PAIRINGS The Pairing Thread

[Zoran]

Alright here's my attempt #2 at matchmaking.

Chrom x Sumia

Sumia x Chrom

Lissa x Ricken

Miriel x Gregor

Panne x Vaike

Cordelia x Lon’qu

Nowi x Donnel

Tharja x Gaius

Are these set in stone? They're all really good choices, with the exceptions of Vaike!Yarne and Donnel!Nah. Vaike!Yarne will have good mods, but the thing he really wants from his dad is a +Hit skill, particularly Hit Rate +20 from Sniper. Donnel!Nah will be okay, but she doesn't have the tools to use Galeforce well—she has no proc skill. All these choices will definitely work if you like them, though.

Need some help with these:

Maribelle x Henry/Virion

Olivia x Fred/Stahl/Virion/Libra

Cherche x Henry/Stahl

Sully x ???

Brady most appreciates Virion's mods, but Henry is an okay choice for him too. Looking over the dads you have left, I'd go with Virion!Brady (great mods, and he needs nothing else); Frederick!Inigo (gives him Luna, and as Czar_Yoshi outlined, he doesn't mind the low speed); Henry!Gerome (offers both Berserker and +Hit skills in Hex and Anathema); and Stahl!Kjelle. Libra!Inigo is a great alternative to Fred!Inigo if you like the option to go magical as well as physical.

The problem here is that Stahl!Kjelle will really suck. The one and only thing she wants to have is Galeforce, and she has the classes and skills to use it, unlike Nah. If you're okay with shuffling around a couple of pairings, I'd get Vaike!Nah (pass Axefaire), Donnel!Kjelle, and Stahl!Yarne.

[Lucina's Husband]

What's the best asset/flaw for a Female Robin Valkyrie/Staff or Rallybot?

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

+Magic/-Luck maybe...? At least thats what I normally prefer anyways.

[Radiant head]

Are these set in stone? They're all really good choices, with the exceptions of Vaike!Yarne and Donnel!Nah. Vaike!Yarne will have good mods, but the thing he really wants from his dad is a +Hit skill, particularly Hit Rate +20 from Sniper. Donnel!Nah will be okay, but she doesn't have the tools to use Galeforce well—she has no proc skill. All these choices will definitely work if you like them, though.

No they're not, though I had some confidence in them.

Brady most appreciates Virion's mods, but Henry is an okay choice for him too. Looking over the dads you have left, I'd go with Virion!Brady (great mods, and he needs nothing else); Frederick!Inigo (gives him Luna, and as Czar_Yoshi outlined, he doesn't mind the low speed); Henry!Gerome (offers both Berserker and +Hit skills in Hex and Anathema); and Stahl!Kjelle. Libra!Inigo is a great alternative to Fred!Inigo if you like the option to go magical as well as physical.

The problem here is that Stahl!Kjelle will really suck. The one and only thing she wants to have is Galeforce, and she has the classes and skills to use it, unlike Nah. If you're okay with shuffling around a couple of pairings, I'd get Vaike!Nah (pass Axefaire), Donnel!Kjelle, and Stahl!Yarne.

Yeah, I realized that out of Kjelle, Nah, and Noire, only two of them can inherit Galeforce, especially since the avatar is female (I'm annoyed that Vaike can't pass PK). I guess Nah being the lowest priority for that makes the decision easier.

Alright, so these will stay as is:

Chrom x Sumia

Sumia x Chrom

Lissa x Ricken

Miriel x Gregor

Cordelia x Lon’qu

Tharja x Gaius

And now:

Nowi x Vaike

Panne x Stahl

Maribelle x Virion

Olivia x Fred

Cherche x Henry

Sully x Donnel

[Lucina's Husband]

+Magic, - Def nets me more balanced 56 Magic and 55 Speed for Valkyrie while +Speed, -Def gets 52 Magic and a very nice 57 speed. I'm not sure which I'd prefer. Maybe +Magic if she's going to be a Staff/Rally bot?

