aku chi

You can keep saying that, but it doesn't make it true. Marcia has serious durability concerns late-game. I should know considering I just played a draft with her (NM, even). Marcia's durability is a concern in chapters 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, and Endgame. A couple of these chapters (23 and 24) can be mitigated with the Full Guard, but Tanith would like that also (and Jill generally doesn't need it). Jill is a significantly better rescue-dropper than Marcia in chapters 25 and 28 (and NM Endgame, but that's probably irrelevant) due to her sizable durability advantage. I need to be careful not to make such a big deal out of Marcia's Atk, because Oscar and Jill don't have large advantages in this department, especially if Marcia can keep some supports near her. But Oscar and Jill will deal 1-3 more damage per hit both a 1-range and at 1-2 range. Kieran's Atk advantage is a little larger (as is Makalov's until Marcia can get a Silver Lance forge and Makalov can't get a Silver Axe forge). Marcia needing >1000 Bexp to dominate C12 is not a small cost. That might be 40% of the total Bexp available at this time. Bexp that every single unit can benefit from.

Well, somebody's itching to make a lot of changes. Jill has better offense and much better defense during the entirety of their shared existance. The only thing going for Marcia is higher Speed, which gives her an easier time doubling Muarim and Homasa in chapters 15 and 19. Marcia's only notable contribution before Jill joins is the potential to help 2-turn Chapter 12 - but only if we're willing to drop over 1000 Bexp into her, don't want to recruit Jill, and don't care about missing the recruitment Ravens' loot. 3-turning Chapter 11 (which is what I assume you meant to say) is actually not possible in Hard Mode (well, it requires Titania critting with a Hand Axe against the Knight on the Arrive square). Even if it were, it would require Titania, Lethe, and Mordecai's help; in excess of 1500 Bexp; and some luck with Marcia dodging. Plus it forfeits our opportunity to recruit Jill and only saves one turn over more conventional strategies. Jill's recruitment costs are irrelevant when tiering Jill. I suggest you put it out of your mind. I don't think Marcia scores any points for slightly mitigating the slowdown she imposes by being recruited. And Oscar is a better combat unit. The 3-turn clear is not realistic in Hard Mode (it requires an unavailable Hand Axe forge OR a Hand Axe crit). And Oscar is a better combat unit. If she takes at least 1000 Bexp and you don't mind forfeitting Jill and some stat boosters. But yes, this can be a big contribution from Marcia. No argument. Eh, Marcia has an easier time doubling Muarim, so I might give the nod to her. Jill can tank and finish off Muarim on enemy phase, but then you risk some other laguz dying. Except Marcia is the worst combat and Oscar requires the fewest resources to be promoted here. Jill is better in 17-4 due to her superior combat and durability. So, the better combat units (not Marcia) have the edge. Marcia has the easiest time doubling Homasa of the three, but may need the Full Guard to avoid Ballista death. But those Wyvern Lords are tough to ORKO and really pack a punch. Jill has the advantage over Marcia. Having 2-3 fliers to ferry definitely helps. Indeed. Except that Jill has enough durability to tank a Ballista hit or two, unlike Marcia. But this chapter can still be 4-turned without any fliers, so Oscar is far from worthless. You are mistaken. There is no terrain that impedes a Paladin from reaching the Arrive square (and only one chokepoint, which can be cleared on turn 1 with Reyson's help). In fact, the prevalance of Ballistae may encourage you to use a durable Paladin to solo this chapter. A Paladin like Oscar, perhaps. Oscar can kill a couple enemies at the base of the chapter, but is otherwise quite worthless. Jill blows Marcia away here by actually being able to tank at the top of the mountain and ORKO the tougher enemies (Tigers). Naturally, except Marcia is the inferior combat unit. Jill has a much better chance of surviving the laguz than Marcia, but may need to worry about the Sleep Bishop. Also, this chapter can be more reliably 3-turned without any fliers, so Oscar isn't completely worthless. Except Marcia is dealing less damage. Oscar is a better combat unit than Marcia, so he's better in every chapter that doesn't require flier utility. Marcia requires significantly more Bexp to be valuable: this cannot be ignored. Oscar has additional utility in chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 where he is generally the second or third best unit, can save some turns even assuming optimal deployment, and is hugely helpful if Titania is not used. Oscar > Marcia.

