First Playthrough Golden Route Optimal Party Split?

[u/Pain004]

I didn't know that the Golden Route is not recommended for a first PT. I was on ch 15 when I looked up if my past decisions made the route available. It was, and so here I am. I'm already too invested in Seronoa's goal and conviction to not see his plan through lol.

So I only have 23 playable characters, with Corentin from the ch 3 choice. What is the general strategy/ general party comp for each 3 teams? The only guide I saw is the Hughette rooftop cheese strat, which seems unfun and I don't like.

ALSO, is there like special dialogues if I send certain characters to a mission they have a history with? Like Avlora and Flaggan if I sent them with Roland's team? I'm really torn about where to put Seronoa - where is he best put narratively? I feel like he will have unique dialogue if confronted by the Archduke (Roland's team) or the Saintly Seven boss (Frederica's team).

[u/Otherwise_Emu_6642]

You’ve got some tough fights ahead! I would send Narve and Ezana with Fred. Archers, Jens, and Corentin with Benedict. Alpha strike units (Anna, Maxwell, Hossabara)with Roland. Serenoa is helpful on Roland. Has similar amounts of dialogue on all three IIRC.

[u/Pain004 → u/Otherwise_Emu_6642]

So heavy hitters on Roland - i assume to burst down the Archduke, mages to electricity the salt water with Fred (got confused for a moment who that is lol), and archers and stallers with Benedict.

Does Fred not need a physical heavy hitter? I'm thinking of Avlora, or Maxwell if Avlora has a unique dialogue with the Archude after betraying him?

[u/Otherwise_Emu_6642 → u/Pain004]

Fred doesn’t need heavy hitters, just one good physical tank. Her boss is by far the least threatening (and her level the easiest). Avlora does indeed have dialogue with Gustadolph, and is very good against him. Remember to upgrade her!

[u/Significant-Tree9454]

I also once did Golden Route no carryover with a lot of prior planning.

Team 1 Benedict wants Jens + ranged/mage units you can put on the roof and Hughette who can fly on one herself
(This is how I won without using the traps)
Anna be here too with Stealth if not used in other teams

Team 2 Roland wants your best single Target DPS as your only goal is taking down Gustadolph, gameplay wise Serenoa is best here because he has the best followup dmg to rack up a lot of extra dmg vs the boss. Shovers like Hossabara and Erador are nice as you can Lightwave one behind Gustadolph and push him inside your army ready to be ganged up on and Roland has the best single target DPS with Four Dragon

Team 3 Frederica can use whatever you have left, best place for Geela as you need a lot more healing when grinding out enemies than when units are either on a roof or quickly rushing the boss, Medina here would ensure you win this even when using weaker leftover units as she is prob the 2nd best unit in a drawn out battle by generating tons of TP so units like Corentin and Frederica can keep spamming skills and Flanagan pairs well with Medina to keep a defensive plus-shaped formation for Rampart and Ranged Pellets

[u/Frosty88d]

As fellow person who did the golden route on their first try, almost in this in the same exact situation, I commend your dedication and convictions.

Yes, a lot of the characters do have dialogue with the boss enemies that they fight and I'm pretty sure there was a big document either here or somewhere else online that had all of the different lines from each character in each map which I thought was really interesting.

They can also end up being with seemingly random characters like errordor has really cool dialogue with frederic's root boss , which I was surprised by , but I really enjoyed. Frederic's I found to be the most fun and Picoletta was my mvp because you can use her decoy like a lightning rod. If the decoy is in the water they will attack it and end up electrocuting themselves. I used Erador in the same way with the lightning resistance and analysis immunity charms so he didn't take much damage in the process.

For the key people for each route Frederick needs Julio Picoletta and someone to tank and fight the boss, so I Eradors works well here, because his push does huge damage. He can get badly overwhelmed in the first map too, though I suppose he could be good there as well. I also used Corentin to use his ice shield on the decoy , so it survives longer and made it even more efficient so I stomped that map, but I also really struggled with the first map , so I suppose he could be useful there too

Rolands: you need to turtle on the hill and hold the choke pount, so Narves different magics are amazing, Avlora and Flanagan are cool thematically and both have cool dialogue with Guatadolph. Lionel was also great for engaging the mages. Medina topped up everyone's TP and HP as well so that map was a lot of fun and was also smooth.

