Rate the Unit-Three Houses, Day 17: Claude

[Benice]

 

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

Sylvain: 7.66

Ingrid: 7.34

Bernadetta: 7.125

Linhardt: 7.11

Mercedes: 6.756

Dorothea: 6.375

Dedue: 5.8571

Annette: 5.5375

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 17: Claude

[Dark Holy Elf]

Consider Felix, but instead of having one of the worst talent lists in the game, you have one of the best ones instead. That's basically Claude.

The good: 8+55% speed, 11+40% str. Yes, I know the str growth doesn't sound that special, but between the base and Leicester Lineage giving him extra levels, he definitely has some great all-around offensive stats. 8+55% charm rules as well. Dex is junk as a stat but for what very, very little it's worth, Claude's is extremely high.

The talent list is just amazing. Authority, riding (for Move+1), flying (for wyvern or Alert Stance), bows, and a budding talent in axes? I mentioned before axe/authority/flying is the best combo for going wyvern, he's the only one with all three.

His unique post-timeskip perks aren't quite as good as those of the other lords, but Fallen Star is still nice: a 28 might attack which makes him immune to the next attack he faces, so if you play your cards right you can use it to kill a target and then bait the scariest thing imaginable next turn. His other notable CA is Encloser, letting him neutralize any enemy he can't kill. And his classes, Wyvern Master/Barbarossa, are super-nice, basically a wyvern lord but with bows instead. Since he gets them for free, he can ease up on any skill ranks for class certifications. Combined with all his boons, you can do silly things like get him both Move+1 and Alert Stance+, or even reasonably get him to Bowfaire2 without sacrificing the rest of his build (though I fell a bit short when I tried myself, others have convinced me it's possible).

The less good: The raw strength doesn't hit the ludicrous numbers that Edelgard or Dimitri reach (and he will eventually fall a bit behind the likes of Felix, despite my opening comments). And no Darting Blow means there will definitely be faster enemies he can't double. 35% HP and 30% def means he's never gonna be some sort of great concrete tank, it's a durability statline that resembles Petra and Felix more than Edelgard, Dimitri, or Sylvain.

That's about it, really? He's the only lord who isn't clearly the best unit in his own route... but he's still got a very good case for it. Claude gets a 9/10 (Maddening).

[LoneStar]

The man with the scheme. As one of the lord characters Claude has pretty good base stats. Hilda can give him more might from her personal skill and from support bonus. So as an archer or dodge tank he does pretty good damage. He has strengths in Bow, Flying, and a budding talent in Axes so he already has aptitude for the things that are meta. His personal class is pretty cool and has strong utility from being a flier.

He has pretty decent combat arts. 2 of them are effective against monsters, so if he wants to finish one off without risking a counter attack he can do that. Enclosed is really good, especially with his Flying class to hold an enemy still. Fallen Star can nuke things then gives him invulnerability from one attack during enemy phase, so that can help with moving your guys forward and not needing to turtle too much. Battalion Desperation can be good to avoid counter attacks from other archers in Maddening, since they have pretty good bulk to not die from swords without sword faire.

For classes his Wyvern Master/ Barbarossa are really great, they are very flexible and can let Claude do a lot of things. Paired with his personal battalion that has a ranges AoE gambit, you can get out of many oppressive situations in the game. Before he gets those he can function as a Sniper, Assassin, or Wyvern Rider. It sucks that he can’t get Darting Blow, that would make him a lot better in maddening, but he should double just fine in hard mode. 

His personal skill gains Pass, which augments his play style of doing whatever he wants.

My Rating: 9/10. Really solid and flexible and unit.

[L3xandr3]

Duke/Bishop Claud of Eda? Nope, just Claude of Almyra. FE typically avoids reusing names, but they occasionally run afoul of this problem. He’s the Meme-man. He’s also the worst of the 3 Main Lords. Put your pitchforks down.

     Skill Levels:      First his Boons: D Bow, E+ Sword, D Authority, E+ Riding and Flying. Budding Talent in Axes also helps. His Banes are Lances and Faith. Of the two, lances are relevant as they make it difficult to become a Bow Knight or Wyvern Lord. More on that latter…

     Abilities:     He gets Battalion Desperation (C) and Wrath (A). Wrath = Vantage Crit build. On a unit with either 1~3 Range or (Bow Knight) 1~4. Sounds good to me. Model Leader (C) is as bad as always. Why the hell does he get Rally Charm at S?! That I will never understand.

