FE6 Localization Patch v1.2.1 - Full localization with new features, including Support Conversation reader

[Irysa]

All right, just need to point that I'm not a fan of this line of thought. Maybe I was the one who started the patch, but it's only been possible thanks to the contributions of lots of people, and I'm not doing it out of some OCD desire to get the script exactly as I want it. I'm trying to make a quality product.

I don't mean to be pushy, but since not everyone neccessarily agrees with every change, even if you're trying to make a quality product, what you're trying to make is your perception of what a quality product is. There's no objective measure. You get the final say.

Well, there ARE Bern soldiers (wyvern riders, more specifically) on all of those chapters, so why not? Actually, I think only the dialogue of chapter 18 implies any sort of allegiance anyway, and it's a bit roundabout and unspecific (usage of "we" which was probably not in the Japanese version).

The Chapter 19 and 20x dialogues make it pretty clear as well.

Have to disagree here as well. If inconsistency is an intention, then yeah, leave it, but if it's a tweak that fits in seamlessly and easily to fill in a hole, what is the problem exactly? In the case of a fan translation in particular, we have a lot of freedom to polish up the script as much as humanly possible. With the Japanese release and any official translation there are concerns of time and budget, but since we have no time limit and do it for free, we have a theoretically unlimited amount of time to catch and correct errors.

I don't want to start a "what is art" debate but games are products designed to be marketed and consumed. I don't intend to change the overarching story or anything.

It's a principle thing, like I said. Have you ever watched Char's Counterattack? The final line of the movie is pretty bizarre even by Tomino standards, and many find it completely out of place. There's still no real established consensus on what it's even meant to really mean, or what significance it has. A translator or dubber deciding "well that doesn't make sense, so I'll just fix it so it does" compromises the work's inherant value, no matter how well meaning their intent is.

Now I obviously realise that the example we're talking about is not really comparable to the current debacle we have here, but my point is to explain the principle of not changing things that have no business being changed. Polishing the script up and making it more flowery or enjoyable to read is (to me) within the boundaries of not compromising anything, assuming you don't take any massive liberties. This is because insofar as a translation goes, not all words equate exactly to another word in a different language, and there are multiple words to choose from for various expressions or nouns.

Basically I think percieved "flaws" are inherant traits of a work, and unless it's confirmable with the original team that something was a mistake, and should be fixed in a second revision and/or update, I don't think we have any right to change it and pass it off as the same thing, just translated. Rather, it stops being "A Fire Emblem 6 Translation Patch" and starts being "gringe and co's English Version of Fire Emblem 6". (I realise the pedantry here). I view the adjustment that you're proposing here to be no different to adjusting mechanics within the game, and you clearly respect the work enough to separate your own Numbers Patch from the translation, so please reconsider your stance.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Irysa

[gringe]

feplus: FE7 doesn't mention Idun by name but the epilogue has Jahn asking Zephiel, "Why have you awakened a demon dragon?" We decided to take this as the official translation of 魔竜, at least for the Elibe games.

Irysa: I do understand where you're coming from and I don't want to change anything of value, but then the question becomes, is there any inherent value to these dialogues featuring two characters both implied to be Djute? I'm not so sure in this specific case. Of course, I need to actually write it and see how it feels before implementing it, so we'll see what happens, eh? ;P

[Irysa]

Irysa: I do understand where you're coming from and I don't want to change anything of value, but then the question becomes, is there any inherent value to these dialogues featuring two characters both implied to be Djute? I'm not so sure in this specific case. Of course, I need to actually write it and see how it feels before implementing it, so we'll see what happens, eh? ;P

Well, for me, I say keep it warts and all, everything within the game is has inherant value in it's own right because of how it comes together to create FE6. That includes the things that are percieved to be detrimental by an outsider. I recognise this case is very minor, and will go completely unnoticed by anyone else who happens to read it if you do change it, but if it's done then a line has been crossed and a can of worms has been opened. If this is a precedent, I find it exceptionally hard to justify why exactly we shouldn't be slightly modifying mechanical statistics in a minor fashion to "make the game better" (according to us), adding a few 5%'s to growth rates here and there or a +1 to base stats won't make a big difference right? It's about as minor as this specific case anyway.

You could likely respond to this with "well I won't, because" in an arbitrary manner, but surely there's some merit to maintaining consistency, no?