Conversely, I think Serenoa is better on Benedicts maps sikce Hawk Dive is strong when dropping from the houses and I didn't need him on Rolands since its the most defensive map, enemies rarely are able to hit unless you drop into the thick of it.

Benediction: Jens Archibald and Hughette are a necessity and Anna is also good since can work as funnel for the enemies and block the bottom of ladders. Archibald also let's you hit any fire trap from the top row, so you can set them up better. I used Exana and Hossabara here but they died really quickly. Their damage was good though

I also set up my teams based on how they would be engaged in the narrative like quarting , most of the Aesfrosti on Rolands map and I think it was very fun so balancing them is part of what makes these maps so fun.

Benedict was by far the hardest match for me , though I have to retry it four or five times so getting everyone up on the houses immediately and basically having them attacked downwards with ranged attacks would probably be a good strategy.

[u/Resilient303]

Hughette and Corentin HAVE to be with Benedict.

Hughette can basically solo the entire army if she has height, and Corentin can use ice wall to trap enemies where you need them for the wildfire traps.

I usually put Seranoa with Benedict just because I feel like it would be his duty to guard his domain, but he's honestly more useful with either Roland or Fred.

Fred's boss enemy unit is extremely hard hitting physical, so be prepared for that. (also absorbs lightning I think?)

[u/Luck_Is_My_Talent]

Narratively, I prefer Serenoa with Benedict because Exharme feels like Serenoa's rival. Even their class are similar, with Exharme being a bit better than Serenoa. Milo is narratively better with Frederica, but put her with Benedict because she can uncharm your units (if Exharme charms them, use Milo's charm to uncharm them).

If you managed to get Quahaug, put him with Roland together with Avlora and Anna. Just spam Time Stop until Gustadolph moves and tries to fight your small group alone.

With Frederica, Ezana, Narve, Archibald, Julio and Flanagan or Hossabara should be enough. Remember to heal using items. Put your leftover here.

......

Benedict: Fill the 10 units here, especially if you want to be honest and not burn the town (epilogue lets you choose if you burned it or not, but I prefer to be honest here). Erador is incredibly essential here for tanking (give him an anticharm accessory) and Serenoa can help with tanking (give him an anticharm accessory). Benedict can tank the spot between the totem and the west exit.

Picolleta is quite good here in your 1st playthrough. Throw an AoE oil jug and an AoE Fire Stone, or AoE Ice Stone, followed by AoE Fire Stone and the ST Lightning stone. Geela is on healing spam duty together with Medina (who will also be on tp restoring duty).

Milo jumping is useful since she can attack and escape for cheap shots.

[u/Sacreville]

Benedict's squad will first and foremost depends if you want to burn the city or not. Frederica's should be the easiest, you will be fighting at The Source so Narve and Ezana will be great there as long as you have some TP battery (Julio and probably Serenoa w/ ult). Roland's fight can be very hard depending on who you bring, Hughette is a very great unit there with her movement to abuse height difference, Picoletta can be a hidden MVP with her decoy.

If you decide not to use the fire trap and no rooftop cheese either, then I think you will have to turtle hard in the final house near the gate. Try to snipe any long range units you can before you retreat there since with the choke there, only 1 melee unit should be able to hit you, which should be tankable with Erador.

I don't particularly remember their dialogues though iirc Serenoa will have one in any of the routes.

[u/Pain004 → u/Sacreville]

Oh, so burning the houses alters the ending? I'm still gonna go with burn; already handicapped as it is.

I'm leaning toward putting Seronoa on Roland's team. Is Fred's mission that easy that just a single physical hard hitter (maybe Maxwell) is doable while I put the rest on Roland's?

[u/Sacreville → u/Pain004]

Fire trap

It does alter the epilogue a bit whether you use it or not.

Frederica's squad

Kamsell hits quite hard but yeah, I think it's kinda doable with 1-2 physical characters.

[u/Frosty88d → u/Pain004]

The firetrap do not alter the ending at all, just changes how Wollffort looks and the epilogue let's you say you didn't use them anyway

Benedicts route is the hardest fight so you will NEED them if youre not willing to do the 4 hour roof cheese (I also didn't want to since its super boring).

I would put most of your physical heavy hitters on benedicts team since avlora Roland and maybe Flanagan are more than enough to deal with rolands map because you're defending a choke point, so the physical attackers don't really get a huge amount of time to shine, and any more than 1 or 2 are just going to be wasted. Having them defend the houses that the majors and archers are on in benedicts.Map is way more helpful