Janaff has been making an upward climb recently, largely due to tertiary flier utility. Ulki can match that utility with the Demi Band so I wondered why Ulki hadn't also moved up the tier list. So we're considering if Ulki should move up, and if so: where.

If you're using Sothe for combat, you're doing something wrong. Sothe is where he is due to thief utility. Most important is his ability to grab items in the desert which includes the turn-saving Boots. Also important is his ability to contribute to a fast clear of Chapter 13, where all of the treasure chests must be emptied. Once you consider that not all of the Chest Keys are likely to be retrieved in an efficient playthrough, there are not enough Chest Keys to get all of the valuable treasures. Sothe might be able to steal a Physic or two, but not for long without some resources. Sothe is fine (if not too low) where he is. It is my opinion that Volke should be higher, for his better durability, better availability, better thieving, and poor but existant combat. But we've discussed the thieves several times in the past few months. They are not easy to compare with other units.

Assuming Rolf is trained, he has better combat than Ulki in their shared chapters. 20/2 Rolf with forged Steel Bow 33 HP, 30 Atk, 19 Skl, 18 Spd, 12 Lck, 14 Def, 9 Res Level 7 Demi Band'd Ulki 41 HP, 25 Atk, 17 Skl, 14 Spd, 10 Lck, 16 Def, 10 Res So Rolf doubles mores, deals a bunch more damage, hits weaknesses on fliers, and crits significantly more often. If you think giving Rolf a Steel Bow forge is unrealistic, a Silver Bow is just -1 Atk (but may require an Arms Scroll), and the Brave Bow and Killer Bow are options. Even with a basic Steel Bow, Rolf matches Ulki's poor Atk. Ulki can deal more damage on enemy phase, but his enemy phase still sucks when he 2-3RKOs most enemies and does nothing against enemies with 2-range. I'll take Rolf's ability to ORKO on player phase any day. Ulki has slightly more durability, at least before you factor in his weaknesses. But since neither can really take advantage of enemy phase, their durability is simply sufficient. In case you're curious, on the growth end: the two are similar. Ulki has slightly better growths but Rolf will level quicker with his level deficit. If Ulki is more valuable than Rolf (which he may very well be), it would have to come from his flier utility, not his combat.

Actually, Ranulf has better combat than Muarim during their shared chapters in almost all realistic scenarios. It's not a huge win, and Muarim does have the (slightly) better shove utility. The Demi Band definitely does have some competition, so I can see that being the most important factor. They're all tough comparisons from my point of view. Rolf has a big availability lead but isn't as useful in their shared chapters. Elincia has much less availability but is clearly more valuable in their shared chapters. Which would be relevant if Janaff had combat worth mentioning. I'm not exactly awed by Janaff being barely able to ORKO Sages at 1 range. Plus, Ulki can often do the same. You're overstating Ulki's inability to double. But it's really not relevant, so I won't go into it.

At this point, I'm confused as to why Janaff is so much higher than Ulki. Janaff's combat leads aren't worth much, because his combat is so poor as to be rarely (if ever) worth using. Ulki does need to monopolize the Demi Band to match Janaff's flier utility, but the Demi Band is increasingly less contested as the beast laguz get outclassed in lategame. And with the Demi Band, Ulki has the (slightly) superior flier utility. He is slightly more durable (mostly thanks to Vigilance) and can rescue some heavier units. I guess Ulki can't equip the Full Guard like Janaff can, but Janaff is rarely the best candidate anyways. However, I'm not comfortable comparing Ulki with any of the units between him and Janaff, so I'd be interested in suggestions.

