History GuideDangIt / Strategy

*** Certain paralogues can be a nightmare to unlock. In particular, any that activate after the TimeSkip but involve students from two different houses, as the "outsider" student has to be poached ''before'' said TimeSkip, otherwise the game progresses without a hint the paralogue even exists. Bay far the worst is Caspar and Mercedes', which not only runs into the timeskip problem, but is completely unavailable to the Black Eagles even if you meet all the other conditions. If you come at it from the Blue Lions, Caspar's significance to the chapter isn't revealed until it starts. And what makes this one particularly vexing is it contains vital information for a character arc, specifically, [[spoiler:the Death Knight's identity and Mercedes' childhood]].

* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'', the last scenario of the Chinese campaign gives the enemy a superweapon that will screw you over every five minutes. Turns out, it won't fire if you have less than $5000. But of course this fact isn't mentioned in your briefing or anything.\\
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Even worse, $5000 is the exact amount needed to build ''your'' superweapon, which was just unlocked in the mission prior. This does ''not'' mean you can not ever use the superweapon, since if you rush up the tech tree and start building as many nukes as you possibly can, then you'll be fine as long as you do not have $5000 when then enemy's superweapon is ready to fire.

* ''VideoGame/MythTheFallenLords'':
** During level 5 "Flight from Covenant", after the initial battle, your army will proceed straight forward following a road, until a massive enemy army (which can be beaten only on the easiest levels) will attack you. The intended way is to take an alternate route on the north through the swamps, which completely avoids the enemy army, although you meet some explosive wights wandering around. There is no hint that you should avoid this encounter, instead of treating it as another wave of enemies, and go through the muddy waters of the swamp, particularly considering that game objectives state that you should flee eastwards towards a tunnel and not northwards.
** During level 13 "Seven Gates" your task is to kill a stray shade. It is possible that you will learn for the first time that his special ability is an explosive spell capable of killing all your army if your soldiers are too close on each other just before reloading a previous savegame.
** There is a secret level that can be reached only by entering a specific isolated cave in level 17 "Sons of Myrgard", instead of completing the mission objectives and kill all the enemy. Which are likely to be completed right when you approach this cave, unless you already know of the level and avoid encounters.
** In the final level, you will ultimately face [[spoiler: Soulblighter guarding the Great Devoid, the hole where you must throw Balor's head]]. He is massively strong and resilient, and it's impossible to defeat him in a regular fight. Most players might try to split their few units, trying to distract him with some while a dwarf pursues the mission objectives, but he is so fast that he will quickly turn on him. The intended way to play in hindsight might be hinted by the presence of a [[spoiler: journeyman]], since storywise [[spoiler: you were teleported directly from the ending of the previous mission, where you had no journeymen, so his appearance is functional against Soulblighter]]. Some players could remember that [[spoiler: the journeyman's heal ability kills the undead, so he can be used to safely dispose of him with just one mandrake root]]. Obviously you should have spared one before the final encounter, but nothing tells you that, and if you had to use all you are screwed.
* ''VideoGame/StarControlII'' has a mild version of this in general, due to the universe going on without the player - indeed, there's a time limit to winning the game - combined with the time-and-fuel-consuming need to gather resources in order to complete the game at all and the fact that many star systems are not worth mining. At least it's mild enough that one can play some "probe" games before trying to take a serious stab at actually winning...
** The free remake/port, The Ur-Quan Masters, suffers from a specialised form of this trope because clues given in the original PC version are missing. For example, because UQM uses the dialogue from the 3DO version, it's missing two key lines of dialogue from the PC version (one about the time limit, the other about where to find a particular race's homeworld).
** Also, one optional but important quest asks you to track down a unique life form on an unknown planet orbiting an unknown star in a game universe of hundreds of stars, with only an obscure clue about the constellation to help you find it. The solution was much more obvious if you owned the original PC release because the game came with a printed map. [[spoiler:It has to do with the shape of the constellation.]]
*** Note that there is actually a way to get the coordinates in-game: if you [[spoiler:try to get Fwiffo to tell you the coordinates of the Spathi homeworld by threatening him, he will lie and send you to the planet where the creature can be found]]. However, the player has absolutely no reason to do so, since [[spoiler:Fwiffo has already told you how to find his homeworld]], so it's still a considerable Guide Dang It.
* The requirements to get the various secret items and mechs in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games are insane. For example, [[http://akurasu.net/wiki/index.php?title=Super_Robot_Wars/OG2/Secrets take a look at this page detailing how to get the secrets in Original Generation 2]]and ponder how one's supposed to meet these without either clairvoyance, hacking the game, or enough luck that if you had used this luck on something more important than a video game you'd likely have won the lottery... twice.
** One of the best examples is thus: It's possible to unlock five items, three of which are among the best equippable parts in the game, one of which is a highly versatile melee weapon, and one of which [[KatanasAreJustBetter is one of the most powerful melee weapons in the entire game.]] The opportunity to do comes on Mission 15, which is about a third/quarter way through the game, making this secret very much a DiscOneNuke. All you have to do is take out three enemies instead of running away like the mission objective says you should. Sound easy? The three enemies are end-game-level bosses, they do not have reduced stats, and you have a total of four units for the entire mission. It's possible, even fairly simple once you figure out the trick, but most players won't realize that when faced with three enemies capable of one-shotting anyone they choose and told to head for the hills.
*** On the other hand, it does make sense to reward players for beating a supposedly HopelessBossFight. Suppose it depends on whether or not the player considers the possibility. Whether or not the trick to wining is easy to deduce though...
*** The Trick is easy to figure out...''if'' you played the ''previous'' game, and recognise that you're standing in the same location as the final battle of the first game, which has the same GeoEffects as last time.
** This has been going on since ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'' where it's actually possible to pass up [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Quess Paraya]] since she's only in one stage, on a certain square and only [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro]] can find her.
** In ''2nd VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', the Free Electron Cannon is a powerful sub-weapon for RealRobot units that can equip other weapons. However, obtaining one is this trope as it can only be obtained by a character who hasn't been plot relevant for the past few games, have him aced before a certain scenario, and then have him kill a certain amount of enemies ''and'' the boss of said scenario. Before the guide came out, many players thought that the sub weapon can only be obtained in Special Mode.

