Best Classes of your Students (and Faculty) Encore: Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude

[The Black Pot]

Linhardt gets Warp. The only thing better than Warp is 2x Warp. He should go Bishop to Warp people to the front and play healbot the rest of the chapter. Otherwise, Dark Knight is a fine alternate option, since Excalibur is also pretty great. Holy Knight is pointless, since White Tomefaire is worse than Black due to boosting fewer, weaker, spells.

 

Annette gets strong and accurate spells (Excalibur again and the rare Abraxas), but nothing special in terms of utility. She doesn’t get anything with a range longer than 2, so she wants Dark Knight’s mobility. Holy Knight is a distant second, since Abraxis is at least a good spell and she won’t be much worse with her black spells. Lack of anything long ranged or anything special means Gremory doesn’t bring enough to justify the loss of Tomefaire and movement.

 

Marianne wants to be a Holy Knight, but Aura’s weight and low accuracy are a letdown. Dark Knight is also inherently better than Holy, and she even has Thoron. I actually feel she’s the best Dancer candidate in the game, since she has boons in Swords for evasion and Riding for Movement +. She can still Silence or Physic in a pinch too, the only character with the aforementioned boons and helpful emergency spell options.

[singularity]

Linhardt can either go Bishop or Holy Knight, though I’d probably lean towards the former since it’s the only class that gives him x2 Warp uses. He doesn’t really have an offensive presence, so it’s better to give him a class that offers more support/utility.

Annette’s a bit of a weird one. If we’re focusing on her Axe strength, she can utilize her Relic and Bolt Axes as a Wyvern Lord. While she might be unable to cast spells, Bolt Axe+ already gave her 1-3 range which is more than the rest of her spells, and her Reason spell list is nothing special so it’s not like she’s missing much(besides Excalibur). But if you want to keep her as a spellcaster, you can go for Dark Knight or Warlock(leaning towards the former because of mobility).

As for Marianne, she’s the most offensive-oriented out of the healers due to having a fairly good Reason spells and being able to use Soulblade and Frozen Lance. She’s also a great candidate for using Levin Swords(which can replace Thoron if it’s forged), which synergizes with her Crest, and has a magic-based Relic. Due to that, she’s a bit more flexible in terms of choices. You can go for Holy Knight because she has all the proficiencies, Dark Knight to utilize her Reason spells while maintaining mobility, or Bishop/Gremory for more spell uses(though she loses mobility compared to the former 2 classes). There’s more niche alternatives such as turning her into Falcon Knight or Mortal Savant but they have their own drawbacks(you sacrifice her spells as a Falcon Knight, leaving you to use magic-based weapons and Combat Arts, while Mortal Savant lacks in mobility and might give her Speed issues). Her hypothetical best class is probably a flying healer, but sadly such thing doesn’t exist in the game.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Linhardt and Marianne are pretty much the same: either Bishop or Holy Knight

However Marianne definitely wants a horse due to her love towards them.

I made her become a falcon knight and noticed to my horror that this class cannot use staves.

 

Since I have yet to play Blue Lions I cannot say about Annette. I only read rumors that she is a weird unit in terms of favored weapon types. I think to make her become a dancer. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Lysithea

[timon]

Marianne is definitely geared towards Holy Knight. That said Dark Knight is a better class and you'll have to focus reason on healers anyways, so I'd go DK. There's also the fact that she doesn't get amazing Faith after Physic, so you can stop at C and go full Reason.

Linhardt I guess DK, he has a Reason proficiency after all, but you still want to get him at A Faith so you'll have to sacrifice something somewhere (and don't go for 100% on the certification).

Annette is so terrible that I'm not sure. The funniest build I had with her was Wyvern with BoltAxe+ and Crusher, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's fun, but it's not exactly game breaking. Though on a Wyvern her Str is not THAT bad, so maybe you can get lucky and get a fun hybrid out of it, since the class doesn't even hinder her Mag that much.

Overall Dark Knight is probably the better choice. That said I prefer Gremory because if you want some power with Annette you'll want to get A Faith for Abraxas, otherwise good luck killing anything before tomefaire.

[Cysx]

Okay, that'll be a longer one than usual. Typically I only mention the final class, but the first two need to be built a certain way to be at their best, I feel. And Marianne is complicated too.

