ulurujamman

Two factors clinch Byleth on b) for me. Firstly, you get the improved Goddess Dance/Instruct with +3 to all attributes, which is unquestionably better than all the other permutations of that skill (with the possible exception of +5 speed on covert units, but I'm not personally convinced). Secondly, Goddess Dance gives a huge EXP boost to whoever uses it, and in particular when a low level character uses it on high level characters. Since b) needs some work when you get them, this can help them become viable in their own right. But in any case, after 2 maddening playthroughs I wouldn't seriously consider putting Byleth or Corrin on anyone other than a) or b). Good luck on the final chapters; I strongly suggest warp skipping 25, it's the worst map in the game by far.

Don't know about Braves, but Killer Sword on Kagetsu has been my bread and butter on maddening. I don't think I even needed to put a seal on it.

IIRC, 3H protagonist is called べレト (be-re-to) if male and ベレス (be-re-su) if female. It's an interesting quirk that Byleth is the name that stuck even if Engage seems to imply male Byleth as canon. Don't know the process by which スタルーク (su-ta-ru-u-ku) is supposed to become Alcryst though. Maybe it was a Star wars reference they didn't want to force past Disney ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I agree wholeheartedly about the gulf between the quality of the gameplay vs the quality of the writing. Ike and Lyn paralogues on maddening are some of the most tactically challenging maps I've ever played, in any game, but a 7 year old would find the plot trite. Who is the target demographic here?