[Zoran]

+Mag/-Def is the best for staff bots.

[Czar_Yoshi]

+Magic, - Def nets me more balanced 56 Magic and 55 Speed for Valkyrie while +Speed, -Def gets 52 Magic and a very nice 57 speed. I'm not sure which I'd prefer. Maybe +Magic if she's going to be a Staff/Rally bot?

How close your Spd/Mag are doesn't actually change how useful each of them will be, though. For a Valkyrie, any Spd mod between +4 and -1 is going to leave you doubling/not doubling exactly the same set of Apo enemies.

But since you're not planning to fight anything... Then definitely just take +Mag. Spd shouldn't ever matter on a Staffbot (it could matter on Morgan, though).

[Xenomata]

Small reminder I have another post a little above the initial "Staff/Rallybot Asset/Flaw" post. This has been a round of shameful plugging

Personally, I feel that it would be much better to just use a Streetpass or Spotpass Avatar as a Staff/Rallybot, since the Female Avatar can pair up with other units for bonuses that would not benefit a Staff or Rally bot, aside from the too inconsistent to be considered useful (at least without heavy amounts of stacking and the Dual Guard+ skill) Dual Guards. The difference between a Magic Asset and a Speed Asset Avatar just changes how much damage you do when protecting yourself from danger, and slightly higher speed shouldn't be able to make that big a difference unless the skill and luck boosts matter to you.

If you want to run a Magic Asset, Defense Flaw Staff/Rallybot Valkyrie, then Ursula in Spotpass has that exact Asset/Flaw combo, and she even starts in Valkyrie so you already have Rally Resistance. Camus runs Speed Asset, Luck Flaw if you want a Male rallybot for Rally Strength. Both are in the "Other" list of teams.

[Radiant head]

So after my current playthrough I want to shake up my pairings, and I don't want to do Chrom x Sumia for the third time in a row. Chrom x Olivia seems the popular thing, but is Chrom x Maribelle okay? While getting Olivia to mother Lucina isn't necessarily hard, I do find it really inconvenient.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Radiant head

[Vascela]

To make it more convenient, you could maybe throw in no pair up as a curveball; makes the healing lock relatively little less inconvenient. Assuming it's for in game, she probably will just munch on the first seal and the rescue staff.

[Radiant head]

Meant to say getting Chrom x Olivia is inconvenient.

Though I heard Chrom's Brady mods ruin his magic builds.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Radiant head

[Czar_Yoshi]

They don't really ruin anything, Chrom's got +0/1 Mag/Spd. But they sure won't let Brady take advantage of being the only fast Galeboy.

[CrazyFiasco]

So I'm doing another play-through of Awakening, and Lucina's mother is going to be Mariebelle. Would Dark knight be a good ending class for her?

[Czar_Yoshi]

Not much better or worse than her other options. Lucina's skillset never changes no matter what class she's running.

She'll be slow, though. Sage or DF would be significantly faster.

[Zoran]

Having already done no-Rally Apotheosis, I'm trying to adapt my pairings to no-DLC & no-Rally.

[spoiler=The Pairings]

Chrom @ Sniper [ Aether | Luna | Bowfaire | Rightful King | Dual Strike+ ]

Sumia @ Sage [ Galeforce | Luna | Tomefaire | Renewal | Speed +2 ]

Chrom is here to poke things, basically.

(+Mag/-Def) Robin @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hit Rate +20 | Prescience | Axebreaker | Tomebreaker ]

Sumia!Lucina @ Great Lord w/ Boots [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Defender | Dual Strike+ ]

60 Speed for fighting Thronie and his clones (equipped with Ragnell for those fights). Robin's got Axebreaker for that purpose and Tomebreaker in case he's needed for the Sorcerers.

