My most recent playthrough

[Anouleth]

Hard Mode, no transfers. Turncount:

1-P 7

1-1 7

1-2 10

1-3 10

1-4 11

1-5 6

1-6 16

1-7 10

1-8 10

1-9 8

1-E 14

2-P 9

2-1 15

2-2 9

2-3 7

2-E 6

3-P 7

3-1 9

3-2 4

3-3 8

3-4 10

3-5 4

3-6 13

3-7 13

3-8 8

3-9 10

3-10 6

3-11 8

3-12 9

3-13 5

3-E 5

4-P 4

4-1 6

4-2 6

4-3 6

4-4 8

4-5 2

4-E1 3

4-E2 1

4-E3 1

4-E4 1

4-E5 2

Total 314

I started this playthrough many months ago, and I only recently picked it back up again at about 2-3. This is part of the reason my Part 1 turncounts are so horrendous (although many of my Part 3 turn counts are really bad, too). However, I'm quite proud of my Part 4 turncounts. I think I could have shaved off a turn on 4-4 by giving a Speedwing to Soren or Gatrie (who were on 28 and 27AS and didn't really double), and I could have 2-turned 4-E-1 if Caineghis/Nailah were more accomodating with their masteries. Part 1/2/3 are messes, though.

Anyway, comments on the characters I used, although I can only really comment on their Part 3 and 4 performance.

Nolan (Hawk Army)

I don't really remember much of Part 1, but when I got back to my 20/1 Nolan in 3-6, he was very useful. With Tarvos, he's pretty durable, and was easily capable of holding the right side alongside Jill. He was also one of my better units in 3-12 once he started doubling, and an extra hand to help me take out Ike in 3-13. Also good for 4-2 reinforcements.

B

Jill (Hawk Army)

Sadly, I also came back to find Paragon with the Greil Mercenaries, so I was unable to try and copy Int and make Super Jill. However, she was still pretty useful to support Nolan. However, I think Nolan was better, due mainly to Tarvos.

B-

Sothe

Good to smash Cats and Tigers with the Beast Killer, but I found his accuracy with it annoying. I don't mind bad accuracy on someone like Jill, because she can Canto back into safety, but if Sothe misses and eats a counter, he can easily die on Enemy phase.

C-

Volug (Greil Army)

Volug ended up taking Beastfoe and Vantage. He OHKOes half the enemies in 3-6, and with B Zihark backing him up, he's almost indestructible. To be honest, I fucked around a little bit with having him fight untransformed, and I think he went to waste a little bit, but he was still great. Volug was also important to kill Ike in 3-13, after he was weakened with Cards. Even in Part 4, he was an admirable filler unit since he consistently doubled with good durability. However, I never got him to SS Strike (he was very close, though!)

A

Zihark (Greil Army)

Like Volug, Zihark had decent avoid in 3-6, but sadly, avoid can only go so far when enemies kill you in 2 hits. He generally spent his time Wind Edging enemies for Volug to OHKO, and being a complete waste of an Adept, and yes, I AM going to punish Zihark for my own incomptence in not taking it off him sooner.

C

Micaiah

Fun to thwack Paladins with her in 4-P. Her and Sanaki make a great tag team. Plus Physic range that isn't indescribably shitty like Laura's. However, I totally misused her Endgame, since I failed to get her to A Rank Staves for Rescue. Elincia had to pick up the slack.

C+

Nephenee (Greil Army)

It's nice to have someone who doubles in 2-E, and she can sit on a ledge with a Javelin hitting the Sages/Snipers on the bottom level, weakening them for Elincia/Marcia/Haar to swoop in. Really, I didn't actually plan to use Nephenee since I don't like her, but when she gained 2 strength and 3 speed in her first three levels, I couldn't not use her. She was decent throughout Part 3, but she was among my last characters to promote, and when you're 2nd Tier with crappy strength and no Adept and meh durability on a team of 3rd tier gods who never have difficulty with anything, you tend to stand out... in a bad way. Once I got the CRK Adept, things got better for her, especially in Part 4 where she was one of the few people doubling reliably. I didn't mind giving her a Crown, since I had given up on the DB being good for Part 4 by that stage.

