Number one Ross fan

True. I also think that Carcino was an afterthought, because we only visit it once (And only on Eirika's route) and there are only three(ish) major characters from there.

They were undeniably bad, but they all had personality. They weren't all "We're the bad guys, we must rape and pillage because it's a bad thing to do!", Caellach wanted to be a king and Riev wanted revenge on Rausten for excommunicating him. The only enemy commander I feel got the short end of the stick was Pablo. We know basically nothing about him except for the fact he's power hungry.

IDK, I figured there was more I could do than just this to make it challenging.

Bows in general suck. Only the longbow offers a real niche in that it covers 2-3 spaces, but it's even outclassed by any long-range tome in that regard. Just use hand axes/javelins.

See my above soapbox on why Warrior was a cruel joke class. Neimi sucks IMO because she's the only playable Archer. If we got different archers with different stats it'd be better, but instead we're stuck with a pink-haired crybaby who's supports range from crying and being comforted or bothering other people.

Ah, I tend to go for utility, ease of training, and personal bias over the time you get someone usually. How's the neighborhood?

Is it weird I prefer Colm over Joshua? To me Rouge!Colm is way easier to use and when paired with Sniper/Ranger!Neimi with supports gains an explosive crit boost. I generally bench Joshua and take his Killing Edge for use by someone else.

What exactly is that for again? It's not like this game has multiple playable archers with different stats like Binding Blade.

True, but some are inherently worse than others. I find Sage!Moulder is generally bad in combat due to his low magic damage. He absolutely needs Slayer later on to help with the monsters. Ewan's summons are always worse than Knoll's, Sniper offers nothing but being able to use ballistae for all three maps that have them, etc. But there's one class I think has zero reason to exist besides memeing... Warrior is my least favorite class in the game; It takes all the worst stats about a fighter and amplifies them, while offering nothing but bows to a class that already has multiple 1-2 range weapons.

Like making Ross anything but a Berserker, making Moulder a sage, etc? I'm thinking about doing a challenge playthrough.

In general, I find Hero or Berserker the only options for Ross. Warrior doesn't exist. It shouldn't exist. You can already have 1-2 range with hand axes with more speed. Defense, in my opinion, isn't that much of a requirement in this game. Speed and attack are. Even characters like Lute can more or less avoid everything or even take zero damage from weak enough enemies. While Berserker is undeniably the best option, Hero is also viable if your Ross is more balanced.

My one wish if there's a sequel is that Ross returns as an older man like Bartre does in 6.

I always thought it was an Ushanka going by the character portrait.

Either A, He's packin'. B, his robes make him appear bigger. Or C, he needs to have CON to use heavier tomes.

Low commitment, easy, and of course Ross.