Red Fox of Fire's character review topic (Complete)

[Bryan]

Fox, You should also mention that Elinca has a MAG cap of 30, and with Imbue, shes healing 30hp per turn! It greatly helps her durability.

Can't believe I forgot. I edited that in.

Cool :)

I can't wait for Leanne's & Nealuchi Post. They are both so bad :)

Quoi?

As for Elincia, she has very many amazing skill options.

Cancel, for one. Helps player phase durability only, sure, but two shots at either cancel or stun to prevent taking damage? With 25 skill and 30 spd (for example) that is only a 27.5625% that she will even face a counter. Throw on top of that her amazing spd + luck combination and possibly an earth support or even just thunder/wind/dark and she's facing low chances of taking any damage on player phase.

Adept. Whenever she 3HKOs, this puppy gives her two shots at avoiding a counter as well. With 25 skill and 30 spd (for example) that is also just a 27.5625% chance of facing a counter. Or if she 5HKOs something it is 4 shots at stun or adept. 25% stun, 30% adept, translates to just a 7.5969140625% chance of leaving the enemy alive. Over 92% proc for the KO (and that's just at level 12 or 13). Also helps with cats and hawks in 4-5 since she likely 3HKOs and doesn't double without getting a little blessed or hyper leveled.

Imbue. As mentioned, combined with her natural Renewal gives her a pretty crazy self heal rate. Then consider she might physic some unit and if we don't need her enemy phase on that particular turn she recovers 40hp at base. Only has 36 max hp at base.

Paragon. Sadly takes up 15 capacity, best used in 4-2 then on others from 4-5 on. Also mentioned by RFoF already.

Corrosion. I suppose. (skill/2)%, but if adept and cancel are both gone, she still pulls 26 skill at level 11. 26% stun, 13% corrosion. 51 uses off so it breaks everything breakable (except some fe5 prf weapons, but those don't exist here). Still gets up to ~58% no counters on player phase.

With 4 skills out there (not counting paragon since it is only 4-2) that she basically uses the best out of everyone, she's bound to get something that makes her better than she already is.

Leanne is not as good as the other two, and Nealuchi isn't as good as Nausula. (sp? I'm to lazy to look it up :/ )

I am not saying they are worthless, I use Leanne every time; because she is very helpful in 4-E. :/

[Narga_Rocks]

Leanne is not as good as the other two, and Nealuchi isn't as good as Nausula. (sp? I'm to lazy to look it up :/ )

I am not saying they are worthless, I use Leanne every time; because she is very helpful in 4-E. :/

Circumstances conspire to make Leanne a better character than Rafiel. Mostly it has to do with the situations in the chapters for which they are available before 4-E. I'm not sure whether Leanne will get an 8.5 or a 9.0 in this topic, but I'm pretty sure she'll give Leanne a higher score than Rafiel.

[Candlejack]

Leanne is not as good as the other two, and Nealuchi isn't as good as Nausula. (sp? I'm to lazy to look it up :/ )

I am not saying they are worthless, I use Leanne every time; because she is very helpful in 4-E. :/

Circumstances conspire to make Leanne a better character than Rafiel. Mostly it has to do with the situations in the chapters for which they are available before 4-E. I'm not sure whether Leanne will get an 8.5 or a 9.0 in this topic, but I'm pretty sure she'll give Leanne a higher score than Rafiel.

Considering Nealuchi and Haar cab solo 2P t makes little difference. Afterwards, you'll have enough units to keep her alive. Other than that, Leanne only has, what, one or two extra chapters over Rafiel, one being lol2P.

But Leanne is the middle-of-the-road heron. Second best untransformed (Rafiel being best), but easily the worst transformed.

[Narga_Rocks]

Leanne is not as good as the other two, and Nealuchi isn't as good as Nausula. (sp? I'm to lazy to look it up :/ )

I am not saying they are worthless, I use Leanne every time; because she is very helpful in 4-E. :/

Circumstances conspire to make Leanne a better character than Rafiel. Mostly it has to do with the situations in the chapters for which they are available before 4-E. I'm not sure whether Leanne will get an 8.5 or a 9.0 in this topic, but I'm pretty sure she'll give Leanne a higher score than Rafiel.

Considering Nealuchi and Haar cab solo 2P t makes little difference. Afterwards, you'll have enough units to keep her alive. Other than that, Leanne only has, what, one or two extra chapters over Rafiel, one being lol2P.

