Chase

Running the same set as Quadsuna, B!Cordy wins more matchups - presumably because she can hit harder. As an archer - she's not to be taking attacks at range often if you can help it. Grinding the top of the training tower is indeed tedium - but possible. I'm just happy bonus orbs are back. Charlotte is a decent pull - she's a glassier/more aggressive Sharena. Ceada is a good blue mage, trailing behind Rein, Linde/Mae. She's more of a Res wall than a speed demon. Lyn is pretty niche, but she's workable and her staff skill makes healers even more interesting.

So. Bride!Cordelia - if you pull her - is a very good pull and outclasses 4xSetsuna and Tacomeme as an Archer with skill inheritance.

Thank you for not generalizing me as a part of some cult Evi. I am trying my best to keep the focus in the ballpark of Manchester and terror perhaps too stringently - and Mael seems to avoid that in favor of trying to determine what I personally am beholden to - which is why I have tried to be cautious with thread direction. The context of which the essential jist (It is a crude paraphrasing - of something Jesus said) is found in Matthew 19, where Jewish religious leaders are questioning Jesus as to why he believes divorce is not lawful when Moses commanded it be so. He responds with the following: “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." He then asserts that divorce for any reason other than sexual immorality is adulterous if the man were to remarry. Paired with Jesus' blatant disregard for tradition regarding the Sabbath, regarding executing those as the law commands, and so on and so forth, it's safe to glean this from Jesus in other aspects of the Torah as well. Essentially, human depravity made opting out of a marriage a necessity. Now your verse is very interesting. It follows Jesus saying that his presence isn't to replace the law but to fulfill it. If we assume Jesus is who he claims he is and is truly the only human without sin. He is the only human TODAY who has fulfilled the law. This is extremely significant because Jesus pays the price for the inability of EVERYONE else to fulfill the law through the Crucifixion. People who claim Jesus as their savior and believe him to be the lord of their life effectively put Jesus on trial for their transgressions in their stead. Because Jesus was a lawful man whose purpose it was to save humanity from inevitability - the ransom is an acceptable trade. In short, there's only one person who can live up to the Law's standards. Jesus didn't come to make the law redundant - he came to be the lawful human other humans would not be able to be from birth to death. This allows for the law to be important - but also serves to magnify Jesus' importance and existence. One can choose to forgo Jesus - but then the law still fully applies. Only then - it applies to you and not Jesus. That generally isn't great odds.

Yes, the charge that one should stone a person who had served another god is in Dueteronomy - among many other various instructions that have no place in the church today. Dueteronomy was primarily Jewish doctrine that predated Jesus - who is responsible for making the current accord with God. The Messianic covenant and the Mosaic covenant reached by Moses are not one in the same, and as covenants are changed so are the manner in which believers practice their faith. See: Jesus and the Adulteress. The man himself doesn't have the greatest track record of stoning those the law would have stoned. If you -want- to talk about Moses though, he's quite contradictory even without the covenants shifting. See: Thou shall not kill being one of the Ten Commandments. This thread has nothing to do with the GOP or with Hunter and how he chooses to believe things. This is an entertaining discussion - one that you, Evi, and I have had numerous times before - but it's long been not appropriate here. I am not a pre-1st century Jew, and God has done a lot since Dueteronomy was penned. But, my not killing has me well within the law anyway. "Some of these laws only exist because Humans choose to be assholes" - Jesus.

The reason Islam matters when considering the motive of Islamic terror groups is because it's incredibly naive - again - to ONLY assume it's a front used to distract people or a means of enticing recruits. It also matters because in the last 20 years - if one says "terrorist organization" - the names Al Queda, Taliban, Hezbollah, and ISIS are the first pronouns to come to mind. In the current day - the most recognizable terror groups claim some connection to Islam. That, regardless of the PC culture that tries to shove it under the rug, is unavoidable fact. YES it's unfortunate. YES it has brought widespread Islamophobia and it is unjustly damaging the rapport of adherents of a major world religion. NO, I don't think most Muslims endorse these groups. but all the same, the notoriety is there. It deserves the attention of theologians and investigators just as much as the possible ulterior motives these groups have. --- I have MANY Muslim friends - of whom I've shared and have been lucky to have been shared with theological points. Just because I am leaving the door open and choosing to scrutinize the big picture does not mean every Muslim is involved in some global conspiracy and should be patronized and discriminated against. However - I am not mourning living Muslims. I'm mourning dead Manchester citizens and tourists who just wanted to see Ariana Grande perform live. How much longer is the blood we see on the news just an image on a screen?