Libra!Inigo @ Berserker [ Galeforce | Vengeance | Axefaire | Axebreaker | Tomebreaker ]

(+Mag/-Def) Sumia!Lucina!Morgan @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Speed +2 | Defender ]

The second 60 Speed pair, also capable of fighting Thronie clones. Being able to double most trash should help me pick up Longbow kills.

Henry!Gerome @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hex | Anathema | Axebreaker | Lancebreaker ]

Donnel!Kjelle @ Assassin [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Swordfaire | Speed +2 ]

The final 60 Speed pair. This one's just for general utility, and I'm not certain of Kjelle's skills. Kjelle could use breakers in place of Astra and Swordfaire.

Lon'Qu!Brady @ Sage [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Tomefaire | Defender ]

Chrom!Cynthia @ Dark Flier [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Tomefaire | Hit Rate +20 ]

My only purely magical pair, and it's a really important one. Chrom!Cynthia with Ward and Pure Water is my primary means of approaching the Mire Dark Fliers; she'll tank all five Mires, then fly over and go for a kill. If she succeeds, I switch to Brady, double one of the other DFs and kill it, then Rescue Inigo x Morgan over and stomp the other three DFs with them. If she misses the kill, I rescue Cynthia back and try again the next turn.

Gregor!Laurent @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Anathema | Axebreaker | Bowbreaker | Tomebreaker ]

Virion!Severa @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Vengeance | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 | Speed +2 ]

My second-fastest Sniper; 57 Speed allows her to double the Celica's Gale Sages, who are extremely scary.

Stahl!Yarne @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hit Rate +20 | Prescience | Swordbreaker | Bowbreaker ]

Gaius!Noire @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Luna | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 | Speed +2 ]

56 Speed earns her a few extra doubles in Wave 1.

Vaike!Nah @ General [ Axefaire | Strength +2 | Axebreaker | Lancebreaker | Bowbreaker ]

Ricken!Owain @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 ]

Definitely my weakest Sniper, and Owain may as well not even have Galeforce except that he doesn't have many better options. I don't actually plan to use this pair, but it does exist as an option.

Olivia @ Dancer w/ Boots

5 Staff Bots

Basically, I've got three 60 Speed pairs, one pair of mages, and a pack of Snipers.

[spoiler=Boss/Notable Enemy Strategies]

Wave 0 General: Gank with Longbows. (May take a few rescues to get everyone up there.) Cynthia could kill him, but she risks dying if she fails a proc or drops a dual strike.

Wave 1 Warrior: Longbow from Morgan, who doubles. Brave Bow nearly guarantees the kill, but (if I have my calcs right) if Morgan gets exactly one Aether and no Luna and Inigo hits his dual strikes, then I set up this guy's Vengeance perfectly and he wrecks me. I get the kill with Longbow ~55% of the time, and missing it is not a huge problem.

Wave 2 Nightmare Sniper: A poke from Chrom and then an attack from Cynthia is sufficient to get the kill if I get all my dual strikes. Otherwise, I can surround him.

Wave 3 Invincisorc: Longbow him.

Wave 3 Ikeadin: Longbow him.

Wave 3 Falcon-Ike: Longbow her.

Wave 4 Mire DFs: Approach with Cynthia w/ Ward & Pure Water (takes 13*5 damage), then Gale two of them down and Rescue Morgan for the rest.

Wave 4 Throne Berserker: Gank his buddies, poke with Longbow as desired, then fight with Lucina

Wave 4 Sages: Longbow with Morgan and Severa

Wave 5 Helswath Berserkers: Pull one with Lucina and one with Morgan.

Wave 5 Anna: Gang up with Longbows. With Chrom, Morgan, Noire, and Severa, plus a Dance from Olivia, I'm virtually certain to kill her in one turn. If not, I have enough Rescue to bail.

Do you guys have any suggestions for skill changes, problems I should be aware of, routing suggestions for the map, or the like? (The pairings are set; I've already made this team.)

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

Having already done no-Rally Apotheosis, I'm trying to adapt my pairings to no-DLC & no-Rally.

