Such is the trials we face D:

(I'm currently on Chapter 16)

:shields eyes:

I'm glad I set this on casual, or else all my units would be dead.

Lunitic is really, really hard guys....

Why am I putting myself through this? So many good characters lost...

Which is exactly why I finished the game as quickly as possible. Now if it was your run of the mill Mario game I would've taken my time, but since FE: A is much more story driven I figured it'd be best to rush the first playthough since I knew this was going to happen.

I want to apologize if I've spoiled the game for anyone.

So apparently one of the upcoming DLC packs deals with meeting Ike and Roy and joining/fighting their armies. The name of this pack?

Smash Brethren

Now I wonder what that is alluding to?

getting past chapter 3 on lunatic+ is a nightmare! now ill just grind for a few days so i can beat the next chapter:P

I'm deciding between the Golden Pack and Lost Bloodlines pack. I'm looking for something that can help me grind, but EXPonential Growth doesn't offer much XP after your first or second advanced class, and the Paragon Skill allows me to get a 50% bonus in XP earned...

I agree!

...I'm not sure if I'm doing casual or classic... I KNOW I picked classic but why do some people keep saying they're retreating? Are they dead forever or not!?!?

They dead, well, kinda, it says they're retreating due to injury, those injuries will leave them incapable of battle for the rest of the game.

Spoiler I guess? OH GOD MARTH IS A CHICK!!!!

Just kidding. You guys spoiled that for me long ago.

I don't know why I keep looking at this thread, so many spoilers!

Anyhoo, I just got enough money to get this game! I'm really excited to get it.

SLIGHT SPOILERS?
Wow that was painful...I did the children paralogue missions before dealing with Valm. Probably shouldn't have went in with bronze weapons....................

Also, what's with Gerome's stat growths? I changed him into a priest,a war priest and a sage and he was still getting ridiculously low amounts of resistance stats. Stat growth is affected by the character AND the class?

By the class, character, and for children characters, parents.
And the highest Gerome can possibly get is 31% chance for resistance growth as a Priest, with Libra as his dad, but with most other fathers, as a Wyvern rider, he'll have less than 20% chance.

I did the free DLC. That sucked. I don't think I'll ever buy more.
Also
I cannot stress how cute Sumia is and awesome Sully is,

I think it's a recreation of the first level of the first Fire Emblem game. That's why it has retro music playing. North America never got Fire Emblem on the NES so I guess it doesn't mean so much to any of us. That bonus level is still a good way to build up support conversations and level up weaker characters. Also those two villages give out some nice random loot like Ephraim's Spear, Bolt Axes, and Superior Swords--and you can go back as much as you want.

Also
I cannot stress how cute Sumia is and awesome Sully is,

Lissa has better things to say than those two. I'm also liking Tharja... for the time being. Kellam and Stahl can be fun too. I didn't think I'd like Stahl at first, he seemed a little too vanilla. I figured I'd just kill him off along with Vaike and Virion. But I like how his being average and unremarkable is a topic of discussion for his character.

So, even though I haven't been posting here at all, I've really been enjoying the game. Anyway, I've been working on leveling up Donnel (since IGN's FEA Wiki claims he's incredible, mainly), and I recently upgraded him to Mercenary class. Anyway, the only weapon I can get him to wield so far is a Bronze Sword. What other weapons can a Mercenary Donnel wield? I've seen little blurbs of him him talking about him thinking about "cobblin' something together", but using a shop's forge only improves qualities in existing weapons, not fuse two weapons together (AFAIK - does that option open up later in the game past chapter 11-12?), so I can't find anything to work with him besides Bronze Swords.

The weapons they use depend on the class, and how many times they've used that weapon. Each unit gains Weapon XP, and when it levels up they can use the next tier of that weapon. At the bottom of their stat card thing, it'll show a picture of a weapon type and a letter. That letter is the level. The most basic weapon type is Bronze (or for spells no prefix) so until it levels up it's just bronze for him.

@Birdman: Donnel is truly worth the extra time and effort spent in getting him up. Just be patient, have him land the final blow on enemies when possible to get that extra jump of XP, and follow him around with a healer if you have to, but by the time you get him through the Mercenary class and make him into a Hero, no one will be able to touch him and he'll never actually use any weapon you equip him with. Weaponsthrift = love