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Rate the Unit-Three Houses, Day 25: Byleth


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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

Claude: 8.977

Felix: 8.625 

Lysithea: 8.472

Petra: 8.34

Leonie: 8.2

Ferdinand: 7.78

Sylvain: 7.66

Ingrid: 7.34

Hilda: 7.31

Bernadetta: 7.125

Linhardt: 7.11

Marianne: 6.9769

Mercedes: 6.756

Dorothea: 6.375

Dedue: 5.8571

Annette: 5.5375

Hubert: 5.525

Ignatz: 4.88

Caspar: 4.32

Lorenz: 3.8077

Raphael: 3.7273

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

Average score for Golden Deer: 6.543

 

Day 25: Byleth

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9/10, Byleth is the god unit after all. They are the only unit who can start getting exp as early as the prologue and have phenomenal growths and bases that lend themselves to any build thanks to class growths, and they have a boon in authority. Although they can’t teach, they can still get professor instruction or whatever it’s called faster to get higher authority so that’s still good, and you should have the activity points to spare (is this assuming NG+?). Their personal is great for getting them levels, I’ve never thought about using the + version to help another unit get exp, but I guess it’s there even if it’s not much more exp, especially when it’s almost the time skip. Their spell list leaves a bit to be desired, but it’s mainly their growths plus bases that carry them. Their crest is also quite good even if it’s a crest and therefore unreliable. I mean they have a hard time getting into a mounted class but they’re not great at those and yet, frankly, they don’t need one, and the sword of the creator is good and gets repaired throughout the story. They get a 9/10 for being very good, not game breaking or anything, but very good.

Edited by Sooks1016
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Should we vote F!Byleth and M!Byleth separately?

Anyway my rating is based on F!Byleth (Maddening) since she’s the better version imo:

Pros

- Her unique weapon comes early, has 1-2 and a great CA.

- Personal gives her and surrounding units extra EXP which is really handy in Maddening considering the reduced EXP gain in combat.

- Amazing bases with decent growths. (Wtf 13 Str base at lv 1)

- Gets support bonus from basically every units except for lolAnna.

- Convoy access.

- Early Sylvain outside of AM = early Lance of Ruin/access to one of the best paralogues in the game.

- Really flexible in terms of class choices thanks to faculty training and 0 Bane.

- Very high charm + authority boon means easy access to strong battalion and gambits hit hard.

- Crest provides extra damage, survivability and procs really often.

Cons:

- Doesn’t learn any spectacular Combat Arts.

- Can get RNG-screwed on important stats since growths are kinda middling.

Overall F!Byleth gets a 9/10 from me with no bias.

 

 

 

Edited by Ari Chan
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Good unit, but probably not as good as the lords.

The easiest comparison is with Edelgard, who has the same bases (slightly better, actually, that charm), a better talent list (axes + armour > brawling + faith), slightly better growths (10% str > 5% spd), and gets Raging Storm post-timeskip.

Then there's Dimitri, who has amazing stats and also gets Battalion Vantage/Wrath.

Claude is debatable. I think you could make a case for FByleth there, based around pegasus access in tier 2. But my inclination is Claude is better too.

Byleth's training method is definitely inferior to other PCs. Non-Byleth PCs get 40 exp (for neutral) every week, plus whatever they can get from instruct. Byleth needs 3-4 time units to keep up with this (and faculty training slows your prof exp intake). Later in the game this isn't so bad, but early, when you only have 3, 4, 5 time units per explore? Forget it. And of course, any time you opt for battle, s/he slides further behind.

Still good though. I mean, 13+45% str (with a soft +2 post-timeskip) is still very high, as is charm later in the game after a bunch of tea, and no other stats are bad. So... yeah, between the lords and the best students works. Byleth gets 8.5/10 (Maddening).

 

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Not sure why we didn't do them first, but...

The Professor, considered on SS Maddening. Or any route, really, they perform about the same.

The Bad

The Professor is bad in... well, they're lacking in... wait, do they have any bad stats? Their bulk, I suppose, can be considered somewhat iffy - his HP (27+0.45x) is respectable, but his Defense (6+0.35x) and Resistance (6+0.30x) are more middling. Depending on their build, they can take a hit, but not too many.

And as proficiencies go... wait, there are no weaknesses there either? Moving on.

Ah, how about combat arts? Bane-of-Monsters (C+) isn't so good, and Draining Blow (C+) sucks (heh) as well. Their spell lists aren't especially good either. Offensively, they neither get effective damage, nor 3+ range. And as support goes, all they get is Heal and... stronger Heal. So the Professor can take up the mantle of magic, but... they won't excel at it.

One more thing - and it's probably their biggest flaw. The Professor grows skill level differently from everyone else. Since they're teaching the class, they can't learn from weekly lessons or tutoring. Instead, they grow their ranks through Seminars (at the cost of a weekend), or Faculty Training (costing an Activity Point). While they can grow weapon and Authority ranks as normal, this makes it hard for them to get the ball rolling in Magic or movement types - especially in the earlygame, when Activity points are scarce. This includes their Faith budding talent, which demands 6 Faculty Training sessions from Manuela or Rhea to unlock.

