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Walkthrough

by Roni

Fire Emblem 9 Maniac Mode Guide
Rev 7 - 2/27/07
Contact - [email protected] (Matthew Emirzian)

This Fire Emblem guide is based on the Japanese version of the game, 
which has the 'Maniac' mode level of difficulty that was removed from 
the US version.  I have included direct comparisons of enemy numbers 
and levels between the US Difficult and JP Maniac mode for each level, 
so you can see just how much more difficult it is.  If you're looking 
for help on Maniac mode, or just want general strategies for the game 
or want to know just how much harder it is than the US version, read 
on!

Table of Contents - 

1. Version History
2. General Advice
3. Walkthrough
4. Trial Maps


1. Version History - 

Rev 1 - First version
Rev 2 - Made several small revisions based on FE Sanctuary of Strategy 
advice (velthomer.net).. changed final battle advice a bit
Rev 4 - Revising the walkthrough as I play through the game a second 
time.
Rev 5 - Finished the game a second time and revised accordingly.
Rev 6 - Finished the game a third time on fixed growth mode and added 
advice on it.
Rev 7 - Added 3rd playthrough final battle stats/info.  Revised general 
advice.

2. General Advice - 

Utilizing this advice, you should be able to employ more intelligent 
and tactical strategies in battle.  Since there's no end game scoring 
system, you can use all available resources to complete the game, 
including using all your stat boost items, spending money liberally, 
letting characters die, taking a long time on a chapter, not grabbing 
treasure, etc.

Differences in JP Maniac and US Difficult - 

JP Maniac mode generally has 1.3x to 1.8x more enemies than US 
Difficult mode, and those enemies are usually 2-3 levels higher than in 
US Difficult mode.  Also, starting chapter 18, Maniac mode enemies are 
almost always promoted and of a high level, while a significant amount 
of US Difficult enemies remain weak and unpromoted until chapter 26.  
In addition, bonus XP per chapter is cut in half and all XP earned per 
battle is subtracted by 5.  

In terms of unit placement and item drops, the two modes are close to 
identical, except US Difficult mode has had enemies removed and their 
levels lowered.  In all US game modes, Ike starts out with 4 iron 
swords, while in the JP game modes, Ike only starts out with one.  
Finally, the US version gives a 10% critical hit bonus to snipers, 
swordmasters, and berserker classes, while the JP version gives none.  
There are a few minor item differences - many US Difficult enemies 
found in treasure rooms carry Chest Keys, while in JP Maniac mode very 
few enemies do.  Finally, JP Maniac stores never sell Physics, while 
the US version does.. this means you must steal/loot every one.

Treasure, time, and XP - 

In some maps, you're given a choice of going for treasure or saving a 
village, which sometimes involves using a powerful unit to barge 
through enemies before a thief or bandit reaches it before you.  This 
cuts into XP that your weaker members could have had, so it's your 
choice whether to forego the treasure or not.  In addition, Bonus XP is 
reduced the longer you spend on a chapter, so you may wish to forego 
the XP bonus for taking your time.  Some early game treasure is not 
worth the loss of XP you would incur by using pre-promoted units like 
Titania to reach it.

Pre-promote Meatshields/Weakeners - 

Use the early-game promoted characters (such as Titania) as either de-
equipped meatshields and decoys, or weakeners used to injure an enemy 
unit low health for your lower level characters to kill for XP.  Keep 
in mind that attacking with your promotes will rob weapon use from your 
lower level characters, and killing enemies outright with promotes is 
only useful during defense missions.  The enemy AI gives priority to 
targeting deequipped units, even choosing to attack one that it will do 
little to no damage to, over one of your non-promotes.  Titania will 
serve this purpose well in the early levels, although you should ditch 
her as soon as possible as her stats are poor compared to other 
potential Paladins.

Chaos Theory - 

The first couple of missions in any FE game are extremely important, as 
they set the tone for further missions and have an amplified effect 
through the game.  If you use Ike exclusively and build his levels up 
over his allies, you'll end up relying on him more and more, until he's 
hogging the spotlight.  If your early levels give a character poor 
performance in a stat, you'll change your strategies and levels will 
alter as a result, leading to differences in future chapters.  Later on 
in the game you're not going to want to restart the chapters over one 
or two bad growths, whereas early on you can focus on those early few 
level ups.  Therefore, it's best to get good results in the first few 
early chapters while battles are still simple and quickly/easily 
repeatable.

If you're on fixed growth mode, this doesn't really apply, although 
long term use of stat gain bands and certain weapon types will 
noticeably alter your characters final growth.

Level Balance - 

Any time your tactics and unit usage starts to get unbalanced by poor 
or overbearing stat growth and reliance on a constantly over-growing 
unit, you'll run into potentially powerful units being starved of XP, 
or if your luck is bad enough, most of your army will suck due to bad 
stat growth.  For the most part, this is unacceptable in Maniac mode.  
Do your best to try to keep everyones level at an even pace, not 
allowing any units to fall behind in growth, and let weaker units catch 
up by killing weakened enemy units.  The first half of the game is 
largely spent trying to bring up very weak recruits, but it is worth it 
in the end as they are often far more powerful than pre-premotes.

Tactical Strategy - 

Fire Emblem doesn't normally give bonus damage to an attacker, besides 
allowing them the first strike.  Sometimes it's advantageous to move 
your character partly or fully into enemy attack range, provided that 
they can survive the enemy attacks and either kill or weaken them.  
Sometimes it's advantageous to use a weaker weapon, a vulnerary, or a 
weaker character while blockading, so that a weak enemy clogs up space 
instead of allowing more attackers to move in on your possibly near-
death character.  There are several tactical situations that call for a 
variety of strategies employed in positioning your units.  When 
considering a tactical situation, move your units out to attack and 
view the pre-battle window for intel purposes.  If that's not possible, 
use battle formulas for important decisions, or simple common sense.

Say 4 mounted knights are approaching your party, and you have nowhere 
to blockade to protect your weaker units.  If you stayed out of enemy 
attack range, you might not be able to finish the knights off fully, 
and they'll be able to reach your back lines.  A good solution would be 
to put a stronger unit partially into enemy attack range, so the 
knights are weakened - you can heal the unit that was attacked, and 
then counterattack to finish off several knights.  Knowing how, when, 
and where to be attacked by the enemy is key to success in many levels.

Range Sages and Bishops - 

Later in the game you will be facing multiple sages armed with long 
range magic, and bishops with sleep staves.  The best strategy to take 
them out is with flying hit and run units like Marcia and Jill, or high 
movement paladins.  Using Rayson to allow your units to get close, then 
attacking and fleeing back to safety is a prime strategy.  Save your 
valuable ranged spears (the ones more powerful than javelins) for 
picking off sages in hit and run moves.