But Leanne is the middle-of-the-road heron. Second best untransformed (Rafiel being best), but easily the worst transformed.

Um, you could let Nealuchi do his thing, but gaining exp for Marcia means she won't suck in 2-3 and 2-E and 3-9. More units that are good is a good thing. Having Marcia two levels (or more) higher in her later chapters is clearly good when her later chapters have limited units. If you wonder how she gets 2 or more in HM? Being better than she would be otherwise in 2-3 and 2-E means she gains more exp there too.

2-2 has limited units and a 7 turn max bexp limit. I'd like to see people get the discipline scroll and secret book and 7 turn (or better) without Leanne. Even dropping the item requirements. 2-E she vigors your only unit that ORKOs the map (except like two guys) and only unit that heals. Or is instrumental in the 1-turn clear, if you want. 3-11 less good because of the Onager, but still can help you because the area is cramped and it lets you get more use out of your limited fliers. And lets you more easily take out the Onager, though that is mostly self-help for her. 4-P she's still helpful since the main offence on the map is Skrimir and Naesala and it is rout. 4-3 is desert and she flies and it is rout.

Compared to Rafiel, who is stuck on the left in 1-8 where Nailah can probably clear it out without Rafiel's help. 1-E he can help on like turn 1 and 2 then his move makes him fall behind. 4-1 has pegasus in the fow so he has to hang back and vigor your physic users and possibly some canto units, since you can't send him out there with a group. 4-4 is like 1-E again, except being Rout he can at least help a bit to clear out the bottom right before getting carried closer to Oliver. This may be his best chapter of the 4, but it is still not quite what Leanne does in any of her chapters except 3-11 and 4-P. Well, you could include 2-P in that list if you lack foresight.

Basically, you can make so much more use out of Leanne pre 4-E than him, and she only loses you two units per turn if you can pull off the 4 unit Vigor in 4-E anyway. He isn't twice as good as her there. He's better, but certainly not twice as good. Half the time you can pull off a 4 unit vigor it likely wasn't necessary anyway. But she just gives so much more utility in her 6 pre 4-E chapters than he does in his 4. Like, >>>. His "footprint" is considerably smaller than hers.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Narga_Rocks

[Candlejack]

1. Dancer utility > no utility. Plus, EVERYONE is getting slowed down in swamp; Rafiel just bears no brunt of it since he flies.

2. All Leanne really has is 2-E and lol2-P shouldn't even count.

3. Rafiel's Vigor >> Leanne's vigor. At least unlike Leanne, you don't even need to grass Rafiel to keep him useful. Granted, he's still inferior in utility compared to who Leanne is STUCK with (And I say stuck with restraint), but he's definitely better than Leanne in terms of Canto. Unless you're a MOV whore, and Leanne's canto is usually situational or merely convenient. You can do a canto square-off with, say, Zihark, Nolan, Volug, and Jill if you wanted.

4. Rafiel can fly in 1-8, so he lols at the swamp. Even with 5 MOV, it isn't much better than what most other characters have.

Unsure why you're giving Leanne so much credit in chapters that have other... well, SHITTIER units. Other than the One-Eyed God of course. But he doesn't really need the raise either, he's good enough at base. I digress; Rafiel's canto > Leanne's canto, and if we're comparing these units via chapter usage, then Rafiel should get that too. Leanne really only has 2-E; 2-2 has FoW so good luck with getting her out of the damn fog alive without practically DRAPING her in defense. Then the aforementioned 2-E, but again, crossbows. 3-11 is nice if you have a dude stuck in a trap but you can just use Haar to let units pass by safely.

Like you said, 4-P is garbage, but I'll admit 4-3 she has some use. Desert, after all.

I'd compare her to Rafiel, but my reply box isn't expanded and I fear copy-pasting for that this might be deleted.

[Florete]

1. Dancer utility > no utility. Plus, EVERYONE is getting slowed down in swamp; Rafiel just bears no brunt of it since he flies.

Wtf? Rafiel does not fly. Hell, when he transforms, he loses the ability to hop ledges. It's like anti-flying.

2. All Leanne really has is 2-E and lol2-P shouldn't even count.

Sorry, 2-P does count. And where did 2-2, 3-11, 4-P, and 4-3 go?

At least unlike Leanne, you don't even need to grass Rafiel to keep him useful.

What? You don't ever need to grass Leanne.

but he's definitely better than Leanne in terms of Canto.

