Rate the Unit-Three Houses, Day 13: Sylvain

[Benice]

Thanks you @Dayni for covering for me when I forgo-I mean, had a perfectly good and justified reason not to post one of these last time!

Edit: Crud, forgot to remove that...

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

Felix: 8.625

Petra: 8.34

Ferdinand: 7.78

Bernadetta: 7.125

Linhardt: 7.11

Dorothea: 6.375

Dedue: 5.8571

Hubert: 5.525

Caspar: 4.32

Ashe: 3.69 (nice)

 

Underscore: Black Eagles

Bold: Blue Lions

Itallics: Golden deer

Purple: Faculty

Boldunderscoreditallics: DLC

Average score for Black Eagles: 6.94

Average score for Blue lions: 6.82

 

Day 14: Holy sword of Sylvainister

Edited October 22, 2020 by Benice

[Sooks]

9/10, he has swift strikes access. Yes I’m doing this again, although he doesn’t get a +1 point for being a meme. Making any weapon a brave weapon is just that good in my opinion as long as you have decent offense, which Sylvain very much does, nice growths. He’s easy to get into a mounted class with his riding boon and a boon in lances to help boost him to swift strikes level. His personal ability it also pretty good.

[lenticular]

I am very tempted to give him an even 7.78 to mirror what Ferdinand ended up with, since they are extremely similar units, but I will resist.

First, to get it out of the way, I don't think his magic abilities factor into his final rating. It's certainly a viable path for him, especially on hard/normal, and it makes him a more interesting as a unit, but it's nowhere near optimal. I can imagine a few cases where lightning axe might be the best option against an enemy with high def and low res, but unless you're compromising his overall performance by taking him down magic class paths for things like fiendish blow, he lacks the mag or res numbers for it to be particularly impressive.

Considered as a purely physical unit, his bases and growth are decent across the board without having anything that really stands out as amazing. His skill proficiencies are also largely decent. Weakness in bows is never good, but isn't too big a deal, and strength in axes, lances, and riding are very nice. He has a natural path into paladin and a relatively easy time getting into the wyvern classes, since he is neutral in flying. His standout combat art is Swift Strikes which is very strong. I don't consider it the be all and end all that some people do, since there are plenty of other ways to achieve similar effects, but it is undeniably very good.

He also has the potential to pick up extra damage from his personal, and from his special bonds with Felix and Ingrid, neither of which should be underrated. At best, this can give him +8 damage, which is huge, but even more modestly, consider the situation where he's standing next to Ingrid, she's wielding a ranged weapon, and they have a B support. He then deals an extra 4 damage and takes 2 less, which is not to be sneezed at. His personal also pairs up really well with Hilda's and Leonie's personals if you recruit him to the Golden Deer, which is particularly easy to do as female Byleth.

Overall, he's very solid but doesn't have anything to push him over the top into true greatness. I can't decide between a 6.5 and a 7 and since I don't want to descend into the madness of finer gradations, I'll use personal bias against his philandering ways to mark him down to a final score of 6.5/10.

[Bartozio]

I'm giving the guy an 8.5/10.

I think Sylvain is consistently one of your better units. Early game because of his personal and bonds with Felix and Ingrid, and mid to late game for swift strikes.

Not having access to Pegasus Knight sucks for the early game, though when he gets swift strikes he can kill most things on player phase anyway (keep in mind that lances have a lot of options for dealing effective damage). Bow weakness also sucks, but you can still get to D+ or C in a reasonable amount of time I think.

Overall, a very solid unit. There's a few units who can outperform him, but not a lot.

[Punished Dayni]

It's time for Mr. Sain- Wait, sorry, Sylvain.