Blockade Tactics - 

Blockading is very important in Maniac mode, where you are often 
overwhelmed by huge masses of enemy units.  Find good spots on the map 
to hold the enemy off with and use your ranged units and hit and run 
paladins effectively to clear through the mob as fast as possible.  A 
frontline team of Ike, Oscar, Kieran, Soren, and Marcia has great cross 
supports and dodging abilities.

Choosing a Party - 

Non-promoted units are almost always going to end up better than the 
pre-premotes, with very few exceptions.  Pre-promoted units perform so 
poorly in Maniac mode that they will usually get themselves killed 
where your built up characters succeed.  It is difficult to raise up 
the weakling pre-promotes you get through the first half of the game, 
but the payoff is worth it in the second half.  Pre-promotes just can't 
hack it in Maniac mode.. they will get destroyed if you try to deploy 
them.

Forging -

Forging weapons is very important, and quite easy considering the tons 
of money the game gives you.  Early on, forge custom iron or steel 
weapons with higher might and hit rates for your growing non-promote 
units to level up more easily with.  Later in the game, forge custom 
silver axes or spears to put a colossal amount of damage on enemy units.  
A 27 strength paladin with a custom silver axe can two shot just about 
anything.

Growth Bands -

While the 5% growth rates may seem small, having them equipped on a 
character every level will significantly increase their stats by the 
time they are 20/20.  This is another good reason to raise up low lvl 
units rather than use pre-promotes, as they will have better stats from 
band usage, especially on fixed growth mode.  On fixed growth mode, the 
bands are +5 to the stat at the time of level up, where the stat grows 
by 1 every time the stat reaches over 100.  A lv 1 unit wearing the 
same +5% STR +5% DEF band every level will see a +195 stat point 
increase in both STR and DEF by the time they are 20/20.. or +2 to 
their STR/DEF.

The Knight Ward offers 30% speed growth, so pass it around to your 
cavaliers/paladins about to level so they can take advantage of it.  
It's possible to 'pass the Ward' around to each of your paladins as you 
level them with BEXP for superior speed growth, even on fixed growth 
mode.

Leveling Healers - 

Staff users like Mist and Rhys are easiest to level with Physic and 
Recover staves - these give a good amount of XP per use.  Once you're 
past chapter 7 and can buy staves, try to make them heal on every turn 
even if it's just for 1 HP.. all that XP will add up.  You will need to 
steal physic staves, as the store never sells them.

My rating of the classes in this game:

Knight/General - I never find Knights or Generals to be exceedingly 
useful due to their very poor movement and speed penalties, and there 
are always long range mages about that will easily squash them.  Not 
recommended at all.

Cavalier/Paladin - Excellent front line tanks and versatile powerhouses.  
Give them Sol and they will survive very well as blockaders.  Having 
all 4 non-promote cavaliers on your team will make the game much easier, 
especially if they can all weild silver axes.

Myrmidon/Swordmaster - They are decent early in the game, but later on 
their lack of strength and low defense really starts to show.  They 
will die in 1-2 hits, don't have reliable enough dodge rates, and can't 
put out any significant damage with swords.

Fighter/Warrior - Although they suffer from low defense, their enormous 
strength makes up for it, especially if you can keep their speed up to 
par.  Although Boyd is your only warrior, he's a powerhouse worth using 
the whole game through.

Mage/Sage - Sages serve a special purpose with their magic, using wind 
to execute wyvern lords, thunder to take out dragons, and anything to 
take out generals.  They die extremely easily but it's worth having at 
least one in your party.  Most of them use staves on promotion, which 
makes them valuable healers.

Pegasus/Falcon Knight - You'll definitely want one of these in your 
party, great for hit and runs and killing long range sages.  I highly 
recommend Marcia for being super speedy and great for sniping.

Wyvern Rider/Lord - Great to have around despite their low resistance.  
Flying units are key in many maps.. you just can't do without them.  
Jill is great with her high speed.

Priest/Bishop - Suffers from terrible speed and defense, but has high 
magic for healing.  However you should probably just bring your sages 
up with staves instead.

Cleric/Valkyrie - Mist, your only cleric, is an important unit to build 
up for the Black Knight.. despite sucking so hard, she makes a good 
mobile healer.

Soldier/Halberdier - Excellent all around units that make a great 
frontliner.  They are deadly with Luna.  Nephenee is your only choice 
as Devdan has horrid stats.

Laguz - 

Laguz are disappointing because they are essentially 'pre-promoted' 
units, with little room to grow, and often poor stats even when in 
animal form.  With the exception of Rayson or Ranulf, they really 
aren't worth using.  Nasir is a decent exception, with very high stats, 
as are the three last chapter reinforcements.  In addition if you want 
to make up for their '40% downtime' with a demi band, their stats will 
be further reduced.  Overall they are just not worth using except as 
filler.

Here's a review of some of the characters that are worth using:

Ike - Just dominates everything, like a swordmaster with high strength, 
defense, dodge, and resistance, plus the ultimate adept+sol+luna skill.  
Late game almost nothing can stop him.  Ike and Oscar with A level 
support make a great pair next to eachother, being able to dodge nearly 
everything thrown at them.  Give Ike the boots and knight ring to make 
him even more uber.  He can solo entire maps once he gets his uber 
sword.  Use him and love him!
Growth Band - use something with +5% LUK/RES

Titania - Worth using only for the first 13 or so chapters, dump her as 
soon as possible.  She will suck at 20/20 compared to other Paladins 
you can train up.  Even on fixed growth mode, her stats will never 
reach your other paladins.

Oscar - A great all around Paladin that makes a good front line tank.  
Give him Sol and he will have great survivability taking on legions of 
enemies next to Ike.  Pair him with A support Ike and he'll be dodging 
like a madman.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Boyd - A great powerhouse unit when you need to smack something hard.  
Get his bow level up and he'll be even nastier.  Can kill just about 
anything in two swings of a silver axe.  Could use a speedwing to nudge 
his speed into the 'good' range.  
Growth Band - use something with +5% SKL/SPD

Soren - Great mage with awesome stats (besides strength).. go for 
wind/fire attacks.  Very late in the game it will be useful to have a C 
in thunder to use the long range magic against dragons.  If you get him 
a C in staves he can use Physics, very useful.  Although his strength 
is low, you should give the +2 strength items to other needy characters 
like Astrid or Nephenee.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Rhys - He's useless as an attacking sage due to his poor speed, but his 
high magic stat makes his healing worth it.  Although it's tempting to 
use him over Mist, you really want Mist for the Black Knight showdown 
and final chapter.. despite how much she sucks initially.  I generally 
stop using him as soon as I get Mist.

