Rate the Unit: Day 37 - Caill

[Ema Skye]

Dat Rules (borrowed/stolen from Integrity)

- Ratings are assumed to be on Hard Mode (JP Maniac). And only hard mode!

- Votes need some explanation regarding their gameplay performance to be counted. If somebody else said what you want to already, quote them explicitly.

+/- ≤1 point extra regarding personality/appearance is encouraged, but no more. If you exercise your bias privileges, please do so explicitly.

- Numerical votes out of 10, or something proportional to it. Make it easy to calculate for my sake.

- Every ranking phase ends when the next RTU thread is posted (at this point, it's hard to tell).

- I will insist you do not use the "Not X" reason on any character, where X is another unit. If you do, your vote will be thrown out.

- "Recruits X" or "takes you to X chapter" or "Gives you Bronze Sword" arguments are explicitly banned. C'mon, people, this shouldn't need to be a rule. That's not gameplay performance.

- Assume that the character in question is being recruited.

- Similar to the "Recruits X" rule, do not use "she brings a Savior to the team" as an argument.

- BEXP is free to be used in any quantity on any character.

- Skills can be reassigned freely.

- No transfers.

- Anyone that has done a RD RTU withholds the privilege to tell you your rating is bogus and demand you revise it if it breaks any of the above. I will not throw out votes anonymously, you will be informed and given a chance to revise.

Averages:

Fiona: 1.20

Meg: 1.34

Astrid: 2.10

Lethe: 2.21

Vika: 2.40

Leonardo: 2.53

Lucia: 3.06

Danved: 3.11

Tormod: 3.28

Brom: 3.56

Ilyana: 3.75

Makalov: 4.00

Nealuchi: 4.41

Tauroneo: 4.50

Geoffery: 4.50

Black Knight: 4.60

Maurim: 4.72

Kieran: 4.82

Aran: 4.92

Laura: 5.13

Heather: 5.29

Edward: 6.31

Micaiah: 6.50

Mordecai: 7.17

Marcia: 7.31

Zihark: 7.44

Nephenee: 7.74

Elincia: 8.21

Leanne: 8.38

Rafiel: 8.45

Jill: 8.46

Volug: 8.87

Sothe: 8.93

Nailah: 9.00

Nolan: 9.06

Haar: 9.91

So Calill's only Part 2 map is the endgame. Seige tomes are pretty cool, and can help weaken Ludveck for a more reliable Haar or Elincia kill. Her stats are pretty comparable to the rest of your tier 2 units, and hitting Res on a map full of Armors is very valuable. She'll come back in 3-9 as one of your better units (it's not hard to be better than Astrid, Makalov and Devdan). She can take a Paragon and be close to caught up with Ike's team come 3-11. Definitely one of the best CRKs, but she still has their availability problem. Come Endgame she's probably the best sage for Rexflame access to hit 35 speed, but between Micaiah and Sanaki both being forced, a third mage is hard to justify.

5.5 +1 bias = 6.5

[Karasz]

6.5/10

I give Calill this for a number of reasons:

Perks

1. As one of three Fire magic users in the game, she's WAY more available than Tormod or Sanaki.

2. Better Luck, Skill, Speed, and Resistance growths than Path of Radiance.

3. Actually a somewhat reliable Archsage (better than Tormod or Ilyana, but probably not Soren or Pelleas)

4. Overall the best unit for the Rexflame tome, should you get access to it.\

5. Access to staves over knives (Calill and Bastian using knives in PoR was just stupid, let's admit it)

6. Starts with Nihil.

7. Dark Affinity, which is good for supports.

Flaws

1. Decent but not great Magic growth.

2. Horrifying HP and Defense growths.

3. There are better magic units out there that beat her in a lot of aspects.

4. Limited availability.

That's about it.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Karaszure

[Shadow Mir]

(better than Tormod or Ilyana, but probably not Soren or Pelleas)

I can't agree with Soren or (especially) Pelleas being better (the latter in particular is especially outlandish, if you ask me; I can at least understand an argument that Soren might be better)...

That being said, 6 +1 bias for 7/10. One of the better mages in the game, but that's not really saying a whole lot, and her availability hurts her.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[nano]

Great for 2-E due to meteor access and the large amount of ledges available. Siege tomes in general are just very helpful in many situations, and she does have the bases and weapon ranks to use them effectively.

Then she can get 2 or 3 chapters of Paragon help and contribute further. She has nice offensive growths, and magic is great in the desert. If she managed to do well in the Silver army she can easily destroy the 4-E-1 armors and even get 34 AS for 4-E-5 cover auras. She is probably the second sage behind Soren.