     Arts:     I’ve already said my piece about the Monster Arts, so yeah, he gets Bane of Monsters and Monster Blast at C+ Sword and Bow, respectively. A Sword gives Finesse Blade and that can do good damage considering Claude’s high Dexterity. Encloser (A) is extremely useful in Maddening.

     Stats:     Claude is like Ashe, but better. 8+60% Dexterity and 8+55% Speed are very good, making Doubles, Hits, and Crits more common. 8+55% Charm makes Claude a potent Gambiter and Gambit avoider. 11+40% Strength could be better, and 7+45% Luck is Ok. 5+25% Magic doesn’t matter. 26+35% Hp, 6+30% Defense, and 4+25% Resistance does make Claude quite frail. 

     Classes:     Beginner- Fighter (He’s a good enough fighter to advocate not going Soldier)

Intermediate- Brigand for Death Blow and Strength Growth, Archer for Hit +20, and Mercenary for Vantage

Advanced- Warrior for Wrath, then Wyvern Master

Master- Barbarossa, unless you want the +2 Range of the Bow Knight

          The Verdict

Like Dimitri and Felix, Claude doesn’t require much investment to get good. Unlike Dimitri and Felix, Claude isn’t astoundingly powerful. Yes, he’s good, but he’s not Dimitri good. Still an 8.5/10.

[LJ_Reflet]

Omg YES, CLAUDE. My original name was kia_kula meaning "Golden Deer" in Hawaiian, just cause I loved Claude so much HAHA. Claude is hands-down my top favorite character in this whole game and is arguably the best unit, probably topping Edelgard and Dimitri. He's HOT, lovable, speedy, strong, and a downright crit-machine--how can you hate this guy? But maybe I'm just being biased LOL. I'll do my best to rate him in a completely unbiased manner, but that'll be insanely difficult for me HAHA.

Prepare yourselves, for I am about to hand you guys a whole-ass academic journal about the god of the Golden Deer, CLAUDE. In this essay I'll--

The good:
Well, for one, HE'S LIKE HOT. A PoC man like me appreciates a PoC man like Claude.

Jokes aside, Claude has a lot going on for him. Despite having the lowest strength growth out of the three lords, he is undoubtedly the fastest. His base speed is 8, which is actually the same as Edelgard, but his growth is 55%--tied for the second highest growth with Felix and just behind the speedy girls. As you play through the game, Dimitri and Edelgard may have the strength to OHKO, but Claude will have the speed to always double and resist doubling as well as ORKO. On top of that, he is an exceptional dodge tank where the other excel more in physical tanking. Aside from being the obvious speedster of the lords, his other standout stats are also where the other two lords fall behind--and that's in Dex and Luck which are at 8+60% and 7+45% respectively. He is tied with Lysithea for having the highest dex growth in the whole game, and combined with his great luck stat, he will have a 105%(!!!) crit rate growth. Petra is regarded as the crit queen, but hers is just 95% compared to Claude's 105%. Claude will run around in circles critting everything he sees. Alongside his high dex, he also has a high charm stat of 8+55% which is a given as he is a Lord character. You can trust Claude to never miss with either a bow or a gambit since he has the dex and charm for it. Now aside from his great stats, his skill proficiencies are definitely worth the mention. When his budding talent in Axes is unlocked (which nets him Diamond Axe), he will have a total 5 skill boons--tied for the most with Edelgard, Marianne, and Cyril (minus DLC Balthus who has 6). This allows from him to be one of the most versatile physical units in the game especially with his preference for bows and axes. His other boons include Swords, Authority, and Flying--all great and useful boons. Training his skills is pretty much no-effort/low investment as he automatically promotes into his personal classes, Wyvern Master and Barbarossa, which are arguably the best in the game and only available to Claude (pls don't argue with me I'm bad at arguing). Barbarossa basically patches up all of his weaker stats which will later help Claude prove himself as one of the top units of the game. It's also the only flying class in the game that has Bowfaire--and we can all agree both flying and bows are the best HAHA (Kinshi Knight, take notes). Wind God upon mastery is also pretty broken, having 5-range and +10 hit. However, before he receives these classes,the paths paved out for him are usually for the Archer>Sniper>Bow Knight or Wyvern paths (and according to Edelgard's paralogue, this is very much because he is of Almyran ancestry HAHA). Achieving Hit +20 and Death Blow is a no-brainer for him and is definitely worth picking up for Claude--Death Blow especially because his strength is lower than the other lords. Unfortunately, Darting Blow isn't an option for him, but can you imagine Claude with Darting Blow? With his boon in swords and the fact that he gets his own special holy sword (Sword of Begalta), Assassin is actually not a bad choice for him either as it compliments his already high speed and dex (I've never tried this, but now I want to LOL). Next, his crest is also worth a mention. His Minor Crest of Riegan allows him to recover 30% of damage dealt with a combat art, which acts very similar to Byleth's Crest of Flames. Honestly, it could be better, but what's great about the Crest of Riegan is Claude's access to Fallen Star--a broken combat art LOL. Claude's given a free dodge after using it which really comes in handy especially against the final boss. I'm not even done talking about Claude, but I'll keep my next point short since I rambled on about my man LOL. Last thing to mention is his combat arts. Because of all of his boons, he has a lot, but the main one I want to mention is Encloser. He and Bernadetta are the only ones to learn Encloser and is one of the more useful bow combat arts, as he can salvage a unit in a danger zone from getting damaged or even killed. Overall, Claude has a lot of great assets allowing him to be considered as one of the best in the game, but what else can you expect from a Lord character? Haha.

