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    Fire Emblem: Awakening

    Game » consists of 11 releases. Released Apr 19, 2012

    The thirteenth game in the Fire Emblem series and the first for the 3DS. Conceived as a "greatest hits" of previous Fire Emblem ideas, it features a mix of new mechanics and older gameplay concepts.

    Let's talk about Donny!

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    Morbid_Coffee

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    #1  Edited By Morbid_Coffee

    Let's discuss the most broken character in the game who can't take a hit worth a damn! Seriously, he's like god damn paper but his luck stat is crazy.

    Anybody have any good leveling tips for him? I'm on chapter 7 now and he's kind of falling behind the rest of the group who are around levels 7-9. I'm having trouble trying to get him to land the last blow, and it always ends up three ways:

    • He hits the other guy then the enemy takes off about 2/3 of his life or outright murders his face off
    • He lands a hit but it's never enough damage.
    • My other guys end up killing the enemy before he even has a chance to get there.

    I've tried pairing him up with people to get him to pull his weight, but most of the time he just stands there dicking around while his teammate does all the work and gets all the experience. I've considered pairing him up with Lon'qu in the back to get him 2x hits, but that doesn't help when he dies immediately after the first hit.

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    Flappy

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    #2  Edited By Flappy

    If I get this game sometime this week, I'll be sure to come back and help you out. Have you tried to use other units to soften up the enemy before allowing Donny to steal the kill? That's a proven tactic to work in previous games.

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    Nemestrinus

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    #3  Edited By Nemestrinus

    There is a Enemy Troubadour in the DLC Chapter and I had Donny kill her until he reached LV 10 then I re-classed him as a mercenary

    The boost to his stats when he changes to a mercenary is insane I think he got like +6 str and like +5 to Skill Speed and Def

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    BamSaidTheLady

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    #4  Edited By BamSaidTheLady

    I paired him up with Vaike and he gave him +5 strength that helped with a Risen battle. I suppose you can use a Reeking Box on an early chapter point to fight some weaker enemies.

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    CoverlessTech

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    #5  Edited By CoverlessTech

    Use reeking boxes on the first couple of chapters, pair your MU with him. Might want to bring in another low hitter to get a one two punch for the first few levels.

    Reeking box difficulty is based on the chapter you use it in. They are generally just a little harder then the actual level was. Pairing someone up with him gives him bonus stats, the MU gives huge bonuses because of his skills.

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    Morbid_Coffee

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    #6  Edited By Morbid_Coffee

    I went with grinding out the DLC and made him a Mercenary in the end and holy shit he's so fucking broken. He's OHKOing almost everything in the game at level 1 amd nothing can touch him.

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    bishna

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    #7  Edited By bishna

    @Morbid_Coffee: Thats good to hear. I am playing on hard and have been having some trouble, so I started trying to level him up in hopes that he would be amazing. Also I have a question, will he automatically reclass, or will I have to use a seal?

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    Morbid_Coffee

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    #8  Edited By Morbid_Coffee

    @Bishna: I was lucky enough to get a second seal from one of the villages in the DLC map while grinding. I had to use that.

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    ArbitraryWater

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    #9  Edited By ArbitraryWater

    @Bishna said:

    @Morbid_Coffee: Thats good to hear. I am playing on hard and have been having some trouble, so I started trying to level him up in hopes that he would be amazing. Also I have a question, will he automatically reclass, or will I have to use a seal?

    You have to use a seal, and what makes it slightly more annoying is that none of Donnel's alternate class choices use lances, so you have to level his weapon ranks up from scratch. I believe Mercenary is considered superior because of his absurd luck stat making the weapon saver skill activate pretty much all the time or something.

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    Driadon

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    #10  Edited By Driadon

    I attach him to Fredrik, who nearly kills everyone with an Iron weapon, and then I swap over to Donny for the killing blow. And that's if I'm rushing, otherwise I take my time getting everyone as weak as they can so Donny can finish them off. That kid levels super fast, too.