B+

Haar (Silver Army, brought to Endgame)

Gave him the Speedwing, and he tears everything apart. With Paragon at the GMs, he didn't even need a Crown. He was never really lucky with his speed in Tier 2, ending up with 26AS at 20/1, but he proceeded to skyrocket up to 29AS naturally in time for 4-3, and 31AS for 4-E-1, and even when his speed was low, he still kicked ass in chapters such as 3-3 and 3-4. He tore stuff apart in those chapters, I even gave him the Boots and a 2-use forged Hand Axe so he could do the 'Hand Axe Lekain, canto into the Generals with a Hammer' trick. He ended up being no.1 for kills.

A*

Elincia (brought to Endgame)

Pretty awesome, to be honest. Even at just level 2, she is still a useful unit in 4-2 and can easily be fed kills. She can even just take BEXP, since strength and speed are amongst her highest growths. However, I find that she simply never procs Stun, even when Quadding. This is a big problem, since her offense against Generals was pretty shaky. And even into 4-E-5, I struggled to get her to 30STR/34AS, so her offense was very lacking. However, she was still useful to set up a Triangle Attack, she could Rescue Ena/Nasir in 4-E-3 and 4-E-4 respectively, and she was crucial in 4-2 where I wasn't overflowing with viable combatants, and even in 4-E-1 there are Generals that people don't finish off or soft targets for her to take down, and she does it better than most due to 9 move/Canto.

B

Marcia (Silver Army, brought to Endgame)

Okay, I'll be honest here - I favoured Marcia a LOT. Paragon in 3-9, 3-11, 3-E, 4-3, and the only reason I didn't give it to her in 4-P was because I wanted to bolster Haar's speed (and he ended up taking out half the chapter on his own anyway). And sadly, she was never actually better than Tanith. ;_; Marcia had inferior everything for a while until she promoted in 3-E, and even the BEXP fairy couldn't stop her from having inferior strength as well. And when you have inferior strength, you don't get to hold the Wishblade, you don't get to attack Ashera/Dheg, you don't get to pull off the Triangle Attacks. Sorry, but I tried. I even gave her an Energy Drop. Her only edge over Tanith was being able to double Swordmasters in 4-3, which was actually quite useful, but she even struggled to 2HKO them!

B+

Ike

To be fair to Ike, I neglected him for a long time in Part 3. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to approach 3-13, and I didn't want to overlevel him, or get him too much speed. In the end though, I forgot to take off Ragnell, so I ended up having a really difficult Ike to face anyway, so I guess I shot myself in the foot for nothing. For what it's worth, Ike was pretty awesome whenever I took off his leash, and when I went nuts with him in Part 4, he was even better. Sadly, even with 36 strength and A Mia, Ike struggled to 1-round Generals in 4-E-1, and he had an inferior mastery as well. He picked up in other 4-E chapters, being great against Ashera and Dheginsea, and he was a monster in the difficult Part 4 routs.

A-

Titania

Monstrous. With the Speedwing in tow, Titania proceeded to cap Speed at level 18, and with some quick Paragon use, rapidly promoted. Almost as great as FE9 Titania. However, her formerly great speed suffered in Part 4, with only 28AS in 4-1. However, it was never that big a problem, and her speed picked up again for 4-4 so she could roam the lower levels and obliterate stuff.

A

Soren

Like Nephenee, I didn't initially intend to use Soren, but after he gained speed, I decided to try him with Paragon in 3-2 for shits and giggles. When he gained two more points of speed, I felt it would be a waste not to use him. Using Soren over may be the reason my Part 3 turncounts are so bad... in fact, it's almost certainly the reason, but Soren was decent enough, and my best unit against Generals since I had no Hammer or Brave Sword (seriously, Mia was his toughest competition). However, even with a early Crown and heavy Paragon/staff use, he didn't have good stats in time for Part 4. 28AS in 4-4 seriously dragged him down, and he was already struggling to 2HKO Generals since he didn't have the Rank for Rexcalibur. Even his durability was poor - while he was only critkilled once, he faced crit a LOT. Soren gets credit for obsoleting Mist and Rhys, though, since I despise using them.

