Who is the worst unit in FE:A ?

[Chloe Neo]

I'm curious about what other peoples opinions are on the worst unit in awakening. My choice would be tharja when playing lunatic mode, I'm talking about how bad she is when she firsts joins you.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Serah

[Sasori]

I am basing this on hard mode, since Lunatic doesn't appeal to me, but I would say that Virion is the worst amongst the playable characters. He does have some good availabilty, but thats pretty much all he has going for him. His bases suck, his class pool has no synergy with itself and the archer class itself has taken a huge step back when it comes to ingame purposes. Mirriel and Ricken are both the surperior ranged option if you ask me and they don't appear that much later then him either.

Donnel is another candidate for his extremely crappy early game.

Still I was pleasantly surprised by the balance in this game. Yeah the Avatar is overpowered and such, but I felt this game was lacking in extremely bad characters such as Wendy, Karla or Arden to name some examples. Virion did't impress me, but at least he could hold his own somewhat.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Sasori

[Carmine Sword]

Donnel. He gets one-rounded by everything on his joining map, and all the effort one would have to put into him to make him useful could have been used to make your actual good units better.

He has no use in LTCs which makes me hate him even more.

Ests just aren't vey useful except for maybe Zeiss, and depending on who you ask he might not even be considered an Est anyway.

[Chloe Neo]

Another unit who's extremely bad like tharja is henry simply because they both join with poor base stats at that Point in the game on hard/lunatic mode.

[Ansem]

Ricken sucks so much

[Mighty Kamina]

Probably Donnel. His bases are awful, so getting him up to speed is a massive pain. It also hurts that his modifiers are awful, so he is one of the worst characters when it comes to the post game. All he really has going for him is the mercenary class.

[Sentacotus]

I would say Virion. I've never been really good with archers in the series I've always kinda hated them. The only ones I've been able to use effectively are Rebecca from FE7 and Shinon from FE9 and 10.

I actually like Donnel he almost gets a perfect level up every time I use him and once you get him to mercenary and hero he turns into a god. Plus he can pass on aptitude alot of the children characters to make them even more OP.

Edited January 9, 2015 by TacoMan42

[Shadow Mir]

Donnel. Too much of a pain in the ass to get going, and all that effort (and the Second Seal) that he needed to get anywhere could've been used to make your other characters better. And then there's Gaius. Aside from not being nearly as cool as Xillia's Gaius the fact that pretty much every sword user you get around that point in time is better than he is, he's only really worthwhile for one chest in the game - that one chest being the one in the chapter he joins in.

[Cat1803]

Virion. Even in Lunatic+ where bow users are gods thanks to avoiding counter (IMO)... 5 Speed. And he never levels in Defense or Speed for me, which is more than a problem in Loony+. Outside of Lunatic+, where this isn't an issue, the problem is more with his class (and Wyvern and Mage aren't great reclasses for Virion IMO, plus you'd have to get him to level 10).

Next comes Ricken. Again, Speed. At least he knows what HP and Defense are, though. He can be a good father for many children, too, so that helps his case. Virion can too, but Virion is inferior to Ricken in most cases, and that's... sad.

For the average playthrough, Brady is an insult. He either needs to be promoted or second sealed immediately. Not a problem if you're grinding, not worth the trouble if you aren't. Not nominated for worst as wholeheartedly as Virion, since you may not even use Maribelle or get her married (not using her is understandable because Lissa). At least he comes at level 10. He doesn't even come with C Staves for physic spam though. Why did they decide an exclusive staff-user at the point in time at which you can recruit him was a good idea?

Donnel's only use for me is getting Galeforce on Kjelle for postgame. Aptitude is inferior to Veteran. I get him to level 2 for completionism's sake and feed the rest of his paralogue to Avatar/Chrom/anyone else. His bases are low and Aptitude doesn't even shine that well until he's out of Villager, by which point the average playthrough has seen him fed way too much experience.

...Not too many characters I'd say are bad units, honestly. Plenty of characters have flaws related to join time, weapon ranks, bad bases/growths, etc. The ones I listed just game to mind the quickest.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Cat1803

[Ownagepuffs]

I'm curious about what other peoples opinions are on the worst unit in awakening. My choice would be tharja when playing lunatic mode, I'm talking about how bad she is when she firsts joins you.

