Ranking Dawn Brigade characters in hard mode

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I will give my personal opinion about all units of part 1 with my ranking. After I have ranked them all, I put them together in a list. Since writing text walls requires some time, I will give a review for three characters per post.

Note: This applies to hard mode.

 

Micaiah

Spoiler

Micaiah is the lord. Of all Fire Emblem Lords she is the squishiest. Her HP and defense are terrible to get one shotted by axe, lance and bow users and her speed low enough to get doubled by physical enemies who cannot omeshot her. At least she can tank magic. Though if you keep her out any enemy attack ranges, she's a solifpd unit over all. She is the best chipper the DB has and Thani can oneshot all the Knight bosses aside of 1-7. She is also very reliable in 1-E despite having three authority Stars against her. Overall she is a great player phase, but does not want to face any physical enemies in enemy phase at all.

Rating: decent

 

Edward

Spoiler

I mentioned it before several times that Edward is the toughest one to rank in hard mode because his early level ups decide, if he will turn out great or bad. He needs the strength and speed early on to double constantly. And he needs a strength point in the prologue to finish a weaken fighter by Nolam off. His major issues are his bad affinity and that Zihark exists. On the other hand, if he has gained some decent level ups, he can turn into a serious powerhouse. If he doubles, he can deal massive damage to enemies (ORKO mages). Though his enemy phase is not much better than Micaiah's since he usually tends to get 2RKO'ed. A support with Leonardo might allow him two take two hits by non axe users. He needs a lot of experience in the early game, but in most of my runs it was paid out. Since his range of his outcome is huge, I would rank him in the same area as Micaiah.

Rating: decent

 

Leonardo 

Spoiler

Leonardo is in a class which is usually considered as rather bad in Fire Emblem, but takes a massive improvement in Radiant Dawn. Though this mainly applies to second and third tier. Leonardo's main Problem are his growths. His strength and speed are ≤40% which is pretty much disqualifies an archer because these are the Stats an archer needs. He is a far less chipper than Micaiah. He usually does one single digit damage to physical enemies and cannot ORKO mages who took a massive speed nerf. He has its uses in 1-6-1 and maybe in 1-5 with the iron long bow for some extra chip, but that's where his usefulness stops in part 1. Though I always use him simply because he can turn out decently once he has the Lughnasagh. He can have the speed to double tigers. But since I only take part 1's perfomance into account, Leonardo is one of the weaker once. 

Rating: poor

 

Nolan

Spoiler

Nolan is the tankiest first unit of the DB in early game. He can take two hits till 1-3. If he got some defense, he might also take two hits by tigers in 1-4. Regardless he's a great enemy phase unit; well balanced overall: high HP, good skill and speed and ok defense and resistance. His only weakness might be his strength growth, but as for (dodge)tanking it's absolutely forgivable. Refines can be made in 1-4, so speed penalty isn't that much of an issue for him. He will benefit from his earth affinity more in part 3 since it's rather unlikely to make a support with Volug till the end of part 1, but still a B support is really good. 

Rating: good

 

Laura

Spoiler

Some people will disagree with my opinion, but I don't find Laura particulary useful in any chapter, not everyone can be used. She's very helpful when she's forced, but honestly exchanging her for a further combat unit and vulneraries will not make things harder. Rather the opposite: it speed up things like 1-7 and especilally 1-8. Even in 1-E her appearance rather would be stepping stone due to her low movement and the fact that reinforcements can surround. Laura usually does not survive any enemy who can attack, so I rather would leave her alone to keep her safe for part 3 when she's needed. As for part 1 she's helpful when you can bring her, but never really essential.

Rating: mediocre

 

Sothe

Spoiler

Sothe is the biggest winner in hard mode because he does not only serveas meat shield, but he also cannot ORKO everyone, so he's perfect to prepare kills for the lower leveled DB units. His tankiness will suffer later on till he can get 2RKO'ed at worst in 1-E, but overall he's a fantastic player and enemy phase. Truly a lifesaver of the DB. Also his mobility is a big pro since he doesn't suffer from any movement penalties, helpful in 1-5.

