Pre-promote Meatshields/Weakeners - Use the early-game promoted characters (such as Titania) as either de- equipped meatshields and decoys, or weakeners used to injure an enemy unit low health for your lower level characters to kill for XP. Some early game treasure is not worth the loss of XP you would incur by using pre-promoted units like Titania to reach it. In addition, Bonus XP is reduced the longer you spend on a chapter, so you may wish to forego the XP bonus for taking your time. This cuts into XP that your weaker members could have had, so it's your choice whether to forego the treasure or not. Treasure, time, and XP - In some maps, you're given a choice of going for treasure or saving a village, which sometimes involves using a powerful unit to barge through enemies before a thief or bandit reaches it before you. this means you must steal/loot every one. Finally, JP Maniac stores never sell Physics, while the US version does.
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There are a few minor item differences - many US Difficult enemies found in treasure rooms carry Chest Keys, while in JP Maniac mode very few enemies do. Finally, the US version gives a 10% critical hit bonus to snipers, swordmasters, and berserker classes, while the JP version gives none. In all US game modes, Ike starts out with 4 iron swords, while in the JP game modes, Ike only starts out with one. In terms of unit placement and item drops, the two modes are close to identical, except US Difficult mode has had enemies removed and their levels lowered. In addition, bonus XP per chapter is cut in half and all XP earned per battle is subtracted by 5. Also, starting chapter 18, Maniac mode enemies are almost always promoted and of a high level, while a significant amount of US Difficult enemies remain weak and unpromoted until chapter 26. Differences in JP Maniac and US Difficult - JP Maniac mode generally has 1.3x to 1.8x more enemies than US Difficult mode, and those enemies are usually 2-3 levels higher than in US Difficult mode. Since there's no end game scoring system, you can use all available resources to complete the game, including using all your stat boost items, spending money liberally, letting characters die, taking a long time on a chapter, not grabbing treasure, etc. General Advice - Utilizing this advice, you should be able to employ more intelligent and tactical strategies in battle. Rev 7 - Added 3rd playthrough final battle stats/info. Rev 6 - Finished the game a third time on fixed growth mode and added advice on it. YES NORev 5 - Finished the game a second time and revised accordingly.