? No Canto > Canto now?

Unsure why you're giving Leanne so much credit in chapters that have other... well, SHITTIER units.

If anything, that makes her more valuable.

and if we're comparing these units via chapter usage, then Rafiel should get that too.

We are, and Leanne wins.

[dondon151]

1. Dancer utility > no utility. Plus, EVERYONE is getting slowed down in swamp; Rafiel just bears no brunt of it since he flies.

No, he doesn't. If you even think about taking Rafiel's side for this argument, you should know that he doesn't fly.

3. Rafiel's Vigor >> Leanne's vigor. At least unlike Leanne, you don't even need to grass Rafiel to keep him useful. Granted, he's still inferior in utility compared to who Leanne is STUCK with (And I say stuck with restraint), but he's definitely better than Leanne in terms of Canto. Unless you're a MOV whore, and Leanne's canto is usually situational or merely convenient. You can do a canto square-off with, say, Zihark, Nolan, Volug, and Jill if you wanted.

Leanne doesn't need Olivi Grass either to have 2 unit refresh, and canto being "merely convenient" is superior to no canto.

Unsure why you're giving Leanne so much credit in chapters that have other... well, SHITTIER units. Other than the One-Eyed God of course. But he doesn't really need the raise either, he's good enough at base. I digress; Rafiel's canto > Leanne's canto, and if we're comparing these units via chapter usage, then Rafiel should get that too. Leanne really only has 2-E; 2-2 has FoW so good luck with getting her out of the damn fog alive without practically DRAPING her in defense. Then the aforementioned 2-E, but again, crossbows. 3-11 is nice if you have a dude stuck in a trap but you can just use Haar to let units pass by safely.

You're a veritable retard if you can't use Leanne in 2-2 and 2-E. If you can't use her there, you're probably stupid enough to get Rafiel sniped by an archer in 1-E. Stupidity is not an argument.

[Original Alear]

2-2 has limited units and a 7 turn max bexp limit. I'd like to see people get the discipline scroll and secret book and 7 turn (or better) without Leanne. Even dropping the item requirements.

I don't think this would be much of a bet w/out "item requirements." I haven't been able to 7-turn 2-2 while getting both the book and the scroll, but most of my use of Leanne in the last coupla turns is trying to get heather through fast enough.

Rafiel just bears no brunt of it since he flies.

How recently did you play this game?

Leanne really only has 2-E; 2-2 has FoW so good luck with getting her out of the damn fog alive without practically DRAPING her in defense.

2-2 is a pretty tight stage. The bottom-row middle-column part of the cave is where a lot of early fighting takes place. Since most of the enemies are coming in from down and to the right (rather than above) you can pretty easily move your units to block enemy progress to Leanne. It's not rocket science to use her here. Considering that you won't always be transforming laguz, it can be difficult to morph two units every turn that are both attacking.

. 3-11 is nice if you have a dude stuck in a trap

This is a nice hypothetical use. But having tried this recently when I made a pathing mistake, I am pretty sure that leanne removes the "end of turn" effect but not the 1-turn-immobility effect. Thus, this doesn't work.

I am not sure if restore can remove the "status" effect from falling in a pit.

Edited December 9, 2009 by SeverIan

[Candlejack]

Wait... Raf doesn't fly?

I need to replay this game. It's been since December of '07 that I've played it.

And it was merely a rental. I almost forgot how much Sanaki sucked...

[Narga_Rocks]

Should I even bother? Oh well. May as well.

1. Dancer utility > no utility. Plus, EVERYONE is getting slowed down in swamp; Rafiel just bears no brunt of it since he flies.

He doesn't fly, so with 5 move and hefty move costs, he's not getting anywhere but Nailah. He helps her kill stuff + get the coins, I suppose. I don't think I could have her kill stuff and land on the coin squares without Vigor. So Rafiel allows coin getting in 1-8.

2. All Leanne really has is 2-E and lol2-P shouldn't even count.

She serves a function there. Increasing exp gains for two units (Marcia and Elincia) that both appreciate the extra exp and make your life easier because of it. Why wouldn't she get credit for it?

3. Rafiel's Vigor >> Leanne's vigor.

He could have an 8 panel Vigor and in his chapters it wouldn't help him (Well, it increases his lead in 4-E since you can probably make use of it then. But his 4 pre 4-E chapters wouldn't change much because of it. Just on turn 1 in 1-E, 4-1.)

