FE8 Overview

FIRE EMBLEM 8 SPEEDRUN COMMENTARY

This is a somewhat detailed overview that you can read for more information about the run that isn't obvious in the video.


EIRIKA VS EPHRAIM CATEGORIES

At the end of chapter 8, you have the choice to go with either Eirika or Ephraim; from that point on, the lord you choose becomes the main lord. Each character has their own set of chapters from chapter 9 to 14, and while from chapter 15 and on the routes merge, there are still some minor differences that change up the strategies a bit (Most notably, starting position and enemy unit composition in chapter 16). The goal of the Eirika Category is to beat the game on her route as quickly as possible, and likewise for Ephraim and his route.

ENGLISH VS JAPANESE VERSIONS

This game is speedran on the japanese version. However, there are many, many, many differences (both small and significant) between the versions. Going through all of them would result in a massive essay, so here's just a general list of relevant changes:

-Faster resets. ENG version loses ~2 seconds per reset since it goes through the title screen & main menu. JP skips it. This saves even more time each time I reset for ECG since JP jumps straight back into the chapter whereas ENG doesn't. Saves up to a minute for JP.
-JP lets you turn off animations for Fomortiis. ENG version forces animations for this fight. Saves several seconds for JP.
-Caellach moves in chapter 15 in JP. In ENG, he camps on a fort which gives him a defense+avoid boost and he heals. This makes chapter 15 faster and easier for JP since he moves towards you, especially since you can't crit him thanks to his hoplan guard.
-Enemy stats are overall higher in JP. This isn't a direct time loss for JP persay, since it's usually compensated for manipulating better level-ups, but it's still a con for JP version and a pro for ENG. For example, killing Vigarde in ch14eph is easier in ENG since he has 2 less speed (meaning Seth can double him with the Heavy Spear in ENG but not in JP, so I have to manipulate a silver lance crit in JP)
-Many unit base stats differ, some good and some bad for JP. For example. Franz has +1 str and spd for JP which is crucial for Ch4Eph. On the other hand, Gerik has -2 con in JP than ENG, meaning he loses two speed from his default weapon. JP has to promote him to compensate for this (ENG would not have to).
-On another note, many unit growths are different too! Though the only relevant difference is that Seth has 90% HP growth in ENG but 85% in JP.
-In Ch16Eir, a sage drops purge in ENG, but doesn't in JP. English would theoretically save a bit of time thanks to having the option of a siege tome (though, getting the purge in the first place is also a time-loss)

No full timing has been done since the two versions would have completely different routes. However, JP would almost definitely be faster. The faster resets, Fomortiis animation, and Ch15 Caellach AI alone are significant enough to more than make up for the pros that english has.


IMPORTANT CHARACTERS

Eirika - The female twin of the lords, and is your main lord in the earlygame until the route split (besides 5x). She is the only character who can seize before the route split (again besidesch5x), and the only character who can seize from the route split and on if you choose her route. She cannot seize from that point if you choose Ephraim's Route. She has somewhat low bases with decent speed, but she's rarely used in combat. Her saving graces are her rapier and the sieglinde, which are very powerful against what they're effective on (mounted/armored units, and monsters, respectively). Her promotion is skipped because its animation takes too long and her promotion bonuses and mount aren't useful at that point.

Seth - Basically the god of the game, rightfully praised as one of the most broken characters in Fire Emblem History. He's a prepromoted paladin so he can use swords and lances (A rank in both!), has 8 move, and has a mount so he can canto. He has amazing base stats, joins in the prologue (i.e. best availability in the game), reliably kills everything in the first half of the game, and contrary to popular belief, his growths are some of the best in the game too, so he will reliably stay amazing. His use tapers off a bit in the last third of the game because Cormag/Vanessa overtake him thanks to flight, but he's easily the MVP of the entire run, moreso than the fliers.

Vanessa - The first flier to join, and the main combat flier in the Eirika Route. She has excellent skill, speed, and luck growths, but mediocre hp, strength, and defense. Compared to Cormag in Ephraim's route, she needs many more strength level-ups and is more fragile, but she's much more accurate and dodgier than Cormag, which is very nice. In the Eirika speedrun route, Vanessa is trained up early on because she has to hit level 10 by the start of the route split in order to promote. She promotes to Wyvern Knight since it gives much better offensive promotion bonuses (most notably +4 con and +2 spd, which is effectively +6 speed with most lances) and the skill pierce. She essentially partners with Seth to carry midgame and endgame, though her use is more prominent in endgame thanks to pierce and flight. In the Ephraim route, Vanessa is not trained at all (Cormag is used as the main combat flier), but she's still useful as a support flier and to pick off a few kills here and there.

