Radiant Dragon

Some earlier FE games actually did do exactly this. In Sacred Stones for example, many promoted classes had base weapon EXP equal to C for their primary weapon, and D for their secondary weapon. Heroes, for example, had a base C in Swords and D in Axes. So if you promoted Garcia (a Fighter) into a Hero, he would immediately start at C Swords. In Shadow Dragon, you could actually gain and lose weapon EXP by reclassing to different promoted classes. For example, Heroes in Shadow Dragon have base D Swords, while Swordmasters have base C Swords. So if a character changes from a Hero into a Swordmaster, they might actually go up a rank due to the extra Sword rank EXP, and visa-versa if they go from Swordmaster to Hero. I'm honestly not sure why Awakening and Fates went the route of making all classes have zero base weapon EXP. Maybe to encourage grinding?

I would like it if the convoy was an 'additional' unit that didn't take up a slot like Merlinus in FE7, but could move around the map normally from the start. It really doesn't make much sense logistically to have the convoy on the Lord.

That I don't remember. The time frames are probably similar, but you could always check a site that shows when enemy reinforcements spawn, since I believe the enemies that go after the villages are all reinforcements (I'm pretty sure this is true of A route, not 100% sure about B route, though).

I'm assuming you're talking about the Western Isles split, and not the Ilia/Sacae one? B route gives you Bartre and Elphin, as well as an extra Swordreaver, Barrier, Elixir, Red Gem, and Energy Ring. For comparison, A route gives you Echidna and Lalum, as well as 5000G, Restore, Axereaver, and Angelic Robe. Everything else important (Speedwings, Wyrmslayer, Brave Axe, promotion items, etc.) you get in both routes.

To be fair, Marcus is the best Sword and Lance user in the game, also. It's not like Hector or the other Paladins are bad or anything (Dart's pretty meh, though), Marcus is just that good.

Do you also kill the Bishops that attack you in Chapter 22, then? What about the untransformed laguz in 15, do you spare them? I could turn your argument around if you'd like: "Because Chapter 22 is asking you to turn the other cheek... in a game with permanent death. I shouldn't have to spell out what's wrong with this picture. It doesn't help that Bishops are rather lucrative in the EXP department. Compare to Chapter 15, where it's obvious that the BEXP is more valuable because your team mostly hasn't promoted yet, so they get more out of the BEXP." Not to mention that each Laguz gives twice as much BEXP as each Priest does, and you get an additional bonus if you spare them all.

Battle Before Dawn does not require a turn-by-turn guide for anything. You have 15 turns, which is more than enough; you can get to all the NPCs in half that, which leaves ample time to loot the treasures at your leisure. No turn-by-turn guide is going to guarantee Jaffar's survival, although it does help to get to him as quickly as possible to reduce his chance of death. Why the game doesn't give you the Rescue staff before this chapter is beyond me. At least we're in agreement that the chapter sucks, though. Stefan grabs the White Gem, and any reasonably durable infantry unit can get the Statue Frag. Sothe and Volke split grabbing everything else. Yes, there's a chance of failure, but that's par for the course for low-turncount strategies (although since the Gem and Frag are only useful for extra cash, they're hardly essential). I personally prefer taking a little longer to get Volke down to the Frag, which gives Stefan and Jill three or four turns to find the Gem, which isn't bad. Actually, after dropping Lethe, Jill can probably fly back to grab Volke after he gets the Boots and drop him in range of the Gem, while Sothe hoofs it over to the Frag, but he might have survivability issues, since there's a Tiger down there if I recall correctly (and Sothe can't grab the Boots since there's a Tiger up there, also). You could have Jill grab Sothe and have Volke get the Frag, but that might take longer than 7 turns, I don't remember.