XXX

XRX

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It's the layout of his chapters that prevent the team from getting the largest benefit out of it. If he was in her chapters....Scratch that. 2-P he'd fall out of the sky. 2-2 he'd have no Canto and as you say it is fow. Leanne is easier to use because of flight and canto. 2-E he can't fly to the different heights. 4-P no canto, but with the open space he might be better here than Leanne. 4-3 he has mage movement so can still go 5, but Canto makes Leanne able to move in, vigor, move out and with enemies' 2 move it means you barely have to think to keep her safe. He might be better than he is now if he was in her chapters, and she'd be worse in his. She'd have flight in 1-8, though. Still, she'd be the one with issues like 1-E, 4-1, 4-4. But it doesn't matter that he has the capacity to vigor more units because he is the one stuck in 1-8, 1-E, 4-1, 4-4.

At least unlike Leanne, you don't even need to grass Rafiel to keep him useful. Granted, he's still inferior in utility compared to who Leanne is STUCK with (And I say stuck with restraint), but he's definitely better than Leanne in terms of Canto. Unless you're a MOV whore, and Leanne's canto is usually situational or merely convenient. You can do a canto square-off with, say, Zihark, Nolan, Volug, and Jill if you wanted.

Leanne only gets +1 move (and double stats like Rafiel gets, I suppose) out of transforming. What do you mean "better in terms of Canto"? Do you mean Vigor, but said Canto? Also, what does "he's still inferior in utility compared to who Leanne is stuck with" mean? Does that mean because of what surrounds her she gets more utility? You realize this is the type of thing that makes her better, right?

4. Rafiel can fly in 1-8, so he lols at the swamp. Even with 5 MOV, it isn't much better than what most other characters have.

Dealt with by others.

Unsure why you're giving Leanne so much credit in chapters that have other... well, SHITTIER units.

They are sufficient to increase her utility. Lucia, Mordecai, Nephenee, Nealuchi are actually pretty good in 2-2.

Marcia can KO the sages that hound Haar in 2-E, Elincia has offence > Haar's offence in 2-E. And she heals. All you really need are 3 good units and her Vigor is now quite useful. And since the rest of the squad aren't so great it increases the utility to the team from giving the best units extra actions.

Other than the One-Eyed God of course.

Elincia has two eyes.

But he doesn't really need the raise either, he's good enough at base. I digress; Rafiel's canto > Leanne's canto, and if we're comparing these units via chapter usage, then Rafiel should get that too.

Kinda why he loses. I did a chapter by chapter analysis of Rafiel's utility. It didn't come out so good for his pre 4-E chapters. I even wrote most of it in the posts.

Leanne really only has 2-E; 2-2 has FoW so good luck with getting her out of the damn fog alive without practically DRAPING her in defense. Then the aforementioned 2-E, but again, crossbows.

I agree with dondon. Incompetence of the player is not a basis for comparison. This is why Sanaki finally moved up a bit.

Also, you may notice that Elincia 2HKOs the crossbow users in 2-E and thanks to Amiti's brave effect and her 100% hit rate they die horribly on player phase and don't even mess with Leanne.

3-11 is nice if you have a dude stuck in a trap but you can just use Haar to let units pass by safely.

Well, I'd recommend Sigrun and Tanith for the blocking of traps, actually. Haar (and Janaff/Ulki if you use them) should be too busy KOing stuff. Marcia killing mages, too, if you use her. Those fliers have important jobs for efficiency (clearing Ike's path to the boss, possibly carrying him) and you don't have very many of them. Leanne allows you to make more use of the limited number of good fliers you have here. Fliers are great in this map.

Like you said, 4-P is garbage, but I'll admit 4-3 she has some use. Desert, after all.

4-P is not garbage. First turn vigor of the best units is helpful to clear out all the nearby enemies to prevent the need for walling. Abuse river and thickets to set up vigors for Leanne. It isn't her best chapter, and Rafiel is probably better in 4-4 than she is here, but it is comparing her worst chapter to his best chapter, so it's not a big issue.

I don't think this would be much of a bet w/out "item requirements." I haven't been able to 7-turn 2-2 while getting both the book and the scroll, but most of my use of Leanne in the last coupla turns is trying to get heather through fast enough.

The 7 turn all item clear is fun. I didn't have any transfer units for it, either. Definitely requires moving quickly (but carefully). Also, I think there are no torches, so turns are spent lighting the torches that are on the field. But careful use of Leanne lets you pull it off. Not sure if you were saying Leanne is necessary for the non-item getting 7 turn clear or not.

