I actually used Micaiah mostly for attacking rather than healing.  She was more of a backup "just in case" sort of healer for me.  Of course, my Micaiah capped pretty much everything so I had no complaints about her wherever she was.  ^_^

Really, Mist would arguably be the best primary healer in the game if Florete used her magic stat instead of her strength. It kind of sucks that there are no magic-based melee weapons in RD (i think?). But Valkyries have never been offensive powerhouses anyway, so meh.

In my experience, Mist is also prone to RNG screwage, and BEXP raising doesn't really cut it when you have to do it for 10-15 levels. And I never used my Micaiah for anything else (besides healing) than cleanup / Thani kills, since she's slow like a drunken slug.

Any character can be screwd by the RNG.  My last Mist capped all but one stat IIRC.  BEXP'ed her only for the last few levels of each tier.  In part 1, I had Micaiah to level 20 long before the final battle.  Combine that with a weaponless Sothe to attract enemy blows and she squishes everything without taking damage.  Prior to 20, you can sacrifice to heal Sothe and have Laura patch up Micaiah for even more experience.

Speed was never an issue for me though since I don't usually charge across maps (except in Easy mode).  I prefer to methodically move across maps taking out as few enemies at a time as possible (to minimize damage).

Some characters are more vulnerable to it than others, though, either because of low base stats and/or growth rates, and Mist seems to be one of them. Or my game really hates Mist, I dunno.

I try to maintain a reasonable pace when beating chapters for two reasons:

1) BEXP, this depends on the stage though

2) You don't have to linger since the game doesn't have arenas, and supports aren't built by hiding two chars in a corner  for 50 turns anymore.

I'll have to remember to disarm Sothe on my next playthru, even though he didn't really hog any kills on my last one.

I usually finish within the time limit without rushing or go so far past the time limit that hitting it would have been fairly risky.

The nicest part about a weaponless Sothe is that it causes him to be prioritized in enemy targeting and with his support with Micaiah, he's almost untouchable anyway.  You can always keep one of his weapons on Micaiah to give to him if you really need him fighting.

Wow. I love this thread! You guys are a wealth of knowledge.

I'll just leave Laura dead then, especially since Macaiah can use staves now (didn't realize that). But Laura had my Restore Stave... Is that a problem?

What are some of those abbredviations? RNG? IIRC I can guess and I assume BEXP is the extra experience points awarded at base.

I use BEXP a lot on certain characters (Macaiah), is that a mistake long term since it only ups 3 stats/level? Would I be better trying to get her more kills instead? Or is it pretty much the same?

Restore is useful a few times, but you can survive without it IMO.


RNG  = Random Number Generator

IIRC  = If I recall correctly

BEXP = Bonus experience points


The best time to use BEXP is the last few levels of a character's tier.  Those are the levels when you'll usually get really poor gains and only have a few stats left uncapped so you use BEXP to make sure you get points for those stats.  If your character has only two stats left uncapped, you may as well BEXP them the rest of the way as they'll only lose points (possibly not gaining them on level up) if you don't.

The later you start using BEXP, the better. IMO, the best time to start using BEXP is after a character caps a few of their primary stats (ie. Haar caps Strength and HP), since you always gain 3 stat points per BEXP level. You can promote your chars with BEXP, though I wouldn't recommend it since it's a waste of points.

@Gamerace

Micaiah is usually strong enough to knock out cavaliers and armor knights with a single it (using Thani), so it's always good if she can get some kills in. After she becomes a sage, you can give her the Paragon skill and staff abuse her to lvl 20 in a relatively short time.

@ WoW & Mise - Thanks as always for the good advice.

Do you guys think there will be another FE on Wii? Or is this it for this generation? (Yes, I know I can get the gamecube version - if I can find it)

Personally I haven't used BEXP (Bonus Experience Points) until the finals. I had an insane amount of BEXP btw, forgot how much exaqctly (it's probably somewhere in this thread). Don't use it too much, especially not on Ike's team, cause they'll probably max out (reach level 20 twice) anyway. Now I think of it, don't use it until maybe you get to play with Micaiahs team again and only if some people are very understatted and it's hard (Leonardo could use some, but you get 2 way better archers later). Most units should be able to level on their own, which is preferable. Do however use one level up with BEXP on your main characters. You'll gain stat bonusses that way.
The finals are quite tough, you need everyone at the very least around level 16 of the third class to survive. I'd use BEXP then.