I'm going to argue for Echoes being the last game with canon pairings... - and yes, I understand it's a Gaiden remake, but there is at least one Echoes exclusive character who marries in their ending epilogue text. That person has impeccable taste too. Also, aren't Pent and Louise post-Jugdral? I could be wrong.

Ceada. Marth's woman? Yep. Bride!Ceada is pretty good for this banner. Charlotte. (I hope this means she is canonically marrying Xander. Best Xander backpack.) Cordelia. I don't know who she's getting hitched. BUT I KNOW IT AIN'T CHROM. Lyn??? I mean. Her quote in the trailer was funny. Also. She's a healer. Lol.

SO. THEY WILL PUT CHARLOTTE IN THE GAME. ... as a BRIDE promotional unit. Who wields Lances. I guess I can't complain. But. .....

The possibility of deception is more than fair. It's there where some religious doctrines falter and fail their adherents. If you are not allowed to question, hold doubts, or seek for truth on your own there are is absolutely a risk of being led astray. Radicalized doctrine - say, Crusaders of the Holy Catholic Church, Colonial Puritanism, Westboro Christianity (See Mael, I can condemn "like" others!), or ISIS-approved Islam - has a tendency to discourage self discovery and handles the common effects of doubt the wrong way. This missing discovery is one reason why Crusaders, WBCers, and most relevantly Islamic terrorists are dangerous. Faith without reason can be taken advantage of by some heirophant and the results could be catastrophic. As peers to one another, unity and addressing these matters head on IS important. I would argue that ISIS "wins" when we are divided and see either "all Muslims" or "Intolerant people" as the real enemy. To be afraid of terrorism is rational. It happens all over the world unfortunately - and a better way to unify people is to admit reality rather than offer platitudes about courage and berate your neighbors for their views on the situation. These ARE frightening times. For the sake of rationality though - go see Ariana's benefit concert. Or to that ballgame. Not because terrorism isn't possible, or that we can beat ISIS with steeled hearts and unity, but because life goes on and you shouldn't spend it hiding underneath your bed.

To answer your question - I personally would defy this entity. I don't want to kill anyone and the thought of having to do so eliminated a few career options for me... I wouldn't want to follow Jesus if Jesus was a tyrannical figure. That being said - revelation confirms the existence of such deity - making it a justified belief and putting your hydra model in danger. There are definitely more than a few ISIS agents that would argue killing is justified by the irrefutable existence of Allah (not all, I'd imagine - but some for sure.) I don't agree with them - but I can't blame their reasoning in that scenario. This again isn't the point though. An atheist or agnostic painting Islam as unjustified is just as bad as a Christian doing the same. I'm certain Mael won't object to the former though. Consistency is overrated.

On "Tolerance is a right." I'll use that defense if I ever commit an atrocity in court. If you mean it as "simple" matter of fact - everyone, from a Christian white dude who is a good person to a Christian white dude who kills people for the "sake of Christ." deserves tolerance. It's a right - and definently not contingent on right and wrong in any way possible. For those that already do - Kudos. I wish I could say everyone does condemn ISIS publically. On "Misconceptions with Mael involving Chase part 2: electric boogaloo + ad hominem" My point was NEVER to say all Muslims hold reasonable suspicion. I even agreed with CG that ISIS isn't a solely "Islamic" institution and the first part of your quote indicates the area where Non-aggressive Muslims are the ones hurt the most by ISIS - especially in terms of unreasonable perception. I also didn't say anything remotely akin to "Man, never go see Ari live in concert again" or to assume the position in your bomb shelter the rest of your life. I never made an insinuation about how one should -act- at all, in fact. But if you were a Brit afraid of terror attacks being a possibility in Manchester - this terror attack would affirm those fears as COMPLETELY rational. ISIS also has proved time and again that being self assuring DOES NOT deter them or stay them in their purpose. They are still here attacking the same people that are so fearless and taking their lives. I'm just going to ignore the rest of that because it doesn't hold any relevance to Cool Girl's topic.