What is this I don't even When you half-shift, your laguz's gauge displays 30. It cannot be lowered. When you revert from a half-shift, it completely empties your laguz's gauge. You can half-shift from any amount of gauge, but you need 30 to full-shift. Also, Wildheart does not halve exp gain, despite the description. Half-shifted exp gain is the same as full-shifted exp gain, though.

There are no Warriors in 4-E-1, only Generals, Sages, Bishops, and 2 Snipers. 31 AS doubles everything except the Snipers.

I believe that Sages cannot reach beyond B Staves in this game. If you have evidence to the contrary, that would be welcome. If you're playing efficiently, you'll realize that having 2 siege tome users can be occasionally valuable.

If you're playing efficiently, you'll realize that siege magic is very useful, and wind magic against Ravens is not. BTW, if you want a healer mid-game but don't want to use Rhys or Mist, you can feed Soren or Ilyana a Master Seal before Chapter 11 to give them staves. Then they become very similar to Rhys but with a lower staff level but better combat (only slightly better in Ilyana's case).

Have you? By praising his offense, I doubt it. Would you be so kind as to identify the units with less than or equal availability to Haar that are higher in the tier list? All five beorc fliers (hell, even Elincia) are leagues better than the Hawks. I won't deny that Janaff can have some utility if you're depriving yourself of using some of these excellent units, and that should be taken into account. I reckon chapters 20, 21, and 23 are some of his better contributions. I believe that Janaff only gains 8 Wt despite gaining 10 Con, which places his transformed Wt at 14 (somebody can double-check). I can't recall if either Boyd or Nephenee have 13 Wt post-promotion. Janaff certainly can't rescue the Generals, Devdan, Stefan, or Largo unlike the beorc fliers (Ulki can also rescue some of them). Or not, when you consider that Janaff attracts more 2-range attacks and suffers bonus damage from Wind magic, bows, and ballistae. Janaff's durability isn't scoring any points. It would be absurd not to have at least one forged Hand Axe handy by the time C25 rolls around that would normally be wielded by a Paladin. Largo can take that. The Silver Axe forge is less of a guarantee, but I'm sure that it was one of our first two Silver forges. Largo can make very good use of it. Haar and Jill will be unlikely to be able to wield it without an Arms Scroll. And if we've been training Boyd, Largo is admittedly rather redundant. Rather like Janaff if any beorc flier is used. No, it's 1 chapter of being very good (C25), 1 chapter of being useful (C27), and 3 chapters of being mediocre versus 3 chapters of being useful (C20, C21, and C23) and 9 chapters of being mediocre or worse. Which makes it a nuanced comparison. Oh, are we still talking about the fictional Level 17 Janaff? Because even a Level 14 Janaff misses out on 2HKOing the Cats and Ravens he doesn't double. And even considering Largo's offense with an unforged Hand Axe is insultingly disingenuous. And Largo is still better with that crappy weapon by virtue of 1-2 range and non-negligible crit. [sarcasm]Yeah, we'd be much better off giving Oscar and Kieran forges for C25. They move so well! And giving Janaff Bexp to go from not 2RKOing to almost consistently 2RKOing is a brilliant use of Bexp![/sarcasm] I don't know what calculations you've performed. I'm skeptical that Janaff can gain a level per chapter. And you're behind the times talking about a "fair share" of Bexp. Bexp is awarded based on how well the unit can use it. Janaff cannot use Bexp effectively. What if I told you I gave Largo Vantage/Wrath in my playthrough!?! Dun, dun, DUN!!! Depending on what units you've been training, Wrath/Vantage Largo has a chance to save a turn in C25, so it's not worth ignoring. Especially when Resolve Ike can defeat Ashnard just as fast as Resolve/Wrath Ashnard if you're unlucky with crits. And any durability lead you're imagining for Janaff is not even close to enough to give him better combat than Largo. You have your best chance in this debate if you cede combat and talk about Janaff's auxilary flier utility and greater availability (ideally with precise examples).

