Rate the Unit-Three Houses, Day 11: Felix

[Punished Dayni]

Because Benice has taken a fair while, I'll go and get this thread set up:

Rules

- Ratings are assumed to be on Hard or Maddening Mode. Also, they should be based on when the unit is first available. (When rating a unit, please specify whether you are rating assuming Hard or Maddening.)

- Votes need some explanation regarding their gameplay performance to be counted (unless they fall into the general parameters of the average rating, but reasoning is still strongly encouraged on those even if you just wanna quote people) — incredibly low scores or high scores without proper justification will not be counted. Don't put in some random text thinking it'd count as justification. Put in at least a little thought and give REAL reasoning.

- Numbers for votes, please - not something like "Marcus/10", etc. Proper Justification will be determined by me and whoever decides to help.

+/- ≤1 point extra regarding personality/appearance is okay, but no more.

- Votes out of 10, or something proportional to it. Makes it easy to calculate, please and thank you~!

-The rating you give to a unit assumes a good build for said unit-nothing among the lines of, "Dedue is 2/10 because he's a bad mage."

-The ranking assumes no grinding of any form, no DLC and minor, (one or two stat boosters per month) use of the Greenhouse.

- Make votes easily visible, please! "[Explanation text]: So, overall, I think X unit is a 7.5/10, with a +1 bias included for being hawt/cute/funny/etc.."

- Every ranking phase ends approximately at 20:00 PST. Do the math for your timezone, please!

-We will ask you to not use the "Not X unit" reason. Because it will be used a lot. I.E, do not say "Linhardt bad because not Lysithea."

-The Black Eagles may be assessed based on their performances in either Silver Snow or Crimson Flower, other than when not applicable.

 

Scores:

Dimtri: 9.14

Edelgard: 9.00

Petra: 8.34

Ferdinand: 7.78

Bernadetta: 7.125

Linhardt: 7.11

Dorothea: 6.375

Dedue: 5.8571

Hubert: 5.525

Caspar: 4.32

 

Average score for Black Eagles: 6.94

Average score for Blue lions: 7.48

 

 

Day 11: Felix

[LoneStar]

Hey it's the guy. Well Felix is a really strong character, you better cower in fear if he's an arena opponent. He has strengths in Bow so he can get Hit+20 from Archer with ease or even become a Sniper/Bow Knight. His strength in Brawl lets you get more weapon ranks for when you are getting Death Blow from Brigand, then he becomes a great Grappler/Warmaster. He can consistently one round things, and with his Major Crest he has a 40% chance of doing +5 damage on his regular attacks, which happens quite often when combined with Gauntlets. Swordmaster or Assassin can be decent options for dodge tanking especially when pair with Sword Avoid from Dancer. He doesn't have strengths in any of the things Wyvern needs, so he'll need a little more attention to get there, but its a strong class and he's a strong unit regardless.

For combat arts the one that stands out the most is Nimble Combo, which gives you more damage and crit rate if the regular gauntlet attacks won't kill, and if you don't want to RNG with his crest even though it seems that thing activates all of the time. The rest of them are whatever, maybe Heavy Draw is useful for good chip so that another unit can get the kill.

He gets an extra support bonus (more might) from two characters so that improves both his and their offensive capabilities. Early on in the game he has an even high damage output because of his personal skill that makes him do more +5 damage if he doesn't have a battalion, and that is a great trade of since you don't get battalions that give a similar bonus until after Gronder part 1 IIRC. He has a flaw in authority so it takes longer for him to get B rank for those personal battalions, even his own that gives +20 crit. However, the lords have strong battalions that are only C rank so he can make use of those. Even in house with Dimitri, Blue Lion Knights gives similar boost to King of Lion Corps, so Felix can take Dimitri's battalion if you want him to really destroy stuff.

He is a little frail, but you can get the Aegis Shield from his paralogue. Due to his pretty high strength growth (55%), and because swords and gauntlets are light, he can get +6 Def/Res without too much detriment. His speed is pretty good too (55% growth) so offensively he will double often and defensively he won't get doubled often. From the DLC, War Monk can give him Brawl Avoid, but getting the Faith ranks is a little annoying if you want to focus on getting into War Master. Another miscellaneous benefit is that he requires B rank in swords to recruit. Sword being your avatar's primary weapon he becomes fairly easy to obtain out of house.

My rating: 9.5/10. A very solid offensive unit that can get the job done even without a lot of investment.

[L3xandr3]

Good ol’ reliable Felix. The second best in the Blue Lions.

     Skill Levels:      A Booned D in Swords is passable. E+ and a Boon in Bows and Brawling is Ok. He has no problems for Axes, which is good, but it’ll take a bit for him to get to Death Blow or Wrath. His Budding Talent in Reason is nearly irrelevant, unless you’ve lucked out of Felix’s Magic Leveling.

     Abilities:     He gets Battalion Vantage at C. Unfortunately, Felix doesn’t get Battalion Wrath, so no Vantage Crit build here.