Linhardt is actually a serviceable magic unit and can be the main Thyrsus user in his route outside of cross recruitment; however, his spd base is awful and he wants that fixed asap; fortunately for him his growth is workable and his spells are light. At level 10, the certificate for thief/mercenary gives him +2 spd, which is sizeable, but he has no business being in those classes(can also go myrmidon at tier 1 for +2 spd over +2 mag, though you'll probably miss the healing quite a bit); so, he needs to be able to succeed at both those certificates and Mage, meaning he requires special attention, which he tends not to get. From then you follow a regular magic user path and end up in Dark Knight, where he'll nuke stuff no problem.
Of course you could also just let him get to bishop for warp +1 and leave him there. It has the merit of being considerably more simple(one of the easiest builds in the game really, probably won't need one session of tutoring). I don't think 1 use of warp is all that remarkable an advantage, but it's your call. Note that if you recruit him, it'll already be too late to fix his speed and warp is pretty much all he'll have to his name; Linhardt is very much a bad recruit however(besides paralogue access), so I don't think his performance in a context where most people aren't going to use him matters much; as a Black Eagle he's also a main unit in two paths instead of one. Overall, I'll say Dark Knight.
Oh, and Holy Knight is pointless for him since he has no offensive Faith spells beyond Nosferatu, and it's only marginally easier to access.

Annette, Annette, Annette... she has two main builds. Dark Knight nuke(might want spd fixing), or Wyvern Lord with magic weapons and the odd brave axe kill.
Dark Knight is basic enough all in all, the main thing to note is that tier 2 is a bad time for her. Basically every other mage is better from level 10 to 20; she struggles to kill, doesn't get Physic, doesn't get 3-range. It's worth noting that it's all uphill from there however, as around level 20 she'll get Thyrsus/Caduceus access, Black tomefaire, Excalibur and Fiendish Blow pretty much all at once, which needless to say helps her performance considerably. Thanks to the accuracy/high use count of her spells and her crest's effect(and existence), she's arguably the most reliable and enduring long range nuke in the game. So, not a bad build at all.
Worth noting is that getting her Darting blow instead so that she can double with Excalibur, then staying in Warlock for +5 damage and x2 uses is also a valid, very strong build(that few others can pull off because their nuke spells have lower uses and/or higher weight/no x2 uses access, and they don't have her crest and/or darting blow access), at the cost of better mobility.
Basically what I'm saying is, pure mage Annette is mad underrated.

Then there's magic Wyvern Lord, and that one is tricky for two main reasons; attack speed, and battalions. Combined, those make it difficult for her to ORKO. Indeed, to my knowledge there are no flying battalions that provide a boost to MAtk, and without that on top of a slightly gimped Mag stat, her Atk with the Bolt axe will miss OHKO benchmarks a lot. AS on the other hand, while helped by WL's 20 +4 spd base, is then brought back down by the fact that the bolt axe weighs a massive 15. However, if she can double with the Bolt axe, she's pretty much golden. This means one thing and one thing only; this build focuses on AS first and foremost. That means raising lances and flying early to get her on a pegasus(you'll need both for WL anyway, and flying from lv 10 to 20 is never exactly a bad thing), but also swords for myrmidon and Spd +2, and even fighting against her armor weakness for weight -3. It is worth noting that since that build is probably not worth attempting on recruit! Annette, her Blue Lions exclusive relic the Crusher can be part of the equation, which at 11 weight and 18 Mt+ a +20 mt combat art, gives her a stronger 1 range option which few other characters can use as well(though it is a thing). On that note I don't think going full MAtk to OHKO with/without Dust is worth it, it can work but feels quite inflexible in comparison.
... and that's pretty much it really. If you do that she'll be a flier that can ORKO a majority of targets from 3 range, which is pretty valuable. One last thing to note is that Annette gets essentially a free +dmg adjutant in her route in the form of Gilbert, which can help with accuracy(he needs to fly though; wyvern rider is plenty and not too hard to get him into)
Out of the three, I think objectively WL is likely better, because of a more consistent performance throughout the game if nothing else.

