OMG it's a tier list

[Interceptor]

You are talking about putting him below Edward. EDWARD of all people.

Eddie is not really that bad, though. Once he's trained to Swordmaster he's really no worse than Zihark; and unlike Big Z, Eddie actually has a future in Part 4. Earlygame, he's useful just by virtue of the fact that you don't really have a lot of unit assets to begin with.

Sure he can get RNG-screwed, which hurts his performance a lot, but that's Mid tier for you.

[Colonel M]

To go further on, Aran being Spd-screwed can become a huge problem later on with his durability. He needs to be about 17/4 to not get doubled by some of the 19 AS Generals in 3-12 (though I don't know if there's any near Micaiah's side). It takes almost 17/7 to avoid being doubled by Halberdiers, then further on to about 17/11 to avoid being doubled by Warriors. My biggest problem with Aran is that he's at an arms race to not get doubled just so his durability stays above that of Super Jill and Nolan. Aran is cool for NM and EM. HM? He kind of wants me to bite my hand the entire time.

To be fair, and I don't know how fair this is, you can plow Aran with BEXP by Part 4 to get his Spd. His HP, Str, Skl, and Def should be capped by that point, and BEXP would likely proc his missing Spd. He probably needs the Speedwing after that to continue doubling, tough.

Edited June 9, 2011 by _M_

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Are we talking the 1-E Wing? Because I think that wing is better off going to Ily for the GMercs, because people like Ike, Titania, Boyd, and Haar need it more than Aran.

[Colonel M]

For crying out loud I'd rather use 1-E's Speedwing on Nolan, Jill, or Volug than Aran. Those three actually have real chances of doubling (Volug would just use it to stay RNG-proof on Speed for Part 4).

[Reikken]

just posting to say that the topic title is awesome

might be part of why it's still here 2.5 years and 7600 posts later

[Florete]

Man smash gonna be so mad when he hears about Edward > Aran. It's like a dream come true.

We should do it just to piss him off.

I will probably edit this tonight if I remember. Don't have time at the moment.

[Colonel M]

In all seriousness, I do wish to see if someone could see how Aran's CEXP gains in Part 3 are with Jill as his partner in crime, or Volug even since he doesn't really need the resources Aran wants (heh, Aran w/2 Seraph Robes). I just don't want to overshoot the gun here...

...But I see little reason to keep him over Edward regardless. Sadly.

[RNG Princess]

I always found Aran inferior to Eddie but I never knew how to write a convincing argument ^^'

Thank you whoever proved Eddie > Aran

Edited June 10, 2011 by Queen_Elincia

[Florete]

I kind of want someone to make an argument for Aran before doing that, though...

[Colonel M]

I kind of want someone to make an argument for Aran before doing that, though...

I might be able to think of something if you give me a little time.

[Florete]

Oscar (T) above Nolan

Jill (T) above Shinon

Jill above Gatrie

Elincia below Jill

Not doing anything about Edward and Aran just yet.

EDIT: I like the new Jill love.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Red Fox of Fire

[RNG Princess]

Elincia moved down ;_;

I'd put Jill(T) over Oscar(T). Regardless, I'm glad to see Jill move up.

[Colonel M]

Okay Aran comparison. Base level by 1-4 and we'll assume he just gets BEXP. Whoever is going to suggest Aran getting a level in 1-3 will instantly be shot on the premise.

7 Aran - 24 HP | 10 Str | 0 Mag | 12 Skl | 10 Spd | 6 Luck | 11 Def | 2 Res

Iron Lance Forge - 22 Atk

Now I'm going to assume that he replaces Nolan from the Dawn Brigade, so this gives him Dracoshield and Seraph Robe for resources to collect. While Dracoshield is debateable on Jill, Aran probably needs it more for the beginning stages. Anyway, he now takes 10 damage from Cats, or a 3RKO, and 11-13 damage from Tigers, or a 3RKO (2RKO on half the Tigers). In comparison with Nolan here with just the Dracoshield, he's 5HKOed by Cats and 2-3HKOed by Tigers. So it's not like Aran here does that much worse than Nolan, barring the minor Luck factor. Edward is 2HKOed by everything, so we won't bother.