Also 'em legs.

5.5/10 + 1 bias

[Samias]

Yay, back home!

Pros:

+Only magic user in part 2, so she stands out

+She gets staves when she promotes

+Speed growth is better than most other mages

+Fire has the best MT, and Rexflame bumps up her speed

+Dark affinity is cool too

+Nihil!!!!!

+No transfers assumed, but she gets transfers from herself AND Largo

Cons:

-Low base

-One of the lowest mag growths of the sages

-Her base HP/defence has the durability of toilet paper against any melee unit (aka pretty much everyone)

-Defence is terrible until she promotes

-Bad availability like the rest of the CRKs

-Problematic movement

Calill is the best fire sage. Tormod disappears for like, forever, and Sanaki is just slow and doubles nothing ever. Whereas in Path of Radiance, Calill was just an easy-to-use prepromote with great weapon ranks but no staves, but in Radiant Dawn, Calill is the faster-but-weaker sage. She's the Lugh to our Lilina. When she starts out, she's actually very much on the squishy side and has a bit of a tough time contributing with mounts all around her. She DOES come with Meteor, though, which will help you keep Calill out of danger, since everything is really out to murder her. Too bad her join chapter just gets absolutely destroyed by Elincia and Haar, even without trying, so she's not really worth the trouble in an LTC because she needs to be fed some levels to avoid becoming fodder in later chapters. I really love Nihil and whether or not Calill is used, you can always snatch Nihil off of her, but it means she doesn't have to face down any enemy skills if you take her to part 4 endgame and still have Nihil kept on her. Is it worth taking Calill to endgame with Sanaki around? Well, Sanaki is pretty bad, so if you wanna use Rexflame, bring Calill.

Overall, her availability means she has level problems, but she's fixable and gets the best SS rank tome. Most of her durability problems against the average enemy are solved after promotion.

7/10

[Shadow Mir]

she gets transfers from herself AND Largo

Uhh, I thought that was shot down? I tried it once, and no dice.

[Samias]

Uhh, I thought that was shot down? I tried it once, and no dice.

Is it not true? Well, either way, I didn't actually factor transfers into Calill's score, though Calill has troubles transferring stats anyway.

This was from Serenes:

Calill receives an additional bonus for any stat that Largo capped at his final level (20). However, note that bonuses for the same stat do not stack.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Samias

[Vorena]

Calill should honestly be in the same category as Soren. She is his equal in stats except magic pretty much the entire time. It is only her poorer availability that really limits her in my opinion. But, I'm going to give her a lower score because mages are not specatular in this game. I'd pretty much give soren a 7/10 and give her a 6.7/10

[MacLovin]

6.5/10

I give Calill this for a number of reasons:

Perks

1. As one of three Fire magic users in the game, she's WAY more available than Tormod or Sanaki.

2. Better Luck, Skill, Speed, and Resistance growths than Path of Radiance.

3. Actually a somewhat reliable Archsage (better than Tormod or Ilyana, but probably not Soren or Pelleas)

4. Overall the best unit for the Rexflame tome, should you get access to it.\

5. Access to staves over knives (Calill and Bastian using knives in PoR was just stupid, let's admit it)

6. Starts with Nihil.

7. Dark Affinity, which is good for supports.

Flaws

1. Decent but not great Magic growth.

2. Horrifying HP and Defense growths.

3. There are better magic units out there that beat her in a lot of aspects.

4. Limited availability.

That's about it.

1.Pelleas?

Are you kidding?

2.Also, Sanaki is a worthy unit to train in the Silver Route.

3.Miccy and Sanaki are forced, so they're moot.

TOrmods never there, and the rest, barring Soren and Maybe Rhys and Calill, stink.

Sorens locked to Greil.

RHys requires bexp slowplay, resolve, and forges.

Calill wants bexp, forges, and dusts.

Being the 2nd best out of 3 isn't that good.

(LolPelleas, Illyana, and Mist)

Laura may be decent, but she has HP problems, and Elincia wants bexp.

Sanaki exists, and can do Calills endgame work, but not counting this.

Calills one of this games best Magic users, but when the list includes shit like Pelleas, Illyana, and Mist, its not really that big of a deal.

However, She's probobly among the better ones, since Miccy is hard for newbies to raise, and Rhys needs a bit of bexp slowplay and Resolve, and Soren is the only competition.