Just keeps chatting about his swift strikes, acting like that wouldn't cause him to go to horny jail:

Spoiler

Sylvain has pretty good growths actually. 9+45% Str is lesser than all but Ashe so far, but is not as bad as all that. However, he also has 8+50% Spd which is pretty good, even if it's less impressive among the BL and his 27+55% HP and 6+40% Def are pretty good for physical bulk for units not named Dedue. His Dex is pretty low at 5+35%, while his Lck at 6+35% which definitely could be worse. Unfortunately for those looking at his magic and thinking about it, he's got 5+30% Mag and 2+25% Res, which impact on one of his combat arts and of course regular magic. 7+40% Cha is pretty decent actually, 

His strengths and weaknesses are pretty solid actually. Strengths in Lances and Axes are both nice to have, making access to certain classes easier. He also has Riding, which while not as good makes certain classes a lot more viable imo. His weakness in Bows is unfortunate, but being the only one lessens the sting. As for his budding talent in Reason, while he has a decent list, getting BM Avoid +20 isn't all that great generally and dodging builds seem like not the best approach for him.

Sylvain has a surprisingly large magic list. For Reason he has Fire, Bolganone, Sagittae and Ragnarok, which is simple and to the point with all the fire spells. In Faith he has H + N, Physic and Seraphim, which is nice to see as Seraphim breaks monster barriers and Physic's Physic.

His personal gives him +2 damage dealt, -2 received when next to a female character, which I'd think is a bit more limited in maddening considering how few female characters are likely to be in the front line tanking, but it's not implausible, including among the fliers. He also have minor Gautier crest, giving +5 might when using a CA 40% of the time, which can be nice.

Sylvain is known for his combat art. He has Spike (Pretty weak imo, considering it's less crit and hit vs. Smash) and Lightning Axe (Limited with his Mag and Res) in Axes and Monster Piercer (If he's not using magic it's worth using this for barrier breaks) and Swift Strikes (While good, I'm a bit less convinced about its god tier status after playing Maddening). See there's a point I'd like to add about Sylvain using Swift Strikes. He might be able to boost its damage, but he doesn't have a crest which would allow him to prevent counterattacks, which is more useful especially when you can't finish an enemy off with it as you can't get people in beforehand. He also has Battalion Vantage in Authority, 

I find it interesting you can piss Rhea off if you have Sylvain by Chapter 5 by taking the Lance of Ruin and thus give yourself another relic early on. Course, it wasn't enough to convince me to recruit him before I was playing his paralogue, but still. Also, it's nice when you're female and can just press that button whenever it's convenient.

How did I find him?

Spoiler

In VW, he died.

In CF, I made him my dancer. He also went dove the Cav > Paladin, though no further. He ended up with B Lances and Reason, so he didn't do all that well.

For AM, I had him clear Brigand, Cav and Paladin, finishing on DK. It would have been better to not use the cav classes, but I clearly didn't get growths were bad with cavs back then. He had Swift Strikes and had B Axes and Reason, but he wasn't stellar stat wise, a real jackass of all trades. 

In SS, he ended up my dancer again, with even less time in other classes and no Reason to work with. He at least has Swift Strikes this time.

In Maddening, he did enough in his paralogue that I can note he helped gambit thieves.

I find Sylvain as someone with plenty of potential and like Ashe is an option to aim towards flying later on while also having other things to consider. Even still, I don't think he's good enough to rate higher than 7/10. Being honest, it's not like I gave Ferdinand an 8 for having Swift Strikes, so I'm not too surprised at my conclusion.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Dayni

[DriftingWaterBottle]

8 / 10 on Hard

The good:

• Respectable Str & Spd base and growth for a melee unit, Def growth is also pretty good.
• Tempest Lance at base, handy for early game.
• Proficiency in Lance, Axe & Riding: Easier access to Brigand, Paladin, Wyvern or War Master.
• Useful personal Combat Arts:
  • Swift Strikes for automatic double attack.
  • Monster Piercer is situationally useful for breaking barriers.
• Minor Gautier crest: 40% chance to +5 Mt when using Combat Arts, sync well with Swift Strikes.
• Battalion Vantage at Authority C : situationally useful if stacking Crit.
• Personal ability with +2/-2 damage dealt/received when next to a female unit, very handy to boost combat performance
• Up to +3 Mt with two in-house members, useful on the field or as adjutant.