     Arts:     For Sword Arts, Felix gets Sunder at C+ and Finesse Blade at A. Sunder is of limited use on Maddening, given that even Felix will double most things aside from Assassins with their absurd speed and Swordmasters with their QR. Finesse Blade is of similar usage given that Felix has a decent Dexterity. His only Bow Art, Heavy Draw at C+, is decent for use against Fliers. As for Brawling Arts, at C+ he gets Nimble Combo, which (along with Bombard) is the best Gauntlet Art. He also gets Mystic Blow, but that’s nearly useless.

     Stats:     10+55% Strength and 9+55% Speed. In terms of Offensive stats, Felix easily hold his all against the likes of Edelgard and Dimitri. 6+45% Dexterity and 26+45% HP is decent enough. Past that though… 5+30% Defense and 3+20% Resistance is pretty bad, but the Aegis helps and most other characters in this game are comparable in terms of tanking. 5+35% Magic is why his Budding Talent and Mystic Blow are so overlooked. 5+30% Charm also means he’s very vulnerable to Gambits.

     Classes:     Beginner- Myrmidon for Speed +2 or Fighter for Strength +2 (Felix should be fighting, not Repositioning)

Intermediate- Thief or Brawler for the +10% Dexterity and Speed and Brigand for Death Blow

Advanced- Swordmaster, Assassin, or Grappler for the Growths or Warrior for Wrath

Master- War Master. Or if you wasted the time and resources, Mortal Savant. And yes I consider it a waste of resources to get his Reason to B+.

          The Verdict

Easily one of the stronger characters in the Blue Lions. Not as good as Dimitri, but still very strong none the less. The strategy I’d advocate is using him as your Dancer or putting him in War Monk for Brawling Avoid +20, so he can Dodge-tank with ease. Combine this with the Aegis and he is a Dodge Tank, Actual Tank, and potent Damage Dealer. All considered, I rate Felix 9/10

Edited October 20, 2020 by L3xandr3
Forgot Brawling Avoid +20

[Barren]

Now we get to the lone wolf himself Felix. Also yes that's the name of his personal ability but we'll get to that. Felix looks to be built like your typical Myrmidon character like Dedue is your typical armored knight. He seems promising so what does he bring to the table? Let's dive right in. This is assuming Hard mode

Felix is actually has a pretty interesting start in the blue lions route. His attack is on par with the other lords like Dimitri and Edelgard at first glance. He starts with 10 strength with a 55% growth. 9 speed with a 55% growth. HP and 6 are both 26 and 6 respectively with both rocking a 45% growth. That doesn't sound that bad at all. Then on the flip side, he has low magic and defense both at a 30% growth. Both of them have a stat of 5. His luck, res and charm stat are nothing to be amazed with either since they are also pretty low. What makes his damage damage output on par early on is his personal ability Lone Wolf. Which means he gains an attack boost of 5 when not equipped with a battalion or if it's endurance is reduced to 0. He also bares the major crest of Fraldarius. The crest grants him a 40% chance of boosting weapon might by five during normal weapon attacks. The crest of Fraldarius adds to Felix’s already high damage output and has great synergy with brave weapons and gauntlets as Felix's crest has an 87% chance of procing at least once in a string of four attacks. The combination of all these factors make Felix dominant in the early game and thanks to his excellent growths in both strength and speed he will maintain his lead throughout the game. Now of course if you decide to work on his Authority which is one of his banes throughout the game, you'll eventually want to equip him with a better battalion as they tend to offer him better stat buffs all around.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that his paralogue battle contains a Aegis Shield which is obtained when you save all the villagers. It offers a nice 6 protection and since he bares the crest of Fraldarius he can get Aegis + Pavise as well.

His other boons include Swords, Bows and Gauntlets. As mentioned above he has a bane in Reason magic and Authority. But he has a budding talent in Reason magic which unlocks Black Magic Critical + 10. That would in theory sound nice for his only two spells: Thunder and Thoron. Fun fact: Him and Dimitri share the same reason spell list. In all honestly not a lot of people tend to make him a Mortal Savant mainly because of his sudden drop in speed growth. I'll get to that in a bit. He starts with D rank in swords and the Wrath Strike combat art. That can actually help his damage output in addition to lone wolf early on for cleaning up weakened enemies if feeding him kills. He also gets E+ and bows and brawling so it should be easy for him to get Curved Shot and Fading Blow respectively. As far as class paths go there a couple he can do but are nice for him. The Myrmidon class will help out his speed growth and gain Speed +2. While fighter increases his physical strength and gain Strength +2. This ultimately depends on what aspect of his talents you're more interested in.

