Is Sophia worth the effort?

[Guy Starwind]

I'd thought I would use her but she's so weak. Should I even bother with her?

[Thor Odinson]

No, not really. if you want a Druid, Ray comes out statistically similar except he's a ton easier to train, and Niime comes later but with pretty good stats and epic staff rank. The only reason I can see someone using Sophia is if they like her as a character, because she's kinda sorta really crap.

So yeah if you want a Druid I recommend Niime unless you really don't like prepromotes or old ladies for some reason in which case Ray is still better than Sophia.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Luminescent Blade

[Guy Starwind]

Fair enough thanks for the help.

[Junkhead]

Well, Lumi's right. But they don't come out similiar at all. Ray's much more Spd-based, while Sophie's only good deal is her Mag & Res, and that's about it. She's fragile and isn't worth using at all. Her Spd is awful.

[Ansem]

Do it for the animation, Niime is too crusty looking.

[Thor Odinson]

In "similar", I meant that Sophia doesn't have any significant leads over Ray at all, since I didn't bother checking averages as I don't use either of them. It's not like the case with certain low-level late-joiners where they have epic growths to, well, I wouldn't say salvage, per se, their join time, since the effort isn't worth it by that point if the player has already established a solid team, but if the player chooses to invest the resources into said unit, they can actually gain significant statistical leads over their early-comer counterparts. Sophia's statspread isn't even that, so as a unit, she's just beyond pointless.

Niime for the win. Also she's hot in Elibian Nights.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Luminescent Blade

[Smiley Jim]

You know, when people ask if Sophia is a good unit, I laugh.

Anyway, Ray is better. At least I didn't need to painstakingly baby him for 19 levels just to get him somewhere, and he's faster and more skillful to boot. Yeah, Sophia's got better mag/res, but Ray has a significantly higher magic base, and doesn't flop in one hit to everything(only really strong dudes have the 28 atk req'd to OHKO him at base, and a robe turns that into 35 atk needed for a OHKO) And you also have to remember that Ray doesn't get doubled by every unit(12 AS is needed to double base Ray, and only the myrms, thieves, and the boss reach or exceed that in C12x. Likewise, only mercs, paladins, heroes, killer weapon cavs, and the boss reach it in C13, not to mention that some of these might miss the double if Ray proc'd speed in C12x.)

Yeah, I think I've said enough.

Edited November 17, 2011 by darkandroid125

[Galenforcer]

Jeez, why does everyone get this question wrong? Niime is the Druid of choice, the other two just suck.

[Thor Odinson]

Jeez, why does everyone get this question wrong? Niime is the Druid of choice, the other two just suck.

So yeah if you want a Druid I recommend Niime unless you really don't like prepromotes or old ladies for some reason in which case Ray is still better than Sophia.

:/

[whase]

meh, with save state it isn't hard to get her to promote and become "good" in the gaiden chapter after her joining chapter. without save state, just don't. with save state, if you like her, use her.

[Refa]

meh, with save state it isn't hard to get her to promote and become "good" in the gaiden chapter after her joining chapter. without save state, just don't. with save state, if you like her, use her.

Perhaps the same could be said of every FE character.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

wasn't this topic over by Lumi's first post?

[Agro]

Perhaps the same could be said of every FE character.

The same can be said of every FE character.

[whase]

Perhaps the same could be said of every FE character.

The same can be said of every FE character.

every character of that archetype yes. but I don't see any low-growth characters go there.

Stefan will never be as good as Edward (FE10), Marcus never as good as Sain (FE7) or Jagen never as good as Frey(FE11). etc.

Edited November 17, 2011 by whase

[Thor Odinson]

Except Marcus dominates FE7 so hard it's not even funny.

And what do you count those times when Marcus's bases severely outshines Sain's? Nonexistent time? Sain's gotta catch up first. Not saying Sain's bad, but don't imply Marcus is bad either. He's amazing.

[I.M. Gei]

every character of that archetype yes. but I don't see any low-growth characters go there.

Stefan will never be as good as Edward (FE10), Marcus never as good as Sain (FE7) or Jagen never as good as Frey(FE11). etc.

You're right that Marcus will never be as good as Sain; Marcus starts the game stomping Sain so hard in every possible way (barring a 13/1 or so Sain from Lyn Mode) that it isn't even funny.

