FE7 character ratings

[Dark Sage]

This topic has inspired me to play FE7 again.

Just need to unlock the HHM mode (cartridge keeps deleting saves).

The only challenge to be had in ENM is the Final Chapter. And that's just because of how broken Uhai and Lloyd are.

Of course I do limit myself when it comes to mine glitch since it makes chapters a joke just having everyone drop their weapons, and I rarely use it anyway.

[Junkhead]

I'm rather impressed on the rating you gave Farina. Mostly because of her avaibility and costs.

Edited December 18, 2010 by Soul

[Colonel M]

I'm rather impressed on the rating you gave Farina. Mostly because of her avaibility and costs.

He isn't taking recruitment costs in the scores. Otherwise, Geitz probably would be ranked the same as Wallace.

[Axie]

The only challenge to be had in ENM is the Final Chapter. And that's just because of how broken Uhai and Lloyd are.

The Sleep staff makes even those guys easy. And even without it I always thought Light was an easy, even if overwhelmingly epic, chapter.

I blame Luna.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Soren being revealed as Ashnard's heir is harder than that.

Yes it is.

Id rather be inefficient and get my lords up to par to get Linus's chapter. Lloyd's chapter in both modes (especially Hector's) pisses me off to no end.

No mention of Triangle attack? I know a lot of people do disregard it, it can be a fast way to take out bosses.

[dondon151]

Pent

Advantages

Magic: This has two major implications. First, Pent hits res and therefore doesn't require a relatively high 28 atk to 2HKO unpromoted enemies (but he reaches that anyway). Second, most physical units who can reach 28 atk can't do it with ranged weapons, but Pent hits equally hard from 1 or 2 range.

Offense: Ridiculous. At base, Pent has 26 atk, 17 AS with Thunder or 28 atk, 15 AS with Elfire - he can double pretty much every remaining generic enemy in the game (except SMs, valkyries, heroes, and NTs), ORKOing unpromoted enemies easily and doing heavy damage to promoted ones. Chapter 31 snipers, with around 38 HP, 9 res on average, fall even to base Pent; generals are capable of surviving with significantly more HP, and in the case of the --/15 ones, around 14 res. Pent's offense also falters against the promoted magic units in chapter 29, who have around 33 HP and anywhere from 17 to 20 res. Still, expect Pent to have upwards of a 90% win ratio over the course of his availability.

Weapon ranks: A anima doesn't really matter given the poor availability of Fimbulvetr and Excalibur, but Pent does have the option of using Bolting if the player goes to Jerme's chapter 27. Significantly more important is A staves, which, combined with Pent's base 18 mag, makes him the best user of Sleep, Berserk, Rescue, Warp, Fortify, and Physic, boasting 9 staff range and enough mag and skl to accurately target any non-magic unit.

Auto A: Pent has an A support with Louise with no effort required by the player. This is likely the only significant support that a player will see in efficient play. As for the bonuses, Pent greatly appreciates the +3 def, which can, for example, turn a 3HKO from 24 atk (a common number among WKs) into a 4HKO. Given Louise's limited utility, Pent won't be experiencing the benefits from this support often, but on defense maps like chapters 26 or 31, it's pretty easy to just place Louise near Pent out of enemy range and have him do all the work.

Physical durability: Not particularly excellent, but it's certainly a huge advantage compared to competitors like Erk or Canas. Pent's base 33 HP, 11 def is still prone to getting 3HKO'd by stronger enemy types (at least 22 atk), but between utilizing terrain and a potential +3 def support, Pent's physical durability problems are easy to work around. As an example, chapter 26 Steel Lance WKs have 88 hit, and Pent has 68 avo with Thunder on a forest tile. 20 displayed hit is just 8.2 true, or, if Pent is 3HKO'd, he only has a 0.06% chance of death in three attacks.

Disadvantages

None that actually deserve to be explored in detail, really. I mean, one wishes that he were around longer, or had 8 move, or flew...