B-

Gatrie (Greil Army)

A very aggravating character to use. I neglected to supply Gatrie with +hit forges, so he was plagued by hit problems, even with the benefit of Ike's authority stars. However, once he was crowned, he doubled reliably throughout Part 3. However, like Soren, I was unable to get his speed to a satisfactory level in time for Part 4, and his poor movement made it difficult for him to gain experience and speed as I started playing at a faster pace. He was useful to have around as an extra hand and certainly more durable than Soren, but Soren actually killed stuff more reliably and healed, so I'm giving them the same score.

B-

Mia (Greil Army, brought to Endgame)

Great. With Adept, she had very good offense, and I found I could easily rely on her proc rate. Even the fairly slow Ike support was enough to keep her durable, and she had great offense all the way into Part 4. I found she lagged slightly against 4-1 Swordmasters, but aside from them, she was great against everything, even though she was fairly underlevelled due to never eating from the Paragon Pie. She took another Crown, because I couldn't be bother to sit around and BEXP her defense.

A+

Janaff/Ulki (Hawk Army)

Pretty good. I must admit, I misused the Hawks as well, mainly because I wasn't taking full advantage of Laguz Stones (for Reyson in particular). However, they were still very useful for the 3-10 Rout and again in 3-E, although their position was largely one of weakening enemies for others. However, when 4-2 rolled around, I BEXPed them to 30 for Tear. With only Tibarn and Elincia as 'good' alternatives on my team, the ability to use Tear was essential for taking down Generals.

A-

Tanith (Silver Army, brought to Endgame)

Like Marcia, I showered favouritism on her - this time, in the form of Secret Book, Dracoshield and 4 levels of BEXP. Tanith is one of those characters that can just be given BEXP at any time, since it only hurts her HP, MAG, LUK, and RES - stats that are not as important as her STR/SPD/SKL/DEF. Of course, statboosters to help her cap her SKL/DEF always help. Tanith was very lucky with her speed, consistently doubled everything but SMs, and she generally did it with much, much better strength than Marcia (like, 4 more), and could 1-round 4-P Paladins. She was also good into 4-E. 9 move and Canto is a great asset to have, especially in 4-E-5 where everyone is fighting each other for Tides.

A-

Skrimir

Skrimir was surprisingly awesome. I'm not really a big fan of the laguz, but I quite like Skrimir(xSoren :3) and I was interested to see what he could do. I gave him Wildheart in 4-P. The Warriors double him with only 19AS, so he is easy to get down to half HP. With Resolve active, Skrimir tears through everything. Even with half transformation boosts, he has enough mt to 2HKO the Paladins, so he took the northwest on his own. In 4-3, he was not quite as awesome - he can't get away with Wildheart, and he really needs to get attacked by a Sage in order to proc Resolve, which I killed too quickly. However, he was still a useful filler unit.

B-

Renning (brought to Endgame)

I admit - I gave Renning a Speedwing. A massive waste, I know, when I had Titania sitting in the wings, but I found that Renning actually had one or two advantages over her. Mainly to do with having Alondite for 1-2 range instead of a shitty Hand Axe forge. Renning was great against 4-E-1 Generals with the Hammer, and moderately useful in 4-E-4 and 5.

C

My other Endgame team slots were taken up by the Royals. No comment needed. Rafiel was also brought in. Interestingly, Rafiel can actually survive Ashera's AoE if he procs 2HP, and sits on a Cover Tile with 5 spaces inbetween him and Ashera. Thanks to 9move/Canto, I could have him Vigor on both turns.

Edited July 4, 2010 by Slowking

[Fenrir]

Nice to read about the pegasi, i don't see people using them to much. On my current PT I'm bringing SMs and pegasi(no Sigrun) to endgame with Naesala and Tibarn helping out.

