Can anyone helps me complete my pairings plan?

[Rin]

I'm new to FE series and I've just finished the Normal - Newcomer mode for FE: Awakening. Since the mode wasn't too demanding my screwed second generation didn't suffer as much. But now I'm going to play in Lunatic mode and just completed Chapter 4, I've heard that wrong pairings are going to hurt?

So would anyone with better experience can help me sort this out? I'm going for Chrom! Morgan by the way because I just love the story, so please leave them out, thank you! (Although I don't really get why Sumia or Olivia > MU for Lucina. MU got access to OP skills too isn't she? Or it's because third generation Morgan? Sorry for the amateur question, but I'm an amateur so please pardon me : (

(I'd especially prefer my party to have optimized Nah, Gerome, Owain, Cynthia, Inigo, maybe Brady and Yarne, as I'll be using them most of the time.)
Would the following plan work? (From most frequent use of character to least)

***Gregor - Cherche
***Stahl - Nowi
***Henry - Lissa
**Frederick - Sumia
**Virion - Olivia
*Libra - Maribelle
*Kellam - Panne
Donnel - Sully
Ricken - Tharja
Vaike - Cordelia
Lon'qu - Miriel

If not (which it is, since I have absolutely no idea about skill combination, I only picked up what I found by googling), what would you recommend me?

Just a bit of personal preference - I really like Nowi and I'd LOVE Nah to have raven/dark brown hair that's why I pair her with Stahl. I know preferences do nothing to strategy games but black haired Nah is just unresistable :( I'm okay with [Lon'qu/Gaius/Libra/Henry]! Nah too.

I'd use Gerome as front liner a lot as well, and I've heard that Gregor! Gerome is the best, but I haven't tried yet.

Well I'm a girl playing FE and I would probably care more about characters rather than stats, I'd feel happy with my fave chars anyway and would find a way to get through things with them ^_^ Thing is there are so many options and I don't know which is the best for me.

Sorry if that was too much asking, your help would be most appreciated!

[Czar_Yoshi]

First off, if you want to pair for aesthetics, then do so. You don't need pairings to beat the game, and Lunatic is actually harder if you try to use full deployment because your resources are spread thinner and you can't deal with the rushes. I'd advise trying Hard first, Lunatic is already a huge jump in difficulty from Hard to Lunatic.

Avatar x Chrom is considered bad because it means Lucina can't marry either of her ideal husbands (Avatar and Morgan), and Lucina is the most important character in the game to get a good pairing for because of her Dual Strike+ skill.

Gregor x Cherche, Libra x Maribelle, Donnel x Sully and Lon'qu x Miriel are all great. Henry works with Lissa, but Owain usually gains more from Libra or Ricken (it's not a bad pairing though). Frederick x Sumia is very potent maingame, but also very bad for Cynthia. Virion x Olivia means that Inigo gets no Vantage/Luna which isn't that good, though it still works. Panne goes fine with any physical unit, Frederick is the best but it's hard to wreck Yarne. Thatja goes a lot better with Gaius because it means Galeforce for Noire. Vaike x Cordelia gives Severa redundant Mercenary, but isn't bad if Vaike isn't needed elsewhere. You don't mention Cherche, she needs a husband with Barbarian (Vaike, Gregor, Henry).

As for Nowi, Nah is a bit of a special case in that she can't run any normal skillset without Avatar as her father, and is instead stuck as a dedicated support unit, where she does fairly well with a lot of fathers. Henry!Nah is one of the better Nahs, if you really want to give Gaius to Nowi instead of Tharja then he works too. You can do Stahl if you want, Nah will probably wind up as a support Sniper. Again, if you're willing to use a male Avatar x Nowi, Nah can do anything- this creates a bunch of problems for other units but if you're going for aesthetics/personal preference then it's worth it (Avatar can also get actual black hair- Stahl's is slightly greenish imo).

[Gaia]

Although I don't really get why Sumia or Olivia > MU for Lucina. MU got access to OP skills too isn't she? Or it's because third generation Morgan?

Correct. Although the Lucina you get may be perfectly fine, you're essentially benching Morgan.

[Rin]

@Czar_Yoshi: Wow, thank you very much for your constructive suggestion! I see now the advantage of pairing MU with Lucina or Nowi but I run a FeMU unfortunately :(

So basically I shall change my plan into something like:

***Gregor - Cherche
***Gaius/Stahl - Nowi
***Libra - Lissa
** ? - Sumia
**? - Olivia (Kellam or Frederick perhaps? Since they has Luna)
*? - Maribelle
*Fred/Kellam - Panne
Donnel - Sully
? - Tharja
Vaike - Cordelia
Lon'qu - Miriel

That left Stahl/Gaius (one of them will pair with Nowi), Henry, Virion, Ricken. Would you help me figure out this plan?

Edited: I just read through the Pairings topic and saw most people would advise Gerome as a support and Gregor isn't the best father for a support. Please feel free to replace Gregor if necessary.

And I also appreciate your advice for trying out Hard mode, I will certainly do so.

@Gaia: Thank you much muchly for your answer!

Edited April 13, 2014 by Rin

[Czar_Yoshi]

Here's why Gregor!Gerome is a good idea (and Henry/Vaike).

