Red Fox of Fire's character review topic (Complete)

[Fayt Zelpher]

Its not that I don't like Haar, in fact I only dislike Shinnon and Soren out of the entire cast.

I've overused him too much before so this time he's only meatshield until my main team members are stable or if he starts dying.

but knowing myself I'll probably end up using Haar anyway :3

I usually give Blossom to somebody with paragon or one of my mages.

last time it was Ilyana I think

If you're using Ike + Disarm, go ahead and pick up the flourish scroll in 3-4 was it? It'll halve his damage, giving you more chances to disarm your opponent. I assume you then have Heather pick up the weapons?

[RNG Princess]

yes =D i give him flourish and heather steals

[Florete]

Mist

Enter Mist, token loli of the group.

She heals. Yep, that's Mist. And so, of course, her usefulness is determined by how much the team needs healing plus how much healing they have available. As everyone knows, the Mercenaries don't need healing like the Dawn Brigade does, however, it's still well-appreciated and you'll want at least one healer on the team at all times. What also needs mentioning is that instead of a new Laura having a monopoly on all the healing, the Mercenaries have two of them until part 4 or until a Sage promotes, slightly cutting into the usefulness of both. I should also mention the existence of healing items, since although healers are always better than self-healing, the Mercenaries can get by a bit better on just healing items if no healers are in play, at least in comparison to the other team.

As mentioned before, it's still very useful to have a healer, and Mist is better than the alternative due to a few factors. One being movement: She has 1 move on Rhys, and she's also slightly easier to Shove. Another is her Water affinity, which is a good affinity in general but is also better than Fire. And since Mist heals, building up the support is pretty easy to do. The last is her ability to build a slight durability lead on Rhys, avoiding doubles sooner and possibly getting into 3 hit kill range sooner (since both are killed by everything for a while)(Rhys has his own advantages, but I'll mention that in his review).

Now I realize that this is a Mist review rather than a Mist vs Rhys thread, but how they are compared to each other is a relatively big factor in how useful they are, especially in the maps where you're only likely to need one of them. Of course, there are maps where your team will be split and so you'll likely want both anyway, and that helps the case for both of them.

By part 4 Mist can promote using her Holy Crown and get a horse, which is nice, yet unfortunate that she can only use it for a few maps. What's worse is that being forced on Ike's route means she gets 4-4, and a new horse means she is essentially her unpromoted self with Canto but no ledge jumping or being Shoved. She'll be better for Endgame if she goes, but Endgame is not really a place where healers are needed as much and then we have forced Micaiah and superior Elincia jumping in to worsen Mist's case. She'll be useful as a healer if she goes, and if raised enough she might be okay in combat, but it isn't much to count on.

6/10

Transfer changes:

Mist can get Magic and Speed from a transfer. The Magic is relatively useless since she was already healing enough, but the Speed is pretty nice for allowing her to avoid a lot of doubles much sooner, granting her much more flexibility. This is very nice because it means I don't have to keep a constant watch on my healer to make sure she won't be insta-killed, at least not as much as before.

6.5/10

Rolf

And now enter Rolf, token shota of the group.

Rolf has definitely improved from the days of Path of Radiance, although not too much at first. In fact, he's probably the worst character on the team at first. he can only attack on player phase due to his 2 range lock, he doesn't double, and doesn't do all that much damage either. He's useful as a member of the clean-up crew, but that alone is not worth very much. He'll need some help to get up to par with the rest of the group.

What saves him, however, is his low base level giving him a high experience gain. Added to that is his relatively good growth spread (especially that huge Strength) meaning he won't take too long to start being a decent unit in his own right. It'll likely take until near or at the end of part 3, but he'll gradually start doing more damage and eventually start doubling on top of it. Once he starts doubling, he'll be golden. High Strength means he'll have little problems killing enemies, allowing him to catch up in level, and promotion will give him the mastery he needs to really start busting heads come part 4.

Of course, a unit that takes until part 4 to start shining just isn't that special. He's not exactly terrible until then since his potshots can come in handy and his durability is average, he's just not really one of the better members and most people will find him to not really be worth it. Having the mostly bad Wind affinity is not helping his case either, since he can't even provide very useful support, though if Boyd is in play he'd probably like the accuracy at least, and the Bond they share would come in handy.

I won't just ignore his part 4, though. It's very good, possibly among the best in the game. He gets the Double Bow for 1-3 range sniping, he should be able to build enough Speed to double, and his durability is good enough to take a few enemies at a time. I wish he had more Skill for higher Deadeye activation, but such is life. In the end, Rolf is one of those that start relatively bad but turns out very good. Below average, but not far behind.