Rating: fantastic

 

Ilyana

Spoiler

without transfers

Ilyana is a more powerful but less accurate Leonardo basically who can oneshot things with a crit though. She's fine in her debut chapters (can double two enemies at best), but after that she cannot do really much. If her HP and defense get stuck, she shares the same fate as Micaiah by getting oneshotted. If she gets speed constantly for some reason, she can double a bit like some cavaliers in 1-6-2. Though that's really all she can do. A good filler early on, but not needed at all once not everyone may be deployed. The worse she would even steal the experience since she leaves the DB and will join underleveled the Greil's Mercenaries.

Rating: mediocre

 

with transfers in magic and speed

Ilyana can ORKO the majority of the enemies in her debut chapters since the steel lance soldiers and fighters have 11 AS (Ilyana has 15). I think if she does not have a magic boost, she might not be able to ORKO the soldiers, so she could prepare kills. Nevertheless her player phase perfomance is much better. In 1-4 she can double the 10 AS tigers and a few cavaliers in 1-6-2. 

Rating: decent

 

Aran

Spoiler

Aran is also a character I'm not fond of in hard mode. He joins with respectable bases which allow him to take two physical hits. His growths are also really good overall (70% strength, skill, defense), but one important stat is missing: speed. His high defense won't bring him to anywhere once he gets doubled. 10 base speed is poor at this point when enemies have up to 13 in his debut chapter. With his 35% he needs a lot of levels to stay in a not getting doubled area. The biggest problem is that Aran has too many competitors who are simply better in hard mode (including Edward) than him and deserve more experience. If I consider the entire game for my rating, I would give him a lower rating than Leonardo simply because Leo does way better than Aran, but in part 1 he's "ok" in the chapters he can be brought.

Rating: mediocre

 

Meg

Spoiler

Meg has pretty good bases for her level, but they are not enough at the time she joins. Even some tigers will double, so ORKO her. If want to waste bexp. to give her a speed point, she can do a bit, pretty much the same as Aran would do. However Meg is no unit with high potential (unlike Fiona) since her growths don't match with her class and armors are still lackluster (despite they have been buffed im this game). She's fast, but Edward and Zihark are too and have a better strength than her. Since Fiona has two free useful skills and the best affinity in the game I consider Meg as the worst DB member. 

Rating: terrible

 

Volug

Spoiler

Volug fulfills a similar role as Sothe. He serves as a (better) wall and is excellent for preparing kills. Though he's not quite as awesome as Sothe since he has no two range attack and his perfomance will drop faster than Sothe's in part 1 since he'll fail doubling at the end of part 1.

Rating: great

 

Jill

Spoiler

without transfers

Not gonna lie, default Jill is really not great in hard mode. Her base defense is still good, but her HP doesn't cover it. Furthermore her strength is really poor for her base level. She needs the angelic robe, energy drop and draco shield to tank at least. Then however she still fails to double everything which is not a mage, knight or a cavalier. She needs speed levels quickly to become what she shall become: a machine 

Honestly I don't think she's too amazing because even by giving all possible status items she cannot oneround everyone. She can be fixed for part 3 for sure, and that's where Jill begins to become relevant.  

rating: decent

 

with transfers in strength, speed, defense

Of all characters in FE10 transfers matter the most on Nephenee and Jill. If she has a speed boost, she can double like everything aside of myrmidons. This makes her killing maching early on. It's very important for 1-6-1 to be able ORKOing all the javelin pegasus knights who can slow down the chapter a lot.

However she has a few issues which makes her not as amazing as Sothe. She's not available in 1-8 and has movement penality in 1-7 and 1-E. Though her mobility is extremly handy in 1-6 and canto still helps for 1-E. Jill shows her true potential in part 3 in which she's by far the best unit of the DB, if trained.

rating: great

 

Zihark

Spoiler

Zihark has great bases, adept and the best possible affinity, so he's amazing. However he's kinda squishy and he doesn't have enough playtime in part 1 to get enough support levels to become a dodgetank, especially not in 1-E. He can gets 2RKO'ed, so he's definitely not the first choice front unit in part 1. As for Jill he'll shine in part 3 once he has reached an A support with either Nolan or Volug.

rating: great

 