But, Soren can't go desert, and we love Mages in the desert!.

Miccy can only kill so many with forges/valaura, so I'd say Calills the best Sage for the desert, and we also have Sanaki, who's an offensive version of miccy, and can use rexflame.

I'd say 6.5+1.

7/10, she's useful, but past the CRKs, she wants bexp, and forges, And maybe a magic dust.

A bit more useful than Sanaki, due to being one of the 2 CRKs with Long Term Use.

Yes, I compared her with Sanaki, since Silver Route performance is always a concern about Mages for me in drafts.

Soren can't go there, and the other mages that can are (as PKL terms) "smelly".

Soren, is the best on NM, but on HM IDK.

Worth investing in, and helps out.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Folgore Green

[PuffPuff]

-Bad Availability

-Probably won't ever double especially without Bonus EXP because of her availability hurting her.

-Only one worthy to wield Rexflame since it weighs Sanaki down. But she isn't worth putting effort into when you already have Soren/Ilyana promoted and probably being able to use Restore/Physic Staffs by the time that Callil joins permanently.

-Great Speed and Mag stats

-Instant Nihil is always a good thing. Keep it on her if you plan to bring her into the endgame chapters.

Using her is you choice.

This score.

Because her availability is very bad.

5.5/10

[Darros]

Uhh, I thought that was shot down? I tried it once, and no dice.

It depends on what version of the game you have. Some allow it, others don't.

Anyway, Calill.

She's the best mage in the game with her availability and decent combat/utility. Free Nihil is super useful come endgame (We're assuming she's being brought there). Her speed is great, and she's your best rexflame user (since Sanaki should be using Cymbeline). She also has a good affinity.

Paragon can be placed on her to make her catch up and become more useful when she joins up with Ike. And in her CRK chapters she's fine as is.

6.5 + 1/10

7.5/10

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Calill rocks. She's one of the best magic users in the game, reliably uses Rexflame without worrying about being weighed down, can double in Endgame, and has fun throwing Sieges everywhere. Durability's not that great and availability stinks, but she joins at the right time where she can take BEXP without competition.

7/10

[Starwave]

Calill is one cool customer. She joins in 2E, and instantly gains utility for her meteor use, which is immeasurably useful as a fail safe should you get RNGed and need to take out an opponent at all costs. Her availability as a mage is a bit iffy, and her stats could use some work, like others have mentioned she can be salvaged. Imo, she's basically the second best mage in the game. Soren is a tiny bit better, but not by much and if you like Calill then by all means drop Soren for her, it won't really hurt your performance if you're properly levelled her. (Also as an Archsage promoting from a Fire Sage, she gets access to pretty much the best tome :p). She's one pretty mommy too. (cookie if you get the reference)

6.5 + 0.5 bias

=

7/10

Edited June 7, 2012 by Starwave

[Titamon]

Uh guys really? Calill is not that great, she suffers from the low availability that plagues all CRK's, and has dire durability to boot.

[Silith]

Callil is pretty nice but does get the wind from the front.

-Her availability is kinda meh.

-Magic is not that usefull in this game.

-Her SS-tome is being taken by Sanaki who is forced.

If you look through those flaws she has her moments to shine. Meteoring stuff is nice and beign able to be deployed on the hawk army means she can counter the 4-5 Laguz in case you want to take more then 1-2 turns on that map.

[Starwave]

Uh guys really? Calill is not that great, she suffers from the low availability that plagues all CRK's, and has dire durability to boot.

Keep in mind, almost everybody who voted ended up giving her +0.5 / +1 to her score due to bias, which could explain the "higher than average" score.

[Samias]

-Her SS-tome is being taken by Sanaki who is forced.

Sanaki's craptastic strength totally destroys the benefits of +3 speed from Rexflame. Sanaki's high caps are actually somewhat detrimental to bexp abuse because Sanaki doesn't reach her caps particularly fast, and thus has problems shoring up her weak speed growth. Her strength growth is high but her base is awful and unless you're very, very blessed, Sanaki is going to be weighed down by Rexflame and lose AS. If Calill comes along, she is guaranteed the Rexflame because she does so much better with it.

[bottlegnomes]

Keep in mind, almost everybody who voted ended up giving her +0.5 / +1 to her score due to bias, which could explain the "higher than average" score.

That said, Mak averaged a 4 (though there was a lot of negative bias) and Kieran got 4.82. Calill is basically halfway between the two with the added negatives of no horse, less availability, and lower durability. I'm not really seeing how she's 1-2 points ahead of them before bias.

