If you've ever attempted to beat Fire Emblem: Awakening's Lunatic mode, you'll know that it can be extremely difficult without proper planning and knowledge of what to look out for beforehand. The enemies are brutal, your own units are frail, and it can seem almost impossible at times. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you conquer Lunatic!
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 4:
Early game
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1Scan the battlefield and all the units before moving any of your own. Since access to the preparation screen isn't available until a few chapters into the game, it's vital to check every enemy on the first turn to see their stats, weapons and skills (if any). You don't want to lose a unit because you didn't know that they had Counter in their skillset. This becomes especially vital on Lunatic+.
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Press X to turn on the danger zone. This also applies on lower difficulties but is necessary on Lunatic mode when enemies are extremely strong early in the game. You are also able to put your cursor over an enemy and press A to mark that specific unit's range in red, which overlaps the pink danger zone that you get with X. This can be useful if you're using a flier like Sumia, and want to keep her out of an archer's range but move her in to attack a soldier.
- It's vital to keep healers and dancers out of enemy range since they are often extremely frail with weak attacks (or can't attack at all, in the healer's case).
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Get used to using Frederick for the first chapters in the game. Frederick is your Jeigan-type character, meaning he is a pre promoted unit that you get in the beginning of the game. He is the only unit you have in the beginning who can take more than a few hits from any given enemy, so be prepared to use him a lot in order to get through the first chapters without any units dying. However, do not simply throw him into a group of enemies and expect him to live; he, too, can easily be killed on Lunatic mode if you aren't careful.
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4Feed kills to your weaker units. While killing every unit in the first chapters with Frederick may seem like a good idea, it's not going to be of much help later in the game when Frederick starts falling off and your other units are extremely under leveled. While Frederick is going to be handling the majority of enemies, take every opportunity that you can to weaken enemies just enough for Chrom or Robin to safely get the kill.
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Utilize the Pair-Up mechanic and supports. Awakening is known for its Pair-Up system being extremely overpowered, and supports will further boost the stats gained from having a Pair-Up. For example, try pairing up Chrom and Robin whenever able to get them to a C support, making the boosts they get in combat increase greatly. This can be vital to survive as you progress in the game, as the enemies get much stronger fast.
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6Take a few tries of a chapter to learn the enemy patterns and how strong they are. Don't be afraid to use L+R+Start to soft-reset the game in a chapter in order to look at enemy patterns, and how your units stack up. Try, try and try again with different strategies and unit formations to see what works best. For example, Chapter 3 is generally considered to be the toughest chapter in Awakening Lunatic mode for a variety of reasons, and it might take a while to determine the best way to complete the chapter without a unit dying. Ask yourself questions as you go along. Which units can handle certain kinds of enemies the best? Should I split up my army or group them? Are there enemies that I need to take care of immediately? This can help you figure out a plan.Advertisement
Part 2
Part 2 of 4:
Enemy Classes and Stats
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1Look at stats and classes. As stated previously, checking the stats on an enemy can be crucial to determining what unit to use to defeat them. However, the class of an enemy should also be taken into consideration. For example, enemy Mages and Dark Mages are dangerous because your units have a nearly non-existent Resistance stat unless they are a Mage or Pegasus Knight. Therefore, using one of these classes is the best way to deal with them (Dark Mages have good Defense while normal Mages do not, so defeat them accordingly based on these differences). A Knight has extremely high Defense but low Resistance, so magic-based weapons or tomes are the way to go.
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2Know the calculations for damage. If you want to know how much damage a Fighter does to your Chrom but he's out of range, you can do a simple calculation to determine how much damage he does, excluding skills and damage modifiers.
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Take bonus damage into account. If you calculate an Archer doing 6 damage to Sumia, it's highly unlikely that is the actual number. Bonus damage is x3 the actual number of damage a certain weapon will do to a unit. A weapon that can do bonus damage will have a little icon next to the name of it. Chrom's PRF (personal weapon) is Falchion, and it does bonus damage to wyverns based on the green dragon icon on it. Bows do bonus damage to flying units, Rapiers and Armor Slayers do bonus damage to Knights, and so on.