Ephraim - The male twin of the lords, the main lord of chapter 5x, and the main lord after the route split if you choose his route. He has more balanced base stats than Eirika, but he's still rarely used in combat. His saving graces are his reginleif and siegmund, which are very powerful against what they're effective on (mounted/armored units, and monsters, respectively). His promotion is skipped because its animation takes too long and his promotion bonuses and mount aren't useful at that point.

Tana - The second flier to join, and the primary support flier unit in both routes. Tana is used to help ferry important units around maps, and thanks to her mount and low constitution, she can rescue almost anyone in the game. She gets a few crucial kills here and there thanks to her decent early bases and flight, but her combat uses are overall minimal.

Cormag - The only wyvern rider in the game, and the main combat flier in the Ephraim Route. He has excellent strength and defense bases and growths, and good speed and skill growths (though average/mediocre bases), but his resistance and luck are pretty bad. Compared to Vanessa in Eirika's route, Cormag is reliably bulky but he has some accuracy issues that require more manipulation to work around thanks to his lack of skill and luck. He joins in Chapter 10 of Ephraim's Route; he isn't used in Eirika's route since he joins in Chapter 12 and requires waiting around several turns when it can be 1-turned. Cormag is trained up quite a bit in midgame, starts conveniently with a killer lance and an elysian whip, and partners with Seth to carry midgame and lategame. He promotes to Wyvern Knight since it gives +3 speed (as opposed to +0 with wyvern lord) and has pierce.

Tethys - The dancer of the game. She lets another unit move again on the same turn. Needless to say, she's very important on both routes.


OTHER CHARACTERS

Moulder - The main staffbot used through the run. His stats are nothing spectacular, and while his staffing utility is far from useless in LTCs and normal playthroughs, in this speedrun his use is primarily activating torch glitch.

Garcia - A fighter notorious for a terrible 20% speed growth. However, he has pretty respectable base 7 strength and speed, and can ORKO many earlygame units. He also has very high constitution, which is important since he's the only non-mount unit before the route split that can rescue Seth (crucial for two chapters). He is no longer actively used after the route split.

Innes - A prepromoted sniper with good base stats and is very powerful thanks to being able to use a silver bow. His use is limited as a sniper since he cannot counterattack at 1-range, but he helps with some kills in rout chapters in Eirika's route (most notably, the fog of war chapter). His role in Ephraim route is limited to getting the hidden Swiftsoles since he joins much later in that route, and starts near the Swiftsoles in that chapter.

Dozla - A prepromoted berserker with a good base strength but poor base speed. He is important in Eirika's route for two rout chapters, especially Chapter 13 because he is the only unit besides Vanessa and Tana that can go on peaks. He also gains an innate +15% crit bonus, making it easy to manipulate critical hits; this compensates for using the weak 1-2 range hatchet weapon (which is needed for extra accuracy).

Duessel - A prepromoted great knight who auto-joins in chapter 11 in Ephraim's route. He isn't used in Eirika's route since he joins too late to be useful. He has enough speed to double most enemies, has very high strength and defense, and is even stronger thanks to coming with a silver axe. He's used to help with rout chapters in Ephraim's route, and also help with rescue chaining.

Gerik - A unpromoted mercenary who joins at the start of chapter 13 in Ephraim's route. He has some of the best base stats in the game; however, he has to promote immediately since he's weighed down in JP version from his steel blade, and he needs the extra speed to double everything in his join chapter (which is a rout chapter). He is not used anywhere else in the run. He isn't used in Eirika's rout despite joining earlier.

Saleh - A prepromoted sage with excellent base stats. He joins significantly earlier in Eirika's route, effectively being a 3rd MVP alongside Seth and Vanessa. He joins significantly later in Ephraim's route, though he's still useful. He has very reliable 1-2 range combat and can also use staves (though that isn't relevant in the speedrun since he can't use Rescue/Warp). In Eirika's route, the +5 crit bonus from thunder is crucial for important crits (most notably, the Ch13 boss and killing Rennac in Ch14). He also uses Elfire as much as he can since it gives more weapon experience; this is because he needs to S rank anima by the desert chapter for the +5 crit bonus and to use the excalibur tome.

Syrene - A prepromoted falcoknight with mediocre base stats for lategame. Her main contribution is chapter 18 in both routes, where having a free flier with 8 move saves a lot of time, since she has enough stats to kill eggs.