Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Ike Solo Challenge FAQ Version 1.1, Created 4.11.2014 Based on the original version 1.0, Created 4.15.2008 Copyright 2008, 2014, shadow_arrowny Use permitted only on gamefaqs.com Version Information 1.1: 4.11.14 Finally added a few edit here and there that I've meant to do for years. Summary of changes: -Added a note explaining rational for choosing either fixed or random stat growth and how it relates to bands. -In chapter 1, you actually CAN get the Seraph Robe! Thanks to bamabeachchris for pointing this out. -Clarified some info on the most difficult chapter, chapter 17. -Added some random info to the confrontation with the Black Knight that is interesting but really doesn't have much to do with the Ike solo. But it is interesting!!! -This will likely be the final version of the FAQ, I may revisit it in another decade or so! 1.0: 4.15.08 Well, here's my first FAQ! It's not formatted to be easily searchable, and although at this point it's not super specific, I believe it contains all of the necessary detail to complete a painless Ike solo. CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION THE WALKTHROUGH CHAPTER _ (enter a number) OTHER STUFF INTRODUCTION So one day I was bored over Christmas break and decided I needed something to do while cleaning the house, and a moment of epiphany came: an Ike solo on Fire Emblem! I mean, seriously, with only one character I could make a move and then do something else (like cleaning) for 15 minutes while all of the enemies moved -- especially if I left the animation on. So you're probably thinking, "Ike SOLO? It was hard enough just using my favorite characters without getting killed. How on earth is this supposed to happen???" Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but it's not only possible -- it's got to be one of the easiest ways to play the game, and perhaps the fastest! Seriously. Even on hard mode. Only 2 chapters are problematic; everything else is just watching the enemies run head-on into Ike's outreached sword. And now you know why Ike is so incredibly powerful in Smash Brothers. The Rules Simply put, you use Ike and only Ike for everything that you do, and avoid using anyone else in your little shining force. The only problem is that some levels force you to have other characters on the battlefield. In this case, your job is to simply keep them out of the way as much as possible. No letting Titania take hits for you, buddy (at least not on purpose). You could just let everyone die in the chapter you get them, but you know it's really boring to have Titania sit around while someone hacks at her for 50 turns on Chapter 1. It makes for an interesting ending (I did it this way on easy mode the first time I tried), and it makes some of the early chapters just plain easier to deal with because you don't have to worry about anyone else, but doesn't your heart just BREAK when ickle Tormod tries to keep going when there's an axe sticking out of his head? Besides, then you don't have to deal with the whole "they took all the hits for you!" accusation. The one instance where you are allowed to use others is for storage in the early chapters where you can't send items to the caravan. I would avoid this altogether, but you'll run out of swords before you can buy them otherwise (if you find a way around this, be sure to let me know!). When you get new characters, feel free to raid their inventories, though. That way they can at least feel warm and fuzzy about contributing to Crimean liberation while sitting on the sidelines while watching Ike rain destruction on Daein. The Proof So, you want to brag to all of your friends that you actually did this? The best proof I can see is during the ending when the kills of all of the characters scroll. The zeroes next to the kills of all of the other characters is as close as you'll get to proof as far as I know(with the probable exception of Geoffrey -- I'm pretty sure that it counts any kills he made on Chapter whatever it is when he's a green unit -- usually one kill). This is also the only way to get Reyson in the top 5 -- when everyone's kills are zero, the ones at the top of the list are the last ones to join. If you do decide to go the let-all-of-the-other-characters-die route, it's kind of humorous to see all of the characters fall in the chaper that you got them. I really should post my video of those as my second Youtube moment. Note about Difficulty There really isn't anything too different about the FAQ on the different difficulty levels. The only difference is that on easy mode you don't need to be paranoid about making the best steel swords in preparation for chapter 17, whereas on hard mode it is an absolute necessity. Note about Stat Growth So should you do random or fixed stats? It's up to you, the solo is doable on all difficulties on either stat growth method, but each one has its individual strengths and weaknesses. The short answer is: if you use the stat-increasing bands, on average you will have a slightly stronger Ike if you use random stat mode. Boring and possibly logical explanation as follows below, feel free to skip it! Fixed is nice because