As for Marianne, I don't... really know, actually. On paper she could pull off a magic Falcon Knight build very similar to Annette's, although the only magic lance is exclusive to a route that isn't hers, and arguably in high demand. She does get her own relic, which to her credit isn't route exclusive and is from a paralogue that is only tied to her, but it has a couple issues; neither Falcon Knight nor WL have swordfaire, meaning beyond the lack of damage, you'll likely want to run dual prowess to get the most out of her, which is never the best. It's also really not that strong on top of it. Doubling with it is feasible, but Marianne really doesn't want to take a counter every time she needs to kill something, either. 
Of course, you could also go mortal savant and use a conjunction of Levin Sword and Blutgang. Losing out on 2 move, canto, flight and a considerable amount of AS sucks, though.
Her spell list at least doesn't push her into bishop or gremory, and she's a perfectly serviceable Dark Knight; that being said, she has an easier time getting into Holy Knight, and does get Aura. Overall I'd still go DK over it because while there's not much of a difference between nuking with Aura or nuking with Fimbulvetr, at least it gives her a stronger baseline and better Thoron.
And finally as mentioned above, she's an easy +1 move dancer with Physic and can get some work done with Blutgang and the Levin sword if she ever needs to. So it's a good solution as well. Worth noting is that you don't need a strength in riding to get +1 move on a dancer; they have very little need for tutoring after all, thus if you focus completely on that skill it can still be obtained. She will, however, get it a few months earlier on average.

So basically, out of flier with mixed offense, DK and dancer... I'm not too sure, I guess I'll go DK.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Cysx

[Jayvee94]

The votes towards Holy Knight Marianne has me thinking.

Even if DK is optimal, majority may not feel that it's worth it. 😢

Either way, you still ride good ol' Dorte.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Jayvee94

[Flere210]

I just never find a good reason to get Marianne learn reason, because she has perfectly serviceable magic attacks in Lewyn sword, soulblade, and Blutbang. So it's Holy knight for me. I may try reason when i go to new+ GD,  but fimbulvetr does not excite me much.

Now that i think about it, MS whit blutbang may be a fun option.

Linhardt really suffer the lack of  "sage", so his options are somewhat limited. I would guess DK if you have Lysithea, Bishop if you don't. I haven't tried him yet, so i am not sire 

Annette as a mage is killed by her spell list. Getting A faith for the little might of Abraxas over Excalibut seem a waste. An axe build seems better because C axe is way easier than  A faith and unlock better classes. WL is likely the better end point, but there are way to get there. Taking exams for warrior or fortress knight for example would be helpful. 

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Flere210

[Shadow Mir]

22 minutes ago, Flere210 said:

I just never find a good reason to get Marianne learn reason

I do. Nosferatu sucks gigantic portions of ass.

[Flere210]

3 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I do. Nosferatu sucks gigantic portions of ass.

That's why i use lewyn sword 😎

[Shadow Mir]

1 minute ago, Flere210 said:

That's why i use lewyn sword 😎

Okay, but what about before you get the weapon rank for that...? And the fact that Levin Swords require Arcane Crystals to repair....???

[Jayvee94]

14 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

I do. Nosferatu sucks gigantic portions of ass.

Isn't that the purpose of Nosferatu?

To suck the life of your enemy's ass.

[Technoweirdo]

42 minutes ago, Flere210 said:

I just never find a good reason to get Marianne learn reason, because she has perfectly serviceable magic attacks in Lewyn sword, soulblade, and Blutbang. So it's Holy knight for me. I may try reason when i go to new+ GD,  but fimbulvetr does not excite me much.

Now that i think about it, MS whit blutbang may be a fun option.

Linhardt really suffer the lack of  "sage", so his options are somewhat limited. I would guess DK if you have Lysithea, Bishop if you don't. I haven't tried him yet, so i am not sire 

Annette as a mage is killed by her spell list. Getting A faith for the little might of Abraxas over Excalibut seem a waste. An axe build seems better because C axe is way easier than  A faith and unlock better classes. WL is likely the better end point, but there are way to get there. Taking exams for warrior or fortress knight for example would be helpful. 

 

Not sure I'd invest in Marianne's Reason up to A for Fimbulveltr either. Might not be a weakness, but it's not a strength either. Ditto for B+ and Dark Knight.
The awkwardness that is Bishop/Warlock requiring A in Faith/Reason and then you later needing A in Riding for Holy/Dark Knight puts another strain on timings.
Then you remember she also needs Lances, and everybody loves Authority...