The Good

The Professor has some truly great stats, including the best starting Strength around, at 13+0.45x. While tempered somewhat by starting in the weakest weapon type (Swords), they're still a great damage dealer from day one. And their Magic (6+0.35x), while low for a magic user, is high enough to keep hybrid offense viable. Their Dexterity (8+0.45x) and Speed (9+0.45x) go hard as well, letting them strike quickly and accurately. And their Luck (8+0.45x) keeps them resistant to crits. At first, their Charm (7+0.45x) might seem just average, but the professor has a secret trick up their sleeves - tea parties. When they go well, they have a chance of boosting the Charm of both participants. Even relying just on birthdays, getting 2 free points of charm per month (after tea parties become accessible) is certainly plausible.

What proficiencies does the Professor possess? Well, they're strong in Authority (D), which is always welcome. Put a batallion on them early, and they'll be be at the forefront of getting into higher ranks. They also have a boon in Swords (D+), so classes like Thief and Assassin come naturally to them. Brawling (E+) is their other weapon boon, which can make classes like Grappler and War Master attractive to the male incarnation. The female incarnation, on the other hand, can get Darting Blow - while both versions can achieve Death Blow and Hit+20. Their one other prospective boon is in Faith - they have a budding talent, which unlocks White Magic Avoid +20. This can help their survivability in magical classes - but then again, they'd usually rather be using weapons.

As far as spells go, while their list isn't especially interesting, it is fairly front-loaded. They get three offensive spells by C-Reason - and at higher ranks, they have high-might spells like Ragnarok and Aura to look forward to. And as combat arts go, they get an interesting magical one, in Mystic Blow (A), letting the male version do magical damage in Gauntlet classes. And Windsweep (A) is among the better sword arts, allowing the Professor to safely chip down a target.

Is there another art they get? ...Ah, that's right, the Sword-of-the-Creator! Unlike most Hero's Relics, other units can't use it. Well, they can, but it becomes mediocre (higher weight, loss of 2-range) in any other hands. It becomes usable from chapter 4, making it the earliest-available Relic in the game. And it receives a free glow-up in the Chapter 10 battle, boosting its stats and repairing uses. As a physical sword with 1~2 range, it's a one-of-a-kind within the game. 7 Mt and 9 Wt are meh, but 90 Hit is nice. And it can be boosted by Ruptured Heaven, granting 10 Hit, 10 Crit, and (7+0.3×Mag) to Mt, with dragon effectiveness, at a cost of 3 durability. And after the glow-up, the weapon becomes even better: Might up to 15, Weight down to 7, and a free 10 Crit. And Sublime Heaven is an even-stronger Ruptured Heaven (3 more Mt, 10 more Crit). Even in a magical build, I've found the Professor still dealing tremendous damage with these tools.

Thsir use of this weapon is enabled, in part, by their Crest - the Major Crest of Flames. Regarded as the strongest of all Crests, it grants the Professor a 20% chance to restore HP after an attack. Plus, a further 25% chance (so 5% overall) of boosting their power and cancelling the chance of a counter-attack. Like most Crests, it's not exactly reliable, but it can provide a welcome boost. And it means they can comfortably wield other Hero's Relics - they can bring Aymr, Areadbahr, and Failnaught into Smash, for instance.

Their other personal trait is their ability - Professor's Guidance, an excellent one. Like the Lords' abilities, it functions as a mini-Paragon, granting them 20% more experience. But what's more, it also passively casts the same boost on adjacent allies. So scoring the kill adjacent to the Professor is always desirable, especially on Maddening, where every drop of experience counts. And if you're still not impressed, you will be after the glow-up, when they receive an extra 2 damage to every attack, because why not.

I would be remiss, too, were I not to mention their personal class - the Enlightened One. Much hay has been made over whether or not this class is actually a good one. It comes with Swordfaire (synergizing greatly with the Sword-of-the-Creator) and Terrain Resistance (which is... something). It has spell access with 6 move, which is unheard of at this point in the game, and it can use gauntlets all the while. It excels in no particular area, but it lets the Professor stay versatile. And most importantly, it's free - the Professor need not work on any ranks, save for Authority and their weapon, or magic, of choice. Plus, the class provides a great mastery skill - Sacred Power grants +3 offense and bulk to adjacent allies. This goes swimmingly with Professor's Guidance, giving their students more reason to stick by them.

The Verdict

Wow, I think this has been my longest analysis thus far! As you can see, there's some bad going on - the Professor has no particularly standout growths, their spell list is lacking, and they have a hard time getting the ball rolling in magic and movement types. But honestly, they don't especially need to. They hit hard with weapons from the get-go, and can claim the powerful Sword-of-the-Creator to their name. And they can help their team grow faster, thanks to their personal. Later, the Enlightened One can be an effective class choice, but they can also easily go Assassin. Or, with Faculty Training, they can get into magical or flying classes. They're inclined to lead a batallion, and do well with offensive gambits, throughout the game. I don't believe there's such a thing as a perfect unit, but the Professor is the closest we get. I assess both male and female incarnations to be worth a 10 out of 10.

Edited by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
Typo.
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Byleth is actually one of the more difficult units to evaluate for a Maddening playthrough.  The reason they are so hard to evaluate is due to how overpowered they are in the beginning of the game due to the absurd base stats that Byleth has.  Those base stats can cover up the weaknesses of a poor build until very late in the game.  The first few times I played through Three Houses on Hard and Maddening, I kept wondering why my Byleth was so great at the beginning of the game, but crap by the end of it.  Solving that problem is definitely possible, but it requires going away from the default class progression path pretty early.  I also think there is a pretty clear divide in the utility of the two genders for Byleth, but I'll get to that later.

