#madlions

Now featuring basement children and DLC classes...

Any input you've got for units is appreciated! I'm wrestling between a couple choices--mostly whether to make units physical or magical.

[WARNING. SPOILERS FOR FE3H AHEAD. CURRENTLY PLAYING LIONS ROUTE BUY SOMETIMES I TALK ABOUT OTHERS AND SOME PARALOGUES OVERLAP SO SORRY IN ADVANCE]

So for a time, my roommate kidnapped me to play Minecraft (foxes!!) but the Madlions continue! And I have moved quite a bit further. So much further that I'm splitting this update into TWO updates because I have too dang much to say.

And DLC wave 3 is out! Regrettably, I am so late in this run that I am not making as much use of the sauna as I could, and I am missing like alllll the new quests and whatnot, but I am loving the new outfits! I got all my boys in summer wear, and most of the girls are wearing evening wear (unless they're mounted--summer wear overrides for combat, but evening doesn't because the skirt is too long).

I have class outfits overridden and I swear we're Valkyria Chronicles now but everyone looks dapper af and I don't care for the Mortal Savant outfit so really this is better

Here's what we've been up to!

The Great Bridge of Myrrdin:

HEY, LORENZ, YOU'RE ON THE WRONG SIDE.

This absolute sunofabitch comes at me ready to throw down as a level 40 Paladin and comes back home to us as a LEVEL 14 SOLDIER. I understand that I did nothing to improve him over time and I shouldn't be surprised, but honestly I expected at least his current class to stay unlocked. Was I gonna use him? No. But it was simultaneously hilarious and jarring. I even made a meme:

AND DEDUE IS BACK MY BOOYYYYYY!!

I keep forgetting that Dedue returns at the beginning of this chapter instead of the end. It's so inspiring~ I had him classed as a Warrior before he left, and he was about 5 levels behind (yikes) but he survived well enough. With the power of Byleth's healing and exp gain, he caught up quickly enough.

For this battle, our main force went up the middle, and Byleth and Dimitri went on a magical bridge adventure on the side. Even though I re-learned the hard way that I AM NOT A FRONTLINER at the start of the timeskip, I believed erroneously that Byleth would be okay over there. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to pull out the Sword of the Creator to end that shit sooner than otherwise.

Paralogue: Dummy Thicc Thickets:

Sometimes I forget that not every battle requires you to kill every last one of them rout the enemy. Sometimes the battle objective is to defeat the commanders.

This is not a battle I forgot that in.

So, uh, Marianne was about level 9 when we started this one. The rest of the roster was mostly mid-high 30s? With Dancer Flayn creeping up the highest around 39. With the power of torches, some trial and error (and Divine Pulse Intervention--thanks Sothis), thicc thickets (40% cover is #blessed), and aggressive Striding, we gunned it for Maurice and beat the absolute shit out of him before he could so much as protest.

Thicket is love. Thicket is life.

And Marianne gained a single level casting Physic. *tiny sad low exp gain flags*

Worst Class Reunion in History:

I learned from the last times I did this map. Hahaha. With all students recruited, Gronder was monumentally easier. And I can't speak for Golden Deer players, but for Blue Lions, I'm telling you: avoid the center hill. The not-Bernie archer could not do enough meaningful damage to anyone I put in their range, and most importantly, it gave us much-needed distance from Claude's disgusting wyvern range.

I like to see the special dialogue, so I went out of my way to send Dimitri to fight Edelgard. This is probably one of the most chilling interactions between the two of them. Holy cats does Chris Hackney deliver this shit.

Gronder is such an intense and important battle, and I wish so hard it was executed just a little better. The pieces are all there, but some don't fit together correctly, or create discord between story and gameplay. I have never quite understood why the Alliance chooses to so aggressively attack when my Kingdom intentionally stays out of their way. If the battlefield were covered in actual fog, it might make more sense (though SOTHIS it would be a NIGHTMARE). Instead, Claude comes off as capricious, not as a "Master Tactician."

But with some suspension of disbelief, Gronder still packs an emotional punch. And hot fucking damn, Chris Hackney's voice acting. The cutscene after Gronder is some of the most intense and moving shit in the game. The way his fucking voice cracks at, "But you seem to have all the answers, Professor," is utterly destroying. I love the Blue Lions for many reasons, but I'd recommend it just to get to this scene alone. It is beautiful and humbling.

Paralogue: One Big Turtle:

Hey did you know that Lethality procs off Gambits, too? Because that was an absolute delight to learn.