People speak of ISIS as if they are only in the terror business to instill chaos - be it to defend the integrity of other Muslims, or just to rationalize boldness. Its a pretty thought, but it's also highly naive. Before ISIS, it was the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Organizations that have real goals with regards to governance. It's not just a horror show or killing for the sake of killing. Superiors lie to their underlings about promises and benefits of committing destruction and death using the holy texts as justification. Out of the same reverence peaceful Muslims hold, aggressive ones affiliated with these groups go out and provide the world atrocities such as this one. There's a war raging in Syria every day involving ISIS. It's not about "scaring" the rest of the earth. There's a territorial conquest factor in play. ISIS doesn't win when people bow up and respond to them. They win when they defeat their enemies. Stop telling people not to be afraid of something that is a real threat. I understand generalizing all Muslims is wrong. That's been the message out of D.C. prior to President Trump being there for eight years. Peaceful Muslims are hurt the most by these groups' carnage. If rational fear sullies their reputation, they need to spend more time differentiating themselves from their "criminal" counterparts abroad. Instead of taking to the internet to complain about tolerance. Its an insult to those who have lost loved ones to be told how to deal with the matter - and being the target instead of those responsible for the loss by their peers is hardly helpful. --- In short - we agree that Islam is a front for ISIS, but we don't see eye to eye in how to respond to that fact.

Now that I have the game I'll share some thoughts. (Sorry, Godot and co.) --- For me, exploring dungeons. Is super addicting. Especially the Astral Temple DLC (which you should explore after you get Clive, Python, and Forsyth in Act 1 for Alm, and after you get Valbar's crew in Act 2 for Celica.) It reminds me of Dungeoneering in RuneScape - and if a game is reminding me of RS, that's a VEEEERY good itch to scratch. Seriously. Spend the 4 bucks on that dungeon. Rings. Steel Shields. Growth Rate Shards. More combat arts than you should have await for early gamers. And it trains your units up without just feeling like mindless grinding. Even without the DLC, the Ram Village quests (Ram Wine to Greedy Old Man, Killing 20 brigands in the Theive's Shrine) spur growth - while the Deliverance Hideout gets your non villager units caught up. I currently have Tier 2 units, Baron Lukas, and Alm - and Desaix still holds Zofia Castle. I got carried away. --- My current goal is to get that Dracoshield from Desaix. It's doable - but not killing Slayde is hard and Desaix is essentially the FE equivalent of Solaris' Garchomp. Pro-Tip. The Retreat feature can help you cheese that chapter, as units don't respawn after you have killed them. This means that you can save the game with just Desaix and Slayde on the map.

Oh? We ragin? spent 40 bucks on the Celica banner after getting Echoes (play it, yo) because why not-only money. FINALLY pull a Kagero. No Echoes pulls though and she's 4 stars. -Attack,+Defense Kagero. It's a DUD. ITS A GODDAMN DUD. EXCITEMENT WASTED. SAKURA, WRYS, and MOONBOW FODDER ISNT WORTH 40 BUCKS MAN. Maybe someone wants Warding Blow? MAYBE? --- Anyway. In honor of promoting Lukas to a Knight in Echoes - Man's getting built, mother-

As far as DLC and Amiibo is concerned: Get dungeons. Since there are not really shops in this game, Weapons DLC is a huge boon if you get it. Get the Lost Altars pack. ESPECIALLY if you like Awakening's "busted" units and even want an Easter Egg connecting Alm to Walhart regarding the "over class" he promotes to. Miss wyvern riders? Want to use friggin SPARTANS? You know you do. Pass on the Rise of the Deliverance pack for now. Supports/maps can be looked up on YouTube later, and really - all the supports should have been in the game in the first place. Unless some fantastic reward that's unannounced shows up - it's not worth the money. And if you really like supports as I do. It might just piss you off. Get Cipher units. Marry me, Shade. Pass on EXP maps. Dungeon crawling is a great way to grind up - and if you have the Amiibo, you definitely don't need these maps. If you can, get at least Alm -or- Celica's Amiibo. The dungeons are - if you are a minimalist - the best of the weapons dungeons and EXP maps condensed into one - if you are up for the challenging. --- If you are a fan of Awakening - even if you slog through a game you don't like - try to beat Echoes' post game. This is a pretty neat kinda-retcon.

