All Girl Challenge - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn PART 1

NOTE: I'm playing this challenge using a transferred All Girl Challenge file from Path of Radiance, which I cannot post at the moment since the Gamecube controller which I used is only borrowed. This challenge is also my second playthrough in Radiant Dawn.

This challenge runs on NORMAL difficulty.

Part 1 is a bit difficult in the first few chapters because Micaiah is the only female character. She can't double attack enemies, and is fragile, given that she is a mage.

For the Prologue, I had Edward unequipped, and use him to lure the enemies one by one for Micaiah to finish off, and get all the EXP. Thanks to the natural high speed of a myrmidon, only a few herb uses are consumed by Edward during his tanking.

On Chapter 1, the objective is to ESCAPE, which is really bad for this challenge. This is where I decided to add optional rules since it seems impossible to solo Micaiah on this map (see previous post). I used the full force of the team, but still having Micaiah do the final hit for EXP.

On Chapter 2, we have a new female unit who heals. Although we have Laura healing, Micaiah still can't wipe a whole troop. Enemies at this point can one-shot Micaiah. On the bright side, we have Sothe to help. Since he is one of the main characters, the optional rule applies to him. Sothe weakens enemy units, and Micaiah finishes them off, while Laura heals all damage done to Sothe. The Thani tome helps a lot especially on the boss.

On Chapter 3, we get a new female character. Thanks to the data transfer from Path of Radiance, Ilyana has an increased base speed, which helps a lot in this chapter. She can double attack most enemies, which lessens the pressure of being surrounded. She can't tank obviously because she is also a mage. The strategy used for this chapter is the same as the previous chapter, with the addition of Ilyana, and the partner units. I am forced to use the Thani tome for this chapter because the Light tome ran out of uses.

Ilyana is one of my personal favorites because she is similar to me, always hungry.

On Chapter 4, we get another female character, Meg. She's weak for an armor class, but she has the speed and the skill. She reminds me of Amelia of Sacred Stones, whom I promoted to knight then general. This chapter is pretty easy, because the Dawn Brigade already have two units who can take hits, Sothe and Meg. Just have to be careful around tigers, because they pack a punch.

5-unit team taking on the laguz

On Chapter 5, we get to have another female unit, but at the end of the chapter. We also get another forced deployed unit, Volug. The chapter is pretty hard because of the number of mages. Micaiah and Sothe (with healing items) move on the bottom area, then Ilyana, Meg, Laura and Volug move on the upper area, to lure the enemy units away from the group of Jill. Even with Volug in the team, I still give the females priority to last-hit enemies for EXP. The boss unit is not defeated because of the limited number of turns.

Moving on to Chapter 6, a two-stage chapter, we will be able to recruit Fiona at the end. With Jill added to the team, she can finish off pegasus knight reinforcements before they reach the fragile mages. Ilyana can even double attack them if they come too close. Tauroneo is forced deployed on this chapter, so I used him unequipped for tanking hits and letting the mages defeat them. The only annoyance here is the Canto skill of mounted units, making the fight longer. I saved the Marado knights and civilians, with only one dead civilian and knight each. I can't rush Jill recklessly because of her being mage food, even with the increased base stats.

Chapter 7 could have been a pretty easy chapter, if not for trying to level up Fiona. She has very low stats, but I still want to try because I've read that she has good growth stats. Meg has good defenses at this point so she did the tanking more than Sothe. I freed all the prisoners and let them escape for the bonus EXP which will be very useful near the end of the game.

Chapter 8 is easy with all the forced deployed units. Of course, I still have to let the females get as much EXP as possible. Too bad Jill can't be deployed here. I only saved the villages on the left side because of those annoying wyvern riders who love to kill the neutral units first.

Chapter 9 is a pretty simple stage. Just protect Micaiah while Black Knight finishes off everyone. Micaiah is already at max level at this point, so using her to battle is pointless. This could have been easier if Micaiah is allowed to be rescued, but she insists not to. She's vulnerable even at max level. All enemies can finish her off in one hit. With the fog of war, I need to predict the possible locations of enemies before moving.

The last chapter of Part 1, is really hard! My goal for this chapter is to intercept the two thieves before they open any of the chests. Rush climbing is not possible for most units, and I can't let Jill go alone though she has high movement. This led me to using Queen Nailah to accompany Jill. She has high movement and can instantly own any unit.

I restarted a lot of times on the last chapter just to get the perfect strategy to stop the thieves. In the end, Queen Nailah rush climbs the walls. I successfully stopped the thieves, at the cost of a lot of EXP givers.

Here are the stats of my units before engaging Jarod in battle. No need to include equipment for this point (yet).

Ilyana is one of my best (or only) nukers, since she came from a transferred Path of Radiance file. Still, I did not have her level up too much because the other units need them more for Part 3 Chapter 6.

Though at times she misses her attacks, she can cause devastation to enemy units, especially those with low resistance. She also does a lot of critical attacks, maybe because of the critical rate of thunder tomes, or just lucky.

I don't know why, but it seems Laura was slower to level up compared to my previous playthrough. Maybe because there are fewer units to heal, and they become stronger at a faster rate. I can say that her stat growth had a good start. I did not let her get promoted because I will be doing that at the next chapter she is playable, by using a Master Seal. There won't be a difference either way.

On my first playthrough, I did not like using Meg, because of her low stats. In this playthrough, that made me think otherwise. She's a great tank. She's not-very-tough but she dodges attacks thanks to her high speed and luck growth. I just hope her strength growth would be better.

Another of my transferred data units, Jill has high starting strength and speed. Although she has high speed, she has a hard time dodging those mages, making her mage food. She also uses axes, which has lower hit rate, and combining with her low skill, makes her difficult to finish off some enemies. Her Canto ability is a cheap ability that can ensure her safety after attacking, like all riders.

See those stats? These suck! I've read that she has a good growth rate, so I gave her a chance to level up. I have never been so wrong. I always have bad luck when she levels up. Hopefully as a paladin, she will prove that she is useful for the team.

I stopped using her on my first playthrough because of her weak stats, and the difficulty to train her. How would she face the laguz on her next playable chapter? I think the only good about her are her skills Imbue and Savior.

Micaiah's stats is like a typical mage, low HP and defense. These are acceptable, but low speed? Come on! I would've stopped using her, but she's needed, so I have no choice. I might use some speedwings on her to improve her speed if needed.

Last, but not the least, we have our first required non-female character. Sothe makes a perfect tank in the first few chapters, and he can weaken enemies for the others to finish off, due to the low attack of knives and daggers. He can also save allies thanks to his innate skill, guard. This is why Micaiah needs him a lot.

Lesson for challenge Part 1:

Nailah's glare skill can stop an enemy from moving until the end of chapter. This may be a good thing for those who needs EXP. Take note that the defense of glared units will go up. Fiona can damage a knight, but after glare, she can't. Units that are best hit by glare are the two priests. Their increased defense will stop attackers from accidentally killing them.

That concludes Part 1 of the story, and challenge. Micaiah promotes to a light sage, and receives a prettier outfit. They liberated Daein, or did they?