[spoiler=The Pairings]

Chrom @ Sniper [ Aether | Luna | Bowfaire | Rightful King | Dual Strike+ ]

Sumia @ Sage [ Galeforce | Luna | Tomefaire | Renewal | Speed +2 ]

Chrom is here to poke things, basically.

(+Mag/-Def) Robin @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hit Rate +20 | Prescience | Axebreaker | Tomebreaker ]

Sumia!Lucina @ Great Lord w/ Boots [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Defender | Dual Strike+ ]

60 Speed for fighting Thronie and his clones (equipped with Ragnell for those fights). Robin's got Axebreaker for that purpose and Tomebreaker in case he's needed for the Sorcerers.

Libra!Inigo @ Berserker [ Galeforce | Vengeance | Axefaire | Axebreaker | Tomebreaker ]

(+Mag/-Def) Sumia!Lucina!Morgan @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Speed +2 | Defender ]

The second 60 Speed pair, also capable of fighting Thronie clones. Being able to double most trash should help me pick up Longbow kills.

Henry!Gerome @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hex | Anathema | Axebreaker | Lancebreaker ]

Donnel!Kjelle @ Assassin [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Swordfaire | Speed +2 ]

The final 60 Speed pair. This one's just for general utility, and I'm not certain of Kjelle's skills. Kjelle could use breakers in place of Astra and Swordfaire.

Lon'Qu!Brady @ Sage [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Tomefaire | Defender ]

Chrom!Cynthia @ Dark Flier [ Galeforce | Aether | Luna | Tomefaire | Hit Rate +20 ]

My only purely magical pair, and it's a really important one. Chrom!Cynthia with Ward and Pure Water is my primary means of approaching the Mire Dark Fliers; she'll tank all five Mires, then fly over and go for a kill. If she succeeds, I switch to Brady, double one of the other DFs and kill it, then Rescue Inigo x Morgan over and stomp the other three DFs with them. If she misses the kill, I rescue Cynthia back and try again the next turn.

Gregor!Laurent @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Anathema | Axebreaker | Bowbreaker | Tomebreaker ]

Virion!Severa @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Vengeance | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 | Speed +2 ]

My second-fastest Sniper; 57 Speed allows her to double the Celica's Gale Sages, who are extremely scary.

Stahl!Yarne @ Berserker [ Axefaire | Hit Rate +20 | Prescience | Swordbreaker | Bowbreaker ]

Gaius!Noire @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Luna | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 | Speed +2 ]

56 Speed earns her a few extra doubles in Wave 1.

Vaike!Nah @ General [ Axefaire | Strength +2 | Axebreaker | Lancebreaker | Bowbreaker ]

Ricken!Owain @ Sniper [ Galeforce | Astra | Luna | Bowfaire | Hit Rate +20 ]

Definitely my weakest Sniper, and Owain may as well not even have Galeforce except that he doesn't have many better options. I don't actually plan to use this pair, but it does exist as an option.

Olivia @ Dancer w/ Boots

5 Staff Bots

Basically, I've got three 60 Speed pairs, one pair of mages, and a pack of Snipers.

[spoiler=Boss/Notable Enemy Strategies]

Wave 0 General: Gank with Longbows. (May take a few rescues to get everyone up there.) Cynthia could kill him, but she risks dying if she fails a proc or drops a dual strike.

Wave 1 Warrior: Longbow from Morgan, who doubles. Brave Bow nearly guarantees the kill, but (if I have my calcs right) if Morgan gets exactly one Aether and no Luna and Inigo hits his dual strikes, then I set up this guy's Vengeance perfectly and he wrecks me. I get the kill with Longbow ~55% of the time, and missing it is not a huge problem.

Wave 2 Nightmare Sniper: A poke from Chrom and then an attack from Cynthia is sufficient to get the kill if I get all my dual strikes. Otherwise, I can surround him.

Wave 3 Invincisorc: Longbow him.