D for Blizzard which is way lighter than Nosferatu, C for Thoron (basically a better Levin Sword+) and Mage classification for Fiendish Blow? That I'd consider.

8 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Okay, but what about before you get the weapon rank for that...? And the fact that Levin Swords require Arcane Crystals to repair....???

Arcane Crystals become purchaseable eventually. At Ch. 12 Lions, I seem to be doing fine with just the ones I find on the floor in the meantime.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Technoweirdo

[freewaffles]

Linhardt: He's okay as a Warlock, but his biggest appeal is Warp.  Bishop works better for that.  He also makes a decent dancer since he's a Physic/Warp user.

Annette: Magic Wyvern Lord is her best spot to be, but fortress Knight/Great Knight memes are fun too as she appreciates the weight reductions for Bolt Axe and Crusher.

Marianne: Aura is strong enough for Holy Knight, but you'll want Thoron and Fimbulvetr is good.  She's arguably the best dancer in the game though with Physic, Silence, and easier +1 Mov access from Riding.

Edited September 1, 2019 by freewaffles

[singularity]

2 hours ago, Jayvee94 said:

The votes towards Holy Knight Marianne has me thinking.

Even if DK is optimal, majority may not feel that it's worth it. 😢

Either way, you still ride good ol' Dorte.

She has easier access to Holy Knight, which is why people are inclined towards that instead.

54 minutes ago, Technoweirdo said:

Not sure I'd invest in Marianne's Reason up to A for Fimbulveltr either. Might not be a weakness, but it's not a strength either. Ditto for B+ and Dark Knight.
The awkwardness that is Bishop/Warlock requiring A in Faith/Reason and then you later needing A in Riding for Holy/Dark Knight puts another strain on timings.
Then you remember she also needs Lances, and everybody loves Authority...

D for Blizzard which is way lighter than Nosferatu, C for Thoron (basically a better Levin Sword+) and Mage classification for Fiendish Blow? That I'd consider.

Arcane Crystals become purchaseable eventually. At Ch. 12 Lions, I seem to be doing fine with just the ones I find on the floor in the meantime.

For her Reason, I’d probably invest at least until she reaches Thoron. The extra range is quite nice, especially before Arcane Crystals are widely available. And if you don’t mind taking chances, you can try classification with lower Reason ranking.

I personally won’t turn her into Dancer though. While she’s technically a viable option as one, she has much more to offer than to dance and I’d rather capitalize on those aspects instead.

Edited September 1, 2019 by singularity

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, Jayvee94 said:

Isn't that the purpose of Nosferatu?

To suck the life of your enemy's ass.

 

I meant that it's just terribad in this game. I mean, only 1 might and 8 weight??? Really???

Edited September 1, 2019 by Shadow Mir

[daisy jane]

I have in the following 4 paths made my Marianne - 
1: A Holy Knight. (meh). 
2: a Gremory. (VERY Awesome. by the time she got there, her res was so sky high, i just popped her in the middle of mages, and it was like good luck taking that one down).
3: A Mortal Savant (very fun seeing her be all Mortal Savanty)
4: A Dancer. 

I ALWAYS level up Marianne's magic in Reason because she's just so awesome with Blizzard/thunder/Thoron. she crits a lot w/it so i don't see the point of changing it. I also give her levin sword+ if she needs . this time as a dancer i didn't feel like i HAD to go into the Mercenary line for her strength/speed to go up and she didn't need vantage yet. 

I've been very tempted to make her a pegasus knight - for the same reason Ingrid is so good at it. she has such high res - being ona pegasus will make her faster, and so while she won't have the strength to OHKO units - her dex should trigger to have her crit people as much as she does as a magic class.  (though i personally am also not wanting to lose out on Silence. not like i have to unleash itall the time but still).

Linhardt - i have as a dark knight and it was worth it. just the mobility. (and basically means i'll probably do this for Lysithea too next time i play GD)

Annette... I made a Gremory... she was the weakest in my BL army, and i didn't miss her. 

