Fire Emblem Awakening - Apotheosis DLC Map [No DLC Classes or Skills/Rallies]

Finally, after about 5 months of planning and practicing, I've beaten this map without DLC or rallies! If there's one thing I've learned from this experience, it's that if your team doesn't make the cut, no amount of strategizing will get you the victory. One major determination of the stability of your team is how many units reach 60 speed. Although Galeforce is (very) important, reaching 60 speed on your capable units matters even more. The reason its valued above Galeforce is because the Rescue staff already basically does what Galeforce is good for but better. But in a run like this, there is no way for your units to gain more stat points (aside from pair up bonuses) mid map. You HAVE to plan your team around those kinds of thresholds, and you have to take skills into account. For example, my Wyvern Lord Morgan had to be carefully hand picked (and her partner too) to reach that 60 speed benchmark in a way that not only allowed her to still function just fine even with the lost skill slots to Defender and Speed +2 (and Laurent not being able to be a Berserker), but she was able to excel in that scenario. And I didn't even need Sumia!Lucina!Morgan to do it. On the topic of "optimal pairings", though... Don't even worry about those that much. Inigo, Lucina, Cynthia, Owain, Severa, Gerome, and Laurent can all be useable with (almost) any father/mother in Lucina's case. The only characters with limited parent options are Noire (duh), Kjelle (also duh), Nah (despite not needing Galeforce), Brady, Yarne, and Morgan (I almost had a Donnel!Kjelle!Morgan@Sniper). Those characters require a bit more fine-tuning. As long as you KNOW you can reach 60 speed and have a good, fulfilling skill set with those characters, then just go for what pairings you like. As for the characters who want specific parentage, you'll have to plan your pairings with them in mind FIRST. As for strategy, the most important parts are your positions at the start of waves 1-3, the availability of Rescue users and their movement in waves 4 and 5, and tailor making units for certain dangerous enemies (looking at you, Miracle Sorcerers). As long as you've got those bases covered, just use the rest of your team to sweep the rest of the enemies. Now to discuss teams. When making my team, I wanted to be as original as possible, which meant no Chrom/Sumia, Henry/Lissa, Robin/Lucina, or Stahl/Cordelia. I gave myself a pass on Vaike/Cherche because I didn't have any top tier available fathers left for Gerome except Gregor and, to be honest, I just don't like Gregor. I had a HUGE amount of help from soly's Apotheosis guide. It's where I learned most of the things I'm writing right now. I can't add the link, but you can find it online. Of course, you don't have to challenge yourself like that if you know that's not your cup of tea. I don't care if you want to use the most basic, top tier pairings for every character, because that's just personal preference. As for the units you will be actually taking into the map, I have a few very important things to write. Firstly, you will only ever need MAX 3 dedicated Rescue bots. Every other Rescue user you have (which should be at least six; in my case, the three bots, then Lissa, Owain, and Nah) should also have a combat purpose. That way, you maximize your fighter-to-bot ratio. As for your combat units, you should have at least four 60 speed lead units with their speed-boosting pairs. In my case, these were Morgan/Laurent (46+14 speed), Lucina/Gerome (49+11 speed), Cynthia/Yarne (50+10 speed), and Noire/MU (50+10 speed). All of your non 60 speed lead units should be used to fight specific enemies. In my case, I had Brady/Nah (high magic score lets them sweep dangerous low res Pavise enemies), Inigo/Kjelle (Inigo as a warrior and Kjelle with good proc skills allows them to fight a multitude of dangerous Aegis enemies or Pavise enemies with low defense like the Tricksters), and Owain/Severa (similar to Brady but with a Beast Killer+Lancefaire Severa for fighting Paladins as well as Vantage+Vengeance on Owain). To be honest, team building is the hardest aspect of Apotheosis. The only reason it took me so long to complete was just because of terrible RNG on my end (98% Vengeance proc on Owain procs 75% of the time. Seriously?). Also, another note I want to make; If you pair Chrom with Olivia, ALWAYS KEEP OLIVIA AS A DANCER AND BY HERSELF. There is literally no point to pairing them together, just give Chrom an A support partner. I chose Lissa because she's his best option with Galeforce that's related to him so it's not questionable (lol). Also cuz she's the goat. But anyway's I hope this long rant helps you in your ventures. If you need more help, refer to the guide above and/or look at Airship Cannon and Greil Mercenaries' videos. And remember, always set a pre-save to change things later. Hashtags (ignore) #gaming #fireemblem #fun #cool #engagingcontent #strategy #strategygames #strategygaming