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    MariachiMacabre

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    #11  Edited By MariachiMacabre

    I paired him with Kellam for the +5 Strength and Defense and then went after Archers.

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    StealthRaptor

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    #12  Edited By StealthRaptor

    It might also be worth picking up strength or defense tonics for him.

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    Hailinel

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    #13  Edited By Hailinel

    I'm just wondering what it's going to take to get through his introductory chapter in one piece with at least one level gained.

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    mattscout007

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    #14  Edited By mattscout007

    @Hailinel: It's not too bad. He just needs about 2 kills, maybe 3 to get it. I used allies to weaken, and then Donny paired up with Frederick to make him less squishy. Kellem works too for that. Him just getting a little damage on an enemy is worth experience too, paired up, he won't die in one battle, just make sure you can finish it with somebody else. I didn't have too much trouble even with me getting dual attacks I didn't want on a few enemies, killing them when I was trying to set them up for Donny.

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    Freezer_Burn

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    #15  Edited By Freezer_Burn
    @Hailinel: The strategy I used had him kill archers. I'd lure one out, then have my units surround them. They can't move, and can't attack anyone, so Donny's safe to do his deed. I had him do all the damage to one, and got the killing blow on another and that was enough.
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    StarvingGamer

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    #16  Edited By StarvingGamer

    I dunno, it seems like as long as I'm careful with my combat math I'm able to land last hits with him frequently. He's always within 1 or 2 levels of the bulk of my force and now that I'm at chapter 8, he's actually able to take a few hits from certain enemies without dying.

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    Morbid_Coffee

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    #17  Edited By Morbid_Coffee

    @Hailinel said:

    I'm just wondering what it's going to take to get through his introductory chapter in one piece with at least one level gained.

    Archers give him 40 exp on kill. Thiefs give 60. It's easy to box an archer in until Donny gets close and then letting him kill it, sicne they can't attack adjacent units. He also has the weapon type advantage over theifs, who are already super squishy.

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    oldenglishc

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    #18  Edited By oldenglishc

    @Freezer_Burn said:

    @Hailinel: The strategy I used had him kill archers. I'd lure one out, then have my units surround them. They can't move, and can't attack anyone, so Donny's safe to do his deed. I had him do all the damage to one, and got the killing blow on another and that was enough.

    This is exactly what I did.

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    azrailx

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    #19  Edited By azrailx

    he has the best growths of the game (highest chance to get stat increases)

    but i let him die cuz i didnt want to baby sit him.

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    StarvingGamer

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    #20  Edited By StarvingGamer

    Man, so I got Donny up to 15 and reclassed him to a Fighter and wow. Thanks to his insane growth rate and the fact that Underdog is always active because he's technically back at level 1 despite being effectively level 16, he's one-turning everything including stage bosses. I can literally let him run off in any direction by himself and have 0 concerns about his well-being.

    Use Donny. He is a hero.

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    azrailx

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    #21  Edited By azrailx

    i dont want tin can man!

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    mao16

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    #22  Edited By mao16

    He and his (kid with the skill) have the best overall growths in the game and is probably the best character for the normal game. Though if you're playing on lunatic or want the best spot-pass team or simply want the strongest possible character (sorta need it for some future dlc) then he sucks since he has bad stat caps and can't get any of the really good class skills since he can only re-class into a few things.

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    deadmoscow

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    #23  Edited By deadmoscow

    I spent about an hour in the first free DLC map, boxing in the troubador and letting Donny wail on her over and over again. You can speed things up by turning off combat animations and having Olivia around to double up on Donny's actions. I got him to level 15, reclassed as a Mercenary with a Second Seal, and eventually promoted him to Hero. Donny is like a tiny god. You can put him in a choke point on a map and he turns into a human meat grinder. (I also really love the aw-shucks support conversations he has with everyone)

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    metalsnakezero

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    Have Donny get the last hit if possible and once he get to lvl 10 and change his class he just destroy everything!