[Anouleth]

Well, I'll be honest, Tanith was mainly useful due to her speed blessage. 29SPD at 20/01? She would not have been able to double naturally in 4-3 without that, or in 4-E-4 and 4-E-5. And Elincia had even more limited use. 25STR/29AS at level 12 was not good enough for 4-E-1. Even Marcia had problems with her strength. It was only because I showered favouritism upon them that they managed to be useful.

[Integrity]

You play favorites with Titania AND Tanith.

I think you and my sister would get along very well.

Additionally, there is no "surprising" before Skrimir's "awesome". Ever.

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, I'll be honest, Tanith was mainly useful due to her speed blessage. 29SPD at 20/01? She would not have been able to double naturally in 4-3 without that, or in 4-E-4 and 4-E-5. And Elincia had even more limited use. 25STR/29AS at level 12 was not good enough for 4-E-1. Even Marcia had problems with her strength. It was only because I showered favouritism upon them that they managed to be useful.

Elincia should have 1 more strength and most of the time one more speed at level 12. Giving her 4 chances to stun all but, what, 3 Generals or something? And 41 mt is enough to 6HKO (or better), oh, all of them? And with 26 or 27 skill, 4 shots means ~70% chance to KO. Or 71.6% if you got 27 skill. Even Nailah only has a ~71% chance to savage, and she's got the highest mastery activation rate you can get without raising Cain/Giffca/Naesala (and getting beyond 23 in strength/speed).

Also, while Marcia only gets two shots at stun, that's still better KO chances than units that don't double. 25 strength at 20/6 isn't great, but a silver forge + a support is good enough to give her 26 + 1 + 18 = 45 mt, which is more than enough to 4HKO everything (so stun ORKOs). Cover tiles screw them up, but cover tiles screw up a lot of units and there aren't very many enemies on them anyway.

Tanith sucks in comparison because even at level 20/7 she only has 29 speed. You can't give everyone Paragon and she takes so long to reach 34 speed that it's probably better on units that get there quicker.

[Anouleth]

Perhaps I was just unlucky with Elincia's Stun procs, but she certainly wasn't proccing it 70% of the time. I don't recall her biorhythm... but I've always been unlucky with Stun, with the Seraph Knights as well.

You play favorites with Titania AND Tanith.

I think you and my sister would get along very well.

Additionally, there is no "surprising" before Skrimir's "awesome". Ever.

Throwing a Speedwing at Titania isn't playing favourites. If I had known she would have continued to gain speed, I might have held back on it... but even into Part 4, +2 speed was making a big difference for her. I can't imagine anyone who would have used it better.

I was led to believe that Skrimir had speed issues (I think RFoF said something along those lines in her character rankings). But I never had a problem. Skrimir has Resolve, which fixes all his speed problems, like Mordecai 2.0. I suppose another person could have used it, but aside from maybe Gatrie, who has issues even getting to half health, who?

Really, if I had wanted to use Tanith and not rely on the RNG being kind to me, I would have given her Renning's Speedwing and just deployed Titania instead in Endgame. It would have been annoying having to work around Titania's shitty 2-range in later chapters, though. Alondite is ridiculously better than a forged Hand Axe, which is her next best option. Or even better, I could have just given Tanith a speed transfer. Given how my Tanith was about 1-2 points above average in speed for most of her availability, it's roughly similiar in effect on the game, and Tanith is one of the easiest characters to transfer in PoR. There are a lot of people who could have used a Speedwing in Part 4... especially Soren and Gatrie.

[Narga_Rocks]

There are a lot of people who could have used a Speedwing in Part 4... especially Soren and Gatrie.

This is the problem with trying to dole out the 3-9 speedwing. Ike is #1 on the list in case he gets screwed given how important he is. After that? (since most of the time his speed is fine.)

It's basically a free-for-all. Even Boyd can get in on the action since it may allow him to double Generals in 4-E-1 and he has the strength to 2HKO at reasonable levels.