Okay, now the bad:
I want to keep it fair and ramble on about his flaws as much as I did his assets, but dang that's a lot LOL. Now his biggest weakness in comparison to the other lords is his low strength and survivability. Despite having a rather high 11 base, his growth is 40% which can fall into an RNG trap. Honestly, I never had a problem with is strength and always competed with Byleth for having the highest strength in my Golden Deer playthroughs. His defense and HP are also relatively low at 26+35% and 6+30%--the lowest out of the 3 lords and pretty low for a physical unit. He can't take a hit as well as either Dimitri or Edelgard, however I find that his high speed can compensate for that as he has high dodge potential--which is something the other 2 can't do as well as Claude. He is also a ranged fighter, which means he'll probably be out of range of enemy attacks on PP and can also keep him safe from damage. I was gonna mention his low resistance as well, but the lords both have bad resistance too LOL. In terms of skill weaknesses, he does unfortunately have a bane in lances which can hinder him from achieving Bow Knight should you put him down that path or any other horse-mounted class.

... I--... yup that's it. I can't ramble on about his weaknesses as much as I did his strengths LOL.

I tried my hardest not to be biased, I really did. But I love this guy and I gotta give him a perfect 10/10. Despite being the physically weakest and frailest out of the 3 lords, he is definitely the most nimble and agile boasting the high speed and dex that the other two wish they had. He is given the exclusive class of Barbarossa, arguably the best class in the game as it is the only designated bow-oriented flying class and also patches up Claude's weaknesses with great growths. He is also very versatile with his many skill proficiencies and has access to great combat arts on top of his personal Relic. He's a top tier unit and one of the best.

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Tenma

[Zapp Branniglenn]

His skill proficiencies are fantastic and make him very low investment on skill exp. Only marred by a weakness in lances, but he doesn't benefit from any class that requires lances, and the only real impact is needing a bit more tutoring to reach E+ so he can pick up Reposition eventually. Authority strength lets him play with C and above batallions sooner than the rest of his class which can be a nice power boost in the early-mid game. And his post time skip classes are fantastic. He actually doesn't need to train at all in flying unless you care about alert stance on principle. The Barbarossa class in particular provides the same insane stat growths that Wyvern Lord does but with no Mag penalty and +5 charm, along with better stat boosts. He also has Battalion wrath. But I don't really consider Claude an enemy phase character due to his poor bulk. The double wrath build is still game breaking on a unit like him, and he won't have accuracy issues like most usual candidates, but I'd still pick somebody else. Also his unique failnaught combat art can be pretty great with the right planning. But since you don't know enemy turn order, the amount of planning is quite limited. 

