actually deal with mages fine on maddening. Extra value if he has ike as he will naturally also have more res. It works on a tank but only if you can stack them to a point where they actually can mixed tank.
I gave all my energy drops to Lapis. That + turning her into a hero fixed her only downside , that being her strength. Now, with her forged sword, she can just sit up front dodging every 5-10% chance hit and killing or almost killing everything.
What is you opinion that is not +7 the seraph robe?
Or you could just be like me and hoard everything and never use them because you cant decide who your favorite unit is XD
True
Timerra is the best Unit in the game. Change my mind.....
Hey can you please to a "how to survive tiki paralogue before ch11 in maddening" guide I been beating my head against this for days it's not even a fun kind of hard like the first fog of war map the dragons are so cheap lol.
I don't think he has the DLC
@Warpuppy there a way to add people and gift them dlc? I don't shop on eshop much
@Priestess_ii on maddening I was told the final wave is 4 dragons not 3 lol
bring alcryst and etie with steel bow+1 and it is ez
@Priestess_ii I said I was told. Anyhow doesn't protect you from being swarmed by the other 5 wyverns by trying to outlast the waves of torment lol they come forth charging if you waste too many turns farming reinforcements those add up to more than 3 all well.
Does stat boost, allow you to go above stat caps?