Summary

Even just taking offense into account, Pent isn't an average combat unit by any means, having incredible enemy phase potential due to magic and passable physical durability. Add in the fact that Pent is the best staff user for all but one chapter of the remainder of the game, and he's absolutely invaluable. One will have to accomodate for his average mobility, but there is no other unit in the game, excluding Athos, who can do what Pent does.

Score: 7.5

Louise

Advantages

Weapon ranks: Louise starts with A bows, meaning that she has complete access to the wide pool of bows that literally no other unit can use. The Silver Bow, Killer Bow, and Brave Bow can all sufficiently make up for Louise's below average base offensive parameters against certain enemy types.

Offense: Louise's base 12 str qualifies as being below average at the point in the game when she joins, but the Silver Bow gives her a respectable 25 atk, 17 AS, which 2HKOs all unpromoted enemy types except for knights and also 2HKOs all promoted magic users (though, sages can have up to 36 HP, 9 def, which requires 27 atk to 2HKO). Louise can also opt to use a Killer Bow, which yields a lower base 21 atk, 16 AS, but also a 60.3% chance to land a critical hit in a doubling round of combat. The Brave Bow is generally unnecessary unless Louise needs to KO an enemy without a counter or she can't double the enemy in the first place with her 17+ AS, which is generally the case against SMs, valkyries, heroes, or NTs.

Auto A: An automatic A support with Pent doesn't directly help Louise very much, as she shouldn't be attacked very much, if at all, but her bonuses to Pent give the player another reason to deploy her. On defensive maps where rescuing is unneeded, it's fairly easy to keep Louise out of combat but still in Pent's support range.

Disadvantages

Enemy phase: Louise can't counter the vast majority of enemies in the game who can attack at 1 range. This is a pretty significant disadvantage, especially in mid- to lategame maps where player units have the capability of causing destruction on enemy phase with just Javelins or Hand Axes.

Summary

Low competition for bows and a high base weapon rank are sufficient to make Louise competent, but competency doesn't quite cut it at this point in the game. She's not a bad choice for filling extra unit slots, if only to give Pent his +3 def support bonus, but there's not a whole lot of utility that one can squeeze out of her in an efficient playthrough.

Score: 3.0

[dondon151]

Id rather be inefficient and get my lords up to par to get Linus's chapter. Lloyd's chapter in both modes (especially Hector's) pisses me off to no end.

That's great for you, but I've already established the ground rules for this topic.

Although I don't really understand what pisses you off about Lloyd's chapter 24. Use Ninis's Grace on Marcus, put him in that tile between the two forts, and gang up on Lloyd with Swordreaver Hawkeye and Silver Lance Marcus on turn 2. There's no way you can lose.

No mention of Triangle attack? I know a lot of people do disregard it, it can be a fast way to take out bosses.

I hope by fast, you meant slow. We don't want to kill Vaida anyway, so that just leaves chapter 27 bosses and onwards. A brief examination:

Chapter 27K: Brave Axe Hawkeye (28 atk) quads and 3HKOs Kenneth with about 21 crit on top of that.

Chapter 27J: I'm not sure how quickly this can be done, but assuming that one can recruit Harken before facing Jerme, Harken does 44/48 HP damage to Jerme's 10 def with a Brave Sword, so he's as good as dead.

Chapter 28: Harken 2HKOs and doubles for an ORKO with any 9 MT weapon. Next.

Chapter 28x: Harken 4HKOs and quads with Brave Axe. Next.

Chapter 29: I'm not even sure if triangle attack hits through Iron Rune. Assuming Linus, he has 20 +2 def just at base, so 14/6 Silver Lance Florina, with 28 +1 atk, does 7 x3 HP damage, while Harken does 10 x2 HP damage with Brave Sword. But then, consider that Harken is just one unit and triangle attack requires 3 units.

Chapter 30: Not going to bother.

Chapter 31: Denning isn't important, so not going to bother.

Chapter 32: Vaida, with Filla's Might and Brave Lance, 4HKOs and quads with Brave Lance.

