Familiar Mechanics

                   So here’s  list of mechanics from previous games that will make their way into “The Dark Crusade”: 

• Fatigue: This is a mechanic that originated in Thracia 776 that was a number that increased whenever the player’s units accomplished a certain action. Once the number became greater than or equal to that unit’s max HP they would have to sit out the next chapter. Other elements of how fatigue worked in Thracia were, to quote Fire Emblem wiki:

                         “A unit's fatigue meter is reset to 0 after any chapter in which they are not deployed, regardless of what it was before. Usually, a unit's fatigue meter is only increased by 1 for each time they enter a battle, but high-level staves increase fatigue by more than 1; D-rank staves increase fatigue by 2, C-rank staves increase fatigue by 3, B-rank staves increase fatigue by 4, and A-rank and preferential staves increase fatigue by 5. This can be problematic, as most staff-wielders have a low Max HP.” (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Fatigue)

                             For my game fatigue will be handled differently, although the goal is still the same. Instead of increasing by 1 every time, there’s a set amount. For first tiers it’s 8, for second tiers it’s 10 and for third tiers it’s 12. The staff one uses no longer increases fatigue anymore than fighting does. Like Thracia, having a unit sit out resets fatigue to 0. Unlike Thracia once a unit hits fatigue here instead of being forced to sit out their stats get divided by 4, they cannot use skills of any kind and their movement is reduced. It takes just as many turns to de-fatigue as it takes to fatigue. Like Thracia there will be  items that can help the player manage fatigue. There will also be skills that can help the player do this too.

• Third Tiers: I think everybody already knew this, but it was worth mentioning anyway. I’ve estimated this game should be around 60 - 80 chapters long so third tiers are coming back out of necessity more than anything. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re pretty cool. (Also, originated from Gaiden. Lol)

• Capture: Another returning mechanic from Thracia 776. Here’s how Fire Emblem wiki describes it: “Characters can only capture enemies that have a smaller Build compared to them, though mounted units are exempt from this rule except while dismounted. When a battle is initiated with the intention of capture, the character's Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed and Defense are all halved, so it is advised to weaken the enemy prior to a capture attempt, unless the character is powerful enough to inflict sufficient damage regardless of stat reductions.

                          The enemy's HP must drop to zero in order for the capture to take effect. Brave weapons like Finn's Hero Lance or the skill Charge are considered very helpful in a capture attempt.

                            Once an enemy is successfully captured, the character can trade with their hostage to take anything in their inventory. They may also release the hostage, although this counts as killing them gameplay-wise (whereas just holding onto them until the chapter's end counts as if they have never been fought). Ostensibly, releasing a captured unit counts as letting them escape the battlefield with their lives intact, in relation to the story.” (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Capture) 

                            The same overall principle is present in “The Dark Crusade” but there are a few changes to be made. For starters, instead of simply having higher Constitution you instead need to have a Constitution that’s higher by a certain amount. Right now I’m thinking that you need to have 4 or more Constitution in order to Capture, but that may be subject to change. Another major change is that cavaliers (even when mounted) can be captured too. The third change is that when an enemy gets caught the unit’s stats aren’t halved. They’re still reduced, but not cut in half. Right now capturing enemies won’t have an effect on the unit’s item capacity (that would be ridiculous and it would make capturing not worth it).

                               The capture system is designed to replace money altogether. In my opinion almost every Fire Emblem game that gives money gives way too much of it. This gives the player way too many resources which makes the games easier and sort of undermines weapon durability. Here the capture system lets the player obtain anything that money would have been able to buy them, but forces the player to earn these things. 

• Hidden Weapons: If you read the “Rough Draft Formula” you would have seen this one coming. However, there are some major changes to how they work. For starters they’re not all 1 - 2 range anymore. Some of them will still be, but there are a lot of 1 range daggers and knives now. There are also a few of them that don’t have one range, like blowguns. If blowguns being used as a weapon sounds silly to you may I remind that they were actually used in wars as legitimate weapons in South America and Southeast Asia (and there are countries in this game that are based on South America and Southeast Asia). You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowgun

                                           Another major change is that Hidden Weapons now have the ability to instantly negate stat buffs, except for ones given by Regalia. Once the debuff recovers the unit’s stats returned to normal, unaltered by either the previous buffs or the Hidden Weapon debuffs. This is designed to fix a major problem that Fates incurred. Now you can’t buff your characters stats into the stratosphere and be safe from any debuff that came your way. There will also be items and skills that can either negate debuffs altogether or restore debuffs or can transfer debuffs from one allied unit onto an enemy unit. The point here is that instead of solving stat debuffs via more stat-stacking the solution is about using the right tool at the right time.