On offense, he 4HKOes Tigers and 3HKOes Cats. Nolan for comparison 3HKOes Tigers but stays the same on Cats. Edward can double half the Tigers for a 3RKO and he 3HKOes Cats. Otherwise Edward is borderline 5HKOing. So in comparison, Aran is not that much worse offensively compared to his comrades.

Borrowing Anouleth's level for Edward since I'm too lazy to calc it... though he had Edward at Level 11... so let's project a Level of 9 for Aran. I think that's fairly generous enough.

9 Aran - 25 HP | 11.5 Str | 0.2 Mag | 13.5 Skl | 10.7 Spd | 6.7 Luck | 12.4+2 Def | 2.5 Res

Iron Lance Forge - 23.5 Atk

I might personally play to see if Aran can make it to Level 10, but I'm kind of doubtful on it.

Okay so now we have the Seraph Robe, but since we're using Volug and Jill as his partners in crime, we're going to wait until Rafiel arrives with his mainly to keep Jill up and running. Anyway, Mages incinerate him by doing 13-15 damage, or a 2HKO. Fighters do 12 damage max, which is shockingly a 3HKO here (le gasp) while the 19 Atk Myrmidons do 10 damage, or a 3RKO. If enemies have low enough Atk he can suffer a 4RKO. So in reality, he's not that bad.

On the return, we'll assume 24 Atk in play. He 2HKOes Fighters and sometimes 3HKOes Soldiers (any with 11 Def).

So let's just cut to the chase and skip to 1-8 since we finally get that Seraph Robe. So let's add 4 more levels to be generous.

13 Aran - 27+7 HP | 14.5 Str | 0.6 Mag | 16.5 Skl | 12.1 Spd | 8.1 Luck | 15.2+2 Def | 3.5 Res

Iron Lance Forge - 26.5

34 HP | 17 Def is actually pretty good. He's 8HKOed by Bandits and Soldiers are a 5RKO. I'll assume 27 Atk here. 27 Atk... 4RKOes Bandits and 3HKOes Soldiers.

So I projected Aran ending at Level 17 by Endgame, but looking at what Anouleth did, I wonder if it's healthy for Aran here. I might assume... Level 16 since it seems realistic, but I guess I'll go for my projected pretend game for now at 17/1.

17/1 Aran - 29+7 HP | 18.5 Str | 3 Mag | 20.5 Skl | 14.5 Spd | 9.5 Luck | 19+2 Def | 4.5 Res

Steel Lance Forge - 33.5 Atk

For general purposes, we're assuming Beastfoe on here. So let's just change the Atk to this:

W/Beastfoe - 63.5 Atk

We'll just assume 64. He'll OHKO Cats for sure. He'll miss out on Tigers. At this point he can have an A support with a unit. We'll say Nolan for simplicity's sake. So we're sitting at 36 HP | 23 Def. Tigers dangerously double him, but it's only Level 17 Tigers and I think they're rare. Cats have 31 Atk max, so we're looking at a 3HKO there. The 29 Atk Cats do 12 damage, or a 4RKO. Then the Tigers. 39 Atk Tigers 3RKO him while 41 Atk Tigers just 2HKO him. So eventually, he gets tougher from the enemies and more immune to the Cats. The only thing that's left to be suspicious of is his 9 Luck. This is easily fixed by an Ashera Icon. While the Greil Mercenaries lose 4K, they can likely afford it with everything else they're getting anyway. I guess it is debateable though. He should be facing 1-2 Crit rates though.

So now we'll give 8 Levels from 3-6 much like what happened with Nolan, only for projection's sake. So 17/9 Aran looks like... a 20/6 unit.

