Lyle's Character review topic.

[Destiny Hero]

I HATE MIST. Although, I MIGHT use her some day, mainly as a fighter, but I'll need a shitload of powerups.

[Killer Poleax]

-And though I don't agree with Lethe and Lyre sucking, at least you admit that Sothe isn't that good either. They have similar shortcomings, o you should have similar opinions about them. *Is aware of hypocracy.*

Trust me, I've never thought Sothe was good. He's only "good" in part 1 cause he's a good meatshield for the DB and he's facing unpromoted units. By 1-8 I started realizing that he wasn't as good as he seemed and he just seems more and more mediocre as the game goes along. Especially since the DB units you're training will easily end up better than him.

It takes so long to level up laguz strike levels that I don't think it's worth it just to make them stronger. I've tried out most of the laguz and they can be good but it takes a lot of abuse to get them on par with the beorc. I think they should've gotten the same amount of weapon exp as the beorc as well as equal exp for killing or hurting enemies. Those are the two main reasons why I'm not a fan of laguz.

[Ether]

Good reviews Lyle,finally someone else who doesn't hate Lethe.Anyway,I can only guess that my Kyza's have always been better than yours,as I would have rated him higher...oh well,it doesn't matter,keep it up,you're almost done.

[Mufasa]

Wow. It's been a while. Thought I forgot about it huh? (I was just lazy.) Here's the final piece. With this, I will have reviewed all the characters.

Boyd

Stats: Capped all

Skills: Nihil, Cancel

Weapon: Urvan

Support: Mist

If there was ever a unit that was able to match the power of a Lord, without being one, it would be Boyd. Boyd starts out on Ike’s team, and though he starts out slow, he eventually becomes fast enough to double people. If nothing else, Boyd has killer attack, and growths in the right places for his class. He has the boost from RD, which gives him an advantage over Nolan, and he’s on Ike’s team, of which there is no lack for EXP opportunities. Colossus is a great skill that, like deadeye, only takes 25 capacity. Leaving room for a 20 capacity skill and a 10 capacity skill, 3 10 capacity skills, or 2 15 capacity skills.

I give Boyd a 9/10. One of the best units in the game, much better than Nolan, and anyone who disagrees with that is too mesmerized by Nolan’s facial hair.

Giffca

Stats: Capped all. Cept HP 77

Skills: Nihil, Quickclaw, Fortune, Nullify.

Weapon: SS level Great Fang

Support: Kurthnaga

Giffca is a poor substitute for Caineghis, I’ll tell you that. Anyone who wants to bring a lion, would be much better off with the King of Gallia. That isn’t to say that Giffca is bad. In fact, he’s quite good. BUT he’s as available as his King, and will not have Formshift. As Giffca stands on his own, he does a good job, he’s just as powerful as Caineghis, there’s just no reason to use Giffca. Personally, I like Giffca, but I’ve grown so used to seeing a red lion, that the black lion through me off the first time I saw it. It’s still pretty cool though.

So, on the laguz scale, I give Giffca 9/10. He’s a great laguz. All three of the lions are. But he’ll lose out to the man he shadows.

Nolan

Stats: Capped all

Skills: Nihil, Counter

Weapon: Tarvos

Support: Aran

I made the mistake early on, accidentally removing Nihil from Nolan. If I kept it on, it would have allowed me to attach more skills to him. But as fate would have it, I couldn’t. So let’s talk about my experience with him. Nolan starts out as the perfect weakener of enemies. Which allows other members of the DB to finish off the other units. However, Nolan himself seems to have trouble getting out of that funk. Unlike Boyd, Nolan seems to have good growths in the wrong places for his class. When he finally promoted, his DEF was still in the teens, which isn’t good. He had great magic and resistance. But his HP and DEF were low. Which is a bad combination. He can’t dodge everything. Nolan is the kind of unit that you use at first when you need him, and then you put him to rest for other characters that will do better. Like Aran, or Edward, or a few other units.

I give Nolan 7/10. He’s useful yeah, but he’ll lose out to Boyd, as well as his own comrades. Tarvos is enough to give him an extra point though.

Nealuchi

Stats: Capped all

Skills: Wrath, Resolve, Tear, Parity

Weapon: SS level Beak

Support: Reyson

Nealuchi has low availability. And of the three Ravens, he’s the worst. There’s not much I can say about him. Sure he can manage to cap everything, I managed to get him there. But frankly, I just don’t care too much for him. If you really want to use laguz, you can do a helluva lot better than Nealuchi. He’s not terrible, but why use him?