We'll get to sword class options out of the way first. He gains Sunder which adds more crit and Finesse Blade which does more damage based on his dex. From Myrmidon he can go Mercenary or Thief. Mercenary if you like the Vantage ability, or Thief if you want the Steal ability which actually considering his speed stat could be feasible. For example, in chapter 7 both the opposing lords carry evasion ring, if you're able to weaken them or lower their speed assuming you bring Hapi as part of DLC and she carries Swarm. With that you'll be able to steal their evasion ring making it easier to hit them. Mercenary offers a slight boost in strength and speed while Thief offers higher boost in dex and speed in addition to being able to move through thickets and bushes with no issues. Then there is Hero, Swordmaster and Assassin. Hero has the higher HP growth out of the three, but the Hero's speed growth is not as good as Swordmaster or Assassin. Hero would need a sword rank of B or minimum C+. Hero also needs an axe rank of C or at minimum D+. Speaking of Axe rank, if you want Felix to hit even harder regardless of what physical class you're going for, Death Blow is a must. Enough said. Hero does come with an innate Vantage ability as part of it's class ability in addition to swordfaire. Now that does sound nice but you would want to normally accompany Vantage with something like Wrath or Battalion Wrath. It's a niche option for some, but in the case of Felix he also has Battalion Vantage at Authority Rank C and by the time you master Warrior for Wrath, you'll usually want him to go to War Master. Hero also gains Defiant Strength which adds +8 to your strength stat when at 25% or below of your current HP. This couples nicely with an innate Vantage since they can also equip guard adjutants in case they need to survive a hit beforehand. The pay off is huge as a Hero but how comfortable are you with this kind of strategy is the question?

Swordmaster is his canon class based on his design. You need a sword rank of A or minimum B+. Swordmaster offers Felix a nice 25% HP increase in addition to 10% in strength and 20% speed. Like Hero, Swordmaster also carry swordfaire but also sword critical + 10. Both classes have 5 move and neither of them are able to move through thickets and bushes as swiftly. Swordmaster also comes with arguably one of the worst combat art mastery in the game Astra. It really does pain me to say that since I like Astra as an ability to strike 5 times in one hit. But in the case of Three Houses, Astra is a sword master exclusive combat art which allows you to strike someone 5 times that comes with a -10 hit rate and a cost of 9 points of weapon durability. I don't know what the devs where thinking but they butchered this CA. Granted you can still use it on a high endurance weapon like forged training swords or forged steel swords. Or if you want to potentially decimate an enemy's health bar there is a forged Wo Dao which in conjunction with Hit +20 and a battalion with high hit and crit rate. But how much money are you willing to spend just to do that?

Then there is Assassin. While this class might lack kill power compared to the other two, Assassins rock a 20% growth to HP, Dex, and Speed. Also they require a bow rank of C or minimum D+. In addition to Sword rank being at B or minimum C+ like Hero. Assassins have 6 move which is ideal for any foot locked class but as always they pale in comparison to 8 move flight. Plus it's mastery isn't much better than swordmaster either. Assassinate and Lethality like I mentioned in Petra's analysis are too niche to pull off. Then finally there is Mortal Savant. People don't like this class for some reason (see what I did there?). Well, people don't like Mortal Savant because you're going from a sword class that offers 20% boost in speed to a sword class that can cast magic and suffer a -10% growth. Sure Mortal Savant maintains a +1 speed modifier. But you go from Assassin to Mortal Savant and you're basically giving up a 30% speed growth just to get 10% in magic, strength and luck? Yea the class still has swordfaire and black tomefaire by hybrid attacking classes are rarely successfully used. And this is no different. Warding Blow adding +6 to res when attacking is not great either. It's meant to be a mage killer I guess but there are far more effective ways to deal with them. Ward, Pure Water or even better yet at times, Silence. Also the class needs a reason rank of B+ or minimum B while you would already be at sword rank A at that point. Felix can also gain the dancer class for sword avoid +20 but like Dimitri you would be either sacrificing a power house or a dancer if you do this.

His bow and brawling options fare better imo. He can go down the Archer, Sniper and possibly Bow Knight line if you want him too. Archer grants him Hit +20 which will help his rather shaky accuracy. Sniper grants him Hunter's Volley and he his the hardest hitting candidate for the job. Most archers like Bernie, Ashe and Ignatz tend to have a 35% strength growth so they are not overwhelming to deal with. But Felix his a 55% strength growth. Combine that with a increase of dex by 20% and you have a Sniper that hits hard and is accurate. Not to mention that his crest benefits from attacking from range too especially with something like a Brave Bow or Inexhaustible if you want. Hunter's Volley with a forged Killer's Bow or Silver Bow is always a great option for Felix in case you don't think his crest will activate. His only other Bow combat art is Heavy Draw. It's not as accurate as Curved Shot but doesn't suffer a hit rate loss. In fact it grants him a +8 might and +10 hit. He can take advantage of it as a Bow Knight. it may not be Point-Blank Volley, but it still hits hard and he can run away afterwards. This makes it an effective hit and run strategy as Heavy Draw will certainly leave a dent in the enemy if it doesn't kill. 