it's predictable, you don't have to worry about getting an Ike so weak that you can't survive chapter 17. Every point of HP, strength, and defense is critical! By chosing fixed you're sure to get enough of each stat to survive, so long as you use all the stat-buffing items. I'd recommend this if you aren't a fan of frustration. Random, as the name suggests, is somewhat random. On average you'll get a strong enough Ike to survive chapter 17 and smash the Black Knight, but you might not. And that would suck! However, in general random can get you higher stats than fixed mode due to one perk: the bands. Each band gives you only a 5% to 10% chance to have an increase of a particular stat at level up. This doesn't sound that exciting, but whip out your calculators and you'll see how the math works out! In fixed mode, on each level up a stat has either a base of 0% chance to increase, or 100% chance to increase. So if you're wearing a band that gives you, say, 5% chance to increase your strength stat, in reality depending on which level up you're getting, you have one of the following options: 0% + 5% - 5% chance to gain +1 strength. Not that impressive. 100% + 5% = 105% chance to gain +1 strength. Equivalent to 100% chance to gain +1 strength, because it doesn't give you a chance to get +2. So as you can see in fixed growth the band could only help on those levels where you don't already get a stat growth. So, if a certain character only had 20 levels of progression where he or she didn't already get +1 to strength, that would only be 20 chances at 5% per chance to get +1 to strength, and on average that would yield only 1 additional strength. In random, it's a different story! If a character has 50% chance to gain +1 to strength, now he or she has 55% chance with the band! Yes it's not a huge increase, but unlike fixed mode where it only affected some levelups, in random mode it affects EVERY level up! So that's 40 chances over 40 levels of progression for an additional 5% stat growth, which compared to the previous example would, on average, yield +2 to strength. I know it doesn't sound impressive, but if you look at it from a statistical point of view, 2 is 200% of 1, or a 100% increase from its value in fixed mode! Did that make sense? Is shadow talking in gobbledygook again? Most likely. Lucky for you it doesn't really matter, you'll be able to finish the solo either way if you work at it. THE WALKTHROUGH Prologue, AKA Daddy made me do it Nothing special here, kids. Since you had to do this one solo anyways, it just doesn't matter. Either way, since you've probably played this game at least once through if you're trying this, here's something fun you should do: you get to see some awesome "My son is stupid" dialogue if you manage to get Greil to kill you. Knowing how bright the future WOULD have been had you bested your daddy makes the "Game Over" screen seem all the more hilarious. Yeah, you COULD have saved Crimea and had a princess fall in love with you, but you couldn't just because you were a whiner. See folks? This game has moral overtones! Play it with your kids when you're older! So, stop whining in real life and go achieve something. Aside from this solo. Chapter 1 This is one of the 2 chapters you'll have problems clearing. The only problem is randomness; it's really easy to get Ike killed at this point if the axe-weilders get lucky and score some hits. Thankfully, you probably won't have to redo this one too much in order to get a good outcome. After this one it's smooth sailing until Chapter 17: Day Breaks. The first thing to do is give all but one of Ike's swords to the other guys -- Boyd deserves nothing more than life as a professional caddy after that humiliating loss to Ike (and you'll realize he deserves it all the more after the fat jokes he makes about your 'lil sister Mist). Have them do the trades with you so you can move Ike. While you're at it, fill him up with vulnaries, too, and give Ike the band of your choice, which in my opinion is the fighter band. In reality I don't think you'll need the measly 5% stat bonus, but you'll be at level 20 way before you'll need the extra inventory space from ditching it. Next, if you feel Ike needs better fashion, you should steal a bathrobe from one of the locals. Or have them voluntarily give you a Seraph Robe. Something like that. So, the initial FAQ I did a few years back stated that it was impossible to get the Seraph Robe in this chapter without relying on other characters. But I was wrong! A good fan sent me an email, Mr. bamabeachchris, detailing his methodology. After seeing this I tried it myself with some variation, and yes, you indeed can get the Seraph Robe without too much stress! ... of course if you like making games as hard as possible you could just NOT take the robe, and continue the game. It's doable in all difficulties. And you cap Ike's HP eventually anyways. But if I were you, I'd probably take it-- you're here because you want to have fun, not frustration, right? And besides, Chapter 17-4 is just plain evil. I'll directly paste Mr. bamabeachchris's method for getting the robe while still soloing it, as the credit is due to him for figuring