Batter the Beast

Say'ri has a daaayumn inducing speed base of 27 and an okay str base with meh defensive bases, though 41 hp is decent. Her growths are pretty solid, and her def/res growths are notably high for a swordmaster. Say'ri will have no problems doubling stuff except for like Yen'fay or something. Coming in with these stats would be kinda cool, if every enemy and their mothers by this point didn't have good def stats and lances while she's stuck with swords. Oh well, she can use the armorslayer to do stuff, though she may face some competition for it from like every other sword user. Her support options are very limited, though Tiki support is very nice and addresses her issues, and Avatar is pretty good but if s/he's not taken by this point, something is very wrong. She can reclass into Wyvern Rider and Pegasus Knight for better weapon usage and flying, but she will have to start a weapon rank from scratch, which is difficult to do at this point unless you have Discipline. 5/10, good unit that shows up at the wrong time and place

Avatar!Lucina: Great bases and Veteran and has access to Wyvern Rider and Pegasus Knight - 8/10 Sully!Lucina: Good bases and access to Wyvern Rider - 6.5/10 Sumia!Lucina: Good bases and access to Pegasus Knight - 7/10 Maribelle!Lucina: Bad bases but has access to Pegasus Knight - 4/10 Olivia!Lucina: Read above but add Myrmidon - 4.5/10 Other Notes: Being Chrom's kid is a good thing because he can pass down his good stats. Lucina starts as a swordlocked footie but can reclass into Cavalier no matter who her mother is, so that helps that somewhat. Reclassing is probably her best bet unless you want those stat boosts from promotion cause Great Lord skills aren't really all that great and she already has Aether. Coming with an infinite dragon killing +1 mt silver sword that doubles as a concoction is pretty neat, though she will probably be spending her time increasing her lance/axe rank in other classes rather than using it. She may have a hard time fitting in with existing supports but can replace one of the parents if they aren't being used anymore and can support with almost any other child character. She can also support Tiki, so that's pretty good too. Average: 6/10

Henry has a godawful speed base of 9 with a decent 55% growth rate to fix it. The faster enemies on his joining chapter easily double him, even when promoted, which makes his decent durability somewhat less notable. His other bases are fineish, even though 5 res kinda sucks and 29 HP is a little low for this point. Whatever, at least he uses dark magic and can autopromote on his chapter. His def and HP growths are quite high, so he will be quite tanky, but his 50% mag growth is kinda low, and what is up with that str growth? He can support with Miriel, Tharja, Ricken (lol), Avatar, or one of the Dark Fliers for a magic bonus, and these supports are generally free sans Avatar and the Dark Fliers. Promoting to Sorcerer lets him keep dark magic, which is his biggest redeeming trait, while Dark Knight gives him a horse and lets him use that decent str growth, even though he will probably still be using magic because his other options are swords. Reclassing into Barbarian gives him Despoil and axe usage, and his barbarian str base (13) isnt too bad. The Warrior and Berserker skills are meh except for Axefaire, unless you want to make Henry spam Rally Strength or something. His other option, Thief, helps his crap speed, but it is still quite low even as a Thief and being a Thief tacks on new problems such as being a swordlocked footie. 4/10, even broken dark magic cant fix that spd stat

The X series only got really dark after like X5 due to the whole Eurasia thing, and the Zero series was dark for sure, though I actually would've liked to see the initial idea above with X being a villain. The original series was far from dark. Sure, Wily did have the upper hand once or twice, but he was a bit hard to take seriously as a villain.

I actually don't completely hate this game

Cherche's base str of 15+2 with a 70%ish growth means that she will hit like a semi pretty much the whole way through with axes. Her def base of 15 is pretty darn good, but her 2 res is definitely a bit of a problem. Her 12 spd base is also kinda iffy for this point in the game, and her 50% growth doesn't help too much with that. She can fly around and hammer stuff on her joining chapter then buy a seal right afterwards and promote into Wyvern Lord of Griffon Rider and get a bit of a boost. She has plenty of support options, but at this point in the game, most of those supports may be taken by other people. Cherche can promote to Griffon Rider to get a boost in speed and Carrier, which is an amazing skill, or she can promote to Wyvern Lord and get lance usage, which is a tad unnecessary, and Quick Burn. Her reclass options are staff/magic users so they arent really worth mentioning 6/10, flying axes are nice and so is that str, but her meh spd and no reclass options kill it for me

