Cyana

Birthright first was a good move imo. I played conquest first and absolutely loved it, and was excited to play birthright... but it was so underwhelming. It didn't really matter what I did with my units, because they'd be fine, whereas with conquest I had to think and strategise more. As for whether birthright hard is equivalent to conquest normal... it's hard to say. I haven't played either on normal to compare, but from what I understand, birthright increases its difficulty almost exclusively by upping enemy stats, whilst conquest's difficulty comes more from enemy skills and map design. They aren't really equivalent because they have different approaches to difficulty. If you're nervous about conquest, just go in on casual to get used to it. If you can do conquest hard tho you'll be fine with birthright on any difficulty. As for ships for Corrin, it really depends on either who you like best (because optimisation really isn't necessary on lower difficulties), or who your boon/bane and alternate class get the most benefit from. You can use it to give a nohrian class to someone who wouldn't normally get it, for example, opening up some skills. In general I'd say, if you're using a physical Corrin go for a physical partner, and if you're magic go for magic. About Jakob/Silas/Kaze specifically... Jakob is very good because you get him early. He can heart seal straight away to paladin, which is a godsend on higher difficulties. His personal skill is a good boost for Corrin, paladin has 8 move to carry Corrin around, and gives awesome pair up bonuses, esp +mov, and he decimates enemies while still keeping his faster promoted exp growth. It's really easy to get him married to Corrin, and depending on corrin's second class he gets even more options. Wyvern can be good for him. He does tend to drop off as the game progresses though, and both their kids are pretty mediocre, if that matters to you. Silas is also available early, meaning you can get him and Corrin married early. He's a solid unit that can stick around for the long term if you invest in him (I found his speed somewhat shaky long term, but it's fixable). His defensive bulk is esp valuable on birthright. He gives Corrin cavalier access, and cavalier is an excellent class. His daughter Sophie is also one of the better children, and he gives kana cavalier access as well. Not too sure about Corrin and Kaze. Usually I'd save Kaze for someone who needs a speed boost, but that isn't really an issue for birthright. He does give Corrin ninja, which is another good class, but you also get a lot of ninjas on birthright too. I think the main thing for this pairing on birthright is, if you don't get him to A rank by a certain time you lose him, and if you're going that far you might as well marry him. I haven't used midori very much, but she didn't amaze me when I did use her.

Lodestar can fix Xander's speed without compromising his defense and still allows him to use Siegfried, which frees up your speedwings/speed pair-ups to go elsewhere. Haven't tried it on lunatic yet but it worked very nicely on hard. Same with making Leo a dark flier, fixes his speed and makes him a bit more specialised. MVP on both hard and lunatic

Gaius - I don't mind Gaius that much. I never really used him enough to comment as a unit, but personality-wise, I never really found his sweets-gimmick too overplayed. And he does have some pretty amusing supports. Miriel - I actually kinda like Miriel. I mean sure she doesn't act like a real person, but I can forgive that in a video game, and I found some of her dialogue pretty funny. I didn't really use her much as a unit until Lunatic, and she was doing quite decently there until the children came along. Libra - No particularly strong feelings. I don't really use him much as a unit, and I haven't seen many supports with him. But, he does seem like the sort of guy I would like if I saw more of him. Anna - I never used her much as a unit, but she does have some funny lines. Panne - I like Panne. The aloof warrior thing is pretty cool, and so far as the racism goes... well, her entire species was murdered by humans. I think she suffers quite a bit from the nature of supports, she'll defrost and realise not all humans are like that in one support, only to be right back to square one in another. I saw good things about wyvern Panne, and decided to reclass her, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. She wrecks things, it's great. Severa - I really didn't like Severa at first. I still don't really like her. She just came across as way too needlessly mean. The only reason I warmed up to her was because she turned into an excellent unit. I don't really like her all that much more in Fates, maybe she matured a bit, but she's still really harsh.