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[gringe]

I consider game mechanics to be outside of the scope of the translation patch.

[Irysa]

Localised versions of Fire Emblem have adjusted game mechanics before though, no? A lot of effort has gone in to maintaining consistency with the localised release of FE7, yet that game had numerous tweaks from it's Japanese release, both on the mechanical side, and on the script side, and this patch has reflected some of the script choices and changes made in FE7.

If this project isn't meant to be "as close to an English localisation of FE6 as possible" (which is the impression that it's consistently given off), and is instead meant to simply be "a translation patch for FE6" then surely it makes more sense to simply translate the script without taking such liberties as to adjust the allegiance of an enemy in an attempt to "make it the best possible product"?

I apologise if I'm being too insistent here.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[gringe]

But it is meant to be a localization--of the text.

It's not a secret that some holes have already been filled and some very minor changes have already been made in dialogue. I haven't cataloged them or anything but I've tried to be transparent through the process and listed them in progress reports with generally little to no reaction from users. I'll list some off the top of my head.

-Jerrot says he joked with Treck that Noah had made a girlfriend in chapter 8 when in fact he made no such joke. I added a single line to Jerrot's dialogue with Treck to make it so he did.

-I added a line of descriptive text to some character descriptions to make it so no two playable characters have copy/pasted descriptions.

-When it's possible to recruit a given NPC with two different characters (such as in the case of Chad/Lugh and Raigh), you can have both conversations, so it appears the NPC makes the decision to join the player two times. I added a slightly modified dialogue when the NPC is spoken to again after being recruited that makes it clear that they've already joined.

-Cath's B support with Geese had her acting drunk, then saying that it was a seduction technique. This was changed to a simple fake love confession due to the culturally different perceptions of taking advantage of a drunk person.

[Irysa]

But it is meant to be a localization--of the text.

GUI changes to be more like FE7 aren't really just text though.

As for the changes, I haven't paid an extensive amount of attention to the thread and changelogs overall over the course of development, and I've only skimmed scripts as opposed to playing the game with the new patch, so some of these passed me by. Actually I do remember the Cath one, having been reminded of it now, and I'm pretty sure there were a bunch of people objecting to that change, for quite a long time in fact. Though I had forgotten about it.

Personally, I don't really approve of the entire list of those changes. But, this isn't really going anywhere, and I'll make no ground on attempting to get you to change your mind about those either. So do as you will I suppose.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Irysa

[Turtleman579]

While I agree with Irysa's basic premise - that Djute soldiers should remain Djute soldiers - it really is a very minor issue. I think connecting it to game mechanics is a considerable stretch. While changing the overall storyline would be as serious as a game mechanic, just making soldiers Bern instead of Djute is a very minor change. The fact of the matter is that this patch is still considerably more true to the original than most, if not all, of the official localizations. A minor change here and there for consistency could even be seen as a good thing, depending on who you ask. I agree that this is a little bit more extreme than any of the other changes made, but it still falls into the category of "very minor" imo. At the end of the day, I doubt even those of us watching this conversation will remember that it was changed. I mean, yeah, I disagree with this one, but it won't affect my enjoyment of the patch at all, so does it really matter? Anyway, I don't speak Japanese, so... don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess?

That being said, this is the community infamous for getting at each other's throats every time someone proposes a name change, so I suppose more caution than usual is advisable. The "Belf/Virgil" debacle seemed like it would have started more than a few fist fights irl, after all.

I should add that I agree with all of the other changes gringe mentioned, except maybe the drunken Cath one. I'm more neutral on that one; not a flaw in the original, but a cultural difference that probably would have been changed in an official localization. The rest, though, I think all made the game slightly better. With all of the changes, including the Djute thing, I'd say the changes make the game about +2 to +5 compared to the original. By comparison, the fact that it's in a language I speak is +1000. On that scale, a few details - for better or for worse - are pretty insignificant.

[gringe]

I've been mulling over in the back of my mind what I really think and how to respond, and I think I finally reached a conclusion that I can verbalize.

