ra2bk

Echo is very good with Nova, which I think is the best weapon in the game, and it makes sense to pair the Nova user with Celica for a bunch of reasons (+Mag stat boost, Resonance), so I think it's fine to consider it when rating the Emblem. Nova often has overkill damage (especially if you've buffed Ivy's speed at all or given Nova+Celica to a speedier mage with buffed MAG), and Echo let's you often re-allocate that to kill 2 targets per turn if they're within range, 4 with a handy dancer and unlucky opponents. So Celica is good early game with Warp Ragnorak, then good late game when you get her back due to Nova (which you get shortly after you get back Celica).

Yeah refining and engraving Liberation is a must. I also gave him Dual Support by endgame, which raises his AVO considerably. You want to be next to as many people as possible for his personal skill and Bond Blast anyways.

Not sure why you say that. Flying units literally give +avoid to the images as their unit type bonus. illusions that go in the spaces around you are clearly at least partially made for defense. As mentioned in another comment, they chain attack from anywhere, so at times I would just deploy them at a random section of the map if I had nothing to do (and didn't need to Astra Storm that round), knowing they'd be around for the next 2 or 3 attacks.

The illusions are incredibly strong on a dodge tank. Doesn't matter if they have only 1HP if they can't be hit. And my dodgetank (Kagetsu) also had high crit, so they often killed in response. They also worked as intended as a juicy target for the AI. I didn't summon them every map, because sometimes things needed to die every turn, but I definitely used it more than I used a lot of other people's skills. Demolish? Adaptable? I rarely used Blazing Lion or All For One. I don't think Divine Pulse triggered a single time in my run. I could see Instruct being just the thing you need that one time, but it was never really relevant for me.

Successeur is basically just a better Hero, stats-wise. Higher bases (+2 HP, +2 Str, +1 Def, +1 Res, +1 Luck, +1 Bld). Same or higher growths except res/luck (+5 str, +15 def, +5 build, -10 res, -5 luck), which is better for Diamant since he wants Def. Hero does have higher caps in general for some reason, but Successeur isn't likely to cap anything except Dex even by level 50 (10 Lord, 40 Successeur). And then yeah the weapon proficiency you mention is much better (S sword, A axe vs. A sword C lance). It's also still a backup unit, just not double backup. I don't think 1 extra chain attack (with stipulation) is that much better than Sol to overcome all that,

I leveled Kagetsu mostly as a Swordmaster, but then changed to Griffin Knight. Almost exact same growths (-10 HP, +15 mag, but same str, dex, speed, def) and then higher bases (+1 Str, +1 Dex, +6 Res, +1 luck, -1 Bld) and even generally higher maxes. Kagetsu still gets S-rank swords with Griffin Knight, but also gets access to flight, +1 move, and staves. Only thing you lose is chain attacks.

Yup, Kagetsu can use S-rank swords in Griffin Knight.

Rosado has much higher offensive growths, so he'll usually eventually exceed her in strength, dex, and speed in the same class by the endgame, though probably not Def (and they'll both likely cap Res at the low ~20). Def is a bit less important in a flying class, though, so Rosado I definitely give the edge to Rosado (for the late game). Goldmary can do well in any of Hero, Wyvern, or Great Knight for sure though.

I made Anna and Chloe into Mage Knights. I was planning for Anna to be a Sage, but didn't realize I needed staves prof until too late. But either way, you can't go wrong with 6 movement magic users with option to still use a weapon for breaking and for high res opponents. In fact, might just be a better option than Sage for most, assuming you do have a couple staff users, but especially Anna and Chloe who start with a weapon proficiency and have good speed growths. There's not much difference between Sage and Mage Knight by stats. Sages have a bit more MAG, Mage Knights a bit more SPD. The extra mobility is a huge point in MK favor. Staves are pretty nice in this game, so that's good for Sage, but as mentioned MK can use a weapon and break enemies (and obviously Emblems can temporarily grant staves to MK and weapons to Sages if really needed). Sages have higher MAG cap, but even Anna won't hit the MK mag cap until level ~45 or so. Really only applicable in post-game play. I think Chaos Style is better than Spell Harmony, too.