His brawling options are Grappler and War Master. Grappler of course is great for player phase focused units and Felix is naturally fast and like assassin he can move through thickets and bushes swiftly. Fierce Iron Fist and Tomebreaker are nice perks to have as well. Grappler also increases his dex and speed notably by 10% so he can still maintain his very good speed growth and improve his dex while in this class. War Master allows Felix to gain a astonishingly high 40% HP growth in addition to 15% strength and 10% speed. War Master also grants him Quick Riposte. One of the best abilities for any brawling class or anyone with low speed. In Felix's class, if he sees someone that out speeds him. Quick Riposte will always allow him to perform follow up attacks as long as he is over 50% HP. This encourages the player to make him stay healthy as much as possible. War Master's Strike is a nice exclusive CA and it can hit any for for effective damage. There is also War Monk if you want him to master it to gain Brawl Avoid +20. Raising his faith might be a bit of a chore as this would require him to have a faith rank of C+ in addition to brawl at B+. But it's worth mastering at least to me. For combat arts he gets Nimble Combo which is going to be his go to attack as a brawler for a while until you decide for him to get Fierce Iron Fist for that triple attack. He always gets Mystic Blow which adds damage based on his magic. Unless you got some Aura Knuckles going on for him, I don't think his magic stat is high enough to take advantage of it.

With all that said, I think he is an overall 8.5/10. I would give him a 9 but I think that his personal ability while nice early on tends to be obsolete later on his C to B rank battalions offer him better boosts and his bane in authority makes it hard for him to achieve it. But don't let that discourage you for using him. Like Dimitri, he can do very well in any physical class you want. He's got the tools to be one of your best units and a always worth a spot on your team. Recruiting him outside though requires a high sword rank of B+ assuming no support. Though if you manage to get his support rank at C+ then you only need a sword rank of C+ so it's not too bad. Also worth mentioning: If you get him and Dimitri's support up to rank B by part 1, you get the Sword of Zoltan. A really powerful sword but it needs someone's sword to be at A rank. so if you want to go down the sword option early and have someone at A rank, this weapon is great.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Barren

[Punished Dayni]

Let's take a look at angry boi who probably has more right to take issue with the status quo than most.

Spoiler

His bases and growths are pretty solid. 10+55% Str is very good and really helps his reliability in combat. 9+55% Spd is also very good, giving him a good chance of getting into decent speed thresholds. Dex 6+45% is just nice to have in terms of giving him a bit more might and crit, nothing too amazing. 26+45% HP and 5+30% Def aren't amazing, but he could have at least some physical bulk which could be sufficient if he were to take a hit or two and 5+40% Luk is not as bad as you'd expect, so should help minimise the low percent crits. 3+20% Res is bad, while 5+30% Cha is concerning if he's facing a gambit user in EP.

Felix's Strengths and weaknesses are another thing he has over everyone. Sword strength isn't amazing, but he has a solid D rank to start off in it. Brawl mightn't be the most exciting, but gauntlets are pretty good imo, Healing Focus becomes easier to get and it contributes to a War Master Felix well enough. Bows and 3H are an OP combo, so it's not too bad for him to get them. He only has two weaknesses as well and his Reason becomes a budding talent which gives him +10 crit with his magic. However, his biggest issue is Authority. Having it as a weakness is a definite problem for trying to get good battalions, especially if you, say, want him to go flying, but he at least has reasons not to keep at it.

While he had a budding talent in it, his reason is very sparse, only having Thunder and Thoron, which can at least work with BM Crit +10. His faith isn't amazing either, with H + N, Recover and Restore; Restore can be nice to have but he usually wants to be in battle so he's not the best choice for using it.

His personal skill gives him +5 Atk when he has not battalion on him/it has 0 HP. It is busted early on with so few battalions and even as the game progresses it can be nice to take advantage of, even if you have a Battalion with higher might so he has that to fall back on. He also has the Major Fraldarius, a huge boost as he gets a 40% chance to get +5 might when using a regular attack. Considering not only how fast he can get and the difference 5 attack can make, I think he has one of the best crests in the game. Keep in mind the magical equivalent has 20% chance to activate.

Felix has a pretty decent variety of combat arts. For swords he has Sunder and Finesse Blade (Finesse works with his Dex at least), for bows he has Heavy Draw (It's no Curved Shot, but it is +8 might) and for Brawl he has Nimble Combo (I could see it being useful in Maddening as it's +8 versus a regular brawling combo and if he doesn't crit/attacks someone with vantage he can give himself a better chance of keeping his health) and Mystic Blow (An odd choice but it could be worse with +10 magic damage). For authority skills he only gets Battalion Vantage, which is disappointing.

I feel mixed about the Aegis shield on him, especially in Maddening when he would need all the Spd he can get to not be doubled, much less double. I would tend to pass it onto others when I realised just how much of an impact it made on his combat. It is however a pretty sturdy shield and of course he can get the Aegis/Pavise procs on it, the only one who can unlike for Lamine and Gloucester's relics.

How did I find him?

Spoiler

Okay, first off Felix is good enough I've intentionally dropped him since SS.

In VW, I went down Merc - Swordmaster -MS and got to learn how limited his magic was and how his stats made him more than usable, over 40 Str and Spd (albeit with a slight boost from feeding, not sure which way was which) made him a more than capable fixture of my team, even in rotation.

In CF, I made the same mistakes, but he's so solid it doesn't even matter.