Olivia isn't a combat unit. In fact, everything past a certain point in the game will OHKO her unless you fed her a bunch of robes or something and she does little to no damage to most enemies, especially the promoted ones that are starting to appear. Oh well, she dances, and that's all she's really used for. She's sorta useful for letting your ralliers do their thing and go into combat or pulling off rescue shenanigans in the larger maps, among other things. Olivia's reclass options are pretty good, but why would you get rid of dancer utility for a mediocre combat unit? 7/10, blah blah OHKO blah blah dancing

10/10 No questions asked Anna has a str base of 12, which is iffy for a swordlocked prepromote and she has 8 base def and 10 base res, which is offset by that 36 HP base somewhat. However, she has a whopping speed base of 22 and a luck base of 26(!) and is a few levels from Lucky Seven, so her ridiculous evasion will help with her lowish durability. Her growths are kinda meh except for that luck stat, so don't expect her to pump out too much damage with swords. With her base 17 magic, she can use the very limited Levin Sword to get some good 1-2 range action going on and her D rank staves means that she cant use physic yet, but she has 8 staff range and 7 mov at base, so shes up and ready to abuse rescue staves and, unless you trained other staff users, she will be the best rescue staffer in the group. On top of this, she has Locktouch for some thief utility. Acrobat helps her with the whole rescue abusing thing in certain chapters. Her supports are very limited unless you want to use Avatar, who may be busy with other people. Reclassing into Sage lets her use her decent magic stat for offense without needing a Levin Sword and she keeps her staff utility. The other classes aren't really worth mentioning because they don't have staves or are bow/swordlocked. 8/10, super dodgy utility unit with mediocre combat until she reclasses and has limited support options +1 bias because puns galore and I love utility units 9/10

Tharja's base magic of 11 is kinda mediocre compared to other magic units trained at this point and her base 12 speed is okay. Her base HP of 25 is decent and she has good defensive bases for a mage, so she isn't as squishy as the other two magic users thus far sans the Avatar. Her growths are pretty solid except for luck and skill, which may be a bit of a problem for a dark magic user. She comes with a D rank and Nosferatu and is ready to start Nosferatanking a little at base. Unfortunately, magic based supports are limited unless you want to pair her up with Ricken (lol), Avatar, or Henry. Promoting into Sorcerer lets her keep her dark magic usage at the cost of some meh skills. Promoting into Dark Knight gives her a horse but she loses dark magic usage. Her reclass options aren't worth mentioning because they are all physical and she has a crap str stat. 6.5/10, dark magic is cool and all, but why does she only have physical reclass options

Libra has a whopping base HP of 39, a def base of 11, and a whopping base res of 16, meaning that this guy isn't dying anytime soon. His base str of 14 is alright and so is his base speed of 14, not to mention that he starts with a C rank in axes so that he can kill stuff with his Killer Axe. However, despite his good early combat, his combat falls off once promoted guys start appearing in large quantities due to his lowish growths and low exp gain, but at least he has hammers to fall back on somewhat. With a base C rank in staves and 16 base magic, his staff usage will probably be better than any other staff user at this point, and his staff utility allows him to be relevant even in the later stages of the game where his combat tapers off. Healtouch makes his healing that much better and Miracle doesn't really do much since he won't die early and he won't be on the front lines in the later parts of the game. War Monk skills are kinda bleh, so he can reclass at 10 and not really care. Reclassing into Sorceror lets him use his good magic stat and lets him abuse dark magic at the cost of staff utility. The skills are meh, but all that matters is dark magic usage. Dark Knight doesn't really do much for him except take away his staves in exchange for a horse and magic. Reclassing into Sage gives him a magic boost and lets him keep his staves so he can staff abuse better. Libra can also reclass into Dark Mage to level up a bit faster and use dark magic, even though his stats will be lower at a point when enemy units are all promoted. 7/10, good combat unit early that falls off but is the second best staffer in the game +1 bias because war monks are flipping awesome 8/10

