Red Fox of Fire's character review topic (Complete)

[-Cynthia-]

I actually think Ilyana might be slightly underrated here.

Compared to Leonardo, she has about 1 to 3 more Atk , except she hits Res(a 4-8 point gap), which means she's 5-11 more damage a pop than he is, which is pretty significant when chip damage is so important in early chapters.

There's also the possibility of Sealing her, which might give her enough AS to double really slow things, better than what Leonardo can do in Part 1 at any rate. She also gets a significant durability boost from this (2 HP/3 Def).

Leo probably does have the better Part 3, but Ilyana has a lot more opportunities for EXP, which makes her Part 4 better. Once Part 4 rolls around she can at least use staves and kill dragons, Leo is just going to be a terrible second tier unit.

I'm just saying that with the case being very easily made that Ilyana>Leonardo, it doesn't really make sense for her to be under him, I could see her as high as 4.0, 3.5 would be OK though.

[Rewjeo]

I feel as though Ilyana might be a little low and Aran a little high. IDK, your .5 margin of error might fix it.

[Blademaster!]

I'm really only bringing this up since you mentioned that Nolan has the second best durability, but if Aran doesn't have the best durability of the DB, then who does?

[Narga_Rocks]

I'm really only bringing this up since you mentioned that Nolan has the second best durability, but if Aran doesn't have the best durability of the DB, then who does?

Sothe. At least for a little while. Until Volug shows up, Aran won't have the levels to be all that durable with his 24hp/11def bases.

So, 35hp/14def is quite a lot more durable than that. Nolan's 29hp/9def should rise a little before Aran starts going, and unless you consider how they deal with 4 hits Nolan is more durable than Aran. And then Volug shows up with his 49hp/13def and pwns them all.

Anyway, Aran isn't going to be more durable than Sothe until around level 15 to 17 depending on what is attacking. 28hp and 16.6 def or 29hp and 18 def compared to 35 hp and 14 def. At level 15 he starts to take 3 hits about the same way, and by level 17 he's definitely more durable. Well, magic, but oh well. Still, that takes a while. Also, Sothe's 30%hp and 20%def growths might suck, but in 3 or 4 levels he'll probably get something.

So at first Aran is 3rd most durable (ignoring crit-blicks), then Volug shows up and by now Aran might tie Nolan (but probably not yet) so he is either tied for 3rd or he is 4th. Then there is Tauroneo in one map, Muarim in the next. BK in 1-E. He's never better than 3rd most durable and will frequently be worse than that.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Narga_Rocks

[Rewjeo]

Well, until part 3, where he's consistently second (first for the beginning of 3-6) and might (important word there) tie or even beat Tauroneo.

[_____]

Aran is my favorite character in this game (If N/T Nephenee gets the anything higher than an 8, I will raeg, because even an 8 is pushing it), but...

might (important word there) tie or even beat Tauroneo.

Not even might.

Never.

[Florete]

Aran is my favorite character in this game (If N/T Nephenee gets the anything higher than an 8, I will raeg, because even an 8 is pushing it), but...

Nephenee (N) I'd understand, but Nephenee (T)? Completely different case.

[_____]

N/T = No Transfer, though I probably should have clarified.

[Florete]

N/T = No Transfer, though I probably should have clarified.

Well, that's not the way I did it on the tier list. I only put (N/T) if the (T) version doesn't get a new placement, and put the 'N' there to specify that this isn't just the (T) version since I still listed the transferred stats. Otherwise, it would be like Shinon (T - Skl, Spd) but no regular version would exist on the list.

[Narga_Rocks]

Aran is my favorite character in this game (If N/T Nephenee gets the anything higher than an 8, I will raeg, because even an 8 is pushing it), but...

might (important word there) tie or even beat Tauroneo.

Not even might.

Never.

I would imagine Neph will be getting either a 7.5 or an 8, but probably a 7.5. The transfer version probably 8.5.

[Zkirsche]

Not even might.

Never.

A 20/5 Aran is very comparable to Base Taur durably (38HP/21 Def for Taur, 34.5 HP/23.2 Def for Aran with no supports. With a non-def support, Aran has 25 Def. So it's 4 Def verses 3.5 HP. Avoid wise it's 54 Avo for Aran with a fire support against 58 avo for Tauroneo). Aran might have a little trouble getting to this level, but not much changes if it's just 20/3 or 18/5 (a point in HP/Def, at most). So it isn't as far off as you might think.