Final: I'd much rather just use braves and Luna than deploy 3 offensively weak units.

There is always a faster way. At no point did I ever even consider using the triangle attack; in fact, I completely forgot that it existed until you brought it up. That's how useless it is.

Edited December 18, 2010 by dondon151

[Balcerzak]

Chapter 29: I'm not even sure if triangle attack hits through Iron Rune. Assuming Linus, he has 20 +2 def just at base, so 14/6 Silver Lance Florina, with 28 +1 atk, does 7 x3 HP damage, while Harken does 10 x2 HP damage with Brave Sword. But then, consider that Harken is just one unit and triangle attack requires 3 units.

It cuts through Iron Rune like a hot knife through butter. Full critical damage.

[grandjackal]

To add to the Pent analysis, no Dragonshield or Robe? The Robe specifically would put him about on par defensively with a 20/6 Sain.

Now is that not a huge improvement, or are those sorts of boosters reserved solely for our horsemen and pegasi?

[dondon151]

To add to the Pent analysis, no Dragonshield or Robe? The Robe specifically would put him about on par defensively with a 20/6 Sain.

Now is that not a huge improvement, or are those sorts of boosters reserved solely for our horsemen and pegasi?

The chapter 15 Dragonshield is long gone. Chapter 22 Angelic Robe is a possibility, but I mean, seriously? I can't be assed to modify every set of combat comparisons with it. Unless it's a huge deal like most early game stat boosters (and it's really not).

[grandjackal]

The chapter 15 Dragonshield is long gone. Chapter 22 Angelic Robe is a possibility, but I mean, seriously? I can't be assed to modify every set of combat comparisons with it. Unless it's a huge deal like most early game stat boosters (and it's really not).

Perhaps it's time I did another Resource Topic like I did for RD? Only problem is, I am pretty sure for the most part that the topic would be boring in terms of who got what, since my prediction would be that most stat boosters would be going to horsemen and pegasi.

[dondon151]

Karel

Advantages

Attack speed: Karel's base 20 spd is sufficient for him to double every enemy in the game except for SMs, valkyries, and high leveled heroes, who have 19+ AS. Essentially, Karel gets two chances at a critical hit to make up for his somewhat average offense, especially against promoted enemy types.

Critical bonus: Karel has 15 class crit, which gives him 56 crit with a Killing Edge, or 61 crit with a Wo Dao (no S swords). Against an enemy that Karel at least 4HKOs (such as a 39 HP, 9 def sniper, or 35 HP, 13 def WK), he has an 80.6% chance to ORKO with Killing Edge or an 84.8% chance to ORKO with Wo Dao.

Disadvantages

Sword lock: Without the ability to counter at range, Karel doesn't have many opportunities to leverage his offense on enemy phase, which siginificantly limits the magnitude of his contributions. It also doesn't help that swords are the weakest physical weapon type and Karel has a merely average 16 base str, which doesn't give him enough atk to even 2HKO WKs with a Lancereaver.

Recruitment cost: Recruiting Karel necessarily means not recruiting Harken, and therefore not obtaining the Brave Sword. Also, in Kenneth's map of chapter 27, Karel cannot be recruited until turn 10 player phase, while the map can be completed by about turn 8.

Summary

At this point in the game, Karel's offense, while decent, is just simply not good enough to warrant any special mention - he has about the same atk as a 16/5 Kent or an 11/4 Heath, with more crit and AS to back it up, but no other advantages like 8 move, flying, or weapon triangle control. He isn't particularly durable either, having similar base durability to Pent. Furthermore, since the player has to give up Harken and a Brave Sword in order to recruit Karel, it's unlikely that Karel will ever even be recruited in an efficient playthrough.

Score: 1.5

Harken

Advantages

Offense: Harken has a huge base 23 str, 18 spd, easily giving him the best offense on the team. With only a Hand Axe, Harken's 31 atk after WTA is sufficient to 2HKO almost every remaining WK in the game, as well as 39 HP, 9 def snipers in chapter 31. In addition to his performance against generic enemies, Harken really shines against bosses, able to 2HKO Ursula with any 9 MT weapon and 4HKO Sonia with the Brave Axe. He's also the single best unit with which to take on Linus in chapter 29, doing 10 x2 HP damage with the Brave Sword to Linus's massive 61 HP, 20 +2 def.

