Best Saint

[Mufasa]

Oliver. For Lols.

Also, Aran is a great candidate for BEXP. Laura is as well. I personally like Aran better, so he's a better candidate for the BEXP abuse IMO.

[Knife]

How is Aran better? He doesn't even cap 3 stats by the time he reaches 20 on average. Skill and Defense do, and Strength is about 19-20, and that's at level 20 (Skill capping slightly sooner). Plus, with Laura's low caps, BEXPing from ~ level 13-15 is perfectly fine, if you don't want to just promote her right then and there.

Okay, but imagine this scenario. You are forced to bring at least one Saint. But since they all suck, you don't want to put too much effort and EXP into any of them. Oliver is a great substitute for this, since he doesn't require much training to hit 20/20/20, as opposed to Laura, who'll need a lot of BEXP and abuse to catch up to Oliver.

In overall usefulness, Laura>Oliver, since you practically need her to pass the first part, regardless of what kind of playthrough you are doing.

At maxed out levels, Laura>Oliver, since offensively Laura is better, though both perform almost the same as healers (which is the Saint's main function).

As for use in endgame, Oliver>Laura. He doesn't require as much effort to be good and performs near the same level as Laura. He's not as good offensively, but he's serving the healing function better. Saints aren't much for offense anyway, what with Micaiah robbing them of the strongest Light weapon.

Rhys is very good, but that's mostly because he's overshadowed by Mist.

Edited December 3, 2008 by Knife

[Florete]

Okay, but imagine this scenario. You are forced to bring at least one Saint. But since they all suck, you don't want to put too much effort and EXP into any of them. Oliver is a great substitute for this, since he doesn't require much training to hit 20/20/20, as opposed to Laura, who'll need a lot of BEXP and abuse to catch up to Oliver.

In overall usefulness, Laura>Oliver, since you practically need her to pass the first part, regardless of what kind of playthrough you are doing.

At maxed out levels, Laura>Oliver, since offensively Laura is better, though both perform almost the same as healers (which is the Saint's main function).

As for use in endgame, Oliver>Laura. He doesn't require as much effort to be good and performs near the same level as Laura. He's not as good offensively, but he's serving the healing function better. Saints aren't much for offense anyway, what with Micaiah robbing them of the strongest Light weapon.

Rhys is very good, but that's mostly because he's overshadowed by Mist.

If the first two are true, how can the third possibly be true? She's better in overall usefulness and at max levels, but not for the end of the game? That doesn't make much sense. If she really is that good (Which she is) she'll have been used the entire time. She's a decent fighter and a great healer, ultimately making Micaiah's chapters easier. She's downright necessary in hard mode. With clever planning, she can easily be at Oliver's level or higher by endgame (since he's unlikely to get even a single level in his joining chapter). Not to mention she has overall superior growths and caps, caps she's actually likely to reach (Oliver wastes 55% growth on lolstrength), and great BEXP potential. She even has the choice of going to Tibarn's group, and we know what that means; sub-human slaughterfest. Or she can go to Micaiah's team and be useful on account of no movement hindrance in the desert. In all cases, Laura >>>>>>> Oliver. Unless, of course, you just want to hear his theme.

In case you didn't know, the only caps she loses in are HP (by 5), Strength (by 2, but that's useless after 18 anyway, which she'll reach by third tier), and defense (by 1). She wins with +2 magic, +1 speed, and +5 luck, so even though her general durability is worse, her dodge is better. And because she has wind affinity, she can get an even better avoid boost, which Oliver's fire affinity doesn't grant. In fact, Fire's +attack and accuracy is next to useless for Oliver, considering he can even get a good support in time.

Maybe this wasn't all necessary. I just want to show why Laura >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Oliver.

Rhys... he's ok. Laura>Rhys>Oliver is where it's at for this topic. Where it should be anyway. I can't believe so many people are voting for Oliver... it's best, not favorite! (I have a hard time understanding why people even like the fat bastard in the first place)

[Warrior of Dawn]

My best overall priest has proven to be Laura.

Her high Speed growths compensates for Light magics somewhat low Might, and she doesn't get doubled, apart from her time in early Part 1.

Her only healer in DB status means you pretty much HAVE to use her. And Sacrifice + Laura is a great Boss Abuse Combo.

[Knife]

If the first two are true, how can the third possibly be true? She's better in overall usefulness and at max levels, but not for the end of the game? That doesn't make much sense. If she really is that good (Which she is) she'll have been used the entire time. She's a decent fighter and a great healer, ultimately making Micaiah's chapters easier. She's downright necessary in hard mode. With clever planning, she can easily be at Oliver's level or higher by endgame (since he's unlikely to get even a single level in his joining chapter). Not to mention she has overall superior growths and caps, caps she's actually likely to reach (Oliver wastes 55% growth on lolstrength), and great BEXP potential. She even has the choice of going to Tibarn's group, and we know what that means; sub-human slaughterfest. Or she can go to Micaiah's team and be useful on account of no movement hindrance in the desert. In all cases, Laura >>>>>>> Oliver. Unless, of course, you just want to hear his theme.

In case you didn't know, the only caps she loses in are HP (by 5), Strength (by 2, but that's useless after 18 anyway, which she'll reach by third tier), and defense (by 1). She wins with +2 magic, +1 speed, and +5 luck, so even though her general durability is worse, her dodge is better. And because she has wind affinity, she can get an even better avoid boost, which Oliver's fire affinity doesn't grant. In fact, Fire's +attack and accuracy is next to useless for Oliver, considering he can even get a good support in time.

