First part of Radiant Dawn

[Mitera Nikkou]

So I started playing this game recently (on normal), and I was wondering if anyone else finds an imbalance with the characters at your disposal during the first few chapters. Sothe seems to be the only real reliable character, but I'd rather focus on leveling the others. Problem is that the others, if they don't fail in speed or defense, also have low HP. I've found this to be a particular problem in chapter four, where many of the enemies are faster, have decent to good defense, and have a lot of HP. I had been hoping for a bit of help from Meg, but she comes in relatively slow, with questionable defense, and without enough HP to sustain her.

Chapter four has been my first failure so far, but, having come close to losing two characters in the previous chapter, I was noticing how rather delicate these characters are. I think I have a strategy for winning next time, but I was still wondering if the setup was considered imbalanced/impractical by anyone else. I don't mind the challenge, but it feels like I signed up for hard mode instead of normal for my first play-through.

[Shadowmaster]

First off, the Normal mode in Radiant Dawn is on par with the Hard mode of path of Radiance.

Secondly, it is very true that most of these characters are lackluster. Even on easy you can have trouble using most of them. For me, Leonardo and Micaiah were two of the most problematic for me, due to an utter lack of speed. This is awful for them because, due to their classes, speed is pretty much essential.

Sothe and Edward ended up doing much of the fighting for me. I threw in a few other characters, but choose to avoid potential spoilers, no matter how slight they may be, by naming them.

Anyway, the Dawn brigade part was like torture to me. All three times I did it. They just did not allow most of the characters to have good, or even average growths. All I can say is abuse bonus exp. when they get to be higher leveled, because bonus exp. guarantees 3 stats will go up.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I wish I could abuse bonus experience already, but the costs are insane. I wanted to help out Meg right when I got her, and I did, but it cost two-hundred bonus experience at level three, which is already double the cost. O.o; Sothe only needed four experience points to gain a level, and that cost forty-four bonus experience... eleven times more than normal! X_X

So far I'm doing fine with Micaiah, especially with Ilyana by her side, and Edward's speed, with careful placement, has been manageable, but the others are tough to place near the action without considerable risk. And in chapter four Nolan isn't as reliable as he had been previously, who had accounted for most of the near-dead enemies that others could kill.

Strategically, you get a nice position in chapter four, where you can limit how many enemies you encounter. The problem is that all but one character is really qualified to take the brunt of the attacks of these able-bodied laguz, who are superior in most ways in comparison to most characters. Using Edward to cover a broken wall will ensure that he doesn't get double-attacked, but I'm not sure if he can hold up with a low defense and meager HP. It makes me weep. Nolan has decent HP and defense, but his speed is a bit lacking and I'm not sure if he would survive a double-attack; at least from one of the bosses, who eventually head toward the wall (which I had been guarding with a certain halberdier (I think that's what he is), who was fast enough to avoid double-attacks from the cats and tigers, but not the boss).

And then there's the treasure that must be gotten before the last enemy is slain. Argh.

[Shadowmaster]

Did you get the Laguzslayer for Sothe before the battle?

Also, eventually all of the Laguz will change back. If all else fails, just wait? Normal is insanely tough. Especially since your stuck with the Dawn Brigade.

Honestly, the only members of the DB I used constantly in the game were Edward, Sothe, and Micaiah. And two of the three have to be there, unless I just think Sothe needed to be brought, though why wouldn't anyone bring him anyway?

[Mitera Nikkou]

I didn't, but I could. I would prefer not to, though, because I'm more concerned about the others' levels. I'd like to have more characters as reliable as Sothe.

I've only played the chapter once so far, so I didn't really notice many of their states. I did notice that plenty aren't transformed at the start, but by the time you get past the ones that are they likely will be. But since the vast majority of my characters will be held up at the starting area for most of the battle, I figure that, if I can hold out longer than before, by changing where and how I use a few characters, there's this one tiger that will return to a non-threatening form by the time the reinforcements begin to arrive, which would allow for a few turns of peace for treasure-nabbing and such later. Treasure...~

I'm definitely going to use Ilyana. Her speed's on par with Edward's, her skill is as high as her speed, and her attack damage is on par with Sothe if not better (considering you'll probably encounter more enemies with less magic resistance than physical defense (especially in chapter four), but the basic damage potential is about the same right now).

There is one question that I have, though. I'm not quite sure what's up with the support stuff in this game. It seems like you can have support conversations with anyone, but I don't see how many times you can have them or if any brought over from the other game contribute to that number.