How good is Jill in Radiant Dawn?

[Lord Tullus]

Ok, so I have not played RD in 3 to 4 years.  Lost the game, and I'm too broke to buy a used copy.  So, I can't test this kinda thing out for myself.  I was always under the impression that Haar was the best unit in the Game.  But now people tell me it is jill.  So, if I could get some clarification on why jill is so great for the dawn brigade's chapters, that'd be great.  Flying utility is good, and I get she has good levels and starting bases for her level. But is that really all it takes to be great in a sea of lesser units?

[GuardianGrarl]

She's good.... But requires a TON of investment. And when I say a ton, I mean, she's part of the Dawn Brigade, they all need a ton of investment!

 

A lot of the reasons people like Haar is because he doesn't need any investment, by the time you get him, he's already a great unit. He's already got some good strength, solid defense. And he is in the majority of the game thanks to him being a part of Elincia's campaign and Ike's. Jill is... again... part of the Dawn Brigade, the most underdeveloped group in the entire series.

 

The biggest problem with Jill in Radiant Dawn is that not a lot of time is devoted to leveling her up, because of that, players are turned off from her. Which is perfectly understandable. Hell, if she wasn't my favorite character in Path, I wouldn't even use her. Because the Dawn Brigade as a whole doesn't get a lot of devotion to them, players usually only pick one or two to level up and hope that gets them through the tougher chapters, leaving other characters like Jill to lag behind.

 

However, if you can dedicate enough time to Jill, I find it to be a solid investment. Her speed is slightly above average, her damage output, while not as good as Haar's, is still commendable. She's reasonably tanky and since Jill has naturally high resistance than Haar, she's a better option for the final area of the game. Sadly, the amount of time you have to invest make it easy to overlook her. And again, I get where they are coming from when people say they don't like Jill because of that investment that have to put into her to make her good. 

 

The reason why Jill is so good compared to the rest of the Dawn Brigade is because... most of the Dawn Brigade is not that good. Okay, they could probably have been good if given more time to develop, but here's the thing, none of them get much development. Nolan is probably the only one that stands out to be besides Jill and Jill has the superior mobility, being a flying unit. Most of the Dawn Brigade is easily replaceable because of other characters you get that you spend more time with. Jill only has Haar. So, it's a toss up of what your team needs. If you need to be more aggressive, but slower, pick Haar. If you want a higher resistance and faster unit, but doesn't do as much damage, Jill's your girl.

 

Like all teams, it really depends on the group around them. At least, that's my opinion. I think the reason I have Jill over Haar is because I am used to having a team of bruiser, beefy characters. Jill can provide good utility and a decent amount of damage and tankiness. Jill just fits the team more than Haar does because she just has more to offer my team due to her specific skill set and my team build.

 

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Feel free to disagree with me.

[Lord Tullus]

Thanks for the reply.  Very solid points all around.  I remember overlooking jill because the res units I ended up using were mages or elincia.  and mostly putting a ton of effort into edward left me to do little with jill.  But I never took the time to invest in jill heavily so I suppose that;s why she always turned out bad for me when I wasn't actively putting effort to train her.  Do you that it matters that haar is with the greil mercs in terms of his usefulness?  Because Haar can be good, and sometimes even better with assistance of the greil mercs in my opinion.  Just another thing I was thinking of.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Jill is an investment yes, but she's the most worthwhile investment for the long haul the DB has. Nolan might pay off more in the shorter term, and so might Aran, but Jill's main boon is that if you can get her going by P4's start- she'll be incredibly helpful. Both the Dawn and Hawk Armies need a bunch of good fliers, and Jill can help with that. Plus, she is probably the best choice for Urvan for 4 Final. Edward and Leonardo are also in very good classes for Final, but they have stronger competition.

If you want to use Jill- PoR transfer bonuses help. If you don't have those, forge an axe for her, and give her the Dracoshield and Angelic Robe- the long-term payoff will be greater than if you threw those items on Edward or Aran or anyone else. 

34 minutes ago, Lord Tullus said:

Do you that it matters that haar is with the greil mercs in terms of his usefulness?  Because Haar can be good, and sometimes even better with assistance of the greil mercs in my opinion.  Just another thing I was thinking of.

Haar is the only flier on the GMs side, and one who has very solid bases and can soak up a bit of EXP in 2 Final if you take it slowly. All he wants is a Speedwing, and maybe Nullify. It does help him that the GMs get plenty of wide open maps- something the DB doesn't have so much of, and which Jill can't quite take advantage of in P1 because she's weak at the start. And P3 DB is all defensive.

[Junkhead]

In these last two years or so, some people leaned towards the possibility that she might just be the best in the game- and at the very least, 2nd. She does what Haar does but in a significantly harder part of the game. She does require a ton of investmet, but it's not like she doesn't pay off by being the possible best unit in the game.

[Lord Tullus]

2 minutes ago, Soul~! said:

In these last two years or so, some people leaned towards the possibility that she might just be the best in the game- and at the very least, 2nd. She does what Haar does but in a significantly harder part of the game. She does require a ton of investmet, but it's not like she doesn't pay off by being the possible best unit in the game.

But why though?  She's one of the best, so why not settle for like 3rd or 4th place?

[Junkhead]

Just now, Lord Tullus said:

But why though?  She's one of the best, so why not settle for like 3rd or 4th place?

I don't understand what you're trying to say...

[Lord Tullus]

4 minutes ago, Soul~! said:

I don't understand what you're trying to say...

What I mean is, why would it matter if she is the best unit in the game when she's already considered to be on par with some of the best the game has to offer?  The game is almost 10 or 11 years old now.  It doesn't make much sense to go and change Jill's status of "one of the best" to "the best" when your list of top units already states who is worth the most investment.

[Junkhead]

5 minutes ago, Lord Tullus said:

What I mean is, why would it matter if she is the best unit in the game when she's already considered to be on par with some of the best the game has to offer?  The game is almost 10 or 11 years old now.  It doesn't make much sense to go and change Jill's status of "one of the best" to "the best" when your list of top units already states who is worth the most investment.

Literally, people discuss these things for sport. I don't think Jill is farfetched at being the best in the game, when the only real thing seperating her from that is how much you invest in her (which definitely pays off). And at least regarding those two, they have a somewhat decent stretch from other "best" characters.

Example:

 

Jesus on Wings

Haar

Jill

 

Top

Titania

Ike

[Florete]

Haar is more newcomer-friendly, but Jill is arguably better for a player who knows what they're doing. As stated, she needs proper investment, but with it she's incredible.