Tauroneo

Spoiler

Tauroneo is hard to rank. He's available for only two maps in which he can destroy everything. He's pretty much a meatshield unequipped or a panic button. He has a great skill which is waste on him. Honestly you want to try avoiding him because he only would steal kills, but if you're desperate, he'll help!

rating: decent

 

Fiona

Spoiler

I am one of those who usually trains in Fiona in hard because she has some good things speaking for her: class, caps, affinity, two free skills

Though she also has one major downside: her bases

Fiona joins with laughable eight strength and her base speed allows each phyiscal enemy to ORKO her. She's "ok" against mages. That be said 1-7 is not a bad chapter to give some levels to her since it's rather simple and it features some mages. However it's the only chapter in part 1 she can be really used since she's busted in 1-8 and doesn't benefit from her class in 1-E at all. Technically in each map of part 1 she can't make use of her movement. She needs a forged Lance and energy drop to deal a bit damage at least. I am like the last person who doesn't see Fiona's potential because she proved to be fantastic in lategame multiple times, but part 1 just ruins her in any regard. She's definitely not trash in part 3 and later on once she has a decent support rank with an earth unit, but in part 1 she's unusable without ressources.

Rating: terrible

 

Tormod

Spoiler

Tormod is another very solid prepromoted unit. He has a similar bulk as Zihark and can also ORKO most of the enemies in the chapter he joins. In 1-8 he begins a bit to struggle since he cannot double all the fast brigands, but transformed Muarim can help out. In 1-E his base is good enough to double the majority of the enemies who have 16 speed in average. Though his accuracy is shaky so she should get a forged fire tome for this map. His survivability is similar as Zihark. Overall he's not quite as great as Zihark for having less availibility. Celerity automatically goes to Rafiel.

rating: good

 

Muarim

Spoiler

Transformed Muarim destroys everything which comes in his way. Even untransformed he can tank physical enemies a bit, but he'll get doubled. His issue is that he has no access to a Laguz stone in part 1. With the buyable olivi grass in 1-8 he needs at least two turns to fulfill his gauge unless he gets attacked by an enemy from range. In 1-8 it's not that much of a problem, but in 1-E you want to have him be ready at once to make fast progress. He kinda fulfills the same role as Tauroneo for being a panic button in 1-7, but in 1-8 he's definitely needed to take out the brigands since Tormod can't do it on his own. 

rating: good

 

Vika

Spoiler

Vika has one good chapter, her debut one. In this one she can even ORKO enemies. But already in 1-8 she'll become less and less useful. Unlike Muarim she has no enemy phase untransformed. She has basically two turns she does practically nothing. And even transformed she can only do things against the mages. She mainly exists to shove Tormod to the swamp in the first turn to let him detract the most annoying enemy in the chapter, the draco knight. I never brought her to 1-E, but seriously there are better choices than her. Either the meat shields like Nailah and BK, or the Dawn Brigade who needs all the experience. Seriously she has only good chapter, then her usefulness stops at once.

rating: mediocre

 

Nailah

Spoiler

Nailah is a truly a beast. She can solo, if she has two. Seriously despite stealing experience, she's godlike in 1-8 and 1-E thanks to her nine movement. Especially in latter she is handy to catch the reinforcement thieves. Even untransformed she still handle the enemies very well. Either she can weaken them to give the kills to weaker units or even ORKO them like knights or 15 AS enemies. Despite being available in only two chapters, Nailah is phenomenal in these.

rating: fantastic

 

Rafiel

Spoiler

Rafiel can refresh four units in any time - enough said! Of course he must not see enemy phase, but if you keep him alive, he's godly. He makes the part 1 chapters a lot more bearable, if he has the celerity skill.

rating: fantastic

 

Black Knight

Spoiler

He protects Micaiah in 1-9 and has a similar function as Nailah in 1-E as serving as meatshield or getting rid of nasty enemies. His mobility is by far worse, but in return he can counterattack from range, so I don't see much of a reason to rate him lower than Nailah since both have the exact same availibility in part 1.

rating: fantastic

 