In the case of a game or a dub of motion picture media, a simple translation is a half-baked job. A full localization takes more work and produces a smoother, more enjoyable product. I wouldn't have such fond memories of the Lunar games, for example, if not for the effort and tweaks of the localization team. The changes made there were pretty big. The dub of Yu Yu Hakusho also made a lot of changes to dialogue that made the characters a bit more vibrant and enjoyable. Naturally, there IS a balance between changing too much and maintaining the voice of the original, but I'm not sure correcting an oversight falls into that category.

To put it simply, I have no interest in producing a simple translation. Luckily for anyone who doesn't agree, a basic translation exists already. If you want the bugfixes and improvements of this patch over the old one, I also have no problem with anyone editing this patch to suit it to their own needs.

I'm going to change the topic title to reflect the fact that this is a localization and not just a translation.

That being said, this is the community infamous for getting at each other's throats every time someone proposes a name change, so I suppose more caution than usual is advisable. The "Belf/Virgil" debacle seemed like it would have started more than a few fist fights irl, after all.

Honestly I find that a bit ridiculous, however in the case of name changes, I think a minimalist approach is best when it comes to a fan translation. I personally would probably have gone with something like Belves over a complete change.

Edited April 26, 2015 by gringe

[MCProductions]

Heck, if this is a localization, maybe you could change the RNG from one random number to 2

because lol one RNG

Seriously most problems with BB from a weapon accuracy standpoint would be gone with this one change.

[Irysa]

FE6 already uses a 2 RNG system.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Irysa

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Though FE6 does have that one incredibly minor rounding glitch that lets 100% rarely hit doesn't it?

Hey, let's add some glitches like the pierce glitch in FE8

[MCProductions]

FE6 already uses a 2 RNG system.

Huh, I wasn't aware of that.

My belief was that US released FE used 2 RNG systems while Japan stayed 1 RNG system

It seems I was wrong.

[lonelyVoxel]

Though FE6 does have that one incredibly minor rounding glitch that lets 100% rarely hit doesn't it?

Did you mean miss? If so, I've wondered that for the longest time.

[gringe]

Though FE6 does have that one incredibly minor rounding glitch that lets 100% rarely hit doesn't it?

As far as gameplay changes, this is the kind of thing I would be OK with changing.

Would also be OK with adding a support conversation reader and the contest trial maps, but I can't realistically expect to be able to put in features like that. :P

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Did you mean miss? If so, I've wondered that for the longest time.

-slowly places face in hands-

Yes.

[FionordeQuester]

In the case of a game or a dub of motion picture media, a simple translation is a half-baked job. A full localization takes more work and produces a smoother, more enjoyable product. I wouldn't have such fond memories of the Lunar games, for example, if not for the effort and tweaks of the localization team. The changes made there were pretty big. The dub of Yu Yu Hakusho also made a lot of changes to dialogue that made the characters a bit more vibrant and enjoyable. Naturally, there IS a balance between changing too much and maintaining the voice of the original, but I'm not sure correcting an oversight falls into that category.

To put it simply, I have no interest in producing a simple translation. Luckily for anyone who doesn't agree, a basic translation exists already. If you want the bugfixes and improvements of this patch over the old one, I also have no problem with anyone editing this patch to suit it to their own needs.

I'm going to change the topic title to reflect the fact that this is a localization and not just a translation.

Exactly! Thank you so much for sticking to that attitude Gringe! I agree completely even as someone who is not planning on getting into the localization business! A literal translation is pointless if the final product is a pain to read, like, say, The 7th Saga, which pretty much sucked the life out of what used to be a more expressive script (although a literal translation was, admittedly, not that script's only problem. But it was it's main problem I feel).

And I also resonate with you on the Yu Yu Hakusho dub, which I actually like better than the original from what I've seen of the original.

[A2ZOMG]

Was there an explanation for the name changes, such as those of Zealot/Jerrot, OJ/Ogier, and others? I sorta got that some of the name translations are based on scant localization data from either SSBB or FE Awakening, but some like the ones I mentioned I'm not sure where those came from.

Anyhow I was slightly more interested in the numbers patch, which I just started to try out and got to Chapter 4 so far. Trying out Hard Mode, I wasn't particularly happy with how weak enemies were in chapters 1 and 2 (they should have slightly more HP so that they're more difficult to two hit with Marcus and Bors). Although I am quite satisfied with Bors and Wolt actually being usable.