Brady - I like Brady, he's a sweetie underneath the thuggish exterior. And I like Maribelle too so her son gets bonus points for that. Unit-wise, he turned into an absolute wrecking ball of a sage for me. Yarne - I didn't really find him as grating as most people seem to? Might just be because I like Panne though. And I mean, he is the last of his species. He's usually a pair up berserker for me, and sometimes I forget just how fearsome his strength score is because he's always at the back making someone else more awesome. Cherche - I like her, I guess. I never really used her all that much, aside from getting Gerome. By the time she showed up, most of my other main units were better. Fredrick - One of the earliest crit lines I ever heard was "Pick a god and pray". I have loved him ever since. Inigo - I am Inigo trash. Though I definitely agree that Fates did him better. One thing I did appreciate from Awakening though was his parent supports, particularly with his father, as well as the DLC conversations. He can show some surprising depth sometimes. Until another support retcons it away. Awakening also gives us Prince Inigo with blue hair, which is very nice. Virion - I didn't think much of him at first, but he grew on me surprisingly quickly once I started unlocking his supports. Never really used him as a unit though, unless I wanted to pass a particular skill to his kid. Kjelle - Kjelle... kinda mixed on her. Her whole training and strength thing didn't bother me so much, because she did well enough as a unit that I could believe it, but she really can be kind of a jerk in her supports. Especially since she definitely comes across as a misandrist... like, Sully would get competitive if a man directly questioned her ability, but Kjelle kinda just does it as a matter of course. Though I do find myself quite partial to the children in general, because I like the idea of optimising and training them and seeing them destroy things. So she gets points for that. But yeah, if she weren't a child? Probably not so much. Tharja - There aren't very many characters I actively dislike in Awakening, but Tharja is one of them. Mostly because of how she treats her husband and child. Noire and Father bonding in their supports over how Tharja curses them both, in this case with runny noses. That's very sad. People say she has reasons for her actions, but that doesn't make them any less terrible. Literally the only reason I ever inflict her on a husband is because of Noire. Gerome - Gerome's okay. I can kinda get where he's coming from being all aloof, and I like that he has a softer side with his wyvern. He's usually a back up unit for me, and he does pretty well at that. Cordelia - I quite like Cordelia. I see some people talking about her modesty being false, but... it never really struck me as that? I don't know if there's just a particular support I haven't seen or something, but yeah. I kinda get where she's coming from with deflecting praise about her perfection - it kinda gives a pressure to continue that perfection, and if you can't you'd be disappointing those people, so you try pretend it isn't perfect to avoid that? I don't know, this is probably more headcanon than anything, but that's how it always came across to me. But yeah, I can see why people don't like it when she talks about Chrom in her other supports. It's really unfair to her husband.

Walhart - I don't really have an opinion on Walhart. He never really did much for me story-wise, and I've never tried him as a unit. Lucina - I like Lucina a lot. I like her seriousness about trying to save the world, and the fact that she's a dork in her supports, it's adorable. I think her design is pretty cool too. Aversa - No real opinion on Aversa either. I haven't used her. Lissa - I love Liss. She has a bright and cheery personality and early game healing is very much appreciated. Can't really comment on her as a unit after that though - I don't usually use her until I start grinding to get galeforce for Owain, and since that's grinding, everyone ends up broken. Flavia - I wish she joined earlier and had more supports. I like her design and think she could be interesting. Sumia - I really don't understand the hate for Sumia. Like, I know she's pushed with Chrom, but so? Even her pie support chain, I don't find all that terrible... people say it's just her submitting to gender roles, but, I think it's worse to just dismiss it as "submitting" because like... liking something girly (making pies) doesn't automatically mean you can't also be a badass on the battlefield... the two aren't mutually exclusive... but so many works treat them like they are and the "strong" female character has to hate all things girly or else she's "weak", which implies there's something wrong/lesser about girly things when really it has no impact whatsoever on her ability to kill stuff... It's refreshing to see a character who can do both. I'll stop now. Anyway, Sumia gives us Cynthia, which is nice, and I also really like the wing clip-thing in her hair. Gregor - I find Gregor very amusing. I like the accent, and his sense of humour. I don't really tend to use him as a unit though, even when looking to pass skills to his kid, I do the bare minimum to get the skill I want and then bench him. Not sure why I never use him, but there you go. Henry - I actually really like Henry. From memory, most of his blood gimmick seems to be directed towards Risen? I could be remembering wrong though. It's definitely directed towards enemies, at least. Aside from that, he does care about his allies in his own odd way, and the weirdness is understandable considering his past. Also puns. I like having him as Cynthia's father, because then I can use her as a dark flier which is great because I love dark fliers. Nah - I like Nah. She's got a sad backstory with the family that raised her, with her trying to be the perfect child for them, and it's made her very serious as a result. Sometimes her supports rub me the wrong way though, like her S with Inigo... she threatens to eat him. That's a bit extreme. Vaike!Nah for awesome Axefaire + Luna wreckage. I really wanna try Henry!Nah though, as a Valkyrie. Vaike - Who doesn't like Teach? He's the kind of boisterous, confident character that I really like. Like, even though he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he's fine with it, and he's really confident anyway. Unfortunately though he's a character who often gets benched until it's grindtime for child skills. Or, if he is used in the main game, it's backing up his wife to make her even more awesome.