Mist - Although she sucks for anything but healing, she is highly 
useful for the Black Knight and Ashnard.  Her ability to heal and run 
is extremely useful in those two fights and elsewhere.
Growth Band - use the +10% magic band

Ilyana - Stick her with lightning/wind and give her the Rexbolt.  Tends 
to be a bit slow unfortunately, but is still a great sage.  If you get 
her a C in staves she can use Physics, very useful.  If you don't like 
how slow she ends up, you may consider Tormod or Calill as a second 
sage.  I did not take her on my fixed growth maniac run.. too slow!
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Marcia - She grows into one of your fastest and most useful characters.  
She's very important for getting key items and hit and run tactics, so 
don't pass her up.  She is not that difficult to level up, and has 
great growths.  Since she is often flying solo and in dangerous 
situations, giving her +7 HP and +2 defense will help her survive.
Growth Band - use something with +5% STR/DEF

Volke - Volke is a must-have for your looting and theft needs.. need to 
steal those physic staves!  He's not a necessary unit for every map.. 
consider him a super fragile swordmaster.  As far as his stats go, his 
speed should be at least 19 to steal from the Bishops later in the game.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Kieran - This paladin has higher strength and slower speed than the 
non-promote cavaliers.  If you can make up for his speed he makes an 
excellent unit next to Oscar.. definitely worth using and kicking butt 
with.  Tends to suffer from poor res, unfortunately.  Give him the 
Knight Ward to increase his speed growth by 30%.  Support with Oscar 
and Marcia to increase his evasion on the frontlines.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Nephenee - Starts out slow but grows well in speed and skill.. needs 
some help with strength but once she has Luna and a silver spear (or a 
custom made spear) she will be awesome.  She needs a bit of strength so 
giving her a +2 boost will help, in addition to a +2 defense.  Forge 
her a custom iron spear to help her level.
Growth Band - use something with +5% STR/DEF

Astrid - A great choice for a ranged archer, although she can't use 
long range bows.  Give her axes to make her a versatile killer.  She 
needs a bit of strength so giving her a +2 boost will help.
Growth Band - use something with +5% STR/DEF

Makalov - He has great growths, although he's hard to level up.  To 
make leveling him up easier, forge him a custom steel sword with high 
might and hit rate.  Worth training and becoming another great paladin 
on your roster.  If Oscar, Kieran, and Astrid are enough paladins for 
you, you may consider passing on him.  Tends to be gimped in skill so 
give him a skill band and a book or two.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SKI

Jill - She's another important character for getting certain key items 
early-mid game.  Suffers from slow speed and medium defense/res, but 
still worth using.  Could definitely use a speedwing to move her speed 
from 'average' to 'good'.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SKL/SPD

Reyson - An essential character, especially for taking on legions of 
enemies and getting key items.  He starts at lv 3 but I have him at 15-
16 by the end of the game just from using his chant almost every turn.

Tormod - He does grow well if you give him a chance, but is difficult 
to level that late in the game.  His speed is far superior to Ilyana so 
it may be worth replacing her with him if you want a very strong late 
game lineup.  On the other hand you may just want to focus on other 
unpromoted units.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Calill - The other decent sage worth using, and also a pre-promote.  
While her 20/20 stats are nothing special, she makes an acceptable 
Rexbolt/Thoron sage for punching out dragons.  More than likely though 
she'll need a weapon level scroll to get from A to S on thunder.
Growth Band - use something with +5% SPD

Ranulf - A good 'fill in' unit if you need an extra hand.  He has good 
growths and his stats are acceptable vs enemies his own lvl.. the only 
problem being the 40% downtime all laguz suffer.

Nasir - Although you only have him for two chapters, he has great stats, 
and can damage Ashnard, making him an essential character.  He can also 
shove mounted units (he's just that huge!).

Some of the best uses for the Occult Scroll are on Ike (Aether), Sages 
(Flare), Halberdiers (Luna) and Paladins (Sol).  I'd especially 
recommend Sol for one or two of your frontline tanking Paladins, making 
them nearly impossible to kill.

The Resolve and Wrath scrolls are best used on high defense units that 
you know won't die if they take a couple hits below 50% health.. units 
like Paladins, or Wyvern Lords, or Boyd.  Scrolls like Adept are best 
used on units that have a high Skill level so it activates often.

Fixed Growth Mode -

This mode makes maniac mode more difficult, as you can't use bonus 
xp/reset for better/above average growths.  You can use the bands and 
certain weapons to influence growth, but overall your units will be far 
less powerful for the majority of the game.  You will have to play more 
defensively and hold your ground on a number of chapters where it was 
previously possible to be highly aggressive.

The first half of the game will be tough babysitting so many developing 
non-promoted units.. Marcia, Jill, Astrid, Makalov, Kieran, Nephenee, 
Soren, Volke, Mist, etc.  Resist the temptation to use pre-promotes or 
laguz.  It's possible to use Stefan but since swordmasters aren't that 
great in this game, I wouldn't recommend it.  Using Mist is a pain but 
once again better at the Black Knight and final battle than Rhys.

Despite lower unit stats, the support combo of Oscar-Ike, Oscar-Kieran, 
Ike-Soren, and Kieran-Marcia will make your frontline blockaders nearly 
impossible to hit.

One possible liability will be Ilyana, who actually has very slow 
growths and only gets 20-21 speed by lv 20/20.. you may consider 
bringing up Tormod who has a speed of 25-26 at 20/20 instead.  Calill 
is also a decent choice, although she starts out slow she has decent 
growths and will have stats comparable to Tormod, with the disadvantage 
of not being able to use staves.

Supports - 

Supports are highly useful, and will definitely help you survive in 
maniac mode.  A blockade with Ike, Oscar, and Kieran with Soren and 
Marcia nearby is highly effective at dodging attacks.  Just Ike and 
Oscar next to eachother are nearly unhittable.

Ike - Oscar 3 (Avoid +30%)
Ike - Soren 2 (Attack+1, Avoid +15%)
Oscar - Kieran 2 (Hit +5%, Avoid +15%)
Marcia - Kieran 3 (Attack +1.5, Hit +15%, Avoid +7.5%)
Nephenee - Calill 3 (Attack +1.5, Hit +7.5%, Avoid +15%)
Astrid - Makalov 3 (Def +1.5, Hit +7.5%, Avoid +15%)
Boyd - Mist 3 (Attack +3, Defense +1.5, Hit +7.5%)
Jill - Mist 2 (Attack +1.5, Defense +3, Avoid +7.5%)

Helpful Data -

http://www.eaichu250.superbusnet.com/fe9.php

Check this link for helpful FE 9 (and other FE) data, such as support 
charts, bonus XP lists, weapon/item lists, shop availability lists, 
stat growths, battle formulas, and other important data.  Having the 
official US strategy guide also helps quite a bit.