17/9 - 35+7 HP | 24.5 Str | 3.8 Mag | 24.75 Skl | 17.3 Spd | 12.3 Luck | 24.5+.5 Def | 8.5 Res

Steel Lance Forge - 39.5 Atk

Silver Greatlance - 41.5 Atk, 112 Hit

Okay so we're borderline capping Str and Skl, Def is practically capped, and HP is on its way. This chapter we'll assume Paragon. I mainly threw the Silver Greatlance in there for lols (I mean seriously 112 Hit when the enemies have ~52? Damn). This is where shit gets interesting.

40 Atk pretty much 3HKOes the Generals, but 2HKOes just about everything else on the map. Now for defense. First, let's assume that Nolan is near him. 42 HP | 27 Def. He's 6RKOed by the strongest Halberdier (34 Atk) and the Warriors with 21 AS do 3RKO him. Too lazy to do everything else.

Okay zoom to Part 4. He won't have his precious Nolan support anymore sadly, but at least he'll have something right? Well, he's probably at 17/15 at this point, or about 20/12 for stat's sake:

17/15 - 38+7 HP | 26 Str | 4.4 Mag | 26 Skl | 19.4 Spd | 14.4 Luck | 25 Def | 10 Res

Okay so he's all set. We'll plow 5 BEXP levels and add that Speedwing and we'll get something like this:

17/20/1 - 49 HP | 28 Str | FukMag | 28 Skl | 24.4 Spd | Luckisokaynow | 27 Def | DunnoRestoolazy

Okay... so 26 AS is about the max he'll have with Part 4's Speedwing. And? It borderline doubles Paladins I guess? Though he takes a slightly greater beating and... eh... yeah we'll just cut to the chase and say he's mediocre.

So from the looks of it, Part 1 looks pretty godd, Part 3 is actually good, and Part 4 is... average-to-bad. He can probably double a bit and play with Resolve, but he's definitely a "means to an end". So the further question is this: is it worth giving 2-3 stat boosters on a unit that has no future in Part 4 or not? I'd personally say no, but maybe someone might object to that.

EDIT: I like the new Jill love.

If bblade was here, he'd be so proud.

Edited June 10, 2011 by _M_

[Interceptor]

Okay Aran comparison.

This was good. I would give him another support partner, though. Aran is replacing Nolan, and even with Earth he couldn't dodge a glacier, so A Nolan doesn't make much sense. I suggest Leonardo, even if it's only B because of deployment considerations in Part 1, because Aran gets his DEF mirrored back (which he can use), and Water's +ATK might give him OHKO range on tigers.

[Colonel M]

This was good. I would give him another support partner, though. Aran is replacing Nolan, and even with Earth he couldn't dodge a glacier, so A Nolan doesn't make much sense. I suggest Leonardo, even if it's only B because of deployment considerations in Part 1, because Aran gets his DEF mirrored back (which he can use), and Water's +ATK might give him OHKO range on tigers.

Yeah, I only did it because Nolan would play combat role, but I can agree to Leo support instead since it does mirror the Def better and adds extra Atk.

[-Cynthia-]

Still not sure why Geoffrey is a tier below Tormod.

Tormod has 1-7, where he would be good, but he kinda joins when the chapter is half over anyway and running Muarim forward should clear out most enemies in the way anyway. Not sure he really saves us any turns here.

He's good on 1-8, though has a few issues (not doubling some bandits for instance).

1-E He's down to 6 Mov, 20 AS is really iffy on doubling here, some enemies are 2HKOing him at high hit rates etc. Add to it that he's competing with Nailah, the BK, and Muarim and I just don't see him being too helpful here (though probably still worth fielding over Vika or something).

Geoffrey is probably our best unit (Kieran is close) on 2-3 and 3-9. He has a definite impact on efficiency because the CRK doesn't have many units. Tormod doesn't do as well in comparison to his team.