* ''VideoGame/OgreBattle64'' is full of this. First off, the end of the game is based on your reputation, which is based on a complicated system that the game never tells you about. Second, in order to get many of the special characters and items you have to talk to people or go to certain shops at incredibly specific times, such as midnight on the last day of the month. Also the player's guide simply doesn't tell you how to get a handful of the characters in the game, despite the fact that they are, in a few cases, prominent figures in it, thus making it a Guide Dang It for a ''guide''.
** And then there's the original SNES ''VideoGame/OgreBattle''... Where does one begin? You often only get once chance to recruit the important [=NPCs=], and the criteria for doing so are hopelessly vague and rarely alluded to in the game itself. This is made worse by the fact that the criteria often involve you having recruited ''another'' NPC, creating a knock-on effect whereby it's possible to miss out on almost every important character should you ''visit the towns in the wrong order on LEVEL THREE'', without any indication of what the right order actually is. Getting the best ending also involves collecting all the Zodiac Stones, which are all randomly hidden and require you to have already gotten two obscure, difficult to obtain items - which can be lost, permanently, should you mess up getting them - before you can even begin the search. You also need to maintain high Charisma, Reputation and Alignment stats, which are - as in Ogre Battle 64 - related a system that the game doesn't explain to you. Have fun!
*** The game does explain - in game, even - how to get and maintain a good reputation: liberate towns with High ALI, High CHA characters. What it ''doesn't'' particularly tell you is how to boost ALI and CHA: [[spoiler: delivering the killing blow to an enemy of higher level, preferably one of lower ALI]]. It alludes to it a little bit, but otherwise, you're on your own. The Canopus/Gilbert thing is AllThereInTheManual, by the way, as are some of the other various bits and pieces of getting [[MineralMacGuffin the Zodiac Stones]]. Otherwise, there's a great deal of PermanentlyMissableContent in that game, in general.
** The SNES Ogre Battle also had a rather unusual version of this, to get the ''worst'' ending in the game. It required having very high reputation to get a specific item, then almost immediately lowering your reputation to nothing so that a certain character would offer to join you if you gave him the item.

* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', in the original game the Final Battle against the BigBad Sturm consists of a 3-on-1 match. The 1st CO is always Andy, but the 2nd and 3rd are seemingly randomized between the other CO's encountered. That is, until you read an online guide and find out the formula for getting the CO's you want. The Blue Moon CO depends on who you used in that first fork in the road at the beginning of the game, ''Max Strikes''; if you used Andy, Olaf shows up to help at the end, whereas if you used Max, it's Grit. The 3rd CO depends on what you did in Green Earth and Yellow Comet; if you completed the three Missions against Sonja (which had requirements to unlock by themselves), Kanbei is your 3rd helper. In the Green Earth Missions, using Andy for all of them nets you Drake in the third position, while using Sami for all of them gets you Eagle (as well as the BonusBoss Mission ''Rivals''), both of whom override Kanbei. Doing none of these things results in Sami in the third position. The map is winnable regardless of who your combination is, but certain players do better with certain CO's, and the CO's start with different and somtimes better stuff (for example, Kanbei begins with several tanks and other heavy units while Eagle starts with an air squadron).
** The side missions that unlock Neotanks (in ''Black Hole Risings'') and Black Boats, Black Bombs, and Piperunners (in ''Dual Strike'') are mild cases of this. You have to capture particular cities in particular missions to advance to these secret levels. It's not too bad, since the game does tell you which levels these special cities are in... but you're still not told ''which cities'' have the maps in them, so you have to hope that you find it before killing off all the enemy units.
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'', the last scenario of the Chinese campaign gives the enemy a superweapon that will screw you over every five minutes. Turns out, it won't fire if you have less than $5000. But of course this fact isn't mentioned in your briefing or anything.\\
\\
Even worse, $5000 is the exact amount needed to build ''your'' superweapon, which was just unlocked in the mission prior. This does ''not'' mean you can not ever use the superweapon, since if you rush up the tech tree and start building as many nukes as you possibly can, then you'll be fine as long as you do not have $5000 when then enemy's superweapon is ready to fire.
* When a mission is completed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'', you often get an item that doesn't go into your regular inventory, but can be taken along on a mission, and boosts your entire party's stats in some way. Some missions force you to bring along these items before you can even begin (for example, you'll need to bring along the black thread and magic cloth if your mission is to make a hat for a black mage). Unfortunately, you quickly get more of these items than you can hold, and, while some of them are never used to complete a mission, quite a few of them are used hundreds of missions after you've gotten them. If you delete one of the latter items, they're [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]].
** This is especially infuriating with the black thread item as you are able to get 3 of them over the course of the game. Since you may well have 2 or 3 of them in your inventory at the same time, you may think that it is one of the items you can get many multiples of and when you next reach maximum item capacity you might think that discarding an item you have multiple of would be safe. The problem is, each of the three black threads is required to complete three separate missions. And this is one of few items you can get multiples of, nevermind being one of even fewer items that you can only get limited multiples of. Argh!
** Secret characters come with [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique their race's Ultima attack]] mastered and join at above-average levels. To have a 1 in 5 chance of recruiting them, you must either complete a certain mission or complete any mission while voluntarily bringing a certain mission item, depending on their race. The characters or methods to recruit them aren't mentioned, and the mission items needed to recruit them have no other use. The Nu Mou character is [[PermanentlyMissableContent unobtainable]] if he doesn't offer to join after his non-repeatable quest is complete; the Viera character's quest is repeatable but she's lost if you flee ''any'' mission leading to her recruitment quest.
** The sequel makes things a bit better by having such items part of the ''loot'' system which is also used for ItemCrafting and never [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever]]. However, there are other instances of Guide Dang It: For instance, a series of quests where you need to provide the right person for a non-combat job, with very vague hints provided which race/class can do it. The worst case is "Wanted:Caretaker" which can only be done by a Viera White Mage - all the others require a specific class/set of classes OR a specific race, but that one requires both.
*** Then again, the random nature of the loot can really screw you over. A Thief and an EnemyScan will make things much easier for you. Except the game's not going to tell you what you're missing for a specific piece of loot, so knowing exactly what you can steal is pointless unless you get a guide to consult on what is used to make what.
*** There is, however, one item that is lost permanently unless you look up a guide or are lucky. The quest to make the moogle bard Hurdy revolves around you taking two different loot items that only appear that once, and make him a Shining Lute. Except one of those items (the Strawood) is also needed to make a Brilliant Theorbo, another weapon for Hurdy... which can also complete the quest. If you make the Shining Lute, chances are you'll find another one later in the game if you want to complete all the sidequests... but no such thing happens for a Brilliant Theorbo. So you're stuck with the Bard and Beastmaster classes being unable to be mastered; not really important for Hurdy (Soul Etude heals and restores status, but there's plenty of other choices), but the Beastmaster skills can be needed to get an Ahriman to use the Blue Magick you need to learn.
** FFT's PSP remake had the "Agria's Birthday" sidequest. you have to have Agrias and Mustadio in your party, which most people will...but you also have to have kept the two generic knights that joined with Agrias, and THEN go to a certain city during a certain month...WHILE you have at least a half a million gil in your inventory. Screw this up and you miss out on a redonkulously powerful accessory.
** Even in regular FFT for the [=PS1=], character class progression is a complete Guide Dang It. Classes have levels in other classes as requirements and you are not told the requirements, so there's no way to know what they are except by luck or using a guide.
** Good luck getting most of the secret characters without a guide. Worse, in order to get the one weapon that lets [[spoiler:Cloud]] use his special abilities requires going to one specific random battle map, with a character that has the move-find item ability equipped, and sending that character to stand on one unidentified spot, to find the weapon.
*** Carrying out the long quest chain that leads to getting [[spoiler:Cloud]] (and several other powerful party members) is a massive Guide Dang It. The quest chain requires you to return to an out-of-the-way city you'd have no reason to go to and then to go to another random city, hear a rumor in the tavern, then head to the nearby city. That's just to get things started.
*** And accessing the BonusDungeon requires you to go to a different remote town, completely unprompted. Figuring out how to proceed on each floor, let alone obtain several {{permanently missable|Content}} items, is a whole bucket of GuideDangIt.
* ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' does this. The Chaos Frame works in a very odd way that requires a guide to find out...or even explain. But the results are obvious. If [[spoiler: Denim lets Kachua die]] and [[spoiler:becomes the new ruler of Valeria]], the Chaos Frame affects the ending directly. [[spoiler: Either he's assassinated or Valeria gets taken over eventually]].
** But even more obscure is if you want all four elemental Shamans. You have to know to go through the chaos or neutral route to even get two of the sisters by chapter four (And did you pick the chapter where you have to save Seleye, as opposed to her being absent from the battlefield? God help you) and you are put against one of them named Shelley as a low-physical-defense enemy in chapter 4. While you are told in-game that you don't ''have'' to kill Shelley, it's still easy to do so by accident, especially if you are overleveled. But even if you do reduce her to about 20 health and she runs away...wait where is she? You got a tantalizing hint that she'll be playable! Well you have to go to Baramus, have Olivia, then enter training, then make it stormy somehow, then exit training, and then an event plays where she's recruited. Of course, ''this'' part is never specified in the game, how on earth would you discover this by accident?
* The game ''VideoGame/VanguardBandits'' has MultipleEndings based on pivotal decisive moments. One branch of endings was only possible to reach if Bastion was level 8 by the end of the third mission (in other words... the only one to fight in all the battles up to that point, pretty much). Less obscure was a path that showed up after finishing the game at least once, but it was still fairly easy to choose the wrong decision at this point and just continue on the normal branch. The game showed no real sign that these branches exist.
** Even worse, if your team's morale is low, it's impossible to even ''beat'' the game without getting the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]] where the hero ends up [[GrandTheftMe possessed]] by the BigBad. The worst part about this NonstandardGameOver (apart from being forced to kill your comrades) is that your only option once this happens is to ''restart the game from the beginning.''
* While ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' lets you know that there are MultipleEndings, nowhere in the included material will they tell you what factors affect these endings. This could lead to a great deal of frustration when you finally check Website/GameFAQs and realize that the one accidental ally kill you made (easier to do than it sounds, with no non-ending-related repercussions whatsoever) disqualifies you from getting the canon ending. Or for that matter, that having an obscenely high number of ally kills at certain points in the game can earn you an early bad ending. In the DS version, there is at least an indication that the game keeps track of ally kills, but no indication of ''why''.
** ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'' is a little more merciful. If you get a different ending, it does have the decency to tell you what you did to get it, so at least you can avoid ''that'' one.
*** Assuming of course it isn't a level you NEED to beat. Some endings refuse to let you start the game over until you beat it (Kill too many allies and you'll get one like this), and some refuse to let you continue if you lose, even if it gets an ending. Is this your first playthrough through the game? Better get grinding or suffer an [[UnwinnableByMistake unwinnable battle forever]].
*** Having [[spoiler:Laharl]] as your leader when you fight [[spoiler:Baal controlling Zettas body]] gives you a bad ending. The guide dang it comes in the ending itself. Once you win the battle with anyone else as a leader, you permanently unlock [[spoiler:Zetta]] and thus cannot play the level again, [[PermanentlyMissableContent even with subsequent playthroughs]].
** Speaking of ''Disgaea'', to find Etna's Journal in the [=PS2=] version, you had to flip two switches there were no indication existed, then examine a random corner with no indication that there was anything special about it -- although all you miss out on by not finding it is a different perspective on the story and a rare item towards the end of the game. The remakes each make it a bit easier to discover, along with making it unlock an alternate storyline once you complete the game -- in the PSP version, a Prinny is added near the corner you have to examine, commenting that there's a draft. The DS version also has the Prinny, and further adds notification balloons when you're near something you can interact with, making it easier to stumble across the switches by chance.
** The requirements for unlocking the Dark World maps in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'' range from the simple things like not taking damage, to bizarre ones like spending 30 turns on a particular map, or defeating all of the enemies with tower attacks. You're not given even the slightest hint about what the requirement for each level is.
*** On Disgaea 2, the endings are completely confusing to unlock. The default ending is the easiest, by far, but the Bad Ending requires 50 ally kills which is highly unlikely as that is a rather excessive number for it, and the Worst Ending requires 99 ally kills with Rozalin in that number, an even less likely scenario (especially if you never use Rozalin). Assuming you get the Worst ending by being that bad at the game, you're immediately thrust without option into a BonusBoss fight against [[spoiler:Rozalin, who has returned to her true Overlord Zenon form]], a boss fight over 1500 levels higher than the final boss himself. The Tink ending is by far the worst and most ridiculous: get Tink up to level 2000 and have him kill the final boss. Not only is level 2000 waaaaaay over the final boss's head, but Tink is easily one of the absolute worst units the game has to offer.
** Good luck getting to the Land of Carnage in Disgaea 4 on your own. The Promotionhell Tickets and the X-Dimension were one thing, but you need to get a '''very specific''' set of ship parts in order to get there. Parts that can only be found by torturing specific monsters for specific locations.
** Disgaea D2 has some serious issues with unlocking the endings. A long list of endings will be available at the end of the game, but you'll likely notice that you barely have any. The truth is, the game has 3 endings for the final boss, and nearly a bad ending for every boss fight you die to. Given a player is more likely to abandon back to the castle and level up rather than pointlessly let a game over play, it's highly likely that a player would never know to purposefully die against many of the games bosses, worse yet the player ''has'' to do a new game+ every time is happens. The final boss endings are no better. The default is easy, kill the final boss, but the other two are annoying. One requires dying against the final form of the final boss, the other requires Etna having zero likability with Sicily, Laharl, and Flonne, and then choosing "Yes" at a prompt that doesn't appear if this condition hasn't been met.
** Most of Disgaea 5's endings require the same ridiculous ally kill requirement that Disgaea 2 does as well, coupled with dying to specific bosses like D2.

