Personal dashboard
Continue playing
Team and build reminders
Already decided — do not re-open
First ~120-turn free-time period after Lechner. Arena training only just unlocked, yet Leda has Bow C+, Mu has Gauntlets C and Sword D, and the team is around levels 9-14. I already acquired Leda's Mini Bow, Longbow and Chosen Sword, Mu's Qiankun Circles and Buccar's Da Mina Axe. Guzran's Pale Raven Support 3 carried across stories. Preparation and overwhelming victory are the reward I am actively pursuing, not a problem to correct.
What I need right now
How far in
Measured
20%through the game I plan to play
In the game, not in the plan
RPG Site's replay guide confirms four unique 12-chapter Part I paths, a 6-chapter War Arc for each protagonist, and a 6-chapter Salvation Arc.
Below: everything else I would otherwise have to reconstruct from memory — what I decided, what I refuse to re-decide, and what I am deliberately leaving open.
Fortune's Weave — settled, with the reasoning attached so I do not have to rebuild it.
Focus Cai on Spear + Rider rather than deliberately developing Sword.
Why
His early class direction and mounted role make those proficiencies more useful for this save, and a free weapon is not the same thing as a build recommendation.
I would change my mind if
Replaces Read the Wooden Sword as build advice. The old thinking is kept, not deleted.
Finish each protagonist's Part I completely before starting the next one, instead of switching every few chapters.
Why
Living with one army long enough to understand it beats holding four half-remembered armies at once, and the carryover progression makes each later route easier than the one before it.
I would change my mind if
Play Part I in the order Cai → Leda → Dietrich → Theodora.
Why
Cai teaches the rulebook, Leda broadens the archetypes, Dietrich is where the tactical game should get demanding, and Theodora adds Authority and Battalions last — right before the shared War structure.
I would change my mind if
Deliberately optimize the Boon progression. Do not use turn-by-turn battle guides.
Why
Knowing the efficient Boon order removes repetition without removing the tactical decisions, which are the part of the game I actually want to play.
Recruit characters who add a role the current team does not have, and leave the rest for a later run.
Why
The first run gets to be an army instead of a collection checklist, and replay exists for the rest.
Keep the main army strong enough to overwhelm ordinary enemies. This is NOT a decision to spend extra time grinding Cai himself. His excess levels come from necessary combat; optional finishing blows are preferentially given to Alexandra and now to my chosen developing units such as Noctula and Sofia. Prioritize skills, useful class mastery and roles over perfectly matched unit levels.
Why
The Thundercloud Knights qualifier clarified that a well-trained team is more fun than fragile level parity. Oct 29 firsthand clarification: I did not deliberately grind Cai's levels, and I spent more early Chapter 10 time on Ultand and vegetables than I would choose now. The preference is reliable power and an enjoyable team, not maximizing Cai's numerical level.
I would change my mind if
Replaces Normal EXP is a throttle; class and proficiency EXP are accelerators. The old thinking is kept, not deleted.
I am willing to restart a chapter when an earlier pass taught me enough that a new run will be materially cleaner and the game preserves meaningful progress across the reset. A single missed event is not enough by itself; the retry needs to improve both the save and my understanding.
Why
Chapter 6 took three attempts. Support gains, unspent Karma and purchased Boons survived, so the first two runs were not erased: they banked progression and taught me the calendar, geography and priorities. The third run let me turn that knowledge into an efficient execution pass with all quests complete, weeklies maintained and the qualifier spectated.
I would change my mind if
Treat the Free Time calendar as part of the strategy. Check upcoming Arena events before leaving Dagsion, then keep the weekly town routine: Pale Raven/stable/Notable Deeds, red-character conversations and quest turn-ins, Temple Service, combat training, meals, and room rental when I actually want its benefit. If a chapter starts mid-week, return by Saturday to use the current week's activities, then do the new week's cycle again after the Sunday reset.
Why
I missed a Chapter 7 qualifier because I forgot to check the calendar and restarted most of the chapter to see it. The retry was worth it, but the better solution is making the calendar check part of the routine so travel never silently costs me a qualifier or a weekly cycle again.
I would change my mind if
Do not equip a shield or other heavy gear simply because the slot is available. On offensive units, start with the weapon that does the job and add defensive equipment only when the battle forecast says the protection is worth the Attack Speed cost.
Why
Majide arrived carrying heavy physical options, and adding a shield drove his Attack Speed all the way to 0. The unit immediately felt terrible. Guzran taught the same lesson from the other direction: a lighter sword that preserves a follow-up can be more valuable than a heavier-looking loadout. Backup weapons can stay available without every piece of gear needing to be equipped at once.
I would change my mind if
Finish Cai Part I, then Leda Part I, Dietrich Part I, and Theodora Part I. After those four Heroic Games stories, return to Cai and play his War Arc manually with the accumulated global Boons turned on.
Why
I am most attached to Cai's story, but completed Part I routes unlock stronger global Boon tiers. Letting the other three routes build the account-wide progression before returning to Cai gives me both things I want: all four unique stories and a deliberately stronger Cai for the next phase.