In AM, I ended up maining Assassin instead but unfortunately he didn't have as high stats. But he was very much still useful

In SS, I did end up going a similar route and due to how I was playing he was an easy drop. However I suspect looking at him he certainly could have been faster if I had kept working with him.

I only used him for his paralogue in Maddening and he was quite useable having just recruited him for it.

See this is my issue, trying to push him in a direction that is a bit suboptimal knowing what he can do. And I still think he was good across the board regardless, so There is my endorsement.

Yeah, Felix is good, no denying it. No authority sucks, but at least unlike Caspar he has more working for him (and especially less against him) that means he can feasibly go for more than War Master or MS. Imo, one of the most solid fighters you can get across routes, so I give him 8/10. Doesn't have Dimitri's tools, but that's the only reason he's on 8 imo.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Dayni

[SumG]

Felix is very strong, especially on Maddening.  He's got great base speed and strength growths, one of the few characters that even has a chance of keeping up with enemy speeds on Maddening.  His crest is the best in the game, getting extra damage at a regular clip.  And his Hero's Relic, the Aegis Shield, is actually surprisingly relevant on Maddening.  It's heavy, but Felix is often fast enough to prevent follow-ups even taking into account the weight penalty, and on the rare occasions he isn't it can just be unequipped.  The combination of Aegis and Pavise is powerful, and, in combination with his high evasion, lets Felix draw out an attack or two without much fear.

I've seen a number of potential builds for Felix, though I haven't tried everything yet.  The most common usage I've tried is Assassin, and I've been generally happy with it.  Felix turns into a speed demon with great attack strength.  Archer/Bow Knight is a significant downgrade from this build, despite Felix's boon in bows.  The classes just don't provide enough extra speed or speed bonuses to keep Felix fast enough to double consistently, turning him into a generic Hunter's Volley bot.  And Mortal Savant is a meme at this point, and should not be considered on Maddening despite Felix's budding talent in Reason.  I have not tried a Grappler/War Master build with Felix, but I'm intrigued by and may try it next playthrough.

The biggest weakness shared by all of these options is that Felix will very likely be footlocked in game with extremely powerful flying classes.  Assassin helps a bit with their rough terrain mobility, but even with that he won't be as far ranging as Wyvern Lords or Falcon Knights.  And that is a real downside.  Additionally, his weakness in Authority will keep from using the good battalions in short order.  It's not necessary to get him to A authority, but even getting to C-rank can requires effort.

Overall, I'd give Felix a 9/10.  In the right classes, which is easy enough to get into, he's one of the premier melee fighters in the game despite his small issues.

[DriftingWaterBottle]

9 / 10 on Hard:

The good:

• Good Str & Spd base and growth for a melee unit.
• Proficiency in Brawling & Bow for an easier access to strong classes such as Grappler, War Master and Sniper, as well as Hit+20 (and gauntlet Avo+20 for good gauntlet dodge tank potential with DLC).
• Major crest of Fraldarius: +5 Mt when using a weapon and 40% chance to proc synergises very well with gauntlets. No penalty when using relics is also a nice bonus.
• +5 damage when not equipped with a battalion: Very helpful for early game offense when good battalions are still in short supply.
• Special bond with two in-house members, up to +3 Mt each: useful on the field or as adjutant.
• Battalion Vantage at Authority C : situationally useful if stacking Crit.
• Learns Nimbo Combo at C+ Brawling: Striking twice with +4 Mt and +20 Avo is handy when unable to quad. He doesn't really need it on Hard, but it's still nice to have something to fall back on regardless of growth.

The not-so-good:

• Authority bane: Requiring more investment in tutoring to access strong battalions, especially if one wants to take full advantage of his personal ability. 

[Dark Holy Elf]

Dedue's one candidate for best start of a non-lord student; Felix is the other. But Felix holds up better, for sure. On Hard I considered him the best non-lord in the game; I think he falls a bit in Maddening, but he's still great.

The good: 10+55% str, 9+55% speed. Nobody else has that combination of str/spd for either bases or growths (though a few are lateral, like the lords). At every point in the game, Felix hits hard and is one of the best at not being doubled, as well as above average at doubling things himself. None of his other stats are that special but they don't have to be, strength (or magic) and speed are far and away the two most important in this game. And the crazy thing is, those bases actually underrate his start, because his personal grants +5 damage without a battalion. Nobody has a battalion in chapter 1, and most people don't in chapter 2, so Felix essentially has 15 str + 9 spd to get started, which is just wild. It doesn't last long (even some low-rank battalions give better bonuses than +5 atk and nothing else, so you probably want to get him one in chapter 3 or at the latest, 4), but is still worth nooting.