Tharja has a base of 13 speed, comes with Nos and a somewhat strong D rank tome, and 2 Auras which essentially add up to a free +25 Hit/Avo.

Are you high?

Anyway, worst unit is easily Donnel. Practically every other character has some sort of utility (even Virion can pair with Fred for a very good early game duo). Donnel offers fuck all to the army.

Donnel. Too much of a pain in the ass to get going, and all that effort (and the Second Seal) that he needed to get anywhere could've been used to make your other characters better. And then there's Gaius. Aside from not being nearly as cool as Xillia's Gaius the fact that pretty much every sword user you get around that point in time is better than he is, he's only really worthwhile for one chest in the game - that one chest being the one in the chapter he joins in.

You like Tales let's be friends because I fucking love Tales.

Anyway, Gaius does have issues but at least he has good pair up bonuses. Villager doesn't even want to give good pair up bonuses like wtf.

Donnel. He gets one-rounded by everything on his joining map, and all the effort one would have to put into him to make him useful could have been used to make your actual good units better.

He has no use in LTCs which makes me hate him even more.

Ests just aren't vey useful except for maybe Zeiss, and depending on who you ask he might not even be considered an Est anyway.

Yeah man Zeiss has actually has good bases and Ests are supposed to have bad bases. 19 Base Str is bombtastic.

[eclipse]

The irony is that I prefer having Donnel as Tharja's pair-up partner - gives her Skill and Luck, two things she likes.

Worst seriously depends on what kind of run it is, difficulty, and for what purpose. Frederick, for example, is great during early combat, but makes for a mediocre father.

[Ryo]

Grind/Post-game:

All of the 6 Spotpass characters due to the lack of supports (but Aversa and Emmeryn are probably not that bad due to Galeforce).

Other than that, nobody is particularly useless because you can max-out everyone anyway, even if they don't have impressive skill pool.

No-grind/In-game:

Frederick: For obvious reason, though he is very useful in early-game of Lunatic/Lunatic+. His poor stats can be fixed by second seals, but that will take time and it's better to give that training to someone else.

Virion, his growth can range from bad to horrifying, and eventually cannot catch up (at least that's what has always happened in my runs). He is also not that good of a father compared to the other males. Poor reclassing options and skill pool don't help.

Donnel, the effort you spend training him is better used for someone else. He does make a good father though, since his child can have access to both Aptitude, Armsthift, and Galeforce (if female).

Ricken can be a hit or a miss, so I'm never sure whether to use him or not. His growth can turn out very different from what I would expect. Though he is the best magic-based father modifider-wise.

And all other characters who join late and/or have poor base (minus some of the children) because the units with more availability could have surpassed them at that point.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Ryo

[Carmine Sword]

I seriously question anyone saying that Frederick is one of the worst units in the game, given that he rolflstomps Normal Mode, remains solid throughout Hard Mode, and makes the early game actually possible on Lunatic and Lunatic+.

[Shadow Mir]

Another unit who's extremely bad like tharja is henry simply because they both join with poor base stats at that Point in the game on hard/lunatic mode.

Henry, worse than Donnel? The hell?

Virion. Even in Lunatic+ where bow users are gods thanks to avoiding counter (IMO)... 5 Speed. And he never levels in Defense or Speed for me, which is more than a problem in Loony+. Outside of Lunatic+, where this isn't an issue, the problem is more with his class (and Wyvern and Mage aren't great reclasses for Virion IMO, plus you'd have to get him to level 10).

Next comes Ricken. Again, Speed. At least he knows what HP and Defense are, though. He can be a good father for many children, too, so that helps his case. Virion can too, but Virion is inferior to Ricken in most cases, and that's... sad.

For the average playthrough, Brady is an insult. He either needs to be promoted or second sealed immediately. Not a problem if you're grinding, not worth the trouble if you aren't. Not nominated for worst as wholeheartedly as Virion, since you may not even use Maribelle or get her married (not using her is understandable because Lissa). At least he comes at level 10. He doesn't even come with C Staves for physic spam though. Why did they decide an exclusive staff-user at the point in time at which you can recruit him was a good idea?

Donnel's only use for me is getting Galeforce on Kjelle for postgame. Aptitude is inferior to Veteran. I get him to level 2 for completionism's sake and feed the rest of his paralogue to Avatar/Chrom/anyone else. His bases are low and Aptitude doesn't even shine that well until he's out of Villager, by which point the average playthrough has seen him fed way too much experience.