You're not saying anything different than I am here. But the Black Knight is even more essential/important in 1-9 than Edward is in 1-P. Micaiah and Leonardo can clear 1-P by themselves in less than double the time it takes with Edward. And Edward by himself would take about as long to clear as Micaiah and Leonardo by themselves (depending on crit luck). So, Edward and Micaiah should get some hefty credit for being top contributors in 1-P (Leonardo less so), but it still can't match what the Black Knight gets for 1-9. 1-9 is certainly an extreme case. I don't think we should award the Black Knight (near) infinite utility or some such for 1-9, but we also shouldn't ignore that his performance is at least as good as any single unit's performance in any similar-length chapter.

Arguable, but either way its an inferior contribution to Muarim's 1-7 and 1-E. The lack of player phase tends not to matter much because all 1-range enemies suicide into Muarim and we have other units that can handle Snipers and Sages (Zihark, Volug, and Sothe come to mind). Muarim will probable only need to grass once or twice once he transforms unless we're sending him completely unaided... Can't Tormod and company be recruited on turn 2? And Muarim starts with a full guage, in the event that there was any confusion on that matter. Nah, Volug has more movement than any of the enemies, so Rafiel can stand in a safe corner. Volug runs to him and uses a Vulnerary or Concoction. Then Rafiel vigors and Volug runs back and attacks a 2-range enemy. Rafiel's poor movement does make it difficult for him to vigor if Volug doesn't need a heal, though... Also, Resolve, Imbue, and Renewal are all options to increase Volug's durability. I can't be certain, but I believe that Volug, Rafiel, and Muarim can clear the west in 1-8 without Nailah in either 3 or 4 turns. It's only a theoretical curiosity, though, because Nailah and Muarim are force-deployed in 1-8 and it would be foolish not to use them both.

I don't think so. It's a combat contribution. And Micaiah can theoretically complete the chapter on her own. It's just made much, much easier if we solo with the Black Knight. I would find it weird if the Black Knight didn't get at least as much credit for his performance in 1-9 as Muarim gets for his performance in 1-7. Theoretically remove Muarim from 1-7. Now Tormod can (try to) solo the south, perhaps with some help from Vika, Volug, or a DB unit from the north. Theoretically remove the Black Knight from 3-6. Now there's no god unit fall-back that can clear this difficult chapter himself if your other units aren't up to scratch. Did you miss my suggestion that Muarim head west? He can get there (transformed) on turn 3, ready to clean up. And don't forget Rafiel, which allows Volug to either (a) attack twice in one turn or (b) heal and then attack in one turn.

Nah, Nailah is (pretty close to) unnecessary in 1-8, also. If we weren't using Nailah, we could have Muarim head west and clean up with Volug and Rafiel. Nailah, Rafiel, and Muarim are all nice to have in 1-8, but I think you could remove any single one of them and clear the chapter just as fast. It's in the east where the battle is won. Nailah certainly wins 1-E, but Muarim can still be awesome there - ORKOing everything when transformed. He can transform first thing on turn 2 with Rafiel's help and so only wind up 2 spaces behind Nailah, which probably isn't significant. And 3-4 uses of Olivi Grass isn't a terrible price to pay for that kind of performance. I don't think it's enough to overcome Muarim's 1-7, where he can do anything except attack at 2 range. As for unique contributions, isn't Muarim the only unit that can 1RKO the boss of 1-7? He is certainly the unit that can kill the boss fastest (9 mov + not caring about being attacked). He is the only god unit in 1-7, unlike in 1-E.