Ranking list

Spoiler

fantastic

• Sothe
• Rafiel
• Nailah
• Black Knight

great

• Jill (with transfers)
• Volug
• Zihark (with or without transfers)

good

• Nolan
• Muarim
• Tormod

decent

• Tauroneo
• Jill (without tansfers)
• Micaiah
• Edward
• Ilyana (with transfers)

mediocre

• Laura
• Aran
• Vika
• Ilyana (without transfers)

poor

• Leonardo

terrible

• Fiona
• Meg

Edit: In progress

Edited May 5, 2020 by Falcom Knight

[eclipse]

This might work better if your first post was an overall tier list, and your subsequent ones are the logic behind them.  Or, you can put the entire list unspoilered, then go into detail in spoilers.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Alright, I will make a list later today and add all reviews in my OP. This would save this thread from tons of posts.

[Classic]

So is this a thing you're planning on doing for all parts or just part 1? Don't think I've seen a lot of people rate units for each part individually (maybe I just don't know where to look though), but it seems like a nice idea for RD.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I dunno yet.

I thought about only doing part 1 (yet) since it's the most interesting part regarding difficulty in this game.

If I rated part 3, I would have to seperate in three groups, and also have to take re-recruitments into account.

Edit: I will take @eclipse 's suggestionand add the Dawn Brigade chapters of part 3. Since my original plan was to make a tierlist about part 1, I will do three lists: 

• Part 1
• Part 3 (only Dawn Brigade chapters)
• Overall (the first two lists combined)

Will finish the ratings of all characters in part 1 first till I will start rating part 3.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Falcom Knight

[eclipse]

Perhaps you can include the DB part 3 chapters in your rating?  Because tigers suck like that.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Ranked all units's part 1 perfomance.

 

my tierlist (without transfer boosts)

 

my tierlist (with transfer boosts on Ilyana, Zihark, Jill)

 

Next step will to rank part 3 performance.

[Benice]

Eyy in part three my bois Aran and Laura are actually good!

Well, I hope Aran is considered good. I know Laura is.It'll be interseting to see my noob opinions balanced against someone who is actually gold at FE's

Also, in y'alls opinion, who is the best Soldier/Halberdier/Sentinel in the game? I personally think that Nephenee is really bad, Danved is good but joins too late to be really of use and Aran is the most likely to be close to the right level; maybe I'm just weird.

[Dandy Druid]

I pretty much agree with this list. I would put Ilyana over Vika in the without transfer list because Ilyana has better availability and can do effective damage against armor units. Vika's most useful thing to do is save civilians in a swamp.

12 hours ago, Benice said:

Eyy in part three my bois Aran and Laura are actually good!

Well, I hope Aran is considered good. I know Laura is.It'll be interseting to see my noob opinions balanced against someone who is actually gold at FE's

Also, in y'alls opinion, who is the best Soldier/Halberdier/Sentinel in the game? I personally think that Nephenee is really bad, Danved is good but joins too late to be really of use and Aran is the most likely to be close to the right level; maybe I'm just weird.

Tbh it's really difficult to gauge who's the best Sentinel in the game because Nephenee's fanbase is much larger than her contemporaries. It's hard for me to say since my personal experience isn't necessarily reflective of the RD meta.

However, I am tempted to say Nephenee as well since Aran's availability takes a hit after Part 1 and is difficult for him to catch up if he's not properly leveled. Nephenee's availability is better. Danved has the worst availability imo. Aran can reach great heights though if he's used properly.

But to be brutally honest, the Sentinel is only an ok class. The lance wielders that would be strongest in end-game would probably be Geoffrey, Jill, or some other mounted unit (Oscar?). 

That's just my personal experience though.

[whase]

6 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

The lance wielders that would be strongest in end-game would probably be Geoffrey, Jill, or some other mounted unit (Oscar?). 

I always found the lower caps hold back mounted units. Especially cavaliers are pretty bad when we get to endgame.

Preference between Nephenee and Aran is avoid vs defence, I guess. Nephenee has a bit of a shaky start until her avoid kicks in (by giving her a lighter lance), while Aran can start tanking hits from the moment he arrives. Nephenee becomes a goddess when you factor in availability and PoR transfers though.

I'm more curious about part 2 units ranked for just part 2. I'd guess Haar will be top tier, but I wonder how Marcia will rank.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

21 hours ago, Benice said:

Eyy in part three my bois Aran and Laura are actually good!