There's plenty good to Byleth.  They have the aforementioned amazing base stats, which will allow Byleth to easily be the most valuable unit on the team for the first half dozen chapters of the game.  They have good, though unspectacular, all around stat growths, which supports most possible classes on Normal or Hard difficulty.  They have a powerful crest and a powerful Hero's Relic (which even has the added benefit of being acquired early).  Supports with literally every character in the game.  And since you can choose either gender at the beginning of a playthrough, you have access to every class if you plan for it.

The downsides for Byleth are limited, but present.  Byleth's spell list is unremarkable.  This is the case with many melee oriented units, but Byleth's exclusive class nudges them towards being a hybrid melee/spellcaster type.  And not only is Byleth not very good at that, but that type of build specifically is punished on Maddening.  I would go so far as to say Byleth getting access to the Enlightened One class is a negative to the character as a whole, due to how much a trap that class is.  Byleth's speed is OK, but not sufficient on Maddening to remain competitive on its own with enemy growths even with a high base value.  And while Byleth can use pretty much every melee weapon if needed, the best Combat Art they have access to is Windsweep.  That's OK, but nothing to write home about.

The speed issue that I've brought up is the main reason I think there is a big difference in the utility of m!Byleth and f!Byleth.  f!Byleth gets access to Darting Blow, Pegasus Knight, and Falcon Knight.  These are all things that bring up Byleth's good, but not great, speed up to the levels necessary to be competitive on Maddening.  m!Byleth just doesn't get access to those abilities and classes.  The best thing they have access to is Quick Riposte in War Master, but that ability comes so late in the game that it's not even a comparison.  As a Falcon Knight, Byleth with be a strong unit that can contribute through the game, though I wouldn't consider them one of the best units in the endgame.  That said, they do merit extra consideration for how dominant they are in the early game when almost every other character is vulnerable.

I'll give f!Byleth an 8.5/10.  I'll give m!Byleth a 7.5/10.

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Byleth is the closest thing to a Jagen of Three Houses. While the house leader might match him in stats, his proficiency with swords and starting stats give him the highest AS at level 1 in addition to wrath strike. His level 1 performance is only matched by the likes of Felix or Dimitri. He has no skill weakness, only proficiencies, as well as a boost to combat experience that can be applied to adjacent units. I think people overblow how much 20% actually helps in these units leveling up, but since combat exp is so precious in Maddening, I never call those personals bad, just average. Byleth has access to Windsweep at A rank, and while I would consider it one of the better combat arts in a vacuum, I have trouble recommending the player go so far in raising swords to grab it. By the time you hit A, the game is mostly over, and instead of chipping people with your sword, you could be blowing them up with gauntlets or the sword of the creator's combat art. Byleth's growth rates are average across the board, only beating the Lorenz' strength, speed, and defense by 5 each. While this does provide some dopamine at him raising many stats, you can't count on crucial points on strength, speed, or defense every time. It is unlikely Byleth will continue being your strongest unit by post time skip.

Byleth's natural charm falls under the house leaders, but ends up being the highest in the game due to tea time. You only need to do tea time on birthdays, and your charm will reach the ~50 range (more like 40 in CF) by the end of the game. And while your mileage may vary, I didn't need to have online features turned on to always have some tea in my inventory since they so often appear as blue sparklies in the monastery. I did need the tea time guide up though for correct responses. Tea is kind of expensive, but worth it to stay stocked on, since you'll be using it to pad out your units charms stats in the late game. Byleth also has exclusive access to faculty and later advanced training. These boosts help you reach particular thresholds you want for recruiting more students or class certifications, in addition to staying ahead of your students to keep providing professor expertise bonuses while tutoring. My students tend to overtake Byleth in weapons skill fairly quickly, but it's still an interesting feedback loop to consider. His personal class, Enlightened One, is regarded as kind of bad, but I think it's the third best personal class in the game, behind only Claude's two classes. It's a great place to pad out your gauntlet and authority ranks in the mid game while also providing some extra heal utility, if you nabbed that spell. Byleth's naturally high authority gives him the soonest access to better batallions, but I usually use that opportunity to "warm up" batallions to their max level for when the students are ready to use them. And finally Byleth can support everybody in the game, meaning he can always benefit from and provide his own linked attack bonuses no matter what your roster looks like. He's definitely the king of any draft run (assuming your drafts always include Byleth by default). He's also packing special ally bonuses with four other units.

I rate Byleth a 10 out of 10. He has so many unique advantages and ways of making your other units better. His combat performance is invaluable in the hardest maps of the game, even if it falls off eventually. And he has ease of reaching any meta class you care about despite the lack of skill proficiencies, in addition to a weapon skill at S+ by the end of the game, especially if that skill is punching. I think gauntlet wielding Byleth is his best avenue, but obviously not an option outside of early maps for F!Byleth. She makes up for it with access to pegasus knight to start padding out the flying skill early and stay ahead on AS a bit longer through darting blow. And having a second flier for those pre time skip paralogues is also extremely helpful.

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10/10 for male.

8/10 for female.