Kaden - I quite like Kaden. I think the kitsune class looks really cool (shame it's kinda lacklustre), and I found his personality enjoyable, though he can get quite gimmicky at times. Keaton - I like Keaton as well. He is adorable as the ineffective tsundere, and a good unit besides. I found his trash gimmick didn't bother me so much, maybe because it just seemed like the sort of thing a dog would have? Though I found it a bit grating with Velouria, so I'm not really sure why. Arete - Haven't encountered her yet, so no opinion. Hana - Hana... I tried to like Hana. I didn't have much of an opinion of her to begin with, but seeing her supports with the avatar, coupled with some pretty underwhelming performances as a unit (especially in Revelations, yikes) and the way her whole life seems to revolve around Sakura... yeah. She never really grew on me. And then she lost me the ninja forest map in Revelations when I was just about done, so she's pretty much doomed to be disliked now. Oboro - I'm actually surprised how much I liked Oboro. Like most of the Hoshidan characters, I didn't really have much of an opinion on her to begin with, but her decently non-gimmicky personality and performance as a unit warmed me up to her really quickly. She just seems like she has actual reasons for doing what she does, instead of it being because her gimmick tells her to. And her supports with Takumi are pretty cute. Anna - Anna's cool, I guess. I haven't really used her much though. Elise - Elise is such a sweetie. I love her. She's good in both Conquest and Birthright, but especially Birthright, you get a real sense of what she considers right and wrong and it's great. I really want to try out a Strategist Elise as a unit, she got replaced by Forrest in my Conquest run so I didn't get to try her there. Ryoma - Lobster Brother... I don't really like him all that much? I mean, I don't dislike him either, he's just kinda... there. He didn't really interest me much at first (pretty much the instant the two versions were announced I decided I was going Nohr), he had that nasty ninja map for his chapter, and, his death in Conquest... I don't know. On it's own it's not a bad scene, but from a meta standpoint, Corrin has now managed to avoid killing every single one of their Hoshidan siblings themself, and it was just so damn convenient that it irritated me and made me roll my eyes rather than feel bad for him. So I didn't go into Birthright with a good attitude towards him, and nothing he did there really redeemed him all that much. I mean, he's a good unit, and I usually like goods units even if I don't like their personalities, but with him, it felt more like the game was trying to make me like him because he was good, so I decided to be contrary. Or maybe it's just personal bias, I don't know. He has fabulous hair though. Anankos - No real opinion. From what I've heard, the game would have been better off without him. But, I've yet to encounter him myself.

I'd probably swap Severa for either Noire or Cynthia. It took a long time for me to warm to Severa in Awakening and Fates hasn't changed her enough to make me like her more. I'd love to see Noire's dynamic with Camilla, especially, and like people have said Cynthia and Arthur would be great together.