How do sparing the laguz and getting all of the treasure in chapter 15 'conflict with each other' any more than sparing the Priests/Bishops and getting all of the treasure in chapter 22? Both chapters have enemies to spare that can't attack you, but chapter 15 gives you much more room to maneuver and position your units since there aren't a bunch of walls in the way, and the desert works in your favor here by reducing the Tiger's movement range (which are the only dangerous enemies on the map). Chapter 22 is easier, sure, but that doesn't inherently make it 'better designed'. I do think 22 is a better chapter, but only slightly, since both chapters present different challenges to the player despite having similar objectives. I'm not sure what point Rezzy is trying to make with his Battle Before Dawn example (which, on Hector Hard Mode, is a legitimately poorly designed map), as you do not need a highly optimized strategy to save all of the laguz and get all of the treasure, especially since you can unequip your weapon in PoR. The turncount for max 'turns to clear' BEXP is kinda tight (only 7 turns), but the penalty for going a couple turns over isn't that big. I think an optimized clear of chapter 15 with all treasure only takes four turns (unless Lethe or Mordecai can reach Stefan before that?), so a non-optimal clear has plenty of wiggle room, in terms of turncount. We're straying rather far off topic though, so this may not be the best place to continue this discussion.

There are plenty of ways to tackle that map, full-on pacifist is merely one of them, and completely optional besides. You can also only go after the laguz that get in the way, or you can kill everything for the extra combat EXP. You can try to get all of the treasure, you can only get some of it, or you can not bother trying to get any of it. You can run the map quickly with fliers and mages, or you can move slowly as a group towards Muarim with your favorite infantry units. The starting values of the enemy's transformation gauges are not random, either. They were chosen to prevent you from getting completely swarmed by enemies you're trying to spare. With smart placement, base level Sothe can run around for basically the entire chapter with zero chance of death. PoR's desert map is very well designed. God forbid a strategy game would make you think a little to get the best reward.

I personally love the challenge of getting all of the items and Stefan while also getting max BEXP on that map, since it makes that chapter much more interesting than basically every other desert map in the series. There are also plenty of guides and videos showing how to do it if you don't want to spend a ton of time trying to puzzle through it yourself. Most strategies for finishing the map quickly do require a strong Marcia or Jill that can ORKO the boss, though. Too bad we don't get Bolting until the chapter after this one.

Tormod gets my vote as the best option for primary mage. That two extra movement more than makes up for any minor statistical gains Soren might have over him (and Ilyana only beats him in Skill and Res). It lets him reach more enemies than the other mages can as well as give him more flexibility in who he can heal once he promotes. His only disadvantage compared to Soren and Ilyana is that he joins later than them at a low level, but he joins immediately after one of the most lucrative BEXP maps in the game, and he's the perfect choice to use some of that on to get him up to speed immediately. I would also recommend using Calill as your second mage when you need/want one, since she joins with excellent bases and requires zero investment to become a part of your team, letting you use your resources (combat EXP, BEXP, stat boosters, etc.) on the rest of your team to make them stronger. However, using one of Soren/Ilyana and then bringing on Tormod later is also an option if you want to be training a mage in the early game, but I feel that Tormod will make them look pretty bad come late game when the maps get bigger.

Authority only matters for the unit leading the party for that chapter. Ike and Micaiah in their respective chapters (although Micaiah doesn't have any, unfortunately), Elincia in 2-P and 2-E, Nephenee in 2-1, Lucia in 2-2, Geoffrey in 2-3 and 3-9, and Tibarn in 4-2 and 4-5. Ike is considered the commander for the Tower, so everyone gets the bonuses for his stars there. For every other playable character with authority (Sanaki, Caineghis, Renning, etc.), it is purely cosmetic. Note that enemies (and NPCs also, I believe) get the same boosts from their commander's stars as well, which can be particularly problematic in Micaiah's chapters. Interestingly, the Crimean Royal Knights that join partway through 2-E do not get any bonuses from Elincia for that map, since they're considered to be under Geoffrey's command, but since he's not leading the party that chapter his stars do not apply. I don't remember if this happens anywhere else, though.

Doesn't Naga say that her's and Grima's powers are roughly equal in Awakening? In the Hidden Truths DLC, Anankos mentions that Naga's power to transport the children in Awakening through time leaves him in awe, which I can only take to mean that he believes he is weaker than her.

The Brave Sword only has 5 less hit than the Vague Katti, and 10 more hot than Alondite, so you may as well bless that one. Urvan is hilariously accurate at 110 hit for some reason, though. The Wishblade also has 20 more hit than the Brave Lance.

