Fun Club Guides, Advice, or General Resources for Getting Better at Strategy Games (Yes, This Is Because of Fire Emblem)

[lusine]

Hey guys! I haven't had the $$$ to buy Fire Emblem ENGAGE (yet!), but reading all your reactions, and watching people playing, really gave me a craving to play it -- or any games like it. I fired up my old copy of Fire Emblem Awakening to start with... and it quickly, and rudely, reminded me that I am a terrible strategist.

Yes, I do suffer from the usual suspects of "impatience" and "forgetting information that's available (and I often previously checked)" (oh, the amount of times I've nearly lost my Pegasus Knight already, because I forgot to recheck an archer's aggro range), but that's two things I'm already trying to work on. More important than that, I've always admired people who have a mind for strategy and tactics, but it's not something that comes easily to me. So I'd like to get better at it... Except I don't know how to find resources.

Most resources I find that say they'll help get better at strategy games turn out to be either:

• Explanations of the game mechanics, alongside a cheerful reminder to take advantage of them (not the issue exactly);
• Explorations of game maps, pointing out dangers, objectives and surprises (helpful! but not in teaching how to strategize);
• Step by step solutions of the game's scenarios, which basically tell you what to do, without explaining the reasoning behind each move.

I think this third one will be way more helpful, once I have enough of a basis to be able to study the solutions on their own... But for now, I'm not sure what I'm looking at, exactly, when using these solutions. I end up just moving through the motions, without understanding what leads to each.

From having looked through chess resources, the most helpful thing right now (besides playing myself, which I'm already trying to do) might be watching (or reading through) different people play (preferably while explaining what they're doing).

Do you know of any resources that might help someone learn to think strategically? Or a playthrough video series, or written guide, you like a lot -- particularly one where the author was thinking out loud a lot?

TL;DR: Please share what you think might help a beginner learn better strategic thinking! Failing that, please share your favorite Strategic Game of Choice resources!

 

[Sheldon]

This is an interesting question and I think you're on the right track with watching other people play and think and talk through their reasoning.

What I'll add is it'd be best to concentrate on one game at first. Fully study it and grasp it. Then you can move on and apply those lessons to other games. A lot of skills like developing a plan, advancing towards your win condition, accounting for counterplays to your own actions, information managment and so forth transfer between strategy titles, especially if you stay within similar genres.

I'd also suggest games that are more free-flowing, more combustible and open to improvisation as that encourages someone talking through their turns out loud and you experiencing how they adapt in the moment. Something closer to XCOM than Fire Emblem. My own experience with strategic or tactical games I consumed second-hand, too, include Blood Bowl, Hearthstone or Pokemon. If you want to dive deeper into any of those games, I can point you to reccommended sources on YouTube.

 

[TheWolvesDen]

I love Fire Emblem games but suck at them. I think the questions I tend to ask myself are usually the following as i try to get better:

1) What is this map about? What are the main challenges, what are the developers pushing me to notice/focus on. This really gets you preparing before you start a battle. it gets you to think about what enemies are likely to give you problems. In Awakening this challenging because of reinforcements in some maps but generally, thinking about the enemy weapons/units and anticipating how they will give you issues is the biggest part of trying to think strategically. You try to play to compensate for the disadvantages you have in your map.

2) How safe am I from enemy movement? One thing I turn on in FE is the enemy movement thing, that lets you know where you can be safe in advancing. It makes the risky moves visual.

3) What units have good synergy with each other? Even beyond the pair up discourse, that question is about duo/trios/quartets that seem to cover each others weakness. This is important because you will try to split your big deployed party, based on these micro groups. This has been my hardest thing personally when trying to think stragecially. I rarely tend to make the great quartet, so I hope to hear some folks in this thread who have some more micro synergy type thinking that can strengthen this .

4) Why was this run bad? I fail maps all the time, so I try to use enemy movement and habits during a bad run as information gathering. Who do they want to target? do they use the balistas? Where do reinforcements tend to come from? Bad runs give you a lot of information.