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    oldenglishc

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    #25  Edited By oldenglishc

    Sadly, thanks to his ass-hole leader (me) not accounting for a Wyvern Rider, Donny never made it past level five.

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    OmegaChosen

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    #26  Edited By OmegaChosen

    I never found his country bumpkin personality too endearing, and that pot just made me feel bad for him, so I never found room for him in my army proper but I did find a job he excelled at. Cash cow.

    High luck. Armsthrift. Leif's Blade.

    For a while near the middle of the game he was solely responsible for providing for my army's iron and el-spell needs.

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    OmegaChosen

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    #27  Edited By OmegaChosen

    I never found his country bumpkin personality too endearing, and that pot just made me feel bad for him, so I never found room for him in my army proper but I did find a job he excelled at. Cash cow.

    High luck. Armsthrift. Leif's Blade.

    For a while near the middle of the game he was solely responsible for providing for my army's iron and el-spell needs.

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    A_Cute_Squirtle

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    Say I trained Donny's Villager class to level 20. Do I reclass him to a Mercenary or do I keep leveling him (because apparently he goes to level 30?!) and skip to the upgrade class?

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    metalsnakezero

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    @a_cute_squirtle: Reclass him to a Mercenary, he got all the skills he needs from villager now. After that, he is god!

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    triumvir

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    #30  Edited By triumvir

    Once I got his base class to 15 and got the underdog skill, I switched him to mercenary. By level 4-5 he was one-shotting everything that he attacked and that attacked him, even with a bronze sword. Around 14-15, I would just solo grind him to get to lvl 20. Not twenty minutes ago, I had him move from a lvl 20 Merc to a Hero. He is a total beast.

    HP 60, Str 30, Mag 15, Skill 30, Spd 28, Lck 33, Def 29, Res 19. His movement speed is 6 and his current rating is 182. Even my avatar isn't that powerful. Fucking crazy town, duders.

    I also had him marry the princess, Lissa, which I thought was pretty amusing.

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    deactivated-5ff27cb4e1513

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    I ended up doing the free DLC map over and over and over again to get him up to some semblance of combat effectiveness. And right before Chapter 7, I finally re-classed him into a Mercenary. I was really looking forward into taking him into battle, until I realized that he only used swords now, and his sword rank was E. Guess who sold all those bronze swords? Guess who didn't go into glorious battle?

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    Morbid_Coffee

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    Even with bronze swords he'll be doing as much, if not more damage than the rest of the guys at that point using steel weapons.

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    beard_of_zeus

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    #33  Edited By beard_of_zeus

    @arbitrarywater said:

    @Bishna said:

    @Morbid_Coffee: Thats good to hear. I am playing on hard and have been having some trouble, so I started trying to level him up in hopes that he would be amazing. Also I have a question, will he automatically reclass, or will I have to use a seal?

    You have to use a seal, and what makes it slightly more annoying is that none of Donnel's alternate class choices use lances, so you have to level his weapon ranks up from scratch. I believe Mercenary is considered superior because of his absurd luck stat making the weapon saver skill activate pretty much all the time or something.

    That's the route I went, for the same reason; Villager -> Merc -> Hero. He's pretty crazy in my game now!

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    FancySoapsMan

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    Trying to recruit him was a pain (as were many of the early missions in the game for me).

    It's really easy to level him up on the free DLC map though.

    Also I had him marry Cordelia. Their romance subplot was funny.

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    sirdesmond

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    @beard_of_zeus: Taking him from Villager to Merc to Hero makes him insane. By the end of the game, I think his rating for me was something like 296, easily the highest of any character. He one-hit almost all of the near end-game chapter bosses (and any other unit he came in contact with).

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    christophermrhoades

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    If you spend enough time and energy into him, he can become one of the greatest forces on this earth. I don't know what kind of steroids they put into him at that village but its working.

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    TooSweet

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    He's my best character. I got him from Merc to Hero. All this because I wanted to see the poor farm boy succeed. I'm going to marry him to Maribel so her upper class ass can live on the farm with Donny's mother and the chickens. Yeehaw!

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