To be fair, he needs capped strength, Blood Tide, and a refresh to accomplish this. @Quintessence: Blessing a Wyrmslayer is mostly just a draft strategy though, where you don't have access to all of the Laguz Royals, and have more Endgame slots than you do drafted units. It can be nice to have if you're against bringing any laguz royals to Endgame for some reason, though (although Ike can not bless a Wyrmslayer himself, as he is forced to bless Ragnell). Also, I'm pretty sure Auras actually have 90 HP, so none of the calcs you listed can actually ORKO them. I think only Cain, Giffca and Brave Axe!Reavers (all with double Blood Tide) can ORKO the non-Cover Auras without a Triangle Attack.

Tanith does just fine on the Greil route, flying units can go in whichever army they please. However, it's not super important who Ike supports since Ike needs very little help from supports, but almost everyone wants his Earth bonuses. I would recommend going with someone who joins early in Part 3, to build the support as quickly as possible. Mia, Boyd or Nephenee are great choices since they join early and have the same movement and role that Ike does. Oscar and Titania also want Earth, but it's probably better to let them support each other since again, they both have the same move. Haar and Gatrie both prefer bonuses to Attack and/or Defense instead, since they have the concrete durability survive with out good Avoid. Ike doesn't want to support a Laguz either, since you want Ike to be able to counter 1-2 range enemies in Part 4 once he gets Ragnell, but enemies will ignore him and go straight for his partner if they don't also have good 1-2 range. Non-frontline units like Mist/Rhys, Soren, Shinon/Rolf, or Heather are also not great options since they'll hold Ike back while you're trying to build/use the support, since you don't want them attacked. I would not recommend Soren as a partner for Ike unless you want a little extra dialogue at the end of the game. While the bonuses Soren gives are exactly what Ike wants (Attack + Avoid), Ike wants to be on the frontlines tanking, but Soren does not have the Avoid or concrete durability to survive next to him on the enemy phase.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that in Revelation Ryoma does feel something for Scarlet? I don't think that there's any hints of a relationship between the two in Birthright though, from either of them.

Aqua and Camilla are two of the best characters in the game, so you're good there.

Is he even that old? I imagined him to be in his 30's. His support with M!Corrin seems to imply that he was somewhat prodigious when he was young, which would explain how he came to be in such an influential position at his age. I think Reina is also probably in her 40's, rather than 50's. Then again, anime logic, so who knows.

Very true, however he can use them to get the EXP he needs to get a few more levels if he's able to actually kill them, which would theoretically let him throw down against real enemies. It doesn't make him good, just less bad.

It lets him double Soldiers, which helps him snowball into more levels and hopefully doubling more things. I wouldn't say it saves him, but rather it's his only shot at maybe becoming useful one day. Basically, if he gets speed on his first level up, he can contribute and has a chance to continue to grow out of his awful speed base; if he doesn't get it on that first level, then don't bother. I definitely agree with Isadora being great immediately, especially if you're pouring most of your Lyn Mode EXP into Sain to promote him with the Ch.9 Knight's Crest. Plus, Kent has a habit of always eating a Thunder crit somewhere between Caelin and the Dragon's Gate in all of my playthroughs. He's still really good, though, and on average will turn out better than Isadora. Just personal preference. Not sure what makes training Cavaliers difficult in FE7, though? That game is actually really kind to them outside of like, three chapters.

That's almost certainly Sylvia, as she joins at the same time as Levin, and you recruit Fury immediately afterward.

Takumi and Soleil being divisive is not very surprising, but I didn't expect people to hate on Rhajat and Peri so much. Also, no Yukimura love whatsoever is a damn shame. The discrepancies between the male and female Corrin/Kana are interesting as well. Not the fact that the females are more popular, but rather that the males got so many 'least favorite' votes.

If I'm not mistaken, my last playthrough ended up like this: 1st - Titania (by a landslide) 2nd - Marcia 3rd - Ike 4th - Oscar 5th - Jill

If Ike is capped in strength, he should kill the Black Knight in five turns without any skill procs whatsoever, as long as Ike doesn't miss and attacks each turn. As for Ena, she's not great but she's a passable tank in the final chapter. Her damage will not be good without lots of investment though, from what I remember.