Physical durability: Harken is no slouch in the physical durability department, with 42 HP, 16 def being 6HKO'd by 25 atk Steel Lance WKs in chapter 28x (before WTD). Even 28 atk Silver Bow snipers are a 4HKO, and with assistance from WTA and terrain, Harken can sustain 4HKOs from chapter 31 generals that hang around 31-32 atk.

Resistance: 11 base res is decent, allowing Harken to sustain a 5HKO from 21 atk Nosferatu shamans in chapter 29 without any assistance. In chapter 29, a full Pure Water or Barrier boost drops enemy 15 mag, 11 skl valkyries' staff accuracy to about 15 at a range of 6 tiles, in addition to allowing Harken to survive two 27 atk Purges with enough HP to spare for four more 23 atk Thunders. It's not a bad idea to give Harken the chapter 27 Talisman for added insurance against magic attacks and status staves in chapter 29, as it allows him, with at least 42 HP, 20 res, to survive two 27 atk Purges and all five Thunder and Elfire valkyries in the northwest corner.

Weapon ranks: B swords and B axes are just sufficient for Harken to wield the Brave Sword and Brave Axe, which are his best tools for boss killing. Harken doesn't really mind not having access to silvers, as killers are sufficient for Harken to try to ORKO tough enemies like chapter 31's 51 HP, 22 def generals, but it does take a few maps before Harken can get an S rank bonus in either weapon type.

Disadvantages

Recruitment cost: Recruiting Harken necessarily means not recruiting Karel, and therefore not obtaining an early Wo Dao - of course, Harken and the Brave Sword are hands down superior to Karel and the Wo Dao, but the opportunity cost still exists. Harken also costs about 2 turns to recruit on Kenneth's version of chapter 27.

Summary

Harken is, simply put, just a really good combat unit, and his immense offensive parameters are ideal for going 1-on-1 against bosses and making short work of them. It's debatable if, in an efficient playthrough, it's worth giving up 2 turns to recruit Harken, but his offense is unmatched except by perhaps Hawkeye and Sain, who have problems of their own that make them offensively inferior to Harken, such as lower str, much lower skl, and lower axe weapon rank in Sain's case.

Score: 5.0

Edited January 17, 2011 by dondon151

[Life]

Isn't Jerme's map quicker?

[Galenforcer]

Isn't Jerme's map quicker?

Yes, but efficiently, it's more likely that your magic users will be higher leveled than your hero crest users because none of them sans Raven have much long-term use over the spellcasters and healers.

[Silvercrow]

Jerme is rout while Kenneth's is seize, I would be surprised if it were quicker.

[Radiant Dragon]

Jerme's map is quicker? I always assumed Kenneth's was quicker, since it's seize instead of rout and there's more indoor area.

[dondon151]

I am 99% certain that Kenneth's map is quicker.

[Junkhead]

And not to mention, Jerme's map has over 40 enemies to deal with. Alot of annoying reinforment consisting on Wyerns.

[dondon151]

Nino

Advantages

Magic: At least this makes Nino usable. With 7 mag at base, Nino has 17 atk with Elfire, which does around 16/33 HP damage to pirates and 15/35 HP damage to WKs in chapter 28x. It's not even a 2HKO, but it's sufficient for her to reliably grab KOs that other units might have missed. Anima's high hit (relative to Hand Axes and Javelins) and 1-2 range also help significantly.

Chapter 28x: Nino is forced onto this map. She can't do a whole lot, though, being grounded with 5 move.

Disadvantages

Base level: Nino starts at 5/0 in chapter 28. Although she can level up quickly and take advantage of her above average growths, the fact remains that she's a full five levels from promotion and its associated benefits. Additionally, being forced to promote early limits her growth potential, which might have been some small sort of saving grace for her performance.