Beruka - I like wyverns, so I wanted to use her, but in her join chapter she missed a few too many pegasus knights for me to want her on my team. Still, a lot of people seem to like her as a unit, so I'm curious to see what she'll turn out like with a bit of investment. Caeldori - I like Cordelia, so Caeldori gets a few points just for that, but I haven't really seen enough of her yet to know how she measures up. She looks like she'll make a good mage-killer though. Sakura - I really really like Sakura. She's so sweet and quiet but also brave. And she's been doing very well as a priestess too. She's probably my favourite Hoshido sibling. Percy - He has a similar personality to his father, but Percy just doesn't seem to suit it as much as Arthur. Maybe just because he isn't so unapologetically over-the-top about it, or because he's so young it seems more like a phase. He was also kinda lackluster as a unit, though that might just be because Peri was his mother. I don't understand why you can marry him, he's like eight. Rinkah - She seemed like she should have been a lot more awesome than she was. She has such a cool design. But, she got benched in both Birthright and Revelations. Especially in Revelations, her joining stats were just so underwhelming. But, as a results of the benching, I haven't seen many of her supports, so I can't really comment on her personality. Ignatius - He seems like a nice guy, and a great tank. I never really used him or his father all that much because I had Effie and Xander to be my tanks. Garon - It's been said many times, but he could have been so much better. Rhajat - Tharja was one of the few characters in Awakening that I really didn't like, so I have a bit of negative bias about Rhajat. That said, my main gripes with her were how she treated her husband and Noire, which probably won't be an issue with Rhajat. Though from what I've heard she still randomly curses people in supports, so we'll see. Ophelia - I love her, favourite female child/10. I kind of felt that she approached the gimmick a bit differently to Owain? And the thought of them bonding over dramatic RP games is just really cute. Her voice suits her perfectly, it's got a really nice dream-like quality to it. And of course, she's an excellent unit. Sumeragi - I've yet to encounter him, so I have no opinion.

Shiro - Unfortunately I haven't recruited Shiro yet. But, I like his design and I've heard good things, so I'm optimistic for when I do recruit him. Siegbert - I like Siegbert. His inferiority complex with the pressure of inheriting the kingdom just seemed very realistic to me, and he seems like a sweet kid. Unfortunately he was kind of underwhelming as a unit, but that may just be because Selena was his mother. Kiragi - I've not long gotten Kiragi, so I haven't had a chance to use him much, but... hunting seems to be mentioned a lot. Maybe his other supports develop him a bit more, I hope so, it seems like the sort of gimmick that would get tiring quickly. He didn't really stick out design-wise to me either. Forrest - my son Like others have said, I was really surprised with just how well Forrest was handled. He's just really confident and secure in himself and does what he loves without reservation. He's a real smooth-talker too, his S support with Ophelia was adorable. And I like the character development with Leo - he's initially embarrassed at his son's behaviour, but once he realises that it makes him happy he makes an effort to understand, for Forrest's sake. I used him mostly for staves/troubadour auras/ferrying Ophelia around, but he did well at them. I really want to try him in a more combat-oriented role.

Xander - I actually like Xander. He's a very good unit, and I like the supports I've seen so far. That said though, he really is terrible in the story. I think I was probably biased because I played Conquest first, and I was too busy enjoying the gameplay to even think about the story until after I was finished, and by that time I already really liked him. And I'd believe that he's feeling really conflicted throughout Birthright - he knew Garon the most out of all his siblings, and lived the longest under his rule. It's possible that he wouldn't even think of betraying Garon as an option in the first place. I mean, I know Revelations throws that out the window when everyone joins you, but from what I've heard, Revelations throws a lot of things out the window. Asugi - I saw a bunch of ninjas in his paralogue and decided I wasn't in the mood to recruit him, so I haven't seen anything except the opening bit of his chapter. I wasn't particularly big on Gaius though. He wasn't bad, but I just didn't find him very interesting either. Lon'qu or Henry would have made much better expies, imo.