On the Laguz Scale, I give Nealuchi 6/10. Meh.

Kurthnaga

Stats: Capped all except HP (72)

Skills: Nullify, Paragon, Ire.

Weapon: S level Breath

Support: Giffca

Kurthnaga is among the only two dragons you get in the game, when they are needed. Once you kill off Dheginsea, it’s pretty much smooth sailing, and you can probably have Ike and Micaiah solo the whole rest of the game. With the exception of the excessive healing all the endgame bosses go through in a weak attempt to make the bosses hard. Kurthnaga is a man-made Laguz king. He’s not nearly as good as the others and he only gets Formshift after said dragon level which is after the difficulty of the game has jumped off a cliff, but Kurthnaga can still be useful, if only for another meat shield. It is hard to level him up though. And even harder to increase his weapon level. Without Paragon, you probably won’t get him to level 40 without abusing his daddy for EXP. Which is a good method, but after you kill Dheginsea, there’s no point.

So I give Kurthnaga 6/10 on the laguz scale. He’s annoying to level up, but when he gets formshift, he should do well. To bad that there’s no need for it at that point.

Ena

Stats: Capped all

Skills: Imbune, Ire, Paragon

Weapon: A level Breath

Support: Nasir C level.

I was surprised that I actually managed to get her to cap everything. And it was without a abused Por boost. Still, I used stat boosters and Battle save, so it’s not like it’s easy to do. But it is possible. Though, finding a beautiful blonde woman who’s interested in me is also possible. In theory. Anyway, Ena is meh. Blood tide is a nice little thing to have, but it’s dangerous to put her in that situation. She has great stats if you manage to cap everything but she lacks in speed, which pretty much ruins any other good points about her.

I give her a 6/10 on the laguz scale. She has the potential to be good. I guess. But I’d rather not put up with her.

Gareth

Stats: Capped Str, Skl, Spd, Def.

Skills: Renewal, Paragon, Ire.

Weapon: S level breath

Support: None

*Sigh.* Arguably the worst unit in the game, but theoretically he’s not. He’s got insane strength, and insane defense. Possibly the best in the game. Even despite his speed problem, he could have been a great unit, had it not been for his low availability and the enemies that showed up at the end. All the enemies from the time Gareth showed up, were magic users, which A)He has mediocre resistance, and B)His low speed prevents him from dodging any of the attacks. If the entire endgame were swordmasters, soldiers, and generals, Gareth probably would have done a lot better. However, they weren’t. He’s not COMPLETELY useless. But he’s certainly most likely to be benched.

I give Gareth a 4/10. Not his fault. But it is what it is.

Nasir

Stats: Capped all, cept Luck. (26)

Skills: Renewal, Imbune

Weapon: Sslevel Breath

Support: Ena C level

The opposite of Gareth, Nasir actually does quite well for the time he shows up. However, if not for my broken por boost, he wouldn’t have capped all that he did. And it’s literally impossible for him to cap HP without Seraph Robes. Which you’re more likely going to use for others. Nasir is actually my favorite of the four dragons. His magic is the highest in the game, and even Lehran can’t hurt him without Chorona, which Nasir has his own Nihil, so Nasir can’t be killed by Lehran in that fight. His speed is as low as Gareth, though he’s more likely to cap it when compared to the Red waste, and Nasir is the only one of his kind. Other than the white dragons you slaughter in the dragon chapter. Imbune is a great skill for Nasir, it adds to his imortality, and has the potential to give him 50 hp per turn. With renewal and capped Hp, that’s an extra 9 hp. Which is almost 60 hp per turn. And Dheginsea thought he was so fancy with his 30 HP per turn.

I give Nasir 8/10 on the laguz scale. But don’t let it go to you head.

The Herons

Skills: Celerity

The Herons are arguably, the most useful of all the units, but of course, they are useless without other units around. They are always around at different points, so you never have to choose between one of them until the endgame. Clearly of all the herons, Reyson is the best. He has the best of both worlds, so he can fly, and he can affect 4 people at once. Celerity is a nice thing for any of the herons, and will be a perk for Reyson and Leanee, but will probably be a necessity for Rafiel. For those who want a more of a challenge to the game, they’ll go for one of the other herons. Controversy rages about which is better of the other two. Personally, I prefer Leanne, but others say Rafiel is better. Through the games, I’ve established this:

Leanne is for use of people who want to win the game with a little more grace and civility, like stuck up pricks.