I'm glad Evi bumped this. I changed my mind a bit since. Kliff is NOT going to be a Mage but instead will be a Cavalier. Alm gets Luthier in his route, and while Kliff is a decent mage option due to his wide spell list, he falls short of getting Excalibur before Luthier arrives if you play the game quickly. As a Cav however, his potential attack screwage gets fixed by Gold Knight's 18 base attack and he has better Skill, Speed, and Defence growths than Clive, the first cavalier Alm gets. Tobin will move from Archer to Mage, as he gets Excalibur much earlier than Kliff -or- Luthier would have and will be able to hit very nicely. Grey is still going Merc. Faye will probably still go Cleric. --- MINOR SPOILER TERRITORY. I -Like- Faye, but I understand why most people won't. If Faye were in a game like Awakening or Fates - her obsessive streak would be elaborated on and other areas of her life would be laid to bare. Those things helped out more extreme characters with Faye's characteristics such as Tharja and Camilla. As far as I'm aware, Faye only speaks regularly with Alm throughout the Deliverance's many pit stops, with Alm again in supports, and with Silque in supports. Outside of that she only shows up in early cutscenes. This is a far cry from Tharja supporting Robin, Gregor, Gaius, and so on and so forth - or Camilla with her family, retainers, and every bachelor in the Nohrian ranks along with Corrin. Faye is partly shallow, because support options are shallow in this system - and it's one of the game's biggest faults.

God, who's coming up with these names? Between them and you not being the loudest presence out there I often wonder if you're still around even though you obviously are. I want to start off by saying I'm sorry. Life has gotten in the way of keeping in touch a lot more than I expected it to. I meant it though - you can talk to me any time. I'll come running. Do me a favor though? Take care of yourself. I don't like losing friends - I don't have many in the first place and your taking a chance on me fostered my feeling at home here. People need that kind of person. Happy birthday, Dan.

Mae is a great pull - as she's pretty much the discount infantry Blue Mage right out of the box. Desperation is optimal and even if you are not planning to use her it's a skill inheritance unit. She's really only better than Linde if you don't have her or if you don't want to spend as much to trick either of them out. She's a bargain Linde at the expense of some damage output and speed. saving SP and time ain't bad and is considerable. However, Linde is better just comparing the two.

So. Here's an exercise. What classes did you make your villagers/will you make your villagers? --- Gray is going Mercenary. He tends to be slow in other classes and being able to use a sword is "canon" to him. Merc fixes his speed. Tobin was VERY hard for me. As a Mage he gets Excalibur really early - and that's a great spell. His growths however sealed the deal for me. He'll be going archer - true to "canon". Kliff was going to be a Mage. He has the most extensive spell list of the Ram villagers and at this point I needed a magic user. Faye has decent personal growths all around and I would argue that any of her class options work well. I'll rank them. 1. Cleric - 2 Clerics in Alm's route early on is pretty valuable for training both of them up. Faye gets access to Again, the inserted "Dance" function to allow a unit to go twice in one turn. 2. Pegasus Knight - Alm only gets one Peg in Clair, so if you like flying units you should definitely give Faye a pegasus. I don't believe Faye competes with Clair as well as she battles Silque though. 3. Cavalier - I think the reason to use Faye as a Cav is availability. Clive and Mathilda should both outclass her - but she could make the class work without competition just beyond Ram Village. 4. Mage - Alm doesn't get too many mages - and having more than one isn't a bad thing against units like the Leather shield Mercenary or Desaix early. Optimizing? Go Cleric or Peg. Just looking a good time, whatever floats your boat. Edit: Oh Atlas.....great Attack. Horrible everything else. His best bet is Mercenary as he's an even more lopsided Gray, but Celica gets Jesse, Saber, and Deen as Mercs. Cavalier is workable as long as you don't expect him to double and you pick your battles judiciously. She doesn't have Cavaliers. Mage is actually sneaky for Atlas as he'll hit HARD - but his accuracy could do him in. Same with Archer. Just don't make him a soldier.