The mixed: 

• Learns Physic, Seraphim and high Mt Ragnarok, budding talent in Reason gives Black Mag Avo+20, but also low Mag growth and no 3-range spells. I think it's not unique enough to overshadow his physical attacking potential.

The not-so-good:

• Bane in Bow: takes a bit longer to access Hit+20. Combined with his unimpressive Dex, keeping him grounded might be more appealing for battalions with more Hit bonus if unmotivated to grind Hit+20 on Hard.

Edited October 22, 2020 by DriftingWaterBottle

[ruruo]

Hm.. hard one. I have a friend who swears by Sylvain, but I find him kinda just ok, like he's a solid 7/10 I think. 

He has good proficiencies for Paladin, Wyvern Lord and Dark Knight. The bow bane is annoying. He's a character who would prefer to have Hit +20 on Maddening because of his low Dex. Swift Strikes is fantastic. Wyvern Lord is good, but I don't think he makes the most of what the class has to offer. He's not fast enough to safely act like a pseudo dodgetank with Alert Stance+. It's really just the mobility that's great. On my fresh NG Maddening run, I did choose downgrade him to Paladin from WL for Battalions. On a fresh run where good flying battalions are more limited (esp. on BL where there's really only Galatea and Cichol, I think) I'd rather give them to other people who would get more out of them. 

I've tried Dark Knight on Hard, and I think it was good too. It's fun, you get more utility out of him. He can carry his personal battalion for Stride. I like how he gets access to Physic, and he still gets enough strength to spam Swift Strikes if taken down a physical route. I want to try him as Dark Knight on Maddening at some point to see if I like it better. 
 

[L3xandr3]

Sylvain. Ugh. This one’s character annoys me to no end. That aside, he never turns out that great for me. But I hate bias, and so I am forced to rate him fairly.

     Skill Levels:      D and a Boon in Lance, Axe, and Riding. Bane is Bows. Doesn’t hurt him much. Neutral Armor is a minor issue, considering what his preferred Master Class is.

     Abilities:     Philanderer helps a bit in the early game. Past that, it’s forgotten. He gets Battalion Vantage which doesn’t help him.

     Arts:      Monster piercer at C+. Same problem as the rest of the Monster-Effective Arts. A Lances yields Swift Strikes, which is as good as always. His Axe Arts yield Spike at C+ and Lightning Axe at A. Spike is basically just better Smash, and Lighting Axe is not good on a Physical Unit.

     Stats:      27+55% HP and 6+40% Defense means he’ll progressively get bulkier as the game goes on. 9+45% Strength is good enough. 8+50% Speed is solid, but He want’s Paladin and Great Knight, so that’ll cut his speed pretty badly. 7+40% Charm is not particularly good, but isn’t bad either. 5+30% Magic is of no consideration, but you could get lucky on this front. 5+35% Skill and 6+35% Luck is bad, but it could’ve been worse.

     Classes:     Beginner- Fighter for Strength +2 or Soldier for Repo

Intermediate- Brigand for Death Blow

Advanced- Paladin for its Lancefaire or Wyvern for Flying and stats

Master- Great Knight for Lancefaire or Wyvern Lord for Flying and Stats

          The Verdict

Sylvain is a Ok combatant and has a fail-safe-Delete-this-right-now button in Swift Strikes. The Lance of Ruin is strong, and it’s Art is solid. While good, he isn’t nearly as strong as Felix or Dimitri. I rate him as a solid 8/10.

Also, for anyone who's wondering, I always rate these units according to what performance I've seen on Maddening + their value on Paper (If I haven't used that part of them on Maddening).

[Dark Holy Elf]

Sylvain's a lot like Ferdinand (strikingly so, their growths are almost identical), but slightly better outside one particular build.

The good: Sylvain has above average key stats across the board: 9+45% str, 8+50% spd, 6+40% def, and 7+40% charm. None of these are outstanding, but they're all solid. Sylvain also has a relevant personal which boosts his performance a bit further: +2 damage dealt and received while adjacent to a female ally. It's not trivial to make use of (especially since enemy gambits can punish adjacent allies on enemy phase) but a nice bonus when it comes up. He's got a decent talent list that includes +lances, +axes, and +riding, giving him easy access to every high-mobility class in the game.