With those stats, Felix will do well in any physical class, but I like to draw particular attention to his merits as an archer. He's +bows, and gets Heavy Draw, an underrated combat art, at C+. Bows often struggle to deal damage, since their only generic CA has only +1 damage. Heavy Draw provides +8, along with a hit boost, and lets him deal major damage against things he can't double, compared to other archers, who need to wait for Hunter's Volley to have anything that matches that. With his good speed for doubling, str for the brave bow, and Heavy Draw, he's a great choice for going bow knight while lesser archers have to stick with the less flexible sniper. Another notable CA he has is Nimble Combo, at Brawling C+, which similarly gives him a power advantage over his competition: +4 damage, also +20 avoid lets him null boss crit if they survive. And of course, if he doubles with gauntlets (or a brave weapon), that's 4 chances at +5 damage from his crest. And if none of those unique advantages appeal to you, he can always go wyvern, and excel as you would expect from anyone with his stat build.

The bad: The most damning thing about Felix by far is his authority bane; coupled with the fact that he doesn't actually have that many boons (he'd love axes, or riding, or flying, or armour), he's not actually in a great shape for training (and while not a factor for rating, this is even worse on non-BL routes, where he auto-trains the idiotic combo of swords+brawling). I often try to save the lord's battalion for him, since that only needs C, but that's a valuable tool and Felix's lowish charm (another weakness of his, at 5+30%) makes him less good at using it than I'd like. His other defensive stats aren't great either, similar to Petra, but like Petra, speed goes a long way towards helping me forgive that.

And as I've written before in comparisons with other units, he also can't get Darting Blow, which on Maddening is really important to maintain doubling ability long-term, meaning that he ends up a fair bit lower on the offensive speed ranking than 9+55% alone would suggest. Obviously this is a point in discussing any male physical unit but Felix's stat build craves it more than most.

Felix gets an 7.5/10. Every house has a very solid fast physical unit (Petra and Leonie are the others); Felix has the most flaws out of that trio, but sometimes it's hard to argue with his raw numbers, especially out of the gate.

[Sooks]

9.5/10, Felix is a fantastic physical unit with amazing strength and speed who’s presence in your party gives you access to a pretty neat relic. His personal ability is very helpful early game and his crest activates enough to actually be relied upon, and boosting might is very good, so coupled with his personal that’s a lot of extra damage. However, you won’t need that personal ability forever, and yet that authority weakness will really hold him back from using a good battalion. Although this barely matters as it doesn’t change the fact that if you train him and gauntlets and equip them, with his high speed he will consistently ORKO. He’s only slightly he’s back by lack of access to a good battalion quickly.

[SnowFire]

As a side comment - the ranking says "no DLC", but is that talking about the Season Pass, aka no-paid-DLC?  Or just "updates in general after v.1.0" (i.e. Jeritza gets a 0 because you can't legally use him)?  Felix is a character that actually cares a bit because of the "A Servant's Essentials" quest that was added in a free version update.  It's an extremely easy quest, there's no reason not to do it (outside of a speedrun), just pick stuff up at the Monastery.  I mention that it matters for Felix because one of its rewards is Nuvelle Chamberlain Co., a C-rank Authority battalion that nevertheless has +8 Physical Damage attached, which is inexplicably on par with the best B and A rank battalions.  It's available early too, in White Clouds C9.  Basically this means that Felix doesn't need to steal King of Lions Corps to have a solid C-rank battallion and makes his Authority bane sting a little less.  On the downside, the Chamberlains favor Resistance over Defense in a game with comparatively few enemy mages, but that doesn't matter TOO much for Sniper / Assassin / Bow Knight Felix who either shoots arrows from afar or has Stealth, but is a bit annoying for a War Master or Mortal Savant Felix on the front lines who still want to either grab King of Lions or else grind through the bane to B-rank Authority.

[Punished Dayni]

1 hour ago, SnowFire said:

As a side comment - the ranking says "no DLC", but is that talking about the Season Pass, aka no-paid-DLC?  Or just "updates in general after v.1.0" (i.e. Jeritza gets a 0 because you can't legally use him)?  Felix is a character that actually cares a bit because of the "A Servant's Essentials" quest that was added in a free version update.  It's an extremely easy quest, there's no reason not to do it (outside of a speedrun), just pick stuff up at the Monastery.  I mention that it matters for Felix because one of its rewards is Nuvelle Chamberlain Co., a C-rank Authority battalion that nevertheless has +8 Physical Damage attached, which is inexplicably on par with the best B and A rank battalions.  It's available early too, in White Clouds C9.  Basically this means that Felix doesn't need to steal King of Lions Corps to have a solid C-rank battallion and makes his Authority bane sting a little less.  On the downside, the Chamberlains favor Resistance over Defense in a game with comparatively few enemy mages, but that doesn't matter TOO much for Sniper / Assassin / Bow Knight Felix who either shoots arrows from afar or has Stealth, but is a bit annoying for a War Master or Mortal Savant Felix on the front lines who still want to either grab King of Lions or else grind through the bane to B-rank Authority.

That quest is part of the paid DLC, I can tell you it's not available without the Expansion pass after 5 playthroughs.

