Fire Emblem Challenge FAQ

Q. What's the challenge?
A. To use the lowest leveled party members available for each stage. We're starting with Path of Radiance and carrying the clear data through to Radiant Dawn and aiming to beat that.

Q. So it's a low-level run?
A. No, quite the opposite. A low-level run aims to get as little experience as possible. We're occasionally gonna be grinding experience, because we're stuck using under-leveled characters otherwise. We're leveling weak characters, where a low-level run uses and avoids leveling strong characters.

Q. What specific rules are there?
A. Other than the 'use the lowest leveled party available' part, we're also recruiting all characters and not allowing anyone to die. Otherwise, it'd be really easy to just kill a crap character and never have to worry about using them.

Q. How do promotions/Laguz work?
A. In Path of Radiance, Laguz are considered Level+10 (because that feels more appropriate to their stats and they'll never hit the cap anyway). Promotions are Level+20. In Radiant Dawn, Laguz are Level*1.5 (cap at 40, which is equivalent to the cap of 60 for beorc units). Promotions are Level+20 per promotion, so a Tier 2 Lv 20 would count as 40, while a Tier 3 Lv 20 would count as 60.

Q. How do you grind levels in a Fire Emblem game without random encounters?
A. Using bosses, mostly. A number of bosses will heal for a set amount each turn, so we can keep wailing on them for as long as they're alive and then just let them heal up and go again. Meanwhile, healers can heal a single point of HP (usually from leveling and gaining HP) and gain the same experience as if they'd healed 50.

Q. Which stages are causing the most problems?
A. In Path of Radiance, it's Chapter 17: Day Breaks. It's a 4-part stage where you constantly bring new characters into the fray, so we end up with a lot of frail characters surrounded by enemy reinforcements. In Radiant Dawn, it's Chapter 1's Endgame: Daein, Arise!. The stage gives you two incredibly powerful units and expects you to use them, but they're high levels so we aren't allowed to. That means we're facing a ton of enemies, including reinforcements, with an under-leveled party. Not to mention the Dawn Brigade kinda sucks. A lot.