Errorik

I'm not surprised Dimitri made it to the top. His "lord's journey" is so good and well told (voice acting is 10/10 as well). You see him struggle with expectations he places upon himself, which I think anyone can relate to. His obsession with justice spirals out of control mentally/physically (PTSD and justice turning into vengeance). I see his character model post time skip as a reflection of his mental state (also it looks badass. eyepatch units OP. lookin at you haar). It's a redemption story of someone who knows their mistakes and owns up to them. Honestly, his wrath feels pretty awesome at the start of post time skip. It feels justified. The world keeps being horrible and he thinks "Fuck this, I've had enough. This ends now with either the death of those responsible or mine". Obviously, this isn't great, which he eventually realizes this by the example and help of those around him. He's also a powerhouse of a combat unit with amazing growths/bases and a dope skill set (battalion wrath + battalion vantage). #DimitriHypeTrain #AllAboard!

Nice work! Pair with gambit ratings based on what you need (utility bot won't need stats as much as a PP or EP unit) and we've got a great start for tiering battalions.

Work with your highest AS units and use bows. Training swords/gauntlets come in handy for AS manipulation.

Ingrid/Dorothea paralogue: move down the left side keeping a brisk pace to not get run over by the units spawning top right. Get Ingrid right next to the spot which causes reinforcement spawn on the south end of the map (it's like 6 spots away from the escape tiles). Use stride to get Ingrid into the escape zone without triggering the reinforcements. They will spawn, but the map will end because Ingrid escapes.

Bows are top tier. Lots of units will only provide chip, so archer/sniper seems an obvious choice. +Hit is great, +range is great, and bows are great (stats and skills). Even going from archer to non-sniper works well for 3 range curved shots. Some units get close counter too, which allows bows on enemy phase. I completely agree that archer/sniper is the performance floor for physical units because it's low cost and very effective. There's an argument for archer -> paladin/wyvern/peg for canto, but sniper would hit harder/more reliably and cost less.

Students would depend on default skill selection compared to desired skills and/or fixing growths. Ingrid is someone to recruit at ch 10-11, where as Lysithea you want soon to work on faith. Three criteria? Player or enemy growths, default skill progression quality, and availability/paralogue consideration.

I've been playing until ch 6 and resetting as BL. I'm trying to see how the best way to build works out. I've found myself with the same strat Silly has mentioned. Focusing xp on Dedue, Felix, Duh Meat Tree, and Byleth. This leads me into wanting Catherine sooner because I end up lacking good units since Ingrid/Sylvain/Ashe have a much harder start. Maybe I'm being told extreme with xp spread, since the first post time skip chapter might end up being really hard.

On the topic of knight/teacher units, I think knowing when to recruit them is an important distinction. Off the top of my head outline: Catherine: ASAP and work towards PG. Shamir: later than Catherine but still school phase. Her speed is meh, so enemy growths help. Might depend on which house needs a good archer quickly. Seteth: ASAP, as far as I can tell. He is a later recruit. Alois: Unsure. His hitrate seems really poor and I've never used him. Free items? Hanneman: Does it matter? Free items. He seems bad. Manuela: As far as I can tell, her best asset(s)😉 is her spell list, so ASAP seems appropriate. Warp and Silence are nice even if she isn't a stellar unit. Tell me how bad this is.

Villager being crap once again! S H O C K E D. Guess Cyril is a Mozu villager. At least somewhat useable (conquest).

Ah, so it doesn't auto class promote him like other characters, so he gets stuck with commoner growths until recruitment?

Does Cyril's personal increase his growths while not in your party? I could see him bumped up a bit if this is the case.

Fire emblem is a game of opportunity cost. Each resource (xp, training, boosters, support rank) you give to one unit means the others can't have it. Being able to make someone useful without taking away from another is great value in itself. Annette with authority C+ is an example of this. I trade some early studying for her enabling my other units to get things done/get more xp. Best vague example: you can have one unit who can chew through most maps with a buddy who comes along or two units who struggle to deal with enemy pulls.

wut

+2 speed top tier. Early game AS is a pain. 2 AS is huge value: more bulk, more damage, and allows heavier weapons (training -> iron sooner). Going myrm also gives +1 speed, which pushes AS immediately, and increases speed growth (only 5, but it's there). Arguably, +1 spd class change is more valuable due to a free 1 AS at lvl 5, but +2 speed keeps the AS train rolling. E.G. Dimitri has decent spd base/growth, but will be doubled. Put AS on him for more bulk and damage -> he fights more often getting him more exp -> he gets even more due to his personal -> Dimitri snowballs. TL;DR: +2 speed is better than other +2s because AS and myrm best beginner class. Over valuing late game is a trap.

I wouldn't consider spells or stats on a dancer (besides having enough charm to win the contest). Why have them attack/cast when you can dance someone better at attacking/casting?