First time 3ds owner and first Fe game ever for me. Question. Am I doing myself a disservice by skipping all the cut scenes and just waiting to fight? I sometimes like to watch the animation because I think it's very well done, but the story side of the game I have no interest in. I'm still early in the game, ch 5 or so. Should I start paying attention to the story?
You really need to pay attention to the text, you may miss some characters because you decided to skip the chat and never got the hint.
I got the game yesterday and on chapter 3. Hard/Classic. Some of my units are lagging behind in levels because I don't want to send them out to get demolished. Any tips? Any particular characters I should be focusing on the most? And should I do any forging yet?
1) That's normal, there is not enough game in the main campaing to train everyone without going out of your way to grind random battles. Pick the ones you like the most and ignore the rest. If you do decide to replay the game, pick a different set of units to train.
2)If playing on normal/hard: DO NOT USE FREDERICK. He is a overleveld underpowered unit. His actual level is = current level + 20, so he looks good but his stats are shit for his actual level, and since he is really over level 20 he gets little exp per kill compared to other units, so he will just eat exp and not grow at all. Imagine a random RPG, the dev gives you a +30 level unit along your main party. This level 30 unit is strong compared to the others but his stats are like a level 15-16 of the same class. He, being at such a high level will barely get exp per fight/kill. That's Frederick.
On the other hand, Donny is a beast, babysit him till level 10 (or 15 if you want to go for his second skill) and turn him into a Merceneary, he will proced to destroy everything and everyone. From that point he can solo the entire game, final boss included.
3) I would not bother with foging (unless it's to get a stronger lance for donnel)