4/10

Transfer changes:

Rolf can get Strength and Speed from a transfer. This is one of the biggest boosts in ability you're likely to see from such a simple transfer. The Speed doesn't actually help very much immediately, but it will get him doubling a lot sooner than before, mostly starting in 3-2 and continuing from there. The Strength will obviously help kill enemies more easily, and both stats can cap in a reasonable amount of time to allow for some BEXP boosting of lower stats. Basically, Rolf goes from having a relatively bad part 3 overall to a pretty good part 3 overall, and possibly even a better part 4.

6.5/10

Edited March 8, 2010 by Red Fox of Fire

[Fayt Zelpher]

I am going to argue that Mist can get Res transfer as well. Her average is 24.2 at 20/20. Because you assume fixed mode, I should also point out that she also starts with 50 growth points, which is good for 24.7. Next, we realize that no one else really wants a +res band, as anyone not named Ike or Tormod who could cap Res at > 5% is going to have any trouble. Marcia and her pegasus band arrive in the same level in which Mist joins, meaning that we can feasibly expect Mist to get all her levels with the pegasus band, if so desired. This is 38 levels with +5 growth, so an additional +1.8 points, bringing her to 26.5. In addition, we can expect that when she promotes, she will be very good at picking off sages for kills. Why is this relevant? All magic users (sages, mages, priests, and bishops) add +5 growth to magic as well. Assuming that she gets some kills, she can easily get up to 27 Res. If not, she'll get another +5 growth from magic swords (and she's not losing growth from steel in the meantime). Finally, give her a talisman (you've got 2 if needed, and no one except maybe Ike is going to want them for a transfer), and voila: Mist now has capped Resistance. Does this help her a whole lot? Not really, so I'm not going to argue your ranking up on this account. However, it does make her go from 3HKO to 4HKO by the elfire mages in 3-P (26 Mt against Mist's 16/18 Res, 28 HP), which should account for at least a little bit.

[Sho Minamimoto]

I don't think Mist qualifies as a loli anymore; she looks too old like she grew out of it.

Next up are the other two brothers! Woo, we got the dumbass brute and the guy who can kill you without even opening his eyes. But I REALLY want to see how you rate Shinon.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Sho Minamimoto

[charmander6000]

Isn't Mist a couple of years younger than Jill?

[Loki Laufeyson]

But no matter how much you don't like Haar, or when you're certain he's not going to Endgame, everybody still uses him for something.

This is true. Even when i dont want to use him a whole lot, he still ends up promoted somewhere in part 3 and kicking alot of ass. I never bring him into endgame anymore though. But yes, Haar is an excellent utility unit as well as offense.

About Rolf. The only thing really separating him and Shinon is the fact Rolf joins at level 1. Also Rolf's defense growth isnt as awesome. Ive raised and used both before on a few occasions and Rolf shapes up to be pretty great. Hes not a bad candidate for Bonus EXP if you really want to use him.

[Mekkah]

oh cool, you are continuing

gonna nitpick from 5 years back

She's [Calill] a fairly unique character since she's really the only Sage you can expect to double reliably at any point in the game

part 1 tormod :P

[Anouleth]

Bastian doubles reliably.

In 4-E-3.

[Naglfar]

Bastian doubles reliably.

In 4-E-3.

So does base level Pelleas! :D

[Bryan]

Bastian doubles reliably.

In 4-E-3.

So does base level Pelleas! :D

Sad huh?

[Oceanbourne]

The Mist review reminds me, would it be a better idea to promote Mist with her crown, or just give her Celerity to compesnate for the ledge movement penalty in 4-4?

Also, who between Rolf and Shinon has the better growth spread? I'm thinking Shinon because his Defense + Provoke is better than Rolf's 75% Strength grwoth, and it's also making him useful to attract attention from Reyson (lol taking 2 damage from swordmasters in 3-10).

[Anouleth]

The Mist review reminds me, would it be a better idea to promote Mist with her crown, or just give her Celerity to compesnate for the ledge movement penalty in 4-4?

Also, who between Rolf and Shinon has the better growth spread? I'm thinking Shinon because his Defense + Provoke is better than Rolf's 75% Strength grwoth, and it's also making him useful to attract attention from Reyson (lol taking 2 damage from swordmasters in 3-10).

Why does Shinon want to keep Provoke? It's not powerful enough to protect a genuinely weak character like Reyson, but it's enough that Shinon will get attacked a lot, which hurts efficiency since he won't counter-attack. In addition, neither Rolf or Shinon take player-phase counters. So if neither of them are going to be taking damage on Player Phase, and they shouldn't be taking damage on enemy phase, why is Shinon's defense important? Rolf's strength lead means that once he begins doubling, he can consistently 1-round.

As for Mist, her crown is 100% free and exclusive to her, while we can give Celerity to anyone we want to go protect the LEA in 4-4. The crown also improves her durability. So she takes the crown.