Laura is good in part 3 for sure.

8 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

I pretty much agree with this list. I would put Ilyana over Vika in the without transfer list because Ilyana has better availability and can do effective damage against armor units. Vika's most useful thing to do is save civilians in a swamp.

What do you mean with that?

Armor knights have a decent resistance - not great - in this game and Ilyana and thunder aren't particullary strong.

Untransformed Vika can't rescue civilian iirc. That means she needs two turns for using an olivi grass to become "useful". 

If you play this chapter right - with Tormod and Sothe - none of the villagers can't be killed. 

 

Quote

Tbh it's really difficult to gauge who's the best Sentinel in the game because Nephenee's fanbase is much larger than her contemporaries. It's hard for me to say since my personal experience isn't necessarily reflective of the RD meta.

However, I am tempted to say Nephenee as well since Aran's availability takes a hit after Part 1 and is difficult for him to catch up if he's not properly leveled. Nephenee's availability is better. Danved has the worst availability imo. Aran can reach great heights though if he's used properly.

But to be brutally honest, the Sentinel is only an ok class. The lance wielders that would be strongest in end-game would probably be Geoffrey, Jill, or some other mounted unit (Oscar?). 

Female sentinels have an advantage in the endgame because they can double Deghinsea and the auras, but that's a really minor advantage.

Nephenee is simply the easiest one to raise because she benefits from Ike's authority stars.

If she was part of the DB, she would be technically Edward with a lance who can kill herself with her wrath.

That said sentinels are outclassed by Seraph Knights.

 

2 hours ago, whase said:

I'm more curious about part 2 units ranked for just part 2. I'd guess Haar will be top tier, but I wonder how Marcia will rank.

Marcia with strength and speed transfer would be high tier for sure.

[Benice]

16 minutes ago, Falcom Knight said:

Nephenee is simply the easiest one to raise because she benefits from Ike's authority stars.

Doesn't she only et to benefit from said stars in part 4? I found her to be way too squishy to raise in part 2, and I couldn't BEXP dump into her anyways. Brom was a lifesaver, but maybe it's different on hard mode. I find at base, even though he's not amazing, Aran is easier to use and is unlikely to die in the first turn he spawns unless you put him into the boss's range. And you can BEXP dump into him.

Also, am I the only person who thinks Laura is better than Micaiah combat-wise once she promotes? She's basically the same but with insane speed. (And I got lucky when I BEXP'd her to saint with 8 levels that she gained defense as one of the BEXP stats, so she had a def of 26 or so by the end of 4-2.)

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

12 minutes ago, Benice said:

Doesn't she only et to benefit from said stars in part 4? I found her to be way too squishy to raise in part 2, and I couldn't BEXP dump into her anyways. Brom was a lifesaver, but maybe it's different on hard mode. I find at base, even though he's not amazing, Aran is easier to use and is unlikely to die in the first turn he spawns unless you put him into the boss's range. And you can BEXP dump into him.

Also, am I the only person who thinks Laura is better than Micaiah combat-wise once she promotes? She's basically the same but with insane speed. (And I got lucky when I BEXP'd her to saint with 8 levels that she gained defense as one of the BEXP stats, so she had a def of 26 or so by the end of 4-2.)

Nephenee only does not benefit from authority stars in 2-1.

In all others she does (Lucia in 2-2, Elincia in 2-F, Ike in part 3)

[Dandy Druid]

5 hours ago, whase said:

I always found the lower caps hold back mounted units. Especially cavaliers are pretty bad when we get to endgame.

Preference between Nephenee and Aran is avoid vs defence, I guess. Nephenee has a bit of a shaky start until her avoid kicks in (by giving her a lighter lance), while Aran can start tanking hits from the moment he arrives. Nephenee becomes a goddess when you factor in availability and PoR transfers though.

I'm more curious about part 2 units ranked for just part 2. I'd guess Haar will be top tier, but I wonder how Marcia will rank.

I don't think the caps hurt the mounted units too badly. I forgot about the seraph knights and Marcia is also a good lance user. Sentinels do have their perks though and it doesn't hurt to bring along one.