My Maniac/Fixed Growth Playthrough -

Turn Count Starting with Ch1:
10,14,13,10,6,16,14,8,17,19,10,11,10,7,17,15,43,13,6,10,22,13,11,11,11,
12,20,9,16 
 
394 turns total, 13.5 turns per chapter on average 
 
Top Kills -  
 
Nephenee 115 
Oscar 132 
Marcia 138 
Boyd 152 
Ike 230 
 
Stats at Final Battle: 
 
Ike 20/20 58 26/10/27/28/23/24/18 Aether, Provoke 
Marcia 20/20 51 23/08/26/28/18/20/19 Vantage, Wrath 
Nephenee 20/19 44 25/08/28/26/14/23/12 Luna 
Jill 20/19 48 27/09/26/27/14/22/11 
Boyd 20/19 60 30/02/26/27/16/16/09 Counter, Resolve 
Kieran 20/20 50 26/06/25/27/15/23/11 Adept 
Makalov 20/19 51 26/04/26/27/14/24/09  
Oscar 20/20 51 26/09/26/27/16/22/12 Sol 
Astrid 20/20 45 25/11/26/27/19/19/15  
Soren 20/14 38 04/27/28/23/14/07/28 
Calill 20/15 37 11/27/22/22/18/11/20 Shine 
Mist 20/20 38 16/26/15/25/28/11/24 Shade 
Reyson 20/15 
 
Jill, Makalov, Astrid, and Oscar worked up axes from E to A/S.. Calill 
weilded Rexbolt

3. Walkthrough

This walkthrough is based on the Japanese Maniac mode of FE9, Random 
Growth.  The Clear Time and Bonus EXP stats are given for Maniac mode 
only.  Clear Time is simply the time it took me to finish the map, so 
it should be a reasonable goal for you to follow.  XP gained is the 
amount of XP I gained on that level, as a benchmark.  The Enemy Count 
number (xx/xx) lists the number of enemies in US Difficult mode, and 
the number of enemies in JP Maniac mode for comparison, so you can see 
how badly they nerfed the US versions difficulty.  The Enemy Level 
number x-x/x-x lists the general enemy levels in US Difficult mode 
(taken from the Official US guide) and in JP Maniac mode for comparison.


Chapter 1 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 100
Clear Time - 8
Enemy Count - 10/13
Enemy Level - 1-2/3-4

Have Titania give Boyd her weapons then move out to the west house.  
Make a blockade with your other units in the southeast, using 
vulneraries as necessary.  The bandit that burns down the first house 
will not attack if there are still houses left to loot, so hold off on 
visiting the southeast house until you feel like having him attack.  
This walkthrough involves a bit of luck, but it's fully possible.  
Since the mission only takes 15-20 mins to complete, I suggest trying 
it a few times until you get decent level up stats.

You shouldn't be using Titania at all for anything except as a 
weaponless meatshield until chapter 5.. when you need her to cut 
through the waves of enemies to reach the boss carrying an item.

Turn 1:
Titania: hand her weapons to Boyd and move northwest towards the house.  
Boyd: attack the bandit next to the fence with his steel axe.  Ike: 
Attack the closest bandit to the north.  Oscar: Move next to the 
closest bandit to the north, but don't attack.

Turn 2:
Titania: Visit the house and move south.  Boyd: Finish off the bandit 
next to him.  Oscar: Move one north of Boyd.  Ike: Move one east of 
Oscar.  Use vulneraries if necessary.

Turn 3-onward
Continue blockading, taking out the remaining bandits, visiting the 
southeast house, then proceeding north to take on the last 3 units.  I 
recommend using Boyd to fight the boss, to catch up on XP.  I recommend 
having Ike use the Angelic Robe, as it will help him get 60 HP late 
game.

Chapter 2 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 100
Clear Time - 12
Enemy Count - 13/17
Enemy Level - 2-3/4-5

Rush north to clear out the enemies and use the mountain corner as a 
blockade against incoming units.  Move Rhys north as well and take an 
attack from a merc - then position your units diagonally to blockade 
and defeat the remainder.  Heal with Rhys while your units blockade and 
defeat the incoming enemy forces.  With Titania, evade the enemy units 
at the blockade and head north to lure more or less all of the enemies 
southbound towards the blockade.  Note - don't go crazy with the heal 
staff, you need it to last to the end of Chapter 7!

Since this level is both fairly easy and short, I again recommend 
trying it a few times to get decent or half-decent level ups, most 
especially for Ike.  You may even consider getting him slightly ahead 
of the others for this purpose.. as it's better to use mainly him in 
the next few chapters rather than Gatrie or Shinon.

Chapter 3 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 100
Clear Time - 11
Enemy Count - 15/19
Enemy Level - 2-4/4-6

Use mostly Ike for this fight, with Gatrie as support, and keep Titania 
and Shinon away for the most part.  You'll need to target the archers 
with Gatrie and possibly provide backup with Shinon to take out an 
archer, as Ike needs to use his turns on vulneraries, not chasing after 
archers.  Let Ike handle almost all of the bandits and axe mercs, and 
he should be up to Lv. 9 by the end of the mission, with Gatrie at 
Lv.10.  Shinon and Titania should not waste Ike and Gatrie's potential 
XP, aside from taking out an annoying archer or two at the start of the 
chapter.  Depending on how far Ikes stats grew, he may be able to solo 
the whole map.. however I wouldn't recommend it as Ike doesn't have a 
lot of swords to use between now and the end of Ch 7.

Chapter 4 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150
Clear Time - 10
Enemy Count - 22/27
Enemy Level - 4-7/6-9

Run into the northeast bushes and blockade with your stronger units.  
It's a good idea to rescue Rhys with Titania and use her to blockade 
(still weaponless).  Use Shinon to weaken enemies for Soren to kill, 
while Gatrie and Ike handle themselves.  Once the initial rush is taken 
care of, hide behind the northwest treeline and provoke the next wave 
of enemies to come to you.  Hopefully Soren is lv 3 at the end of the 
chapter with some decent gains.

Chapter 5 - 
Bonus EXP - none
Clear Time - 6
Enemy Count - 26/40 or so
Enemy Level - 5-8/8-10

Give Titania axes, as you have plenty of axes and not that many spears 
and swords until the end of ch 7 when you can access a shop.

Send Oscar, Soren, Shinon, and Boyd west to tackle the west gate, and 
everyone else charging south.  Send Titania south to kill a guard then 
rush out into the open to start tearing enemies apart.  Since this is a 
defense map with virtually unlimited enemies, it doesn't really matter 
if you use Titania and Shinon liberally.

On the last turn, have Gatrie hand any extra weapons/items to someone 
who will be around on Ch. 6, as he won't be around to trade with.  The 
map won't end if you kill the boss, so keep your formation tight.  
Don't go too wild with wasting ammo and heals, as you still have to 
clear Chapter 7 before being able to buy anything.

Chapter 6 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150, +5 for each escaped unit
Clear Time - 14
Enemy Count - 24/30
Enemy Level - 7-9/8-11

Inch towards the edge of the woods on turn one, then on turn two leap 
out and kill as much as possible.  Titania will do well attacking the 
knights with an iron axe to soften them up.  Boyd, Oscar, and Soren 
should do ok catching up in levels, up to about 9-10.  Ike should be 
around lvl 14 with good stats.