I was thinking the exact opposite. Muarim is just as useful as Nailah in 1-8 (he dominates his section of the map like she dominates hers). Muarim isn't as good as Nailah in 1-E because he needs to take some time and Olivi grass to transform (and stay transformed) but Nailah doesn't have an answer for Muarim's 1-7, in which he is the resident god unit. The Black Knight, on the other hand, bests Muarim chapter-for-chapter. He is more valuable in 1-E for his unique 1-2 range godliness. Muarim's 1-7 may be awesome, but nothing can compare to the Black Knight solo in 1-9 for per-chapter contributions. 3-6 and 1-8 are their least valuable chapters, but I'd still give the nod to the Black Knight, because nobody can do what he does in 3-6 (even if he does it for a short while), yet Tormod can (almost) single-handedly clear the south in 1-8. Black Knight > Muarim > Nailah, IMO.

Janaff only has "use" (I still wouldn't call it good) if you're depriving yourself of using any of the four excellent Falcon Knights and Wyvern Lords. No, he can't. Janaff is so weak he can't even lift Largo. I'd have to double-check to see if he can even lift Nephenee or Boyd. And Janaff's unlikely to make it up to the top in safety, even if we give him the Full Guard: his durability sucks, too. And Janaff lacks canto and has only 8 mov and so is considerably worse at rescue-dropping here than the four good fliers. Which every Paladin is unable to make good use of in C25 and can use in every other chapter if they want... You know those awesome Paladins we've been using and giving forges for all this time? They can't do jack in C25. It's the least they can do to lend Largo some of their forges for this one chapter. Janaff's combat sucks in C25 just like every other chapter. He's lucky to 2RKO and has no 2-range. And that's without the Demi Band. You're in fantasy land if you think Janaff will be level 17 by C25. Janaff is not gaining a level per chapter and he would need 2 levels of Bexp even if he did. And I can think of about 30 better uses of Bexp. Level 14 isn't very likely either, since Janaff struggles to ORKO throughout and some of his pre-C25 chapters are very short (19 and 22 come to mind). And Largo can OHKO Swordmasters with a Silver Axe forge and a few levels of Bexp. Yeah, he kinda is. When you talk about Janaff's combat, you compare it to Lucia and Volke's. And then he still disappoints. Janaff is not reaching 31 Atk and a level 9 Largo with a forged Hand Axe (of which there are undoubtedly several just lying around, unusable by Paladins) has 36 Atk, enough to 2HKO more than half the beorc and crit-kill everything on the map. Largo doesn't need any enemy phase to beat Janaff's "combat". And Largo can tank like a pro with Vantage/Wrath. It's no guarantee, but it's an option that he has and Janaff doesn't. The mobility and availability leads are fine and all, but Janaff still needs to be able to do something with them. Otherwise you could extend your argument to Ulki.

Largo can have a pretty impressive C25. With just a few levels of Bexp, he can ORKO everything with a Silver Axe forge and ORKO most of the beorc at 1-2 range with a forged Hand Axe. And while his paper-thin durability normally means that you need to be very careful with his positioning, Vantage + Wrath is a potential costly solution to his durability woes (100% chance to crit-blick with a Killer Axe or ~80% chance to crit-blick with a +crit Hand Axe forge while in Wrath range). Largo can also help clear some of the chokepoint Generals in C27, being one of the few units that can cleanly ORKO them.

Oops, I was using the PoR shove formulas! Mounted units can be shoved, but it is a very rare occurance. Kyza can shove all of the Falcon Knights, which is nice. But neither he nor even Mordecai can shove the Paladins or Dracomasters (Mordecai might be able to shove some Paladins with a Statue Frag). If my calculations are correct. Feel free to double-check.

Well, there's also +1 Mov and a slightly better affinity, but I'm not opposed to Rhys > Mist (T). Rhys has better chip damage and Physic range (the extra healing is rarely relevant, though). Last I heard, we tier based on efficiency, not low turns. There is a difference, and it exists in reliability. I don't have a problem with you (or anybody else) acknowledging that 2-E can be cleared in 1-turn, but I do have a problem with a 1-turn clear being assumed.