5) Who are going to be my main units? Often you can't level up everyone , Awakening gives you more tools to do so but in principle think about which units you want to really develop since everyone can't often get the exp, so thinking about who you want to make sure gets exp in certain maps.

 

[ITSMILNER]

I always find putting the game on the lowest difficulty at first and then getting a feel for the systems. Once things start to click up the difficulty if you feel it needs it.

 

[PixelKnight]

With Fire Emblem, and the amount of fog of war limiting vision and enemy aggro, it’s often a case of just not over-extending your battle line towards the end of your turn. There’s also a difference between whatever units you’ve got that can take an unplanned-for hit and stuff that’s critical (like letting enemy archers shoot at your fliers, or magic users at your armour units, or any melee unit getting to your healers).

Generally I move the more defensively vulnerable units that are still needing to be on the front line to get xp first. So pegasus knights and casters, usually, but also light infantry like thieves, swordmasters and axe infantry. Let them get their hits in and see what happens. Usually those units hit hard, but that way, if they get hurt, I can prioritise them for healing. My all-round tougher units (foot knights, cavaliers) I’ll usually use to step forward beyond the squishier types and aggro melee/archer enemies, but also I’ve then got the opportunity to just use them to block enemy movement and shield squishier units just by getting in the way. I usually have them equipped with javelins/hand axes so they can attack back if a ranged attacker goes for them. The lord I keep in the middle as an emergency reserve. That way everyone can access the convoy with its near-unlimited healing items too. Nothing wrong with people drinking vulneraries if a healer can’t get to them too. Sometimes the best thing you can do is have your battered advance units fall back and heal up while the slower infantry catch up.

Key thing to remember is that FE AI usually prioritises killing characters it can get to, then doing the most damage it can. But if the only thing a unit can reach is a unit it can’t hurt, it’ll still charge it. I like to simplify the battlefield by prioritising taking out enemy archers and mages first. Once all the enemy has left is melee, they are much easier to take apart as the battlefield becomes a lot easier to read with fewer ‘gotchas’. Taking time to examine all the enemy on the map and looking at any hidden special weapons also helps- you don’t want a ‘rider slayer’ weapon being used on your cavalry etc.

 

[Hailinel]

Focusing on Fire Emblem in particular, you should examine what the specific game wants from you as, even when mechanics are carried over from game to game, specific strategies may not apply across games. There are some generally universal rules (ex: Archers are powerful against flying units), but the nature of character growth and advancement is very different going from, for example, Shadows of Valentia to Three Houses to Engage.

 

[xghost777]

I’d recommend playing on the most forgiving settings possible when you are learning how to play strategy games. In Fire Emblem’s case that’s normal and without permadeath. Being able to make mistakes and see what works and what doesn’t is such a great way to learn. In Fire Emblem’s case again, you can challenge yourself within those more forgiving modes. You might have permadeath off, but try to play maps still where you don’t lose units.

Growing up I learned to play StarCraft when I was super young for example by typing in cheat codes that gave you invincibility, fast building, infinite supply, and lots of money. As I got used to the game the more I played it I stopped using those cheat codes one by one.

Unless it is a competitive game, I don’t think rigorous study is necessary, but usually there’s a few basic tip articles and videos out there that can be a big help for individual games.

 

[meatbag]

Joining the chorus of playing on the easiest difficulty. That way you can get a better feel for how the combat should flow.

 

[Sheldon]

If you play on easy difficulty, just be aware of the pitfalls that can create depening on how any one particular game does difficulty. If it's a case where the game simply scales down damage and health pools, that's a fine way of learning. However if it also dumbs down the AI, you might end up developing strategies or even ways of thinking that stop working at higher levels.

 

[lusine]

Hey again guys! Thank you so much everybody for all the great advice I've been getting so far!

Since people have been giving me, personally, advice, I'm gonna address some responses that came up, roughly in reverse order.