Bases: Admittedly, Nino's 5/0 bases are rather high for a 5/0 unit, but that would have only been acceptable in like, chapter 14 or something. The player is in chapter 28x now, with enemies like 25 atk Steel Lance WKs that OHKO Nino until around 8/0 and have enough HP, res to avoid a 2HKO from Nino's strongest accessible weapon until she is 11/0. It doesn't help that chapter 29 is full of magically durable unpromoted enemies, the weakest of which are just barely 2HKO'd by 11/1 Elfire Nino (21 atk) - she doesn't double them, either, without Fire, which drops her atk down to 16.

Promotion: With likely only two Guiding Rings obtained throughout the entire game, and three good candidates for them (Lucius, Serra, Priscilla), Nino is very far down the bottom of the priority list for a promotion item.

Summary

Nino is, at least, usable when she's forced, but there's absolutely no reason to deploy her in other maps. There are much better options available for magic and staffing should one choose to promote Nino.

Score: 0.5

Jaffar

Advantages

Offense: Jaffar has the highest spd base of any recruitable unit in the game, and a pretty decent str base on top of that. 19 str, 24 spd constitute some pretty solid offensive bases, easily 2HKOing all unpromoted enemy types in the game except for knights and WKs, and Jaffar comes pretty close on the latter, with 30 atk with Lancereaver (after WTA) against 35 HP, 13 def. 24 spd doesn't give him any significant advantages over something like Harken's base 18 spd, only doubling a couple of heroes in chapter 29 and NTs in chapter 32, in addition to a couple of bosses in the final chapter.

Silencer: This is generally viewed as a gimmick, and it is for Jaffar most of the time, as he has no problem ORKOing most enemies in the game with a normal critical hit. It does help in chapter 31 against the generals, who are too tough to be 2HKO'd by most conventional means (i.e. not effective weapons). Silencer is a chancy, but still usable option against really tough enemies like the final chapter bosses. When offensive powerhouses like --/15 Harken or --/13 Vaida are 4HKOing 59 HP, 19 def Uhai with a Brave Sword or Brave Lance, respectively, it might be worth it to have Jaffar try to OHKO something with his approximately 48 crit (24% chance of OHKO) using a Killing Edge with S swords at --/16. Against Jerme or Ursula, for example, who have only 19 AS, Jaffar has about a 42.2% chance of proccing Silencer in a round of combat.

Disadvantages

Sword lock: For the remainder of the game, this disadvantage relegates Jaffar's offense to player phase only in all important circumstances. The worst consequence is that Jaffar pretty much has to completely miss out on chapter 29, which is effectively 20-25% of his entire existence, not counting maps like chapters 30 and 31x. In chapter 28x, he is grounded and not suitable for ferrying due to lacking 2 range against a couple of WKs and a group of shamans. In chapter 31, Jaffar cannot counter druids or snipers at all and cannot ORKO 47 HP, 22 def generals without a Silencer proc. In chapter 32, Jaffar can't fly or warp and really isn't that useful otherwise.

Summary

With his good offensive parameters, Jaffar is useful for taking on side tasks, and Silencer at least gives him a chance for deployment in the final chapter. Lack of 2 range, or any other notable traits, for that matter, really hurts his potential utility, however. Chapter 29 aside, there really aren't any problems with deploying Jaffar, but he seldom contributes something that's actually useful.

Score: 1.5

Edited December 24, 2010 by dondon151

[dondon151]

Vaida

Advantages

Flying: Vaida is the last recruitable flying unit, and consequently can only exercise this form of utility in chapter 32. Regardless, in combination with her other traits, Vaida makes chapter 32 extremely painless.