[grandjackal]

Tormod has 1-7, where he would be good, but he kinda joins when the chapter is half over anyway and running Muarim forward should clear out most enemies in the way anyway. Not sure he really saves us any turns here.

Pretty sure he shoots down a mage on a ledge to let Muarim get to the boss more quickly, thus helping us end the chapter faster. It's minor, but I don't see anyone else doing it.

[Anouleth]

Pretty sure he shoots down a mage on a ledge to let Muarim get to the boss more quickly, thus helping us end the chapter faster. It's minor, but I don't see anyone else doing it.

Sothe with a knife forge probably has comparable, if not outright better accuracy.

1-E He's down to 6 Mov, 20 AS is really iffy on doubling here, some enemies are 2HKOing him at high hit rates etc.

Who 2HKOes him? Tormod has 34HP/12DEF. That's not far behind the likes of Nolan (36HP/13DEF), Sothe (36HP/14DEF) or Zihark (32HP/14DEF). Tormod also doesn't take counters, unlike some of those units.

Geoffrey is probably our best unit (Kieran is close) on 2-3 and 3-9. He has a definite impact on efficiency because the CRK doesn't have many units. Tormod doesn't do as well in comparison to his team.

I agree with this.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Anouleth

[-Cynthia-]

Who 2HKOes him? Tormod has 34HP/12DEF. That's not far behind the likes of Nolan (36HP/13DEF), Sothe (36HP/14DEF) or Zihark (32HP/14DEF). Tormod also doesn't take counters, unlike some of those units.

Some of the Fighters manage it since they have 29/30 Atk. It's not a whole lot of enemies though.

[RNG Princess]

Sothe with a knife forge probably has comparable, if not outright better accuracy.

I like giving Ilyana a max hit Thunder forge with Elthunder MT and then passing it to Tormod and finally Pelleas ^^' iirc Tormod had 70 display hit on the 1-7 ledge mage, is that passable? He gets to the mage sooner than Sothe anyway because Sothe has to recruit him.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Queen_Elincia

[Anouleth]

I like giving Ilyana a max hit Thunder forge with Elthunder MT and then passing it to Tormod and finally Pelleas ^^' iirc Tormod had 70 display hit on the 1-7 ledge mage, is that passable? He gets to the mage sooner than Sothe anyway because Sothe has to recruit him.

It doesn't matter. Whether you use Tormod or Sothe to kill the mage, you are on track for a 5-turn completion, and you can't really expect better than that.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Anouleth

[Colonel M]

Man it's depressing to hype Aran and have only Interceptor comment on it (though granted him commenting on it is a good thing). Can't we unban smash so we can have his opinion or something? Or acknowledgment? ;_;

Edited June 11, 2011 by _M_

[Dark Sage]

Actually, all of this brings to mind one question. Why is Aran above Kieran? Kieran and Geoffery have menaningful contributions to 2-3 and 3-9 and Kieran can SORT of be salvaged (his part 4 is better than Aran's since he has less doubling issues and he uses axes and and has a horse). What is Aran doing that places him above Kieran?

Not sure about Tormod or Callil since they do have availability issues, though Tormod is completely smacking Aran in Part 1. On the other hand, Tormod's Part 4 is.....really, really, really wretched.

[Shadow Mir]

Actually, all of this brings to mind one question. Why is Aran above Kieran? Kieran and Geoffery have menaningful contributions to 2-3 and 3-9 and Kieran can SORT of be salvaged (his part 4 is better than Aran's since he has less doubling issues and he uses axes and and has a horse). What is Aran doing that places him above Kieran?

Not sure about Tormod or Callil since they do have availability issues, though Tormod is completely smacking Aran in Part 1. On the other hand, Tormod's Part 4 is.....really, really, really wretched.

Feel free to correct me on this, but wouldn't Kieran be too slow to double anything after 3-9?

[Dark Sage]

He's at least not doubled constantly like Aran.