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

[Florete]

Damn, I almost forgot about this. Hope I haven't gotten rusty.

Boyd

The brute.

You can count on Boyd to do one thing specifically for all of part 3; hit hard but not double. That's what happens when you have high Strength, Axes, but the same Speed as the slowest enemies and only growing it a bit faster. Of course, since only a few of the Mercenaries can double reliably without assistance (and even with assistance, not too many) he's still a good choice to put on the field. The only kills he'll get are from criticals or finishing off what he or others left. He has a lot of HP and fairly average Defense, so he can tank pretty well, which only gets better with his good defensive growths. This is pretty much him for all of part 3; heavy-hitter who doesn't double but can take a few hits.

Unfortunately, without come heavy leveling or a Speedwing, he'll likely stay the same for part 4. It is possible with some luck and clever BEXP use to get him enough Speed to double the slower enemies, but most of the faster stuff will be out of his reach forever because he just doesn't cap enough on account of his growths being evened out pretty well. Of course, it's worth it if you can get him to double, because with his massive Strength he'll be sure to bust heads left and right wherever he goes, and with to-be good Defense on top of it. Come Endgame he'll be one of your best choices if he's doubling since his mastery is awesome and he has possibly the best Strength on your team. If he reaches 34 Speed, he'll be a prime candidate for Aura smashing with Nasir's help.

As for support, his likely best option is Oscar. The support builds fast and they have a +10 crit Bond to make use of, which can be helpful when combined with a Killer Axe on Boyd. The avoid also helps until his Defense gets higher and Oscar wants all the atk he can get, so it works for both. All in all, Boyd is a decent character. Not amazing in any way, but better than average.

6.5/10

Transfer changes:

Boyd can get HP, Strength, and Speed from a transfer. This is, as one would imagine, pretty great for him. He still won't double immediately, but it's a lot easier to get him to doubling Speed (a Speedwing mostly handles it as long as he keeps up with his average) and the extra Strength helps him 2 hit kill on some things he was borderline on before (or 3 hit for Killer Axe purposes). To add to that, HP and Strength will both cap sooner, allowing him to do some BEXP slowplaying to help out with the lower stats and ultimately boost some of his averages. By mid to late part 3 he should doubling fairly reliably and by part 4 he should get all but the fastest enemies. The time it takes and the cost of getting him there is all that holds him back.

8/10

Oscar

The blind cook.

Oscar could have been a lot better with a higher Speed cap. Sure, his Strength and Defense both leave something to be desired, but those aren't too hard to work around. It's his Speed that hurts him. Not his growth, not really his base (although that could be higher as well), but his lousy tier 2 cap of 24. The problem here is that Oscar is mostly relying on doubling because he doesn't have awesome Strength like Boyd nor the strongest weapons. He doesn't start able to double and sometimes it feels like as soon as he would, the enemies have gotten the jump on him and gotten faster (except Generals, but he doesn't do much to them anyway).

Let's take a quick look through part 3 enemies and Oscar's Speed. 21 Speed only doubles a few enemies in 3-P, two Generals and a Sage. He shouldn't have gained a level by 3-1, so he's still limited to doubling only the slower enemies. If he's managed to gain a level and 60% goes in favor of him for 3-2, he'll double quite a lot here, but most of it he would have doubled anyway or has a lot of Defense so he doesn't do too well against anyway. By the time he hits 23 Speed it'll likely be about 3-4, and enemies here average 20 Speed. No dice. By the time he hits 24 Speed it'll be 3-7 or 3-8. 24 doubles pretty well in 3-7, but not in 3-8. Now he's hit his cap and won't get more until he promotes at or near the end of part 3.

So that's Oscar's offense. Mostly borderline, but often not doubling the common stuff while doubling all the slow stuff. As stated before, his Strength is okay at first but lags quite a bit as he can't keep it up very well without forges and some lucky BEXP shots. His durability is pretty good at base, and due to his high avoid growth and Earth affinity he should be able to dodge quite often even when his low defensive growths start to catch up to him. Canto and high move are obviously pretty nice, and promotion gives him mastery, Bows, and uncapped Speed to help him perform well for the rest of part 4. Not amazing because 32 Speed cap sucks, but pretty good most of the time.

7/10

Transfer changes:

Oscar can get Strength, Skill, and Speed from a transfer. Again, quite helpful. The Strength helps him a lot, especially when doubling, something he'll do more often with the initial Speed boost. The Skill comes immediately capped, allowing him to start BEXP slowplaying for better levels right away. The Speed cap will still hinder him when enemies get fast enough, but he'll be much better up to that point and still better when it happens to due to overall higher averages.

7.5/10

Edited March 8, 2010 by Red Fox of Fire

[-Cynthia-]

I think you may be underrating Oscar a bit.

