In the chapter where you first meet Pent and Hawkeye, go near the fossils on the ground with a thief character to find some rare items. There are two items by each fossil.
Control Enemy
Have anyone of your characters lay a mine in front of an ememy unit. When the enemy unit steps on the space where the mine is a purple-ish colored fire will come up out of that spacce. When you see the fire, turn of your game and wait for 3 seconds, then turn the game back on. You will see the fire come out again and after the fire damages the enemy unit you can control the enemy's units until the end of the turn. Turning the game while enemy units are in your control cancels the cheat and ALL enemy units are then no longer under your command!
Extra Exp.
On any level that has an armory and the boss is sitting on a throne/gate/ect., bring any unit with a very high defense (Wallace or Oswin are the best). Move this unit to attack of the boss and let the boss attack him. Heal our unit whenever you need to but DON'T kill the boss, disarm your person, stand back and wait for the boss to heal, whatever needs to be done so that the boss lives. Eventually the boss's weapon(s) will break, then attack the boss and let him heal, your units will gain some descent exp. for dealing damage to a boss. Let the boss heal after every attack. Your people's weapons will break too, just go over and buy more, this will take a lot of time and money, but you can raise your people safely and sort-of quickly.
Get Guy
In chapter 13, guard Matthew until he reaches a swordsman called Guy. Let him talk to Guy. Then, he'll join your side because he owes matthew his life. He is a good swordsman. Note: If Guy is killed by one of your men, you can't get him. Only Matthew is able to get Guy on your side.
Get Jaffar to Join a Party
Get Nino to join your party and in the same chapter have Nino talk to Jaffar.
Get Legault
In chapter 19, an enemy theif known as Legault will betray Black Fang. Have Lyn talk to Legault and he will be persuaded to join your group.
Get Merlinus
In order to get Merlinus, complete the side quest that comes after chapter 13, the one where you must protect Merlinus for seven turns. If you successfully complete the side quest, you'll get the option to dispatch Merlinus, a merchant who will store some of your items when you can't carry them. Just follow the instructions that follow after you get merlinus.
Get Nino
In Chapter 26 you have to defend the prince of Bern. While doing this, have Lyn, Hector, or Elimood talk to Nino. After a brief disscussion she will join the team.
Getting Raven And Lucius
On chapter 16, the one where you regain Lyn's castle you can get Raven the mercenary and also have the monk Lucius rejoin your party. To do this bring Pricilla in the battle. Protect her until she reaches her long lost brother Raymond (Raven). Hopefully you do this before the soliders escape or they might hurt him. Let Pricilla talk to raven and get him on your team. Then let Raven talk to Lucius. They are great characters to add to the team.
Good party
Since you cant bring every person on a chapter that you have gotten, choosing the people to bring can be critical, if you choose the wrong people...
In your party, try having as many varietys with weapons as possible, because then youll have a good advantage all the time. My party recommendations are:
MUST HAVE: Guy(myrmidon-swordmaster)
Priscilla(troubadour-valkery)
Hector(lord-great lord)
Karel(already swordmaster) (depending on chapter)
Kent(cavalier-paladin)
Rebecca(archer-sniper)
Canas(shaman-druid)
Lucius(monk-bishop)
Eliwood(lord-knight lord)
Jaffar(already assasin)
Matthew( thief-(would not do)assasin)
Oswin(knight-general)
Farina(pegasus knight- falcoknight)
Merlinus(merchant-transporter)
In chapter 23, when you are fighting against Lloyd(if the sum of the levels of your lords are below 50, not sure if the same thing is in linu's map), the requirments for this is very simple for getting high levels. the char you want to level, a valkery(or the level before that, or any healer), and a extra char of any sort you think can be wasted, and have all the enemies defeated other than Lloyd/Linu, there are some vendors on the bottom right of the game screen, have your healer stand next to the arena, then have the char you want to level go into the area with full health, then fight. normally at a fight like that, and you have full health, you can't lose, so you can keep on fighting in arena, and after the fight heal with the healer(if the char is hurt too much, used another healer with physics). because you can run out of healing staff, use the last char to run between the healer and the vendor. because of the levels of the enemies that you're fighting against is about 1 level higher than you, you can always get about 50 exp from each fight, meaning you get a level every 2 fights, very good for reaching that impossible lv 20. and since you'll never run out of money(because of the wager), healing items(the extra char running back and forth), and life(keeps healing), and turns of doing nothing(linu/Lloyed doesn't move through the chapter, they just stand there and attack if you're standing next to it, and you're supposed to have all the normal enemies and reinforcements taken care of)you can get higher levels faster than fighting normal enemies. PS: if you think you're losing in the arena, and it happens because of weapon disadvantage, and the char might die, press B and get out of the fight, heal, and come back later, you'll lose little money, which will be lost even if you lose the figh, and you can save the trouble of restarting the chapter eventhough you're almost done because you don't want to lose a character and want to have a perfect game.
