Kupo

Double post again >< Sorry!

Good point. It's true that Tear has the highest possible activation rate (that is, 50% with Naesala at max SPD - granted, that's at 36, but all the same). Even base Naesala has better activation rate than any beorc unit, even if it's only by 2%. And yes, it OHKO's red dragons (Hard Mode): Base Tibarn (hopefully by 4-E-3 he has at least a few levels, but I'll leave him at base) vs Red Dragon on a cover [36 * 3 + 20] - 47 = 81, OHKO. I never use laguz so I don't know a reasonable level for Ulki or Janaff or I guess Vika (all of whom break the 20 SPD cap). But it looks like they could probably pull it off if said dragon wasn't on a cover and possibly if it was. Base Naesala leaves them with something like 4-5 HP and he's doubling so he at least ORKOs (as do all hawks and ravens). This is definitely a big advantage for Tear. Rend doesn't get any bonuses in terms of activation rate, but yes it's been established that it is indeed the strongest skill in the game (although now that Tear can OHKO red dragons, I don't really see the benefits). Perhaps Tear's superior activation rate is enough to put it in the top spot.

Oops, double post.

1. Nephenee 2. Nolan 3. Haar 4. Mia 5. Jill Ike didn't get in! Yes! :D He was 6th though. I expected all of them to be there, but I thought Haar would be at the top instead of Nephenee. On my first PT Nolan was at the top but I don't remember the rest of them.

That never happened to me o_O Sothe only has about 27 luck on average at x/20 so it's uncommon. No, I haven't maxed all stats on all characters... especially not Herons because although I forget to use them periodically. It's not that I don't like them... I just forget. But obviously I have maxed stats on a few characters. Once Jill maxed everything at like 20/20/15 or something like that. It was good but her next five levels were so disappointing...

Double Bow also gives +3 STR. It's probably the best SS weapon (1-3 range to boot). What Paladin has 34 str? The only two paladins who can SS lances are Oscar and Geoffrey. Oscar will never hit 34 and if we assume he is 20/15 (which is quite high) he only has 30str. Geoffrey will have 33 str at 20/13 but it's highly unlikely he will reach even that by 4-E-3. For the sake of this we'll assume that it's Geoffrey who is attacking. 20/13 Geoffrey 3*(33 + 22 - 42) = 39 DMG. 20/14 Shinon (even though he's one base level higher than Oscar he doesn't have much of an enemy phase until 4-E-1) 3*(31 + 3 + 22 - 42) = 42 DMG Shinon has a MT lead and like Kirsche said if it activates on the first hit, he doesn't have to deal with getting counterattacked. Likewise though Sol improves if it activates on the 2nd hit because it will heal Geoffrey. Although Sol has a lead on this map it's not as much as you made it out to be. And you chose probably the most skewed map to compare it on... most other times Geoffrey won't be doubling and and Shinon will, and due to his great skill, Deadeye will be activating more often (~33% vs ~40%). And since on most other maps it's a ORKO, activation rate wins. You could argue Titania/Urvan though - but I'm not sure if she's doubling during the 4-E chapters. She'd win in 4-E-3 but not anywhere else if she can't double.

Rend will OHKO most enemies save dragons as well and has a better activation rate. Right, now you worry about effects (which wasn't the case when you were arguing Luna > Rend, and Rend has the exact same effect as what you're hyping here). The only enemies it doesn't work on are bosses. Which isn't good but it's not like that severely hinders the fact that it OHKOs any enemy (including dragons, which are the only enemy other mastery skills have trouble with). I don't see how Deadeye is better than this other than boss activation, which is a minor point. Not a tier difference. What? .Only the unexpectedness of Bane sucks more than Mercy. I think Bane is underrated. It isn't a good mastery skill. But honestly Whispers aren't going to be killing much anyway (28str cap? 18mt SS weapon?) and the majority of time Bane activates it's in your favour. And at least when it does activate it does good damage (unlike Corona, especially considering how weak light is).

Astra would be a lot better if skills could actually activate on each of the hits, and if the activation was Skill%. I think Astra's better than Deadeye; same activation rate and Astra will do more damage. The only thing Deadeye has on Astra is the sleep effect, which isn't very useful. Of course if we were to take into account the characters these mastery skills apply to then Deadeye would be better; but I think we're purely comparing mastery skills. IMO Colossus and Impale are the best mastery skills. But what exactly is colossus' damage formula? I can't figure it out from the skill description...

That depends on who else wants the item. Stat-up items are resources, like BEXP or Steel Greatlances. In a playthrough, it makes no sense not to use them. Generally it's decided that if a unit uses that item very well (benefits from it) and there isn't anyone else who benefits from it even better, then the unit will get that item. As for who benefits more; that's part of the discussion. Then there's the fact that not all units are always played; maybe Meg can use a robe better than Micaiah (just an example) but since Meg is not always deployed, Micaiah may still get the robe (unless we are arguing Meg specifically, in which case she is always deployed). I've never heard the term but I think that's what they call opportunity cost; forgive me if I'm using it wrong. Nephenee has a claim to a dracoshield because very few people benefit from it as well as she does, so there is little demand. This is a point in her favour because it means she can brush up on one of her weak points (defense) without stealing high-demand items from the team.

Er, my mistake. Forgot this was Hard Mode, which I've actually never played through. So I guess she isn't as good since BEXP is so limited... but she is definitely one of the units who can use it best so probably has a right to at least a decent share of it. And she can start BEXP at 12, even 11. And surely, even with the increased enemy stats she can't be dealing 0-3 damage in 2-E with a javelin. She has a height advantage (I can't find the data IRT what increases one gets from attacking from above) to boot, and as mentioned 22atk with a javelin, which doesn't translate into 0-3. My mistake considered, maybe she isn't above Micaiah. I still believe she's upper-mid, but I should probably go play HM.