. 3-11 is nice if you have a dude stuck in a trap

This is a nice hypothetical use. But having tried this recently when I made a pathing mistake, I am pretty sure that leanne removes the "end of turn" effect but not the 1-turn-immobility effect. Thus, this doesn't work.

I am not sure if restore can remove the "status" effect from falling in a pit.

Yep, restore will remove the status effect. At least, in PoR. I'm sure it'll work in RD, I just never needed to try since I did it better in PoR than in RD. So Restore + Vigor or Vigor + Restore will allow you to use the unit again in the same turn. But that's not what she's best for here. She's best for allowing easier killings of the Onager users and making it easier to clear a path to the boss.

Another thing to consider:

Haar picks up Ike. Leanne vigors Haar. Haar flies Ike somewhere and drops him. Many things suicide into them on enemy phase. I've never done it, since when I play I'm happy with finishing in 10 turns, but I'm sure it would work.

[Candlejack]

Good job. You could've used Haar to OHKO something on player phase and Haar gets more EXP in the process. Granted, Ike doesn't gain any EXP, but he's got so much going for him anyway its ridiculous; ESPECIALLY with a transfer.

[dondon151]

The goal isn't to get more EXP. The goal is to get things done faster. In maps where you can't get things done faster, then EXP is the priority.

[Narga_Rocks]

Good job. You could've used Haar to OHKO something on player phase and Haar gets more EXP in the process. Granted, Ike doesn't gain any EXP, but he's got so much going for him anyway its ridiculous; ESPECIALLY with a transfer.

Um, Haar gets to kill stuff along with Ike on enemy phase. Plus Ike is now probably about 6 to 9 squares closer to the seize square. And Leanne can then allow you to do it again with Gatrie or Mia or someone (Though Haar is likely the only one that can carry Gatrie, so it would mean some other units carries Ike). Best part? you can use Marcia/Janaff/Ulki + Haar to carry two units on player phase in this fashion. In two turns you can have 4 land units jump ahead thanks to Leanne and no unit needs to lose its enemy phase and only two units lose player phase.

Basically:

The goal isn't to get more EXP. The goal is to get things done faster. In maps where you can't get things done faster, then EXP is the priority.

You get stuff done faster this way. Also, since Haar is probably 20/18/1 or something right now, he's not gaining much exp anyway. Also, he may end up getting the same number of kills anyway. That thing he didn't KO doesn't kill itself so it might fight Haar on enemy phase anyway. Not much is happy about attacking a 31 def, ~28 spd, 45 mt Unit anyway, so they'd rather attack Haar. (Those stats are achieved through some bexp use, obviously.)

[Candlejack]

Only 45 MT?

I thought it was around 50...

[Narga_Rocks]

Only 45 MT?

I thought it was around 50...

Before promotion? 27 str (capped) + 18 mt = 45 mt. With Mia (or some other fire/water/dark) support, 47 mt. But I was basing it off him being carried away and his support partner (possibly) left behind. For example, Haar airlifts Gatrie and Marcia airlifts Ike. Mia (or Boyd or Mist or Soren or whomever Ike supported) gets left behind.

[Original Alear]

Wait... Raf doesn't fly?

I need to replay this game. It's been since December of '07 that I've played it.

And it was merely a rental. I almost forgot how much Sanaki sucked...

Hehe it shows :P I was just teasing when I asked "how long has it been since you played this game" :P But w/e.

The 7 turn all item clear is fun. I didn't have any transfer units for it, either. Definitely requires moving quickly (but carefully). Also, I think there are no torches, so turns are spent lighting the torches that are on the field. But careful use of Leanne lets you pull it off. Not sure if you were saying Leanne is necessary for the non-item getting 7 turn clear or not.

Just to clarify: The way I read your original comment was that a 7-turn clear (even w/out secret book and discipline) would be difficult without Leanne. I was disagreeing with that.

(the bolded part below is what lead me to read your comment that way)

2-2 has limited units and a 7 turn max bexp limit. I'd like to see people get the discipline scroll and secret book and 7 turn (or better) without Leanne. Even dropping the item requirements.

The latter I can do, the former I can't. I haven't even done the former w/ leanne - unless I did it on one of my easy PTs, which doesn't count.