While Byleth doesn't have any major weakness, as a PP unit I'd only put them as a little above average. Fairly reliable, but not as good as Felix, Lysithea or...a fair number of mages, really. Where they truly shine is as an EP unit, easily getting their avoid up to 140 without stat boosters. Their high charm also makes them fairly safety against gambits, which are generally the bane of any EP unit. Byleth performs best as a War Master dodge tank with both high crit and QR making them a reliable killer.

Although Dimitri is more reliable at killing, I feel that Byleth is a much better EP unit simply due to his lack of weaknesses. Monsters, ballista, armored units, and high avoid enemies are all a threat to Dimitri since he can't crit/hit/oneshot them. And if he gets damaged at all, his battalion is at risk. If you lose his battalion, he's not only useless for the rest of the map, but you have to restore it and whittle it down again. And from my own experience, I actually managed to get QR faster than I could whittle down Dimitri's battalion to 1/3 when I was setting them both up.

By comparison, Byleth is very safe to use. If I put him in the middle of a horde of monsters, it doesn't matter if he can't kill them immediately, since they won't be hurting him either. Even if he does get hit by a gambit, his avoid is so high that he can reasonably survive the next turn, preferably with physic help. And since his battalion's health isn't relevant to the build, I don't have to treat him like a piece of tissue paper the way I do for Dimitri.

Unfortunately F!Byleth can't get access to War Master and, in her case, you're basically left with another Ferdinand. A unit with a lot of avoid, but not that much killing potential.

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This is an interesting character to go over her. We have our favorite academy professor Byleth. Male or Female, it matters not, Byleth is quite popular among the students and they all wanted to share a dance on the night of the ball. Byleth also has a goddess living in their head at least as of part 1. How well does Byleth hold up compared to the other lords and students? This is assuming maddening and no dlc.

Class is now in session. Byleth is the game's avatar and both genders have the same stat growths but their differences are in class paths so we're going to have to condense this analysis a bit but I will bring up the differences when I come across it. Byleth is a well versed protagonist that can go in any class you desire. 27 HP with 6 defense and resistance are pretty solid off the bat. The HP has a 45% growth, defense has a 35% growth and resistance has a 30% growth. The strength stat is the highest stat starting off at lucky 13 with a 45% growth. Byleth's speed and dex are also quite good. 9 and 8 respectively both sporting a 45% growth. Byleth's magic is somewhat a low point but still workable since it starts with a stat of 6 with a 35% growth. So if this doesn't convince you further that Byleth is an extremely versatile character like Robin and Corrin beforehand, then keep reading because we're here for the long haul.

Their personal ability Professor's Guidance multiplies this unit's and adjacent allies' experience earned by 1.2. So in a mode hard or maddening where experience is tight, this is a huge deal when you're trying to level up without the access of free battles like you would get on normal mode. Byleth has a boon in swords, brawling and authority with a budding talent in white magic. These traits all leads to their unique class which we'll get to in a bit. S/he starts off with a D+ rank in swords, D rank in authority and E+ in brawling. So off the bat Byleth can go either in a speed route or strength route. Byleth also has no banes anywhere so this makes accessing whatever class you want in a reasonable amount of time. Byleth possesses the Crest of Flames; this grants them a 20% chance of restoring HP equal to 30% of the damage they deal, improving their survivability on the front lines somewhat. If this effect activates, then there is a secondary 25% chance for their Crest to also allow them to deny enemy counterattacks and grant 5 extra might for the attack; since this is ultimately a 5% chance overall, however, it is not something that one can reliably form strategies around. In addition to these effects and the ability to wield the Sword of the Creator at full power, Byleth's Crest also ensures that they will not take recoil damage from any of the other Heroes' Relics, which can also be decently effective in their hands due to their aforementioned high natural strength. Byleth's biggest weakness as a unit is how their unit growth interacts with the game's mechanics. Unlike their students, who can be tutored 4-5 times a weekend, stamina permitting, in any subject of the player's choice, Byleth starts off only able to be tutored 3 times a weekend, is limited to whatever faculty is available on hand, and also draws on the same pool of activity points to do other things such as cooking meals or participating in tournaments. The overall effect is that Byleth's growth is actually weaker than their students throughout Part I. 

Byleth gets Bane of Monsters at sword rank C+ then Windsweep at sword rank A. Bane of Monsters is only fine on occasion, but Windsweep is where Byleth eventually shines where they can inflict damage without fear of a counter attack. S/he's not the only one that learns it but it is a note worthy combat art to get as soon as you can. The brawling combat arts Byleth gets Draining Blow at rank C+ which is fine if you're looking for rejuvenating yourself while trying to score a KO and then Mystic Blow at rank A which is a nice option against physically tanky enemies. Byleth also gets Battalion Vantage at authority rank C then Battalion Desperation at rank A then Rally Movement at rank S. Battalion Vantage can offer an enemy phase set for Byleth such as crit stacking, avoid stacking or a combination of both. Rally Movement while nice you're unlikely to get this ability without the aid of new game+. Byleth's budding talent in faith magic unlocks white magic avoid +20. One of the more puzzling abilities you can give them because while it's suppose to encourage nosferatu dodge tanking or being the bait when waiting at a high avoid tile such a thicket or bush, this is quite limited as you won't get too much mileage off of it. Byleth's hero relic, The Sword of the Creator, grants them a decent 1-2 range option, as well as a very powerful single-hit, anti-dragon attack, Ruptured Heaven. In addition to strong overall combat, the abilities and combat arts they gain from their skill proficiencies can also provide some interesting options.

