Fixed Mode is certainly an interesting concept that I wouldn't mind returning. Nothing sucks more than a favourite unit being horribly RNG screwed, and Fixed Mode at least ensures that won't happen. When I first heard about Fixed Mode, I thought it meant that characters would always get a certain set of stats at certain levelups, without all these modifiers. Regarding the system we have now, growth rate contributes most to stat points gained, so I'd imagine that means characters tend towards their averages anyway. The BEXP exploit is pretty funny. But if you have time to give characters small amounts of BEXP at a time, you definitely have enough time to... actually play the game and make up the stat points elsewhere.
Basically, characters tend towards their averages, with minor variations. The Knight Ward probably has a huge impact though. It can also backfire, as you saw with Ike's Res here. At least it'll usually only do that for stats that don't matter.
So basically... physical units should mostly fight physical units. magical units should fight mostly magical units. Boy. This sure is confusing... But not impossible to grasp.
Sounds like a math nerd's wet dream. It's super interesting to think that PoR had this level of deep management and most people probably don't even know it. If I didn't dislike math, I could some real fun with this.
So, Mordecai in Fixed mode. His HP starts with 60 points. Level him up to 99 using BExp. He gets 148 points, so he has 208 total. Now give him another 100. He should have 358, giving him a +3 when he levels up. Anyone tried this?
@@BigKlingy Prooobably because it seems not so easy to code in comparison to the amount of use it gets. Most FE players prefer random due to it being the standard, and, well they would have to have used random in order to use fixed, and I'm not sure how many players after beating the game would wanna play the game again, only results are guaranteed. Seems to me like if you were gonna play the game again you'd want it to have more chances of it being different. I think it would've been far better had they made it available from the begining, so that more people would have a reason to use it.
I prefer fixed since it makes your units average-ish which I prefer over "lol RNG". Also the "+2 for 200 is correct" since I remember Ike getting +2 HP once on that mode.
8:58 This is really deep and cool and stuff, but I just noticed that Greil's Hero animations with the Trainer are identical to Ike's as a Lord! That's really cool. Edit: Looking a bit closer, they aren't _completely_ identical, as Greil's attacks are a bit slower in just such a way to make it seem that he's struggling to use his sword, meanwhile Ike's animations are quick as a flash, _especially_ as a Lord. Even in the first ever 3D Fire Emblem with the lowest quality animations for combat models, this game had little details that speak volumes. That is amazing. That is all pretty interesting. It sounds like it would be fun to experiment with. I kinda like the idea of not having to rely on pure luck to get good stats. In fact, it sounds like Fixed Mode can let you actively plan what you want your characters to get with each level up if you keep close tabs on them. Though it also sounds like a LOT of details to keep an eye on, which kind of annoying. I mean, you have to count out the experience, how it affects your growths, and consider whether small or large increments of Bonus EXP are better, and all that on top of keeping track of enemies, your own units, what weapons and items everyone has, weapon durability.......Yeesh.
8:58 His defeat pose is pretty much the same as Ike's too. It is cool how you can tell Greil is struggling to use a sword though. Also, he has an Aether animation, and it's pretty similar to Ike's. It's good to have to not rely on luck, but I agree this can be complicated. If you don't pay attention to any of that, characters just tend to reach their averages on Fixed Mode, due to growths being the biggest factor in gaining stat points.
i think the itemboons should be higher and the enemyboons be taken out if the mode returns.otherwise it makes little sence edit:okay,maybe it doesnt count as a boon if the weapons also give minusgrowth,but its clear what i mean i hope
Playing regularly on fixed mode will probably only have a difference of 1 point or so if you are on the same level unless you use bands or abuse the system I see.
I like Fixed mode because I don't really have to worry about anyone being stat screwed, except basically just Soren. It's a struggle to make him not be weighed down by literally everything.
The way this is calculated almost makes it seem like it's ideal to level up slowly by not killing enemies too much. The weaker stats have worse multipliers, which means doing additive amounts of smaller percentages should actually accumulate more points per level up if I'm not mistaken
This is true, especially given how good giving BEXP in increments of 1 is. I don't know the exact mechanics of Engage's fixed mode, but I hope it's not like this.