Edit: I realise the mistake I made. I'm treating it as no Expansion Pass, though Benice hasn't indicated either way and several people have mentioned DLC classes.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Dayni

[ruruo]

Hm~ 8.5/10 with gauntlets. ngl I find Sniper and Bow Knight underwhelming for him. They're good but I always felt Felix does better front lines over ranged... War Master was really fun. Killer Gauntlets+, for some nice crit, that makes me happy. It's easy to fish for his crest effect, and crits, with guaranteed brave effect or quads with gauntlets.

His authority bane plays against him, and his personal skill is kinda useless. I think I'd even just prefer to give him E rank Jeralt's Mercenaries. 
But I think it's very much worthing building his Authority to B, for the battalion bonuses over his personal. There's good B and C grounded battalions that he can play around with, and if playing BL, rotate with Dimitri, when they're weakened.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Felix, considered on Maddening

The bad

As stats go, his Res, like that of most physical units, is very poor, at 3+0.20x. And his Magic, Defense, and Charm - all tied at 5+0.30x - aren't much better. Regarding magic, he starts with a bane in Reason, and can only learn two spells on that front. And while his Faith list is longer, I'd hardly call Recover and Restore a good list. His one other bane is a doozy - he's weak in Authority. And as his personal ability disincentives fielding a batallion, it'll likely stay down at E for quite some time. Combined with his low Charm, he has a hard time pulling off offensive gambits, while a low rank also limits his access to support gambits. Finally, he gets quite a few personal combat arts, but most aren't that impressive. 

The good

Sweet zombie Seiros, that Crest. The Crest of Fraldarius boosts damage by 5 upon normal weapon attacks (not combat arts). And Felix has a major one, which makes for a 40% chance it will activate. While all Crests are unreliable, Felix's is, at the very least, the least unreliable. This can make a major impact on damage - each hit is boosted by 2 on average, so when he quads (say, with a brave weapon), that's an average boost of 8 damage. I daresay he's the best candidate to wield the Thunderbrand, on this basis.

This synergizes excellently with skills like Death Blow, and with his own personal - that's an extra 5 damage on any hit, if he has no batallion applied. Note that this one applies to combat arts and spells, too. While batallions start to eclipse this boost in the late pre-skip, this boost is immensely valuable in the first few chapters, when there are few strong batallions to pick from. Some say that Felix should never be given a batallion - I wouldn't go that far (Almyra Mercenaries, an E-rank batallion, offers Phys. Att. +5 and Avo+10, just at a cost of Rsl-2), but i do think he's last on the list, in terms of who wants one.

Looking at proficiencies, he's strong in Swords, Bows, and Gauntlets - and neutral in all other weapons and movement types. This means Archer is easy to get into (for Hit+20), while Death Blow from Brigand is hardly a reach. Assassin, Sniper, and Grappler are among the most fitting classes, but he can certainly go Wyvern Rider or Bow Knight - basically any physical class. He can even offer hybrid offense, as a Mortal Savant, supplementing his short spell list with a Levin Sword.

As for stats, his Strength (10+0.55x) and Speed (9+0.55x) are both outstanding, and he's good enough in HP (26+0.45x), Dex (6+0.45x), and Luck (5+0.40x). He's great at delivering damage, and doing it more than once. And even with iffy bulk, his strong Speed and decent Luck means he's great at avoiding enemy attacks, especially in the right build.

And before I go, a note on combat arts - Heavy Draw, Sunder, and Finesse Blade aren't super impressive. He'd rather just double with a bow normally, or use a Brave Sword or Thunderbrand. With Gauntlets, Nimble Combo is one of the better ones, while Mystic Blow can work on a niche hybrid-gauntlet build - although even then, he'll do more with the Aura Knuckles.

The verdict

Felix is an incredible unit from day one - he hits fast, he hits hard, aided by his Crest and strong personal ability. And his proficiencies means that no physical class (on the male side) is closed to him. His bulk is iffy, so he'll want to stay out of enemy range, or use all available tools to avoid hits. His spell list isn't great, but his Magic is enough that a hybrid offense build isn't totally out of the question. His disdain for Authority may be his biggest flaw, but it's at least mitigated by a personal that leaves him not needing a batallion. All things considered, I rate Felix a 9 out of 10.

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
Misinformation, got Crest info wrong.

[L3xandr3]

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

...The Crest of Fraldarius boosts damage by 5 upon normal weapon attacks (not combat arts). And Felix has a major one, which (I think) makes for a 70% chance it will activate....

 

Major Fraldarius is 40% proc rate. Source: the Serenes Forest Crest page.

Edited October 20, 2020 by L3xandr3
added Source

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

19 minutes ago, L3xandr3 said:

Major Fraldarius is 40% proc rate. Source: the Serenes Forest Crest page.