Chapter 7 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150
Clear Time - 11
Enemy Count - 34/42
Enemy Level - 7-10/9-12

Head west, taking out enemies and heading towards the two thieves - 
kill the second one in the southwest room, then kill the first one 
after it opens one chest.  Note that if you corner a thief it will try 
to steal from you.. so kill it!  It may not be worth going after the 
thieves at all, the treasure isn't really worth that much.  Mia will 
come to Ike if she dodges enough attacks, just take care of the mobs 
she brings towards your party.  You may need to rescue her with Titania 
though if she decides to use a vulnerary.

Running past the mid-line of the map triggers reinforcements around the 
south, so be ready for them.  Take care of the reinforcements and 
proceed north to meet up with Shinon and Gatrie, who should be holed up 
in the northwest treasure room.

Make sure you hand off all of Shinons and Gartries stuff before the 
mission ends.

Chapter 8 - 
Bonus EXP - Keep everyone alive for 25
Clear Time - 8
XP Gained - 900
Enemy Count - 43/56
Enemy Level - 7-9/9-12

Send Ike west, Oscar and Soren east, and Boyd south.  You can get a 
good amount of XP just picking on the mobs and staying close together.  
Not a very difficult mission at all.

Chapter 9 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150
Clear Time - 15
XP Gained - 1400
Enemy Count - 34/42
Enemy Level - 10-11/11-13

It's worth it to ignore the houses and fight the enemies with your 
weaker units to level up with.. but if you do want the items this is 
what to do.  Send Titania, Soren, and the two Beorc northwest towards 
the houses to kill the pirates.  Make an order for the Beorc to move 
directly in front of the southern house.  Titania and Soren will need 
to take out a lot of enemies to keep Lethe from being overwhelmed.. and 
you will need a good deal of luck to save the first house, although the 
second isn't as difficult.  If you managed to wipe out enough mobs with 
Titania and Soren, Lethe will beat the pirate to the house and squat in 
front of it.  

That treasure really isn't worth the effort, though.. so just let the 
houses burn and use the mobs for XP instead.

As far as mission strategy goes, just move southwest and take out the 
mobs, allowing your new weaker units to gain XP.

Chapter 10 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150
Clear Time - 22
XP Gained - 1100
Enemy Count - 22/30
Enemy Level - 10-12/12-14

It's not worth it avoiding the porter.. just trigger the ambush and 
start kicking ass.  You should be able to clean out each ambush as it 
approaches and make fairly quick work of the stage, while helping your 
lower lvl units get some xp.

Chapter 11 - 
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150, each vigilante member alive +25
Clear Time - 13
XP Gained - 1100
Enemy Count - 28/35
Enemy Level - 10-13/12-15

Send Oscar northwest to the northern house (if you want.. it's just an 
Elwind) and Titania and Kieran southwest to the southern one, while the 
rest of the party kills the southeast mob and proceeds north to the NE 
house.  The boss will move and attack anyone in his range which will 
trigger the Black Knights appearance, so stay back until you're ready.  
Fight off the enemy forces on the east bridge and don't get in Jills 
attack range when she appears.  Leave the NE house open to lure in the 
thieves to kill them.  Gather around the north bridge then move forward 
into the bosses attack range, take him out, steal the Physic staff, and 
get on the boat.  This is probably the last level you should be using 
Titania in, as you get a lot of new recruits that will be better later 
in the game, like Kieran, Jill, Marcia, Nephenee, etc.

Physics are very important in the game, for long range healing and 
leveling up your stave users.  They are never sold in shops in Maniac 
mode, so you must steal/loot them all.

Chapter 12 - 
Bonus EXP - clear for 100
Clear Time - 9
XP Gained - 1000
Enemy Count - 14/19
Enemy Level - 2-4/4-6

Start out the fight backing away from the stern, letting one of your 
strongest units counter the enemies coming from the south or avoiding 
them entirely.  Most of your units won't be able to dodge these birds 
reliably or last more than two hits, so do your best to blockade and 
protect your weaker units near the back of the boat.  Bring wind magic, 
bows, and your best tanks.  This is a great level to get XP for weaker 
party members.

Chapter 13 - 
Bonus EXP - 25 for no NPC deaths
Clear Time - 10
XP Gained - 2000
Enemy Count - 36/49
Enemy Level - 10-13/13-15

Set your team up so you can kill the soldier in front of the middle 
plank and block it up with a mounted unit.  Send Gatrie to block the 
right plank and stop up the cargo hold with a flying unit.  Clear out 
enough of the leftmost enemies so that the crows jump on board so you 
can kill them quickly.  Stick Oscar or Boyd on the west bridge and try 
to hack through the halberdiers.  If Oscar & Boyd are already promoted 
it will be a lot easier breaking into the north part of the ship before 
the crows can grab your loot.

Keep your flying units around the west end of the middle boat - once 
the thieves show up, block their path as they move next to the top boat, 
which will prevent them from being able to snatch the Scroll.  If 
you've beaten the enemies back far enough, you'll be able to let a crow 
open the Occult chest and kill it.  But if not, you can get the 
treasure first with a flying unit holding a chest key.  Ike should be 
at the eastmost end working through those enemies to clear a path for 
your thief to grab the east chest.  You should be able to wipe the map 
by turn 9.  Leave one chest unopened and let the laguz fly to it.. 
slaughter them on the way and get huge XP for your lower lvl units.

Chapter 14 - 
Bonus EXP - clear for 150
Clear Time - 8
XP Gained - 900
Enemy Count - 25/33
Enemy Level - 10-13/14-17

Send a small force with Marcia northwest towards Makalov, while your 
main force proceeds north towards the boss.  Don't get too close to the 
boss until you're ready to fight.  It's a fairly straightforward and 
easy battle.  Another good opportunity to level some of your weaker 
members, and a short map worth retrying if your gains really sucked.  
At this point Oscar and Boyd should be promoted and your other units 
gaining in levels.

Chapter 15 - 
Bonus EXP - clear for 150, bonus +20 for each surviving laguz enemy, 
+150 bonus for not killing any enemies
Clear Time - 17
XP Gained - 1400
Enemy Count - 20/23
Enemy Level - 2-4/4-6

This is a level for your mages, flying units, and Volke.  The XP you 
get for killing the enemy laguz far outweighs the bonus XP per survivor, 
so just slaughter all you like and gain a couple levels.  I highly 
recommend stealing a few of those laguz gems for Rayson later.. steal 
them quickly because the enemy laguz will use them.  Nabbing 3 of them 
should be enough.

Chapter 16 - 
Bonus EXP - clear for 200
Clear Time - 15
XP Gained - 2100
Enemy Count - 39/52
Enemy Level - 14-16/16-18

Barge eastward, taking out the mobs and hopefully reaching the middle 
door before the two thieves do.  Kill them to obtain the two items they 
stole from the northwest treasure room.  Don't bother with the east 
treasure door until things have settled down, as there are more mobs 
inside.