this out! ***** ***** ***** I decided to try this my self after reading you guide, and found out there is a way to get the Seraph Robe on Chapter 1! But it costs you a full Vulnery (all three uses) and you have to be at least a little lucky. Turn one: Let Oscar do his trades with Ike and then move him to the very corner of the field, giving Ike a Vulnery and taking a Sword. Let Boyd do his trade with Ike, giving the Vulnery, taking a Sword Have Titania rescue Boyd and move to the square above Oscar. Have Ike move to the square to the left of the tree and below that Fighter and attack him. Enemy Turn: Both Fighters should attack Ike, the one you attacked last turn should fall. Note 1: If Ike takes three attacks, you cannot get the Robe. Turn 2: Have Titania Unequip her Axe and move to the square one down and one to the left of the tree and drop Boyd. Have Ike move closer to the house, so that he is in the range of the the Fighter that attacked him and the Swordsman, and use a Vulnery if he took ANY attacks. Enemy Turn: The Swordsman and Fighter should attack Ike, even though Titania is right there and unarmed. The Fighter should fall. Note 2: In my play, Titania was not attacked EVER! O.o I left her there for several turns with no weapon and she was never attacked, even when a Bandit was standing right next to her! Turn 3: Have Ike move to the square of the house and use a Vulnery if needed. And that's it, Just have Ike stand on the houses square until the Bandit and Swordsman are gone, then visit the house. The other Bandit will walk right up to Titania and do nothing, just waiting for you to kill him. I had to use 4 doses of Vulnery, one in each of the noted places, one when getting ready to battle the Second Bandit, and one when fighting the boss. ***** ***** ***** If you simply enjoy pain or vicariously experiencing Ike's pain and suffering, don't get the Seraph Robe and let his foes hack away at his flesh. He'll survive... hopefully. If you're like me and did't realize you could get the robe, you'd probably be good to do something like the following: Position Ike in the spot between the fence and the house so that none of your comrades will accidentally be a target. The only problem you'll have here is if Ike kills your foes as they attack you, allowing more of them the opportunity to attack, equalling gameover. This is sometimes unavoidable with the chance involved, but if you're smart with choosing to attack, do nothing, or vulnary it up, you should be fine. After the immediate threats are dead, pick up the steel sword from the house on the right, heal yourself up, and the rest of the level should be fine. Guess what? This is one of the only levels you'll have problems with! Good job, it's smooth sailing until Chapter 17. Chapter 2 Nothing too special of note in this chapter. Since having the other characters be attacked is basically unavoidable, make sure to unequip all of the items from the other characters, or even better, give them to characters that can't use them. Also make sure to give Ike an extra item space to get the speedwing that the boss drops. Don't use it -- Ike will probably max out his speed before he promotes, so save it for until after he promotes to get the full benefit from it. Try to sequester everyone on the upper left part of the field, and send Ike there before them to do some damage and prevent him from being attacked on all sides. After that, the rest of the level should be easy. Chapter 3 Start with giving Ike an extra inventory space for the elixer you get from the house, which you'll really need later. Unequip or switch out all of the other characters' weapons and let Ike go to town while they cower in the entrance where they started. Take things easy and let the enemy come to you so you don't have Marcia come so early that she gets killed. By the end of this level Ike should be very well leveled, and you'll be able to stop paying so close attention to him and how the battle goes. You can start doing homework while all of the enemies rush to their death on Ike's sword, or cleaning, or whatnot. I think you get the regal sword some time about now. Use it if you want; it's slightly better than the swords you'll want to use in Chapter 17, so you may not want to touch it (see chapter 17 for more info to make your decision). In this case, you should have -barely- enough swords to last you until you get more from Mia in chapter 7, which will hold you over until you can buy them. Chapter 4 In the beginning of the level you'll have to pay close attention as you move everyone to the northeast. Save Soren and Rhys so they don't accidentally die, and make a nice wall of your more experienced non-Ike characters in the northeast area around the bushes while Ike dispatches everyone else. Chapter 5 Okay, you can really take a popcorn break during this one. Make sure everyone's weapons are unequipped, INCLUDING IKE. On your first move, move everyone to the right-hand side as far away from Ike as possible, and make a little human wall protecting wimpy Rhys and Soren against the real wall. The idea here is to get all of the enemies to attack Ike, and have as few as possible attack everyone else. Be