[Flere210]

Nosferatu may weight 20 and have -5 might and still be useful.  Is basically a chip and a vulnerary in one action no matter what. And as long as you don't get doubled because of it, it increase your enemy phase durability, on byleth in particular.

It'snot something you want to use as a main combat weapon  but it's fine because when nosferatu is both strong and aviable, it became Bonkers(genealogy, awakening).

Edited September 1, 2019 by Flere210

[Shadow Mir]

7 minutes ago, Flere210 said:

Nosferatu may weight 20 and have -5 might and still be useful.  Is basically a chip and a vulnerary in one action no matter what. And as long as you don't get doubled because of it, it increase your enemy phase durability, on byleth in particular.

 It'snot something you want to use as a main combat weapon  but it's fine because when nosferatu is both strong and aviable, it became Bonkers(genealogy, awakening).

And yet I see people recommending leveling up Reason until you get your first black magic spell for healers. Including myself. Try to figure out why.

Well, this definitely ain't Genealogy (where doubling required a specific skill) or Awakening (where Nosferatu was buyable and pair up was broken).

Edited September 1, 2019 by Shadow Mir

[Dark Holy Elf]

4 hours ago, timon said:

That said I prefer Gremory because if you want some power with Annette you'll want to get A Faith for Abraxas, otherwise good luck killing anything before tomefaire.

I'm a bit confused by this comment. Black Tomefaire Excalibur (from either Warlock or Dark Knight) has more might than non-Tomefaire Abraxas, and is much lighter. Gremory is not the class you go to for killing power.

[Flere210]

Because it is not something you want to use as a main attack, it's something you want to use only sparingly. 

For example in BL final chapter the boss was targeting my mages every turn, so i was glad that i could nosferatu on some War master, freeing a Phisic use for a frontliner. Or in general i used it on Byleth to lure a bunch of enemies.

[ApocaLips]

I’m shocked by the amount of people picking holy knight. It does pretty much nothing for these characters (or anyone really, since there isn’t anyone interested in attacking with white magic). If you want it only for the horse, there are better options, especially since most casters will bag C reason early on for fiendish blow.

Lindhardt is perhaps the biggest victim to the gendered classes. He really wants gremory but IS wont let him put on the dress. That leaves him with a bunch of bad fits by default.

Dark Knight gives him a horse and helps out his offense, but his combat will still be mediocre thanks to bleh growths and a mediocre reason list. It’s also hard to qualify for if you’re trying to get faith up ASAP for warp.

Bishop is a legit option to crank up the healing on physic and give him another shot of warp. It has obvious issues with low move, but you usually warp allies pretty early in the map, and from then on really only need to keep up within physic range. 

Holy knight basically only provides a horse and abandons the benefits of bishop. It’s an option if you desperately want a horse (not sure why, his combat is pretty bad in this class, his only faith attacking spell is the mediocre nosferatu, and he otherwise only needs to stay within physic range which isn’t hard even when footlocker), but you should probably be looking to switch to dark knight at some point. There’s really no reason to invest further than A in faith, he has a strength in reason, and you’ve met the lance and riding requirements if you have this class anyway. You’ve also probably already gotten C reason for fiendish blow.

It’s for this reason that I think dancer is his best bet. He has a great faith spell list loaded with situationally useful spells.  Dancer lets him keep those to use when they come up and otherwise gives him something more productive to do than chip at stuff with Excalibur. 

For Marianne, I am surprised people are picking holy knight over gremory. She has a good reason list with two high-crit spells and thoron. Gremory gives her extra uses of fimbulvetr, thoron and physic, and gives a 5-magic boost compared to holy knight’s 1, which almost completely offsets white tomefaire. If I really want a horse, dark knight is the better bet thanks to boosting better spells than aura/nosferatu. Mortal savant is kind of an option if you want to use her relic or a Levin sword, but gremory is noticeably better imo, and MS will seriously hinder her speed  

Can’t speak to Annette, haven’t done BL yet and have never recruited her. 

 

 

Edit: I see a lot of discussion of Nosferatu. That spell is not great in this game, and even if it were, both Lindhardt and Marianne have bad defenses. That spell is not realistically going to keep either of them alive. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by ApocaLips

[Flere210]

Dark knight and gremory require both reason and faith, wich considering authority, riding if you go on DK and thing like that, mean that you are spread thin. Dumping reason entirely makes easier to access things like C armor or A+ riding. Also i am really liking the flexibility of magic weapons and arts. A lewyn sword will make any art phisical and Hexblade makes any sword magical. Those things can be mixed and matched a lot more than spell lists.