It's here. That means I've gotta lay out my expectations. Positives: 1. I expect Shadows of Valentia to be the best story telling 3DS entry. And yeah, I've played Awakening. The original characters add to the intrigue and I expect Gaiden's narrative to be fleshed out. 2. I also expect the cinematic appeal of the game to hook players. The full VA is a series first and the various cutscene types give it the that nice motion picture feel at times. If nothing else - Echoes will be fun to see and hear. 3. I think the exploration aspect of the game will be a positive experience - especially for those who have the Alm and Celica amiibo and who do get some DLC. Negatives: 1. As a new player - I was spoiled with characters being able to support nearly every member of the army that was of the opposite gender and a couple of the same gender. GBA era Emblemiers may be okay with the very scarce support options. I'm going to miss the loads of backstory on each character and lack of pressure from impending battle being in the supports we do get. 2. The weapon triangle being absent means some players will probably need to adjust. 3. #Gaidenmapdesign Bonus Rant: I really hate having DLC that's available at launch. That could have just been in the game - even if you have to mark it up. I also think the Season Pass being worth about the same as the game itself is ridiculous. And I appreciate capitalism.

Man. That would be tough. I'd have to flip a coin between joining Team Azura or Team Celica. It would be EASY if Lukas was on that final banner. --- Hey guys! It's Lloyd! He has a super sick personal sword with 16 might that boosts his attack and speed at full health when equipped. He comes with Iceberg and Threaten Attack as inheritance options well. Your banner options are interesting. Raven Hinoka Klein Ninian Essentially, Brave Weapons and a Dancer. Lol. Ninian is a great pull though.

I feel like competition matters. Lucina had a throwaway matchup against Sharena in R1 and a not much better matchup against Eirika (More people have played Awakening than Sacred Stones) - only to go through the same matchup again with Ephraim. Camilla went up against Hinoka in R1 (who is criminally made fun of - screw you Treehouse.), and had only a semi-interesting matchup against Cordelia before being well ahead of Minerva. The bonus helped out Linde and Julia more than anything else against Tharja, before she actually had an intriguing match up with Robin. I can't wait for a "Winner's Gauntlet" if they do one - mainly because they can't clearly just bandwagon one unit.

It depends on who he would be going up against. Let's say he's in a Lords and Ladies Gauntlet against other "main characters" - because that's the most likely thematic decision IS makes for a Marth Gauntlet. Lords will be where Marth resides. He may have to contend against an under appreciated lord (Eliwood, Roy, Seliph, Alm), would likely see Chrom and either Hector or Ephraim on his side of the bracket. Marth vs. Eliwood Chrom vs. Hector Marth should easily handle his round one matchup, and Chrom may end up in a dogfight. Let's say he wins -and- loses. Chrom would give Marth a very strong round 2 fight. One we'll give to the older Archanean royal. Hector might knock out Marth in R2. Bring in the Waifus. Eirika Female Corrin Lyndis Lucina I think Marth would lose to Lyn or Lucina in the final round. Lyn was THE first FE Waifu in the west -and- served as a Trophy in Smash. Lucina has the Awakening surge vote -and- has won a VG before. Marth has some advantages. He's popular with Japan, while still holding Smash recognition in the West. He isn't a very great Heroes unit though, and the competition in his most likely Gauntlet won't be a pushover.

I've seen that Windsweep/Distant Def build. It's diabolical. The biggest problem is that I'm keeping an Alm or Celica pulled at this moment in time. Distant Def and Windsweep are much more valuable on Felicia than they are the Valentians though. It works. It's just expensive. --- If the hot one always wins, Eirika or Sharena should have beaten Lucina in the first Gauntlet. I will say this. Robin did let the Smash Community down. Smash Bros. is now only 1/2 in Voting Gauntlets. I think right now, Waifu always wins. Lucina was just the perfect storm of name recognition, crossover presence, story value, and being a girl.

Swap vs. Ardent Sacrifice I wanted the novelty of a Maid here. The template I used had the command skill flexible and while I have Swap (gave it to her - good suggestion) I don't want all of my builds to have Repo in them. Felicia was fun because she had a lot of stuff to play with. In Sacrifices defense, I rarely use command skills and instead tend to split up my army to accommodate the map layout - so I had a free spot to make Felicia - well, Felicia. Definitely use Swap if you intend on having Felicia move a bit further though. Seals I.... I missed out on the Attack seal. I had the HP one from the first go round and just got like. The Fortify one. Since you can only have so many, I use them when a function comes up. I needed Felicia to live more often so I slapped HP on like you would training wheels on a bike. I hope the only misleading there is its presence in the picture. It's not needed for the build.