FE9 Overview

FIRE EMBLEM 9 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.


ANY% NORMAL CATEGORY

This category requires beating the game starting from the prologue to the final chapter, on normal difficulty. Timing begins upon selecting a prologue file and ends upon saving after killing Ashnard. Real-time is typically used, though in-game time perfectly matches real-time if there are no resets/restarts. As I don't save a single time in this run (there's no real reason to save in a serious attempt), the in-game time matches perfectly with real-time.


RANDOM / FIXED GROWTHS

This is a feature that exists only in path of radiance, and is unlocked upon beating the game once. Fire Emblem games typically go with "Random Growths", where character stat gains are completely random upon leveling up. Fixed Growths, on the other hand, removes this luck, so stat growths are predictable and always the same, so characters will generally be about their stat averages. This applies to both level-ups during chapters, and level-ups via bonus experience. Fixed Growths is used in the speedrun for consistency.

For more information about the mechanics of how Fixed Growths work, read - http://serenesforest.net/path-of-radiance/general/fixed-mode/


JAPANESE / ENGLISH VERSIONS

There are many differences that would change a lot of route details between the different versions of the game, including enemy stat changes and different AI Behavior. Here are the key differences that change the runs:

-The forge critical underflow glitch for 255 crit only exists in JP. This makes some strats more reliable but doesn't change a lot of the actual strategy - it's more of a strict timesave rather than a huge strategy change. This works only on weapons with an existing crit rate (Slim Lance, Slim Sword, and Thunder Tomes), and 1-2 range weapons are way more important in an enemy-phase oriented game.
-Forges cost significantly less money in ENG than JP. This allows forging extra crit and hit on weapons, and also means there's no need to sell bands (unlike JP where you do, and you're still short on money). This basically makes ENG version strictly better and more reliable than JP version for any 1-2 range combat for Marcia.
-Enemy stats are lower in ENG than JP. This makes some maps more consistent in ENG (such as Titania ORKOing every knight in Ch7) than JP, and also helps avoid having to heal in a few spots.
-Enemy AI behaves different between the two versions. This significantly impacts Chapters 4, 20, and 28, requiring me to place my units a bit differently. Overall this is a time loss for ENG, especially Chapter 28 where paladin AI cantos into the seize throne if they're not killed properly which kills the run (this doesn't happen in JP).
-Ashnard's AI works a bit differently on how he's triggered between ENG and JP. ENG Ashnard doesn't move at all on normal mode, so it saves more time by being able to have a more directly route to drop Ike in front of him while JP version has to cross an invisible trigger while keeping Marcia out of his movement range.
-Unrelated to the run, but ENG has easy mode whereas JP has maniac mode.


TRICKS / GLITCHES

Forge Crit Underflow - Japanese-exclusive glitch. When forging a weapon, you can alter the critical hit rate by +3/-3. The Slim Sword, Slim Lance, and Thunder Tome all have base critical hit rate of 5%, so decrementing it by two steps (-6%) underflows it to -1%, or 255% critical hit.

Fast Enemy Phase - By holding B while ending turn, the camera enters a state of moving more quickly overall. This causes the camera to move much more quickly between enemy units (though this also works for partner and other phase). I set the game to not end turn automatically after using all of my units, so I can abuse this every turn. This saves a few minutes over the course of the entire run.


IMPORTANT CHARACTERS

Ike - The main character of the game. Ike has mediocre base stats but excellent stat growths all around. He's a sword-locked unit on foot so his uses are limited because of his inability to counterattack at 2-range and lack of mobility. He's the only character who can seize; as a result, many strategies involve ferrying him across the map. He contributes in earlygame by virtue of his useful Regal Sword (effective on mounted/armored units), and helps out with route chapters and clearing a path for Marcia using a forge slim sword. He's also the only character who can reliably damage Ashnard in the last chapter besides the laguz royals (who join too late to even show up)

Titania - The "Jagen" of the game. Titania is a paladin that joins in chapter 1 and has excellent base stats and solid growths. By being a paladin, she has 9 movement and carries the first third of the run. Her use tapers off once Marcia is promoted because Titania can't fly, but she still contributes occasionally in the second half of the run.

