Volug

[Florete]

Red Fox: Laura doesn't have the capacity to get Paragon. She has 15, five being wasted on Shove. Paragon is 15. Micaiah is the only first tier off the top of my head that can actually use Paragon

I know. I was promoting her.

[Paperblade]

I noticed that no actual data was posted by either side proving or disproving Volug being outclassed by Nolan.

Level 13 Nolan (+1 level per chapter he's been in) w/forged Iron Axe (+4 Might/+5 Hit, it's cheaper than Steel per use but better in every way) vs. Base Volug

And just for kicks, we'll give Nolan a C Leo support

31.4HP

13.8 Str

13.8 Skl

12.4 Spd

9.4 Luck

10.4 Def

4.6 Res

Giving him

26.8 Atk, 122 Hit, 42.2 Avoid, 11.4 Def, 12.4 AS

Volug, on the other hand, has

49

16 Str

18 Skl

19 Spd

13 Lck

13 Def

7 Res

25 Atk, 139 Hit, 51 Avoid, 13 Defense, 19AS

Nolan loses every stat except Attack, but Volug doubles everything in sight with Nolan doubles nothing. Additionally, Volug costs a grand total of 0 gold.

Moving ahead to 1-E, with Volug getting nothing but +1 Strike rank while we move Nolan to 1-E with a maxed Iron Axe (+5 Might/+25 Hit).

Nolan gets B Zihark.

Volug gets C Jill or Aran.

37.6HP

17.9 Str

19.6 Skl

17.6 Spd

13.6 Luck

13.9 Def

9.4 Res

30.9 Atk, 157.8 Hit, 78.8 Avoid, 13.9 Def, 17.6 AS.

vs

30 Atk, 139 Hit, 61 Avoid, 14 Defense, 19AS

Hey, Nolan caught up! Except Volug is still more likely to double (on HM enemies sit at about 14-16AS) and will likely level up in this chapter because he gets more than 1 EXP a kill on HM here. Nolan has about 18 more Avoid but Volug still wins HP by 11 and mobility by a notable amount. Nolan also has the advantage of hitting more often, but then again I forged 25 Hit onto his weapon.

Now we move ahead to 3-6, where Volug should be 3-6 and Nolan can be 20/3. Volug loses Wildheart for this. Nolan gets Tarvos.

B Earth for Nolan and B Thunder for Volug.

38.8HP

18.8 Str

21 Skl

18.8 Spd

14.8 Luck

14.6 Def

10.1 Res

Volug has

50HP

22.6 Str

24.8 Skl

26.8 Spd

13.9 Luck

18.4 Def

10.2 Res

Giving Nolan

36.8 Atk, 156.8 Hit, 82.4 Avoid, 18.4 Def, 18.8 AS

and Volug

36.6 Atk, 153.5, 87.5 Avoid, 19.4 Def, 26.8 AS

Oh look, Volug wins durability again and doubles everything while Nolan is lucky to double Tigers. LOLWUT. Also, since most of Volug's Avoid is from Speed, he benefits more from Resolve than Nolan does (+26.8 Avoid instead of +18.8 Avoid)

"But grass"

Every single enemy in 3-6 is 1 range, so he doesn't really lose much by spamming grass because there won't be an enemy sitting there picking at him. Same with 3-13. 3-12 has some ranged enemies, but there's also a horde of NPCs that will generously suicide for us.

On to early Part 4, where I'm going to be generous to Nolan and move him up to 20/15/1 while only moving Volug to 19 (with SS Strike). I hope you realize that Level 16 Volug gains EXP like a Level 32 unit, meaning that Nolan getting 12 levels (and moving to Level 35 then promoting) means Nolan is getting FAR FAR more EXP.

A supports of course. Tarvos and SS Strike.

20/15/1 Nolan

50HP

26.2 Str

27.9 Skl

27.5 Spd

22 Luck

20.7 Def

16.7 Res

19 Volug

52.8HP

24 Str

26.8 Skl

29.2 Spd

16.6 Luck

19.2 Def

10.8 Res

44.2 Atk, 177.8 Hit, 122 Avoid, 24.7 Def, 27.5 AS

43 Atk, 160.2 Hit, 105 Avoid, 21.2 Def, 29.2 AS

Moving Nolan from 23 to 35 and crowning him while moving Volug up 2 levels and +1 Strike means that Nolan is winning Attack by 1 and actually doubles most enemies (iffy vs. Warriors/Halbs, won't vs SMs) while Volug still doubles everything. Nolan wins durability. Volug still wins mobility.

If Volug isn't worth using, Nolan isn't worth using. And if Nolan isn't worth using, then who in the DB is?

Keep in mind that the only time we're worried about fire mages is in Part 1 (lolnone in part 3 and uber rare in Part 4) where they're both 3HKO'd early on.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Paperblade

[dondon151]

How is that retarded? Stats mean a hell of a lot, but they aren't everything. And he is not much better statistically, they almost have the same might, with support similar avoid, the main thing Volug has going for him is the AS. And then let's see, a few turns of downtime and lack of 2 range. Anyone else can fix that.

No, he is much better statistically. He wins in AS, has a slight lead in MT (which increases if he gets S strike), and utterly beats every single member of the DB in durability. I've provided numbers to back me up, you're just saying "but Olivi Grass and lack of 2 range which does not matter in 3-6 or 3-13!!!"

I disagree. Nolan will be getting majority of the kills in the previous chapters.

Nolan can't one-round anything in part 1. How will he get the majority of the kills? He's also more durable than any other first tier unit - I'd say that he'd be softening up enemies while Eddie, Leonardo, Aran, Jill etc. get kills. Nolan can't do everything at once.

Oh come on.. transformation issues, lack of 2 range.. that does not grant you the best unit in part 3 title.

Nolan with any support is better than Volug in all of these chapters.

I highly doubt this, them having the same affinity and Volug winning in every relevant battle category. And again, you are hardly contradicting Volug's position on the tier list, so remind me again why you started this topic?