Hidden Characters
Harken: At the level where it snows, after it starts to snow the 2nd time, if you have not killed more than 3 upgraded enemies (Sniper, Druid, etc.) Harken (a Hero) will appear in the upper left hand corner. Talk to him with Eliwood, Lowen, or Marcus and he will join your party.
Canas: Canas specializes in magic like Flux and Luna, the opposite of Erk's abilities. As you progress through the game you will eventually be asked to "Accept this side Quest?" When you are asked for the first time, select yes. You will be taken to a level that requires you to defeat pirates in order to get passage to an island. When you begin that level head on straight up. Visit the first or second house. Talk to Canas, he'll join your group.
Dart: Dart is in the same level that you'll find Canas. DO NOT fight him or his capitan, just talk to the capitan. Dart will join your group within the next few levels. You may be asked to accept another side quest. If so select yes.
Legalt: Legalt is a thief like Matthew. In chapter 19: Dragon's Gate, you will notice a thief in a red coat running around. He'll try to open two chests on the castle's right side, and will run back to where he first appeared and disappear. Use Lyn or Eliwood to confront him. Talk to him and he will join your group.
Mercenary Raven
Early in Eliwood's story, you will have a mission where you recapture Lyn's castle. A mercenary named Raven, (pointed out in a cut scene) is in actuality Priscila's brother. Have her talk to him to convince him to join your cause.
Nino
When you go to protect the prince, talk to Nino on the way with one of the lords.
Play As Hector As The Main Character
Beat Eliwood's Game and watch the entire ending. Then, save your game and then you can play as Hector.
Return To Game Fast
When you turn off the game and want to return to your game fast. First hold down start, select, A and B. Then let go of B. You will return to the last played game.
Secret Shops
Secret Shops are hidden on the maps and can only be found by a character with a Member's Card special item, which can be stolen from an enemy in chapter 19. These Secret Shops sell high-level weapons and even items to promote your characters.
Chapter 19 - One is in the clearing between the two broken walls above the room with the two treasure chests in the upper left corner of the map, and the other is behind a wall in the lower-right corner.
Chapter 21 - The empty room in the upper-left corner of the map.
Chapter 23 - There are two versions of this map. If the boss is Linus, the shop will be on the right side of the map, on the island. Otherwise, it will be in the trees above the lone house slightly left of center.
Chapter 29 - In the two-by-two square area left of the lone treasure chest at the bottom-left. You must use a warp staff to get there.
Chapter 30 - In the very upper-right corner of the map, among the trees.
Side Quests
After you complete certain chapters, you'll have the option to go on side quests. There, you'll be able to gain exp. points, items and new companions.
The Saga Continues
After Lyn seizes the throne from Lord Lundgren you will start a new journey with Eliwood.
Unlock Bonuses
Beat the game once to unlock all of the Extras in the menu. This includes Tactician Rating, Sound Test and Movie Gallery.
Unlock Hard Mode
To unlock Hard Mode, beat the game once.
Valorous Roland Chapter 28
Mclose enough to a lava square to make an enemy stop on it to deal damage to him.
Weaken Stronger Bosses
An easy way to defeat strong bosses use indirect combat before using Lyn or another direct attack. In level 10 you can also pick up a steel bow for Wil and Rath. This helps a lot against final bosses.
Weapon Advantage
In the game there is a weapon triangle. The triangle is axes are stronger than lances, lances are stronger than swords and swords are stronger than axes. Using this method will defeat your opponents quicker and easier.
Yet More Hidden Characters
Guy: Talk to him with Matthew.
Erk: Talk to him with Serra.
Priscilla: Visit the village in the same level with Erk.
Raven: Talk to him with Priscilla.
Lucius: Talk to him with Raven.
Fiora: Talk to her with Florina.
Rath: Talk to him with Lyn.
Hawkeye: Talk to him with Eliwood.
Wallace: Talk to him with Lyn, Kent, Sain, Wil, or Florina.
Geizt: Talk to him with Dart.
Vaida: Talk to her with Eliwood.
Renault: Visit the ruins in the top left corner of Chapter 30.