@@BigKlingy I actually just beat engage the first time and instead of playing through it again, it made me want to play the Tellius games again instead. As a result, I actually had no idea engage brought fixed mode back!
I really wish other games used Fixed Mode. Just finished a Hard Mode playthrough on it and absolutely loved the whole thing. The beginning-mid section is somewhat difficult cause of low damage output, but overtime, everyone gets BEEFY and it becomes a fun ride.
Not really, Engage's fixed mode is pretty balanced, I feel. Maddening is even locked to fixed mode, just to make sure the enemies are balanced around the stats you're expected to have every chapter.
Ike, I choose you! Ah Math which is a subject I’m quite mixed about as I’m good at some kind of Math like Fractions but can’t get my head around some other types like as I still really can’t get my head around Sine, Cosine and Tangents in Trigonometry. So Fixed Mode is only really fixed as in the case you can make level up predictable by having the same actions always end up in the same result but unless you’re really meticulously planning things ahead of time how would you do the same action in every attempt as I would assume you are still at the mercy of this games RNG determine whenever you hit or not so Soren might have to take a kill that Gaitre got in the last attempt cause even though you did the same actions as the last time a miss threw you off course. Likewise I would think of Fixed Mode as a mode where a characters stat gains is exactly based on their Growth Rates. Which could be a decent idea to have although you couldn’t have my Defence blesses Hinoka from my latest Birthright file nobody would end up screwed in their best stats and it would also make Growths Rates both high and low more reliable, Heroes kind of does this where discounting the random IVs that Heroes have that increase one stat but decrease another every version of a Hero will have the same stats in the end as every Female Morgan ends up with 30 Speed at Level 40 discounting an + Speed IV and even then every copy of a Hero with the exact same IV setup is going to end up the same.
still better than benching units for getting stat screwed . i really liked this mechanic and i was hoping to see it again in the newer games ...it's so sad . but later i saw a romhack that has a successful fixed mode mechanic added and i must say that playing fire emblem this way is really better imo.
So... what kept them from just going the obvious route with Fixed Mode? This is all very interesting, but also just seems superfluous on the dev's part. I'd prefer if it did return in the future (ideally in a more straightforward manner).
I'm not really sure why they chose to have things slightly influenced by weapons and enemy classes, especially given the influence is so small. Still better than random boons/banes though.
Apparently, on Fates Lunatic level ups are still random, they're just all rolled for at once the moment a character joins, so you can't reset for better stats.
Are the points earned by the equipped weapon and enemy class added and subtracted until leveling up, or are they only applied at the time of leveling up?
They're applied at the time you gain exp. For example, if you kill an enemy General with an Armourslayer, the modifiers for that class and weapon only apply to the stat exp you get from THAT fight. If you kill your next enemy with an Iron Sword then you'll get the Iron Sword modifiers. It's needlessly complicated and the weapon modifiers honestly don't affect too much, besides the growth Bands.
Sort of. The actual controllable part of the stat formula is really small though (only + or - 0.05, not counting the Knight Ward and Mage Band), so you can't skew stats THAT much.
That was interesting. I'm a bit surprised that fixed mode never came back in another FE game (at least to my knowledge). I'm not sure if I would use it myself but I feel like some other people would like it. (Though I guess Heroes has something similar in that units have fixed stats at their beginning and end.) Also, I admire the dedication you put into your videos. Everything from replaying several chapters to drip-feeding Ike one bonus EXP at a time . . . That's cool.
Heroes is kind of similar, but it also has random IVs. From what I've read, Heroes growths are random between levels 1 and 40, but always end up the same. I wonder how that works. The one bexp at a time wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be, but I can't imagine doing that for your whole army. Replaying up to Chapter 8 on Easy didn't take very long, but Oscar turned out really good and... Boyd got screwed again. Well, as much as you can get screwed on fixed mode.
I'm playing Path of Radiance now after many years and while Ike is doing well with his level-ups, Boyd and Oscar have never had a strength growth yet and Boyd has also not had a speed growth either. I am on Chapter 6 or 7. I just let Boyd die - it's pointless as he now needs 3+ turns to kill anything (which is incompatible with his garbage defenses). I'm hoping Oscar turns out better over time but I'm ready to chuck him in the bin soon too. Thank god for all the redundant units like Keiran, Astrid, Titania, etc. I'd probably have to restart otherwise.