The Reigan crest is one of the more underwhelming ones. Like most units in this game he has exactly one noteworthy combat art - encloser. Letting you lock down an enemy in a way that normally requires spending a gambit. You can feed a kill to somebody that needs exp or just stop a threatening enemy (or monster) from moving for a turn. It's a great art in a vacuum, but it would be much better if he got it as early as C+, because by the time he's around A in bows, he's killing enemies outright with Hunter's Volley, or far away from other allies as a flier. His base stats and growths aren't impressive. Even non-lord physical units will keep up with and surpass him in some areas, especially in physical bulk, so it's great that he's an archer. And it boggles the mind that the game developers say Claude is the least charming of the three lords. Have they played the game? The batallion he gets in time skip is fantastic but it warrants mention it's not unique to him and anybody at C authority could use it. And even use it well at average to low charm since linked attack bonuses do a lot for you at that stage of the game now that A supports are unlocked.

I rate Claude an 8.0 out of 10. In VW, the hardest chapters are in pre-time skip, and that is where Claude is just a good archer. Somebody who primarily deals in chip damage until he masters Sniper. And Hunter's volley is something you'll only get to play with for a chapter or two before he's back into a class that struggles to get the ORKO. Even his post-time skip combat performance is only ever as good or worse than Leonie's. Still, he's low investment, he has no noteworthy weaknesses, and gets one of the best classes in the game without needing to certify for it. He's a great unit overall. Although I bet if you diligently tutor his Bow rank to hit S+, his brave bow damage will finally surpass Leonie's point-blank volley in best combat performance among fliers. Seriously I don't see the appeal of certifying into wyvern in pre-time skip. Just don't bother with his flying rank, or axe rank past D+ and go all in on Bows. He needs nothing else, wyvern rider's base stats are unlikely to bring him up in strength and speed like it does most other units, and stacking bowfaires is way better than Alert Stance when he has a combat art that gaurantees him one dodge if he needs it.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Glennstavos

[Punished Dayni]

It's time for Upsidedown Man's entrance!

Claude lays down the stats

Spoiler

Claude hasn't necessarily the best statline. However, he has a great start with 11+40% Str, which allows him to have a great impact early on and still be at least a bit relevant in power. His Spd should be good at 8+55% to keep him at pace in higher difficulties, same with his Dex at 8+60% (considering his 3+ range options this is nice to have), but his magic's a joke at 5+25% Mag. Defensively you shouldn't expect too much with 26+35% HP, 6+30% Def and 4+25% Res, but I dunno, I've been lucky with his HP at least. 7+45% Luk is decent enough and 8+55% Cha is very nice actually, allows him to more effectively use gambits (Considering he has one of the most broken on him in RaD, this is only a good thing)

Claude has got most of the Strengths and Weaknesses on his side for sure. Strengths in Bows and Authority are just generally very nice for him to have, Riding and Flying make it easier for him to access certain classes or get skills like Mov +1 or Alert Stance+ and Swords while not amazing he can still use well. He also only has Lances and Faith for weaknesses, which while Faith isn't too much of an issue Lances can prove to be more of a problem depending on what you're trying to access but I would argue it's not a problem that should ruin him. Claude also has a very nice budding talent in Axe, but the CA he gets is Diamond Axe, which isn't worth using imo. The real benefit is making axe classes easier to access.

His magic list isn't amazing, but better than you'd expect; Reason contains Wind, Sagittae, Cutting Gale and Excalibur, which is mostly eh barring Excalibur; Faith has H + N, Recover and Silence, which is also pretty meh and he doesn't get s great A rank to compensate, though Silence can certainly be useful.

Claude's personal skill is Leicester Lineage, which gives him an exp boost and post timeskip gives him Pass. This Mov on the classes he has access to works very well with Pass, so no question does it work for him and all with no effort. He has the Minor Riegan crest, which heals him for 30% of the damage he deals with combat arts 30% of the time, which is situational but appreciated when it is useful.

Claude has Bane of Monsters (situationally useful) and Finesse Blade (Works nice off that Dex growth) and Monster Blast (Also situationally useful, but having 1-2 monsterslaying options can be nice depending on how you handle them) and Encloser (Locking enemies in place is a nice option and being able to have 2 units with it is an advantage VW has). He has in his authority skills Battalion Desperation (If he was a more solid speedster I'd agree), Model Leader (Could only see use in LTC), Battalion Wrath (Always nice for those crit builds) and Rally Cha (Why is this his S rank?)