[Narga_Rocks]

Not even might.

Never.

A 20/5 Aran is very comparable to Base Taur durably (38HP/21 Def for Taur, 34.5 HP/23.2 Def for Aran with no supports. With a non-def support, Aran has 25 Def. So it's 4 Def verses 3.5 HP. Avoid wise it's 54 Avo for Aran with a fire support against 58 avo for Tauroneo). Aran might have a little trouble getting to this level, but not much changes if it's just 20/3 or 18/5 (a point in HP/Def, at most). So it isn't as far off as you might think.

I wonder if he meant that Aran will beat Tauroneo and it's just that the wording was off. Still, Tauroneo is a possible user of a crown, whereas Aran may have difficulty hitting ??/10 just to get crowned. Also crowning one of them pretty much gives up on their part 4, but that doesn't really matter since neither in part 4 is stellar with a late crown anyway.

[CT075]

Not even might.

Never.

A 20/5 Aran is very comparable to Base Taur durably (38HP/21 Def for Taur, 34.5 HP/23.2 Def for Aran with no supports. With a non-def support, Aran has 25 Def. So it's 4 Def verses 3.5 HP. Avoid wise it's 54 Avo for Aran with a fire support against 58 avo for Tauroneo). Aran might have a little trouble getting to this level, but not much changes if it's just 20/3 or 18/5 (a point in HP/Def, at most). So it isn't as far off as you might think.

Crap, you beat me to it.

[Zkirsche]

I dunno, RFoF thinks getting Jill to xx/10 isn't too difficult, so I assume Aran shouldn't be too far off.

[Blademaster!]

I dunno, RFoF thinks getting Jill to xx/10 isn't too difficult, so I assume Aran shouldn't be too far off.

Generally, the only way anyone from the dawn brigade will reach ??/10 is if you give them paragon.

[Narga_Rocks]

I dunno, RFoF thinks getting Jill to xx/10 isn't too difficult, so I assume Aran shouldn't be too far off.

Does she? I'm talking about the start of 3-13. I remember trying to talk her into assuming certain DB members started part 3 around 20/13 or something like that (don't remember specifics, maybe I said 20/14 or 20/15). She was saying something like 20/10 (or 20/11 or something). That's the end of chapter 3-13. I don't think she'd assume Aran can reach that in time for crowning in the base of 3-13.

[Candlejack]

I just realized something; Laura might be a Priest because Laura might be a Bridget.

[Florete]

Meg

Poor Meg. You always remind me of Meg Griffin from Family Guy. You suck, you're ugly, no one likes you, you have the same name, and only the sleazy pervert down the street would ever have sex with you, and probably only when he's drunk.

Meg must have the most unbalanced growths relative to her bases and class in existence. Her Strength and Defense bases at 10 are fairly good for her level, but her growths in both are a measly 35%. Her HP is kind of low so her durability is never good and while she has a great 65% Speed growth, her Speed base is so low she gets doubled in her joining chapter and never really doubles, hurting her offense significantly since she's stuck with Swords and low Strength.

To top it all off, she's got the worst class in which to be stuck with these stats. If she were something like an Archer or Pegasus Knight these stats would be somewhat forgivable (She'd still be pretty bad), but she's a freaking Armor Sword. Bad stats and terrible mobility. What the hell? You know, I also like how IS put Fortune, the skill that negates criticals, on the unit who loses Luck growth to only Micaiah and a few choice Laguz. Seriously, what was the point? It's like putting Cancel on an Archer...

Her only saving grace is that she levels fast because her base level is really low at 3, but since her growths are bland and she has trouble just reaching enemies, she's still going to suck pretty much forever, though she might be okay in late part 1, or at least out of the realm of "failing miserably". Then in part 3 when you'd think her high Speed growth might have kicked in and would be helping her now, she gets slapped in the face by her shitty 22 2nd tier Speed cap. She's not worth raising further in part 4 either because her 3rd tier caps are also pretty bad and her mobility is never good.

And then she's got Heaven affinity. Really? Possibly the most worthless affinity on a totally worthless unit? Yeah, I'll pass.