* Later versions of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' are just about unplayable without recourse to the game's extensive wiki.
* ''VideoGame/BattalionWars 2'' - in the mission Enemies Undone, if you didn't bother with the Xylvanians (most likely because they can't doing anything to you once you jump to the HQ) but wiped out all of the other enemies, you still won't get 100% in Power because you missed 8 infantry. Tip: they're all Xylvanians. However, a search reveals only 7 Grunts--still one short of the 100% in Power. It seems you get the 8th one by [[spoiler:blowing up the 3 digging machines by shooting the explosive canisters near them, something suggested in-game by Vlad responding to that by warning Frontier's commander that this helps invite Xylvania to retaliate one day with their full wrath]]. What makes this more fun is that in other missions, some enemies won't necessarily count for Power ''at all'', but you have to destroy all of the enemies that ''do'' count for Power if you want 100% in it.
** Turns out to involve a LuckBasedMission. But there is a more brutal Guide Dang It, which even badly hits a ''non-[[HundredPercentCompletion completionist]]'' player, in the first ''Battalion Wars'': the Y button's use in commanded units' AI. Units in Follow mode will be far from active in attacking as opposed to in Wait mode where they will actively attack enemy units. However, using the Y button to specify a location for (a) unit(s) to move to will have the unit(s) attack anything that they get near enough actively. The game never suggesting about this may be part of why X-Day is regarded as a ScrappyLevel ([[spoiler:directing the units to inside the Artillery's range would stop the units from being hammered and have them attack the infantry support]]), and this causes a massive difficulty gap for Road to Xylvania as well, due to the AA Vets otherwise refusing to actively attack the respawning ''four'' [[GoddamnedBats Gunships]].
* ''VideoGame/FrontMission 3'' has two completely different story arcs. How do you choose between one or the other? You choose to either go or not go with a character to a location. This happens right after the games first mission. The kick? One arc leads to the bad ending, the other to the good, and I believe one is MUCH more difficult than the other.
* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Game Boy Wars 3]]'' has a few medals as this. Granted, the game gives you no hints as to how to obtain any of them, but these are the ones that definitely fall into the trope:
** The Honorable Wounded Prize - ''lose'' a battle in Campaign. This is clearly a case of DoWellButNotPerfect.
** The Excellence Prize - clear all 45 Campaign maps in 54 battles. For starters, this automatically qualifies it as PermanentlyMissableContent. This is actually intended to keep players from LevelGrinding on early maps and having a bunch of promoted units to work with--not that it will help much on the harder levels. However, it's particularly bad because in order to unlock certain maps without repeating others, you must clear certain maps ''[[DoWellButNotPerfect slowly]]''. Which maps you'd have to clear quickly or slowly is its own Guide Dang It too.
** The 2 Engineer Medals - you must build certain terrain a certain number of times. This terrain must count as man-made and strengthening properties ''does not count toward this''.
** The All Unit Medal - you know how bad a Guide Dang It this is when even the maintainer of [[http://gbwn.main.jp/Medal_GBW3.htm Game Boy Wars Network]] hasn't obtained it and must only even know of its existence due to hacking on somebody's part. It is possibly done by [[GottaCatchEmAll building all 51 units]] due to cheat search results, but can't be sure with a Japan-only Revenue Enhancing Device being required for the mercenary units.
** Possibly the Reaper Medal (deny White Moon from surrendering 10 times).
* The Kingdoms expansion to ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' contains one of these in the Teutonic campaign. If you play as Denmark, you can form the Union of Kalamar which gives you access to three unique units as well as control of a large chunk of the map. How do you get this? Capture five cities that are listed at the beginning of the game, then kill the Norwegian King without accidentally taking over Norway. Sounds easy? Sure, if you're familiar with the location of medieval cities in the Baltic Sea. The five cities are mentioned once and you aren't given their locations. Three of them are relatively easy to find (they're right next to your starting location), one is on a island, and the last is tucked away across the map next to one of your enemies starting cities. Simply assassinating the king typically doesn't work due to the increased security and he's smart enough to not leave his citadel of doom. So, what you effectively need to do is attack the citadel, kill the king, and then retreat in order to ensure you don't accidental destroy Norway.
* The C64 game ''Castle of Terror'' was legendary for this. Every nook and cranny needed to be thoroughly examined to move forward in the game, and even then the crucial object you needed to pick up was often not actually mentioned. Unsurprising, given that the game's creator has confirmed that it is quite literally Unwinnable By Design.
* The third-to-last mission of ''[[VideoGame/RockRaiders Lego Rock Raiders]]'', Back to Basics, has Slimy Slugs respawn endless until you either complete or fail the level, which of course makes your mission of collecting forty-five energy crystal nigh-impossible. What the game ''doesn't'' tell you is that the slugs don't start spawning until you've collected about eleven crystals, which means all you have to do is disable the "collect crystals" priority before you get too many, wait until you find a large collection of crystals in one area, build a Tool Store next to them and turning the crystal collection back on.
** In the whole game, Chief only tells you ''three times'' about the monsters in that mission, the other times leaving them to be a nasty surprise. Oh, and one of those three times is a [[BlatantLies blatant lie]].
* There actually is a Real Life example of GuideDangIt in [[TabletopGame/{{Chess}} The Game of Kings]]; many non-professional players are unaware of a maneuver called En Passant (GratuitousFrench for "In Passing"), where if a player's pawn is in position to take an opponents pawn if it moves forward, and their opponent makes use of the pawn's ability to move two spaces on its first move, the pawn positioned to capture may move as if the defensive pawn had only gone forward one space, taking the opposing pawn and more than likely giving it a straight shot to the last row. (The opportunity to do so must be taken immediately or it is forfeited.) It's in almost every manual and guide out there, but no casual players ever really bother to read those, or if they do they soon forget about it.
* New players to ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' may be confused by the {{Random| Number God}}ised TechTree. It's almost impossible to have all the random techs available for research in any one game, meaning that one may not figure out all the routes to a certain tech or all the techs that branch off from one until many games' worth of experience (or consulting the wiki) later. The aversion of InterfaceSpoiler only makes it worse by preventing you from seeing the links.
* ''VideoGame/AgarestSenki'' as a whole is just ''insane'' to complete without a guide. Good luck finding the right answers to properly raise the affections of the three heroines of the generation you are on without looking at the wiki. Or better yet, try unlocking the True Ending without a guide. It will absolutely tear your hair off.
** Unlocking [=CGs=] is also a hard deal in this game because you have to be in a specific karma level, and you also need to have your heroine in a specific affection level just to even get those [=CGs=].
** Recruting the fifth generation characters as a whole are a GuideDangIt by themselves.
*** Recruiting one character [[spoiler:who by all rights betrayed you]] is pretty damn hard if you didn't know that you're not supposed to [[spoiler:kill him but instead save him.]] Nowhere does the conversation or the game tell you to [[spoiler:not kill Vashtor.]] You didn't get him? Say goodbye to your True Ending.
*** Having Dyshana in your party (not as a tag along member) requires you to be in Neutral at the start of the fifth generation. That means you need to end the fourth generation at the neutral phase. Nowhere does the game tell you that you need to be in that karma level to even recruit her.
*** Recruiting Beatrice in your party requires you to [[spoiler:save Nastassja back in the third generation.]] Although this one is easier than the rest, EXCEPT this is also the generation that has ThatOneBoss so you may end up level grinding and not knowing that you're not supposed to level grind on points.
*** Getting Murmina in your party has you go to take the longest route of the three routes you are presented. There are three routes to choose from and you need to have [[spoiler:less than 25 turns to reach her.]] Take more than that and she dies from her injuries.
* VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles has unlocking the [[OptionalPartyMember Optional Party Members]]. While Musaad [[spoiler:(start a NewGamePlus)]] and Audry [[spoiler:(get 10 medals)]] could be reasonably stumbled upon without a guide, Lynn and Emile both require you to unlock a specific character's hidden potential, then ''let them be KO'd'' (thankfully not killed, you are allowed to rescue them with the medic. In case you're wondering, the characters are [[spoiler:Karl and Oscar]] respectively.) and Knute requires you to [[spoiler: enter the command room with 1,000,000 in cash on hand.]] All these conditions make perfect sense once you find out the unlockee's personality, [[spoiler:Lynn is Karl's lover, Emile is Oscar's brother, and Knute is a MiserAdvisor]]) which you won't know that until ''after'' you unlock them.
** The two characters in question also consist of one of the worst members for one class and a squad member only mediocre at their actual role, but if you know all of their potentials in advance, they are potentially useful for a different role their class is normally weak at (so further example of GuideDangIt). Without consulting a guide, it's fairly unlikely one of them will ever be taken and the other might get taken, but overshadowed by other members of the class more adept at their actual role.