I would change my mind if
Default to a preemptive strike, then Auto Battle or Skip to Conclusion, for ordinary Clash encounters. Take manual control only when the automatic result loses, the enemies are above my level, a specific EXP or MVP outcome matters, or the fight is actually doing something.
Why
I have already spent a few hundred hours on this exact shape of combat in squad-collection games, and I know how it ends: I learn the rotations, the rotations stop being decisions, and I turn the speed up. Reaching that point on my own inside Fortune's Weave is not a reason to stop playing Fortune's Weave — it is a reason to stop hand-playing the part that already bores me and keep the attention for the maps.
I would change my mind if
Walk every reachable path, break the breakables, open every chest against the counter, take the materials, and find the rear exit when the Uncharted marker says there is one.
Why
Automating the combat is not the same as losing interest in the place. The exploring is the part I enjoy, and dungeons keep paying out long after the fights stop being interesting — materials now, Soulstones and the Keys of the Diadem much later.
I would change my mind if
Re-walk Dagsion when the chapter or story state changes: collect the refreshed pickup orbs, talk to marked and unfamiliar people, check the optional-scene markers. Leave the unmarked regulars alone.
Why
The orbs refresh on a new chapter, not on every move from morning to afternoon, and an NPC without a marker says the same line he said last time. I tested that enough times to stop feeling obliged.
I would change my mind if
Do not sell regular or Large Insect Pearls while the Fabled Insect Pearl quest chain is still relevant.
Why
The chain pays far more than treating the pearls as ordinary vendor trash: the Chapter 5 follow-up alone asks for 2 Large Insect Pearls and pays 8000G plus Renown and items, and a later step asks for 8 pearls of any type.
I would change my mind if
Do not spend Chapter 8 gold on another axe. Majide keeps the Iron Axe already in inventory and stays shieldless; his problem is reliability and development, not lack of axe Might. Nydine should move toward her spear proficiency for a lighter, more accurate mounted loadout instead of solving her build with another axe purchase.
Why
Majide already posts 36 Atk with the Iron Axe, but only 79 Hit and 1 Attack Speed. More axe power would make the wrong number larger. The Chapter 8 budget is better spent on armor-piercing swords/spears, better gauntlets, and Peter's specialist bow options.
I would change my mind if
The Giant's-Print Fort expedition and its levels belonged to an abandoned Chapter 8 run. On the restart, level the weaker core first. Preferred seven before Renown 8 are Cai, Alexandra, Guzran, Peter, Tialla, Yang Jie and Noctula. Train everyone to at least level 25 if time allows, then pursue 27-30 for the team and 30-32 for Cai. Jasmine can replace Noctula after meeting Renown 8, Support 1 and 2000G if she is competitive. Save calendar turns for the first match.
Why
Cai reached about level 30-31 in the abandoned Giant's-Print Fort attempt, but the team remained around 22-23 and travel/clearing left only about 40 turns. Clearing dungeon groups before planning retreat practice removed useful encounters. A deliberately balanced seven is a better use of the replay.
I would change my mind if
Replaces Level the roster behind Cai before the first main match. The old thinking is kept, not deleted.
Reject Light Cavalry as the automatic upgrade when its Speed loss prevents follow-up attacks. Cai has Sword D+, so keep his Spear proficiency as the weapon exam path with Rider training. Prefer Armored Ornius Rider if its smaller Speed penalty is worth more Movement and Defense; otherwise stay Ornius Rider. Compare AS and double-attack forecast before making the choice.
Why
Speed and overwhelming double attacks are the point of this build. A promotion that visibly lowers what I enjoy is not an improvement just because its tier is higher.
I would change my mind if
The loops this site exists to stop. If one of these shows up in my head again, the answer is already here.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. Cai stays Spear + Rider; the sword is situational equipment.
Availability is not priority. The class direction is what matters.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. Recruit the people who add a missing role.
Completion can happen on a later run; the first run is for learning.
Answered — stop re-opening it
Yes. Replay is the completion mechanism, not a punishment.
The first Cai run does not have to be the definitive Cai run.
Answered — stop re-opening it
The tactical grid maps. Clashes are the ones I automate.
Positioning, ranges, terrain and roles are what I came for — the same thing I liked about Advance Wars. The small turn-based fights are a second system I have already played out elsewhere.
Answered — stop re-opening it
Not the story that matters. The scenes sit around the encounter, not inside it.
Ordinary dungeon groups carry no plot, and the walkthroughs recommend skipping them on Standard. Event Clashes get watched in and out; I just do not have to execute the turns. I have no proof that nothing at all is lost, so an Event Clash I am curious about gets Auto Battle at speed rather than an instant skip.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. Expect more of them, not different ones.
Reviewers who played the whole game reached for Auto Battle for the same reason I did, and one of them said outright that the dungeon fights do not develop. Waiting for a chapter that fixes it is a plan with no evidence behind it.