wary of archers, too -- they may come up and attack someone behind the wall, but there should be enough space around you that you can switch things up to keep some characters protected from arrows and still switch out the human wall as each character becomes too battered. Don't be tempted to use vulnaries -- they aren't allowed to! Leave Ike parked on the flashing green tile without a weapon. What damage he takes will be healed by it, and you've got vulnaries to boot. After the battle, the game will congratulate you with some nice bonus experience for "did not fight." Chapter 6 Finally, a level where you don't have to worry about getting everyone else out of the way! Spend your first turn moving all of the other characters deeper into the trees, and move Ike to the fringe. Have him launch an attack on the poor, unsuspecting archer. You should be quite strong enough by now to take care of everyone else. Try to take care of the magic users here (and everywhere else) before they make it to you, because they're the only ones that really present you with any threat. Chapter 7 Make sure Ike has an extra inventory spot in weapons and items before starting so he can get one treasure chest. By now most of your swords will be broken, so that shouldn't be a problem in the weapons department. Your first goal in this chapter is to get everyone into the treasure room on the right where they will be protected by Titania standing guard. Start by moving Ike upwards to a position where the treasure guard (and several other characters) will attack him. Move everyone else just out of range, and be sure to save your slower characters. By now you should be almost completely out of your swords if you're saving the regal sword for chapter 17, but Mia comes just in time with a replacement. Take it from her and let her go play patticake with Mist. On the next turn, depending on how the battles turned out, you may have to have Ike shove someone out of the way so everyone else can make a speedy exodus into the treasure room. On the following turn, though it is tempting to have Ike stay and dispatch all of the remaining enemies, it is in your best interest to move him as far north as possible because he'll need to blaze a trail for Shinon and Gatrie to make it out of where they pop up alive. Don't worry; Titania can take a few hits. After blazing a trail and escorting them to the treasure room, Ike can continue to dispatch the other foes. Conveniently, the one treasure chest that you are guarding is the one useful one to you: the armorslayer. Let the silly thief steal the Miracle ability -- you don't need it; you're just that awesome by yourself. Chapter 8 This chapter will make you want to shout HALLELUJAH! You can finally choose to NOT include all of the other characters! Also, since you have access to the base, you won't have to worry about throwing away perfectly good items you get during the battles. Stock Ike up with some swords, and sell all of your unnecessary items. Now that you can forge items, over the course of the next several chapters you'll want to save all of your money to forge the most powerful steel swords available. You won't need them until Chapter 17, but you'll want to make sure you have 4 completely unused steel swords with maximum stats in all areas. Make sure that you give them cool names, too, like "Pichu Slayer," "Laser Surgeon,"or one of my favorites, "Iron Bow." Just imagine how psyched out those close-ranger enemies will be when they see you have an "Iron Bow," feel comfortable coming up to attack you, and then find themselves covered in blood. The cool names are totally the key to victory in Chapter 17. Okay, on to the battle; it's another yawner. Just unequip Ike's sword and let everyone run at him and try to slash him. It's funny how the AI can't realize if it moved a couple of its units it could do a lot more damage.... Anyways, just let him sit there, and all of your foes will trip over each other and clog up their way to get to you. Blow Illyana a kiss while you're at it; it'll be your only opportunity to do so. Congratulate yourself on earning more "did not fight" bonus experience. Chapter 9 Unequip Rolf as soon as he shows up. Move Ike towards the beach, and make sure before you end your turn that you DIRECT the silly Laguz to go hide in the corner. Have Mist and Rolf stay out of range. After taking care of the first beach bum, have Ike go back and take care of the Daeins that are rushing northward on the east. Once they're taken care of, Ike can have a leisurely walk on the beach before he ends the level. Sorry, no talisman for you; Ike is too slow to make it! Don't sell the beorc guard, as it may come in handy in the final battle. Chapter 10 Sorry, you can't really sneak your way through this one -- but you can make it so a million enemies aren't attacking you at once. There's a few ways to do this -- either bust open Sephiran's door and hide inside so you only face one enemy at a time (BORING!), or sneak behind the guards outside of their range of attack and get as close to the exit as you can before alerting the guards. You can make it all the way to the upper part of the screen before this happens. Then you