Blockading with Ike/Oscar is probably best here.  You need to keep 
training up your weaker party members so they'll be able to promote by 
the end of Ch 17.  Don't take on too many units to train, though.

Chapter 17 - Part 1
Bonus EXP - 350 for clearing the whole chapter
Clear Time - 12
XP Gained - 5000
Enemy Count - 34
Enemy Level - 14-16/16-18 and 4-6

You will need to have several units promoted by the 4th part of this 
chapter, or the numerous promoted units will be too fierce to handle.

Before you start, make sure your caravan is well stocked with weapons 
to last all four parts, as you won't be able to shop mid-chapter.  
Enemies will be coming in from all sides, but it shouldn't be too hard 
to handle.  The four enemies at the north end aggro individually.  
Stick Oscar in the bushes with an axe and Ike and Kieran standing next 
to him.. the boss will probably have 0% to hit.

Chapter 17 - Part 2
Clear Time - 14
Enemy Count - 24/38
Enemy Level - 14-16/16-18 and 4-6

Things start to heat up here with a small cavalry rush on your forces.    
Blockade off the larger force with two defensive units while your 
mounted units perform hit and runs.  The enemy rush should not last 
more than 1-3 turns.  Let your other units deal with the smaller force 
coming from the right.  The reinforcements are tiny, so don't even 
worry about them.  A very easy part of the chapter.

Chapter 17 - Part 3
Clear Time - 10
Enemy Count - 46/70+
Enemy Level - 16-18/17-19 and 4-6

Barge west and claim the area, then fight eastward.  Reinforcements 
will arrive from the west but they should be easily dispatched.  
There's a mix of unpromoted and promoted units, and the unpromoted ones 
should generally be cannon fodder.  High resistance/dodge units are 
best here as the place is swarming with mages and a couple sages.  If 
your units are mostly promoted you should be able to wipe the map 
fairly easily.

Chapter 17 - Part 4
Clear Time - 12
Enemy Count - 38/52 (a lot more promotes)
Enemy Level - 13-16 and 3-4/15-19 and 4-6

There are a lot of promoted units on this map so you'll need to have 5-
6 promoted units of your own to handle them.  I had Oscar, Boyd, Marcia, 
Jill, Nephenee, Kieran, and Soren promoted by this point.

Rush south to crush the southeast mobs before the west cavalry arrives.  
They will take a turn riding through the swamp to reach your party.  
Once you've got your bearings continue west and take on/bloackade the 
generals and paladins by the tree line.  Your allies will show up once 
you cross the line slightly west of your starting position, so you may 
need to haul ass to the boss before Tibarn kills him.  Don't worry if 
your bird allies are defeated, you still get them on your team (not 
that they're worth using besides Tibarn...)  Most of your units should be 
promoted by the end of the chapter.

Chapter 18
Bonus EXP - clear for 150
Clear Time - 12
XP Gained - 2150
Enemy Count - 36/57
Enemy Level - 15-19 and 1/3-5

The game gets serious at this point - no more unpromoted enemy units, 
it's almost all tough chewing promotes now, unlike the US version.  If 
you haven't been managing your party and levels well and don't have a 
lot of newly promoted units to use, you might be in trouble for the 
rest of the game.  On the other hand, if you're doing relatively well, 
you'll be tearing through the mobs with little effort.  Using an Occult 
Scroll on Ike would be a good idea.  As the opposition becomes more 
serious, you may consider forging custom weapons with higher might 
ratings before silver weapons become available.

This chapter hits you hard with the concept that you'll be facing tons 
of long range sages.. there are 6 total and the majority of the level 
will be spent trying to chase them down before they manage to kill 
someone.  Try to run the sages above the treasure chests out of attacks 
with your high resistance units standing by the wall.  The rest is 
pretty cut and dry.  Bring Holy Water for your lower resistance units 
to use if they must go into dangerous territory.

Chapter 19
Bonus EXP - clear for 150, get Nesala to flee for 150
Clear Time - 9
XP Gained - 950
Enemy Count - 22+10 crows/29+10 crows
Enemy Level - 18-20 and 1-2/4-5

To get the Knight Ring you need to make sure not to kill any birds.  
Bait Naesala over with a flying unit with high resistance, and draw him 
towards your forces - I used Marcia equipped with a Full Guard.  On 
turn one move her north then have Reyson sing for her, so she can move 
far enough north to get into Naesalas range - make sure it's his magic 
range and not melee.  He will approach and attack with magic, hopefully 
not doing too much damage.  On turn two move your bait unit south - 
Naesala should follow further and be very close to your party.  On turn 
three talk to him with one of the hawk bros then allow him to move next 
to Reyson on turn four.  On with the chapter!

There's not a lot of space to blockade here so just deal with the 
enemies and keep weaker units in the back.  There are relatively few 
enemies and it shouldn't be a problem using your Full Guard equipped 
flier to crush the snipers and advance northward.  The boss is a wimp 
against anyone with high resistance.. unfortunately you can't steal 
from him since his speed is 20.

Chapter 20
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 10
XP Gained - 1600
Enemy Count - 47/62
Enemy Level - 18-20 and 1-2/5-6 (a few 17-20 wyverns and 20 knights, 
but mostly all promoted)

Head south into the trees to kill nearby and incoming enemies.  Move 
eastward along the south part of the map, so you can pull the wyverns 
onto ground instead of allowing them to fly back onto the hills.  The 
mob by the north house will attack on turn 4 (or if you provoke them), 
so send a force north to deal with them while blockading off the 
incoming paladins coming from the southeast.  Proceed east taking on 
the generals and knights, staying out of the long range sage distance 
until the coast is fairly clear and you can hit and run or rush up to 
them.  Barge up the hill with Ike and Oscar and slaughter the sages.

Chapter 21
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 19
XP Gained - 2300
Enemy Count - 56/63
Enemy Level - 18-20 and 4-6/5-8

A long level full of long distance mages and priests with sleep staves.  
Keep in mind the sleep staff distance (9 squares for these priests) and 
stay out of it unless you're not in danger of being killed.  Watch out 
especially for the northwest corner where a priest can sleep your unit 
while 2-3 mages nuke them at range.  You'll want at least one person 
with a Recover staff to wake up your slackers.  Once again make your 
lower res units use holy water to increase their res if you know 
they'll be range nuked.  I recommend promoting Mist at this time 
whether or not she's lv 20.. because she really needs to be mounted to 
be useful from this point onward.

To take care of the thief going for the south treasure, either use a 
mage with a distance weapon, or a flying unit.  Be cautious about 
advancing into sleep staff and long range magic distance.  Place a high 
resistance unit in range of the two range sages near the boss while the 
rest of your party raids the treasure rooms and fends off warrior 
reinforcements.  Of note is the northeast treasure room - open the door 
and steal the ranged fire tome from the sage before he can use it.  
There is a general in the way you'll have to kill though.  Once the 
sages are out of ammo and you've got all the goodies, move in for the 
kill on the boss.