Marcia - The MVP of the run. Marcia is the first flying unit that joins. To recruit her, Ike has to talk to her on chapter 3, then she talks to Ike and self-recruits herself on chapter 9. The majority of resources go into her to train her into a super unit, as she has solid offensive growths, flies, and can carry Ike. She does the majority of the work in the entire run, whether it be carrying Ike to the throne, killing bosses, killing almost every enemy for route chapters, and so on.

Reyson - The dancer of the game. He joins you in chapter 18 if you say yes (why the heck would you refuse?). He has the ability to refresh a unit's turn so they can move again. Since he's a laguz, he can also transform which, in this form, can then refresh four units simultaneously. You'll never see this in a speedrun though since it takes far too long for him to transform, and using a laguz stone takes his first turn which is needed for all of the strategies. Needless to say, Reyson is very important.

Tanith - The second falcoknight that joins in the game. She joins in chapter 18 automatically. While Tanith is a decent combat unit with solid base stats, we already have Marcia as a flying combat unit that solos the game, so Tanith's role for combat is very limited (she only gets one kill). Her main role is to ferry Reyson to safety after Reyson refreshes Marcia. As a mobile flying unit, she also plays an important role in making other errands while Marcia is busy, such as getting the Savior scroll in chapter 24.

Jill - I know a Jill that's used in Radiant Dawn a lot but I'm not aware of any here...

Haar - A swag character that shows up once in chapter 23. He's important in Radiant Dawn!!!!



RELEVANT SKILLS

Miracle - This skill has a luck% chance to activate whenever a unit takes a lethal blow. If it activates, that blow will only deal half damage instead. While this isn't used in the speedrun, the bosses for chapter 12, 21, and 27 all have this skill, which can be run-ending if activated more than once.

Vantage - If a unit initiates combat with another unit with vantage that can counterattack, the counterattack will occur first. Only in JP, this is put on Marcia so she counterattacks before enemies have a chance to attack her during enemy phase. This saves time in situations where Marcia 1HKOs the enemy since it skips the enemy attack animation, but it loses a bit of time with each round of combat where Marcia activates it because of the vantage animation. It costs about 20 seconds to get the scroll in japanese version, and about 29 in english version - though it's still worth getting in the english version despite that and the lack of 255% crit forge glitch.

Guard - Skill% chance for the unit to prevent the target from countering. Complements vantage very well for cases where Marcia doesn't 1HKO, since it prevents their attack animation from happening - though obviously it's luck based. It costs about 17 seconds to recruit sothe, get the guard scroll guaranteed with him, then assign it, but on average, it saves a few more seconds than that on top of adding reliability for Bertram.

Wrath - This skill increases a character's critical hit rate by +50% (it's an addition, not a x1.5 multiplier) whenever the character's hp is below half. This is combined with Resolve on Ike in order to kill Ashnard quickly. The scroll is collected in chapter 18 by Marcia.

Savior - This skill lets a unit rescue another unit without taking any stat penalties (the standard penalties are halved speed and skill). As Marcia needs to carry Ike around for several chapters, this skill is important for her survival. The scroll is collected in chapter 24 by Tanith.

Resolve - This skill applies a x1.5 multiplier to a character's strength, skill, and speed whenever the character's hp is below half. This is combined with Wrath on Ike in order to kill Ashnard quickly. The scroll is collected in chapter 27 by Geoffrey.

Aether - Used in ENG version purely as a reliability booster for 1RKOing Shiharam, since that saves a meteor use and cascades down to significant tinesave in both Ch22 and Ch27

Corrode - In ENG, if Ike fails to 1RKO Shiharam and Calill has to burn a meteor use, then Bastian only has 1 meteor use for the ch27 bolting sage. With only 1 meteor use, to prevent the Sage from using bolting, he has to either Corrode or 8% crit

Colossus - In ENG, purely a reliability buff for Largo to 1RKO the first warrior in Eat Rock.