DalamarTheDM

I have Radiance engraved on a Thunder +5 paired with the Olwen Bond Ring on Citrinne. Like you said, it can't normally follow up, so +Weight is fine, but with Dire Thunder it DOES follow-up. Every time. So Radiance works great on a Thunder (specifically cannot be used on Elthunder or Thoron). Though with Hector out now too, I think one of his skills also guarantees a follow-up under specific circumstances, so Radiance might have wider potential to discount its weight issue.

Having just gotten their A-rank last night, Timerra and Merrin are absolutely now on my list of this-is-totally-canon ships. Also, thank god for the new ways to increase supports between units!

Having progressed a bit further and seen a few more supports through the army, I'm starting to like... Timerra / Merrin (Timerrin?) - Merrin's devotion to her lady is very apparent, even in her after combat quips, and they seem quite close through their C and B supports. I'm also a sucker for the lady-and-her-knight trope, so this one has risen far in the ranks. Alcryst / Seadall - I've only seen the C so far, but was immediately put in mind of Alcryst running away with Seadall to see the world and let slip the responsibilities and expectations that he has weighing him down.

I'm sure I'll change or solidify my thoughts by the time I've actually gotten/seen most of the Supports (not even close yet), but my initial ships are... F!Alear / Ivy - This one feels pretty straightforward, even though it's not the one I'm going to PERSONALLY pursue (because *I* like Jade, even with no real ship vibe there between F!Alear and Jade). F!Alear / Merrin - Another ship I like for F!Alear, Merrin's interest in her as a dragon could be a cute thing between them, something played for laughs by they themselves. Alcryst / Lapis - Much as I'd rather ship Lapis with someone else, she definitely seems to have a thing for Alcryst, and geeze that guy needs something to bolster his self-esteem. Most of the rest I don't have enough to go on in their supports just yet, but I'm interested in learning more, as an avid shipper and occasional fic writer.

So I've been making it a point to use everyone and try to keep everyone evenly leveled (with the exception of Vander, because I left him to sit idle for too long), so not all of these will apply, but I'll try to pretend I didn't or won't do that in a future playthrough, for those. I also may miss some characters who I don't feel particularly strongly about in any of the categories, but I think that says something all on its own. Favorite Overall Character(s) Jade - Assuming her S-Support is romantic, she's gettin' the ring Merrin - <3 Yunaka - Despite initially detesting her design, she really grew on me! Boucheron - I absolutely love this big sobbing teddy bear Favorite Character Design(s) Jade - Love me a good female unit in actual full armor. Her author's outfit is cute too. Merrin - Generally cool design, being on a wolf is awesome, and her having her little wolf's tail in casual mode is fun. Diamant - Not necessarily a design standout for Fire Emblem lords, but it feels like a very good version of the usual. F!Alear - What can I say, she grew on me! Marni - Her design feels like what Hortensia's could be if it was reined in. Please rein it in... Lumera - Mommy? Sorry. Mommy? Sorry... Characters You Like Even More than Expected F!Alear - As above, I figured she'd be fine but I actually ended up quite liking her. Probably from the first map, where she suggests running, it was all good from there. Ivy - Excessive fanservice aside, I figured I'd still like her, but as the category states, more than expected! Character(s) You Expected to Dislike, But Grew on You Yunaka - As mentioned above, I initially disliked her design (and while I still don't love it, it's grown on me), but she in general surprised me a lot. Hortensia - Also still hate her design, and initially disliked her a lot, but after recruitment I find I've leveled off a lot on her. Zelkov - I'm generally not big on the dark and brooding character archetype, but like Hubert before him, Zelkov has surprised me, I quite like him! Celine - Her silly looking outfit initially put me in poor judgment of her, but I actually ended up liking her from as soon as she was recruited. Particularly in comparison to her brother. Diamant - Based on his design and his relationship to Brodia, I expected a brash, loud, and leap-before-you-look character, and was very pleasantly surprised! Alcryst - I've never liked this personality archetype, and he still makes me roll my eyes, but I have a fondness for him. Panette - Not my aesthetic, but darn it if she didn't actually turn out to be pretty fun. Best Character Arc(s) (Use Spoiler Tags if Needed) Character(s) You Used Just for Their Gameplay No-one yet really, since I'm using everyone, but Alfred would probably fit best. Less for Gamepley and more because of story relevance (does that count?). Character(s) You Used, Despite their Gameplay Lapis - I know she probably doesn't compare to Kagetsu in terms of performance, but I like her design quite a bit more. Liked Character(s) You Scrapped Because of their Performance I didn't dump anyone, but if I were of a mind to... Clanne - He's just been incredibly meh for me. I kept him as a mage, but he's among my last 6 units at Lvl 20 unpromoted, and will probably be the last I promote... Bunet - Probably similar, I feel like I have enough axe users I'm fond of, and just...don't care for him. Vander - I kind of did, but less because of his performance and more for Exp distribution. And then he just, uh, never deployed again. Character(s) You Regret Using N/A Character(s) You Want to Use Next Playthrough N/A Optional Character(s) You'll Never Go Without N/A Character(s) You'll Never Use, Despite their Gameplay N/A I Like Your Personality, But Not Your Design Ivy - I don't hate her design, it's just needlessly fanservice-y and unsuited to a battlefield, but I quite like her as a person. Etie - I feel like she should have been more muscular, really, but I think that's been meme'd to the Outrealms and back already. Yunaka - Similar to Ivy, her design drags her down a little bit. I Like Your Design, But Not Your Personality Goldmary - Not sure I need to provide an explanation on this one, geeze I'm Glad You're a Bad Unit, So I Don't Have to Use You N/A Character(s) You Expected to Like, But Didn't Goldmary - Based on her design, mostly Alfred - Ended up just being kind of tiresome Least Favorite Character(s) Clanne - Just sort of forgettable. Sure he's less annoying than Framme, but he's also less endearing Kagetsu - Random Hoshidan-like character with no further glimpse into his culture just feels like a big tease Bunet - Nothing about him really calls to me in any way