* The original ''Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers'' has a puzzle that can only be solved by exploiting a bug that makes the A.I. TooStupidToLive. The computer tends to use creature removal as soon as it has a target, even if there's no strategic reason to do so. You have to count on the A.I. using its Royal Assassin to kill a creature you've tapped for an ability (which accomplishes nothing) so it can't kill your biggest attacker during combat (which it needs to do to stay alive). You have no reason to think that it would react in this way unless you were aware of the bug.
* ''VideoGame/GenjuuRyodan'' does not leave any hints that [[spoiler:some units can be obtained only from castle capture instead of killing all enemies]].

* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', some paths in the RPG worlds that are required to progress are blocked off by walls. One tiny spot in a wall is breakable, and it's very hard to see or know that you have to examine it and break it down.
* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsterColiseum'', some monsters must meet certain conditions to be unlocked at Grandpa's shop, such as surrendering 20 times in Areas 2 or 3, or having less than 10 Wind monsters when you beat Area 1.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'': The second-last Soviet mission requires the player to capture the Chronosphere within the Allied base and prevent its subsequent destruction. Except capturing the Chronosphere produces the comically frustrating "Objective Reached. Mission Failed." voiceover, presumably due to a bug. The only way to progress is through a roundabout solution that essentially requires you to capture an Allied Barracks and then use your combined units to KillEmAll.
* In ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'', the only way your tribe can gain more land is by conquering it. Fair enough. But the option that lets you do that is also the only place in the entire game where it's mentioned such a thing is possible. And that option is only given after starting a raid on a tribe exactly adjacent to your own. The ''vast majority'' of tribes do not fit this criteria, so even though raiding is mandatory players have a tiny chance of discovering it.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Colobot}}'', there is a level where you have no bots and no supplies, yet you are ordered to destroy all the giant ants in the area. For some reason, during this one level the ants actually run away from you when you approach, which you need to take advantage of in order to lead them into killing themselves with mines. Considering that every other time, ants just shoot at you when you get close, there is no reason to expect this to happen.
* In ''VideoGame/KartiaTheWordOfFate'', getting the mighty Pair rune. It's only mentioned in the Japanese guide to the game, but to create the mightiest Phantoms and spells - your party can only use silk runes at Stage 15 (including for item crafting and altering terrain) and you can only attack the dragons there with physical attacks or Phantoms. Only then can the Pair rune show up. This led to MANY players in NA and EU at their wits' end trying to create the Fynus phantom.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper 2'' has 'elite' creatures, which are uniquely named, more powerful versions of the standard creatures, and summoning them relies on varying degrees of Guide Dang It. For the most part, summoning them requires building the room that normally attracts that kind of creature, but then putting another room's tiles in the corners, for example. However, the elite Dark Angel's layout takes the cake - a 5x5 Temple surrounded by four other different rooms in a very specific configuration. It should be added that a normal player will have no idea that the elite creatures exist in the first place, and even the player-written FAQ on elite creature summoning layouts lampshades that they had no idea how Bullfrog expected anyone to work it out by themselves.

* VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes and the VideoGame/DawnOfWar series leave mentioning many things out of the game, to varying degrees of obviousness. For ''Company of Heroes'', there's the 'Elite Armour' for certain infantry and for certain infantry to gain - it makes them be harder to hit and take less damage from most bullets, but always be hit by sniper fire and take more damage from flames. One would have a hard time realizing what infantry have this and what it does without looking into the MetaGame. In addition, while the supporting instructor/officer for the campaign usually suggests useful strategies eg. place guns here and build infantry to defend, occasionally you need to disobey the instructor and eg. spam armor. Retreating in VideoGame/DawnOfWar 2 is similar - doing so makes units run away back to their base, gradually getting fast and taking less damage from ranged attacks, but taken extra from melee. There is no indication anywhere why your units run through tons of ranged fire and survive, but get torn a new arse from melee attacks while retreating. And many units not made for melee get torn apart from melee units almost as fast anyway, so you'd also have a hard time to figure it out without going to the MetaGame also.

*** The only way to get one of the best units in the game [[spoiler:(Stefan, Chapter 15)]] is to send one of two very powerful characters [[spoiler: Lethe or Mordecai)]] to a specific space in the corner of a field way out of the way. The only hint to this is an Info conversation that hints to 'vague figures walking in the dunes to the north-east'. How many people discovered that one without a guide?

*** There are some C-Supports that can ''only'' be seen pre-timeskip. If you try to unlock the support during Part 2, you'll get a message saying, "It's too late to deepen this bond." This locks out an entire chain of supports in that file so the only way you'll see those supports is in a new game. In addition to this, many supports only occur past certain points in the story, mainly after the timeskip, and trying to access the support will give the message, "This bind needs more time to develop", which some players may interpret as just needing more support points. Some of the delayed supports make logical sense depending on the context of said support (for example, [[spoiler:Leonie being upset over Jeralt's death]], but you won't really know that until you get there.

*** Spell lists return from ''Gaiden[=/=]Echoes''. While a unit's aptitude for Faith and Reason at least hint at who has more or fewer spells, who gets what is far from straightforward, and some of the most desireable spells are hard to come by. For instance, the ever-useful Bolting can only be learned by two characters: one is available on every route but heavily slanted toward Faith magic, and the other can't be recruited by every house and isn't naturally inclined toward magic at all.

** ''FireEmblemThreeHouses'':

*** The optional characters recruited through upgrading "My Castle" fall into this. These characters require the players to '''a)''' be at a particular point in the story on a path where [[CaptainObvious they survive]], and '''b)''' have a specific structure upgraded to level three. There is pretty much ''no'' indication that one needs these particular structures upgraded to level three.

* In ''VideoGame/KartiaTheWordOfFate'', getting the mighty Pair rune. It's only mentioned in the Japanese guide to the game, but to create the mightiest Phantoms and spells - your party can only use silk runes at Stage 15 (including for item crafting and altering terrain) and you can only attack the dragons there with physical attacks or Phantoms. Only then can the Pair rune show up. This led to MANY players in NA and EU at their wits' end trying to create the Fynus phantom.

* Many of the games in the ''FireEmblem'' series feature strange and rather arcane ways to recruit various people to your army.

*** Benny's son, Ignatius, is also somewhat confusing as well - only due to the fact that the end of his paralogue still plays as normal even if he died during the stage. Fortunately a player can figure this out by themselves though simple logic (He dies during the chapter, and doesn't join? Oh, that must be why he's not in there), but this does not exactly explain ''why'' he didn't join under those circumstances.

*** In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler: Kaze]] will, by default, die at the end of Chapter 15, and [[spoiler: he]] must have an "A" support with the Avatar to prevent this. There is a ''small'' InterfaceSpoiler giving you a hint, but a player can ''easily'' miss this, ''especially'' if this is their first playthrough.[[labelnote:*]]Said InterfaceSpoiler is the fact that, if Kaze is "S" supported to anyone (''even the Avatar''), Midori's paralogue will not have unlocked when other "S"-supported characters had theirs unlocked.[[/labelnote]] There is also no indication that one absolutely ''needs'' this particular character to be at an "A" support by this particular point, and while it would make sense, this ''only'' makes sense once it's done and in hindsight.

** The desert chapters present in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', its remake, and all of the GBA games and both Tellius games (that are already annoying because you are fighting on sand, lowering your units' movements) have hidden items that can only be obtained by having units wait on a range of squares. The chances of doing so vary from game to game- in Mystery and its remake, it is 100% for everybody. In 6-9, only thieves have a 100% chance, and other units must rely on Skill or Luck (depending on the game). In ''Radiant Dawn'', not only do thieves lose their guarantee, but hidden items discovery is also influenced by [[ScrappyMechanic biorhythms]]- and hiddem items are ''everywhere'' (and some are really valuable, like Beastfoe, the Brave Bow, and the Rescue staff). ''New Mystery'' also has hidden items outside of the desert, but all tiles are marked (though the spaces are accessible only by certain classes and also indicate reinforcements will appear, so the fact they all hide valuable items is its own Guide Dang It).

*** ''Sword of Seals'' also had the path to Ilia vs. the path to Sacae, which is based on the levels of certain non-essential characters, as well as the slightly non-intuitive methods used to enter the Gaiden Chapters in which the legendary weapons are found. These range from the easy (Chapter 8x has no turn requirement, only that Lilina survives the chapter) to the arcane (Chapter 20x, the last chapter of the Ilia/Sacae split requires you to complete chapter 20 in 25 turns while recruiting the unit that can be obtained there and all earlier characters related to that character must also still be alive and recruited) to the absolutely infuriating (Chapter 16x requires an enemy unit that ''can't'' be recruited during the chapter to survive Chapter 16; said enemy will automatically join you at the start of 16x and must be used in said Gaiden Chapter.) And you must get ''all'' eight legendary weapons (and the Holy Maiden staff) and not have used up any of them (the staff, in particular, has only three uses), plus keep a certain unit alive, in order for the game to continue past Chapter 22.

