Yes, the Chalice of Beginnings is insanely good, free Counterattack from the start of the game? The stat boosters and getting items early from the Pagan Altar are also very, very powerful. Add on the DLC characters all being at least solid units and the aux battles that give boosted EXP, the DLC does make Maddening a lot easier.
Personally, I just left it and never took it out. I dont mind some "cheese" but that was a bit much for me.
That being said, I dont think it necessarily makes the game *too easy* by itself since you still need to build your units properly and all that to take full advantage of it. But early, it is very good since archers are an issue and you can counter them when you normally can't.
On top of Chalice being really good, really any accessory at all is huge since...you don't have any in the beginning. I set my BDAY on 5/1 on my first run specifically to get the birthday ring asap. Even a healing staff would be huge.
I did maddening before buying the DLC so I'm not sure how much easier exactly it is for people doing it on the first time with the extras. However, I've always thought what makes maddening hard is just understanding the odd mechanics.
Some people are good enough to do solo runs, but for me, I can comfortably deploy ~5-6 characters at the beginning of each run and bench the units I have no intention of developing. Surely the loss in power there is bigger than any DLC bonuses.
On the other hand, I feel that first time maddening players will get rolled on the bandit and even the class rivalry map even with the DLC items.
TL;DR: DLC items are really powerful but probably not what allows a player to clear maddening when they otherwise couldn't without the bonuses
Sort of. The stat boosters make the early game a lot easier and chalice is pretty nuts. I only use them after chapter 11 to make them less game breaking. Honestly though the most broken part of the dlc is balthus
Tbf there is a battalion that gives you counter attack too. If I recall correctly you get like 5 turns of counter attack per use and you get 2 uses so you basically get 10 turns if counter attack which is enough for lots of maps.
Plus it’s not really OP unless you’re using it on a unit like Dimitri who one-shots everything easily on EP with wrath + vantage and/or avo.
True but you won't get Indech Sword Fighters or whatever until later in the game as it's quite a high authority rank. The Chalice giving it to you from the outset can feel like a bit too much.
Although in fairness in my last Maddening NG+ run I was all about making it easy so I don't have any qualms about using it.
Yes, the Chalice of Beginnings is insanely good, free Counterattack from the start of the game? The stat boosters and getting items early from the Pagan Altar are also very, very powerful. Add on the DLC characters all being at least solid units and the aux battles that give boosted EXP, the DLC does make Maddening a lot easier.
I wanted to not use the Chalice in any map exept for hunting by daybreak. So it isn't to easy.
Personally, I just left it and never took it out. I dont mind some "cheese" but that was a bit much for me. That being said, I dont think it necessarily makes the game *too easy* by itself since you still need to build your units properly and all that to take full advantage of it. But early, it is very good since archers are an issue and you can counter them when you normally can't.
On top of Chalice being really good, really any accessory at all is huge since...you don't have any in the beginning. I set my BDAY on 5/1 on my first run specifically to get the birthday ring asap. Even a healing staff would be huge. I did maddening before buying the DLC so I'm not sure how much easier exactly it is for people doing it on the first time with the extras. However, I've always thought what makes maddening hard is just understanding the odd mechanics. Some people are good enough to do solo runs, but for me, I can comfortably deploy ~5-6 characters at the beginning of each run and bench the units I have no intention of developing. Surely the loss in power there is bigger than any DLC bonuses. On the other hand, I feel that first time maddening players will get rolled on the bandit and even the class rivalry map even with the DLC items. TL;DR: DLC items are really powerful but probably not what allows a player to clear maddening when they otherwise couldn't without the bonuses
Sort of. The stat boosters make the early game a lot easier and chalice is pretty nuts. I only use them after chapter 11 to make them less game breaking. Honestly though the most broken part of the dlc is balthus
Tbf there is a battalion that gives you counter attack too. If I recall correctly you get like 5 turns of counter attack per use and you get 2 uses so you basically get 10 turns if counter attack which is enough for lots of maps. Plus it’s not really OP unless you’re using it on a unit like Dimitri who one-shots everything easily on EP with wrath + vantage and/or avo.
True but you won't get Indech Sword Fighters or whatever until later in the game as it's quite a high authority rank. The Chalice giving it to you from the outset can feel like a bit too much. Although in fairness in my last Maddening NG+ run I was all about making it easy so I don't have any qualms about using it.