My pairing from my run.... (no DLC for me) Louis - Sigurd - No brainer. Louis likes basically every part of the kit. Movement + boost to single attack + engage attack is also movement + canter + lance power + bonus hit. Kagetsu - Lyn - Adds a non-magic ranged weapon to Swordmaster. Alacrity + Speedtaker both great for the fastest character in the game. Call doubles really good for high avoid + crit characters. Alear - Corrin - The dragon vein choose any is so good. Ivy - Celica - Of the mages, Ivy can take a hit, so can use the corrupted reflect damage. Echo good for her slower speed and ability to take hits back. Flying range for maximum warp. Tome precision shores up her medicore Dex. Diamant - Ike - Just like improving his defenses. Becomes very hard to kill with Sol and Laguz Friend and Resolve. He has enough HP and def to survive some attacks and get Wrath going, but Sol will keep him out of complete danger. A lot of other good options for Diamant though, like Roy. Recommend either inheriting Wrath or Hold Out, depending which other Ring you go with. Seadall - Lucina - Dual support and dual assist make Seadall useful while dancing. Merrin - Marth - Avoid, sword agility, and extra attacks all good. Anna - Byleth - Luck boost for more gold. Pandreo - Micaiah - He was my main staff user. Shrug. Chloe - Eirika - Specifically for Chloe as a mage knight. She can at least use the +mag boost from the ring while also using the physical based Lunar Brace and Lance agility. Rosado - Roy - A bit by default for me. Yunaka - Leif - Knife precision. Can't use adaptable, but oh well.

My Diamant capped his DEX by Ch 19.

I failed to realize how tanky Lindwurm is. It's got the highest combined DEF+RES bases in the game (it's balanced between def/res so it doesn't stand out at first glance) along with strong class growths. Ivy has 45/60 DEF/RES growths as Lindwurm on top of the 8/9 base (17 sum, no other class has more than 15 and most non-general classes advanced have 10-13). Gave Ivy Bolganone at 17 and she has begun carrying. Her personal skill is also a good fit, her defenses let her tank and then her player phase has higher hit, which makes up for her biggest weakness (below average dex).

About halfway through a Hard/Classic run. Best: Kagetsu (Swordmaster) - By a mile. Just an insane dodgetank and critmaster. Good on own right from start, but becomes a walking deity with Lyn (Alacrity/Speedtaker) and a forged+engraved wo dao (and Lyn gives Swordmaster access to a crit bow, which is unfair). Can solo many maps, only thing to watch out for is swarms of chain attacks, but units don't usually survive to stick around to chain. By midgame was close to 150 avoid at times, but also has an above average def growth. Good: Merrin (Wolf Knight) - Great mobility and speed. Good overall defense (dodge+def+res all at least solid). Mobility+range and speed let's you target the optimal units to pick off (mages squishy 1-rangers, etc.). Coming with Silver Dagger is nice. Pandreo (High Priest) - I think he could've solo-ed one or two of the bosses in Chapter 14 without an emblem as a primary healer. He's the full magic user package. Speed, avoid, Mag, Res, build. Best res tank in the game. Diamant (Successeur)- Successeur is maybe the most tuned class in the game, so not surprising. Good pairing with Ike so far to complement his defensive strengths. Louis (General) - I'm sure it's just small sample size anecdotal, but he's crit so much for me. As always for generals, he's weak to magic and slow movement, so I have to babysit him a bit. But in his role, he's extremely good. Alear (Divine Dragon) - Good emblem wearer and decent unit. Good but not great strength and speed. Seedall - Seems like one of the better dancer units of note. Can attack occasionally with very good speed or use Emblem utility if not dancing. Can also get re-danced by the Byleth emblem, so he can dance 2 units a turn (plus the 1-3 others that were danced by Byleth). Decent: Anna and Chloe as Mage Knights. I don't know how good the class is overall, but because Anna and Chloe have good personal speed growths and leveled up in speedier base classes, they have made it work well. I have Pandreo and Ivy for staves, so haven't needed Chloe to have one, so it's good to get 2 dual magic/physical wielders. Ivy (Lindwurm) - Solid and good utility. Flying stave. Not usually feeling like "Ivy carried me" but usually happy to have her around. Think I've gotten good speed level-ups. Yunaka (Thief) - Totally fine, but outclassed by Kagetsu and Merrin in similar roles. Okay: Alfred (Avenir) - Started as my best unit, but that was possibly some good levelups and Sigurd. Despite okay speed and build growths in his personal and class, he's starting to get doubled, I think at least partially because the higher end lances are really heavy. Fogado (Cupido) - Good for chapter 13 with the fliers coming from the sea, but I honestly haven't felt much need for archer outside of Lyn's emblem. The knife users are so much better than the archers from my experience. He's gotten squeezed out of the regular rotation. 13th man as it were. Worst: I don't think any of my units have really gotten screwed or anything. I went to the trouble of moving Clanne to mage because I think it's better for him, but then didn't stick with him because Pandreo, Ivy, Anna, and Chloe are all better mages. Same with Celine. Pandreo just does most of the things she does better. Framme started out bad and then was improving a bit before I replaced her. I used Jean briefly, but the arrival of really good units in the middle of the game put him aside. Didn't seriously use or replaced at first opportunity: Etie, Amber, Vander, Bunet, Panette, Jade, Zelkov, Timerra, Alcryst, Hortensia, Citrinne, Boucheron, Lapis

Did you find any use for magic tanks? That's Ingrid's best role in the game. She has the highest combined res, hp, and speed in the late game.

Sounds like you haven't played on Maddening yet.