just need to stuff yourself in the northernmost corridor and wait for the enemies to come to you. try to manipulate things so you aren't facing mages, because they're the only ones who should be able to deal you real damage at this point. Okay, I admit that the first method is easier, but the only one I've actually done is the second method. You brought the armorslayer or regal sword, right? Knock out the boss on your way out, if you like. You can get the treasures with keys if you really want, but none of them are really useful. I still recommend you get the statue fragment in the upper rightmost chest and use it immediately -- you know that a beefier Ike is much more popular with the ladies, needless to say he looks more imposing to his foes. Chapter 11 Make a beeline for the southwest house -- you want that dracoshield! Go ahead and use it; you'll need it. Other than that, this level is very straightforward: let everyone run their swords into you. You don't need any of the other items. Chapter 12 Put Ike in the lower left corner so he can only be attacked by 2 ravens at once. Once Jill speaks to you, if the area is clear of ravens, have her give the laguz guard to Ike, let him equip it, and get her into a corner of safety. You'll also get a seraph robe here, but I don't believe you'll need it until after you promote. If things get heated befor then, go ahead and use it, though. You get a secret book, too, which I don't think you'll need to use until after you promote. Chapter 13 Poor Gatrie. Poor, Poor Gatrie and Astrid. You just can't save them, and I must've tried at least 8 times. Well, since they're green, they aren't really on your team anyways, so you can rationalize your decision to move Ike onto the green panel and unequip his weapon with that knowledge. Okay, it doesn't really soothe my conscience, but there's just no way around it: they're dead. Oops. Well, that's all to this chapter. Go ahead and cry as you see the crows fly away with your beautiful occult; there's nothing you can do about it. If you come up with a way to save the doomed couple, let me know, and I will shower you with love in a future edition of this FAQ. *** I did have one fan email me that in his trial on the normal difficulty mode, he was able to save Astrid. You might be able to, too, but it's probably pretty random whether or not you're able to. Good luck! Chapter 14 WARNING!!! If you are doing hard mode, this is your LAST CHANCE to start forging all 4 killer steel swords (or 3, if you use the regal sword) to have them in time for chapter 17, so make sure you get started. Start out by grabbing the spirit dust from the southwest house and use it on Ike just for kicks. You don't really need it for the magic, but you know that Ike could use some magic in his personality. Unfortunately, for the good of the horde you're going to have to kill Makalov. You didn't know he was Marcia's brother anyways. He's just in the way of the Vantage skill that you so desperately need. That's no understatement -- you DESPERATELY NEED VANTAGE!!! Get the secret book, too, and save it for later. If you're really feeling merciful, forge a slim sword at the beginning of this chapter and lower its stats all the way. Name it "Level Down," and have Ike equip it as he moves to the northwest. Let Marcia join the battle, too, but have her hide until Makalov shows up, and then have her talk to him on your turn, then move them both to safety. "But that violates the rules of the solo!" you say. Well, let me know if Makalov has any chance of killing you, and then we'll talk. I'll let this one slide. You'll have to be quick if you do this, though, because those piratey people will burn down the houses. Chapter 15 Go ahead and let Ike learn Vantage before this chapter. Give him laguz swords, too, if you like. Then go ahead and comb the desert for every little item you want. The ESSENTIAL ITEMS are the GUARD SCROLL and BOOTS. Go ahead and use the boots. You should also snag the statue fragment to beef up Ike a bit just for the coolness factor. He needs it, anyways -- he's slated to appear on the cover of the next issue of "Begnion Fitness" magazine (and Elincia secretly lists bulging biceps and big pecs on the top of her desirables-in-a-guy list). Look on another FAQ to see where these items are. MOMMY, I WANT OCCULT!!! Too bad. "BUT STEFAN'S REALLY COOL!!! Well, he's cool enough to give Ike a sword that you don't really need. I may let Makalov live, but you just don't need the occult. Ike's too young to be dabbling in black magic, anyways. You get a cool sword out of the deal, but it only has so many uses and is weaker than the best steel sword that I don't think you should take it with you to chapter 17, so just use it whenever. If you do save it for chapter 17, beware that you may run out of swords! Once you get Muarim, DON'T SELL HIS DEMI BAND -- you'll need it for the final battle. Chapter 16 Have Ike learn Guard -- the Vantage-Guard combo will save you in the next chapter and from then until you learn Aether. Go for the dracoshield post-haste and use it, then have Ike cower in that room and kill all of the enemies that rush at him until they're done. Then go up the right