Duly noted, thanks for the catch. I updated my writeup accordingly. Crest still good, just not as good as I thought. I still stand by my rating.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Great stats, great crest, great growth rates at 55/55 Str and Spd. Most of his combat arts aren't notable, then again, most combat arts aren't Nimble combo which he does have at C+. I do like Bombard better (+10 crit on each swing I think is more relevant than +20 avoid and +1 MT), but they're both A tier combat arts that immediately enhance a unit's viability. His charm isn't notably under average which seems like...an oversight. But it works in his favor when being targeted by gambits. As a gauntlet user he should be picking up ORKOs in early mid game and then never stopping. Strength +2, Death Blow, and Nimble Combo adds a total +22 damage on player phase, and that's ignoring your two chances at procing your crest or his personal skill for a maximum potential of +42 damage before stats and weapon are taken into account. I don't think being strength screwed can feasibly hurt this guy's performance unless you're doing a 0% growths run. His crest also maximizes the Aegis Shield, allowing him to randomly proc Aegis or Pavise for further tankiness. And as a gauntlet user, you can always equip a shield alongside your weapon without much of a hit to your AS. By 35 strength, training gauntlets plus an aegis shield will carry no penalty. And Felix is definitely one of the faster units in the game, further adding to his bulk when compared against the average punchy boy.

If he were strong in axes that would seriously help his class variety. He won't have a tough time getting into wyvern, but getting a good flying batallion is a serious concern. Authority banes suck. It's the hardest skill in the game to raise because unless you're a lord, you have no access to classes than can expedite its growth. His personal does provide a seriously good early game boost, particularly in Chapter 2 when you have just three batallions to equip among your roster. But I wouldn't wait too long to start working on that authority by equipping him with a batallion. Sure you can spend your instruction points exclusively on that skill each week for him, but he would still fall behind his classmates if you chose to leave him without batallions. And eventually your store of batallions will grow large enough that people aren't fighting over Jeralt's Mercenaries whose +3 damage equates to +6 when using fist weapons. Altogether I think Chapter 5 is the latest main mission I'd have him with no batallion. You could say that Felix has no personal skill outside the early game, but honestly, the early game is where these individual advantages matter most. By late game, everybody is pretty much whatever class you put them in.

I rate Felix an 8.0. I want to rate him higher, but that authority bane and lack of Axe proficiency really are the only things keeping him from matching or surpassing a top tier unit like Dimitri or Byleth. Putting him at the same level as Claude or even Edelgard does seem fair to me, however.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Glennstavos

[-Moonlight-]

Felix Hugo Fraldarius, one of the better BL units, minus his Res and Defense, but the latter shouldn't be a problem depending on his speed. I'm not going to go into it too much but I'm starting with class (as in promotions) ranking. 

The achievable- Sword, Brawling. The blue lions house being a natural attacking monster house isn't a surprise, especially with Felix in particular, his Crest *cue edelgard anger noises* raising mt when using a weapon.  His personal ability, Lone Wolf, has him deal 5 extra damage when no battalion is assigned. His speed and attack make him great for both class lines, either class promos having him fast and hard hitting. Felix starts off with a lower brawl skill than sword, but either is highly worth it. The only reason I would not have him as a brawler is his low defense (which gets higher, but still-), which makes me usually put him on the side-front lines. In my experience with multiple playthroughs with brawler line Felix, he excels but falls behind in a few ways. Can easily be a fast and heavy hitter despite defense and resistance.

The "unachievable"- I'm so sorry to do this to you Felix, but there is no reason for you to be a mortal savant. His budding talent REALLY shouldn't be reason, because his spell list is pathetic, as well as faith skill list, the reason being two. Do you really want your magic/attack unit having two reason spells? I didn't think so. His personal ability also plays into his terrible authority, as @Shanty Pete's 1st Mate and @Dark Holy Elf said in different ways. 

As Felix as a character, I find his backstory interesting and his relations with his family and Dimitri. I think they could go more into it rather than just feeling BL unit story specific. At first, it feels like Felix hates Dimitri for no reason, but it gets deeper in the Felix/Dimitri supports:

Spoiler

C support:

Felix: I am. The way you suppressed that rebellion... It was ruthless slaughter and you loved every second. I remember the way you killed your victims. How you watched them suffer. And your face...that expression. All the world's evil packed into it. That was our first battle. I remember it vividly.

Dimitri: …

Felix: Oh, something wrong? Go ahead and deny it, you wild boar.

Dimitri: I deny nothing, Felix.

Felix: Well then. I suppose the Dimitri I once knew died during that slaughter in Duscur, along with my brother.

Dimitri: Perhaps you're right.

 // from https://fireemblemwiki.org/ : 

 Felix had an older brother named Glenn, who died in battle while protecting Dimitri during the Tragedy of Duscur. Felix interpreted his father Rodrigue's remark that Glenn "died like a true knight" regarding the honor in his brother's death as detached, so he developed a resentment towards his father and nobility in general, and became disillusioned with concept of chivalry. In Imperial Year 1178, he fought alongside Dimitri to suppress a rebellion. Dimitri's enjoyment of the bloodshed and slaughter horrified Felix and led to their friendship being strained, and Felix began to contemptuously refer to him as the "boar prince".

 He has great potential in certain classes, while personal attributes make him fall flat with others. Character wise interesting, but I wish we got to see different sides, not just the "I hate Dimitri, meh I hate everything bc of Dimitri". Overall, I give Felix a 8/10.