Sometimes that happens, I'm currently replaying FE7 and Sain only gained one point of Strength since the start of the game, when he's supposed to have a really good Strength growth.
In fixed mode characters tend towards their average stats, so if someone caps a stat on average than their better off on fixed mode. But Random is also relatively reliable for that. You can always make up the difference with stat boosters.
A lot of the fun and replay value in Fire Emblem comes from the random level-ups. There's nothing better than seeing Ike max Res, Oscar getting magic over and over again, or Gatrie getting speed-blessed. I'll take random mode, even I do get screwed once in a while.
The main thing Fixed Mode is good for is speedruns, where consistent level ups let you focus on route planning and menu speed, rather than having to lose runs because Titania doesn't have enough Speed to double something.
That was very informative. Wish a lot more about Fixed Mode was explained. But, from the way I play FE, it means nothing to me. While I do enjoy having more control over stats growth, I still prefer the random element. That's why I love the bands - they increase the CHANCE of each stat increasing, but you still will have a different outcome as you play around. As you can tell, I'm not a speed runner.
@@BigKlingy Besides, I save scum when distributing Bonux EXP, so I end up with maxed stats regardless. XD Fixed Mode REALLY isn't for me. Now, if we had a Fixed Mode where all the growth stats are transparent, and how much growth for each stat the character will have after battle, then maybe I could consider doing a run like that. For example, if when you attack an enemy, instead of just showing HP, Hit, DMG, and Crit, it also showed a Level Up window with a progress bar under each stat that highlight how much more or less growth on each stat you'll have if you engage in a battle with this enemy, for example, that could be just more variables to take into account and actually be a fun way to go through the game. But as it is right now, with everything being hidden and requiring a complete guide to start understanding how the mode works, plus having multiple units to manage aside from the strategies you have to employ during gameplay, it's just too much to manage at once for it to be a viable style for most players. Just like the skill system in FE9 and 10, it needs a LOT of refinement! Here's hoping that ReDux project for FE10 on Serenes Forest continues, I sent my feedback to Korval on how I think skills should work down to their effect, damage and activation rate, but he's been gone for almost a year!
@@BigKlingy Yes, that's true, thanks. However I'm playing the Japanese (english-translated) version so I can play the Maniac mode. And the internet doesn't seem to have a savefile for POR japan version. WHAT DO I DO?
I think I did do a transfer file on Easy with Fixed Mode, and it maxed out a lot of characters. It depends on the character's averages. On Fixed, characters tend towards their average stats due to growths being the biggest factor in gaining stat points. So if someone caps a lot of stats on average, like Ike, Fixed can help them. But if not, like, say, Devdan, then it's not so good. Sothe is WAY better on Random too.
Too much math. Just gonna stick with Random and pray RNGesus is kind to me.
I think that's a natural reaction.
RNGesus is ever so merciful
Fixed Mode is certainly an interesting concept that I wouldn't mind returning. Nothing sucks more than a favourite unit being horribly RNG screwed, and Fixed Mode at least ensures that won't happen. When I first heard about Fixed Mode, I thought it meant that characters would always get a certain set of stats at certain levelups, without all these modifiers. Regarding the system we have now, growth rate contributes most to stat points gained, so I'd imagine that means characters tend towards their averages anyway.
The BEXP exploit is pretty funny. But if you have time to give characters small amounts of BEXP at a time, you definitely have enough time to... actually play the game and make up the stat points elsewhere.
Basically, characters tend towards their averages, with minor variations. The Knight Ward probably has a huge impact though.
It can also backfire, as you saw with Ike's Res here. At least it'll usually only do that for stats that don't matter.
That was very confusing, yet interesting. I would still probably play on random though.
So basically...
physical units should mostly fight physical units. magical units should fight mostly magical units.
Boy. This sure is confusing... But not impossible to grasp.
Well yeah but now to know the math behind it.
Sounds like a math nerd's wet dream. It's super interesting to think that PoR had this level of deep management and most people probably don't even know it. If I didn't dislike math, I could some real fun with this.