Gerome lacks Galeforce. There's absolutely nothing you can do to give it to him, and units lacking Galeforce have all of three options: be an enemy phase tank with Vantage/Vengeance and Celica's Gale, be a dedicated support unit, or be benched. Obviously the last one is terrible, and Gerome can't get Vantage and Vengeance without Avatar (and has poor Mag to boot) so the first is also out, leaving hard support. One look at Gerome's mods tells you he needs to be physical.

As it would happen, Berserkers are the best physical support units in the game- they share the highest Str caps in the game with Generals, the highest Str pairup boost with Warriors, and also boost Spd by 3. They're axelocked, but you want your units sticking to one weapon type anyway so they can get the best benefit from Faires. When you're supporting, your only stats that matter are Str/Mag and Skl, Str/Mag for damage and Skl for dual strike rate/hit rate. Gerome already has a pile of Str, so what he needs is Barbarian (also gives Axefaire) and decent Skl. Gregor, Vaike and Henry all give both of those, along with more Str.

Vaike!Gerome is the most common one, with a skillset of LB/Agg/Axefaire/All+2/Str+2 he does 116 damage per swing of a Brave Axe, for up to four swings before the enemy gets a chance to attack. He can also swap Str+2 for Swordbreaker to help any hitrate issues in Secret Apo. Gregor!Gerome is pretty much identical, but swaps one Str for one Skl. Henry!Gerome is pretty similar, -1 Str from Gregor and the same Skl, but he has the option to use Anathema instead of Swordbreaker or Str+2 which benefits the lead unit as well.

The reasons Vaike is the most common father are because his Str is highest and because he's the least in demand elsewhere, Gregor gives Vantage and is wanted by all the Dark Mage children or anyone seeking good Str/Skl without Frederick's Spd gimp, and Henry is busy with Sumia if Chrom doesn't marry her and a candidate for Owain, Inigo and Nah if he does.

For your other pairings, Sumia needs to be with either Chrom or Henry, your Chrom's taken so Henry it is. Olivia's best pairings are Chrom, Stahl, Ricken and Libra, Tharja should definitely be with Gaius unless you have a strong objection to the pairing (he gives Noire Galeforce, allows her to be physical or magical and completes her Vantage/Vengeance combo). Maribelle goes well with anyone who doesn't lower her Mag/Spd/Skl, Brady will almost always be a Sage with LB, Agg, GF, Tomefaire and Luna, all of which he gets from her. You could potentially swap Luna for Vengeance on Libra!Brady, but it doesn't matter. Panne is best with Frederick because he passes Wyvern Lord, Yarne's deal is essentially the same as Gerome's except he already has Berserker.

[Rin]

Thank you all, I have completed my plan, based on both personal preferences and stats, and your advices! Just one question that's been nagging in my head these days xD: I know the advantage of a MaMU marriage (like marrying Lucina or Nowi), but what's the best bet for a FeMU? And if you don't mind explain to me please do so, 'cause I'm pretty clueless. Thanks!

[MelonGx]

What's your FeMU's Asset and Flaw?

If +Str, then go Gerome.

If +Mag/+Spd, then go magic Galeforce boys.

BTW, the reason Laurent need Vantage is to marry Lucina for VV+CelicasGale+100%DualStrike combo. If Lucina has been married with someone else, then Laurent's Vantage becomes optional, since no Sage can have 100%DS without DualStrike+.

Edited April 16, 2014 by MelonGx

[Rin]

Ah, sorry! My Asset is Defense due to Lunatic and Flaw is Luck.

I have a urge to cry. As soon as I completed my pairings I forgot to recruit Libra and my saves are already overwritten : ( Is that very veeery bad? I was planning to pair Libra with Lissa, does Henry work?

[Czar_Yoshi]

BTW, the reason Laurent need Vantage is to marry Lucina for VV+CelicasGale+100%DualStrike combo. If Lucina has been married with someone else, then Laurent's Vantage becomes optional, since no Sage can have 100%DS without DualStrike+.

Well, technically this isn't true.

There are several other ways to get a Sage to 100% DS: give them a Sniper support instead of Sage, use a Surge, sacrifice Vantage or Vengeance for Defender, have the support equip Mjolnir, and so on. Out of all those, I find the Sniper to be the most palatable (it also lets you use Morgan elsewhere, Lon'qu!Laurent@Sage (LB/V/V/All+2/TF) x Virion!Severa@Sniper (LB/All+2/Skl+2/GF/BF), but it's still not optimal.

[MelonGx]

Virion!Severa: 48+10+5+2+2+2+10=79

Sniper bonus: 8

Lon'qu!Laurent: 43+10+5+2+2+10=72

Total: 159

100% Threshold: 160

99.75% sounds not bad. But you may have an experience of Aversa's Night's durability dropping from 10 to 9 with LCK 49's Armsthrift during a Risen battle. So I can't say it's stable enough.

Ah, sorry! My Asset is Defense due to Lunatic and Flaw is Luck.

Then I suggest you go.....Gerome / Yarne / Laurent.

+Def MUs have an inferior power of both MU herself and Morgan. But pure Dual Strikers don't care how much power the forward unit has because of the output ranking by source: DualStrike > Luna/Vengeance > Forward attacker's native power.

Edited April 18, 2014 by MelonGx