Let's get this one out of the way first: The Enlighted One is a very versatile class with high stats that gets Swordfaire as well as Terrain Resist. 6 move and being able to use magic is a nice feature since it will allow Byleth to function as a healer and still keep swordfaire. Byleth could also use black magic in this class. Byleth's Faith magic aside from Heal and Nosferatu, gets Recover at rank C then Aura at rank A. Their faith spell list isn't exactly stellar but Recover is a nice super heal which can be clutch. Aura is a pretty strong spell with a good crit chance, but you only have 3 shots with it so it isn't something you can spam. Byleth's reason magic consist of Fire at rank D, Thunder at rank D+, Bolganone at rank C, then Ragnarok at rank A. Their black magic isn't exactly the greatest either but it's serviceable. These are nice traits, however the EO class however isn't what you call a class that excels at anything. But in mastering the class you get Sacred Power. This allows adjacent allies deal 3 extra damage and take 3 less damage during combat. It's essentially Advocate and Guardian merged together. Mastering the class can be good if you're looking to advantage of it. The class is generally not recommended on maddening mode because it's not Falcon Knight or Wyvern Lord basically. That's not to say that the EO is a completely worthless class, but it's hard to pull it off when power creep sneaks up on you by part 2.

We'll start with the male class paths then transition to female. Byleth can go Myrmidon for speed +2. From there He can go Mercenary for Vantage or Thief for the extra speed and dex growths. Male Byleth has access to Hero which allows him to learn Defiant Strength and has innate vantage as well. You could also go fighter for strength +2 and then Brigand for Death Blow. You could also go monk if you want to keep using a sword and get early access to Heal. Male Byleth also gets access to the brawling class like Brawler and Grappler. Grappler is a really good class for Tomebreaker and Fierce Iron Fist. Male Byleth also gets access to War Master to learn Quick Riposte. War Master Byleth being a crit machine allows him to decimate the opposition. Female Byleth has access to a flying class by level 10 unlike male Byleth who has to wait until level 20 to get a flying class. Female Byleth can get access to Darting Blow from the Pegasus Knight class which combos nicely with Battalion Desperation. Falcon Knight is a very good class for female Byleth since it requires less investment compared to Wyvern Lord. Though Wyvern Lord for both genders is a great option as well for the higher strength growth whereas Falcon Knight for female Byleth offers a better speed growth. But both options lose Swordfaire. Byleth can also go Swordmaster or Assassin. Both classes lose access to magic. Swordmaster may have 5 move but having an innate crit chance with swords can be nice. Assassin keeps the 6 move like EO has but Assassin can move through bushes and thickets without terrain penalty. Not to mention Stealth can be useful when combining that with Sacred Power when you master the EO class. Female Byleth can even go Gremory if you're serious of going for magic build. Plus you would get more out of white magic avoid +20 since Gremory has 2x of all magic and Defiant Magic can be a surprisingly good ability when pairing it with Vantage. 

Overall, Byleth to me a 10/10 unit. Regardless if you're going for male or female, and even if there are differences in class options because of their gender, there's no denying that Byleth has everything necessary to be a top unit. Yes Edelgard, Dimitri, and to an extend Claude have their own advantages over Byleth, but when you think about how many things Byleth can pull off compared to those 3, this is undoubtedly something that can't be beat. Flying, riding, tanking, whatever you want Byleth can do it all. The only negative and this is just a nitpick, if you're looking to recruit everyone by part 1, developing a Byleth that you want may be stretched out quite thin at first and in some cases may be a detriment. But by part 2, everything opens up for you and Byleth can easily catch up to anyone. Class is now dismissed.

Edited by Barren
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… … … I got nothin’. No one should have anything on Byleth’s character, given that Byleth’s character in nothing. As for stats…

     Skill Levels:     Boons in Sword (D+), Brawling (E+), and Authority (D). Budding Talent in Faith. No Banes, either. Could be better, but not by much.

     Abilities:     Professor’s Guidance is not much to talk about in any mode but Maddening, but in Maddening, it is quite useful. The +2 Damage letter on doesn’t do all that much. They do have a long list of Abilities, but are they useful in any way? No. Battalions Vantage (C) and Desperation (A), Model Leader (C+), and Rally Movement (S). Without any other Rallies, I’d consider RM to be an opportunity cost, and without Wrath both of his other Battalion Skills are useless.

     Arts: I’ll tell it to you strait, Byleth’s only Art worth mention is Windsweep (A).

     Spells: For what is supposed to be a Mixed Unit, Byleth’s Spell List is slightly disappointing. Reason yields Fire (D), Thunder (D+), Bolganone(C), and Ragnarok (A). Faith gives Heal, Nosferatu, Recover (C), and Aura (A). Nothing fancy.

     Stats: Aaaand we have a Mixed Unit. Aside from a 6+35% Magic, 6+35% Defense, and 6+30% Resistance stats, all of Byleth’s stats are solid. 27+45% Hp, 13+45% Strength, 9+45% Dexterity, 8+45% Speed, 8+45% Luck, and 7+45% Charm leave no room for arguing on this front. Above average and well-rounded without being absurd.