---

Thanks @meatbag , @xghost777 , and @ITSMILNER for the advice about starting out on the easier modes! This is something I should have mentioned in my first post, but completely forgot about: I've actually already started FE Awakening in both Normal/Casual and Normal/Classic a couple of times, and gotten pretty far every time, before life, and the gaming backlog, distracted me from finishing the game.

I feel it did teach me quite well about the mechanics of playing this game, but worked a little less well at, I guess, teaching me strategy itself? I mean, I always felt pretty safe in Normal mode, I could risk some enemy rushing without much worrying... As long as I paid attention to critical weaknesses, and didn't stray too far from the rest of my army, I was pretty safe.

That's why, after I saw some really cool strategy for the Lunatic mode of the ENGAGE game, I decided to challenge myself more, and started my new file on Hard/Casual. And wow, does it feel like a completely different game on the new difficulty... I'm finishing the maps, but having trouble with them, which made me realize, I really do need to level up my strategy stat a bit!

So, Normal mode did help me learn Fire Emblem! However, it also didn't take my strategy to beyond the basics. It's great advice for a newcomer to the series, and it's my bad I forgot to include my history.

---

Thank you to @TheWolvesDen , @PixelKnight and @Hailinel for the Fire Emblem specific advice! I'm super impressed because, wow, you guys managed to be way more helpful than every gaming article that seemed to try and do what you did.

@Hailinel , I didn't know about the stat growths rates changing between games, and will try to search out calculators so I can watch out for that, thanks!

@PixelKnight , all your info was really useful, but I'm particularly relieved at your description of how a battle of yours roughly goes by unit movement. I have been doing something similar, so it's great to hear that this is not where I'm messing up. (Also... I've played this game three or four times, and I never made the connection that the Lord is the gateway to the Convoy. Thank you for clearing that up, wow.)

@TheWolvesDen , your miniguide is not only useful for getting out of tricky maps, it's also fascinating from a social reverse engineering viewpoint. I am suddenly tempted to try and apply it to a bunch of other games! Though the FE specific stuff is quite difficult -- I already have a ridiculously hard time remembering who in Awakening has Supports with who, much less which are the best synergies within those supports. My brain doesn't want to remember, much less cross reference, so many lists!

---

@Sheldon , thank you for the advice! I actually don't think I'm super familiar with any of the games you mentioned (I've only heard most of these titles in passing -- are you talking about Pokemon Conquest? Or competitive Pokemon battling?), but I agree with you that the skills should be transferable, and yeah, more dynamic games probably do encourage a lot more thinking out loud.

I'd love some recommended sources! I... have to admit I'm currently holding myself back from going "so you can fork them ALL over!"...

I haven't had time to look into these titles today, but Pokemon is always a pretty safe bet? And for a second choice, which of these games is your favorite? I see Hearthstone is more like a board game and Blood Bowl is sportish, so maybe XCOM, which seems to have been the first to come to mind?

(Actually, if you don't mind, go ahead and give me Hearthstone resources too anyway, I've never gotten the more involved board/card strategies either. Might as well put it on the to do list!)

 

[Yamanoi]

I’d recommend playing on the most forgiving settings possible when you are learning how to play strategy games. In Fire Emblem’s case that’s normal and without permadeath. Being able to make mistakes and see what works and what doesn’t is such a great way to learn. In Fire Emblem’s case again, you can challenge yourself within those more forgiving modes. You might have permadeath off, but try to play maps still where you don’t lose units.

Growing up I learned to play StarCraft when I was super young for example by typing in cheat codes that gave you invincibility, fast building, infinite supply, and lots of money. As I got used to the game the more I played it I stopped using those cheat codes one by one.

Unless it is a competitive game, I don’t think rigorous study is necessary, but usually there’s a few basic tip articles and videos out there that can be a big help for individual games.

This 100%!

The advantage of modern Fire Emblem games is the accessibility (in difficulty). Try the easiest and slowly move up. Having rewind also helps you with trial and error so you can learn.

The reason why Three Houses clicked for many new people in my circles, is they gave a lot of downtime for people to interact with the cast so the battles were more tense as you wanted to make sure these characters you care about survive. On easy, that isn't a problem, but that game had a nice balance with some elements of Persona but still a true FE game.