Nina - I quite like Nina. She turned out very well for me as a unit in Conquest, and I found her supports amusing. Also she looks really nice with Azura's hair. Dwyer - Poor Dwyer deserves a much better father than Jakob. I do like how he one-ups him at coffee making, put Jakob in his place. Unfortunately he didn't turn out all too spectacular on the battlefield, although that may just be because his mother was Felicia. Kaze - I really like Kaze. He's very handsome, and I like most of his supports that I've seen. Strong, silent, dreamy ninja indeed. I'm not really sure what to make of him in combat though - I think I just don't know how to use ninjas, because they've all been underwhelming for me. Azama - I haven't seen much of him, but based on what I have, I don't think I'm going to like him much. I'm not too fond of characters being asses for no particular reason. Gunter - I thought Gunter would have a lot more presence in the story, kinda like Freddy in Awakening, and was very surprised by just how little he was there. Also, is there a reason he can't support anyone in Revelations? I haven't finished it yet, so I don't know if there's a plot reason or not, but shouldn't he at least have the same supports as in Conquest? I really wish we saw more of him, he looks cool. Azura - Azura... I'm not really sure what to think of her. I agree the writing botched her horribly. Especially on the non-Revelations paths, where she basically just sits back and doesn't even bother trying to let Corrin know about Valla. Yeah, I know there's the curse, but there's so many ways they could get around it. It's worse in Conquest - they were actually *in* Valla for a bit, but she still didn't say anything, because watching Hoshido get destroyed for no reason was fun for her, I guess. Aside from that, though, I don't find her character all that egregious. I can see why people say she's bland, but I kinda like her whole quiet, withdrawn thing. Her singing is always useful in-game. And A+++ for Dark Song, so awesome. Mozu - I really like Mozu. I never tried her as an archer in Conquest, which is apparently where she really shines, but she was destroying things in Birthright (one of my few units who I could rely on to one-round things), so I'll definitely have to try her next run through. And all her supports I've seen so far have been adorable. Yukimura - Never used him. Setsuna - I found myself getting tired of her out-of-it routine pretty quickly. I don't really like stuff like that. Though I found her default line in My Castle kind of amusing (something like "yes, what AM I doing"), mostly because I'd imagine it more as her trying to cover up something sus rather than her just legitimately having no idea. Never used her as a unit, I had no shortage of archers on Birthright and they were all better than she was. Soleil - Oh, Soleil... I really want to like her. I love her design, her usefulness as a unit, and most of her personality. I really liked when she talked about how her father would tell her to smile, it was kind of like, even though she wouldn't have the same sort of motivation as Laslow (which I think was talked about more in Awakening than Fates, but I digress), she still really believed it, so it's like Laslow's own passion for that belief came through when he was telling her? I don't know, really headcanon-y, but I found it adorable. But then of course, there's the controversial stuff... I don't dislike her for the Japanese support with the Avatar. He's the one who put the stuff in her drink, after all, that wasn't her fault, and the localisation did a much better job with that support chain. But her support with Ophelia... yeah, she really needs to learn about personal space and when to back off. Like, when someone is blatantly telling you to back off, it's generally a good idea to do it. And I really don't like the implication that because they're both girls, it's harmless/not real harassment, which is just blatantly untrue. Overall, if it weren't for that, she would easily be one of my favourites. That said though, I do still like her, she's just a problematic fave. Reina - She has a really interesting design, and I wanna know more about her. Alas, Corrinsexual.