You didn't really address how important Oscar's outgoing affinity boost is. It's been demonstrated multiple times how an Earth affinity makes Mia and basically any other GM insanely durable. Mia is often given an Ike support, the addition of Oscar on the team means we can have another character with high durability. Somewhat redundant on someone like Gatrie, but people like Boyd/Titania/Nephenee who have more issues becoem a lot better.

Oscar's Spd cap is troublesome, but like Gatrie's, easily remedied with a Crown. Oscar makes a good candidate for the the Crown we can steal in 3-7. This means we're already entitling a Crown to someone like Gatrie (who does ORKO more frequently but also has less mobility), so the opportunity cost is not terribly big, considering we can have a good offensive and defensive unit. Oscar's Str isn't that high, but it's been shown that giving forges to the GMs is not an issue which mitigates this.

It just strikes me as odd that Oscar and Boyd have the same score, because in my mind Oscar's advantages> Boyd's (and no probably not an issue with Boyd's score since I think Oscar's advantages outweigh people like Rolf(T) as well)

Oscar has a better affinity, more Mov/Canto, better defenses, and doubles a lot more, a doubling Oscar has better offense than a non-doubling Boyd.

Boyd has better offense when neither/both are doubling, and a higher Spd cap which barely matters since he'll never reach it anyway (he only reaches Oscar's Spd at 20/15).

I really think Oscar is more of a 7.5 than a 6.5.

Edited January 17, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Florete]

You didn't really address how important Oscar's outgoing affinity boost is.

That's because I've already done it multiple times on other characters. I guess I could throw in a little extra though, I only mentioned what it did for him.

Oscar's Spd cap is troublesome, but like Gatrie's, easily remedied with a Crown. Oscar makes a good candidate for the the Crown we can steal in 3-7. This means we're already entitling a Crown to someone like Gatrie (who does ORKO more frequently but also has less mobility), so the opportunity cost is not terribly big, considering we can have a good offensive and defensive unit. Oscar's Str isn't that high, but it's been shown that giving forges to the GMs is not an issue which mitigates this.

It's not cost-free though. There's still people like Haar and Titania who make arguably better use of a Crown than Oscar, and although a Crown might help Oscar now, it'll hurt him in the long run due to worse Str.

It just strikes me as odd that Oscar and Boyd have the same score, because in my mind Oscar's advantages> Boyd's (and no probably not an issue with Boyd's score since I think Oscar's advantages outweigh people like Rolf(T) as well)

Having the same score doesn't make them perfectly equal.

Oscar has a better affinity, more Mov/Canto, better defenses, and doubles a lot more, a doubling Oscar has better offense than a non-doubling Boyd.

I wouldn't say doubles a lot more. He still has issues. And a lot of what he does double is Generals, which Boyd can possibly tie offense in without doubling anyway.

I really think Oscar is more of a 7.5 than a 6.5.

I might raise him to 7, but I think 7.5 is too high.

[Bryan]

I really think Oscar is more of a 7.5 than a 6.5.

I might raise him to 7, but I think 7.5 is too high.

Isn't 7 in your +/-.5 margin of error?

[Florete]

I really think Oscar is more of a 7.5 than a 6.5.

I might raise him to 7, but I think 7.5 is too high.

Isn't 7 in your +/-.5 margin of error?

It is. However, Cynthia thinks he should be 7.5, which is not. If I raise him to 7, then it would be within the margin of error for her argument. Basically, even though someone may argue a full point difference, I might partially agree with them and go part of the way to have a more accurate score. The margin of error only states what I don't want people to try arguing, not the minimum change I'll make when I do.

[Bryan]

I really think Oscar is more of a 7.5 than a 6.5.

I might raise him to 7, but I think 7.5 is too high.

Isn't 7 in your +/-.5 margin of error?

It is. However, Cynthia thinks he should be 7.5, which is not. If I raise him to 7, then it would be within the margin of error for her argument. Basically, even though someone may argue a full point difference, I might partially agree with them and go part of the way to have a more accurate score. The margin of error only states what I don't want people to try arguing, not the minimum change I'll make when I do.

That makes sense, I was just checking. :)

[Florete]

I haven't forgotten about this (...), I've just been busy with multiple things lately and haven't really found the time to sit down and write quality reviews. Just letting everyone who's curious know that I'm not giving up, I'll just be going slowly for a while.

[Bryan]

I haven't forgotten about this (...), I've just been busy with multiple things lately and haven't really found the time to sit down and write quality reviews. Just letting everyone who's curious know that I'm not giving up, I'll just be going slowly for a while.