[Narga_Rocks]

The 7 turn all item clear is fun. I didn't have any transfer units for it, either. Definitely requires moving quickly (but carefully). Also, I think there are no torches, so turns are spent lighting the torches that are on the field. But careful use of Leanne lets you pull it off. Not sure if you were saying Leanne is necessary for the non-item getting 7 turn clear or not.

Just to clarify: The way I read your original comment was that a 7-turn clear (even w/out secret book and discipline) would be difficult without Leanne. I was disagreeing with that.

(the bolded part below is what lead me to read your comment that way)

2-2 has limited units and a 7 turn max bexp limit. I'd like to see people get the discipline scroll and secret book and 7 turn (or better) without Leanne. Even dropping the item requirements.

The latter I can do, the former I can't. I haven't even done the former w/ leanne - unless I did it on one of my easy PTs, which doesn't count.

Oh, okay. Didn't know for sure whether the 7 turn no item requirement clear could be done w/out Leanne.

Still, if a 7 turn clear can be done without Leanne, that means it is probable that a 6 turn (or less) clear without caring about those items could be done with Leanne. Whether you care about the items or not, Leanne is probably speeding things up. As always, we are left with the question of "what actually matters to us?". Unless we are perfectly happy with 7 turns and no items, Leanne helps turncounts. I have my doubts about Rafiel's ability to cut down on turns in 1-8, 1-E, and 4-1. In 4-4 I'm sure he can, but like I already admitted, that's his best (in my opinion) pre 4-E chapter.

And for some reason I've only ever 7 turned that chapter on HM (third playthrough). On EM and NM it took at least 8 turns, and on all 3 modes I got both Discipline and the Secret Book. I guess it's just that I had chances to think up better tactics the more I played it (even though between when I started EM and when I finished HM it was about 8 months).

[Original Alear]

Still, if a 7 turn clear can be done without Leanne, that means it is probable that a 6 turn (or less) clear without caring about those items could be done with Leanne. Whether you care about the items or not, Leanne is probably speeding things up. As always, we are left with the question of "what actually matters to us?". Unless we are perfectly happy with 7 turns and no items, Leanne helps turncounts. I have my doubts about Rafiel's ability to cut down on turns in 1-8, 1-E, and 4-1. In 4-4 I'm sure he can, but like I already admitted, that's his best (in my opinion) pre 4-E chapter.

Ya, my saying that was not at ALL to indicate that I don't think Leanne is an extremely helpful unit in 3-2 whatever your priorities are.

[Florete]

3 in this post for my own reasons.

Nealuchi

Got any old man flying jokes? I sure as hell don't.

So Nealuchi is the other fighter in 2-P along with Marcia. I pretty much described in her review what Nealuchi does; team up for kills. For Nealuchi, it's until his gauge runs out, which is generally around turn 4 or 5 for me. At that point he's done since Haar shows up and you want to save the Laguz Stone for 2-2, Nealuchi's next map. As long as you can get him transformed and keep him there (Harder than I'd like it to be given limited resources), he's pretty good. He has a lot of avoid, making him nearly invincible, and he doubles everything for pretty good damage. Even the Bowgun user only takes him down to 1 HP, which just increases his offense with innate Wrath. Speaking of Wrath, that's something he can do well in 2-E, his next map. Base 27 atk is not very good, so pulling crits about half the time will help his offense immensely overall. The problem again is keeping him transformed. As long as you can do that, he's good. Not amazing, but helpful.

Can you guess what's next? That's correct, he's taking a vacation. Old men need their rest, I suppose. He waits until part 4 to show up on the field of battle again, and now he sucks. To be honest, I haven't looked into his performance at part 4 very much, nor have I ever used him there, but 27 base atk was borderline back in part 2 already (he can support for 28, but that's not turning any heads). It's nice that he can fly on Micaiah's route around the desert and transport Sothe or something, but that's only worth so much. And by so much, I mean very little.

Overall, he's not a good character. Decent in part 2, crap later.

3/10

Leanne

Heron #2, Leanne. She joins in 2-P and is arguably the most valuable unit there because of her ability to Vigor units on the same axis as her with Canto, for whatever it's worth. It's because of her that you're able to kill multiple enemies in one turn, and it's a bonus that she doesn't get attacked, even if the result is possible capture (it means she can't be hit from 2 range, making guarding easier). She also gets Haar to the boss faster, which might be unnecessary but is still pretty nice. 2-2 is a similar deal for her. You have few units and a tight max BEXP limit that's probably impossible to reach without her. Then in 2-E you need all the extra power you can get. Leanne is extremely beneficial here. She allows 2 heals instead of one, which can occasionally be life-saving, and she allows multiple attacks, which can help kill and prevent enemies from retreating to get healed (so annoying).