3 hours ago, Falcom Knight said:

What do you mean with that?

Armor knights have a decent resistance - not great - in this game and Ilyana and thunder aren't particullary strong.

Untransformed Vika can't rescue civilian iirc. That means she needs two turns for using an olivi grass to become "useful". 

If you play this chapter right - with Tormod and Sothe - none of the villagers can't be killed. 

 

Female sentinels have an advantage in the endgame because they can double Deghinsea and the auras, but that's a really minor advantage.

Nephenee is simply the easiest one to raise because she benefits from Ike's authority stars.

If she was part of the DB, she would be technically Edward with a lance who can kill herself with her wrath.

That said sentinels are outclassed by Seraph Knights.

 

Marcia with strength and speed transfer would be high tier for sure.

I forgot enemies actually have resistance in this game, even armor knights. That being said, Ilyana can still do more damage than Vika and has a better chance of getting a critical hit (if she can manage to hit). Vika will always struggle to do damage, and she can rescue only when she's transformed. Hence, I think Ilyana should be placed higher than Vika on your Part 1 tier list without transfer bonuses. Ilyana can contribute more than Vika can.

A minor advantage is just enough to edge her over Aran if they were neck-and-neck.

[Wishblade]

On 3/12/2020 at 2:41 AM, Benice said:

Also, in y'alls opinion, who is the best Soldier/Halberdier/Sentinel in the game? I personally think that Nephenee is really bad, Danved is good but joins too late to be really of use and Aran is the most likely to be close to the right level; maybe I'm just weird.

Nephenee.

23 hours ago, whase said:

Preference between Nephenee and Aran is avoid vs defence, I guess. Nephenee has a bit of a shaky start until her avoid kicks in (by giving her a lighter lance), while Aran can start tanking hits from the moment he arrives. Nephenee becomes a goddess when you factor in availability and PoR transfers though.

For me it’s speed and resistence that matter. Aran has godly defense, but he gets destroyed by mages if he doesn’t get good res (and speed) growth.

Aran’s low res takes a toll on his performance in 1-E.

21 hours ago, Falcom Knight said:

That said sentinels are outclassed by Seraph Knights.

I’m not sure. First time I went into 4-E, I picked Nephenee and Tanith, and the latter got deleted by Ashera’s judgement. It could be that I didn’t invest much into Tanith, but she was still the squishiest unit along with my untrained Kurthnaga (who also got deleted).

Edited March 13, 2020 by Wishblade

[Shadow Mir]

3 hours ago, Wishblade said:

For me it’s speed and resistence that matter. Aran has godly defense, but he gets destroyed by mages if he doesn’t get good res (and speed) growth.

Aran’s low res takes a toll on his performance in 1-E.

Are mages even that common? I mean, sure, everything in the last two parts of endgame attacks resistance, but besides that, I'm sure mages are a minority of enemy units as usual.

[Benice]

I maintain that Nephenee is really bad, even compared to Aran. Her base stats get her killed really easily at a time where you won't be getting any competent units at all aside from Brom. Aran is really needed in part 3 I find, whereas Nephenee is dead weight in part 2. Plus, Aran will always be the only Halberdier to ORKO Ike. I think it's more of a personal preference thing between the Halberdiers, though.

[Wishblade]

11 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

Are mages even that common? I mean, sure, everything in the last two parts of endgame attacks resistance, but besides that, I'm sure mages are a minority of enemy units as usual.

Well, you can certainly use Aran happily in part 3, maybe even make him a Sentinel. But his low res can be what stops me from taking him into 4-E. EXP is quite scarce on hard mode and it takes quite some BEXP along with dedication to fix his weaknesses, considering that he is unlikely to get 20 res even if he go through all 60 levels naturally.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Wishblade

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I put Aran above Vika and NT Ilyana (-> OP post) because he can have some uses with a forged lance.

Beorc enemies start to double him in 1-5, mainly in 1-6-1. 

He has two maps time to gain at least one speed point to prevent it.

But then again it's easier to feed experience to Noland and Edward than to him, so he tends to fall behind.

[Benice]

8 hours ago, Falcom Knight said:

 

But then again it's easier to feed experience to Noland and Edward than to him, so he tends to fall behind.