As for your questions, I found Fire Emblem Warriors (first one) did a great job at how it explained FE mechanics to newcomers.

 

[Sheldon]

@Sheldon , thank you for the advice! I actually don't think I'm super familiar with any of the games you mentioned (I've only heard most of these titles in passing -- are you talking about Pokemon Conquest? Or competitive Pokemon battling?), but I agree with you that the skills should be transferable, and yeah, more dynamic games probably do encourage a lot more thinking out loud.

I'd love some recommended sources! I... have to admit I'm currently holding myself back from going "so you can fork them ALL over!"...

I haven't had time to look into these titles today, but Pokemon is always a pretty safe bet? And for a second choice, which of these games is your favorite? I see Hearthstone is more like a board game and Blood Bowl is sportish, so maybe XCOM, which seems to have been the first to come to mind?

(Actually, if you don't mind, go ahead and give me Hearthstone resources too anyway, I've never gotten the more involved board/card strategies either. Might as well put it on the to do list!)

Unfortunately XCOM, like Fire Emblem or Civilization, falls in the basket of games that I've only consumed second-hand content of for entertaintment rather than because the streamers are any good at it.

With Pokemon I was thinking about the VCG format. There's the card game, too, but I haven't been in touch with that community. Pokemon is an interesting learning experience, because it is at once hugely complex with a possiblity space bordering on the insane with all the permutations of types, moves, abilities, items and more you could combine. Yet in a real world practical sense you can break it down into managable portions. There are over a thousand pokemon but only about 20 you'll see on the regular at any given time. What also helps are the two distinct phases of strategizing. In competitive Pokemon, preparation is half the battle and building a team is as or more important than playing it. With some teams you can even flowchart your decision-making from turn to turn so they're really easy to pick up and learn and go from there when you're ready to try more adaptable strategies.

WolfeyVGC has guide videos where he explains his approach to building and battling in introductory terms or hard-to follow expert shorthand gibberish and tries to teach VGC to newcomers. For actually watching someone play, I'd rather reccommend CybertronVGC. Wolfey is a better player, but understands the game at such a high intuitive level he sees things others wouldn't and often doesn't vocalize it. Cybertron is better at talking through expectations, decisions and consequences while still being an exceptional trainer.

For Hearthstone, when I was as heavily into the game as I ever got, what helped me most was the Grinning Goat. They're two algorithm nerds who specialize not only in Hearthstone, but a specific sub-game in Hearthstone - the Arena mode, which is a draft-like format where players assemble a deck out of random cards and take it as far as they can against other players with their cobbled together decks. They've got years worth of podcast and have done tutorials, deep dives on why certain cards are good or not, nuanced breakdowns of particular Hearthstone metas as well as the top down view of basic principles. I can compile additional links, if you'd like. You'd find similar explainers for other cards games, I'm sure, as many of them still follow fundamentals established by Magic. The big advantage with ADWCTA and Merps is in their co-op streams because by playing together they naturally discuss what options they have each turn and argue the merits of their prefered line of play.

An example of something I took away from them, which I since do for every strategy game, is to have a mental checklist to work through before every decision. Many of the points on that list change from game to game, but some questions stay the same. What's the ideal outcome here? What's the worst case? How do I put myself in position to still win if the latter happens rather than the first?

Even when veteran players seem to wing it, they're usually not. They've just internalized those points so much it's second-nature to them to quickly check them off before doing anything else.

 

[lusine]

Thanks for all the links, @Sheldon ! I've taken a bit longer to answer because I wanted to take a look at a couple of Hearthstone basics, to see if it seem like something I could eventually get, since you offered additional sources. And the answer is, yeah, it looks really cool! Surprisingly, I enjoy the aesthetics of it quite a bit, which is nice because we're staring at these screens for so long. And I do feel I could absorb the strategies, if I study them carefully enough.

I also appreciate your mental checklist, it feels exactly like something a strategist should think, haha.

