Theodora route trade-offs: saving game turns also costs your own timeMinor spoilers
Gifts, boxes, dispatches, and dungeons can all be optimized, but repeated travel and reloads consume substantial real playing time.
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Assign training routes before recruiting the same characters again
The queen’s route already has many early recruits. I previously made 
Noctula a 
Charioteer on 
Cai’s route. Looking back at the character’s fist-focused strengths, that may not have been necessary. 
Alexandra already favors flying, so she need not remain tied to chariots for mount growths either. Deciding whom to use and where to train them is easier than recruiting everyone you see.
The same applies to gifts. At first, I did not know who could join or when, so I bought gifts for whoever appealed to me, right when money was tightest. Once I understood requirements, found gifts opened relationships and meals supplied support, reducing spending. The queen already has plenty of early units, so there is no need to keep recruiting everywhere later.
Weapon box contents are fixed at purchase
Weapon box contents are determined when purchased. Repeatedly opening an owned box does not change them. To reroll, return to before the purchase and buy again.
Open crates you have already bought early to see their contents. 
Mini Bow’s close-range counters appeal to high-Strength Charioteers, but rerolling one for each of more than ten Charioteers takes too many attempts. If a few tries fail, I stop.
Advanced boxes can contain good weapons such as 
Greatsword, 
Levin Sword, and Cleansing Blade, but these are obtainable during normal progress too. 
Pilum and 
Sagaris appeal because they are higher-tier throwing weapons available when silver weapons are unavailable in Part 1, and many classes can use them. If spending time rerolling, prioritize items difficult to replace at your current stage.
Accessories must justify their Speed cost
Early Build is limited, and many accessories reduce Speed. A small stat bonus is not worth losing follow-ups or Avoid. Equip them when they prevent counters, restore HP, or serve a clear immediate purpose. Later, higher Strength and Build reduce Weight’s impact and expand the options.
Larger rosters increase the training burden
A route with twelve units often deploys only six for routine content, requiring constant rotation to keep levels even. Recruiting the same person across four routes adds further burden. I want every recruit to matter without treating them as expendable, so I need restraint with repeated recruitment.
For battalions, establish enough numbers first. Give everyone an available battalion, then dispatch extras for materials. Once supplies are comfortable, use the database to target desired unit types. Mounts affect growths and deserve early selection. At this stage, battalions mainly need adequate coverage.
Dungeon refreshes and dispatch round trips
Short of 
Sandworm Meat, I reentered a cleared cave. Refreshable crystals and boxes returned, but enemies did not. The meat originally came from sandworms, so “boxes can reopen” does not mean “all combat drops can be farmed again.” If the map already marks all enemies defeated, there is no reason to return for that same group.
Dispatches also need round-trip calculations. Upgrading several material points and dispatching along an existing route saves travel. A dedicated five- or six-turn round trip may yield only two or three times a personal search and may miss the target material. That is not necessarily faster than several more searches in place.
Saving game turns can consume real time
Repeatedly entering some dungeons yields plenty of ore in one turn, saving in-game turns. But I repeatedly walk in, collect boxes, and leave, spending my own time. Once this becomes “spending real time to save game time,” the benefit is less clear.
There is so much training content, yet the difficulty may not demand doing everything. Even without maximizing every +1 and +2, your stats may already be enough. Still, having invested time, I want details done well. Sleeping straight to the main quest feels wasteful, while repeated optimization is tiring. That is the tension: these activities are manageable, but doing them poorly feels bad, and doing them carefully takes too much time.