Claude has the best lord class in most contexts, seeing as not only can he fly but also has pass. This allows him of course to get in and out of conflicts and because of his bow strengths he can be further away from foes for this too. His relic, Failnaught, is also pretty good due to its high might, innate crit and range, but it also has a combat art that's a life saver in the right circumstances (As easily proved by RaD); Fallen Star is a nice CA due to it's increased might, hit and getting 2-3 range (the crit's honestly a cherry on top), but it also allows Claude to get a skill which allows him to dodge hits for the next round of combat. This is obvious when you remember all the grapplers that can quad a lot of your units. His later class Barbarossa also has a nice CA in Wind God, which is essentially Deadeye with a hit boost, added 2 range and more durability, the real issue being getting it if you have Claude going in other classes for mastery.

How did I find him?

Spoiler

For my VW run, Claude was pretty solid when I was playing. That being said however, he still was a bit screwed. 36 Spd isn't amazing for level 43 and 32 Str seems pretty weak too. He did have a big HP pool of 60, wich alongside his surprisingly high 28 Def made him better at taking physical hits than I expected. He ended up mastering Noble > Soldier > Lord (Didn't master Archer) > WM (didn't finish Barbarossa), which is pretty poor in hindsight.

For my maddening run, Claude was a definite ally. I wish I could say he has a lot of Spd (He could have been speed screwed, hitting 33 or so in Barbarossa), but his Str was just wild, I'm pretty sure hitting 40 or so and that with all the boosts in the last chapter saw him able to wield Failnaught unimpeded, which isn't exactly an easy task unless you're all power. This combined with his very high hit and Cha saw him very reliable with gambits and attacking on PP throughout, helping to prevent him being an irrelevant unit. He even had a large enough HP pool that he could take hits when he wasn't getting doubled. He ended up mastering Noble > Fighter > Brigand > Archer > Warrior > Mercenary > Barbarossa> WL, while he was also finding less time to be on the field because of getting so much combat experience in the main maps.

Claude has a lot of tricks up his sleeve that I would recommend using. I'll to give him a 8.5/10, but only because his stats aren't as nice as they could be and Speedy Claude (For not having Darting Blow's worth) still eludes me.

[ruruo]

8.75/10
He's not crazy busted in the way Dimitri and Edgelgard can be built to be.
Super fast Claude eludes me on runs. I don't think he's fast enough to double on Maddening without a Brave Bow. I also wish for him to have Darting Blow. 
On the other hand he comes with so many good things. Encloser is a fantastic skills on a flier. Excellent proficiencies in Riding, Flying, Axes and Bows. His personal Battalion is one of the best. Free access to a flying class without the need to train for it. Barbarossa is just great class, hard to go wrong with it. 

[Barren]

And now it's time to fear the deer! Or is it? Well Claude is quite the schemer for being the grandson of the grandson of the grandson of Duke Riegan. He has a striking smile but it doesn't reach his eyes. Despite that though we're here to talk about what makes Claude the god?  Or rather, how good is Claude actually? This is assuming Maddening and no DLC classes.

Claude unlike Dimitri or Edelgard doesn't have an impressive strength growth starting off. His strength stat is at 11 with a 40% growth. Though he has a dex and speed stat of 8 with a 60% and 55% growth respectively. So he is quite nimble out of the three lords. He is also a little frail as well. 26 HP with a 35% growth and 6 def with a 30% growth are not quite desirable. But he is a typical archer with slightly better stats than normal. His charm growth, no surprise is as great as his dex. 8 with a 60% growth makes him one of the best battalion users. His personal ability much like Edelgard and Dimitri slightly increases experience when in combat. This is quite good considering that in maddening the EXP you gain is poultry. He has a boon in Swords, Bows, Authority, Riding and Flying. These qualities are quite nice for him considering he can do down a number of routes. Claude also has a budding talent in Axes. This alone helps Claude rack up in Axe rank to unlock the Brigand class to gain Death Blow. He has a bane in lances and faith magic but these are not really a big deal for our outsider. His crest of Riegan essentially functions like Sol where he can get a portion of HP back. While it's nice to have work when he needs HP, it may mess with Vantage builds so beware to those who wish to use it.

