Let's get to the bottom of the enemy stats

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

There are two ways to get enemy stats. One is to play through the game noting numbers down in an excel spreadsheet (as the deadlocked Radiant Dawn Project has shown us this sin't the most practical approach). The other is figure out the games logic (base stats and class levels) and use an excel spreadsheet to calculate any given stats.

The later is what i'm trying to do and i'm running into some snags. I'll share what i've found (this is all based on chapter 1...i'll do later chapers later).

In normal mode units level corresponds to how many class levels they get. I'm making the assumption base stats are for level 0 units and so a level 1 unit has 1 class level (which usually doesn't make a difference).

In previous FE games hard mode would add a number of class levels to the enemy unit. This is mostly true here. However, defence and res don't get any such addition (which means defensively enemies are weaker than in other FE hard modes however...).

For Hard 1 there are 3 additional class levels and the lowest weapon level is C
For Hard 2 there are 6 additional class levels and the lowest weapon level is C
For Hard 3 there are 8 additional class levels and the lowest weapon level is B
For Hard 4 there are 10 additional class levels and the lowest weapon level is B
For Hard 5 there are 15 additional class levels and the lowest weapon level is A

What does this mean. A level 1 unit in hard 1 will have the HP, Strength, Magic, skill and speed of a level 4 unit in normal mode. As for lowest weapon level. Rather than an enemy having the weapon level they need to use the equipment they hold they will have the listed weapon levels. Unless the weapon they hold needs higher in which case they get higher. You'll probably remeber offensive boosts being given to higher wepaon levels unless they are at Weapon Triangle disadvantage (i.e. the weapon triangle is even more important in hard mode*)

*-Ironic really, since Radiant Dawn threw the weapon triangle into a trash can for its hard mode...

So what snags and I running into with Chapter 1?

The pirates. They don't follow these rules. They don't get any speed (thank goodness, imagine H5 with the pirates starting with 8-9 speed) and they seem to have a nerf in HP and strength (again thank goodness, 12-13 strength and 32 HP would be insane).

The Hunter makes perfect sense.

The Thief strength is always out by 1...either the base stat is wrong or every single time i've tested they've managed to roll lucky on 0.2...

I'm not sure what is up with the boss. I'm guessing its a "I don't get class levels as I have custom stats but in hard mode i'll get the additional levels" but I'm really not sure.

If we can figure all of this out it won't mean an end to manual testing by any means as we know we still need to find out what equipment is packed by units in H5 (and other hard modes or are the equipment changes H5 only?).

[VincentASM is too important to have a messed up name]

I'll just throw some random stuff I recorded a couple of months ago. I've been meaning to delve a bit more (mainly into inventories, since I thought the extra Levels were trivial- no comment on the snags just yet), but I've come across numerous distractions/commitments ^^;;;

Enemies are stronger and reinforcements appear at the beginning of the enemy turn. Also, in higher difficulties, enemies have more Silver and Brave weapons, as well as forged weapons.

As for specifics:

Mode / Hidden Level ups* / Minimum weapon rank
H1 / 3, 4, 5 / C
H2 / 6, 8, 10 / C
H3 / 9, 12, 15 / B
H4 / 12, 16, 20 / B
H5 / 15, 20, 25 / A

* Early, mid, end-game

Early-game is defined as Chapters 1-17 + Gaidens
Mid-game is defined as Chapters 18-22 and 24.
End-game is defined as Chapters 23 and 25.

I haven't looked at much weapons, but it's usually non-Silver/Brave/higher level weapons that are forged. The only stats I remember are +4 Might and +20 Hit for a Javelin in the Final Chapter.

Actually, I forgot what I meant there...

EDIT

I use the third method, which is haxing all the class growths to 100% (and caps to fit the insane growths, especially in H5) : P

[FE3_Player]

In previous FE games hard mode would add a number of class levels to the enemy unit. This is mostly true here. However, defence and res don't get any such addition (which means defensively enemies are weaker than in other FE hard modes however...).

Actually, I heard Res does get a slight boost.

And enemies on H5 have much more HP, and are harder to double thanks to their high speed, so for the most part they'll still be harder to kill still than on earlier modes despite not getting boosted Defense.  Also keep in mind that the trouble with H5 enemies lies more in the fact that they can kill *you* so easily.

What does this mean. A level 1 unit in hard 1 will have the HP, Strength, Magic, skill and speed of a level 4 unit in normal mode. As for lowest weapon level. Rather than an enemy having the weapon level they need to use the equipment they hold they will have the listed weapon levels. Unless the weapon they hold needs higher in which case they get higher. You'll probably remeber offensive boosts being given to higher wepaon levels unless they are at Weapon Triangle disadvantage (i.e. the weapon triangle is even more important in hard mode*)

Yeah.  One person that beat H5 said that you need to use the Weapon Triangle in your favor often so you can negate the boosts enemies get to reduce their damage and accuracy.

If we can figure all of this out it won't mean an end to manual testing by any means as we know we still need to find out what equipment is packed by units in H5 (and other hard modes or are the equipment changes H5 only?).

I only played Normal, H2, and still working on H5 (I am on Chapter 22 now), but I can give this info:

Enemies start out with irons, of course...
They eventually switch to steels...
Mages never use anything less than Elfire.
Then at Chapter 10 you begin to see enemies use Silver Weapons and Forged Javelins made to be as strong as Silver Weapons.
Garnef has 26 speed.  'Nuff said.
Mages on that Chapter pack Elfire and Volcannon, IIRC.
Dragons will double you, except the Demon Dragon boss.
Snipers love their forged Killer Weapons.
Pegasus Knights begin packing forged Killer Weapons and Forged Javelins.  Dragon Knights pack forged Javelins and various other weapons.
You'll then begin to see forged weakness hitting weapons and Brave Weapons.  Brave weapons are not forged, but they still have a guaranteed higher damage rate than Silvers.
Shooters on Ch. 20 do quite a bit of damage and are actually pretty accurate.  I cannot remember if their weapons are forged or not.
Forged Weakness hitting weapons are significant, because I'm seeing that the Horseslayer is commonly used by them.

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

Early-game is defined as Chapters 1-17 + Gaidens
Mid-game is defined as Chapters 18-22 and 24.
End-game is defined as Chapters 23 and 25.

I remember someone saying they found 24 Gaiden in H5 to be insanely easy...10 levels less of growth comparted to the maps between it does that I suppose