I'm not completely sure I understand the nerfs to Zeiss, who even factoring his HM bonus was already a pretty underwhelming unit due to his join time and low speed. And the buffs to Marcus have me a little confused given the lowered difficulty of the first few chapters (I assume later chapters are supposed to become harder?) Was there any explanation for Sue's nerfs other than outclassing the already weak Archer class?

Other than that checking over the Excel document, I like a lot of the changes even if they're fairly inconsequential for low turns runs. Especially the ones that differentiate units of the same class. So now I can play Zealot later in the game as a tankier Paladin compared to Percival (Noah probably could use a QoL buff to something like Res, though I guess Fir getting buffed is also a buff for him).

Looking over the stat changes to the Armors generally makes me really happy. Increasing Bors and Barth's level and base stats was really smart, especially after weapon accuracy changes, Bors is actually a really safe unit to use earlygame to hold off multiple enemies. I dare say he's almost too good now (13 base defense and 9 str is a lot for the earlygame), though low mobility is still a problem.

Edited May 11, 2015 by A2ZOMG

[Hero of the Fire Emblems]

I don't want to come across as nagging... but I do have a few questions.

Firstly, is the translation for the main game at a point where you consider it done, given the current official names Nintendo has localized? No going back and changing the script (aside from names which I'll get to in my fourth question) in the future?

Secondly, are you going to personally translate the Link Arena, or are you leaving that up to anyone else who wants a shot at it? (I'd try if I had time and knew how on earth to use nightmare- i cant get it past a blank screen)

Third, and I guess this is going to be a "no"... any work on the Contest maps? Nothing dug up and no Japanese guy gave a cart/rom/sav with the Maps on it I presume? Eh, Probably not but I still wanted to ask in vain hope...

Finally... my biggest question...

It's been confirmed Einherjar are returning in FE14. If and when Binding Blade einherjar and weapons show up and some characters you've given a fan name show up... say (hypothetically) Jerrot is called Zealot in the official english release... would you update your patch to reflect more official names? No dialogue would be changed aside from the name itself, a one word difference... Idk if that's a lot of work or not (I've heard someone say one word can take 3 days)... but I wanted to ask.

Thanks for this "Localization", regardless of the answers. I personally think you are a blessing to not just this site but the Fire Emblem fandom as a whole. The quality as it is and with the official resources you've been given is phenominal and I applaud you, Gringe.

May all your battles be quick and victorious.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Hero of the Fire Emblems

[gringe]

Was there an explanation for the name changes, such as those of Zealot/Jerrot, OJ/Ogier, and others? I sorta got that some of the name translations are based on scant localization data from either SSBB or FE Awakening, but some like the ones I mentioned I'm not sure where those came from.

Names, for how ultimately inconsequential they are, seem to be one of the most hotly-debated topics among the FE fandom, so yes. :P

Naming tiers, copied and pasted from a couple pages back:

Names in FE7 or Awakening > Mythological, historical, or literary references (this is why we have Yoder and Milady) > Plausible or nice looking names that are accurate to the Japanese katakana rendering and suit the character (this is admittedly very subjective, but it's why we have Jerrot instead of Zealot and Wade instead of Ward, among others)

Jerrot is not particularly zealous about anything, so Zealot seemed an odd name.

Anyhow I was slightly more interested in the numbers patch, which I just started to try out and got to Chapter 4 so far. Trying out Hard Mode, I wasn't particularly happy with how weak enemies were in chapters 1 and 2 (they should have slightly more HP so that they're more difficult to two hit with Marcus and Bors).

To be perfectly honest, I haven't really gotten any feedback on the Numbers Patch other than "it's not the original so I'm not using it" and "good job bro" so I'm open to criticism and happy to make some tweaks.

Making Hard Mode playable was a tough one. With the increased accuracy of weapons, player characters dodge less, which made the base Hard Mode far too difficult. When decreasing hard mode boosts for the first couple chapters by the minimum amount, Marcus killed enemies in one round and player characters STILL couldn't begin to hold their own until later, so I knocked it down a few notches. The result is that the first couple chapters are no longer Marcus Emblem and they aren't too much harder than their Normal Mode counterparts. The Hard Mode boosts are instead increased steadily over the first seven chapters until they're the same as the original Hard Mode. Zephiel, Jahn, and Idun have higher stats than originally, so the bosses for the last couple chapters are hopefully a little harder (notably Zephiel). I don't want to mess with enemy growth rates, so decreasing bonuses is the only option available for me. The current state is what I opted for, but it ended up quite different than base Hard Mode.