0.5/10

Volug

My intro will be a quote from everyone's favorite smash fanatic from his "balancing FE10" topic. I smile every time I read this.

Volug's problem is that he's too damn badass for this game. His abs solo maps, along with his ridiculous overkill stats and mobility and lolearth.

And that's Volug in a nutshell.

12/10

Okay, not really.

Volug joins in 1-5 and competes with Sothe as your best unit on the map. I could compare them to see which one is better, but that's beside the point, the point being that Volug rocks. He's more durable then everyone because of average Def but overkill HP, he doubles and kills most everything, and he can move further than anyone else. It really doesn't get much better, and this is pretty much what he's like for all of part 1. High Def enemies he'll fail to kill until he gets S Strike, which should happen sometime around 1-E, but even that isn't such a big deal since most everyone has problems killing them, and he usually brings them low enough for your weaklings to kill them anyway. Since he gets only 1-3 experience per fight anyway, this is usually a good thing. 1-E is really the only chapter in part 1 where he'll have some problems since he fails to double some enemies and might have Hit issues, but everyone's worse here so he's still one of your better units.

Then in part 3, where most people get a bit worse, freakin' Volug gets even better. He's no longer stuck in Halfshift and can instead flesh out his fully transformed stats of win and awesome and pwnage. That's no exaggeration. He is easily your best unit statistically. Even the strongest enemies take 3 hits to kill him while he has good avoid, he doubles everything and inevitably does more damage than anyone except Beastkiller Sothe and whoever has Beastfoe. He's also the only Laguz, so he holds a monopoly on all the teams Olivi Grass.

Part 4 sees Volug slowing down a bit. He should still double fairly reliably and SS Strike means his damage will be decent, but a low Strength growth means he ends up with problems one-rounding enemies and it's easy for him to get screwed over. He's probably one of the best, if not the best, candidates for an Energy Drop because of how much it helps him throughout the game, but the necessity still counts against him. This isn't to say he's bad in part 4. Earth support means he still has really good avoid, and being a Laguz means he doesn't lose Move in the 4-3 desert. It's really only at Endgame where he might not be quite up to par.

As for his support, Earth rocks. Major avoid boost combined with naturally good durability. Not much else to say about that. I like to support him with Jill because she loves the avoid and this way they can rape 4-3's desert together, but he works with almost anyone really, and that's what makes it so good.

In fact, if it weren't for his less-than-desirable part 4, I'd give him a perfect score.

9.5/10

[Jaybee]

Two things on Ilyana that are important are; she is the only rexbolt user (For whatever that is worth. D: ) As well as being the unit with the most playtime. There things should bring her up to a 4.0. Although I won't argue her any higher than that.

(Go Ilyana Fetish?)

@ Rexbolt: So? It doesn't help if she can't get that rank due to her awesome suckness.

@ Availability: Roy has awesome availability, yet he isn't spectacular. Having good availability means shit if she can't put it to good use.

Also, good job on the ratings so far!

Aran

[...]

7/10

inb4smashype

[Florete]

@ Rexbolt: So? It doesn't help if she can't get that rank due to her awesome suckness.

To add, I don't think it actually helps her any more than, say, Soren with Arcthunder. But I haven't checked the numbers on that, so I might be wrong.

Also, good job on the ratings so far!

Thank you.

inb4smashype

Luckily he's already ignoring me.

[_____]

N/T = No Transfer, though I probably should have clarified.

Well, that's not the way I did it on the tier list. I only put (N/T) if the (T) version doesn't get a new placement, and put the 'N' there to specify that this isn't just the (T) version since I still listed the transferred stats. Otherwise, it would be like Shinon (T - Skl, Spd) but no regular version would exist on the list.

Yeah, I stopped paying attention once transfers came into play, so I didn't know that.

What Narga said on the Aran vs. Tauro stuff. Granted, Aran is helping out more in Part 1 and Part 3 overall since he's around more often, and he might be doing better in Part 4, I dunno', but that's why he's above Chester Allen Neo in the first place.

I dunno, RFoF thinks getting Jill to xx/10 isn't too difficult, so I assume Aran shouldn't be too far off.

Wait, what? By when?

[Narga_Rocks]

@ Rexbolt: So? It doesn't help if she can't get that rank due to her awesome suckness.