I think Anouleth handled the Titania (T) vs. Ike (T) argument at least as well as I could have. *shrug* It's hard to compare Soren (T)'s performance to Sigrun's performance, for instance. Sigrun is probably more valuable in 3-11 and 3-E than Soren (T) is in 3-P and 3-1, but Soren (T) has the potential for contributions beyond 3-1 that are hard to evaluate. I don't see much difference between the contributions of the units in Lower-Mid (the better-than-nothing 3-11 fliers and the better than nothing 3-P and 3-1 chippers). And then there's Soren (T) vs. healers, which is another hard comparison. I don't have any good reasons why there are more units between Soren (T) and Rolf (T) compared with Rolf (T) and Rolf and I don't care enough to argue. Feel free to propose a re-arragement in that area. No, it is not. Haar is looking at around 80-90 displayed hit against Ludveck. And since he needs to hit twice, there's plenty of margin for failure. And doesn't Haar need to avoid being crit-killed by a Thunder Sage? Elincia needs to proc Stun, which she has <65% chance of doing. And I'm not sure I want to contribute to any tier list where reset abuse is used as an excuse to reject more reliable strategies. And Kyza can make any number of shoves that we may need in 3-4 and beyond. When transformed (with Wildheart or naturally), Kyza can shove every mounted unit, something that Brom can never do. If you are so impressed by Brom's one optional shove in one particular strategy of one particular chapter as to place him over Kyza, you should also place him (and Kyza) over Kieran (T) and Makalov (T). Also, you forgot to remove Zihark from Lower-Mid; he's in two places now. Kyza's durability is at least as good as Brom's with his comparable Defense and Resistance and much higher HP. And Kyza isn't doubled. Kyza can, in fact, double some of the slower enemies. Kyza's offensive contributions normally aren't any better than Brom's, but it only takes an Energy Drop for his damage to become respectable (around Oscar-level). Most importantly, he has 9 mov instead of 6. It's a shame he has such stiff competition for deployment, because he really isn't a bad unit (he's not stellar, granted).

How about this: Makalov with a Wind Edge can do anything Astrid can do. But Makalov also has better durability and better 1-range chip. And Makalov (T) can actually double a lot and is almost as good as Kieran (N). That's just silly. Firstly, the 1-turn clear strategies aren't even close to 100% and so cannot be assumed off-hand to be more efficient than higher-certainty clears that take longer. Secondly, we should at least consider efficient clears that let us get some of the valuable items in this chapter. The Energy Drop, Dracoshield, and Nullify are all valuable items. 2-E strategies which obtain these items should be considered. In that event, Calill is quite useful in 2-E for Meteor-bombing Ludveck for a higher-certainty clear or Meteoring the enemies which drop goodies. Heather is useful for nabbing the Dracoshield. Except there aren't many 23 AS Swordmasters. None past 3-4. And while it's possible to Bexp Ike (T) to the 28 AS needed to double some of the Swordmasters in 3-8, it isn't something that can be really counted on. It is a nice bonus if it happens, but nothing more. I have trouble seeing how Boyd (T), even with a Speedwings, could get to doubling Swordmasters... I wouldn't want to take that logic too far, but I can agree with such a change. Upon further thought, I might want to bump Kyza, Zihark, Kieran (T - Str, Skl, Spd), and Makalov (T - Str, Spd, Def) down to Low like so: Lower Mid ... Soren Rolf Low Kyza Zihark Kieran (T - Str, Skl, Spd) Makalov (T - Str, Spd, Def) Brom ... So Lower-Mid features the last units with any free deployment (well, except for the rest of Zihark's 3-7, but who cares about 3-7?). More than any other unit in Low or Bottom, I believe Kyza can be somewhat useful if deployed. He can shove like a pro with Wildheart and can actually have decent combat with some resources (Energy Drop and/or Speedwings, preferably). Oh, and the GM tier list is missing Ilyana (T - Mag, Skl, Res). My bad. Perhaps she can find a home in Low tier near Brom?

