Rollertoasteur

From my experience, on average, infantry units in FE games aren't significantly stronger than cavalry units, so I guess you could say the game doesn't really incentivize using the slower infantry units when the faster mounted units can get the job done just as well.

I've never had any problems with availability for any of the ninjas (barring maybe Asugi), but I'm voting for Kagero because of her frankly irresponsible strength and speed growths. She doesn't really have the HP to make good use of her personal skill, though, which is a little unfortunate in my opinion.

I'm gonna be different and throw in my vote for FE12!

I'd probably suggest Libra as well. Henry and Libra both give Inigo Dark Mage, which is all he really needs to be a good lead (Vantage/Vengeance setups, or Lifetaker to help him as a sweeper if you pass him Galeforce from Olivia). Henry only also gives Thief (Trickster skills are pretty all right, but Assassin is really underwhelming) and marginally better mods (1 more than Libra in Strength, Skill, and Defense). Libra, on the other hand, gives Priest (Renewal is a really useful skill to have for nostanking setups IMO, and Tomefaire helps if you want to run him as a Sorcerer). Both fathers are probably more useful elsewhere, though.

Playing Shadow Dragon I'm just kidding I actually like that game a lot

Rockin that MGS3 theme right now, it's the only one I own, and I don't regret it.

Basara!Orochi

It's important to note that you never need to grind in either game. If you want super optimal postgame stuff, yeah, you'll need to grind, but if you're playing either game normally you'll never need to grind for anything.

Counter only works against adjacent enemies, so any bow bypasses it by virtue of not being able to attack at 1 range. Dual strikes are something I hadn't considered for whatever reason (must've just slipped my mind), but that's certainly something. Either way, I'm not arguing that Sniper is the be all end all worst class in Awakening, because it isn't, not by any means. All I'm saying is that the other bow-weilding classes are usually better options.

I quite like Sully, but I'm a little biased. I think she's made better just because Kjelle is infinitely worse in that regard. At least Sully has other character traits besides "good at fightan" and "is sensitive to sexism". I can't stand Kjelle. I honestly think she might be a robot inside all that armor.

I actually enjoyed Dragon Veins for the most part. They made certain maps feel more dynamic and added an extra layer of strategy to some chapters. Other chapters though... well, that Camilla chapter in Birthright that basically turned into the world's worst game of "red light, green light" was a bit of a low point.

Any class that can use bows is theoretically immune to Counter, so I don't see how that's necessarily a point in the Sniper's favor. And while being unable to be counter-attacked is admittedly handy, I don't feel that the longbow deals enough damage to be that valuable, and the Double Bow is in very short supply without extensive DLC grinding. I agree with you, though, Taguel is the worst class. Their only real saving grace is that they don't need a Master Seal.

Does anyone have Sophie with Bowfaire? I forgot to pass it down from Kagero.

3 range bows are a nice bonus, but hardly the most useful thing in the game. They're handy in Apo but aside from that I can't think of anywhere when they were a true lifesaver. Also, class skills IMO aren't as much of a key point when ranking classes they are in other games what with Awakening's reclass system, where any sniper can grab bowfaire and immediately jump into a better class option.