He starts with a E+ in swords, D and bow and authority, and E+ in riding and flying. Off the bat the game encourages you to try a number of things with Claude. Though having him Curved Shot is always valuable. Later on at Rank C+ he gets Monster Blaster which is occasionally useful when in monster battles. Then at rank A he gets Encloser. This hands down makes leveling his Bow rank worth it. Bernadetta also gets Encloser at rank A. So bringing her along with Claude and having the two of them use Encloser is an incredibly useful strategy. The duo makes sure things don't get too overwhelming as in maddening things tends to get quite hairy. His sword combat arts consist of Bane of Monsters at rank C+ and then Finesse Blade at rank A. Finesse Blade is a nice combat art since his dex growth is really high and he has good speed so the extra damage from his dex and high avoid fits him like a glove as well. When unlocking his budding talent is Axes he gets Diamond Axe. It's a powerful combat art with 14 might but it's hit rate is down by 20. You would really need hit +20, a battalion with high hit and an accuracy ring for him to get great use of it.

He should most likely go down the Fighter route to improve his strength stat with strength +2. He could go down the Myrmidon route but doesn't have access to Darting Blow so speed +2 is just simply an upgrade for him. He like Edelgard and Dimitri have access to the lord class. However Claude gets Battalion Desperation at rank C and Battalion Wrath at rank A. The lord class you might argue could work for Dimitri to gain access to the BW + BV combo faster, but for Claude you don't usually need a higher ranked battalion than his unique one you get by part 2, The immortal Flying Co. However you could combine Alert Stance + with Battalion Wrath for high avoid and high crit. So you can skip the lord class if you want. His preferred intermediate classes are Brigand for Death Blow then Archer for Hit +20. You could either jump to Wyvern Rider to work on his flying early or go to Sniper in case you want him to have Hunter's Volley.

Now we get to his Wyvern Master then Barbarossa class. His ability in part 2 gets a nice upgrade where he can access to Pass. Him being able to fly around the map unrestricted is a really nice boon. The other perk granted by the crest of Riegan is access to the Failnaught by the beginning of part 2. And on top of that, his exclusive combat art of Fallen Star. In addition to granting an extra ten might and thirty to the Failnaught’s hit rate, Claude gains the Fallen Star status which guarantees he will evade all attacks in the next round of combat after which he will be subject to ordinary hit calculations. The combat art does not, as many players erroneously think after reading the art’s description, allow Claude to dodge all enemy attacks on the enemy phase of the next turn ‒ it only works for one round of combat; accordingly, the combat art is best utilized in situations where Claude will see limited combat in the next enemy phase such as when fighting against monsters or bosses. Upon mastering the Barbarossa class Claude learns his exclusive lord combat art Wind God. This is essentially a better version of Dead Eye. His magic list is interesting but nothing that stands out. He gets Recover then Silence, but again his bane in faith makes not worth pursuing. And his reason spell list is a carbon copy of Annette's spell list.

His other options would include Cavalier or Paladin but his bane in lances would be a struggle for him to get through. Plus Aegis is only useful on occasion. Bow Knight won't require as much lance rank as Paladin would. And him gaining bow range +2 is really nice but Flying beats Riding. Wyvern Lord is his other alternative in case you want him to dodge tank with avoid +10.

I would give him an overall rating of 9/10. Claude is a really damn good lord in this game.  It does take some work to get him there but when you're at that point where he is producing results, there's no doubt that any enemy even on maddening would fear the deer.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Barren

[Sooks]

10/10, Claude is incredibly fast and has an amazing set of talents, axe + flying + authority. He will have no problems making it to wyvern lord like that. And his strength and speed will have him doing phenomenal in it, as well as his ridiculous charm. He also starts off in a wyvern class post time skip, which is very nice. His exclusive combat art can do more damage so that’s nice, but it’s other effect is just dodging any other attacks that round of combat, which is very situational. Overall, Claude should probably end up being one of if not your best units, and one of the best units in the entire game.

[Anathaco]

9/10

Claude is a solid unit that consistently performs super well when used. Honestly I think others have covered his strengths in more detail than I could, so I won’t say too much. Great stats and proficiencies that let him get the skills he wants, free and exclusive access to one of the best classes of the game in Barbarossa, access to Encloser, a great Hero’s Relic that he gets for free and Immortal Corps, one of the games best battalions... Claude may not have as much to make him stand out as the other two lords but he has less weaknesses IMO. Better proficiencies than both, plus without a gimmick that can be circumvented like Aymr running out of durability or unlucky gambit hits ruining Dimitri’s day, Claude can be said to be consistently amazing no matter what you do with him.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Claude, rated on VW Maddening