Chapter 22
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150, +10 for each surviving priest
Clear Time - 12
XP Gained - 1550
Enemy Count - 58/67
Enemy Level - 19-20 and 1-3/7-9

Almost all of the priests are armed to the teeth, and it's no fun 
dodging untold numbers of Light attacks (including #!@*$ Nosferatu) to 
get a staff.  So kill the bastards!  One strategy to get the staff is 
to run up and range nuke the boss in 1-2 turns.. however you'll miss 
out on some great treasure and XP.

Focus on taking the right group out, but make sure to snipe the thief 
in the right room as well.  Once both thieves are killed concentrate on 
beating back the enemies pouring out.  The walled off priests have 
sleep and ranged attacks so don't try to wander into their range yet.  
Once the right side is under control, move west and take the left side, 
and start pushing north.  You'll have to keep running some units back 
to help with ambushes, but it's manageable.  Once things have settled 
down, position high resistance units and Recover staff users near the 
walled off priest attack range.  You don't need to drain them all, but 
at least let the enemy sleep staff run out.  Once the staff is gone, 
group up outside of enemy attack range then move in for the kill on the 
boss.

Chapter 23
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 10
XP Gained - 1500
Enemy Count - 50/65
Enemy Level - 18-20 and 4-5/7-9

Stock up on silver weapons from the shop before going ahead with this 
chapter.  Use a Full Guard equipped flying unit to push ahead and punch 
through the snipers.  Proceed cautiously and try to blockade around the 
walls.  About mid way after taking out the second sniper, you should 
stay put and take on the reinforcements coming from the east and west, 
blockading around the sandbags.  The westmost enemies won't attack 
until provoked.. I suggest waiting for the smoke to clear for each 
battle so you can steal the 3 valuable physic staves one at a time.

Chapter 24
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 10
XP Gained - 1700
Enemy Count - 61/82
Enemy Level - 18-20 and 5-7/7-10

I have a video playthrough of this chapter on Google Video: 

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-3260813494232413689

The units in this vid have some uber stats due to RNG-resets, but the 
same strategy is possible using fixed growth mode as well.

This level is a rough ride with tons of units pouring in on your troops.  
Technically you just need to escape Ike to the castle within 15 turns, 
but killing everything (besides the Black Knight) is possible as well.  
I recommend having Rayson use a Laguz gem to immediately change to 
heron form.  You should use silver weapons for this level to kill 
faster and handle the swarms of mobs.  Forging a custom silver axe will 
greatly help, as well.

Take out the paladins and wyvern lords coming from the north with your 
main force.  Have a strong unit positioned west to counter the wyvern 
lords coming from that direction.  Blockade the west bridge with one or 
two units while taking out paladins, barbarians, and wyvern lords 
coming from the north and the 4 wyvern lords coming from the south.  
Push through the bridge and continue west to take on the boss in the 
southwest forest/mountain area, then north to the castle.  Watch out 
for the Black Knight!

Chapter 25
Bonus EXP - Clear for 150
Clear Time - 10
XP Gained - 1400
Enemy Count - 35/57
Enemy Level - 19-20 and 6-9/10-12

Move your forces to meet enemies coming down both sides of the mountain, 
but don't go too far up.  Allow the wyverns to move fully before 
attacking so they don't fall back.  Use a flier to snipe the sages 
around the mountain.  After taking the wyvern lords out, move your main 
force up the mountains left side, ignoring the right.

Sage killing strategy with Marcia using a Spear: Use Rayson to allow 
Marcia to reach the first range sage on the left, and after-move her 
east towards the right sage.  Use a decoy unit with lower res than 
Marcia at the edge of the right sages attack range, so Marcia can reach 
him.  The boss will attack Marcia - use one of your sages range attacks 
to finish him off.  Proceed north, weathering the two top sages and 
sniper - take them all out.

Chapter 26
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 21
XP Gained - 2400
Enemy Count - 72/106
Enemy Level - 7-9/11-13

This is the level where US Difficult mode finally starts throwing all 
promoted units at you, however they are still 2-3 levels less than the 
promoted units in JP Maniac mode.  The enemy count here is the highest 
of any level in the game.  You don't get much cover in this stage and 
it's swarming with enemies.  More than half the map immediately rushes 
you, and there are 5 long range sages already deployed.  Reinforcements 
continually pour in and you'll need your best units with plenty of 
strong weapons to handle them all.

On turn one, form a defensive line between the trees and let the enemy 
approach you.  Immediately move one unit out and kill the sage nearby 
in the corner.  Have Rayson use a Laguz gem to change forms right away.  
You should focus on taking out successive waves of enemies as them come 
in.  The northmost range mage won't attack if you're out of his range, 
so stay out for now.  Focus on killing the bow using or ranged attack 
enemies first.

Next, take out the resistance in front of you and form small blockades 
against the incoming paladins and swordmasters.  Take them out and 
focus your main force westward against the incoming generals, etc.  On 
turn 4 10 wyvern lords show up in the northeast corner - throw a 
powerful unit at them to soften them up while you take out the generals.

Turns 7-13 you'll be up against several waves of Paladins - the north 
patch of bushes is a good spot to blockade and take them out as they 
approach.  Try to use a flying unit to hit and run the ranged mage and 
bishop on the hill in the meantime, and don't provoke any further enemy 
attacks.  Finally on turn 16 8 more wyvern lords show up.  Deal with 
them then work towards the castle - enemies will not attack unless 
provoked.

Alternate Strategy:

This is the more aggressive strategy I used on my second playthrough, 
which requires units with some pretty uber stats.. it is possible with 
fixed growth mode if you have a great team built up.  Use Oscar and Ike 
to barge westward and kill the west sage while taking on the entire 
western force.  Send Marcia north to take out the north sage, Kieran 
northwest to take out the middle sage, and Jill northeast to take the 
sage out in the corner.  Marcia will have to dodge about 8 ranged 
attacks, and Oscar/Ike will be taking on a legion.  After the sages are 
killed, back off to bring the enemies closer to the rest of your troops 
for killing.  As you finish off both west and north forces, the turn 4 
wyvern lords will be approaching - send in your forces to take them on 
preemptively, then position to take on the incoming 6 paladins.  On 
turn 7 move in Jill and Marcia to execute the sage and bishop on the 
hill.  After the first wave of paladins are wiped out, move in 
aggressively and take out the nearby generals, paladin reinforcements 
and other forces.  This strategy takes 12 turns instead of ~20.

Chapter 27
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 15
XP Gained - 1700
Enemy Count - 50/72
Enemy Level - 3-9/12-14

Use your long range attacks to nuke the west thief, and proceed with 
your party to the east.  Kill the thieves and swordmasters, move north 
and around west to clear out the rest of the mobs.  Once you're ready 
open the far left door and barge in to kill the bishops/sages, using 
all available units and a transformed Rayson.  There are two sages and 
two bishops that must be killed if you don't want an unlucky unit to be 
slept and nuke killed.