I almost didn't do this paralogue because of the FOG and Leonie and Linhardt being so low-leveled like anyone not on the A-team, but this was really the only chance I was going to get to fight a 3x3 beast on Blue Lions, so my curiosity won out. Plus, the dialogue in the cutscene leading up to this is some of my favorite. It is really a shame that Linhardt and Leonie don't have more dialogue/supports.

With enough torches, this level is reasonable, and fighting The Immovable was fun! Probably as much fun for me as it was for him. And I finally took Flayn to fight a Saint, which is a riot.

"Oh, hey, Cethleann!"

"UNCLE, SHUT UP!"

Next Update: Bernie/Petra Paralogue, Retaking Fhirdiad, Ferdie/Lysithea Paralogue, and Saving Claude!

Roster (post Saint-smacking):

To see the class progression, please check my earlier updates! It's a lot of text to repost 😭

Unit: Class (Most Used Weapons)

Byleth: Enlightened One (Brawl and Faith)

Dimitri: Great Lord (Lances)

Dedue: Wyvern Lord (Axes)

Ashe: Bow Knight (Bows) duh

Ingrid: Holy Knight (Lances, Faith)

Annette: Mortal Savant (Levin Sword+, Reason)

Sylvain: Mortal Savant (Burn until we meet again Reason)

Flayn: Dancer (Levin Sword+)

Felix: Warmaster (PUNCH!)

Gilbert: Great Knight (Axes, Lances)

Caspar: Wyvern Lord (Axes)

Hilda: Falcon Knight (Lance's, Axes)

You Two Should Kiss! (Intended Pairings):

• Dimitri and Byleth (I AM SHAMELESS TRAAAASSSHHH)

• Sylvain and Felix

• Ashe and Ingrid

• Mercedes and Annette

• Flayn and Dedue

• Caspar and Hilda

• Dorothea and Petra

• Ferdinand and Manuela

• Catherine and Shamir

[CAUTION! SPOILERS ALL FOR FE3H!]

I'm in the time skip! The battle to defend Garreg Mach was ROUGH. Took a couple divine pulses (and one restart; opening position is so important) to figure out how we wanted to proceed, but once we got over the hump, things went much more smoothly. In retrospect, I should have trained more than one archer. DX Hunter's Volley is a thing of beauty. But we are managing.

Because Caspar is in second string, he's a few levels behind, but with the help of his teammates, he was able to strike the final blow on his (unrecognized) uncle Randolph. I let Dimitri go for Edelgard, and while he wasn't able to KO her, he was shockingly dodgy--Edelgard had only a 34% hit chance with very low damage against him. And in the end, she was not immune to being punched in the face by my Brawleth before she tore our army to shreds and we fell off a cliff.

ALSO turns out the Commander ability protects against OHKOs which I shouldn't have been surprised by but somehow was?? I didn't mentally translate "a single hit with a lot of damage" as an "instant death effect," so Hubert was slightly more annoying than usual.

This map's Death Knight Elimination Squad was Mercedes at a Fire Orb and one lucky Ashe on the other side of a wall. By the official Death Knight Elimination rules (which I have just made up), for striking the final blow, Ashe is next in line to be Dark Bishop. XD he is behind Dimitri for this run (can you imagine Dark Bishop Dimitri??? I didn't do it because a) his reason is trash and b) the idea of giving him Lifetaker is soooooo cringe. I much prefer to have him self-heal via Renewal. It seems happier and healthier). Buuuutt I already did this to poor Ashe last time to give him Lifetaker, which he is making phenomenal use of.

Shout out to my new best friend, a green Swordsmaster ally, who solo'd the left middle chunk of the map without dying so I didn't have to. We have named her Marlene. We kept Marlene alive throughout the map (it was the least we could do). We hope the time skip is treating Marlene well.

Time Skip!

So firstly I just wanna say that Chris Hackney is fucking amazing as Dimitri's VA. I chose Blue Lions for my first playthrough and was utterly shocked at Dimitri's descent, and witnessing it again is as heartbreaking as the first time. The emotion in his voice is insane. My roommates and I all started with different houses, and while they were all having tearful, joyful reunions with their lords, we over on Team Faerghus were having a Bad Time (TM). (I kept saying, "All is not well in Waffleville," because they didn't want spoilers). And Chris Hackney's performance just fucking knocks it out of the park.