The bad

Claude is lacking on both sides of bulk; his HP is 26+0.35x, his Defense is 5+0.30x, and his Resistance is 4+0.25x. So while he's not abjectly terrible on either side, let's just say he'll want to be avoiding hits on enemy phase. His Magic stat sits at 5+0.25x, which is rather poor as well. Coupled with a Reason list lacking any 3+ range spells, and a Faith bane, magic classes clearly aren't this outsider's strong suit. His one other bane comes in Lances, so Paladin does not come easy to him. And while classes like Bow Knight and Wyvern Lord are quite achievable, this bane doesn't help him there. Finally, as a male unit who yearns to fly, missing out on Pegasus Knight's Darting Blow is a misfortune. 

The good

Claude's remaining stats range from good to great. His Dexterity (8+0.60x), Speed (8+0.55x), and Charm (8+0.60x) are all standouts - seriously, what's with this game and holding non-HP/Str/Mag bases to single digits? So Claude has a good chance of hitting and critting, meets a lot of doubling thresholds, and can use offensive gambits to great effect. And just to be exhaustive, his Strength (11+0.40x) and Luck (7+0.45x) ain't too shabby. And his personal skill develops from a mini-Paragon pre-skip, to functionally incorporating Pass post-skip.

As for his proficiencies... holy cow. Swords and Authority are standard for Lords by this point, but welcome nonetheless. And we all know that he's le funny upside-down Bow man. But Riding, and Flight? A budding talent in Axes? Activate that, and he has more boons than banes and neutrals combined! But... are they good ones? Well, he has a cakewalk into Archer, for Hit+20. And Brigand for Death Blow isn't that much harder. He can easily spend time as a Lord, too, for the Charm support and the Authority rate boost. As for Advanced classes, Sniper, Assassin, and Wyvern Rider are all great options. And depending on his route, Movement+1 and Alert Stance+ are both attainable with little difficulty. 

As a Lord, though, we must discuss the personal classes. Wyvern Master and Barbarossa are, in a word, excellent. It's a game where being a flier is hugely strong, and he can get a Faire to his signature weapon type. His Authority growth rate remains boosted, snd he can keep providing Charm support. As a Wyvern Master with the Immortal Corps, he should have a relatively easy time outlasting chapter 13. True, the class isn't perfect - if you want maximum Bowrange, Bow Knight is your best bet. If you want a brave combat art, returning to Sniper is the way to go. And if you're a madlad who raised Claude in magic, Dark Knight may be more enticing. Regardless, he performs wonderfully as a Barbarossa - the sky's the limit!

Going back to combat arts, he gets a couple interesting ones. Finesse Blade lets him capitalize off his high Dex stat, while Encloser may keep a crucial foe at bay for a turn. A shame they don't come until A-ranks. Thanks to the minor Crest of Riegan, he gets exclusive access to the powerful Fallen Star combat art, significantly boosting his attack (with dragon effectiveness) and hit at 2~3 range. This only works on Failnaught, of course, which can be thought of as a super-Longbow. His Crest offers a chance, too, of restoring his HP after attacking with a combat art. Finally, the Wind God art boosts his range to a tremendous 2~5 - still, it demands Barbarossa mastery, so you won't get much time to enjoy it.

As a last note, I'll briefly return to magical builds of Claude. While he lacks long-range spells, his Reason list is surprisingly deep, and includes the flier-effective Excalibur spell. And despite his weakness in Faith, he gets 4 spells on that side (a trait only shared, I believe, by Edelgard). Recover is nothing special, but Silence can have utility in shutting down enemy mages. And his Riding boon makes Dark Knight feasible. I don't recommend making Claude a Mage, but if you do, he'll at least hit fast and accurately.

The Verdict

Claude is imperfect - his bulk is mediocre on either side, his Magic is poor, and his bane areas put some limit on his class options. Still, he excels in Speed, Dex, and Charm, doubling many enemies and delivering offensive gambits to great effect. His boon areas, too, are manifold - and they're in the right places to get crucial skills. He has a lot of great classes to work toward, but the best may be one he doesn't have to do any work for - his personal flying bow classes. With the Failnaught in hand, and Immortal Corps at his side - let's just say that, if you had any doubts about Claude pre-skip, he'll likely dispel them with his glow-up. This is a case where the good clearly outweighs the bad. All things considered, I rate Claude a 9 out of 10.