Which of the following is your favorite in terms of character, utility, design, or all 3?:
Other: Fae. She's fun for the level or two of use you can get out of her, and a cute character. Marlins has good utility, but is too tough to use late-game without being able to really level.
Cavalier: Lance. He's the more dependable of the Christmas cavaliers imo. Percival is cool and all, but joins too late for my tastes.
Archer: Klein. Wolt and Dorothy suck and he's actually decent when you get him. Although maybe Clarine's adoration rubbed off on me.
Knight: Bors. The knights in general suck, but Bors can be a useful wall during the brutal parts of the early game, even if you don't feed him any xp.
Cleric: Saul. He's early relatively soon and just has a better statline than Elen for his job. Also, his few character moments are great.
Mercenary: Dieck. This guy is the mvp. He's the only way I can usually kill the bosses in the first half of the game and his decent growths keep him a spot on my team the rest of the way. Also, he's got some pretty funny supports.
Fighter: I dunno, I never use any of them. Their hitrate is just too unreliable for the early game.
Pegasus: Shanna. No surprise here. Just character is really fun and she provides excellent utility throughout the entire game as one of the earliest-joining fliers in the whole series. Sure, he strenth and defense are spotty, but she can work around those with high speed and some good supports.
Thief: Astolfo. He joins a Kiely ways in, but has good survivability and comes at a high enough level that you don't have to baby him like Chad.
Mage: Lilina. I found the orphans to all be pretty underwhelming. Lilina starts off with some spd issues, but hits like a truck. Also her sort with Gonzales is super sweet.
Troubador: Clarine. Available pretty early, good movement utility, and one of the most evasive characters out there. Her biggest weakness is low magic, but that's not a huge issue for her class.
Myrmidon: Rutger. He's pretty impressive, available early on, and works well with a Clarine support.
Nomad: Shin. Just has a more useful statline than Sue. Dayan is trash for how late you recruit him.
Brigand/Pirate: Gonzalez. I like the novelty of playing a brigand and he's a sweetheart. His hit rate is spotty, but he becomes a monster after promotion.
Refresher: Larum. I guess. Elfin is pretty bland.
Shaman: Niime. The other two are a vote to train up. Niime's stats aren't impressive, but he weapon ranks mean you can use her as a staffbot right after recruitment.
Wyvern: Miledy. They both will become physical juggernauts, but Miledy is less of a headache to train with her earlier join time. Strong, fast, and tank enough to take arrows without a delphi shield.