Edited June 7, 2012 by bottlegnomes

[Loki Laufeyson]

(hoo boy)

Calill, that "first-class" mage who now owns a pub with her one armed husband.

Pros:

Good growths.

Is probably the only person using Rexflame.

Ok base level.

(Smart enough to ditch the knives)

Cons:

Availability is floating in the toilet.

Bases are a bit eeh.

Calill's biggest problem is that she didnt come along earlier. The only thing shes doing in 2-E is hurling spells over ledges (or if you arent taking that Meteor to Soren) and sniping junk with a siege tome. She isnt doubling for a while since her speed growth usually doesnt kick in much until after promotion. Calill just isnt around enough to be totally gr9mazing. Sad too because shes not bad when trained. After she promotes, her growths kick in in high gear and she reaches caps rather quickly. Getting her to promote is a bit tricky. Unlike Soren, she doesnt have loads of chapters of use. She is probably the only viable unit to use the Rexflame. She'll usually be able to double with that and rip some shit apart. Ive...never got her transfers so i dont know what those really do for her. Whereas Soren's transfers make him rather....umm...broken in a lot of situations. Unlike Soren as well, she doesnt have a good Earth affinity support partner unless you grind for them. Shes pretty decent for what she can do, however and she can really help in the desert chapter.

5.5/10 No bias because her personality did get better in this game. Shes not as...irritating. (but im still not a huge fan)

[Darros]

That said, Mak averaged a 4 (though there was a lot of negative bias) and Kieran got 4.82. Calill is basically halfway between the two with the added negatives of no horse, less availability, and lower durability. I'm not really seeing how she's 1-2 points ahead of them before bias.

Horses aren't a huge deal in RD. There's quite a few maps that aren't friendly for horses. The difference is Calill is usable whenever she's around. When she rejoins she's a capabale fighter, while Makalov and Kieran are kind of... eh. Also innate Nihil is really helpful for endgame.

[Ema Skye]

Part 2 horsies aren't exactly feeling the "RD hates horses" mode until Part 4, specifically 4-2 to 4-5. It's not like they're Fiona in Part 1 where all of their maps hate her, although between the desert, Oliver's house, a swamp and lots of grass, that is pretty brutal for the ponies.

Rexflame weighs 13. On average, Sanaki hits 9 Str (rounded down from 9.6) at Lv.20. That kills her AS by 4. Rexflame can boost it up to a loss of -1. Not great, but it is tolerable. Calill hits 13 Str on average after promotion, so she can enjoy the full benefits of Rexflame.

[Shadow Mir]

That said, Mak averaged a 4 (though there was a lot of negative bias) and Kieran got 4.82. Calill is basically halfway between the two with the added negatives of no horse, less availability, and lower durability. I'm not really seeing how she's 1-2 points ahead of them before bias.

True, no horse hurts, but this isn't FE9 where paladins were overpowered to the point of trivializing the game. In fact, a good few maps are not friendly to horses. *points to part 4*

Edited June 8, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[MacLovin]

Sanaki's craptastic strength totally destroys the benefits of +3 speed from Rexflame. Sanaki's high caps are actually somewhat detrimental to bexp abuse because Sanaki doesn't reach her caps particularly fast, and thus has problems shoring up her weak speed growth. Her strength growth is high but her base is awful and unless you're very, very blessed, Sanaki is going to be weighed down by Rexflame and lose AS. If Calill comes along, she is guaranteed the Rexflame because she does so much better with it.

Look.

Sanaki is like an offensive version of Micaiah.

Folks who do drafts just use forges, resove and a bit of bexp, then have Sanaki in the Silver Army.

Calill's only win over Sanaki is availibility, and having better spd growth.

[RNG Princess]

Callil is gr8mazing. In HM I think she's the second or third best mage after Miccy but most of them are disappointing. At base level she can do useful chipping with a forge or an accurate tome at 4-3, I found that useful combined with the peggies ^^'; but she's perfectly trainable. In NM/EM Soren and Ilyana are probably better than her but she's very good there too, I managed to 1-turn 2-E with her and I think she can 2 turn 3-9. Her biggest issue is that availability and her magic growth could be more impressive. 7.5/10

Edited June 8, 2012 by Maiden_of_Emblem

[Loki Laufeyson]

In NM/EM Soren and Ilyana are probably better than her but she's very good there too

No. Calill is still better than Ilyana in EM/NM. Even though Ilyana has the availability. Ilyana just...sucks that bad. Calill has better growths all around.