Offense: Vaida's base 22 str, 14 spd puts her offense at around the second or third best on the team, next to Harken and Pent, which is more than sufficient to secure important 2HKOs. In chapter 29, Vaida can immediately kill her WK accompaniment with just a Short Spear, 2HKOing all of the reinforcements at 1-2 range (useful because half of the reinforcements have Javelins). In chapter 31, Vaida's 28 atk with Javelin can 2HKO most snipers on the map, who have around 38 HP, 9 def. In chapter 32, Vaida's 32 atk with a Killer Lance cleanly 2HKOs all WKs on the map and 3HKOs the WLs.

Weapon ranks: A lances and A swords, importantly, give Vaida access to brave weapons in both weapon types, which allows her to ORKO Limstella with Filla's Might and deal significant damage to final chapter bosses.

Physical durability: To put Vaida's base 47 HP, 22 def in perspective, Killer Lance WKs in chapter 32 only have 25-26 atk. Even the strongest enemies on the map, 36 atk Silver Lance WLs and 36 atk Silver Axe warriors, only 4HKO Vaida. Barring being unlucky, there's no way that Vaida will die to any physical assault.

Disadvantages

Bow weakness: Bows are the one weapon type that will penetrate Vaida's excellent physical durability parameters, but the Delphi Shield easily alleviates that. With it, 28 atk Silver Bow snipers in chapter 31 will only 8HKO Vaida, and a 29 atk Killer Ballista sniper in chapter 32 does similarly poor damage. Vaida is easily the best candidate for the Delphi Shield, just because she can absorb an attack from a ballista and then fly in to 2HKO the sniper riding it.

Attack speed: 14 spd at base isn't bad, but Vaida does miss doubling the occasional 11 AS sniper in chapter 31 or 12 AS WK in chapter 32. Fortunately, a Speedwings alleviates that problem.

Summary

Vaida is basically "what if IS gave Harken even better defensive durability and flying?" Low availability really limits what Vaida can do, but she has important roles in efficiently clearing chapters 29 and 32, and with brave weapons, can consistently do heavy damage to final chapter bosses.

Score: 4.0

Karla

Advantages

Attack speed: Karla's base 18 spd doubles all enemies in chapter 32 but heroes and SMs.

Critical bonus: At base, Karla has an impressive 60 crit with the Wo Dao. With only A swords, however, she won't ever get a chance to get an extra 5 crit from the S rank bonus.

Disadvantages

Outclassed: Basically, Karla has many disadvantages and I'm too lazy to go into detail about them. Her base atk, at only 22 with the Wo Dao, cannot even 4HKO 49 HP, 11 def warriors in chapter 32 after WTA. Her base spd ties Harken's and loses to Jaffar, both of whom can do the same things that Karla does and more. She loses in both physical and magical durability to Pent, who joined six maps ago. Finally, Karla has no other redeeming forms of utility, unlike, for example, Vaida or Renault.

Recruitment cost: Karla has perhaps one of the steepest recruitment costs of any character in FE, requiring Bartre to be --/5 by the beginning of chapter 31x. Getting Bartre to that level is not a difficult task in itself, but it forces him to take up a deployment slot in every map in which he is deployed and it also will usually require the investment of an Earth Seal, as Hero Crests are difficult to obtain and generally reserved for Raven.

Summary

Definitely not worth it. It certainly doesn't hurt to go through the effort to recruit Karla other than maybe a few frustrating misses and resets (at least, I don't think so), but she just can't do anything.

Score: 0.0

[dondon151]

Renault

Advantages

Weapon ranks: Renault starts with A light, A staves. A light is pretty unimportant, since Renault will probably never attack, but A staves guarantees him some sort of use in efficient play. Renault is recruited just on the way to the gate, meaning that the player doesn't have to rescue an extra 6 move staff user along. With Pent, Renault can warp in a boss killer and help complete the chapter from a distance. Renault also has enough staff range to warp Nils near the throne room in chapter 32x and to rescue units in the final chapter, aiding a faster completion.

Disadvantages

Attack: Renault only has 12 base mag, which makes for a rather sad 24 atk with Aura. He probably won't ever attack anyway, but he wishes he had more mag for a better staff range.