corridor (not the left one; we love Devdan, even if he's a bit dim) and take out the boss. Chapter 17 Here it is, the most difficult battle of the solo. But, really, it's not so bad if you've done everything appropriately. Ike should've reached level 20 quite a while ago. If his stats aren't maxed out and you have stat-boosting items, be sure to use them. He'll need top defense (and probably top HP, but you may let that one slide, because I think it's only 2 HP if you play a fixed game). If you're on random and it's not working out, and you only have like 8 strength and 8 defense and 25 HP... yeah you should restart. Give Ike the 4 untouched steel swords that you forged with max stats, and fill his inventory with unused elixers and vulnaries (you probably only need one elixer -- I think you have 2 at this point). With any luck you won't have to touch them until the 4th part of this chapter. Make sure to put GUARD on him, so you'll have the VANTAGE-GUARD combination. You could also switch one of his 4 swords out for the untouched regal sword, if you want -- It's slightly better, especially against some pesky paladins in part 4 of this chapter. In my opinion it really cuts down the frustration, so take it. 17-1 This one's pretty straightforward. You can make it through this without touching a vulnary, but it may be hard -- don't worry if you do have to use one dose, it should be okay. Just play very defensively. The goal is to NOT use your restorative items, as your HP will be refilled after each chapter's increment. Be careful about advancing too fast, because you don't want a ton of ranged units on you at the same time. Try to stick to the bushes and you'll be okay. 17-2 This one just makes you want to say "nanny-nanny boo-boo" to Oliver's troops. Remember those boots you used? Yeah, they make it so all you have to do is give them a Miss America wave as you glide by to the exit. Basically ignore them -- go to the right and head straight for the arrival tile. Your movement is more than enough to let you sneak right past most of the units and into the exit. It's so simple that I don't need to elaborate further! 17-3 OH NO!!! So many troops, Ike's gonna die! Or so you thought. Too bad Oliver's troops didn't take any lessons on battle tactics in school. Go ahead and unequip Ike's weapon -- you won't be fighting here. Move yourself downward to a point where there's a column of bushes, and directly to your left is unpassable terrain (trees). You may think that moving into the little corner bush may be the best idea, but trust me, this one's better. Move into the bush directly above the corner bush, and just sit there. Let the enemies come to you, let them surround you. "Oh no! That one has a hammer! Ouch, it hurt me!" Yeah, remember those statue fragments you used? Ike is tougher than you think. Have him go ahead and shove him one space away, and then laugh as his compatriots that can't do any damage rush to fill in the space. In the end, you'll be surrounded with people that can do zero or one damage at most, and none of the dangerous mages will be in range. You'll likely get poisoned from the venom edges that the swordsmen do (even though they register as "no damage" when they hit), but you should be fine if you just sit there. Vulnary if needed, which is probably only if that ugly hammer-weilding brute managed to hit you. Wait and laugh as Oliver runs out and proclaims that he can't handle the awesomeness that is Ike. ***It seems that sometimes this "sweet spot" to chill in isn't quite so sweet, it likely depends on the difficulty level and how intoxicated with alcohol Oliver's troops decided to get before the battle. If you have problems getting stuck next to Mr. Hammertime or getting pummeled by mages, try a different spot. Just don't equip your sword or you'll kill too many things and then all the dangerous mages will swarm in. 17-4 This is the hard one, and the most frustrating. You've now got to carry around a fainted heron princess on your back while fighting. Don't worry -- the way Boyd insulted your sister makes you angry enough to not even notice the weight (okay, I admit that there are only 2 fat joke-type comments in the whole game, and only one is made by Boyd, but you gotta admit they were semi-funny). Move Ike into the little enclave at the far upper-right of the screen, and have him wait there with his swords of awesomeness for the onslaught. With any luck, you'll see your Vantage-Guard combo work pretty often so you'll get to kill your enemies without being touched. The problem comes when the mounted units start coming and use ranged attack -- those pesky paladins. Not only do they attack from afar, but if you don't kill them, they run away to get healed! Since you've got your ultra- decked-out swords, though, you should occasionally get a critical hit to outright kill them. Watch out for the javelin-weilder -- he's the worst. When they start coming out, you may want to head for the bushes in the south to get a little more coverage, but AVOID THE MAGE AT ALL COST! Use wise judgment in deciding when to attacked the ranged people, and don't be afraid to use those elixers -- this is the reason that you brought