Answered — stop re-opening it
Once per chapter.
Not per time-of-day. That one fact is the difference between exploring Dagsion and patrolling it.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. Boons are not a permanently exclusive tree; all of them can be unlocked.
That turns the question from "what am I sacrificing forever" into "what makes the game better soonest", which is a much easier question.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. Keep at least the quest copies; two are used by More Fabled Insect Pearls.
Turning in 2 Large Insect Pearls for the quest pays 8000G plus 30 Renown and items, which is much more useful to this save than panic-selling them.
Answered — stop re-opening it
I have no verified spectating window before the Chapter 5 Arena systems come online. From here forward, check the calendar for other teams' match days.
Nintendo documents spectating as an Arena activity on match days, and the first exact event I have verified from published material is Forgotten Aetior on 3/21. The exact date remains provisional until it appears in my save.
Interesting future decisions, kept separate from problems that are blocking play. Nothing here needs solving tonight.
Kept on purpose. The change of mind is often more useful than the conclusion.
Treat the free Wooden Sword as a hint that Cai is meant to develop Sword.
Why
I was reading the equipment screen the way I would read a normal RPG: the game handed me a weapon, so I assumed it was pointing somewhere.
Replaced by Cai's first-run build.
Treat normal EXP as a difficulty/grind throttle I turn up and down, and treat Class EXP and the proficiencies my real teams use as things to accelerate aggressively.
Why
Raw levels can erase the tactical game. Class and proficiency growth open more of the game instead of flattening it.
I would change my mind if
Replaced by Build a powerful core while giving optional kills to developing units.
Play one Part II War route normally — Theodora's, in this ordering — and then use the game's skip option for the other armies by default.
Why
Part II is much more shared than Part I. Repeating it for all four armies would be completion anxiety, not enjoyment.
I would change my mind if
Replaced by Return to Cai after all four Part I routes.
Chapter 8 is not primarily a Cai-leveling chapter anymore. Cai is already level 25 and strong enough to anchor fights. Use the long Free Time to bring the underleveled roster up: Majide 15, Noctula 17, Ultand 17, Nydine 18 and Yang Jie 19 first, then Alexandra/Peter/Tialla/Guzran into the upper 20s. The target is that no likely deployment unit enters the first main match far below the rest of the team.
Why
The previous qualifier was survivable for Cai but costly for the rest of the army. The screenshots show the actual gap: Cai has 38 Atk, 114 Hit and 20 AS at level 25, while Majide is level 15 with 79 Hit and 1 AS. More levels on Cai do less for the next hard battle than making the rest of the team dependable.
I would change my mind if
Replaced by Restart Chapter 8 and train a seven-person tournament squad.
Sports Resort — settled, with the reasoning attached so I do not have to rebuild it.
Nothing settled yet for this game.
The loops this site exists to stop. If one of these shows up in my head again, the answer is already here.
Nothing stored yet.
Interesting future decisions, kept separate from problems that are blocking play. Nothing here needs solving tonight.
No open questions recorded.
Pokopia — settled, with the reasoning attached so I do not have to rebuild it.
I am not treating the minimum story requirement as the point where an area is automatically finished. I like raising the Environment Level high and improving the place until it feels genuinely restored before I move on.
Why
The rebuilding itself is the part of Pokopia I enjoy. Withered Wasteland became more satisfying as the Pokémon were happier and the area felt less like a checklist and more like a place I had built.
I would change my mind if
Organize my Pokopia towns around custom housing, natural-looking habitats, useful districts, and efficient use of space instead of dropping buildings wherever they happen to fit.
Why
I enjoy the town more when it feels deliberately designed and when the Pokémon's homes and habitats make visual and practical sense together.
I would change my mind if
The loops this site exists to stop. If one of these shows up in my head again, the answer is already here.
Nothing stored yet.
Interesting future decisions, kept separate from problems that are blocking play. Nothing here needs solving tonight.
Splatoon Raiders — settled, with the reasoning attached so I do not have to rebuild it.
Nothing settled yet for this game.
The loops this site exists to stop. If one of these shows up in my head again, the answer is already here.
Nothing stored yet.
Interesting future decisions, kept separate from problems that are blocking play. Nothing here needs solving tonight.
Star Fox — settled, with the reasoning attached so I do not have to rebuild it.
Treat Star Fox as an always-in-rotation game with Stuart rather than a backlog title that needs to be completed once and put away.
Why
Alternate routes, repeat runs, scores, and familiar missions are part of what makes it valuable for us. The repeatability is the feature.
The loops this site exists to stop. If one of these shows up in my head again, the answer is already here.
Answered — stop re-opening it
No. It is one of the games Stuart and I can keep returning to indefinitely.
The replay loop and route variation fit how we already enjoy it together.
Interesting future decisions, kept separate from problems that are blocking play. Nothing here needs solving tonight.
No open questions recorded.
None of this page is written in code. When a session ends I edit two YAML fields — where I am and what I am doing next — and if something got settled, one more record in the decision log. Everything above re-renders from those files.