                                          A lot of Hidden Weapons as a whole will also be able to inflict statuses on enemies too, more so than what most other weapons are usually capable of. The trade-off is that their might will most likely get nerfed.

• Unlockable Gaiden Chapters: Old school Gaiden chapters like the ones in Thracia 776 or the GBA games are coming back with a vengeance! The only real change here is that the game will inform the player at the beginning of a chapter of any incoming Gaiden Chapters and what their requirements to unlock them will be.

• Dismounting: Just like in Thracia 776 or in Fire Emblem 3 dismounting is coming back. It works pretty much the same way as it did in those games with the only exception being that units still get to use the exact same weapon that they could when they were mounted. Other than that it works the exact same way here. If you aren’t familiar with how dismounting worked in those games you can read more about it here: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Dismount

• The Elevation Mechanic / Height Bonus: This mechanic originated in Radiant Dawn. If a unit attacked another unit from a higher elevation their attack and accuracy would be increased. That still applies in this game although the accuracy boost is dropped from + 50 in Radiant Dawn to + 20 here. 
  
  
  
  
  
  • Branched Promotions: When a first tier unit promotes they get 3 options to choose from. Whatever 2nd tier choice the player makes will determine what their third tier promotion will be so choose wisely.

• Personal Skills: Not much to say here because personal skills would work in the exact same way as they did in Fates. The only difference here is that these ones are far more relevant and consistent than their Fates counterparts.

• Weapon Durability + Weapon Effects: In order for the Capture system from Thracia to work there has to be weapon durability so obviously it’s coming back. I will point out that most weapons will have 20 uses or less. This changes once you get into A ranks or higher. Also, Regalia have infinite durability so have with that. Also the Regalia of this game are borderline Holy War levels of awesome and no I am not changing that so if you have a problem with that, deal with it. 
  
  
  
  
  

                                         Weapon Effects from Fates are coming back too although they’ll be more refined so that you actually have a valid incentive to use weapons that aren’t Iron and Steel ones.

• Light Magic + The Magic Trinity: Yeah I know this is a no-brainer that you all knew was coming, but considering the fact that the last four Fire Emblem games threw light magic out the window I’d say it’s about high time they came back. The big difference here though is that light magic ALL have the ability to deal x 3 effective damage against mounted units.

• Limited Supports: Sick and tired of the constant “waifu / husbando” bullcrap present in Awakening and Fates? Do you long for the days when not everyone could support each other and opposite gender supports didn’t automatically mean marriage? Well you’re in luck because the old-school supports are coming back! Well, not 100 % old school.

                            This game is significantly longer than the average Fire Emblem so the A-B-C formula is being replaced by a different system that calls for more build-up supports and for different relationships being able to do different things. Also, not all of the bonuses will be stat boosts.

                             There’s also a new feature called the “Character Sidequests”. Character Sidequests are a special type of Gaiden chapter that can only be unlocked by doing specific supports. Once those supports are achieved the character gets a Gaiden chapter that’s designed to either further their personal story arcs, build upon information that’s hinted at in previous supports or enhance their character development. This only applies to minor or supporting characters that don’t have much, if any, plot relevance.

• Varied Chapter Objectives: If you were worried that I would make this game a game where every objective was either all rout or all seize then you can set those fears aside. In fact this game already has the greatest map objective variety out of the entire series. I could make an entire post just about what I’ve done to map objectives so I’ll stop here and if there are enough people who ask nicely I will make a post detailing how this game changes things up with map objectives.
  
  
  
  
  

• Tellius style promotions: I.E. You don’t need promotion items to promote. Like the Tellius games before you just need to be a certain level before promoting.