[Loki Laufeyson]

I think Rolf has a higher strength growth than Shinon but im not certain of that. Hes got a decent growth in speed too. (it may be about the same as Shinon, again, im not certain) I know Shinon has a better defense growth however. (and Skill...i think)

[nflchamp]

Boyd will get a 6.5

Oscar will get a 7

Shinon will get an 8.5

[Bryan]

Boyd will get a 6.5

Oscar will get a 7

Shinon will get an 8.5

How do you know that?

[nflchamp]

Boyd will get a 6.5

Oscar will get a 7

Shinon will get an 8.5

How do you know that?

I don't, I'm just basing it off of what I know about RFoF.

[Anouleth]

Boyd will get a 6.5

Oscar will get a 7

Shinon will get an 8.5

How do you know that?

He read the tier list, silly.

[Deliriyum]

I see Boyd getting a 6. He isn't doubling anything for quite a while, and the early SM's can really fuck him up if he gets stuck vs one(3-1 killing edge SM comes to mind, boyd gets doubled with a high chance of a crit)

Edit: when I say he isn't doubling anything, that has some exclusions

Edited January 10, 2010 by core34510

[Junkhead]

Micaiah is a good weakener at her joining time indeed, I did the oppisite and made Edward the weakener instead, that way she gets the kills and gets the EXP she needs, Eward has decent avoidance against the first axe users, I'm thinkin he'll manage the first couple of them thanks to Wrath.

[Shadow Mir]

Micaiah is a good weakener at her joining time indeed, I did the oppisite and made Edward the weakener instead, that way she gets the kills and gets the EXP she needs, Eward has decent avoidance against the first axe users, I'm thinkin he'll manage the first couple of them thanks to Wrath.

Except Edward's avoid against the axemen isn't so reliable in hard mode. And even in normal mode, I have my doubts... Also, Wrath is likely to hurt more than it helps, because if he kills one and another gets to him...

[Narga_Rocks]

Micaiah is a good weakener at her joining time indeed, I did the oppisite and made Edward the weakener instead, that way she gets the kills and gets the EXP she needs, Eward has decent avoidance against the first axe users, I'm thinkin he'll manage the first couple of them thanks to Wrath.

Except Edward's avoid against the axemen isn't so reliable in hard mode. And even in normal mode, I have my doubts... Also, Wrath is likely to hurt more than it helps, because if he kills one and another gets to him...

I'm not sure the fastest it can be done safely, and I'm sure I don't finish that map that quickly, but I never cared. <= 10 turns is good enough for me, though I think I usually do 8 or something. Anyway, the best way of funneling kills into Micaiah is to just have Edward self heal and move such that he only faces 1 a turn, though he faces 2 twice, I think. Anyway, enough damage is done such that Micaiah can KO the thing, though it helps when Leo appears since I think Ed + Leo + Micaiah can kill everything but the boss. Maybe not, I haven't checked the stats recently. I'm not sure what Ed + Micaiah can KO in just one encounter each.

[Junkhead]

Micaiah is a good weakener at her joining time indeed, I did the oppisite and made Edward the weakener instead, that way she gets the kills and gets the EXP she needs, Eward has decent avoidance against the first axe users, I'm thinkin he'll manage the first couple of them thanks to Wrath.

Except Edward's avoid against the axemen isn't so reliable in hard mode. And even in normal mode, I have my doubts... Also, Wrath is likely to hurt more than it helps, because if he kills one and another gets to him...

I did mention the first chapter, where they start with high biorhythim, I am NOT talking about Hard Mode either, were enemies are even stronger, which is totally giving Edward a bigger disadvantage.

Edward is most likely to dodge the first axe user in the first chapter and kill him at the enemy phase, if not, he will get hit once causing him to activate Wrath, the others ones aren't even at range if you use the correct tactics, which could be getting him in range of one of them, making him wait THEN you kill the enemy.

[RNG Princess]

Idk if my tactics are horrible but I usually have:

Micaiah use sacrifice and carry herbs and vulenaries just in case if I can't have Laura heal her.

Edward Ilyana Jill and Aran get most of the kills

Nolan Fiona Meg Zihark and Vika get some kills

Leonardo Tormod Volug Tauroneo Muarim and Sothe hardly get any.

Nailah/Black Knight get kills in swamp chapter/1-E.

Micaiah is my automatic choice for Paragon but for endgame I let Sothe use it because she reaches 20 by then. I avoid giving her kills until 1-9.

Sothe usually carries bronze weapons or unequipped in 1-E I give him his Kard back.

Black Knight gets a bronze lance so he won't kill ranged attackers.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Queen_Elincia

[Junkhead]

Oh n, that's quite alright. In my first (And from later on) what I did was drop Sothe's knives, I just couldn't let him kill those enemies to steal experience, especially for what he gets (2 Exp each).

I leave most of my kills to the other unpromoted units instead, although Nolan is the one that could handle the most attacks in normal mode, which is...twso soldiers.