Looking at their growths now, I realize that they're actually pretty good, they just got RNG screwed hard in my game. I knew Nolan was since he gained a total of six stats over eight levels, but in 13 Edward gained one point of strength and no def or res. Huh. I should probably play RD again just to see what they can do without Yune cursing them.

Then again, Aran breaking 33 speed as a lv. 1 Sentinel is pretty dang good.

[SSbardock84]

This is a really good list tbh. I think some characters can shift a bit given the way you play. But generally I agree. Micaiah may shift down to mediocre though. In my experience in Hard Mode she's pretty much done for if she gets attacked by most units. 

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Ranking Dawn Brigade characters in part 3

Micaiah

Spoiler

At part 3 Micaiah has instantly access to staves including physic. Staff users are absolutely essential for this part because enemies hit like trucks. With the instant access to physic and her high magic she can reach everyone unlike Laura. This makes her an absolutely lifesaver. Also she's a very good chipper. Her enemy phase utility hasn't changed at all, but it doesn't matter at all. 3-6 has no enemies with range weapons, in 3-11 you have enough NPCs who can protect her and in 3-13 she's out of any combat range.

great

 

Edward

Spoiler

Edward's weakest part for sure. He has not the build to take multiple hits and not the evasion - unlike Zihark - to work as a dodgetank. Caladbold is just a bad personal weapon. His only usage is to attack with range swords, and they are not really accurate. The most efficient way of using him in 3-6 is to bring him to wrath area and attack with wind edge / storm sword till the rest of the chapter. He can land the one or other free crit kill. In 3-12 he's really bad unlike he has really good defense which allows him to take several hits. In 3-13 he has the same usage as in 3-6 by using range swords on a ledge. Though by having accuracy boost on the ledge he does better here. Edward's uses are limited, so it doesn't make him a really good unit for this part unfortunately

mediocre

 

Leonardo

Spoiler

Leonardo is the only real range weapon user of the DB in part 3 since Micaiah is mainly busy with healing. If you trained Leo in part, he can be really decently in part 3. If he should have 15 speed - what's not impossible - he can even double most tigers with his Lughnasadh. Beastfoe is really good on him to have some free kills. In 3-12 he can oneshot the falcon knights. His enemy phase is the same as Micaiah's unless he has the Lugnasadh equipped which allows him not to get doubled eventually. In each chapter of part 3 he has his uses, and even if he wasn't trained, he's still good for chipping.

decent

 

Nolan

Spoiler

Nolan's evasion becomes handy for this part. Since tigers 1-2RKO everyone of the DB aside of Volug, Nolan's evasion is extremly important. He needs a B support with either Zihark or Volug to dodge quite a bit. He would be a great user of resolve since one tiger will bring him down to <50% HP. Other good combination would be vantage, beastfoe and crossbow to oneshot the Laguz. Tarvos gives defense boost which might allow him to let him take two hits if he used an angelic robe. Though he also needs +40 HP and 16 defense (+4 of Tarvos) to take two hits by the tigers. Nolan is a really good enemy phase unit in all chapters of part 3.

good

 

Sothe

Spoiler

Sothe has the biggest drop of all DB characters simply because he's no enemy phase unit anymore. As the others he can't take two hits by the tigers. He could serve as a dodgetank, but this requires resolve and breaking his default support with Micaiah and establishing a support in earth (Volug would be the best option). With this combination he can safely wreck the Laguz in enemy phase. I never used this strategy, but I'm certain it's the most efficient one. Otherwise he has to equip weaker weapons not to ORKO enemies with a crit and taking the risk to get attacked by more than one enemy. Honestly now that I think about, it's not even dumb to break Micaiah's support since he can't have it in 3-13. In 3-12 he doesn't really exist and as said in 3-13 he's terrible because he has no support boost and fights enemies which benefit from authority stars. He has used in 3-6, but after then... not.

mediocre

 

On 5/4/2020 at 9:02 PM, SSbardock84 said:

This is a really good list tbh. I think some characters can shift a bit given the way you play. But generally I agree. Micaiah may shift down to mediocre though. In my experience in Hard Mode she's pretty much done for if she gets attacked by most units. 