- Watch out for these weapons. The damage output in the battle forecast will be highlighted in green if your unit is being attacked with a weapon that does bonus damage.
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4Know how much speed you have and how much speed an opponent has. This affects whether or not you can double them. If you have at least 5-speed points over an opponent, you can double them and do the same amount of damage twice, or vice versa if the opponent has 5-speed points over you. This is incredibly important to know and is crucial in the early part of Lunatic, as doubling an enemy means you will be able to deal with them faster and gain more EXP.Advertisement
Part 3
Part 3 of 4:
Weapons and Staves
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Know the Weapon Triangle. The Weapon Triangle is the Fire Emblem version of Rock, Paper Scissors with the three main types of weapons. Swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords. Having the WTA (Weapon Triangle Advantage) can influence your damage output and accuracy, so make sure to incorporate it into your strategy. Magic and bows are neutral in the Weapon Triangle.
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Keep an eye on durability.A weapon or stave can only be used so many times, indicated by the two numbers next to the name of a given item. The first number is how many usages a weapon, stave or healing item has left, and the second number is the limit of how many uses the item started with.
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Forge when necessary. You can forge at any shop in the game after the first chapters, and it can really save you in a pinch if you need a powerful weapon for certain enemies. You can increase a weapon's Might, Hit and Crit to influence how powerful it is, it's accuracy and critical hit rate. Forges can get expensive later in the game with Steel and Silver weapons, but forging for Bronze and Iron weapons is cheaper and more worthwhile earlier in the game.Advertisement
Part 4
Part 4 of 4:
DLC
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1Use DLC if necessary. There are three DLC maps that can be purchased in a bundle at the Outrealm Gate: The Golden Gaffe, Exponential Growth and Infinite Regalia. The Golden Gaffe features several enemies holding 1,000, 3,000, 5,000 or 7,000 Gold depending on their power levels.
- Defeating them will give you that Gold, so with enough units, you can earn a large amount of gold to buy new weapons, staves, seals and so on.
- Keep in mind that the Outrealm Gate menu cannot be accessed until after Chapter 3, so you're on your own in Lunatic mode until then.
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2Explore Exponential Growth. This features a bunch of Entombed who will run for the exit on the other side of the map, and won't ever attack you. They give out a lot of EXP when killed, making them a good grinding source. However, there are only four turns maximum each time you play this map, and you'll have to waste a turn running up to the Entombed, so grinding off this map may take a while. Additionally, watch out for the Entombed with 65 HP, as they have Counter in their skillset.
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3Earn weapons in the last DLC map in the bundle, Infinite Regalia. It features several units wielding weapons that were in previous games in the Fire Emblem series, and you can earn these weapons by getting them through chests in the back of the map. These weapons include Armads, Gáe Bolg, Luna and so on. Be careful, though: the enemies on this map will actively attack you if you are in their range unlike the Golden Gaffe and Exponential Growth.
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Check out the Bonus Box in the Wireless feature on the menu when you're in the World Map once it's been unlocked. Through this, you can obtain items from other games (such as the ones listed above), recruit units from past games, add Paralogues to the map to recruit units and more.
- If you're really stuck on a chapter and need a new item or unit, then this menu can be very useful. You can get the items for free, and recruit units from past games by either buying them with Gold or fighting them and defeating them.
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Tips
- Some of these steps apply to any difficulty setting of the game, so take some of them as general rules (such as the Weapon Triangle or Durability).Thanks
- There are guides online for Lunatic and Lunatic+, so you can consult one of them if you need help on a specific chapter.Thanks
- In the Avatar creation, you'll notice the selection for an Asset and Flaw. This affects your immediate stats and is very important. Most players choose Speed as an Asset and Luck as a Flaw for Lunatic, as it helps you in doubling units faster and dodging attacks.Thanks
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Warnings
- Lunatic Mode is very hard.Don't get frustrated if you can't beat a chapter: just take a break and come back to it when you're ready.Thanks
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References
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