He also has two notable unique combat arts which allow him to be one of the heaviest hitters for the midgame starting at chapter 6. First, there's Ruined Sky. While anyone can wield the 22-might Lance of Ruin, only Sylvain can drag an extra 13 damage out of it (admittedly, anyone else can get 8 with Tempest Lance, but that costs 5 durability instead of 3)... and against fliers or dragons, that becomes an extra 35 instead. Its +10 bonus to crit avoid also helps him safely take a big chunk from high-crit bosses. The second is Swift Strikes, available at A lances, giving him a brave-like effect before braves become easily available. His crest synergises well with Swift Strikes, giving him a 64% chance to get at least +5 damage while using it, an advantage Ferdinand and Seteth do not enjoy.

He also has an interesting magic build. While it's likely not his best build (5+30% magic is well short of "real" mages, even Lorenz), the combination of Black Magic Avoid +20, Physic, a good Reason list, his talents for all the Dark Knight prereqs, and his solid overall stat build makes him a quite respectable "red mage" type of unit if you want to build him that way (and he can still bust out some good lance damage even as a mage).

Finally, although this won't factor into his rating since we're rating on everyone's best route, it's worth noting that Sylvain can be recruited (with FByleth) as early as Chapter 2 by both the Eagles and the Deer, meaning that Sylvain is a rare character whose worth does not decrease on other routes; he can be a great addition to any team. His huge support list also helps this.

The less good: As with Ferdinand, it's important not to get carried away with the advantages of Swift Strikes, as male Lancefaire options pale as classes compared to the Wyvern line. And while his statline and talent list are solid, they're also not exceptional: for instance, most high-end physical units boast notably better strength or speed (though typically not both).

Overall, though, Sylvain is a very solid unit. I feel pretty comfortable saying he's a bit better than Ferdinand (whose only advantage is his dodgetank build) but a bit worse than Felix, which means that 7/10 is the only ranking I can give him.

[SumG]

On Maddening, the only standout feature Sylvain has is Swift Strikes.   That said, Swift Strikes is good enough that it keeps him usable through most of the game.  Very much a mirror of Ferdinand with a couple of minor differences, and those differences result in me like him a bit better than Ferdinand, though he still doesn't usually end up in my party on Maddening.

Sylvain has enough speed and strength to be relevant on Hard, but really does fall behind on Maddening.  He'll get doubled by most enemies, making entering combat without using Swift Strikes dangerous, excluding him from drawing out enemies to any significant extent.  He has an easy enough path to Paladin or Wyvern Lord, so an endgame class isn't a problem, but the fact he's confined to lances makes Wyvern Lord much less overpowered than in other characters.

One of the subtle point that I have seen emphasized yet, is his recruitment conditions.  Without the DLC, Sylvain is the only character you'll have the option to recruit in the first few chapters of the game (definitively so on NG as opposed to NG+).  Given that whichever starting house you choose will only bring you up to 9 active units, recruiting Sylvain for free as a female Byleth on a non-BL route gives you an extremely valuable tenth body for early chapter missions until you can get normal recruitments going a bit later in the game.  That is a non-trivial consideration, and that extra early game utility gives him the edge over Ferdinand to me.

Overall, I'll give Sylvain a 7.5/10. I won't scoff at anyone who chooses to use him, but he normally doesn't make to my active party.

[Dark Holy Elf]

3 hours ago, DriftingWaterBottle said:

Bane in Bow: more hassle to access Hit+20. Combined with his unimpressive Dex, keeping him grounded might be more appealing for battalions with more Hit bonus if unmotivated to grind Hit+20 on Hard.