To add, I don't think it actually helps her any more than, say, Soren with Arcthunder. But I haven't checked the numbers on that, so I might be wrong.

Ignore until Soren gets his rating.

I'd give Soren an 8 mt thunder forge before giving him a 7mt weapon with less accuracy. With his lck he might have hit issues even against dragons thanks to Deg's stars and Arcthunder's woeful hit. Ilyana should have zero issues hitting stuff with Rexbolt. I don't feel like calculating. But if we are actually looking at their part 4 I'd look at him in 4-1 and 4-4 vs. her in 4-2 and 4-5 considering she gets 4HKOd by cats (possibly 5 depending on levels and supports) and does much damage to all things on the map. Also killing tigers. Then she gets 3HKOd vs. his 2HKOd in 4-E-1 (and probably 2). However, he has an advantage in 4-E-4, considering he can stand next to Nasir and actually ORKO stuff with Meteor or even Blizzard and she probably isn't quite there yet. Advantage Soren. 4-E-5 is probably a wash. Neither 2RKO. I'm not sure if they 3HKO or 4HKO, or if it matters. She'll have a bit less mag, and Rexcalibur has 1 more mt, and he'll have his support, so it is possible he'll get a different #RKO than her, but at that point I doubt it matters. By now she might be able to at least blick the thunder spirit with a ranged tome while standing next to Nasir. Only needs 27 spd and some amount of mag depending on Meteor or Blizzard. 49 mt to take out a thunder spirit (38hp and 30res, only the fire spirit starts this map on wardwood). With Blizzard's 7mt and Nasir's 5 mag, that is 37 mag required if she can't get Calill or someone to support her. I say Calill despite the availability thing because two sages make a better pair than, say, a sage and a falco like Marcia. Anyway, she's likely hard-pressed to get to 37mag on her own, but 35 mag should be doable. 36 mag without support but with Meteor, however Blizzard is more accurate. 34 mag with support and Meteor, which is simple enough. Anyway, she probably wins part 4. More Avo means a little less healing, but it isn't nearly as big an increase to enemy phase as her higher #RKO numbers. At least, not when your avo is only Soren's level. Soren takes forever to get to doubling speed, even on Generals, so the speed difference can almost be ignored in part 4.

I shouldn't actually say anything until Soren gets his rating, but even if he gets, like, a 5, I still think 2 points is a little much between them.

Also, good job on the ratings so far!

agreed.

inb4smashype

Luckily he's already ignoring me.

We can only hope that this trend will continue.

[Jaybee]

inb4smashype

Luckily he's already ignoring me.

We can only hope that this trend will continue.

I think he has practically everyone who debates RD regularly on ignore. He's already got you, RF, and Int on ignore, and I think he has me on ignore as well. It's a wonder he can still debate it with no one to argue with. Not sure if Cynthia's on his ignore list, though I think he she is.

[Florete]

I'd give Soren an 8 mt thunder forge before giving him a 7mt weapon with less accuracy.

Whoops, meant Thoron, though I don't think it changes what you said much.

I shouldn't actually say anything until Soren gets his rating, but even if he gets, like, a 5, I still think 2 points is a little much between them.

I don't want to go telling everyone what my later scores will be, but I can assure you that Soren is not worth a 5. At least without a transfer anyway.

Just look at how many characters are in between Edward and Soren on the tier list and realize what score Edward got. My scores won't strictly follow the tier list, but just to get an idea....

[Interceptor]

In fact, if it weren't for his less-than-desirable part 4, I'd give him a perfect score.

9.5/10

And this is why I haven't said anything substantial, because I was waiting for you to rank Volug. Your rating for Volug -- which is close to 100% accurate, by the way -- is why your 9.0 rating for Sothe is goddamn ridiculous. And don't feed me any BS about how grudgingly accepting some 8.5 in another topic means that I'm endorsing yours. 8.5 is within +/- 0.5 of 8.0. 9.0 is not. I don't know where this point inflation came from, but I'm raising interest rates to bring it under control.

Luckily he's already ignoring me.

I've thought a lot about this, and decided that I prefer it when he's ignoring me. Whether he engages me or not, I still make his opinions look foolish, but when he ignores me I get to do it for free. I think this is better, on balance, since it means I can spend more time on the take-downs and less on the back-and-forth.