3-11 is her next map. It's a bit tougher to use her here because of the Onagers shooting rocks at her, though they can't kill her in one hit. Her abilities are also a bit less valuable because the team is stronger than that of part 2. She's still great and very useful, just with more limits. Part 4 is a bit better since she's on the authority-less Silver Team, which also includes the desert where Vigoring is amazing for any foot units that have been sent there.

She doesn't really have a shot at Endgame, though. Her brothers abilities too easily surpass her own, even if it's not by much. The only real reason she'd go is if her brothers died. She might have had a case for support since Water is pretty hot, but she doesn't have enough time to build a realistic support, so that's out. However, she's very useful for the 6 chapters she does have despite that, and she's still good in Endgame even considering she isn't the best.

9/10

Haar

I've heard lots of theories about the eye patch. Some say it's similar to how Greil crippled himself to keep his own strength in check. Others say it's like Kenpachi's eye patch where he has to keep it on or his power will just overflow. The world may never know.

So Haar is that guy that arrives halfway through 2-P. He's one of those "kills everything and never dies" units for this map. He kills all but the boss in one round and the chance he'll be killed is so low the map would probably be the hardest in the game if the objective was to get him killed. He comes again for 2-E, and while he's no longer an invincible killing machine, he's still among your most valuable units. He doesn't double much but can usually kill in two hits, he's very mobile, and the only enemies he's really worried about are the Thunder Sages. He can use the Hammer for some quick kills as well, and his flight comes in handy in multiple ways on a map like 2-E with the gaps and walls.

He rejoins again for 3-2 and the rest of the Mercenaries part 3, always one of your most, if not the most, valuable units. He's your only flier until the Hawks come, one of your most durable units and a heavy hitter, though he never doubled. His flight helps a lot with things like burning cargo in 3-3 and possible quick finishes of maps like 3-2. He'll likely be among your first to promote, and since he's got great Skill, his Stun activation will be fairly high, especially when he doubles (Which occasionally requires a Speedwing).

He's still great for the first two maps of part 4. He, like other fliers, is great anywhere but likely best on Micaiah's team to help out in the desert. He'll be very valuable as your most solid and mobile unit. Endgame is where he loses steam, since his bad Speed is starting to show and his durability is no longer as special. He'll still be pretty good with Brave weapons and good mobility, though, so it's not as if he's bad now.

He does have a few weaknesses. Wind affinity is not very good, and even if it were, he has a hard time building and keeping support because of all his flying around. Thunder Magic and magic in general hits him hard because of low Resistance, and the occasional Wyrmslayer can get him as well if he doesn't have Nullify. And then of course, Speed. He won't ever double reliably without a Speedwing and may even require an early Crowning, which hurts what could have been epic offense. However, these weaknesses don't affect him much and most definitely don't take away his title as one of the best, most valuable units in the game. I find that even when I don't plan to use him extensively I still field him a lot because his utility is just that great. The lack of doubling makes me unsure of his score, but for now I'll go with what the majority agree with (Just don't accuse me of bandwagoning).

Oh yeah, he also has innate Cancel. However, his Speed is so bad and his durability is good enough you're likely better off giving it to someone else.

10/10

Transfer changes:

All Haar can reasonably get from a transfer is HP. Fairly worthless.

Edited December 25, 2010 by Yui

[Iced]

yay one of my favorite characters is coming next :D

[Candlejack]

inb4 smashXNeph war

[NinjaMonkey]

It's nice that he's forced to Micaiah's route so he can fly around the desert and transport Sothe or something, but that's only worth so much.

Which is why on my last playthrough, I put him in Tibarn's group...

[Narga_Rocks]

It's true that Nealuchi isn't forced.

I do use him in 4-3 for elsleep bait. He starts high enough leveled that the bishop doesn't ignore him. I don't let my characters die so he stays out of range of enemies and Laura Restores him so the bishop sleeps him both times.

[Florete]

I've just finished up finals, so I should be able to get the next set of reviews up within the next 24 hours.

[Allan's Aokage]

He isn't forced, but he does give an extra scene between characters who aren't forced.