I really want to emphasize that it's not much more of a hassle. Getting to D+ bows takes ~9 weeks of passive training (as one of two goals) if you're neutral in bows, and ~11 if you're weak in bows. Those are the figures on Maddening; on Hard or Normal you gain passive skill exp even faster, so both numbers come down further. (I've assumed D+ instead of C because Intermediate Seals are cheap/common enough due to most faculty joining with them that D+ is adequate even if you don't savescum.) In both cases, you should reach the rank before you're interested in or likely even able to certify for Archer. While the bow weakness makes a Sniper/Bow Knight build more difficult, it does not meaningfully impact the acquisition of Hit+20% (nor any other Intermediate skill, for other characters in similar situations with different weapons).

Also, a small correction: Minor Gautier Crest has a not 20%.

[Barren]

I will do my own write up when I get home from work. I’ll try to make it shorter than I usually do since I think about everyone else covered his bases pretty well

[DriftingWaterBottle]

3 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

I really want to emphasize that it's not much more of a hassle. Getting to D+ bows takes ~9 weeks of passive training (as one of two goals) if you're neutral in bows, and ~11 if you're weak in bows. Those are the figures on Maddening; on Hard or Normal you gain passive skill exp even faster, so both numbers come down further. (I've assumed D+ instead of C because Intermediate Seals are cheap/common enough due to most faculty joining with them that D+ is adequate even if you don't savescum.) In both cases, you should reach the rank before you're interested in or likely even able to certify for Archer. While the bow weakness makes a Sniper/Bow Knight build more difficult, it does not meaningfully impact the acquisition of Hit+20% (nor any other Intermediate skill, for other characters in similar situations with different weapons).

Also, a small correction: Minor Gautier Crest has a not 20%.

Thank you for the correction for the minor Gautier activation rate. I have updated my post to correct it.

I was not very careful with my word choice. I’ll try to formulate them more carefully next time. 

[Barren]

8 hours ago, Barren said:

I will do my own write up when I get home from work. I’ll try to make it shorter than I usually do since I think about everyone else covered his bases pretty well

Now we get to that so called "ladies man" of the Blue Lions, Sylvain. Sylvain brings some interesting traits to the table so let's see what he's got. This is also assuming hard.

Sylvain comes into the Blue Lions with some above average stats starting off. 9 strength with a 45% growth is not bad but definitely can improve as you go. 8 Speed with a 50% growth isn't too shabby either. 27 HP and 6 defense with a 55 and 40% growth respectively is pretty good as well. They compliment his personal ability Philanderer. When he is next to a female ally, he'll take 2 less points of damage and deal 2 more points of damage during combat. This makes him a nice secondary tank/damage dealer early on. He even has a nice stat buff with Ingrid when she is used as a adjutant or if she is nearby. Linked attacks can go a long way. What also makes Sylvain interesting is that he is the easiest unit to recruit outside of the Blue Lions as long as you're female Byleth. Female Byleth just has to talk him whenever she needs him. After all, Sylvain will do anything to get a good looking woman around him. Think about that, he would be willing to turn on his highness for some new girl. That asshole! Joking aside, this does make it very easy to recruit him whenever you want. If you're male Byleth, you have to work on Reason and charm to recruit him. Or get a B rank support with him. His dex stat and growth is one of his weak points, 5 stat in dex with a 35% growth is not a good look for him.

He starts with Tempest Lance which is always nice, he is one of the 3 starting with Tempest Lance for the Blue Lions. He is also one of the 3 members of the "Swift Strike Squad" as I like to call them. He gets a D rank in riding which is always nice and E+ in axes. He can easily obtain Smash if desired. He also gets Monster Piercer which is situational. His best combat art is without a doubt Swift Strikes. However, his lack of dex may give him a hard time landing a hit. His bane in bows also doesn't help either. However his bane in bows is easily dealt with. Just work it towards D+ then certify him as a archer then he'll get Hit +20. Death Blow is also great on him as well. He can go either Soldier (which is probably preferred since he could use as high of a dex boost he can get) or Fighter if you want more of a strength growth. Reposition or Shove + Canto can be a very useful tactic. His axe combat arts consist of Spike which is somewhat different from Smash then Lightning Axe. Lightning Axe takes advantage of his magic stat. Which Sylvain does have a serviceable 30% growth, (higher if you take him down to a mage class). He also gains Battalion Vantage which is fine with Alert Stance + if you're planning on crit stacking with something like Killer Axe+ and Axe Crit +10 ability.