I'm not completely sure I understand the nerfs to Zeiss, who even factoring his HM bonus was already a pretty underwhelming unit due to his join time and low speed. And the buffs to Marcus have me a little confused given the lowered difficulty of the first few chapters (I assume later chapters are supposed to become harder?) Was there any explanation for Sue's nerfs other than outclassing the already weak Archer class?

Zeiss: I thought he was all right already and with a little training he was a monster like his sister, so I gave his sister a massive debuff and Zeiss a smaller one. Possibly a misstep, but determining this definitely requires a lot of play.

Marcus: With the easier early chapters in Hard Mode, he's no longer required, so I wanted to increase the time he was viable.

Sue: I wanted to make the technically inferior Snipers superior to Nomads statistically, and I was afraid to buff the existing potential Snipers any further than I already did. I've always thought Sue was one of the best units so it didn't seem so crazy to debuff her.

Bors is actually a really safe unit to use earlygame to hold off multiple enemies. I dare say he's almost too good now (13 base defense and 9 str is a lot for the earlygame), though low mobility is still a problem.

I've always felt Oswin was a very well-done Knight, so I wanted to give Bors a similar role.

Thanks for the comments! If you have anything else to add, feel free to let me know. I don't have a personal limit in place for updating the Numbers Patch so I'm up to edit it freely if there are balance issues.

Firstly, is the translation for the main game at a point where you consider it done, given the current official names Nintendo has localized? No going back and changing the script (aside from names which I'll get to in my fourth question) in the future?

More or less. The current plan is to make some small tweaks to the script the next time I update with official names. If there are no new character names in the FExSMT thing, I'll wait for FEif, and I'll release another update to go with FEif regardless of whether there are new names.

I guess you can say there is at least one more update planned, but it won't be huge.

Secondly, are you going to personally translate the Link Arena, or are you leaving that up to anyone else who wants a shot at it? (I'd try if I had time and knew how on earth to use nightmare- i cant get it past a blank screen)

It's not really feasible for me to complete it unfortunately due to the technical challenges. Anyone who wants to can give it a try.

Third, and I guess this is going to be a "no"... any work on the Contest maps? Nothing dug up and no Japanese guy gave a cart/rom/sav with the Maps on it I presume? Eh, Probably not but I still wanted to ask in vain hope...

Nope. I'm okay with recreating the maps based on the little information we do have but the problem is on the hacking side of things.

If and when Binding Blade einherjar and weapons show up and some characters you've given a fan name show up... say (hypothetically) Jerrot is called Zealot in the official english release... would you update your patch to reflect more official names

Yes.

[A2ZOMG]

Thanks for the response. Overall, I would say I definitely like the work you've done. Even little things like the character descriptions are great.

And yeah, I'm increasingly noticing in the numbers patch that hitrates actually being good universally means while it's easier to train low level units in short skirmishes (which I guess could explain Zeiss's small nerfs, especially since he's on the tankier side of things anyway), it's a lot harder to survive extended engages. Especially for gameplay like this, it truly helps a lot when the Armor Knights actually don't suck and when several units of different classes are differentiated to be tankier than their faster counterparts.

Actually Wendy sucks (but is usable), and Barth is kinda pointless when Bors exists (notably, he's more likely to get doubled by things like Armorslayer Mercs while lvl 14 Bors on average can reach 8 AS to avoid that), but I think it works out. Running three Armor Knights is still a terrible idea given how much it slows down your team, but at the moment I would definitely recommend running Bors (or Barth if the RNG is unfriendly) on a typical team.

Anyhow to be in line with the theme of differentiating units, there isn't much reason to use Noah if you already invested in the other Cavaliers. All he really has that stands out 10 Con, C Swords, and support with Fir. I guess the most obvious thing that hasn't been touched for the Cavs is Res, and given we have Treck who has high Defense and Luck, Alan who has high Attack and above average skl/spd, Lance who has high Speed and Skill, it seems to me the only remaining thing missing is a Cavalier who has above average Resistance.

Hmmm, speaking of Weapon Levels, are you able to edit those? Hugh imo should start with at least B in Anima given how late he joins. It seems questionable likewise that Juno only has E Swords when she joins.