Summary

Renault is fairly one dimensional: he can use Warp, Rescue, or Hammerne, and save turns in chapters 32, 32x, and final. 12 mag is a bit low, but it's probably still better than Serra's mag at that point in the game.

Score: 2.0

Athos

Advantages

Offense: Athos has a 30 atk Luna that is both highly accurate and strong enough to leave a huge dent in any enemy. He also has the option to use Elfire or Forblaze for higher damage against opponents with lower res.

Weapon ranks: S ranks in all magic gives Athos many options, more than enough to fill his inventory a couple of times over. S light yields access to Aureola, which is Athos's safest option against Nergal; the +5 res and WTA put Athos out of 2HKO range of Nergal's Ereshkigal (as opposed to Luna). It also lets Athos fire off a 40 atk Purge, chipping almost enemy on the map. S dark, obviously, provides access to Luna, which should be Athos's primary offensive tool. S anima opens up a handful of secondary offensive options like Elfire and Forblaze, which weigh less than Luna, in addition to a 42 atk Bolting that Athos can use in the same was as Purge. Finally, with S staves, Athos can use any staff in the game, and is an excellent candidate for the Sleep and Berserk staves with a staggering base 204 staff accuracy.

Disadvantages

Attack speed: Athos has "only" 20 base spd and 9 con - while above average, it's insufficient for Athos to double any bosses outside of Kenneth with Luna. With a Body Ring or a Speedwings, Athos can pick up on doubling 15 AS Darin as well.

Physical durability: Not actually that bad, but still could be better. 40 HP, 20 def can't survive 2 hits from both individuals in Brendan's room (40 atk and 52 atk) or both individuals in Darin's room (36 and 46 atk).

Summary

Athos, when used correctly, can probably account for two-thirds of the KOs in the final chapter, between pure offense with Luna and status staves, Berserk in particular. Athos especially trivializes Lloyd and Linus; by berserking Lloyd, the player is nearly guaranteed to have one of them KO'd and the other one beat into single digit HP within two turns.

Score: 2.5

[Randombobman]

This is a really excellent, comprehensive review of characters for doing speed/efficiency runs.

Thanks mate.

[Florete]

Now that I take an overall look, I have to ask: Why is Karel ranked higher than Jaffar? Jaffar wins every stat by 2-4 points except Luck and Res. His Spd and Skl leads cancel out any avoid or hit boosts Karel might have, and I highly doubt the 5 Dodge will make a difference. Res is a 1 point loss, which his 3 HP ought to make up for. So Jaffar pretty much wins every combat parameter except crit, but he also has Lethality, and 3 more Str means he won't need crits as often anyway. Karel also has effectively one more map, Battle Before Dawn (I doubt PFoD counts), which is largely dominated by mounted units. Then again, you probably won't want Karel on Night of Farewells, the map Jaffar is forced anyway.

And this isn't even mentioning Karel's recruitment cost because I know you weren't including those.

[dondon151]

That has been addressed now.

[Geriba]

I compiled the ratings for each character thus far, and it's interesting to compare dondon's take to the official Efficiency List topic:

Marcus (10)

Ninils (9.5)

Florina (9)

Priscilla (9)

Kent (8.5)

Sain (8.5)

Lowen (8.5)

Serra (8)

Fiora (8)

Heath (8)

Raven (7.5)

Pent (7.5)

Matthew (7.5)

Hector (7)

Oswin (7)

Isadora (7)

Lucius (6.5)

Erk (6.5)

Guy (6)

Farina (6)

Hawkeye (5.5)

Legault (5.5)

Dorcas (5)

Geitz (5)

Harken (5)

Lyn (4.5)

Eliwood (4.5)

Vaida (4)

Canas (4)

Bartre (4)

Dart (3.5)

Rath (3.5)

Louise (3)

Athos (2.5)

Renault (2)

Jaffar (1.5)

Karel (1.5)

Rebecca (1)

Nino (.5)

Wil (.5)

Wallace (0)

Karla (0)

By the way, did you account for stolen items in the Matthew analysis?