The first time I played this map, I made the mistake of believing that Dimitri and I were both frontliners. We put Dimitri in front and stood in the shadow of his cape and healed him ("WASTED EFFORT") This time, I made the mistake of believing that Dimitri was a frontliner. Poor boy got two-shot by EVERYONE (Reblog if you've ever been personally victimized by a Poison Touch archer). And with his personal ability giving him +20 Avoid at full health, you'd think he would have dodged SOMETHING. I was so maniacally laughing at our misfortune that my roommates came to give me emotional support hugs. They stayed for the whole battle. ♡ last time, we also had to beeline for Annette and Mercedes to prevent them from untimely doom. This time, we hid in a bush while Assassinette and Thyrcedes came to us. Thyrcedes came to save us all, because despite his beefy Defense and literally standing inside of a tree, Gilbert is also apparently allergic to dodging. I think it helped that Mercedes was able to class into Gremory before the time skip. And with a Levin Sword, Annette is lethal (now with Lethality!)

But no restarts! Yaaaay!

(In my hubris, I realized I have left Ashes and Dust on Dedue. RIP Faerghus. The war is lost.)

Roster Progression (as of post rat-hunting)

Key! [Unit: end goal. Pathing -> Current Class]

Byleth: Enlightened One. Path: Monk/Fighter -> Brigand -> Swordmaster -> Bishop? -> Enlightened One

Dimitri: Great Lord. Path: Monk -> Priest/Lord/Cavalier -> Paladin/Bishop -> High Lord -> Great Lord

Mercedes: Gremory. Path: Monk -> Mage/Priest -> Warlock/Bishop -> Gremory

Ingrid: Holy Knight. Path: Monk/Soldier -> Cavalier/Priest -> Paladin -> Holy Knight

Ashe: Bow Knight. Path: Fighter -> Archer/Cavalier -> Sniper/Paladin -> Bow Knight

Annette: Mortal Savant. Path: Monk -> Mage -> Assassin -> Mortal Savant

Dedue: Wyvern Lord. Path: Fighter -> Brigand -> Wyvern Rider/Warrior -> Wyvern Lord

Sylvain: Mortal Savant. Path: Mercenary/Thief -> Hero -> Swordmaster -> Mortal Savant

Felix: Warmaster. Path: Brigand/Brawler -> Grappler -> Warmaster

Flayn: Dancer. Path: Priest -> Mage -> Warlock/Priest -> Dancer

Hilda: Falcon Knight. Path: Pegasus Knight -> ??? -> Falcon Knight

[SPOILER WARNING-- I'm going to talk about plot and character spoilers]

I've never completed a "harder than Hard difficulty" FE, and I'm kind of excited! Before 3H, I had also not played on Classic mode, so this is all really neat. I started Lunatic on Awakening once some years ago and didn't think I was up for it. So far, I've played through Crimson Flower, Azure Moon, and Verdant Winds. I have yet to play Silver Snow, but I really wanted to play Lions again, so I am using them for my Maddening run. I *am* on NG+, but only with 2/4 Saint Statue exp boosts. I'd like to try a naked Maddening mode to get that sweet, sweet title screen, but baby steps.

So far, it's going well! I'm in Guardian Moon and it's all sad dad music. The hardest stages so far have definitely been the Tower of Conand with Miklan (but I kept Gilbert alive!) and Sylvain and Felix's paralogues (because I was greedy and wanted that swag). Only a couple restarts so far! XD

Here is my current roster and plan. Current classes are in parentheses.

Byleth: Enlightened One. Path: Monk/Fighter -> Brigand -> (Swordmaster) -> Bishop? -> Enlightened One

Dimitri: Great Lord. Path: Monk -> Priest/Lord/Cavalier -> (Paladin) -> Bishop -> High Lord -> Great Lord

Mercedes: Gremory. Path: Monk -> Mage/Priest -> Warlock/(Bishop) -> Gremory

Annette: Mortal Savant. Path: Monk -> Mage -> (Assassin) -> Mortal Savant

Ashe: Bow Knight. Path: Fighter -> Archer/Cavalier -> (Sniper)/Paladin -> Bow Knight

Ingrid: Holy Knight. Path: Monk/Soldier -> Cavalier/Priest -> (Paladin) -> Holy Knight

Felix: Warmaster. Path: Brigand/Brawler -> (Grappler) -> Warmaster

Dedue: Wyvern Lord. Path: Fighter -> Brigand -> (Wyvern Rider)/Warrior -> Wyvern Lord

Sylvain: Mortal Savant. Path: Mercenary/Thief -> Hero -> Mortal Savant

Second String:

Flayn: Dancer. Path: Priest -> Mage -> Warlock/Priest -> (Dancer)

Hilda: Falcon Knight. Path: (Pegasus Knight) -> ??? -> Falcon Knight

Caspar: Wyvern Lord. Path: (Brigand) -> Warrior -> Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Lord

Pairings:

Still unsure about a lot! But I am currently thinking:

-Dimileth

-Sylvix

-Anncedes

-Ashegrid