So... anymore opinions on this? Yes, Micaiah's utility as a Healer in Part 3 and as the DB's only reliable general slayer definitely makes the competition close. However, Nephenee, with BEXP use, is an awesome unit and will probably get Wishblade (can Haar SS-rank lances? If so, she has competition). Statistically she is probably the best [beorc] unit in the game, and she is a wonderful asset during Part 2 (especially 2-E, when she can javelin very effectively). Equally wonderful during Part 3 where she can rape everything because she's likely being BEXP-ed during the earlier chapters, but she shines a little bit less because the GMs are such a good group. I vote Nephenee.

Except, Thunder consistently sucks (Thunder, Elthunder and Arcthunder... all of them are worse than their Fire/Wind/Light counterparts). I just tend to ignore Dark, but you do have a point. No, you couldn't. Meg never caps three stats (that's usually when units are considered BEXP-able) until 20/20/14, which she will never reach. I didn't say he's the best mage for it; he's actually the best character for it. Capping those 3 stats so early means you can BEXP him the rest of the way, as Interceptor said. You don't even need to go all the way - he'll cap SPD within 3-4 levels of BEXP, and then you can crown him. As I said, neither Oscar nor Boyd (nor any other character I can think of right now) caps three stats so early, which is what makes Soren great. Yes, I was referring to Normal mode. That's exactly what I just did in my PT. I don't think it's reasonable that she'll gain 11 levels in Part 2, although you can BEXP her one level earlier (at 11, when she caps two stats). But you might as well wait one more level so that she caps three stats. Thus, she'll probably be BEXPing at around the same time as Soren.

BEXP anyone? Soren is basically the best candidate for it, capping three stats at -/10. Not to mention his defense deficit is less of a problem because he's with a group that can actually protect him when necessary. Thus, he statistically murders Micaiah. Her utility as a healer for the DB during part 3 and thani-bombing during part 1 does give her quite an edge though. I still think Soren is better but she's very, very close. Thunder magic is much worse than Light. It's heavier and has horrible accuracy.

Izuka, sexy strategist.

I actually did the laguz strategy when the game first came out. Doesn't really work out. The exp loss hurts you to much. The problem with blossom is it doesn't ensure any stats to grow and it negates paragon's major advantage. IIRC doesn't blossom only give you 5% stat boost to all growths. If it doubled your growths then it might be useful enough to override the negative but in it's current form it is actually pretty harmful since you are only gaining 40% total growth in exchange you are losing the ability to gain more than one level up without paragon in a battle. Basically 340% total stat growth<600% total stat growth. With paragon by itself and no blossom you could be gaining around 1200% stat growth per battle if you fed that unit alot of kills. Edit: This needed more clarification. I was assuming 300% as any character's base total growth. With blossom you have 340%. If you equip blossom on most units they can only gain 1 level per chapter. Without blossom they might have gotten two level ups and thus they would have gained 600% total growth on any given chapter. For astrid disregarding what her growths actually are she would half her exp rate in exchange for 40% more total growth. That gives her 680% total growth in a chapter where as she might have gotten up 4 levels with just paragon on said chapter and gained 1,200 total growth. This is true. The only problem is growth is finite; so if you are planning do level-up Astrid to max, it would be more efficient to use Blossom (because she gets 40% more total per level, so 340% out of a possible 300). But there are very few reasons why you would do that anyway (and if you were to, you'd probably want to use paragon+resets since it's faster, and if you're on Hard Mode no way you're getting her to max or even using Astrid).

I have to agree that Fortune is one of the worst skills. Flourish is also in the same boat as Mercy. Although it's a bit more versatile and a use for it can probably be found - leveling up someone in the GMs (Rolf?) - it's still not that great.

I am =) I was considering using the same signature, but that would be overdoing it... Do you have a UNoT account as well? I didn't think anyone would recognize me here. If your username is the same I don't recognize you =( Sorry. No, I recently visited the site. I'm trying Rune Factory, and loving it, and I'm using the site for help. For the record, I'm going for Tori. Anyway, I don't own an account there, but if I start to need help, and a certain someone doesn't come back for a bit, I may join. I can't tell how friendly people are, there, either. D: Want to be friend-- *shot* Ahh I see! Haha, the RF boards are the best ones (my home). Everyone is very friendly, as long as you act mature you'll be fine. Haha you picked up "*shot*". Yeah sure ... I don't know how to do it though... Thanks for the welcome!

I am =) I was considering using the same signature, but that would be overdoing it... Do you have a UNoT account as well? I didn't think anyone would recognize me here. If your username is the same I don't recognize you =( Sorry.

Hey guys, I don't usually do these introduction topics but I figured I'd give it a go. I actually came here from the GameFAQs boards because I was tired of all the stuff that goes on there, which I won't go into. Some of the usernames here bring back memories, because I used to participate in a few tier discussions on the RD boards as CocoaArcher. I used this site back when I played RD for averages, growths, etc. but never noticed there was a forum so it was a pleasant surprise. I enjoy playing FE and I love discussions. I'm not a veteran player or anything (feel a bit like a fish out of water here!), I just like playing the game! Anyways that's my little spiel. Hope to see you guys around.

I just immigrated here from there. The RD board is pretty bad, but even it is in much better shape than the SS board. FE8 was my first FE and the GFaqs board for that is full of the most annoying topics, and any honest topic gets morphed into a Gheb topic (or whatever the latest fad there is) within 2-3 posts... I've just started here but it seems much more civilized.