Of course, in a game like Fire Emblem (or Ogre Battle or FF Tactics), I guess you can set your "win condition" as "wipe out the enemy with no deaths on your side", but then you gotta play out your strategies in your head to see if you can win even in a worst case scenario... which, come to think of it, is what chess masters do in the first place, so that's the right track I guess!

---

The reason why Three Houses clicked for many new people in my circles, is they gave a lot of downtime for people to interact with the cast so the battles were more tense as you wanted to make sure these characters you care about survive. On easy, that isn't a problem, but that game had a nice balance with some elements of Persona but still a true FE game.

Oh, that's an interesting point about Three Houses! Yeah, I guess they really did a great job with making your army feel like people you wanted to see alive and well, which is a pretty cool point to have in a strategy game.

As for your questions, I found Fire Emblem Warriors (first one) did a great job at how it explained FE mechanics to newcomers.

Wait, FE Warriors 1? Isn't that a Musou game?

 

[Yamanoi]

Thanks for all the links, @Sheldon ! I've taken a bit longer to answer because I wanted to take a look at a couple of Hearthstone basics, to see if it seem like something I could eventually get, since you offered additional sources. And the answer is, yeah, it looks really cool! Surprisingly, I enjoy the aesthetics of it quite a bit, which is nice because we're staring at these screens for so long. And I do feel I could absorb the strategies, if I study them carefully enough.

I also appreciate your mental checklist, it feels exactly like something a strategist should think, haha.

Of course, in a game like Fire Emblem (or Ogre Battle or FF Tactics), I guess you can set your "win condition" as "wipe out the enemy with no deaths on your side", but then you gotta play out your strategies in your head to see if you can win even in a worst case scenario... which, come to think of it, is what chess masters do in the first place, so that's the right track I guess!

---

Oh, that's an interesting point about Three Houses! Yeah, I guess they really did a great job with making your army feel like people you wanted to see alive and well, which is a pretty cool point to have in a strategy game.



Wait, FE Warriors 1? Isn't that a Musou game?

Yes it is, but it still does a good job of introducing non FE players to the FE mechanics slowly, and was a very accessible hack and slash game on its own. The only downside to it, is that musou games don't click with everyone. It is still the only musou that runs great on Switch, and one of the most content-packed ones ever (with DLC).

 

[linkwashere]

In my opinion, having a background in strategy games of any kind (even boardgames!) helps a lot in taking good strategic decisions and not suffering from typical problems such as analysis paralysis when presented with a myriad of possibilities which is sometimes the case with Fire Emblem

However, everyone here started some time in the series from the beggining and at the end, the best way to "learn" the games is by playing them and learning from your mistakes. You will find which works best and what not by experiencing the different outcomes of your decisions, be them good or bad.

My advice is don't be afraid to dive in, try what you think is the best for you, see the consequences, analyze what you could have done to prevent that unit from dying and then try to apply that lesson at your next game. Maybe it won't come easy or fast, but it will be more enjoyable than watching for some kind of scrip or universal solution to the puzzles offered.

Learning by playing is fun and rewarding. I play a lot of strategy games and boardgames with a high strategic component and the most fun I find in them is when trying to unravel the best possible strategies for winning. Trust me that once you do it, and you break the game and even find some overpowered solution to the problem offered by the game, the fun component really falls down a cliff. Enjoy the process and don't be afraid on trying new things and learning from them.

 

[Hailinel]

Wait, FE Warriors 1? Isn't that a Musou game?

It is, though it does make a point to emphasize specific mechanics like the weapon triangle, the strengths/weaknesses of flying units, and so on. It's not what I'd call a perfect introduction by any means but I could understand how someone introduced to FE through FEW might come away with a basic understanding.

 

[Sheldon]

A left field idea struck me: If you're a sports fan, you could also pick your favorite - probably should be a team sport - and read up on the strategic side of it. The field of sophisticated tactical analysis aimed at laymen has flourished over the past two decades. What you pick up there won't be quite as cleanly applicable to video games, but you'll still learn about universally useful concepts like good positioning, distributing strength and countering an opponent's approach. And it'll be a fresh new way to look at a familiar pastime.