Sylvain can go down to Paladin. It's easy and low investment for him. Lancefaire boosting Swift Strikes damage is always nice.  Not to mention that he also has a Hero's Relic which you can obtain very early. The Lance of Ruin grants him an exclusive combat art Ruined Sky. This deals significant damage to fliers. He can go down to Wyvern Lord if you favor more mobility and evasion. Axefaire would be able to increase his Lightning Axe combat art but the -5% magic growth might not do it any favors. Aside from that, Wyvern Lord is another great fit for Sylvain. He also has a budding talent in reason magic which grants him Black Magic Avoid +20. This at least is more serviceable than the White Magic counter part because Sylvain has a decent reason spell list. It consist of Fire, Bolganone, Sagittae, and Ragnarok. Of course his speed may suffer a bit if he goes down to the Dark Knight route. Dark Knight makes Sylvain quite flexible because he also learns Physic at faith rank C and Seraphim at faith rank B just like Ingrid. Yes he will lose Lancefaire in exchange for Black Tomefaire and lose 1 move, but he'll at least have an option against bulkier enemies. He would want Monk for Magic +2 then Mage for Fiendish Blow. Warlock can also be an okay option for him as Bowbreaker is always a nice ability to pick up. 

Overall I would rate Sylvain as a lucky 7/10 unit. I think Sylvain is a solid addition to any team as he is very easy to recruit. He's very easy to build up from the start or even chapter 2 if you want. A flexible unit that can get the job done I find.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Barren

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Sylvain, considered on AM Maddening

The bad

Let's talk stats: at 2+0.25x, his Res is bad. His Magic (5+0.30x) and Dex (5+0.35x) don't fare much better. And speaking of magic, his Reason list is a fairly plain one - standard Fire spells, plus Sagittae, so no effective or long-range options. In terms of proficiencies, his sole weakness is in Bows. This means Hit+20 will be hard for him, while classes like Sniper and Bow Knight are serious stretches.

The good

Many of his other stats, including HP (27+0.55x), Strength (9+0.45x), Speed (8+0.50x), and Charm (7+0.45x), are quite good. So he'll be dealing decent damage, without having to worry about doubles or gambits from most enemies. As for proficiencies, he's strong in Riding, Lances, and Axes. So Death Blow comes easy to him, and classes like Paladin and Wyvern Rider are quite attainable. His personal skill offers a slight (+2) boost to offense and defense when a lady is adjacent, which works especially well when running F!Byleth. Or in synergy with Flayn, Leonie, or Hilda. His Crest, meanwhile, boosts his damage with combat arts.

And speaking of combat arts, his kit is excellent. Spike is like a better Smash, Monster Piercer is situationally useful, Lightning Axe can be useful on a hybrid offense build, and Ruined Sky offers tremendous damage off the Lance of Ruin. But the crown jewel of his set is Swift Strikes, a rare brave combat art. With his Relic, or a Crescent Sickle or Silver Lance, he can one-shot nearly any non-armored enemy once he hits A Lances.

One more note on magical Sylvain. His budding talent grants Black Magic Avoid +20, which in concert with Bowbreaker from Warlock mastery, can make him great at luring in enemy Snipers and Bow Knights (and potentially counterring with Caduceus or Thyrsus equipped). His Reason list, while shallow, is also fairly deep. And he actually gets a couple really good Faith spells, in Physic and Seraphim. With his proficiencies, he has an easy route to Dark Knight. Mind you, this is all underscored by his lackluster Magic stat and non-magical Relic and Crest, but he's far from unviable in this route.

The verdict

Returning to Sylvain, I'm finding more and more that I like. If he has any flaw (outside of low Res and iffy hit rates), it's that he's not outstanding in any area. Not as fast as Felix or Ashe, bulky as Dedue, strong and charming as Dimitri, or magically-gifted as Annie and Mercie. But his stats are balanced in a good way, and they're backed up by good proficiencies, a helpful personal, a Crest, some neat spells, and excellent combat arts. The more I've looked back on him, the better he looks in my eyes. All-in-all, I'm comfortable rating Sylvain an 8 out of 10.