Benny - He seems like a sweetie, but I didn't get to use him in Conquest because Effie was so much better by the time I got to him. I may have to try him out in a different playthrough. Arthur - He is so ridiculous, I love him. Especially his voice, it just works so wonderfully. Never really used him as a unit though, he had too much trouble hitting stuff. Iago - Like most people have said, he's really bland. The player really shouldn't be apathetic when one of the main antagonists shows up, but, there you go. Hisame - Haven't recruited him yet. Camilla - Oh Camilla. I had a due sense of apprehension on first seeing her, being so obviously a fanservice character, but I found her to be rather interesting in game. There's a lot of potential, and even the creepier aspects, while definitely making her a bad person, still make her an interesting character, in my opinion. Unfortunately, like a lot of Fates, it just wasn't executed well, which is a shame. Her twisted sense of affection could have been really fascinating if addressed. Awesome unit, though the design could have done without the battle panties. I can live with the cleavage, it's impractical but this is a video game, but the panties are just way too ridiculous. Izana - He's hilarious, I liked him a lot more than I thought I would. Very annoyed at his death in Revelations. I'm totally accepting that headcanon that was mentioned earlier where he faked it just to make Takumi go along with Corrin. Never used him as a unit though.

Hinata - I like him, he has a nice design and he seems like a nice person. Unfortunately he was just completely eclipsed by Ryoma as a unit, so I never got to use him much (and haven't got round to support grinding with him yet). Silas - I have... mixed feelings about Silas. Some of his supports are really great, and others are just... not. I mean that's pretty much the case with every character, but it just felt particularly grating with him. Maybe because it's just such a difference in terms of personality, he can go from being the nicest person ever to a condescending jerk just like that, with no particular reason to explain why. As a unit he was pretty solid, I found myself appreciating him a lot more on Birthright just because he could actually take a hit. Haven't used him in Revelations yet, but I've heard he's great there. Hans - It's been said to death, but he's just such a cartoon villain. And so obviously so as well. I just couldn't bring myself to care or be shocked when he did bad things because of it. Orochi - She got some terrible early level ups for me, and thus got benched pretty quickly. As such, I haven't seen many of her supports and haven't used her, so I can't really give an opinion. Mitama - Haven't recruited her yet. Charlotte - Maybe I just need to see more of her supports, but I find myself not liking her very much. She comes across as simpering to Xander (that said though I've only seen the C support), rude to Keaton... I don't know, maybe there's just a particular support that I haven't seen that makes her more sympathetic. Not a fan of her design either, it just seems so over-the-top fanservice-y, though the bow in her hair is cute. As a unit, she suffered from the same problems I usually have with axe-users, never being able to get them to hit anything, so she got benched. Odin/Owain - I loved Owain in Awakening, and I still love him here. He's so dramatic and ridiculous, and I find his supports very amusing because of it. I didn't get as much of a sense of him maturing as I did with Inigo, but it's still kinda there. As a unit though, I never used him much, he couldn't hit anything reliably so he got benched. Zola - I get the impression they tried to make him Obviously Evil design-wise so the player wouldn't feel bad about killing him, but then forgot to make him do anything evil. Even when he betrayed the Avatar in Birthright, he tried to convince Garron to spare some people. Peri - Her bases weren't that great, and she was having major difficulty killing stuff in her join chapter, so she got benched very quickly. The only support of hers I've seen is with Arthur, and it was... interesting. Kudos to Arthur for insisting on talking to the merchant each time instead of letting Peri kill him. Midori - Cute design, but pretty bland personality wise. Her support with Ophelia did not endear her to me, nor did her lackluster performance as a unit, and I found her medicine gimmick got grating very quickly.

I don't know if this has been posted or not but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuRapGoLTM4 sorry I don't know how to embed video OTL

Leo: my love Leo is probably my favourite character on Conquest, and overall as well. He just has very believable interactions with everyone, is shown to recognise his mistakes and grow from them (and is allowed to be wrong!), and does well as a unit, especially as a dark flier (which is great for me because I love dark fliers) and he's pretty. I know what people mean about him being one of the weaker of the royals though. And his chapter on Birthright... the less said the better Hayato: I actually kinda like Hayato. When I was testing out my new mages on a couple of skirmishes, the RNG aligned and he got amazing level ups, while Orochi was flat out getting even two points a time. So, I kept him around on my team, and he ended up as one of the few units who could actually reliably kill things. And his gimmick didn't really seem too overbearing to me, they slap you in the face with it in his join chapter but it falls off to tolerable levels pretty quickly