Thanks for all the links, @Sheldon ! I've taken a bit longer to answer because I wanted to take a look at a couple of Hearthstone basics, to see if it seem like something I could eventually get, since you offered additional sources. And the answer is, yeah, it looks really cool! Surprisingly, I enjoy the aesthetics of it quite a bit, which is nice because we're staring at these screens for so long. And I do feel I could absorb the strategies, if I study them carefully enough.

I also appreciate your mental checklist, it feels exactly like something a strategist should think, haha.

Of course, in a game like Fire Emblem (or Ogre Battle or FF Tactics), I guess you can set your "win condition" as "wipe out the enemy with no deaths on your side", but then you gotta play out your strategies in your head to see if you can win even in a worst case scenario... which, come to think of it, is what chess masters do in the first place, so that's the right track I guess!

The "no deaths" condition of hardcore Fire Emblem is a bit restrictive in that sense, yeah. It'll hammer it into your brain to minimize risk as a top priority, but in other tactics games the fun, and an intrinsic part of the challenge, is assessing when to take good risks and I favor those because gambling sometimes is exciting and creates opportunities for spontaneous ingenuity. It's generally true, though, that bad players get bailed out by luck and good players avoid randomness.

Yes it is, but it still does a good job of introducing non FE players to the FE mechanics slowly, and was a very accessible hack and slash game on its own. The only downside to it, is that musou games don't click with everyone. It is still the only musou that runs great on Switch, and one of the most content-packed ones ever (with DLC).

This made me think of another Fire Emblem specific teaching tool: Fire Emblem Heroes.

Yes, the mobile game! It boils down the basics of Fire Emblen into smaller maps with fewer units. Less to keep track of, with the same stakes and strategies.

Particularly I'm thinking of Grand Hero Battles - or GHB for short. When I used to play, these were among the toughest challenges. And YouTube usually had multiple f2p solutions for every single one. Watching those videos now will show, in only a few minutes each, how players solve the puzzles posed to them in battle by exploiting unit skills, terrain features and enemy AI. All of that helps be successful in Fire Emblem proper, too.

 

[lusine]

Yes it is, but it still does a good job of introducing non FE players to the FE mechanics slowly, and was a very accessible hack and slash game on its own. The only downside to it, is that musou games don't click with everyone. It is still the only musou that runs great on Switch, and one of the most content-packed ones ever (with DLC).

It is, though it does make a point to emphasize specific mechanics like the weapon triangle, the strengths/weaknesses of flying units, and so on. It's not what I'd call a perfect introduction by any means but I could understand how someone introduced to FE through FEW might come away with a basic understanding.

Oh I see, thanks for telling me! In a way, that's actually a bit of a pity to hear, because, of the Musou spin offs on Switch, I was actually looking forward to playing Age of Calamity and Three Hopes... Although I haven't played Musou games much, I feel they're at their best when you care a lot about the characters you're playing. So it's a bummer to hear that these don't run well, Musou games seem like they really should be minimally smooth, for a nicer experience.

Oh well... It's good to hear that FE Warriors 1 did a good job at introducing the mechanics, and that they incorporated them in gameplay, I do like when the developers show this kind of care for their product.

---

@linkwashere , thank you for the advice! And I'd usually agree with every word! If I wasn't, uh, me. I completely agree that I do need to go through the situations and build up practical experience, instead of just studying theory -- and I do often run the risk of studying too long, when I should be risking more to build up more experience quicker! So yeah, your advice is definitely something to keep in mind, ahaha -- but I do tend to hit these weird walls where I need outside instruction.

Spoiler: Examples if you're curious! Not really relevant otherwise

For example, I don't know if this makes a lot of sense but, while learning Bloodborne, I just couldn't get what was I supposed to play like... until I went on the forums that told me this game was all about aggressive play, parrying, and dodging. And it's actually interesting because watching people play didn't help me figure it out, I needed the actual written/spoken explanation that this game expected you to parry your enemies, and that parrying happened with the gun. That key information gave me a crazy boost in how to learn to play that game. Likewise, I didn't figure out that Fantasy Life used rhythm for both its combat and crafting minigames, until someone outright told me, and helped me with the timing.