     Classes:     Beginner- Myrmidon or Fighter (The +2 Stat Skill is better than Repo for Byleth)

Intermediate- Brigand or Pegasus (F! only) for their Blows, other than that either Thief or Brawler (M! only). Or if you want to go off the beaten path, then Mage.

Advanced- Swordmaster, Assassin, Grappler (M! only), or if you have the DLC, then War Monk for the Avoid boost with Gauntlets.

Master- Enlightened One or War Master (M! only). Maybe Mortal Savant, if yours has an excess of Speed and you want more Magic power.

     Verdict: Early on, I would call Byleth a contender for the Oifey archetype. Very strong start, followed by a good performance into the late game. Unlike 95% of the other characters, Byleth can go down any path. That's both their biggest asset, and their biggest flaw. Optimal or Unique, which way do you go? For me it's typically Myrmidon > Brawler > Grappler/W. Monk > War Master/Enlightened One. I rate 8/10.

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It's a good point that M!Byleth and F!Byleth are different. But that main difference is in FK Vs. WM and imo that's not such a massive killer difference because WL still exists so males aren't even utterly screwed on that front and WM/Grappler has its own neat builds (plus F!Byleth can't seriously use Gremory because their spells are weak).

It's time for 3H's worst character! 🥳

Byleth shows another thing to believe in by killing the enemy:

Spoiler

Byleth's not the Ashen Demon for nothing. 13+45% Str is a wild base and a good enough growth, definitely something they're relying on. 8+45% Spd and Luk is alright enough, though I never feel safe enough for Byleth's Spd. 9+45% Dex is also a solid foundation for what it's worth, 7+45% Cha is pretty solid, using Gambits with them should be consistent, while a Mag of 6+35% is actually high for a unit I don't consider a mage. For their bulk, 27+45% HP, 6+35% Def and 6+30% Res is pretty good mixed bulk, but nothing exceptional. Lotsa 45%s, which is one thing I could raise against them: nothing so reliable that they can't be screwed, though you'd suspect that they should not be that screwed, especially in a game where stats can be raised by classes.

Their Strengths and Weaknesses are a bit eh. Their Strengths in Swords aren't much for classes, but Brawl is nice for M!Byleth and Authority is always good to have. They do have no weaknesses, which is nice. Their budding talent in Faith is only really useful for those focusing on mages, but WM Avoid +20 is irrelevant considering their magic unless you actually want to use Aura on EP.

Byleth's magic sadly sucks. Reason has Fire, Thunder, Bolganone and Ragnarok, which wasn't amazing on Mercedes and is less so on a unit who's got worse magic. Faith has H + N, Recover and Aura, which isn't much good and only Aura keeps it from being awful, but it being A rank is an issue.

Byleth's personal, Professor's Guidance, which gives them and adjacent allies 120% of experience, which is nice to have and encourages Byleth to be in the centre of things and from the middle of Chapter 10 they just get 2 extra damage, which is blah in comparison to others but extra damage is nice. They also have the Crest of Flames, which I described in Edelgard's and it's essentially everything in one package.

Byleth's Combat arts are alright, but could be better. They get Bane of Monsters (Situational, but alright), Windsweep (I like this a lot personally, plenty useful in Maddening) in Swords and Draining Blow (Never really see a point, especially with Healing Focus available at B Brawl) and Mystic Blow (Based off magic damage, which could be worse with their stats) in Brawl. Their Authority skills give Battalion Vantage (I forgot they got this, which is good to get), Model Leader (Mostly irrelevant), Battalion Desperation (Good if you can get them to be fast) and Rally Mov (+1 Mov is not enough in a game with Stride).

Byleth of course has access to Sword of the Creator (+ it's combat art) as well as Enlightened One. While I actually think it's alright enough (I did use it in Maddening) due to its move and being a decent class in its own right, unless you're actually going for Mageleth I don't think it's a necessary class.

How do I rate them?

Spoiler

In VW, I was the dumdum who actually mastered MS. Despite this and only mastering swordlocked classes up to intermediate and EO, he was still alright enough at 35 Str and 36 Spd, alongside a fine enough 25 Mag. His Def wasn't all that, I only had B Reason and B+ Faith, really looking silly for focusing on magic. He also got A swords (which proved critical on DK. Get it?) and sadly I didn't use Brawling long term.

In CF, I ended up accessing Swordmaster, but despite this only got 31 Spd. which is probably fair on the lower level in CF. SLightly better in Mag and Str for when it is but much worse Dex, while only being B Reason and C+ Faith didn't help much for what I was supposedly going for. Didn't really utilise Brawl.

In AM, I ended up going for WM. Sadly stat wise he wasn't much different from VW in Str and with lessSpd, while also having Dex like in CF and nothing else particularly better. Wend down similar classes to CF while building up to WM, but I had be rank in magics, Axe and Brawl for some god-forsaken reason. Definitely suboptimal.

In SS, I ended up choosing both, adding Mage to my Merc mastery, trying out Hero, mastering WM and using EO. Stat wise he was strong at 31 Str and while his Mag wasn't exceptional what was exceptional was the 30 Spd somehow. Boy that was poor. I actually got A Reason, alongside Brawl, Sword and Authority and B+ Aces. I guess I did alright, but really not all that well.