Holy knight is the cheapest way to provide an horse to an healer. Gremory on Marianne does not impress me because you lose movement in exchange for more spell uses that you will almost never need. It's a good option for people like Jojo or Lysithea, because they have multiple good spells with only 1 or 2 uses, but otherwise one of the magic knights is always better.

Bishop is a closer call for bigger healing vs more movement and i would call them almost equal depending on the character. 

[Cysx]

10 minutes ago, Flere210 said:

Dark knight and gremory require both reason and faith, wich considering authority, riding if you go on DK and thing like that, mean that you are spread thin. Dumping reason entirely makes easier to access things like C armor or A+ riding. Also i am really liking the flexibility of magic weapons and arts. A lewyn sword will make any art phisical and Hexblade makes any sword magical. Those things can be mixed and matched a lot more than spell lists.

Holy knight is the cheapest way to provide an horse to an healer. Gremory on Marianne does not impress me because you lose movement in exchange for more spell uses that you will almost never need. It's a good option for people like Jojo or Lysithea, because they have multiple good spells with only 1 or 2 uses, but otherwise one of the magic knights is always better.

Bishop is a closer call for bigger healing vs more movement and i would call them almost equal depending on the character. 

Marianne is not a top tier healer, her faith list is only okay. If her main utility in your team is physic, she's frankly not worth deploying, horse or not; and aura only has so many uses. As for magic sword usage without swordfaire and probably without doubling... idk, doesn't sound amazing.

[freewaffles]

22 minutes ago, Flere210 said:

Holy knight is the cheapest way to provide an horse to an healer. Gremory on Marianne does not impress me because you lose movement in exchange for more spell uses that you will almost never need. It's a good option for people like Jojo or Lysithea, because they have multiple good spells with only 1 or 2 uses, but otherwise one of the magic knights is always better.

Jojo?

Lysinthea makes sense as Gremory for not only those reasons, but also because she doesn't require Dark Tomefaire to 1HKO most enemies on Hard and gets zero benefit from being stuck in Warlock which is Black Magic only.  

Dorothea, the Mage least likely to reach Dark Knight on the other hand can get the double uses of Meteor and Black Tomefaire from Warlock.

The only real reason to use Holy Knight over Dark Knight is Silence and Terrain Immunity. You're taking her to C reason and C faith no matter what for Thoron and Physic. The question then becomes whether you want Aura, Silence, and Terrain Immunity or Cutting Gale and Fimbulvetr.  The two A spells are a wash, but Fimbulvetr is probably a little better.  Cutting Gale is mediocre, but Silence and Terrain Immunity are useful for a number of maps.

For those touting Blutgang, do you really want Maryanne in Melee range?  Give it to Byleth instead.  And if you are willing to, then she needs Swordfaire, so you might as well go Mortal Savant.

Edited September 1, 2019 by freewaffles

[Shadow Mir]

2 minutes ago, freewaffles said:

Jojo?

Lysinthea makes sense as Gremory for not only those reasons, but also because she doesn't require Dark Tomefaire to 1HKO most enemies on Hard and gets zero benefit from being stuck in Warlock which is Black Magic only.  

Dorothea, the Mage least likely to reach Dark Knight on the other hand can get the double uses of Meteor and Black Tomefaire from Warlock.

The only real reason to use Holy Knight over Dark Knight is Silence and Terrain Immunity. You're taking her to C reason and C faith no matter what for Thoron and Physic. The question then becomes whether you want Aura, Silence, and Terrain Immunity or Cutting Gale and Fimbulvetr.  The two A spells are a wash, but Fimbulvetr is probably a little better.  Cutting Gale is mediocre, but Silence and Terrain Immunity are useful for a number of maps.

For those touting Blutgang, do you really want Maryanne in Melee range?  Give it to Byleth instead.  And if you are willing to, then she needs Swordfaire, so you might as well go Mortal Savant.

Probably Dorothea. Her hat looks like the ones worn by certain Jojo characters.