(I'm also STILL pretty bad with Hades Boon synergies, compared to what I know people can make happen. But I figure that's got more to do with my math skills!)

When I'm studying a skill other than gaming, it'll often happen similarly... I'll have trouble with some specific thing, until I find some information referencing, or explaining, something that was very obvious to everybody else (from, apparently, instinct!), and that'll make it click for me, and I'll start moving forward again. No idea why my brain works like that!

As for Fire Emblem, right now I feel like I'm learning "how to get through these specific maps", rather than "how to think strategically". Yeah, I can probably bruteforce my learning, by playing a bunch of different strategic games on different difficulties, by myself. But since I'm not naturally good at it, it feels like it'd eventually burn me out. Watching other people's thought process (while, as you advised, still playing myself!) seems a bit more efficient right now.

---

A left field idea struck me: If you're a sports fan, you could also pick your favorite - probably should be a team sport - and read up on the strategic side of it. The field of sophisticated tactical analysis aimed at laymen has flourished over the past two decades.

Oh, that's an interesting one! I'm not all that interested in non videogame sports, unfortunately, but it'd be a really cool exercise, I agree!

(I never quite understood how do people root for a team of constantly changing members. What's your team's identity, and why follow this team and not another, when most of the professionals playing for it are neither local, nor permanent? Nobody's every quite explained it to me in a way I could understand... But it's really a passing curiosity.)

The "no deaths" condition of hardcore Fire Emblem is a bit restrictive in that sense, yeah. It'll hammer it into your brain to minimize risk as a top priority, but in other tactics games the fun, and an intrinsic part of the challenge, is assessing when to take good risks and I favor those because gambling sometimes is exciting and creates opportunities for spontaneous ingenuity. It's generally true, though, that bad players get bailed out by luck and good players avoid randomness.

Haha I REALLY like your last phrase. I should write it down somewhere, it's really good! But yeah, I agree, plenty of games have sacrificing as a positive mechanic. I suppose I should keep that in mind!

This made me think of another Fire Emblem specific teaching tool: Fire Emblem Heroes.

Yes, the mobile game!

I had no idea that the mobile game also had maps, and now I'm off to see if I can find some good youtubers who cover it. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Sheldon]

Oh, that's an interesting one! I'm not all that interested in non videogame sports, unfortunately, but it'd be a really cool exercise, I agree!

(I never quite understood how do people root for a team of constantly changing members. What's your team's identity, and why follow this team and not another, when most of the professionals playing for it are neither local, nor permanent? Nobody's every quite explained it to me in a way I could understand... But it's really a passing curiosity.)

Beats me. I'm a fan of players and coaches, and if a team happens to have enough players I like on it or a coach shapes one in his image, I become a fan for however long that last and might remain vaguely fond of the club even afterwards. But the only teams I have long-term attachement to are the national team and teams on a very local level.

(But the real reason I'm writing is I saw the small aside about Hades in your post and can't help but point out the Hearthstone channel I linked you earlier has Hades strategy guides which I can't vouch for whether they're any good because the game systems are total gibberish to me.)

 

[lusine]

Beats me. I'm a fan of players and coaches, and if a team happens to have enough players I like on it or a coach shapes one in his image, I become a fan for however long that last and might remain vaguely fond of the club even afterwards. But the only teams I have long-term attachement to are the national team and teams on a very local level.

Yep, makes sense to me!

(But the real reason I'm writing is I saw the small aside about Hades in your post and can't help but point out the Hearthstone channel I linked you earlier has Hades strategy guides which I can't vouch for whether they're any good because the game systems are total gibberish to me.)

Ooohh thank you! Yes, I had tunnel vision and didn't see this at all... Definitely checking these out, and trying them next time I fire Hades back up!