*** In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler: Kaze]] will, by default, die at the end of Chapter 15, and [[spoiler: he]] must have an "A" support with the Avatar to prevent this. There is a ''small'' InterfaceSpoiler giving you a hint, but a player can ''easily'' miss this, ''especially'' if this is their first playthrough.[[labelnote:*]]Said InterfaceSpoiler is the fact that, if Kaze is "S" supported to anyone but the Avatar, Midori's paralogue will not have unlocked when other "S"-supported characters had theirs unlocked.[[/labelnote]] There is also no indication that one absolutely ''needs'' this particular character to be at an "A" support by this particular point, and while it would make sense, this ''only'' makes sense once it's done and in hindsight.

** In the final level, you will ultimately face [[spoiler: Soulblighter guarding the Great Devoid, the hole where you must throw Balor's head]]. He is massively strong and resilient, and it's impossible to defeat him in a regular fight. Most players might try to split their few units, trying to distract him with some while a dwarf pursues the mission objectives, but he is so fast that he will quickly turn on him. The intended way to play is hinted by the presence of a [[spoiler: journeyman]], since storywise [[spoiler: you were teleported directly from the ending of the previous mission, where you had no journeymen, so his appereance in hindsight is functional against Soulblighter]]. Some players could remember that [[spoiler: the journeyman's heal ability kills the undead, so he can be used to safely dispose of him with just one mandrake root]]. Obviously you should have spared one before the final encounter, but nothing tells you that, and if you had to use all you are screwed.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMTerrorFromTheDeep'': Its [[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense predecessor]] had rather simple and straightforward TechTree. Pick an artefact on a battlefield and study it to use it and reproduce it. Or a set of artefacts, like a gun and its clip, or a hull, an engine and a navigation panel of an UFO. Question prisoners to learn more about aliens -- as much as their professions allow. When several subjects had to be studied to unlock something, the research reports told you what to do to proceed further. While making the tree more interesting (i.e interconnected) was welcome, some things were counter-intuitive to old players, and others can make the game unwinnable.
** You cannot study aqua plastics no matter how many you collect. To study them you need a Deep One corpse, and samples of plastics aren't required. No explanation is given.
** To study a vibro blade (that unlocks better vibro weapons) you, obviously, need a vibro blade ''and'' a Calcinite corpse in storage at the same base. The problem is that vibro blades tend to appear much later, when Calcinites are replaced by stronger enemies, and the player has no reason to store corpses after studying them. And facing Lobstermen without vibro weapons makes them much harder than even the supposed ultimate enemies. Again, no explanation.[[note]]There's a workaround, which is even a bigger GuideDangIt. Either allow aliens to find and attack your base or just wait for a terror mission and don't shoot the USO down. There's a chance for it to be a mixed-species mission with some Calcinites.[[/note]]
** Similarly, to study a thermic lance you need a thermic lance and a Gill Man corpse. And to have studied a vibro blade, which at least makes sense.
** To research ion armour, you need a living Deep One prisoner ''and'' to have studied all other prerequisites before finishing studying Deep One. In version 1 ion armour is a dead end, but in version 2 it becomes a prerequisite for submarines, making this a GameBreakingBug.
** Interrogating a medic gives a report about a random alien species, and this could be Deep One. Some players report that studying Deep One becomes impossible, some say it can be done again.
** In version 1 to unlock magnetic navigation, study a Lobsterman navigator at a base that has "magnetic navigation" item. Since those are likely to be captured together, this isn't much of a problem.
** The most infamous GameBreakingBug: interrogating a Lobsterman commander unlocks T'leth and Leviathan, but interrogating a Tasoth commander unlocks only T'leth, and makes Leviathan inaccessible. In other words, you can research your ultimate goal, but can't design a ship to reach it.
** Version 2 fixed this bug by making it impossible to study a Tasoth commander -- which may lead to a wrong conclusion that some other prerequisite isn't met, an EmptyRoomPsych.
** MC reader and sub construction are unlocked only if you have them in storage the moment when you finish researching all prerequisites. Sub construction is necessary to finish the game (another GameBreakingBug) and MC is highly recommended, but they are very likely to be present at every research base, waiting for the player to unlock them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Colobot}}'', there is a level where you have no bots and no supplies, yet you are ordered to destroy all the giant ants in the area. For some reason, during this one level the ants actually run away from you when you approach, which you need to take advantage of in order to lead them into killing themselves with mines. Considering that every other time, ants just shoot at you when you get close, there is no reason to expect this to happen.

*** PlayedForLaughs with [[spoiler:Oliver]]. There are absolutely no hints that he's recruitable, he's the ''only'' boss in the entire duology that you can recruit on the battlefield, and [[spoiler: players of ''Path of Radiance'' will likely already have a major chip on their shoulder for having to slog through four levels of swamp to "kill" him in that game and assume he just needs to be killed for good this time]]. His join condition is consistent with his characterization, though the game makes no suggestions to try it: [[spoiler:Move Raphael into his range, and Oliver will go over and talk to him automatically.]] His HeelFaceTurn is so inexplicable that Ike [[DeadpanSnarker snarks about it]], and he goes on to become TheFriendNobodyLikes. Even the endgame bosses express ''extreme confusion'' at him being in your army.
** The desert chapters present in every game from 6 onward (that are already annoying because you are fighting on sand, lowering your units' movements) have hidden items that can only be obtained by having units wait on a range of squares, with a random chance of finding them each turn. The 10th game has these hidden items in EVERY chapter; naturally, finding any of them requires a guide or simply stumbling upon them. The game also doesn't tell you that thief characters have a 100% chance of finding these hidden items, compared to everyone else's percentage chance based on a skill that caps at 30, and that would require serious grinding and luck at that point in the game.

** ''Sword of Seals'' has something along the lines of this for the recruitment of a certain Paladin, who is considered to be one of the best pre-promoted characters. You have to drop one of your defenseless characters (Either a bard or a dancer, both incapable of attacking) next to a swarming mob of enemies. (6 to 8 cavaliers around the paladin you're trying to promote) While the storylines of the characters hint the bard can accomplish this (the paladin being an Etrurian general, and the bard is [[spoiler:the supposedly dead prince of Etruria, who had merely faked his death]]) you can only have either the bard or the dancer in your party, and the only connection between the general and the dancer is a cutscene where it's revealed that she's the adopted daughter - not of him, but of a different Etrurian general.