Wave 3 Ikeadin: Longbow him.

Wave 3 Falcon-Ike: Longbow her.

Wave 4 Mire DFs: Approach with Cynthia w/ Ward & Pure Water (takes 13*5 damage), then Gale two of them down and Rescue Morgan for the rest.

Wave 4 Throne Berserker: Gank his buddies, poke with Longbow as desired, then fight with Lucina

Wave 4 Sages: Longbow with Morgan and Severa

Wave 5 Helswath Berserkers: Pull one with Lucina and one with Morgan.

Wave 5 Anna: Gang up with Longbows. With Chrom, Morgan, Noire, and Severa, plus a Dance from Olivia, I'm virtually certain to kill her in one turn. If not, I have enough Rescue to bail.

Do you guys have any suggestions for skill changes, problems I should be aware of, routing suggestions for the map, or the like? (The pairings are set; I've already made this team.)

I like the way it's set up, but I'm questioning your choice of +magic for a berserker avatar and sniper morgan? That seems a bit off.

Also Owain would accomplish a lot more as a Sage

[Zoran]

+Magic is mostly not useful for this setting, but I have it because this was a full-power team that I've slowly depowered. If I were serious about making a dedicated full-restriction team, I'd pick +Speed, but I think I can still do it with my existing crew.

My feeling is that Owain probably wouldn't get used anyway because everyone else is better than him. He can't double anyone but the Great Knights as a Sage, even with Assassin support.

[Czar_Yoshi]

It looks good, except for one thing: you don't have five staffbots. With Olivia, you've only got room for three.

You also might have too many double Galepairs. KOes are very hard to come by reliably here, especially for pairs that would run a risk of missing them in NHB (like a Berserker leading a Sniper). It'll probably serve you better to leave GF off some of the Galeboys and use the skillslot to make them better hard supports (if possible).

[Vascela]

Instead of dropping galeforce, you could alternatively drop the entire units and/or pairs. My no dlc/no rally run used 9 rescue bots (just to put it in perspective) by sacking children left and right. You don't need to go full out spotpass and run 14 spotpass bots like I do, but you definitely need to consider how much weight your bottom of the barrel units are pulling.

[Zoran]

It's five because Owain and Nah aren't actually coming along.

The one time I need to use Inigo's Galeforce is on the Mire DFs. His kill is actually guaranteed if I manage to get him close-to-full-power Vengeance, but he'll also get it if Morgan gets her dual strikes. So I think I'll drop his Vengeance for Anathema.

[Czar_Yoshi]

Instead of dropping galeforce, you could alternatively drop the entire units and/or pairs.

Well, I was mainly referring to Inigo and Morgan isn't the best to leave behind (though taking only who you need is a very nice strategy).

[Rydia]

After a long period of inactivity I returned to this game and I decided to run a lun+ (to apotheosis) save with all the worst possible pairings. I went, of course, for Chrom!Maiden (or, well, I'm going for it, I'm still at the second chapter), I am planning Vaike!Lissa, Ricken!Yarne and Virion!Nah but I don't really know what could be considered 'really bad' and I'm a bit rusty on the Awakening department.

May I ask who would you pair with the remaining ladies to 'ruin the kids' as much as possible?I

I'm so used to my usual pairings (see Chrom!Maribelle, Henry!cherce, etc) that I don't really remember so much about other couples...

[Radiant head]

I thought people liked Vaike!Lissa.

Probably want to go for as much class overlap as possible, ie. Stahl!Kjelle or Kellam!Kjelle.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Radiant head

[Rydia]

Really? I always assumed Physical dads were the worst for Owain and considering he passes down Fighter, Hero, Thied and Trickster even the skillpoll should be pretty much.. useless for Aphoteosis?

And- true, Stahl!Kjelle should be a thing in my run, that way Fred'd be free for Sumia.

[Radiant head]

Well yeah, but I figured there are worse physical dads than Vaike.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Radiant head