Rafiel is for people who want to blow through the game like a mindless maniac, and kill everything in sight instantly.

And Reyson is for people who don’t care and just want to play the game already.

All in all, it doesn't really matter what units you play with. You can make any character useable if you work at it. It all depends on YOU.

[_____]

You gave the supposed "worst character in the game" a 4?

wut

[Mufasa]

You gave the supposed "worst character in the game" a 4?

wut

Well, he's not without uses. He can be useful as a utility with Red Tide. And he has killer Attack and Defence. It's really the timing that kills him.

[_____]

Which is why he should get, like, a 1.

[Mufasa]

Which is why he should get, like, a 1.

None of the characters are bad enough to get a 1.

[_____]

Lyre. Fiona.

[Mufasa]

Lyre. Fiona.

I don't think they're that bad. At least not 1 material.

[Florete]

I give Boyd a 9/10. One of the best units in the game, much better than Nolan, and anyone who disagrees with that is too mesmerized by Nolan’s facial hair.

So, on the laguz scale, I give Giffca 9/10. He’s a great laguz. All three of the lions are. But he’ll lose out to the man he shadows.

I give Nolan 7/10. He’s useful yeah, but he’ll lose out to Boyd, as well as his own comrades. Tarvos is enough to give him an extra point though.

On the Laguz Scale, I give Nealuchi 6/10. Meh.

So I give Kurthnaga 6/10 on the laguz scale. He’s annoying to level up, but when he gets formshift, he should do well. To bad that there’s no need for it at that point.

I give her (Ena) a 6/10 on the laguz scale. She has the potential to be good. I guess. But I’d rather not put up with her.

I give Gareth a 4/10. Not his fault. But it is what it is.

I give Nasir 8/10 on the laguz scale. But don’t let it go to you head.

Leanne is for use of people who want to win the game with a little more grace and civility, like stuck up pricks.

Rafiel is for people who want to blow through the game like a mindless maniac, and kill everything in sight instantly.

And Reyson is for people who don’t care and just want to play the game already.

I feel like commenting, cutting out the descriptions so as to save space. I realize this is your own biased opinion, so take this as my own biased opinion as well.

Boyd - If you didn't have that uber transfer, you'd probably not be saying so much. That Speed boost is what allows him to start doubling things any time soon. He is good, but usually not as good as Nolan.

Caineghis vs. Giffca is closer than you think. It's Caineghis with 4 extra turns of attacking vs. Giffca with being much more likely to double Auras. Basically, I don't see how he's such a "poor" substitute; he's pretty much just as good.

You probably got a Strength screwed Nolan like I always do. Did his Earth affinity not do you justice either?

Nealuchi is probably > Vika, but I otherwise agree.

Did Kurthy have good Skill for you? He never does for me, what with that 20% growth.

The only thing I see is that you gave Ena the same score as Kurthnaga. As a fighter, he's better, but as a utility, she wins. I'm guessing you were going for the fighter part.

Gareth deserves a 2 at most.

Capping isn't that important, especially for Nasir, whose main use is a utility and won't die anyway because of awesome Resistance. I noticed that you don't seem to have mentioned what makes him useful; White Pool.

...I don't know how to comment on your Heron descriptions.

You gave the supposed "worst character in the game" a 4?

wut

Lyre is worse if it counts.

Lyre. Fiona.

Fiona at least turns out pretty nice. I wouldn't give her a 1 either.

[Killer Poleax]

Boyd - If you didn't have that uber transfer, you'd probably not be saying so much. That Speed boost is what allows him to start doubling things any time soon. He is good, but usually not as good as Nolan.

It's so easy to get Boyd's speed up. He doesn't need a transfer but it makes it a lot easier. Here's a little strategy I have that works on normal mode. It requires a little favouritism but it pays off big time.

1) Get his speed to at least 19 before you get to 3-2. You have 2 chapters to do that and it really depends on how lucky you are with his speed. If you're lucky, you are one step closer to unleashing Boyd's potential. If not, too bad for you. If you gave him a speed transfer from PoR, you don't even need to worry about leveling up his speed yet.

2) If you got the speedwing from 2-3 and transferred it over to the GMs, give it to Boyd ASAP. He should have 21 AS speed which should be enough to double paladins and maybe dragonmasters. The best part is that he's not only doubling, he's also one-rounding with steel poleaxes. Keep leveling him up to further increase his speed.