*** And even then, there's ''still'' a couple of oddities with the My Castle recruits. For instance, some characters join after different chapters between routes, even if the players had their respective equipment upgraded earlier; Yukimura ''won't'' join in ''Revelation'' even if the item that caused him to join in ''Birthright'' is upgraded; and, finally, one structure in particular belongs to a character that will not join in ''Revelation'' ([[spoiler:Izana, who falls victim to a PlotlineDeath]]), so the players may not think to upgrade it... only, it now causes ''another'' character to join instead ([[spoiler:Hayato's adoptive father Fuga]]), even if some players may think to ignore it on this route.

** ''Fates'' is significantly better with this trope, although there are some examples:

** MC reader and sub construction are unlocked only if you have them in storage the moment when you finish researching all prerequisites. Sub construction is necessary to finish the game (another GameBreakingBug) and MC is highly recommended, but they are very likely to be present at every research base, waiting for the player to unlock them.

*** Cormag, [[PermanentlyMissableContent the only character able to promote into Wyvern Lord]], can be a huge pain in the butt to recruit at times. In Eirika's route, if the cast defeats the enemy units too quickly, the player will simply never get to see him arrive and be recruited by Eirika. On Ephraim's path, he is on the map right away in the chapter he can be recruited in on Ephraim's path -- but he can't be recruited by Ephraim - he must be talked to with either his mentor Duessel (who must be recruited first) or [[spoiler: his potential girlfriend Tana]] who begins the stage ''at the other side of the map'' and can be targeted by boats that double as ballistas.

*** Chapter 21 of Birthright features a stage gimmick that isn't explained. The players have to use dragon veins to either open up a shortcut or flood the area full of lava. The problem is that the method to tell which will do which isn't explained, and the player has to take a look at ''where'' the veins are to tell which will do which (underneath a glowing orb on the nearby statue). Furthermore, the game doesn't tell that one can can try again after a few turns, and since reusable dragon veins are rare, a first-time player can easily think they've made the map unwinnable (without fliers).

** In both ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'', nothing in the game tells the players which characters learn which spells, which can be a problem when deciding which class to promote Villagers to. Out of the starting Villagers, [[BookWorm Kliff]] is the best fit for the Mage class due to getting more spells, and [[GirlNextDoor Faye]] from ''Echoes'' learns a unique White Magic spell called Anew that acts as the game's only equivalent of the [[ExtraTurn Dancer class.]] (Though some consider it AwesomeButImpractical, as each Anew cast [[CastFromHitpoints takes away a hefty chunk of the girl's HP]]) If Faye's promoted to anything other than Cleric, the player will need to use a rare (and of present DLC-exclusive) Pitchfork to remedy this. In Kliff's case, the only hints at his natural aptitude for magic come from an easily missed comment by Alm[[note]](checking the wall of Mycen's house has Alm notice a burn mark that was caused by Kliff practicing magic)[[/note]] and his epilogue, and there's no hints to Faye's unique spell at all (which again, some consider not worth it). Additionally, some Mercenaries get unique spells if the players loop them back to Villager and then into Mage, like Saber being the only male to get the Seraphim spell.

*** Cormag can only be recruited in one chapter, in which if Eirika and Co. defeat the enemy units too quickly, the player never get to see him arrive. [[PermanentlyMissableContent This is the only character able to promote into Wyvern Lord.]] (Note this is only in Erika's route -- Cormag's on the map right away in the chapter he can be recruited in on Ephraim's path -- but that makes it no less frustrating since he can't be recruited by Ephraim - he must be talked to with Duessel, who must be recruited first, or [[spoiler: Princess Tana]] who begins the stage at the other side of the map.)

*** The chapter itself can be trivialized by warping over one of a few characters to talk to the boss, who then joins the party, causing all the other enemies to leave. Incidentally, this brings up another Guide Dang It; Lara, a Thief obtained on in the game, has a hidden class change that can only be obtained by having her talk to the boss. While it's obvious that she can talk to him (if she's brought for the mission), the class change bit is only vaguely hinted at. This class change is also the ''only'' way one can get a [[spoiler: Dancer]] in this game. Most other Fire Emblem games have a character of that class automatically join the party.

*** Prince Chrom must be married to either of his prospect five girlfriends (Sumia, Sully, Maribelle, the Female Avatar or Olivia) by the end of the first arc. Many people have found themselves getting him hitched to a [[PlayerCharacter Female Avatar]] by complete accident. Or marrying him to said Female Avatar through their supports, which some decry for their polemic writing and OOC behavior. Or have him "steal" a girl they were planning on marrying themselves. Or missing out on hitching him to Olivia, who joins the cast ''at the very last stage of said first arc.'' While it does make sense in-story ([[spoiler:Emmeryn has just died a couple chapters prior, which makes her brother and heir Chrom next in line to the throne, ''plus'' the current arc's clearly coming to a close]]), Chrom is still the only ''forced'' and timed marriage in the game, so 1) it can very easily catch players off-guard on their first run, and 2) the players pretty much have to plan ahead for it with any of his prospective wives.

** In both ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'', nothing in the game tells the players which characters learn which spells, which can be a problem when deciding which class to promote Villagers to. Out of the starting Villagers, [[BookWorm Kliff]] is the best fit for the Mage class due to getting more spells, and [[GirlNextDoor Faye]] from ''Echoes'' learns a unique White Magic spell called Anew that acts as the game's only equivalent of the [[ExtraTurn Dancer class.]] (Though some consider it AwesomeButImpractical, as each Anew cast [[CastFromHitpoints takes away a hefty chunk of the girl's HP]]) If Faye's promoted to anything other than Cleric, the player will need to use a rare (and of present DLC-exclusive) Pitchfork to remedy this. In Kliff's case, the only hints at his natural aptitude for magic come from an easily missed comment by Alm[[note]](checking the wall of Mycen's house has Alm notice a burn mark that was caused by Kliff practicing magic)[[/note]] and his epilogue, and there's no hints to Faye's unique spell at all. Additionally, some Mercenaries get unique spells if the players loop them back to Villager and then into Mage, like Saber being the only male to get the Seraphim spell.