Kirisoul

30% nets him about 1 point every three levels, and he has 9 to go, so 23 would be his average, so already 1 point from the wing goes to waste. This is however, assuming the worst, that he gains a point after those 3 levels. It's perfectly possible for him to gain one on the first level or the 2nd one. Example: gains one on lv. 12, to 21, now he has 8 levels to gain 3, which is very possible. If this happens once in the three 3 level cycles, then he will probably reach 24. So unless you assume you will be unlucky, the wing is at least better off going to Titania, who can then cap spd quickly and use bexp. I was talking about her joining in pt 3, how can she be in the mid-teens at 2-1? But yeah, she is pretty awesome in 2-1, certainly made my run easier, especially since Brom is so slow. Bonuses should also be a sidenote, since technically she doesn't start with them regularly. Alright, I won't assume things then, let's just say 16 spd. That's still decent enough to avoid being doubled, and that arms race won't exist if you give him a bit of bexp (no speedwing is fine), which is significantly easier as a halberdier since he caps str def and skl very early (around lv. 7-8). Jill Tanks? Not from my experience, unless you baby her or give her a shield... Aran on the other hand, even with no special investment can take a hit and dish a strong one back out. And he doesn't suck when you level him. That's more than you can say for most of the dawn brigade (except Nolan who is awesome.) In part 1 he actually will get hit fairly often in hard mode, making him unreliable because he sure isn't a general and "good defense" doesn't quite cut it when you're getting hit 70% of the time. He needs constant healing, not to mention he's an exp hog if you actually use him in pt. 1. Of course, the resolve beastfoe tactic in 3-6 is still viable. Robe should go to micaiah imo, but I guess if you beef Jill up that much she's great. I usually only use her if I had good transfers, but I guess if you like her go ahead. My "epic" Aran was made with one speedwing and 3 or four levels or bonus experience... Doesn't seem like much of an investment compared to an energy drop, a seraph robe, and custom weapons. Anyway, I never meant to say Aran is better than Nephenee, just that he isn't bad, and if you get lucky with his speed (or give him a wing) he can come out awesome. As the original post said "I bet no one would come to DEFEND him" I'm not claiming he's superior in any way, just defending him. I hope I didn't offend, I also do like using Jill and Nephenee by the way. This is getting out of hand, so I don't want to argue anymore, let's get back on topic... You could try an all female run, or a Ike solo challenge, that's always fun.

Volke should be a bit higher. He's the Athos type endgame savior character, but that doesn't make him bad. With the transfers here he's already capped str and will hit his caps for hp, skl, and spd very soon. Statwise he's better than all the trueblades. The only thing I see holding him back is Baselard's 1 range, but hey you gotta give him points for crit+25, lethality gives him a coolness factor, and he looks like a NINJA! Nevermind the last part, but I think he deserves to be in at least middle, I mean he's way better than Heather at least.

If you give him an hp boosting band (fighter, soldier, paladin) and a seraph robe he can cap hp, useful for transferring. If he's already in good shape a priest or pegasus band can help balance him out a bit.

Yeah, 24 spd isn't too hard for Haar to reach normally anyway, so I find the use of a speedwing redundant. If you manage to crown anyone (at a high level) in part 3 they will beast to endgame. I usually use it on Titania or Shinon though, especially Shinon since he caps most of his useful stats without bexp. Keep in mind I'm talking about hard mode here, Nephenee can realistically be in the mid teens by the time you get her, unless you managed to epically baby her in part 2 (difficult even with transfers.) That means even with a drop she hits about 21 str, which the only things she'll be 1RKOing is the mages. Tie that in with low defense, and she isn't a reliable frontliner (unless she has a great avoid support.) I also think the impression that Aran must have a speedwing to survive is being exaggerated, the speedwing will allow him to double once he grows, and will prevent him from getting doubled by the cats and myrmidons, but it's not a problem that's unworkable. If you train him (without bexp or wing), he can hit 17 or so by the time he's a halberdier, meaning only the cats can double him and he won't be fazed due to his defense which will probably already be capped at 25. And if you do invest a bit, he can start doubling the 16 spd tigers. Honestly, he doesn't even need too much bexp. His spd gets to 31 (looking at the RD average stats page) by just leveling normally, so just 2 levels of bexp can cap it, and with the rate that he caps his other stats, it's not unreasonable to do so in pt. 3 or even pt. 1 if you're willing to part with a chapter or two's bexp. And if you actually invest a more than 2, when he's a sentinel he'll be untouchable, especially if you abuse his excellent thunder affinity for support. He's really not as bad as some like to think of him. I just tried him for the heck of it since hard mode is awful with only nolan and sothe to reliably take hits (volug actually can be owned by fire mages there and his dodge is bad) and I was surprised by the results. Mine has capped everything but mag and luck and I didn't pay particularly special attention to him.

His accuracy isn't that bad, he can get around 70 with a javelin and 90 with regular lances... Titania is a valid choice, maybe it's just because I came from hard mode, but Haar can't really double anything past 3-3 anyway (24 speed can only go so far), except for mages and generals, and I usually save those for nephenee and soren respectively. He'll reach his cap or get 23 anyway, so it seems like a waste. Hm, I didn't consider beastfoe in pt.3, that's a good point. Still, Nephenee does have some str. and def. issues through most of part 3. She also tends to cap spd, skl, and res which makes it a bit awkward to use bexp since you may get luck or mag over str, def, or hp, and Nephenee needs bexp since her str and def tend to fail compared to everyone else without it. Aran has issues in pt. 3 and 4 only if he somehow failed to cap his 3 key stats or no bexp was invested. If you give him a few levels or a wing, his speed can flourish, since he has a nice cap. Nephenee's 3rd tier speed cap is only one point higher than Aran's and if you gave him a wing or bexp, he can easily reach it, at which point he becomes a beast. Not saying that Nep. is bad (I used her in my first 2 runs+she can have radiance transfers) but just defending Aran from complete obscurity, since he can be great.

I would! Just finished hard mode and brought him into the endgame team, he's actually awesome if you give him some attention. Training him in part 1 is hard (might need a speedwing to stop him from getting doubled) but it's very possible for him to cap def, str, and skl by promotion. Even in pt. 1, he's one of the more reliable damage dealers and can actually connect with a javelin. Once he's a halberdier he becomes as useful as Nolan, and caps those three stats again, but this time earlier making him excellent bexp material. I actually managed to cap his speed as a halberdier, and that essentially made Nephenee irrelevant, even though I had a radiance transfer in str, skl, and spd on her.

Well, I just finished my hard mode run of Radiant Dawn and feel like discussing how other people's went, hard chapters, how sucky the dawn brigade is, etc... I've played all the FEs from sword of seals, and I hope to have lots of fun discussion.