Nowi has a str base of 4+8 and a def base of 2+10, both of which are pretty good. Another point to mention is her base 2+7 res, which is the highest in the game thus far, all on a lvl 3 unit (though the dragonstone is purely responsible for this). She also has practically permanent usage of a 1-2 range weapon with all this durability. Nowi's growths are balanced across the board, with especially high HP, def and res growths. However, when her base speed is equal to that a Knight that was recruited back in chapter 3's, you know that's a problem. Her 50% growth rate in spd also means that she will have a very hard time doubling without speed based pair up bonuses. Also, that base 18 HP is bad for this point in the game, meaning that it is surprisingly easy for her to die on her joining chapter. Her Manakete skills, Odd Biorhythm and Wyrmsbane, are a bit too situational for my tastes. Nowi can reclass into Wyvern Rider, giving her a nice stat bonus, axe usage, and flying. However, this tanks her low speed growth a bit further and she no longer has 1-2 range without using weaker hand axes. The skills are quite nice, especially compared to Manakete skills. Nowi can also reclass into Mage so she can use her mediocre magic stat and still be a foot unit using 1-2 range but with less tankiness. 4.5/10, a terrible starting unit that can grow into an unkillable tank with constant 1-2 range

Gregor's bases are decent and his growths are decent except for his relatively low speed, which means he will have problems doubling. He also starts as a sword locked foot unit, which is never good, but at least he starts at lvl 10 in a chapter where you get a Second Seal and a Master Seal. Too bad that he is facing stiff competition from Panne and the Avatar for these Seals, so he will probably not be able to fix that shortcoming for a while. Armsthrift is a decent skill, though it is more important late game with higher luck and better weapons to save usage on, and Patience is an alright ability, especially when he starts using axes. Gregor can promote into Hero, which gives Sol and axe usage, both of which are very good, or he can promote into Bow Knight, giving him a horse but he doesn't gain a good weapon usage and the skills are meh. Reclassing to Myrmidon doesn't fix any of his problems except for his below average speed, though it eventually leads to Vantage and Swordfaire. Reclassing into Barbarian gives him axe usage and Despoil, which can help the money process along with Armsthrift even though his luck isn't amazing. The Barbarian tree will eventually lead to Axefaire, which is a very nice skill, and Counter might work in tandem with Sol. 4/10, a more tanky and slower sword locked foot unit who wishes he could auto promote +1 bias because his character is amazing 5/10

Cordelia starts off quite nicely, with base 9 str, 12+2 speed, and 8 def as well as a starting C rank in lances and she comes with a steel lance or she can take the killer lance that no one else is using except maybe Fred or something. Her speed won't get to the same level as Sumia's, but Sumia's speed is complete overkill and Cordelia will have few problems doubling. She has decent growths, and unlike many other characters, hers are balanced across the board instead of being lopsided, so she will be a Peg with an actual str stat. Oh yeah, did I mention that she flies? Cordelia can support with Chrom Fred, Stahl, and the Vaike for some nice physical bonuses. She can also support with Panne, but two fliers (assuming Wyvern Panne) paired up is a waste. Cordelia can premote to either Dark Flier or Falcoknight, which gives Galeforce, Lancefaire, and two good rallies. She won't be able to use the magical side of either class well due to her sucky magic stat, but the skills and flying more than make up for that. Reclassing to Mercenary gives Armsthrift and eventually Sol/Axebreaker/Bowbreaker, which all synergize with Peg promotions. However, she becomes a foot unit until Bow Knight, so this path may not be worth it early on. Reclassing to Dark Mage is silly due to her aforementioned magic stat (why does she have a mage option again), but it does eventually lead to Lifetaker which is hilarious with Galeforce 8/10, flier that starts out good, stays that way, with limited reclass options that are worthwhile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELRcr-mxJ1k Playing this game again, I relearned that Xaldin is an ASS Demyx too, but he's a lesser ass