In Maddening, I chose to break the cherry of flying access and I think it was essential. Going down Fighter instead of Myrm, mastering Brigand, Pegasus Knight and later Merc (RIP Archer/Mage) > Warrior (Used WR) > FK and WL. And yet. I must have been Spd screwed because I got 31 Spd, her Str was not great at 34, her defences weren't much at 20 each but 63 HP mean the bulk wasn't so bad, while working with a good Dex of 36. Really, it was this run that showed being blessed would expidte a lot of the pains of this run.

Yeah, Byleth is critical in terms of viability, but once again unlike Edelgard they don't get a tool so insane that they end up like BV/W Dimitri, so I'm going to go with 8.5/10.

I really want to revise my scoring to be honest, the highest anyone's gotten is Edelgard at 9 and I feel like I have to make more differentiation.

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I think Byleth is also a 9.5 out 10 charcter. I said in the Edelgard rating I really like the crest of flames so thats a good start that Byleth is the main wielder of it.  I value the self sustain you can get out of it a lot more than sheer killing potential because there are always going to be units that the killing potential ends up just short of.  I also really value the ability to do pretty much any class alot and Byleth is THE character that can make any class work.  I am also probably a bigger fan of mixed magic/physical classes than most and Byleth's personal class being a mixed class that can do pretty much anything you want is something I greatly like.  Also the sword of the creator and its upgrade are both fantastic weapons that only don't get used to save durability for later fights because it is really really good.

The one downside Byleth has is as the player charcter you can't tutor Byleth like you can anyone else so it can be a little harder to get skills to the levels they need to be. Also doesn't help seminars kind of suck imo. I feel like they need to give something else to be worth it as you can probably get more skill gains through exploration and a similar amount of weapon experience while also getting close to class mastery if you battle.

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5 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

The one downside Byleth has is as the player charcter you can't tutor Byleth like you can anyone else so it can be a little harder to get skills to the levels they need to be

I would say it's the exact opposite. Byleth is so much easier to raise skills for due to faculty training. Maybe it's different in NG+ if you're doing sauna 7 times on the first week or something, but even then I'd expect Byleth to raise his skills faster.

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I mean this is only Chapter 10 and he's more or less almost done.  Only needs a B in axes, S in Brawling, and A+ in Flying. The former two were both achieved by Chapter 13 and the latter of which is achieved between Chapters 15-17. That's around the time Lysithea finishes and one of her main traits is learning skills faster than other students. Most units don't even have their fully optimized skill set at Chapter 20.

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1 hour ago, Hazeel said:

I would say it's the exact opposite. Byleth is so much easier to raise skills for due to faculty training. Maybe it's different in NG+ if you're doing sauna 7 times on the first week or something, but even then I'd expect Byleth to raise his skills faster.

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I mean this is only Chapter 10 and he's more or less almost done.  Only needs a B in axes, S in Brawling, and A+ in Flying. The former two were both achieved by Chapter 13 and the latter of which is achieved between Chapters 15-17. That's around the time Lysithea finishes and one of her main traits is learning skills faster than other students. Most units don't even have their fully optimized skill set at Chapter 20.

Depends a lot on your playstyle tbh if you are playing on a fresh file and going for recruit everyone runs it can be tight to fit faculty training in as getting support levels up is the easier way to do it then training all the skills you need.  Post timeskp yes it  is better but missing out on both weekend tutoring and the tutoring for goals most fridays is rough. I also value pre-timeskip time alot as that is what a lot of your game is built around.  It certainly is possible to do both its just a little harder to focus on properly faculty training byleth for what ever you want as Byleth is tugged in so many directions and alot of them mean Byleth is doing things other than working on byleth.

Edited by vikingsfan92
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5 hours ago, Hazeel said:

I would say it's the exact opposite. Byleth is so much easier to raise skills for due to faculty training. Maybe it's different in NG+ if you're doing sauna 7 times on the first week or something, but even then I'd expect Byleth to raise his skills faster.

w5mj4Bl.png

SI9UY0h.png

I mean this is only Chapter 10 and he's more or less almost done.  Only needs a B in axes, S in Brawling, and A+ in Flying. The former two were both achieved by Chapter 13 and the latter of which is achieved between Chapters 15-17. That's around the time Lysithea finishes and one of her main traits is learning skills faster than other students. Most units don't even have their fully optimized skill set at Chapter 20.

I would disagree on account of the opportunity cost faculty training comes with. Oftentimes, I find the activity points that faculty training uses better spent on something else, like motivating my students.

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4 hours ago, Hazeel said:

Yeah, but if you're going to recruit everyone, you've kinda given up on playing optimally...and at this point, you may as well just play on NG+ to save yourself the tedium and unlock more supports.

Yeah I really don't like acting like that one play style is "more" optimal or not. Especially in regards to recruitment of people and the amount you recruit.  Whole units have more value than slightly better Byleth in a lot of people's opinion even if they just warm the bench.

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7 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

Depends a lot on your playstyle tbh if you are playing on a fresh file and going for recruit everyone runs it can be tight to fit faculty training in as getting support levels up is the easier way to do it then training all the skills you need.  Post timeskp yes it  is better but missing out on both weekend tutoring and the tutoring for goals most fridays is rough. I also value pre-timeskip time alot as that is what a lot of your game is built around.  It certainly is possible to do both its just a little harder to focus on properly faculty training byleth for what ever you want as Byleth is tugged in so many directions and alot of them mean Byleth is doing things other than working on byleth.