...Not too many characters I'd say are bad units, honestly. Plenty of characters have flaws related to join time, weapon ranks, bad bases/growths, etc. The ones I listed just game to mind the quickest.

Ehhh, if Brady's an insult, Yarne's a kick in the nuts. That's how I see it, given that I can cheese Brady's paralogue if I wanted to. Taguel's just an utter shitstain of a class, on the other hand, and then I'm stuck with the Morton's fork of either staying in it, or second sealing him and having to deal with E weapon rank no matter what (to be fair, though, Brady's not much better off weapon rank wise, but his initial class promotes to what's pretty much his best option)... That being said, he's not as bad as Donnel, natch.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Levant Caprice

[Ryo]

....given that he rolflstomps Normal Mode, remains solid throughout Hard Mode.

True, but so can other units and pretty much half of the army. And they can do so much more effectively than him without much grinding and/or reclassing. He is not necessarily a bad unit, but he pales in comparison to others.

and makes the early game actually possible on Lunatic and Lunatic+.

Also true, but you can't exploit him much for the rest of the game without grinding. If one brought him to the battlefield, it would mostly be for supportive purposes and not actually using him in combat.

Of course, I guess everyone has different views on this.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Ryo

[Gradivus.]

fred isn't anywhere near the worst (wtf). being necessary to make the loony modes possible actually makes him pretty decent already, and he can do some combattive work until C15 and contribute a nice pairup bonus set afterwards on loony. of course he doesn't really keep up in stats at a point if the player decides to spread his exp well, but he brings a lot for over the half of the game.

[eclipse]

When in doubt, consult some numbers. Freddy's problem is that he doesn't get as much experience as the other characters (in anything besides grinding), so he has to rely on his bases a lot longer. Virion's growths aren't necessarily bad, but his bases are, which means that feeding him the experience to get his growths into play isn't exactly easy. I keep seeing mention of Donnel and Aptitude; IMO, the only time he should pass that is if it's not a post-game file (otherwise, Underdog will be better, especially if his daughter goes Bride).

[Alastor15243]

Henry, worse than Donnel? The hell?

Ehhh, if Brady's an insult, Yarne's a kick in the nuts. That's how I see it, given that I can cheese Brady's paralogue if I wanted to. Taguel's just an utter shitstain of a class, on the other hand, and then I'm stuck with the Morton's fork of either staying in it, or second sealing him and having to deal with E weapon rank no matter what (to be fair, though, Brady's not much better off weapon rank wise, but his initial class promotes to what's pretty much his best option)... That being said, he's not as bad as Donnel, natch.

At least Yarne makes an awesome MaMorgan and the only skill Yarne's mom needs to pass down (unless the dad provides wyvern rider) is str+2, making it actually manageable for in-game if you're smart about it, while Brady isn't even good for that and you have to jump through hoops before you can get him without ruining him forever.

[Shadow Mir]

At least Yarne makes an awesome MaMorgan and the only skill Yarne's mom needs to pass down (unless the dad provides wyvern rider) is str+2, making it actually manageable for in-game if you're smart about it, while Brady isn't even good for that and you have to jump through hoops before you can get him without ruining him forever.

On the other side of the coin, his paralogue's torture, especially if you're greedy like me and refuse to settle for anything less than fighting both armies. That being said, I'll admit that I'll have to wait before getting Brady if I want him as good as can be. But on the other hand, I'm not exactly excited about the prospect of having to deal with the inevitable E ranks that he'll have to dig his way out of, especially since arms scrolls are rare (only 2 guaranteed ones in the entire game).

[Vorena]

I'm curious about what other peoples opinions are on the worst unit in awakening. My choice would be tharja when playing lunatic mode, I'm talking about how bad she is when she firsts joins you.

Tharja is really good. Access to nosferatu which other than L+ trivializes the game. Early enough to still be trainable and still have enough time to make a difference. Very good bulk for a mage and has good speed and strength stats.