them. I think that I used all 3 doses of one elixer and then 3 vulnaries. After you dispatch the silly horsemen, or if you have them on the run and you've got some breathing room, make your way along the outside perimeter of the level, being careful to stay away from all mages. Move far enough left and Tibarn, Janaff, Ulki, and Reyson will see Leanne on your back and come to your rescue. When that happens, just focus on staying alive when any remaining mounted units attack. If there's no one rushing to attack you, then just sit back, relax, and let Tibarn take care of the fat man that pretends to be holy. Bishop, indeed. What? You think that's cheating on the solo? Well, I'm sure killing Oliver yourself wouldn't be a problem, but I'd like to see you beat Tibarn to him without getting yourself killed in your haste to get there. Sure, if Tibarn was, say, 300 years older you might be able to safely beat him to Oliver, but in this case I wouldn't press your luck. Besides, he's not really on your team, anyways, so you're still going solo. Chapter 18 Woo-hoo! You got promoted! Go ahead and equip Ike with a stat-boosting brace if you like, and then slap all of the extra experience on him. I guess you could get it the old-fashioned way, too, but it'll come quickly enough that I don't think it makes much of a difference. Also use all of your extra stat-boosting items on him. Yeah, I don't need to say a word about this chapter. With all of that extra experience, no one can touch Ike. And he doesn't even have Aether yet. Chapter 19 Naesala? Who's he? You can cut down that bird real easily. And with your current stats, you shouldn't even take damage from the ballistas. You didn't want the knight ring, anyways. It's a symbol of Naesala's treachery, and I wouldn't want that hanging around on my finger. Chapter 20 Poor Jill's Daddy. Smite him, smite him good. 'Nuff said. Watch out for mages and sages. Chapter 21 The only thing to be worried about here are those mages with their silly sleep staves. Stay out of their range of use unless either no one is rushing at you or you can run far enough to kill them before they use them. Grab the energy drop in the northeast room and the talisman in the north room. Go ahead and recruit Tauroneo, thus finally getting your hands on the coveted occult. Then tame Ena like the lizard she is. Simple, simple. Chapter 22 Go ahead and lose Vantage and Guard. I know it's emotional, but you'll forget your sadness once you use the occult scroll and give Ike the awesomeness that is Aether. You don't need any of the items. Just shove some priests around and try not to have a sword equipped if you must stand next to a bishop. Remember, it's a moral game -- you don't just go around beating up priests. Besides, you get a nice staff that you won't even use for doing so! It's a nice family heirloom. Chapter 23 Nope, nothing special here. If only Lucia's troops would stay put; then no one else on your side would die. You should make short work of General Petrine. Have you noticed how much shorter these chapters seem? By now you should understand very well the principle of take your turn, do something else for 15 minutes. Chapter 24 NOOOO!!! You have to deal with protecting wimps AGAIN??? Why didn't Lucia and Bastian follow their consciences and protect their princess? No, they had to go on listening to the ravings of a woman in love with her one-man- army and wanted to protect him. Silly Elincia. Stay put long enough that you won't have troops bothering your two weaklings (and be sure to unequip them just in case), and you shouldn't have a problem keeping them away from combat. Ignore the black knight -- he's just an old man in some armor he never bothered to polish anyways (and you get a cooler ending to the chapter, in my opinion). Go save Geoffrey, and try to make it to the green tile before he kills many people so his final kill count will be low. This is the only chapter where earning a kill is nearly unaviodable on a non-Ike character -- and you don't even control him! Someone programmed that wrong.... Chapter 25 Nothing special here, though it is kind of fun to march up one side of the hill and then push boulders down on everyone else on the other side. I actually waited several turns to see if the boss's bolt axe would ever hit Ike. I think it hit once after like 7 turns, and it hardly scratched Lord Ike. The next turn he got aethered, and it was all over. Do a good deed while waiting for the enemies to move this time, like bake cookies for your neighbor, write a letter to your granny, or wash the dishes for your mom. A clean dish is a happy dish! Chapter 26 Elincia, now you have to go pretending you're a valyrie or something. I'm not Sigfried, and you are not Brunhilde. No, Sigmund and Sieglinde don't work either -- just stay away from this battle. Fortunately, she has a decent enough movement range that she can avoid most of the conflict if someone does come attack her in the southeast corner, giving Ike enough time to high-tail it back. This will be quite a long battle, given the number of people that throw themselves at your feet begging Ike for mercy. Be sure to pack several new swords for the