Edited May 16, 2015 by A2ZOMG

[Troykv]

Hello! I have a little comment for the people that created this patch...

I feel like... She doesn't pause between lines as much in this translation...

This have some special reason?

[gringe]

A2ZOMG: Thanks for the comments! Giving Noah a little more resistance seems pretty obvious. Not sure why it didn't occur to me already. Nice thought with Hugh, too. With Juno her sword rank is a bit pathetic but she has plenty of other uses, I think. Still, it's worth considering.

Troykv: I don't recall making any changes to Sophia's dialogue of that sort. On the contrary, I believe the old translation actually had a number of her lines end with simple periods where the Japanese had ellipses so I think if anything we INCREASED her pauses. :P

[Troykv]

A2ZOMG: Thanks for the comments! Giving Noah a little more resistance seems pretty obvious. Not sure why it didn't occur to me already. Nice thought with Hugh, too. With Juno her sword rank is a bit pathetic but she has plenty of other uses, I think. Still, it's worth considering.

Troykv: I don't recall making any changes to Sophia's dialogue of that sort. On the contrary, I believe the old translation actually had a number of her lines end with simple periods where the Japanese had ellipses so I think if anything we INCREASED her pauses. :P

Ok... I will anyway see other things in the patch.

PD: The Patch that are you talked about with A2ZOMG is the Patch in the OP?

Edit: ... Mmm... I think (and probably is) that the idea in the original text with her ellipses is to show her way to talk... She probably have problems to talk (maybe languaje issues) or she has a ver passive way of speaking

Edited May 17, 2015 by Troykv

[A2ZOMG]

Okay so, I'm at chapter 11B right now. Rough tier impressions of the numbers patch incoming.

Bors is TOP TIER. The only unit who comes close to Bors's raw effectiveness at guaranteeing a safe earlygame is Marcus, who actually is less durable. Marcus has the advantage of onerounding slower enemies who get doubled by him earlygame, wielding axes, and the Silver Lance, and he is slightly more accurate and can snag an early support, but against enemies that he fails to double, Bors is generally better because he takes less damage.

I would say the best overall unit is still Lance. Being the fast cavalier is simply too huge of an advantage to not use for killing distant enemies faster and generally owning for most of the game, though Allen is also pretty amazing once he starts doubling enemies. Having mounted units to help transport Bors to where he needs to be in the earlygame is also pretty important. Honestly if you aren't using Bors, Allen, and Lance (as well as Marcus and Zealot), you're going to have a really, really hard game.

Deke's nerfs are pretty significant when it means he has trouble doubling consistently during the Western Isles, however he benefits from both Lot and Wade being buffed and thus being more desirable support options. Yes, Wade is pretty useful when his hitrates don't fail. Even though Lot is overall more useful thanks to his durability and speed, there's some situations where he outperforms Lot such as doubling Knights, Soldiers, and Steel Fighters to my recollection.

Sue really is not very good. The only reason to even field her at this point is if you deliberately want to put yourself in Sacae. She doesn't hit very hard though (only 18 str at level 20/20), she's fragile, has situational supports, and it takes a long time for her to get fast enough to double enemies that aren't weighed by Steel. Honestly her stats are just kinda...laughable.

Ogier, Wendy, and Lilina all are similar in a way. They're relatively weak units that all can support Bors and have a shot at stealing kills and then hitting a decent mid to lategame from there. Ogier has the advantage of using Swords in chapters that have lots of Fighters, but Lilina hits Res (and recruits Gonzales). Wendy is probably overall worst off, however has a really fast support with Bors and she's statwise better around promotion time.

Noah isn't awful, but he's pretty pointless compared to the other Cavaliers. He can support Zealot and Fir at least. Treck has nice growths, but he gets easily killed if you aren't quick about recruiting him, which is pretty annoying.

Fir actually...is surprisingly hard to use. Even after joining a few levels higher with better base stats, she's still pretty fragile, and taking random hits from fighters and archers is tough on her low defenses. She has really high offense but needs to be protected a lot.

Recruiting Elphin instead of Lalum might actually be an interesting option this time around. He joins with a Seraphs Robe. Considering that enemies are more accurate, having a Bard with an extra HP buffer is actually something to consider.

Edited May 20, 2015 by A2ZOMG