[LJ_Reflet]

Oh, Sylvain. I really grew to love this guy. I hated him so much at first, then learning more about him, I really learned to love him LOL.

Sylvain is a very competent, above average unit. He is a reliable delete button with his notable Swift Strikes and has respectable stats all-around. He's got a lot going for him, except for the fact that he can't get a girl LOL.

The good:
I normally start with stats, but I'll just get this out of the way: Swift Strikes. Sylvain has access to Swift Strikes at lance A and is regarded as one of the best combat arts in the game, offering a guaranteed double--and it is remarkably difficult to double on Maddening. Swift Strikes combined with his relic--which is available very, very early (def gets points for this)--crest, and personal, he can reliably deal massive amounts of damage. It's widely regarded as a delete button by many. Swift Strikes is just so good that his other combat arts are pretty much ignored LOL. His crest even has a 40% proc rate which is much higher than other minor crests.

Okay, now let me get into his stats LOL. He has above average stats all around. Stats worth pointing out are his 27+55% HP, 9+45% strength, 8+50% speed, 6+40% defense, and 7+40% charm. All good, average-to-above-average stats, nothing outstanding, but can prove he is competent on the battlefield. He can deal decent damage and take it fairly well. It's also worth pointing out his speed is pretty good, but if you take him down his "canon" (I'm ngl, I kinda hate this word in a FE context LOL) path of being a Paladin, it can drop to 40%--but you can choose to avoid this by taking him down other paths such as Wyvern Lord. Speaking of which, he has boons in lances, axes, and riding--making him a very versatile unit. A boon in lances and riding paves a smooth path to many of the master classes should you choose to bring him into one. And axes offers him easy access to Death Blow and Wyvern Lord. He also has a budding talent in reason, which unlocks Black Magic Avoid +20. Avoid skills are always great to have, and Reason allows him to easily class into Dark Knight which I find to be a very good class in general. However, his magic growth is subpar and is much preferable as a physical unit. Despite his mediocre magic growth, he has pretty solid spell list for a physical unit. Ragnarok, Sagittae, and Bolganone are okay spells, but I think his Faith spell list stands out much more. He actually has access to Physic and he is (strangely) the only male character to have access to Seraphim, which I personally find to be the best offensive Faith spell there is. Overall, Sylvain is just great all-around and very well-rounded. He is the epitome of "above average."

The bad:
While I find Sylvain to be a great character than can last you the whole game, I find that he isn't outstanding at any one thing. He has good strength, but falls short to Felix. He has a solid spell list, but is out-damaged by Annette (okay, to be fair, Sylvain's spell list is better LOL). He has decent speed, but Ingrid is much quicker. He is also outshined as a Dark Knight by Lorenz as Sylvain's magic growth isn't as good (but I don't find Lorenz to be that great honestly LOL). Also it is extremely unfortunate that male lance-preferred characters don't have access to the best lance-based class: Falcon Knight. Male lance characters--Dimitri, Ferdinand, and Sylvain--get stuck at Paladin, which is a good class (better than Great Knight), but the -10% speed penalty is painful. And since all these characters have pretty good speed, it really sucks they won't be able to maximize that. On the other hand, female lance characters (Ingrid and Leonie) get to bask in the ambiance of a +20% speed growth in Falcon Knight WITH Lancefaire. This is just in general tho, not Sylvain LOL. ANYWAYS. His last flaw worth mentioning is his bane in Bows. Now, he doesn't necessarily need to be a bow character, there's plenty of other characters that can fill that role, but Sylvain has a naturally low dex so the Hit+20 would really help him.

Overall, I give him an 8.5/10. He is overall a well-rounded, versatile, above average unit having good growths in many stats with access to a good crest and personal. His biggest selling point is Swift Strikes, which is a double-hitting combat art and is one of the most reliable at ORKO-ing enemies. However, despite being a good physical unit, he falls in comparison to other units that excel at one thing better than Sylvain does himself.