occasion, because you may run out like I did once if you don't. Iron swords are probably the best so you have some more hits -- you should do enough damage for it to be worth it. Chapter 27 You should be yawning by now. There's no new strategy in this chapter. Even though mages can kind of hurt Ike, he aethers it up often enough that it doesn't matter a bit. Just charge your way to the Black Knight and send him to a place darker than the inside of his armor. Confrontation with the Black Knight Interestingly enough, I don't need to say anything about this battle. Have Mist go ahead and run away, and let Ike pummel the Black Knight at close range with Ragnell. The Black Knight is such an Ike wannabe -- he's just jealous that Gawain became a father figure to Ike after he betrayed him. Of course, I haven't played Radiant Dawn yet, so I have no idea, but I'm sure that's all it is. Bring elixers just in case, but if your battle goes like mine, you won't need them -- he'll fall faster than the statues of Saddam did. ***BONUS TIME*** Have you ever tried to have Mist attack the Black Knight? No, she can't hurt him, but it makes for some hilarious dialogue. If you feel inclined, you can throw bonus XP on her and use a master seal so she can promote, and have her tap the Black Knight with a sword to see this. Or you could just search for my YouTube video, "Aetherless Victory Against The Black Knight" if you don't want to waste the effort. And I guess this is a solo, we don't need to get sidetracked with other characters, now do we? ***DOUBLE BONUS TIME*** There's something I've wanted to just experiment with, though I don't think it'd work. And it's kind of not related to the solo, but if you're still with me at this point I think you'd like this kind of thing. The question is: can Mist hurt or kill the Black Knight? Stay with me here! The answer is probably no, but experiment if you like! So suppose that you promoted Mist, and gave her the skill Counter. Suppose that the Black Knight had low health, and suppose Mist attacked him with the Sonic Sword (or anything else), which of course wouldn't hurt him. And then suppose he attacked back, hurt Mist badly, but Counter activated and killed him. Possible? Plausible? What do you think??? Maybe I'll try this the next time I get really bored. Chapter 28 Tell Tibarn to go hide in a corner and let Ike take everyone else out. If you feel the need, give him the laguz guard. The only thing to be careful of is another sleep stave, so watch out for that. Let the boss cast rexbolt on you and leave the animation on so you can see how cool it is when it just bounces off of Ike (okay, it actually can hurt him), and then Ike summarily incapacitates him. Endgame Give Ike all of your remaining elixers -- it's time to administer justice. Man, why did they give you another character to worry about in the endgame? And a laguz at that -- you can't unequip their weapons! Or can you? Just take Muarim's demi band and give it to Nasir (or Ena, if you were really unlucky and have to fight next to a power-ranger-pink dragon). Start by trying to move Ike and Nasir into the southeast corner, letting Ike take the lead so less people attack Nasir. At the beginning of each turn have Nasir equip and unequip the demi band, and then equip the beorc guard to give him a little more defense in case of attacks. This way he'll never be attacked when he's transformed! When you get them in the corner, have them stay there with Ike protecting one of Nasir's sides until all of the enemies are done pursuing you (or they're far enough off that they won't bug Nasir). Then move Ike forward to battle any remaining enemies as you move towards Ashnard, or more likely as he moves towards you. When he comes to you, try to keep to the bushes to reduce his attack chance, and then attack him close up to get a chance for aether to activate. Use elixers if necessary. They shouldn't be necessary for at least a few rounds, because enough other enemies will be attacking you when it's not your turn that you are basically guaranteed to have aether activate. If you want, you may even move Ike to where the enemies are close enough to do this, but it's really not necessary. When you beat his first form, choose whichever of the 3 laguz you want to join you, perhaps one you never chose before (Tibarn's my favorite, but Naesala's downright cool), then have him keep Nasir company. I didn't think of it at the time, but I guess you could unequip whatever royal band they have and purposely get them into battle just to see what their highnesses look like in their demi-human form in the battle animation. But don't kill them! So, have Naesala, Tibarn, or Giffca go hide with Nasir, and then just continue your same strategy with Ashnard. Before too long he'll fall, and you'll get to see the delightful ending. Congratulations! You've done the Ike solo! Now do you understand why he made it in Super Smash Brothers: Brawl? OTHER STUFF Well, thanks for reading this -- I hope it was fun! Check out my YouTube video, "Aetherless Victory Against The Black Knight" It's cool, I promise. And there's dialoge from Mist if you have her attack the Black Knight!!! She's one fiesty lass.