That's basically it. I have to admit, it does depend on how lucky you are with his speed but that's the chance you take. Seriously, he becomes one of the few characters on the team that can ORKO a lot and it only takes 3 chapters to get him going. As long as he can double, he will kill something. When his strength gets higher, he can one-round most enemies with hand axes which is pretty cool if you're going up against a bunch of ranged enemies. This strategy has worked on my last 4 playthroughs. It does work on hard mode but it takes a little longer for Boyd to double since enemies have higher speed. He has a lot of potential and I think he's really underestimated. He is one of the best characters in the game imo. Of course, this is just my personal experience but it's catapulted Boyd to be my fave character. He's alot better than Nolan in my game.

Edited January 21, 2009 by KSFF2150

[Mufasa]

I feel like commenting, cutting out the descriptions so as to save space. I realize this is your own biased opinion, so take this as my own biased opinion as well.

Boyd - If you didn't have that uber transfer, you'd probably not be saying so much. That Speed boost is what allows him to start doubling things any time soon. He is good, but usually not as good as Nolan.

Caineghis vs. Giffca is closer than you think. It's Caineghis with 4 extra turns of attacking vs. Giffca with being much more likely to double Auras. Basically, I don't see how he's such a "poor" substitute; he's pretty much just as good.

You probably got a Strength screwed Nolan like I always do. Did his Earth affinity not do you justice either?

Nealuchi is probably > Vika, but I otherwise agree.

Did Kurthy have good Skill for you? He never does for me, what with that 20% growth.

The only thing I see is that you gave Ena the same score as Kurthnaga. As a fighter, he's better, but as a utility, she wins. I'm guessing you were going for the fighter part.

Gareth deserves a 2 at most.

Capping isn't that important, especially for Nasir, whose main use is a utility and won't die anyway because of awesome Resistance. I noticed that you don't seem to have mentioned what makes him useful; White Pool.

...I don't know how to comment on your Heron descriptions.

Maybe I took some liberties with Boyd, but I'd never say he's better than Nolan, who, for me anyway, always seems to get screwed in defense and attack. He has better speed than Boyd, but it doesn't do much for him when he can't survive more than three blows, and can't kill anything. Especially when half the enemies he'll be facing will be cat Laguz and have high speed.

If you just look at their stats, then yeah Giffca and Caineghis are close, but you have to remember that Caineghis has Formshift. With Giffca you have to at least wait one turn before using him, and that's just with the Laguz gem. You might not be able to spare one of the them, seing as though you only get three of them in the game, and you have the two dragons and a Heron. With all that going against Giffca, and only being able to double the auras being the thing that gives him an edge on Caineghis, I still think the King is better than his shadow.

Hm. I think I meant to give Ena a 5. My mistake.

I disagree on Gareth. I think he gets a bad rap. He deserves most of it, but I think people are letting it get to their heads. He's not THAT bad. I find that he's about as useful as Sothe at that point. But maybe that's just my irritation.

Nasir's white pool goes without saying. It's the most usefull of all the dragon boosts. If only cause it raises speed.

I don't really know either. I'm a very twisted individual.

[Florete]

If you just look at their stats, then yeah Giffca and Caineghis are close, but you have to remember that Caineghis has Formshift. With Giffca you have to at least wait one turn before using him, and that's just with the Laguz gem. You might not be able to spare one of the them, seing as though you only get three of them in the game, and you have the two dragons and a Heron. With all that going against Giffca, and only being able to double the auras being the thing that gives him an edge on Caineghis, I still think the King is better than his shadow.

I never said Giffca > Caineghis. I've done a serious analysis on it and it comes extremely close, but Caineghis edges out as the winner.

For the Laguz Gem, only Reyson is more entitled to it. The dragons don't fight much, so Laguz Stones are enough, and Giffca is better than any non-royal laguz you can bring at this point. Then on the dragon chapter, all laguz start with their gauge full. So Caineghis has 4 turns of being better than Giffca (the first turn of all of them except 4-E-3) while Giffca has 2-3 turns of possibly being better than Caineghis (Starting from turn 2 of 4-E-5 until Ashera is gone). Thus, Caineghis wins.

[Judge Judy]

So I'm playing through my 'ugly' runthrough. And I'm using Boyd, cause frankly, he looks like Jason Giambi.

He's hot, you fugly. He's cool, your jealous ;D