General Banzai

I fail to see how being "efficient" is necessary at all. But if that's the way you're gonna play, then so be it.

"Efficient". You say it as though this game has a tactics rank. Since it doesn't I see no need to beat chapters at speedrun-like speeds. I mean, if you gain more experience taking more time on chapters, then why not do that? I mean, ranks are stupid in the games that actuall have them (FE7), and there's absolutely no need to act as though there are ranks in a game that doesn't have them. And don't say "Oh, but I don't want to waste an extra half-hour of my life killing all the enemies on the map", because if you're on an internet forum arguing over minute details of characters in a single player RPG that can for the most part be cleared with whatever units are used, you can spend the extra time. Most of you have probably beaten the game upwards of three or four times anyways. Okay, so Ike does the same amount of stuff that Haar does, only Haar flies. Yet Ike is better than Haar because...?

Olivi Grass isn't too easy to come across in Part 1, and you would probably want to give it to Muarim and Vika in 1-8 and 1-F so they can actually do things. Oh, and sorry for coming across as a troll earlier. That wasn't what I intended, and looking back, that definitely was not the best post I could have made to try and prove my points. >.>

Ike: Haar is always going to be at least five levels higher than him as he basically has 2-P all to himself and 2-F is filled with exp, while 3-P and 3-1 have less enemies and more viable units to split the exp between. Once Ike hits level 20, that level difference will only get higher. When Ike gets stuck on Level 20, Haar (--/20/5) will have +4 HP, +5 Str, = Spd, +2 Lck, +6 Def, and +6 Res, not to mention +2 Move and flight, as well as a 3rd tier skill that has about a 30% chance of activating. Haar's flight is useful in 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-7, and especially 3-11, and his higher move and Canto is useful during 3-8, as it helps him better avoid lava tiles. Ike gets Ragnell near the end of Part 3, and even then, Haar will be doing more damage with a Steel Poleax (which, because of his high skill, he can use without fear of missing), and Haar only widens the statistical advantage he has over Ike with every level-up he gets, until Part 4 rolls around and Ike finally promotes. Haar is of course going Micaiah's route for the desert chapter, in which he is the single most useful unit you could possibly bring into that chapter (Naesala is a close runner-up but has to run away from the several Crossbow-weilding Snipers on that map). Ike, while statistically strong, is going to be underleveled and thus not too much better than most other units you've managed to train to that point. He's definitely not the single most useful unit you could bring in to either of his Part 4 chapters. When the Final Chapter rolls around, Ike will likely have a speed advantage over Haar, although it won't be too great because Ike still isn't --/20/20 while Haar is. Haar will still be able to double all the generals in 4-F-1 and his flight allows him to easily jump back and forth from the two wings to the left and the right of the central path, as well as get around the enemy units who like to clog up those pathways and get to Lekain/Hetzel quicker so they don't pull out their obnoxious Silencing effects. In 4-F-2 Ike is trapped in the Black Knight's room, which basically makes him useless for the actual combat portion of the chapter. In 4-F-3 Haar is also doing more damage than Ike due to Urvan. I fail to see one part of this game where Ike is superior to Haar. Reyson: Reyson, untransformed, at base, has 11 speed, 6 defense, and 40 HP. So, perhaps he isn't getting OHKO'd, but he's definitely getting one-rounded. Until he transforms he only gives one unit and extra turn. He's only in six chapters before the final, and in his Part 4 chapters, he will have a difficult time catching up with Tibarn and Elincia. Why, then, is he so damn high? He's helpful. He can, in the right situations, provide an irreplaceable service that greatly benefits your team. However, for most of Part 3 Haar also provides an irreplaceable service that greatly benefits your team, only Haar isn't a liability and is also around about twice as long as Reyson. Having Reyson as the second-best unit in the game implies that using him instantly makes the game easier. I don't see how a unit who constantly needs to be covered and hidden from any possible enemy makes the game that much easier. As for Laguz Stones, you get a mere three in the game, if Serenes' information is correct. I fail to see how making it so Reyson isn't doubled but still 2HKO'd gives him an exclusive right to those, when they could be given to, say, Ranulf so he isn't a useless boob in all the Part 3 chapters you're forced to bring him in on. And yes, I meant that Gatrie can take much more damage before he dies. >.> Volug: In Part 1 at base, Volug has 25 or 26 MT (not sure if the halved transformation bonuses of his skill round up or down). Base Sothe with an Iron Dagger has 23 MT, +2 MT for his auto-support with Micaiah, giving him 25 MT. Volug has equal speed and defense as Sothe, too. All Volug really has over Sothe his high HP and movement. However, Sothe is around in 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4, when Volug is not, and in 1-6, you get Zihark, who is faster and stronger than Volug, and Tauroneo, who is much stronger and much more defended than Volug. Volug's only real use in 1-6-2 is charging to the right side of the map to perhaps save a couple more of the NPCs. Volug is only really the best Part 1 Jeigan in 1-5. In Part 3, unless you're waiting for Volug to transform on his own without Formshift, his attack is not 36, even with an S-rank strike. His attack speed is only 17 or 18 with Formshift, and his defense only 14. Of course, if you know of some way that Volug can easily transform without Formshift, please let me know, as it would void this whole argument. I'll concede Soren and Ilyana, you guys have me beat there, and Pelleas/Oliver are too close for me to really waste my time debating over, so I'll concede that one as well. But the other three: Ike, Reyson, and Volug, I'm going to continue debating.