So, Mordecai in Fixed mode. His HP starts with 60 points. Level him up to 99 using BExp. He gets 148 points, so he has 208 total. Now give him another 100. He should have 358, giving him a +3 when he levels up. Anyone tried this?
Max level is 20
This is a very interesting away to play a fire emblem. Definitely adds the replay value
I'm annoyed it was never seen again after this game, not even in the sequel.
@@BigKlingy Prooobably because it seems not so easy to code in comparison to the amount of use it gets. Most FE players prefer random due to it being the standard, and, well they would have to have used random in order to use fixed, and I'm not sure how many players after beating the game would wanna play the game again, only results are guaranteed. Seems to me like if you were gonna play the game again you'd want it to have more chances of it being different.
I think it would've been far better had they made it available from the begining, so that more people would have a reason to use it.
I prefer fixed since it makes your units average-ish which I prefer over "lol RNG". Also the "+2 for 200 is correct" since I remember Ike getting +2 HP once on that mode.
8:58 This is really deep and cool and stuff, but I just noticed that Greil's Hero animations with the Trainer are identical to Ike's as a Lord! That's really cool. Edit: Looking a bit closer, they aren't _completely_ identical, as Greil's attacks are a bit slower in just such a way to make it seem that he's struggling to use his sword, meanwhile Ike's animations are quick as a flash, _especially_ as a Lord. Even in the first ever 3D Fire Emblem with the lowest quality animations for combat models, this game had little details that speak volumes. That is amazing.
That is all pretty interesting. It sounds like it would be fun to experiment with. I kinda like the idea of not having to rely on pure luck to get good stats. In fact, it sounds like Fixed Mode can let you actively plan what you want your characters to get with each level up if you keep close tabs on them. Though it also sounds like a LOT of details to keep an eye on, which kind of annoying. I mean, you have to count out the experience, how it affects your growths, and consider whether small or large increments of Bonus EXP are better, and all that on top of keeping track of enemies, your own units, what weapons and items everyone has, weapon durability.......Yeesh.
8:58 His defeat pose is pretty much the same as Ike's too. It is cool how you can tell Greil is struggling to use a sword though. Also, he has an Aether animation, and it's pretty similar to Ike's.
It's good to have to not rely on luck, but I agree this can be complicated. If you don't pay attention to any of that, characters just tend to reach their averages on Fixed Mode, due to growths being the biggest factor in gaining stat points.
there's 1 difference greils animations are slower plus he has more due to him also being able to wield an axe
i think the itemboons should be higher and the enemyboons be taken out if the mode returns.otherwise it makes little sence
edit:okay,maybe it doesnt count as a boon if the weapons also give minusgrowth,but its clear what i mean i hope
Playing regularly on fixed mode will probably only have a difference of 1 point or so if you are on the same level unless you use bands or abuse the system I see.
I like Fixed mode because I don't really have to worry about anyone being stat screwed, except basically just Soren. It's a struggle to make him not be weighed down by literally everything.
Speedruns tend to like it too. I'm glad it returned in Engage, without all the weird hidden mechanics.
The way this is calculated almost makes it seem like it's ideal to level up slowly by not killing enemies too much. The weaker stats have worse multipliers, which means doing additive amounts of smaller percentages should actually accumulate more points per level up if I'm not mistaken
This is true, especially given how good giving BEXP in increments of 1 is. I don't know the exact mechanics of Engage's fixed mode, but I hope it's not like this.
@@BigKlingy I actually just beat engage the first time and instead of playing through it again, it made me want to play the Tellius games again instead. As a result, I actually had no idea engage brought fixed mode back!
I really wish other games used Fixed Mode. Just finished a Hard Mode playthrough on it and absolutely loved the whole thing. The beginning-mid section is somewhat difficult cause of low damage output, but overtime, everyone gets BEEFY and it becomes a fun ride.
I think FE Engage has a fixed mode. I an playing Engage with fixed mode, on Normal and Casual. Is that a virgin way to play Fire Emblem?
Not really, Engage's fixed mode is pretty balanced, I feel. Maddening is even locked to fixed mode, just to make sure the enemies are balanced around the stats you're expected to have every chapter.
Cool argument but unfortunately for you, I am level 99 in amogus.
Ike, I choose you!