Finally, a unit that I can rate higher than 6 First off, Panne's bases are actually pretty good compared to several previous units; she has the base speed of Gaius, the HP base of Frederick, and the second highest str base when beaststone stats are accounted for. Sure, the fact that she has to use beaststones really holds her back early on, but she starts at lvl 6 and there are only 2/3 chapters until the first Second Seal (which is quite uncontested) is gotten. Her growths are bonkers, with 60% str, 75% speed, and 50% flipping def, and she keeps these ridiculous growths when she reclasses. Her only real drawbacks are the facts that shes limited to a 1 rng 6 mt weapon for 2/3 chapters or so and that her res will forever suck (she even loses 2 when reclassing to Wyvern Rider lol). Her skills, Even Rhythm and Beastbane, aren't really worth mentioning, and Beastbane is pretty situational so she can just reclass at 10 and not really miss much, though it is nice to have in Valm. She can support with Stahl, Frederick, and the Vaike to give her some nice physical bonuses. She can reclass to Thief and have essentially the same drawbacks as a Taguel on top of 1 less mov until lvl 10, though she can eventually get Lucky Seven and Mov +1, so there's something I suppose. Reclassing into Wyvern Rider gives her the insanity that is flying axes, though she will have to build up that rank from E and, like earlier stated, will sink her res. The Wyvern Rider tree also gives access to silly skills like Quick Burn, Carrier, and the breaker skills, though the breakers are quite situational. 8/10, a 1 range weapon locked foot unit that becomes a flying monster that kills things dead with axes

Gaius's speed is quite silly, he has a 15 speed base with a 70% growth as a thief, so he will double just about everything. His HP base is actually not that bad and his str and HP growths are pretty darn good as well. However, he has the same shortcomings as another swordlocked footie: Lon'qu; he has low durability (though not as low due to that HP base) and low bases. He does have thief utility and eventually gets mov +1 to somewhat mitigate the drawback of being a foot unit. Pairing up with Sully can help with his low defense and boost his already good offense, so he has an option in that regard. Gaius can promote into Trickster to get Lucky Seven and Acrobat, though he can't use staves well due to low magic, or he can promote to Assasin to get better offensive stats, though the skills are lackluster. Gaius can reclass to Myrm, which doesn't do anything for him except maybe Vantage, though it allows him to promote to Swordmaster to get Swordfaire. Reclassing to Fighter gives him some better offense in the form of higher str and axe usage, though he will have E axes for a while, and it gives him more HP, though it doesn't help his low def/res that much. Fighter also gives access to Sol, so Gaius can use his good offense to make him more durable. 6/10, great offense and fighter Gaius is quite silly, but he starts so darn weak and is somewhat frail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvPb4KYUJPo

Maribelle has mounted Rescue staves, which would be nice if she had more durability than a piece of tissue paper (or lvl 3 Miriel, for that matter) and had more than 5 base magic to work with. She provides another staff user, which has its merits, I suppose, but she doesn't contribute all that much. She can promote to War Cleric(lol) or Valkyrie for actual combat ability. She doesn't get to use this combat ability much, however, since she will start with E tomes and not have that much more durability than at base due to that 15% def growth and 65% HP growth. She could reclass into Pegasus Knight so that her low strength will be even more apparent or into Mage so she can have the same problems with Valkyrie but without staves and a horse. Falcoknight and Dark Flier are quite decent options for reclassing after promotion because they actually use her decent to good magic stat, though her durability will still be crap 4/10, a mounted lissa that shows up like 5/6 chapters after she does

Completely agree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sz8hIqV16Y

Sumia has a flipping speed base of 11+2 at lvl 1 with a growth rate of 70% as a peg, so she will double extremely early if not immediately after joining and she will never stop. She will need the dodge from this high speed, since her defense is nothing to write home about. Same goes for her HP stat, which is as low as Miriel's and Maribelle's at base. Her str stat is a tad low, but, unlike the mages, she can pair up with kellam/sully/frederick to give her a much needed boost in str and def, and fred allows her to to ORKO guys for a bit while having good move. While she is good early because of pairing up, her low offensive growths mean that her lategame damage may be less than stellar. Promoting into Dark Flier allows you to get Galeforce, so she can use her fantastic offense even better with a lower risk of dying and Falcoknight gives up some of that offensive power for more staff utility (lolflyingrescuestaffs) and eventually lancefaire. Her reclassing options are knight, which gives her a little better str and def at the cost of flying, something which isn't really worth it, and cleric, which sacrifices flying, among other things, for utility. In the end, she should mostly stick with flying classes until the end. Also, she is your only flier until ch 7, though the maps don't really need them at that point of the game except for like ch 3 and 5 or something 8.5/10. Constant doubling and fantastic early/mid game with pair ups with flying