I'm going to take this from the top down. Ike is incapacitated due to late promotion for half of Part 3, and then is a liability in the last couple of parts of the final because he's got one of the worst resistance stats in the game. Not to mention, also due to late promotion time, he's probably not even hitting --/20/20 which while isn't a huge hit against him, makes me wonder why he's being placed above Haar, who is the only reason 2-F isn't insanely difficult, is not only usable for all of Part 3 but also far better than Ike statistically and utility-wise thanks to his flying and massive movement, as well as Haar's general overlevedness pretty much making him the highest-leveled unit on your team at that point (perhaps tied with Titania). When it comes to the Final Haar has higher resistance than Ike as well as higher MT and Canto which makes it easy for him to attack an enemy and then drift over to a defense or resistance boosting square, while Ike has no such re-move and thus doesn't have the same luxury. Haar also has a skill that activates far more frequently than Aether. Reyson being so high is a joke. He's only in a handful of chapters, is nearly impossible to get to a high level, is doubled and OHKO'd by nearly every enemy on the map, and takes a long time to get up that transformation bar, meaning until like ten turns into the stage he's got pitiful movement and can't easily get out of the way of enemies. He's a liability in any map that has Wyverns in it. And what does he give you? The ability to move 1 (or 4, after a set period of time) guy(s) again? You're usually better off just standing still and letting the enemy massacre themselves on your beastly stats by the time Reyson becomes available. And you've got him pegged as the second-best unit in the game? You must be joking. I fail to see how Mia is a more appealing option than Gatrie, Shinon, or Titania. Being stuck to swords is not a good thing unless you're Ike. I don't even understand the reasoning for her being so high; what's so special about her? She joins at a moderate level, does moderate damage, and takes moderate damage. Why not use Gatrie instead? He comes five levels higher, uses a better weapon, does virtually the same amount of damage, and takes much more damage. Volug. Seriously? Volug? Volug is lousy. He's definitely no better than Sothe. Volug can't kill anything except Mages and Myrms in Part 1, and his high HP drops real fast because every enemy is doing over 10 damage to him. He's outclassed by Tauroneo in 1-6, Muarim in 1-7, and Nailah in 1-8 and 1-F. He gains pittance experience and his growths are lousy anyways. Oh, and when Part 3 rolls around, he's become completely and utterly useless. He can't do anything by then. And better than Sothe? Sothe, who is invaluable in 1-3 through 1-5? Sothe, who can at least do things in the later parts of the game? Really, Volug has nothing going for him. He's out-Jeigan'd by nearly every other Jeigan and can't reliably kill anything. Leanne is likewise ridiculously high, she's in even less chapters than Reyson (IIRC) and suffers from all his faults. Ditto for Rafiel. Laura in Upper Middle is pathetic as well. She's better off not deployed in 1-5 and 1-6-1, and thanks to the uber Vulneraries in this game, is easily replaceable. She becomes useless as soon as Part 1 ends and Micaiah promotes and most of the time is just another unit who has to be protected, because everyone and their mother OHKO's AND doubles her. Mist is laughably high as well; she's definitely a liability; Ike's guys are better off with Vulneraries. She's useless in 3-4 and 3-7 and is never a viable combat unit. Soren is too low; caps half his stats after gaining 5 levels and after that is the single best candidate for Bexp in the game. Nearly every level of Bexp is guaranteed Spd and Def or HP, which irons out every statistical problem he has and also the fact that he's underleveled. He'll promote relatively early because of it and become a far better unit for healing than Mist or Rhys simply because he can take a hit and dish out damage instead of sitting around like a sop and soaking up a spot on your team. By endgame he's an unstoppable monster who has almost zero competition for the SS rank Rexcalibur. The fact that he's a high-res healer also makes him great for the later stages of the Final because thanks to AoE and magical enemies a lot of people will need healing and Micaiah can't always cover it herself. Ilyana is also too low; she's basically a slightly lesser version of Soren who is also around in Part 1. Unlike Micaiah, she can actually take a hit and isn't doubled due to high base spd, which means you don't have to put so much effort into protecting her. She's got Rexbolt all to herself and becomes the single best unit you could possibly bring into 4-F-3. Bastian needs to go up; lategame high stats healer who only has one unit to compete for an SS rank weapon, and you have him lower than Volke and Stefan? The fact that Bastian can exploit the weakness of every single enemy in 4-5 except Izuka is enough to put him over those two. Renning should be higher than Stefan and Volke as well; re-move should give him the edge over both of them. Also, I fail to see how Pelleas is better than Oliver.