After that the only bishop with a sleep staff will be on the very far 
right.  Blockade on the staircase and tear through the enemy mobs.  
There's a lot of great treasure to be had, all the bishops have physics 
to steal, and the boss has a nice Spear, good for hit and run with 
Marcia or Jill.

If you want to kill the Black Knight, Ike will need to have most of his 
stats maxed, near 60 HP, with the Aether skill.  Mist will need to be 
promoted and have a decent magic stat and staff level C for using 
Physics.  Give her the Shade skill, a silence staff, physic, and full 
HP recover staff.  It's mostly a matter of luck and skill activation 
whether or not you win.  You'll need Aether to activate at least once 
if you want to beat him before enemy reinforcements can take their turn.  
Try to silence the bishop if they do show up, or just keep Ike healed 
and hope for the best.  If you decided not to level up Mist, Ike will 
need to use elixirs and you have a much higher chance of losing.  I 
have not lost the fight once having leveled Mist up.

Chapter 28
Bonus EXP - Clear for 200
Clear Time - 16
XP Gained - 1600
Enemy Count - 55/85
Enemy Level - 9-11/13-15 and some 20s

There are 7 long range sages packed in this level, and two bishops with 
sleep staves.  Try to kill the bishops asap, using your mages range 
weapons, attacking with fliers, or just rushing out and trashing them 
with Ike.  Have Rayson use a laguz gem and chant to quickly dispose of 
all nearby enemies and the three nearby range sages by turn 2.

Keep pushing hard towards the forest clearing so you can kill the 
bishops, but try not to provoke the three sages on the west end of the 
map.  If any of your units are slept, use a recover or rescue staff 
asap.  Try to stay out of the attack range of the three range sages on 
the west end of the map.. once you're ready to take them on, provoke 
them with high resistance units into your attack range, or units that 
can take/dodge a hit or two of extremely strong ranged magic.

Or you could rush in a superpowered unit like Ike and let him slaughter 
everything, depending on whether you want the XP at this point.  Keep 
any vulnerable units from being double or triple teamed by sages.  Once 
the waves of reinforcements are finished, carefully bait the ranged 
sages with high resistance units and take them out.

Chapter 29
Clear Time - 23
Enemy Count - 45/70
Enemy Level - 13-16/16-19

Give Ike the Knight Ring, bring any healers that can use Physics, give 
your dragon laguz stones (and Reyson if you can spare), and pass 
elixirs and whatever other ultimate items you have around.  The base 
item store does not sell Physics unlike the US version, so hope you 
have plenty left for the boss.  I also recommend getting Nasir to lv 20, 
by bonus XP or fighting.  Crafting another high power silver axe would 
really help as well.  Giving Ike the Provoke skill will help keep 
Ashnard and other enemies focused on him instead of your allies.

My preferred final battle team is: Ike, Oscar, Boyd, Soren, Marcia, 
Mist, Kieran, Nephenee, Jill, Astrid, Makalov, Reyson, Calill, and 
Nasir.  They should all be around 20/18-20.

The first objective is to kill as much as possible before Ashnard 
starts moving on turn 9.  Send Ike and Oscar east against the generals 
and the rest of your party west.  They will all be rushing towards you 
anyway, so you'll have plenty to handle.  Ike should have no problem 
wasting the east side of the map, while the rest of your team takes 
care of the west.  Proceed to the middle of the courtyard and draw out 
the knights and dragons for slaughter.  Using ranged thunder magic will 
quickly put a dent in the dragons to the north.  You'll want to kill as 
fast as possible so there is very little left by the time Ashnard and 
his 6 wyvern lords+bishop show up.  Once Ashnard starts moving, draw 
him back to the courtyard so his bishop can't reach him.

Once Ashnard starts moving and his 6 wyvern lord reinforcements show up, 
send Ike up to solo the wyverns while fending off Ashnard.  Heal Ike 
from afar until the wyverns are dead, then lure Ashnard down near a 
flowerbed to fight him in the bushes.  Eventually Ike will pull off an 
Aether and knock most of Ashnards HP out.  Ashnard can two-shot any of 
your three units, so make sure to keep your healing up and don't get 
into any risky situations.  It's possible to trap Ashnard between your 
three units next to a flowerbed, which helps stop him from flying 
around like crazy.  That way you can also have your healers move up and 
use the Fortify staff to heal everyone at once.


4. Trial Maps

Map 1 - Hillside Battle

Not too much to say about this map.. all enemies are lv 13 which makes 
them easy pickings for your lv 20 powerhouses.  Pick your best 8 units 
and go at it.  The narrow corridors makes for easy blockading and the 
small map size means it's easy to hit and run with fliers.

Map 2 - Lonely Isle

A fairly easy map where you need your best anti-air units to punch out 
the incoming fliers.  Bows, wind magic, and anti-laguz weapons should 
be used.  Position your healer on the centre square and stick your 
units by the storehouse, or let powerhouses like Ike stand by the edge 
and rip apart anything that comes near.

Map 3 - Strange Turn

I recommend taking Ike, Oscar, Kieran, Marcia, Nephenee (or someone 
else like Nasir), and Mist (or whoever your main healer is).  Mist 
needs all the healing gear she can get including Fortify, and possibly 
the Hammerne to repair it when it runs low.  Everyone should have 
powerful weapons and elixirs.

Position your units in one of the corners of the map as shown in this 
diagram.  If you want your units to have more spaces for enemies to 
attack each turn, you can position a few of your units 1 space further.  
Allow the enemies to approach you - if your units need healing, focus 
on that instead of trying to push out more attacks.

X = wall/candlebra
I = Ike, O = Oscar, K = Kieran, M = Marcia, N = Nephenee/Other
H = healer

 IKMx
O   x
N Hxx
Xxxxx

Map 4 - Desperation

Aside from having less units, this map plays almost exactly like the 
original chapter 18.  Bring high dodge/resistance units and 
blockade/plow through the snowy area once again.

Map 5 - Escape

It's best to put units with supports in the same cells.  Use long range 
magic to nail the bishop.  Break open the south and west prison doors 
and gather in the passage by the cell near the exit.  This is a good 
spot to blockade and take on foes coming from 3 sides.

Map 6 - Trapped

Put fliers in the southwest position to meet with Ike, powerful units 
that can push through the generals on the north boat, and other units 
on the middle boat.  All 3 bishops and most of the sages on the map can 
be killed on turn one, so don't waste time doing so.  Gather around Ike, 
blockade the north boat, and take on enemies approaching from the west.  
Allow them to fly onto the ship for easier killing.  Keep a good force 
of units near the northeast corner ready to kill the 6 sage 
reinforcements before they can cause trouble.