Maybe this wasn't all necessary. I just want to show why Laura >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Oliver.

Rhys... he's ok. Laura>Rhys>Oliver is where it's at for this topic. Where it should be anyway. I can't believe so many people are voting for Oliver... it's best, not favorite! (I have a hard time understanding why people even like the fat bastard in the first place)

There is no way she'll catch up to Oliver, unless you abuse the hell out of her and ignore every other member of the DB. I suppose she could catch up to Oliver in the last Tibarn chapter, but you'd have to baby her a lot on that stage to keep her alive and killing. Also, it's more like Laura>>>Oliver.

[Florete]

There is no way she'll catch up to Oliver, unless you abuse the hell out of her and ignore every other member of the DB. I suppose she could catch up to Oliver in the last Tibarn chapter, but you'd have to baby her a lot on that stage to keep her alive and killing. Also, it's more like Laura>>>Oliver.

Then how do I do it every time I use Laura? And don't try PEMN, experience gain doesn't change. In the DB, I use Micaiah, maybe Sothe, and four other members, one for each free Master Seal. I give a new person Paragon on every chapter, so Laura only gets it once, twice if she's lucky. I don't favor her at all, since she isn't a front-liner. She's always at or around Oliver's level by the time endgame arises. Perhaps you just don't know how to use her right? I don't mean any offense by that, it's just that a lot of people tend to not be able to use healers as effectively as possible.

[Killer Poleax]

Then how do I do it every time I use Laura? And don't try PEMN, experience gain doesn't change. In the DB, I use Micaiah, maybe Sothe, and four other members, one for each free Master Seal. I give a new person Paragon on every chapter, so Laura only gets it once, twice if she's lucky. I don't favor her at all, since she isn't a front-liner. She's always at or around Oliver's level by the time endgame arises. Perhaps you just don't know how to use her right? I don't mean any offense by that, it's just that a lot of people tend to not be able to use healers as effectively as possible.

I think your just good at leveling up Laura. You know what to do to get her to a high level. You must do a lot of boss abuse/staff abuse to get her high or you dump a lot of bexp into her. Whenever I use Laura, she never makes it to 2nd tier at the end of part 1. And I think you're right about that last sentence. I personally only use healers for healing and rarely make them fight. I don't boss abuse cause that gets boring and I don't dump bexp into them cause I only need them for healing. I'll make them heal anyone who isn't at max hp but that's it.

[Knife]

Then how do I do it every time I use Laura? And don't try PEMN, experience gain doesn't change. In the DB, I use Micaiah, maybe Sothe, and four other members, one for each free Master Seal. I give a new person Paragon on every chapter, so Laura only gets it once, twice if she's lucky. I don't favor her at all, since she isn't a front-liner. She's always at or around Oliver's level by the time endgame arises. Perhaps you just don't know how to use her right? I don't mean any offense by that, it's just that a lot of people tend to not be able to use healers as effectively as possible.

I never leave Paragon with the DB since Ike's chapters are a better choice for it (a lot of the game's CEXP comes from Ike's chapters). The real problem is getting her to promote, since she'll likely be lagging behind the other DB members. But you'll have to go out of your way to get her promoted early. Part of the problem is because she's locked to Staves, so while Edward is getting 10 exp for a counter attack and 20 exp for the finishing blow, Laura is only making 11 exp per turn. After 100 turns of healing, she'd be at level 12. After promotion, when she can attack, she starts shooting up levels. Also, what mode are you talking about?

[Florete]

I never leave Paragon with the DB since Ike's chapters are a better choice for it (a lot of the game's CEXP comes from Ike's chapters). The real problem is getting her to promote, since she'll likely be lagging behind the other DB members. But you'll have to go out of your way to get her promoted early. Part of the problem is because she's locked to Staves, so while Edward is getting 10 exp for a counter attack and 20 exp for the finishing blow, Laura is only making 11 exp per turn. After 100 turns of healing, she'd be at level 12. After promotion, when she can attack, she starts shooting up levels. Also, what mode are you talking about?

Why would you not leave Paragon with the DB? They need it way more than the GM's, who can easily promote by the end of part 3, or earlier depending on how many you plan to use. Micaiah's group needs it much more since they fewer chapters. And, if you don't plan to use Astrid, the GM's get a Paragon on the bridge chapter anyway, two if you took Geoffrey's as well.

I said it before: Laura can promote at about level 15 and still be fine if you work things out right. Not to mention she's one of the best candidates for BEXP in Micaiah's group.

Normal or Hard, pick one. She'll level even faster in hard mode because you'll need to do a lot more healing. I personally got her first heal staff down to two uses in her first two maps, and most of that was because I actually needed to heal. This is when most of your characters are still around base level, so this kind of situation won't change too often, especially in hard mode.

[Knife]

Okay, you win.

[Ice Dragon]

Laura. She soloed Ike.

One downside of those high growths of hers, though: she needs more stats capped before it's advantageous to use BExp.

I give a new person Paragon on every chapter, so Laura only gets it once, twice if she's lucky.

How? Laura only has 15 Capacity. Five of that is used for Shove, and Elite requires 15.

[Florete]

How? Laura only has 15 Capacity. Five of that is used for Shove, and Elite requires 15.

Once she's promoted.