She only has to fear of archers. You usually don't want to place her on the front line. After all she's the best - at least most accurate - range weapon user of the DB in part 1.

 

Laura

Spoiler

Laura is much more useful in part 3 because first she can be brought, second she doesn't need to fear of range weapons in 3-6 and third healers are super important. In 3-12 and 3-13 she has to be cared of against fliers, but as healer she does her job very well.

good

 

Aran

Spoiler

If Aran has at least 15 speed he would be fine not to get ORKO'ed by a Laguz. But his major problem is that he does not get a special weapon in part 3, so he's stuck with forged lances at best. He can serve as a semi tank, but his HP and defense will not be enough to take two hits by a tiger. Again he has no real potential unlike Nolan

poor

 

Volug

Spoiler

Transformed Volug is the only one who can take two hits by a tiger instantly and double everything. His only issue is that he needs a few turns till the transformation, but once he's transformed he's an amazing (dodge)tank. And even for a Laguz he gets decent experience, so he can get a few levels although his growths aren't the best. Still Volug is a lifesaver overall in hard mode at least.

great

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Falcom Knight

[Kaidouken]

     Has anyone here used Meg and Fiona together before? I'd rank them a little higher just due to their support bonus (+30 avoid), additional skills, and decent growths. If you're abusing your BEXP and natural level ups (from trashing your weapons on bosses) then Fiona and Meg end up being pretty solid. I used them in endgame and I had to be careful not to give Meg anymore kills cause she capped on like everything and had *a really strong sword*. I feel like I missed something here. Are we limiting the rankings to just Part 1 playthrough? No right? By endgame I only really find Nolan and Meg to be worth the trouble since they max out with decent strength and can take a few hits, but Meg is better with Fiona tagging along so its good to bring her along if you've got the room. If you're set on having an extra healer then Ive seen Laura max her stats out better than the other SS staff users. Other than that I trash everyone else. You can use Nailah in endgame too of course. Micaiah and Sothe manage in Endgame. They just aren't very beefy in term of defense.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Kaidouken
Potential spoiler

[Vicious Sal]

On 5/13/2020 at 9:26 AM, Kaidouken said:

     Has anyone here used Meg and Fiona together before? I'd rank them a little higher just due to their support bonus (+30 avoid), additional skills, and decent growths. If you're abusing your BEXP and natural level ups (from trashing your weapons on bosses) then Fiona and Meg end up being pretty solid. I used them in endgame and I had to be careful not to give Meg anymore kills cause she capped on like everything and had *a really strong sword*. I feel like I missed something here. Are we limiting the rankings to just Part 1 playthrough? No right? By endgame I only really find Nolan and Meg to be worth the trouble since they max out with decent strength and can take a few hits, but Meg is better with Fiona tagging along so its good to bring her along if you've got the room. If you're set on having an extra healer then Ive seen Laura max her stats out better than the other SS staff users. Other than that I trash everyone else. You can use Nailah in endgame too of course. Micaiah and Sothe manage in Endgame. They just aren't very beefy in term of defense.

This answers your question. If I save stae for good level ups and boss abuse, they become good. 

But if I do this with Zihark and Jill, they become even better. Taking 100+ turns to grind out levels isn't a useful metric to judge by. if you grind levels everyone becomes a god. And without this, meg and Fiona perform poorly to put it mildly. 

 

 

Other than that, you can't really judge units by how they turned out for you. It's why we use average stats instead of personal experience. My edward level 0 str in my latest playthrough for 10 levels straight. Horrible unit. Does that mean he is worse than Fiona? No. Because on average, Edward gets 6 str for every 10 levels. So mine was just RNg screwed. That doesn't provide a statistically reliable metric. 

 

So no, Meg and Fiona are just bad in every sense of the word, used together, alone, with other units. 

 

Meg and FIona need grinding to become at least decent. Zihark, Jill and other units either start out decent/great or become decent with less investment. So ranking the characters pretty much comes down to "how much effort do i need to put in to get a desirable result" The less you need to put in and the more you get out of it makes characters good. If you need to put in a lot for a tiny result, it's a worse ranking on a tier list.