Donnel, Virion, and Ricken I think are still much more useful than some other characters. For one, they have very long access time. If you decide to train them they can still contribute. PLus, they can provide some interesting set-ups if you decide to use them. Virion on Lunatic makes a decide chip damage, elixir or pair-up bonuses. Ricken gives you elwind which early on is useful against wyverns on the chapter he comes on. Donnel even if not trained can wed avatar and Morgan with increased exp gain and growth bonus is pretty good.

To me, Flavia and Basillio are the worst characters in the game. They appear at chapter 23 and cannot really do much of anything since there is such little time left in the game. Only basillio would be useful since he can give you rally boost to strength for the final few fights. Otherwise, there combat is out done by other units at the time they appear.

[Czar_Yoshi]

1st gen male: Donnel, for reasons already stated. Terrible bases, terrible caps, terrible class set, and growing when fed is nothing special in Awakening.

1st gen female: Tiki. Like Nowi but no ingame utility outside of things like 0% growths.

2nd gen male: Gerome. No way for him to get everything he needs to properly capitalize on his Str without Avatar, and the rest of his mods are hardly spectacular.

2nd gen female: Noire. Like Gerome, no way for her to get everything she needs to capitalize on her Mag without Avatar.

Character design: Tharja. She's hideous.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi

[Carmine Sword]

Flavia and Basillio can at least kill a General or two and maybe a Berserker(Flavia can double Berserkers with a Basillio Pair-up on Hard Mode) in their joining chapter, and Basillio can use Rally Strength. That seems a lot better than whatever Donnel hasn't been accomplishing.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Carmine Sword

[fengaridotdll]

Miriel is PAPER when it comes to physical attacks. I think she has around the same Def growth as Knoll (which is really low). At lest it's better then FE1 Jagen's everything... And also, she has a rather dull personality

Character designs: Every Knight/General in the game. It is the worst class design in the entire series, especially considering how awesome Generals looked in the GBA games

Edited January 10, 2015 by Mastergabe2000

[Shadow Mir]

Miriel is PAPER when it comes to physical attacks. I think she has around the same Def growth as Knoll (which is really low). At lest it's better then FE1 Jagen's everything... And also, she has a rather dull personality

Character designs: Every Knight/General in the game. It is the worst class design in the entire series, especially considering how awesome Generals looked in the GBA games

I see your mention of the Knight/General design and raise you Berserkers. They look absolutely [EFF!]ing HIDEOUS.

Tharja is really good. Access to nosferatu which other than L+ trivializes the game. Early enough to still be trainable and still have enough time to make a difference. Very good bulk for a mage and has good speed and strength stats.

Donnel, Virion, and Ricken I think are still much more useful than some other characters. For one, they have very long access time. If you decide to train them they can still contribute. PLus, they can provide some interesting set-ups if you decide to use them. Virion on Lunatic makes a decide chip damage, elixir or pair-up bonuses. Ricken gives you elwind which early on is useful against wyverns on the chapter he comes on. Donnel even if not trained can wed avatar and Morgan with increased exp gain and growth bonus is pretty good.

To me, Flavia and Basillio are the worst characters in the game. They appear at chapter 23 and cannot really do much of anything since there is such little time left in the game. Only basillio would be useful since he can give you rally boost to strength for the final few fights. Otherwise, there combat is out done by other units at the time they appear.

I disagree on that given that Donnel's a serious pain in the ass to raise, and by the time he's caught up, he's siphoned a ton of exp, and a Second Seal, that could've gone to other units to make them better. And I'm not exactly excited over dragging Donnel along for however many chapters it'd take for him to wed Robin (assuming I'm playing with a female Robin - I'd likely got more mileage out of wedding her to most any other guy) when I could've fielded someone else who can actually contribute worth a damn.

The irony is that I prefer having Donnel as Tharja's pair-up partner - gives her Skill and Luck, two things she likes.

Worst seriously depends on what kind of run it is, difficulty, and for what purpose. Frederick, for example, is great during early combat, but makes for a mediocre father.

Huh. I remember seeing stuff from Int that Libra was a good pair up partner for Tharja, largely because of the luck boost (which is the main issue I'd try to address).

Edited January 10, 2015 by Levant Caprice

[Alastor15243]

2nd gen male: Gerome. No way for him to get everything he needs to properly capitalize on his Str without Avatar, and the rest of his mods are hardly spectacular.

But what about Henry? Does that 10 extra hit from Hit+20 over Anathema make that much of a difference?