Ah Math which is a subject I’m quite mixed about as I’m good at some kind of Math like Fractions but can’t get my head around some other types like as I still really can’t get my head around Sine, Cosine and Tangents in Trigonometry.
So Fixed Mode is only really fixed as in the case you can make level up predictable by having the same actions always end up in the same result but unless you’re really meticulously planning things ahead of time how would you do the same action in every attempt as I would assume you are still at the mercy of this games RNG determine whenever you hit or not so Soren might have to take a kill that Gaitre got in the last attempt cause even though you did the same actions as the last time a miss threw you off course.
Likewise I would think of Fixed Mode as a mode where a characters stat gains is exactly based on their Growth Rates. Which could be a decent idea to have although you couldn’t have my Defence blesses Hinoka from my latest Birthright file nobody would end up screwed in their best stats and it would also make Growths Rates both high and low more reliable, Heroes kind of does this where discounting the random IVs that Heroes have that increase one stat but decrease another every version of a Hero will have the same stats in the end as every Female Morgan ends up with 30 Speed at Level 40 discounting an + Speed IV and even then every copy of a Hero with the exact same IV setup is going to end up the same.
Heroes' is a lot more truly "fixed", discounting the random boons/banes. Don't know if they were inspired by this for that or not.
still better than benching units for getting stat screwed . i really liked this mechanic and i was hoping to see it again in the newer games ...it's so sad .
but later i saw a romhack that has a successful fixed mode mechanic added and i must say that playing fire emblem this way is really better imo.
So... That's a remodeled IV and EV system, like in Pokémon... Neat
Shame it was never carried to any other FE.
So... what kept them from just going the obvious route with Fixed Mode? This is all very interesting, but also just seems superfluous on the dev's part.
I'd prefer if it did return in the future (ideally in a more straightforward manner).
I'm not really sure why they chose to have things slightly influenced by weapons and enemy classes, especially given the influence is so small. Still better than random boons/banes though.
This was really intresting! I thought I heard that Lunatic Mode in Fates used something like fixed mode for level ups. Im not sure though.
Apparently, on Fates Lunatic level ups are still random, they're just all rolled for at once the moment a character joins, so you can't reset for better stats.
@@BigKlingy yup, if the rng god decides your character is bad the moment he joins, he will be bad forever
Are the points earned by the equipped weapon and enemy class added and subtracted until leveling up, or are they only applied at the time of leveling up?
They're applied at the time you gain exp. For example, if you kill an enemy General with an Armourslayer, the modifiers for that class and weapon only apply to the stat exp you get from THAT fight. If you kill your next enemy with an Iron Sword then you'll get the Iron Sword modifiers.
It's needlessly complicated and the weapon modifiers honestly don't affect too much, besides the growth Bands.
So they work like Pokemon EVs?
Sort of. The actual controllable part of the stat formula is really small though (only + or - 0.05, not counting the Knight Ward and Mage Band), so you can't skew stats THAT much.
This an interesting concept never knew how fixed worked but thank you for explaining
And it disappeared after one game! Barely anyone knows how this works but speedrunners like it because it makes level ups 100% consistent.
Interesting. I wonder if there's a way to cultivate Tormod in such a way that he can cap Strength and do some silly knife combat.
Since the weapon influences are pretty small, usually only + or - 5%, he wouldn't be getting THAT much more Strength.
fix mode is like ivs and evs in pokemon. sadly soothe is not like eevee tho.
Sort of, though a bit more complicated. (As if that was possible)
That was interesting. I'm a bit surprised that fixed mode never came back in another FE game (at least to my knowledge). I'm not sure if I would use it myself but I feel like some other people would like it. (Though I guess Heroes has something similar in that units have fixed stats at their beginning and end.)
Also, I admire the dedication you put into your videos. Everything from replaying several chapters to drip-feeding Ike one bonus EXP at a time . . . That's cool.
Heroes is kind of similar, but it also has random IVs. From what I've read, Heroes growths are random between levels 1 and 40, but always end up the same. I wonder how that works.
The one bexp at a time wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be, but I can't imagine doing that for your whole army. Replaying up to Chapter 8 on Easy didn't take very long, but Oscar turned out really good and... Boyd got screwed again. Well, as much as you can get screwed on fixed mode.