[Paper Jam]

every character of that archetype yes. but I don't see any low-growth characters go there.

Stefan will never be as good as Edward (FE10), Marcus never as good as Sain (FE7) or Jagen never as good as Frey(FE11). etc.

"Will never" is too strong, because as has been said, Marcus compares favorably to Sain at first (except for the fact that, at higher level, you get less experience).

For most lower-level units, their growth rates will make them overtake their higher-level counterparts statistically, sometimes before they even reach the same level. (Sain may well match or exceed Marcus' stats before he even becomes a level 1 paladin. Sophia, however, will likely only surpass Ray in Magic; and Skill and Speed are more important to Shamans because of Dark tomes' low accuracy.)

[Thor Odinson]

Not to mention that Ray's mag is by no means bad, either. It's pretty high. Just not cap-ramming high.

Niime is still best since ranks.

[Paper Jam]

Not to mention that Ray's mag is by no means bad, either. It's pretty high. Just not cap-ramming high.

Niime is still best since ranks.

Niime's stats are pretty bad for a level 18 druid, and she gets very little experience because of her high level.

On average (based on the Character Average Stats on this site), Ray will match or exceed Niime's initial...

...HP at level 16 unpromoted (!)

...Magic at level 5 promoted

...Skill at level 10 promoted

...Speed at level 6 promoted

...Luck never

...Defense at level 12 unpromoted (!!)

...Resistance at level 11 promoted

So all of Ray's stats except Luck will likely exceed Niime's by the time he becomes a level 11 Druid (7 levels below Niime's), and his HP and Defense will likely be considerably higher by then, and his Magic and Speed a bit higher.

The only reason to use Niime instead of Ray is if you haven't been using Ray at all, I think. I'm not sure what you mean by "ranks," so I can't really counter that argument until you clarify.

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare Sophia to Niime in the same way; on average, Sophia will match or exceed Niime's initial...

...HP at level 18 unpromoted

...Magic at level 2 promoted

...Skill never

...Speed at level 12 promoted

...Luck at level 9 promoted

...Defense at level 1 promoted

...Resistance at level 20 umpromoted

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

will you explain how you will get enough EXP in the game to get Ray to to level 20/18?

that seems highly unlikely without extreme favorism and map soloing.

[Anouleth]

What level does Ray need to be to get A Rank staves? According to my rough calculations, even if he heals his way non-stop from level 1 to 20 upon promotion, he still doesn't hit A Rank.

[Thor Odinson]

By ranks, I mean Niime's amazing staff rank that Ray will NEVER achieve. And if you get her Apocalypse (which since she has A rank Dark already it should be easy), that's 26 mag for Physic. That means Niime can physic somebody all the way across the map and don't give a shit. And she is the best warp user, if you choose to use warp, as leveling Ellen and Saul are a pain, and Clarine/Cecila lacks a good mag stat. Yodel comes later than she does.

[Paper Jam]

By ranks, I mean Niime's amazing staff rank that Ray will NEVER achieve. And if you get her Apocalypse (which since she has A rank Dark already it should be easy), that's 26 mag for Physic. That means Niime can physic somebody all the way across the map and don't give a shit. And she is the best warp user, if you choose to use warp, as leveling Ellen and Saul are a pain, and Clarine/Cecila lacks a good mag stat. Yodel comes later than she does.

Ray can use Apocalypse too, if he's seen enough combat to reach level 6 or so.

As for staff rank, Ellen and Saul (of whom you are probably using at least one, if you're going to use Aureola) both have amazing staff ranks themselves. (S upon promotion to Bishop, in fact.) In any case, why would your dark magic user need a good staff rank? Heal works just fine as far as I'm concerned.

Edited November 19, 2011 by Paper Jam

[Second Pronoun]

The point is that Niime can take advantage of Apocalypse for added Physic, Warp or Rescue range.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

Paper Jam you did an amazing job at avoiding my question of How is Ray ever gonna match Niime's level.

also what you might not understand is that there are more staffs then Heal that can greatly increase how a battle is going and a character's usefulness.

Physic for example allows her to not be next to someone to heal them, Warp allows her to place another character in an imporent location, Barrier can increase magic defense for units such as Gonzales.

Saying that heal works just fine is like saying that Living with one Arm is just fine when you could get an replacement arm so you can have two arms.