Units Ike (T) can double that Titania (T) cannot: - 7 units in 3-P - 3 units in 3-1 - 2 units in 3-2 (and only if Titania hasn't proc'd Spd yet) Starting in 3-3, Titania is likely to be at level 18, which gives her a 75% chance to double all of the 20 AS units. There's only a couple 21 AS units. 3-4 is a similar story. Then when Titania promotes, she has no trouble doubling every non-Swordmaster, non-boss enemy in Part 3. Ike's lucky if he has a Spd lead at all at this point. He certainly isn't doubling Swordmasters with any consistency. Titania also has some other offensive advantages over Ike - Hammer access to ORKO Generals and forged Hand Axes starting in 3-7. Ike doesn't get Ragnell until 3-11, and so substantially trails Titania in 1-2 range offense in 3-8 and 3-10. Ike's defensive advantage is nice in the early GM chapters, but Titania becomes sufficiently durable post-promotion for it to be irrelevant at that point. You obviously neglected to mention Titania's movement advantages, which are notable in 3-P, 3-3, 3-5, 3-10, and 3-E. Ike has the greater utility in 3-1 (due to durability and doubling) and 3-4 (rescue-dropped to kill the boss), but that can't offset Titania's advantages in most of the other chapters. Ike (T) wins Part 4, but Titania (T) has a pretty clear win in Part 3. Let's try an accurate comparison, instead: Base Soren (T) with Elwind: 31 Atk (hitting Res), 20 AS Base Rolf (T) with Rolf's Bow: 27 Atk (hitting Def), 21 AS Soren (T) can 2HKO almost every enemy unit in 3-P and 3-1 (only some Sages and Generals are borderline). And while he can't double much, he can pull off some very impressive ORKOs on a few Generals in 3-1. Rolf (T), meanwhile, is borderline on both doubling and 2HKOing the Sages in 3-P and 3-1 (from whom he takes terrible damage). Against the rest of the enemies, Rolf (T) is lucky to 3HKO, so to contribute to a kill he needs to be paired up with Mia or Titania instead of Oscar or Boyd, unlike Soren. Rolf does have some Ballista utility in 3-P, which is somewhat nice. The base improves both Soren and Rolf. Level 7 Soren (T) with forged Wind: 35.6 Atk (hitting Res), 20.7 AS Level 3 Rolf (T) with forged Steel Bow: 35.5 Atk (hitting Def), 21.9 AS With a Wind forge, Soren can cleanly 2HKO most every enemy in 3-2 and beyond (even the bosses). His Spd still doesn't let him double anything but the slowest Generals and Sages. Rolf gets a big boost from a forge, but he still struggles to 2HKO even the weakest physical enemies. He can cleanly 2HKO Sages and often doubles them, but he takes some serious damage in return. He otherwise fails to double any physical enemy that he can deal respectable damage to. Let us consider what happens if we use Soren (T) and Rolf (T) in the latter Part 3 chapters. Rolf (T) can continue to grow his Str and Spd to 2HKO and double more foes, but it never gets to a consistent level like Shinon. Soren (T) does hit his caps rather early, and so needs a Master Crown around 3-8 to unlock his Spd and Mag. With it, he can finally start doubling slower enemies consistently and his durability becomes slightly better than paper-thin. Without it, he can't do much. I think Soren (T) is clearly better than Rolf (T), for being able to ORKO some of the toughest enemies (Generals), as opposed to some of the weakest enemies (Sages).

Laura's healing is obviously not impressing you (it really doesn't need to do much to beat Leonardo's contributions), so consider this: Laura is the only unit that can put Ike to sleep in 3-13, which makes safely killing him and ending the chapter much easier.