Poor Boyd is just not having a good time out here.
I'm playing Path of Radiance now after many years and while Ike is doing well with his level-ups, Boyd and Oscar have never had a strength growth yet and Boyd has also not had a speed growth either. I am on Chapter 6 or 7. I just let Boyd die - it's pointless as he now needs 3+ turns to kill anything (which is incompatible with his garbage defenses). I'm hoping Oscar turns out better over time but I'm ready to chuck him in the bin soon too. Thank god for all the redundant units like Keiran, Astrid, Titania, etc. I'd probably have to restart otherwise.
Sometimes that happens, I'm currently replaying FE7 and Sain only gained one point of Strength since the start of the game, when he's supposed to have a really good Strength growth.
Fixed mode seems... interesting. But the random rates are easier to understand, so... I'll go with that.
so whats it's better overall for experience? random or fixed? considering you're playing normally.
In fixed mode characters tend towards their average stats, so if someone caps a stat on average than their better off on fixed mode. But Random is also relatively reliable for that. You can always make up the difference with stat boosters.
A lot of the fun and replay value in Fire Emblem comes from the random level-ups. There's nothing better than seeing Ike max Res, Oscar getting magic over and over again, or Gatrie getting speed-blessed. I'll take random mode, even I do get screwed once in a while.
The main thing Fixed Mode is good for is speedruns, where consistent level ups let you focus on route planning and menu speed, rather than having to lose runs because Titania doesn't have enough Speed to double something.
Time to use this to turn mist into a demon slayer
That was very informative. Wish a lot more about Fixed Mode was explained.
But, from the way I play FE, it means nothing to me. While I do enjoy having more control over stats growth, I still prefer the random element. That's why I love the bands - they increase the CHANCE of each stat increasing, but you still will have a different outcome as you play around.
As you can tell, I'm not a speed runner.
Sometimes it's fun to see how your stats will turn out every playthrough. Even if I did get a very speed-screwed Ike this time...
@@BigKlingy Besides, I save scum when distributing Bonux EXP, so I end up with maxed stats regardless. XD
Fixed Mode REALLY isn't for me.
Now, if we had a Fixed Mode where all the growth stats are transparent, and how much growth for each stat the character will have after battle, then maybe I could consider doing a run like that.
For example, if when you attack an enemy, instead of just showing HP, Hit, DMG, and Crit, it also showed a Level Up window with a progress bar under each stat that highlight how much more or less growth on each stat you'll have if you engage in a battle with this enemy, for example, that could be just more variables to take into account and actually be a fun way to go through the game.
But as it is right now, with everything being hidden and requiring a complete guide to start understanding how the mode works, plus having multiple units to manage aside from the strategies you have to employ during gameplay, it's just too much to manage at once for it to be a viable style for most players.
Just like the skill system in FE9 and 10, it needs a LOT of refinement! Here's hoping that ReDux project for FE10 on Serenes Forest continues, I sent my feedback to Korval on how I think skills should work down to their effect, damage and activation rate, but he's been gone for almost a year!
C'mon... isn't there a way to play it Fixed mode on a 1st run?? That's totally unfair
If you're on an emulator I'm sure you can find a savefile that'll unlock it.
@@BigKlingy Yes, that's true, thanks. However I'm playing the Japanese (english-translated) version so I can play the Maniac mode. And the internet doesn't seem to have a savefile for POR japan version. WHAT DO I DO?
For a moment I thought u were a maths teacher
You kind of end up sounding like one if you try explaining Fixed Mode.
You definitely didn’t save us the pain when you added 1 point at a time. LoL
So isfixed mode the best mode to max characters? Im guessing no
I think I did do a transfer file on Easy with Fixed Mode, and it maxed out a lot of characters. It depends on the character's averages. On Fixed, characters tend towards their average stats due to growths being the biggest factor in gaining stat points. So if someone caps a lot of stats on average, like Ike, Fixed can help them. But if not, like, say, Devdan, then it's not so good. Sothe is WAY better on Random too.
BigKlingy but doesn't easy mode transfer make the game crash?
Only in the American version.
BigKlingy well. That sucks . alot
Very similar to Pokemon I see.
Hold on...yup my brain melted