As someone who recruited every student on NG, faculty training is complicated until you get A+ rank, I ended up using it totally only in Chapters 11+12, which was enough to get Caspar and Ferdinand, but it came to good use in Part 2 for sure. I'd say it's a little easier based on route as SS/CF don't have to deal with those recruitments, with others all possible to B rank cheese.

The main reason I think it's viable is because of the access to gifts from the traders and flowers if you really spam it, but the real kicker is the Prof rank, imo that's the hardest thing to give up activity points for.

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4 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

I would disagree on account of the opportunity cost faculty training comes with. Oftentimes, I find the activity points that faculty training uses better spent on something else, like motivating my students.

Buy gifts bruh.

 

Byleth.

Perfect availability.

Huge base strength.

Gets exp bonus.

Gives other units exp bonus.

Great boons, no weaknesses.

Is always going to be one of your best units.

Anything less than 10 is a joke.

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10 hours ago, Ownagepuffs said:

Buy gifts bruh.

Doesn't sound very efficient as a motivation method compared to meals, especially during pre-timeskip when I'm trying to beeline towards A+ professor rank. Doesn't help that the gifts you can buy from the merchants are very limited in quantity, as in one per month.

Edited by Shadow Mir
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8 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

Yeah I really don't like acting like that one play style is "more" optimal or not. Especially in regards to recruitment of people and the amount you recruit.  Whole units have more value than slightly better Byleth in a lot of people's opinion even if they just warm the bench.

They have...no value at all unless they offer faculty training, and the only ones who do are free recruits anyway. You only need the 10 units you plan to use plus maybe one or two backups for 11-12 deployment maps. And there aren't that many characters worth going out of your way for. Recruiting everyone is a complete waste of resources.

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3 minutes ago, Hazeel said:

They have...no value at all unless they offer faculty training, and the only ones who do are free recruits anyway. You only need the 10 units you plan to use plus maybe one or two backups for 11-12 deployment maps. And there aren't that many characters worth going out of your way for. Recruiting everyone is a complete waste of resources.

Characters can give resources from their paralogues though- I always go out of my way to recruit Marianne for the battalion from her paralogue, for example. Lorenz is a common recruit since Thyrsus access, Felix's Aegis Shield is nice, etc etc.

In terms of the actual discussion I think needing faculty training is a flaw with Byleth's skill levels, at least until the end of part 1. Byleth needs to spend a few points on faculty training each week to exceed the amount of XP his students get (from what i remember at least, this could be wrong), and that won't consistently happen for a while, since I think most people prioritise other activities like meals, tea time and the sauna if you have DLC. By the time you get to the stage where you can consistently faculty train, your students are ahead in skill xp and you need to work quite a bit to catch up.

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1 hour ago, Hazeel said:

They have...no value at all unless they offer faculty training, and the only ones who do are free recruits anyway. You only need the 10 units you plan to use plus maybe one or two backups for 11-12 deployment maps. And there aren't that many characters worth going out of your way for. Recruiting everyone is a complete waste of resources.

Wrong they do have value even if it is not always tangeble. For one thing there alot of exclusive items/paralouge missions that you can't get otherwise relics, battalions some really op like for an example Dorthea's parlouge in non-crimison flower gets you a dancing battalion that can't be gotten elsewhere.  Pretty much every recuritable student has a paralouge with them in it.   Then there is the more challenge aspect it provides as it most certainly is more difficult to do a run where you recruit everyone over a run where you don't. Is it a huge one no not really but all that matters is it a difficulty increase and some people are looking for all the difficulty they can get. And lastly there is the emotional aspect some people don't want to fight against anyone that is recruitable to there side. It may not a gameplay stat but there is value in that as well.

Also I think the poster above me Anathaco put it pretty well why I also from a pure game play perspective I feel the students have it better than Byleth.

 

9 hours ago, Ownagepuffs said:

Buy gifts bruh.

Gifts don't entirely solve the problem though. For one thing there is alot of overlap on who wants what and how many you can give out at any one time in the time the gift shops are up to the timeskip. For another that is still only working on one unit at a time in a tight schedule.  Gifts are a good way to supplement other methods of recruitment but they do need the extra push of activity point focused things too. Also its worth mentioning CF runs have to make sure to support up Edelgard as well so that an additional in house required support level to manage.

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10 hours ago, Dayni said:

As someone who recruited every student on NG, faculty training is complicated until you get A+ rank, I ended up using it totally only in Chapters 11+12, which was enough to get Caspar and Ferdinand, but it came to good use in Part 2 for sure. I'd say it's a little easier based on route as SS/CF don't have to deal with those recruitments, with others all possible to B rank cheese.

The main reason I think it's viable is because of the access to gifts from the traders and flowers if you really spam it, but the real kicker is the Prof rank, imo that's the hardest thing to give up activity points for.

Counterpoint in regards to CF: You have an additional support rank in the form of Edelgard to do in addtional to the all the out of house students. Sure its probably easier to rank her up since she is in house to begin with but its still one more support rank requirement than other paths have to worry about

That is a good point that I forgot to mention that you lose possible prof rank level ups by using faculty training so you can't spam more activities with faculty training.  Obviously not a worry in new game + but in a fresh file yeah its probably going to be better to do other things until very late part 1 or early part 2 just to max out prof rank.

Edited by vikingsfan92
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