I can't wait for the next review! I love reading them. :)

[Redthir Jerdisheim]

I realize that what I said isn't quite relevant to this topic.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Redthir Jerdisheim

[Narga_Rocks]

[bunch of ratings]

Pretty sure it says "Red Fox of Fire's" in the title, not "Redthir Jerdisheim".

[Florete]

I'm only rating the 7 units that I think of as the game's best and most reliable, besides the Laguz Royals who are top at everything except maybe Affinity (Nailah has Wind, Tibarn has Heaven and neither is particularly helpful.)

Edward:

Rolf:

Obvious troll is obvious. Please get your crap out of my topic.

If you actually aren't intentionally trolling, just read Narga's post.

[Mekkah]

I'd be confused too, the first three letters are the same.

[Narga_Rocks]

Obvious troll is obvious. Please get your crap out of my topic.

If you actually aren't intentionally trolling, just read Narga's post.

Wow, Ed and Rolf? I never actually read his post. Ouch.

[Anouleth]

Way to jump on the newbie...

[Narga_Rocks]

Way to jump on the newbie...

*bow*

Thank you.

Now if that person would just edit his/her post and remove what's there and replace with a nice "oops, sorry" that'd be great. I'm sure a lot of thought was put into those, though, so if he/she desires to discuss their opinion I'd recommend making a different topic and copying the current post over.

[Original Alear]

I'm amazed he gave rolf and nolan the same babyfactor. Nolan needs about as much babying as a grandpa. He's not uber, but he has enough str, spd and durability that he can get kills on his own.

[Fayt Zelpher]

I'm amazed he gave rolf and nolan the same babyfactor. Nolan needs about as much babying as a grandpa. He's not uber, but he has enough str, spd and durability that he can get kills on his own.

Well, if your grandpa is over 80, he might need a lot of babying.

But seriously, being the 2nd best DB on HM and 2nd best until Edward gains levels on EM and NM means that he's not going to need babying to get kills and EXP.

[BK-201]

Nolan:

Overall utility - 9

Endgame efficiency - 19

Babyfactor - 6

Affinity - 5/5

Gatrie:

Overall utility - 10

Endgame efficiency - 13

Babyfactor - 10

Affinity - 3/5

Haar:

Overall utility - 10

Endgame efficiency - 15

Babyfactor - 10

Affinity - 1/5

Ike:

Overall utility - 9

Endgame efficiency - 19

Babyfactor - 9

Affinity - 4/5

Edward:

Overall utility - 7

Endgame efficiency - 18

Babyfactor - 3

Affinity - 2/5

Mia:

Overall utility - 9

Endgame efficiency - 15

Babyfactor - 7

Affinity - 3/5

Rolf:

Overall utility - 8

Endgame efficiency - 17

Babyfactor - 6

Affinity - 1/5

I'm only rating the 7 units that I think of as the game's best and most reliable, besides the Laguz Royals who are top at everything except maybe Affinity (Nailah has Wind, Tibarn has Heaven and neither is particularly helpful.)

How do you justify Nolan getting a 5/5 on affinity as opposed to Ike who got a 4/4? Same affinity. He's a newbie not a troll.

[Kinata]

Maybe he felt Nolan can benefit more from the avoid increase, and he's probably right in that respect. But you don't have to jump on the newbie that much, we were all like him before. And many of us (like me) still are.

[Anouleth]

Maybe he felt Nolan can benefit more from the avoid increase, and he's probably right in that respect. But you don't have to jump on the newbie that much, we were all like him before. And many of us (like me) still are.

Actually, you seem to know what you're talking about, or at least know enough not to try and inject your own stuff into someone else's thread.

[Florete]

Way to jump on the newbie...

Maybe it's just me, but it feels very rude of him to throw his own random ratings into a topic clearly labeled as someone else's. He'd have to have not read a single post in the topic to have made a mistake like that, and even then it's questionable.

Now if that person would just edit his/her post and remove what's there and replace with a nice "oops, sorry" that'd be great.

I agree 100%.

[Kinata]

My area of experitise (did I spell that correctly?) is tactics, not debating. Notice how I have not participated in this topic until I saw a fellow noob to protect. Though I have enjoyed reading some of RFoF's reviews and learning the rankings of characters.

[Sho Minamimoto]

Edward

I'm only rating the 7 units that I think of as the game's best and most reliable, besides the Laguz Royals who are top at everything except maybe Affinity (Nailah has Wind, Tibarn has Heaven and neither is particularly helpful.)

Wut? He's joking right?

[Kinata]

Who knows. Noobs like me like Edward because of his great potential, always ignoring the difficulty in raising him.

[Defeatist Elitist]

I don't think anyone is really objecting to him for his ratings, I believe it is more to do with where he posted them. This isn't really a "jumping on the newb" thing. It IS quite possible he posted them here, not quite understanding it wasn't appropriate, but either way...