NiceLikeChrist

To be fair they packaged it as a single game because it had no reason at all being separate games. Golden Deer, Blue Lions, and Church routes use identical maps for probably 80% of post timeskip. Add the fact that pre time skip is identical for every route and you get something that should just be one game. There isn't enough variety to justify a Fates type of deal. Say what you want about Fates but map variety was there. Class/weapon variety was there. Character variety was there. I didn't feel like I got finessed when I bought Conquest after playing Birthright...it WAS a different game.

Just finished a hard/classic golden deer run after 60 hours and here are my thoughts on the cast. I only ever used my golden deer units and Flayn as my dancer. 10 units every map. Didn't recruit any students and never used the teachers outside of their paralogues. All my students were level 38-42 in the final battle (Flayn was maybe 33). Lysithea Lysithea (176 battles, 139 victories): She deserves her own tier. Shortly after she comes online (which doesn't take long) she one shots anything in her path. With +1 range from S rank reason and the staff from Lorenz' paralogue giving another +2 range, she nukes everything from 5 tiles away. FIVE. She is safe, she is incredibly strong, and she can clear the way for other units with help from your dancer. I took her to monk>mage>warlock>gremory and she mastered every class in no time at all thanks to her personal skill. Oh and I forgot she also has warp. This girl is so strong that I almost forgot she has warp which turns many late game maps into sub 3 turn affairs. A ridiculous unit. S Tier Claude (299 battles, 169 victories): Claude actually racked up the most MVP's on my playthrough but maybe that's because I didn't want Lysithea to get out of control with her levels. He has great growths but once he gains access to his unique classes he just takes off. The guy is a flying ballista of doom and causes mayhem all over the map. I took him archer>sniper>wyvern master>barbarossa. Byleth (264 battles, 146 victories): Byleth is the MC so his placement is expected. A very good unit overall. Not much to say but he gets the job done. I kept him as his unique class but I'd like to change it up on future playthroughs. Mercenary>enlightened one. Hilda (277 battles, 151 victories): As part of the airborne trio she's another one who lays waste to every corner of a map. Good bulk so she can tank, good strength growths and accuracy is never a question when she's wielding axes. Once you slap on the accessory that nullifies effectiveness against flyers you can just send her off and not worry about a thing. Brigand>warrior>wyvern lord. A Tier Leonie (330 battles, 148 victories): The last member of my airborne trio. She's just a great all rounder and I always had confidence in her as a unit. Finished the game with over 45 speed so she was consistently doubling. Very balanced protections so you can send her out with a javelin to tank mages and physical units simultaneously. She isn't the strongest and won't completely destroy everything in her path but she's extremely reliable and will always come through. Not to mention I mastered paladin with her to have aegis on a flying unit. Pegasus knight>paladin>falcon knight. Lorenz (298 battles, 168 victories): Another great all around unit. Enough strength and speed to easily double with most spells and enough mag to chunk with heavy spells. Very balanced defenses helps him bait and chip down most foes. Poison strike lets him send anything he comes into contact with into the red zone with life taker gives him self sustainability. Mage>dark mage>dark bishop>dark knight. Raphael (216 battles, 118 victories): He took a while to come online for me but once he gained access to healing focus it was smooth sailing. Very poor res but enough defense and HP to reliably tank most other things. Enough strength to take out the majority of enemies with 2 gauntlet hits and with S rank in gauntlets his crit chance is 80% with killer knuckles+. This guy was automatic crits all day and would clean up nicely. Brawler>grappler>war master. Marianne (63 battles, 34 victories): She was my designated healer and she did a great job. Physic always comes in handy and her heals are life saving and game changing. Her range is insane and she also puts out some respectable damage if you ever do decide to attack with her. Silence also comes in handy from time to time and definitely got Raphael out of some tight spots. If she got rescue maybe she could move up to S tier. Priest>bishop>holy knight. B Tier Ignatz (227 battles, 98 victories): As you can tell from the battle stats he isn't the hardest hitter of the bunch. But he does bring a lot of utility as a bow knight. He never misses and has great range so he's reliable for chip damage or to clean up some weaker foes. He won't be one shotting any bosses but he serves his purpose well. Archer>sniper>bow knight.

After learning the house leaders just have forced story promotions it seems pointless to invest in heavy armor for edel or flying for claude. They will get their unique advanced/master class regardless of their proficiencies. Might have Claude go for the nice speed growths early on

Got the Anna skills, thanks!

Looking for Anna skills. Anything is welcome since she just joined my party and has nothing.