Oh no, I think that's the one I'm just about to start. That bodes ill...

This has also been my problem with Skirmishes. I generally like most of the cast, so I've been trying to keep everyone leveled evenly. But that means typically trying to take my currently-the-lowest-level characters on each map in order to get them caught up or pull ahead, then cycle to the next group of lowest-level. But in the Skirmishes, the way the enemies are ALL aggressive and ALL stronger than anyone I'm deploying, some of them are outright impossible. I've found some of the more constricted maps to be a lot easier to handle, and Trainings are a god-send since deaths just result in retreat and those characters missing out on the mass 30 Exp awarded at the end. But those are way less common than the murderous ones. Those wide open maps that you can't chokehold whatsoever, often with mounted or flying units, are just awful. I was more proud of a recent Skirmish victory in the big open snowy area outside of Brodia than any story map so far.

Up to chapter 15 now, started on Hard and downgraded to Normal partway through. Have been grinding to try to keep everyone within 1-2 levels of each other (the difficulty of skirmishes with underleveled characters on Hard is what caused me to swap it). So far... Best Alear - Being the only real sword unit for so long, Alear's been consistently on the front lines and has turned out to be great with it! Currently have Engaged with Tiki, and though she can handle herself just fine, if I need to toss her into a knot of people I can turn her into a dragon and hit a bunch with the AoE, then she just murders all the rest. Framme - It's interesting to see how hit-or-miss Framme is for others, I've had pretty good luck. I mostly just use her for healing, but she consistently deals double-digit damage 4 times if I need her to attack something or break a covert/mage unit. Love her. Jade - I absolutely favored her a bit with Boots and Edelgard, but god I love both of those for her. She's my completely reliable hold-a-point unit. Louis - Was surprised by how much I liked him as a character, but he's also an incredible armor, and would be as good or better than Jade if I favored him to the same level. Amber - As much as I don't particularly care for Amber, he has paid DIVIDENDS from my forcing myself to use everyone. Consistently out-performs Alfred. He's growin' on me. Yunaka - For all the reasons everyone else has indicated, Yunaka is love. Yunaka is life. Jeanne - I only use him for healing, even though he's now promoted such that he could also use Tomes, but by god he does it all incredibly well. Anna - I swapped her to Mage as soon as she hit 10, and just promoted her to Mage Knight, and although her Exp gain is slow because her total level is unusually high compared to the rest, she just destroys anything she's against incredibly reliably. Luck's too spotty to get much money though, unfortunately. Middling Etie - As much as I love her, she started off strong and has become just kind of...fine. Boucheron - I found I really love this guy! Trying to turn him into an Axe/Sword Hero, but he's competing for time with Jade (whom I adore) and Diamant (who recently unlocked axes), and he's falling off a little. His defenses ended up being paper, so he's a little risky to use on the front lines. Alfred - Just kind of...fine. Celine - Really want to use her, and she's got pretty decent Str and Mag, but not enough Spd to make the most of it. Not much better than Alfred. Chloe - Another started off strong and kind of tapered off. She's fine. Worst Vander - I didn't use him at all at the start, and benched him immediately so that I wouldn't lose out exp to him, and then realized it was very difficult to train him up after the fact. So now I can't use him, and he's...just bad. Clanne - I tried. Early game mage, some good utility there at the start, and I've kept him caught up with everyone, but he's just...worse than every other mage. And a lot of people I didn't mention, some of whom are pretty great, but I don't have super strong feelings about them so I didn't want to write anything haha.