ITT DA Ranks The Characters

[Tables]

Random note: Some guys who made character ratings on GFAQs said that Jill is easily trolled by the RNG due to her average growths. But since I'm assuming fixed mode, that claim doesn't hold water to me.

While that's somewhat true, the flipside is just as valid. Jill is relatively more likely to be blessed than most thanks to those growths - although I'm not sure how much difference that ever makes (Been a while since I played FE9 - is she borderline SPD? Would a few points of DEF/HP improve her durability much?). And of course, even if she's slightly screwed, she can still ferry people with reasonable durability at worst.

[Anouleth]

While that's somewhat true, the flipside is just as valid. Jill is relatively more likely to be blessed than most thanks to those growths - although I'm not sure how much difference that ever makes (Been a while since I played FE9 - is she borderline SPD? Would a few points of DEF/HP improve her durability much?). And of course, even if she's slightly screwed, she can still ferry people with reasonable durability at worst.

She's pretty borderline on speed. But even spd-screwed, she's still very good due to how h4x flight is.

[Smiley Jim]

While that's somewhat true, the flipside is just as valid. Jill is relatively more likely to be blessed than most thanks to those growths - although I'm not sure how much difference that ever makes (Been a while since I played FE9 - is she borderline SPD? Would a few points of DEF/HP improve her durability much?). And of course, even if she's slightly screwed, she can still ferry people with reasonable durability at worst.

Anouleth said it already, her speed is borderline on a lot of things. I remember on my first playthrough, she got pretty badly speed screwed(only 14 spd as a 20/1 Dragon Master), but she has WTF40HP/19Str/21Def at that level, as well.(I think something similar happened to Heath in my FE7 playthrough. He only had 14 speed as a 20/1 Dragon Master, but had 43HP/18Str/20Def to make up for it. His speed picked up after he was given the Afa's Drops.)

[Junkhead]

Most of Jill's problems have to be Speed in her early stages. Give her the Paladin/Archer/Thief Bands so she can gain Spd each two levels instead of 3. A Speedwings helps and benefits alot. After her Spd is fixed, her above-average Str & Def are next with the Wyern/Knight Bands.

[Narga_Rocks]

Anouleth said it already, her speed is borderline on a lot of things. I remember on my first playthrough, she got pretty badly speed screwed(only 14 spd as a 20/1 Dragon Master), but she has WTF40HP/19Str/21Def at that level, as well.(I think something similar happened to Heath in my FE7 playthrough. He only had 14 speed as a 20/1 Dragon Master, but had 43HP/18Str/20Def to make up for it. His speed picked up after he was given the Afa's Drops.)

Jill is supposed to have, what, 16.4? So yeah, 2.4 cost is a little bad, though not actually all that unlikely. 13% chance of 14 or less, according to fea.fewiki.net. Not good, but not as epicly screwed/blessed as some of my characters have been. Like, say, capped spd Dieck at around 20/10 or 11 (around 1%).

[Smiley Jim]

Astrid

Base Stats

LVL 	MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
01/00   20  06  04  06  07  03  05  04

Growths

MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
45  40  20  55  50  40  30  25

If you are going to start underleveled, this is one of the ways you can get away with it.

In all seriousness, Astrid starts off pretty frickin' terrible, almost as bad as Rolf, except that Rolf joined in C9 with those stats and Astrid joins in C13 with those stats. 6 str and 7 AS at this point in the game is pretty bad, since one, enemies are far stronger now, and two, many units are going to have double what Astrid has in stats. Granted, it does improve quickly with a 50% spd growth and an 'average' 40% str growth, but let's face it: it hurts. Defensively, she's basically a joke. 20HP/5Def is a little more than what Sothe has, and is getting ORKO'd by practically everything(actually, some fighters reach 25 atk, which OHKO's her.), and with 45HP/30Def, she basically has durability problems forever. Yes, she does have a horse, but it means almost nothing when you are crap at fighting, although taking no counters helps.

What sets her apart from her non-mounted counterpart, though is that she has Paragon. Yes, the broken skill that gives double experience. At this stage in the game, if she chips anything, she's likely going to gain 40+ CEXP. Killing something will practically give her a free level up, but most of the time, this isn't happening unless she's killing a weakened C13 crow or something. Assuming you chip an enemy once per turn in her joining map, she will have gained ~4 levels(which puts her from Lv1 to ~Lv5). Ridiculous. If she can actually kill something, make that Lv7-8. Once she gets up to par with your other units, she has respectable offense compared to your other units(though I wouldn't call doubling for moderate damage good, but hey, it's better than what the likes of Brom can do). Once she promotes, she's finally starting to look quite good. 9 move + canto + axes + Sol is pretty good, and by now her supports are established, she should have OKish durability.

As for any supports, she's wind(which as I've said is crap in FE9), but supports fellow cavalier Makalov, who is her best support overall(and is Thunder, giving her SOME def). Gatrie has movement issues unless you give him the boots and Sothe sucks, so those two supports are pretty much inferior to Mak. As for any skills, Paragon is good as long as she's underleveled. Once she's ~20/10, feel free to remove it and give her something like Sol.

Overall, she gets a

7.0/10

Support suggestion: Mak is pretty much her only good support partner. Gatrie has move issues and lolSothe.

Band suggestion: Fighter or Soldier work best. She has little need for the KW since her speed is good enough as it is.

Edited October 29, 2010 by DA125

[eclipse]

Paragon also means that if you really, really want her to level fast, you can dump BEXP into her, and get roughly double your money's worth.

[Smiley Jim]

Makalov

Base Stats

LVL 	MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
10/00   30  09  02  07  10  08  10  02

Growths

MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
60  55  05  45  50  25  45  20

Wow. This guy must suffer from Ugly Hair Syndrome. Or maybe he's just ugly period. He also has a gambling addiction.

Mak basically continues the trend that any first tiers after C11 are underleveled, and therefore, under par when you get them. Seriously, 9 str and 10 spd is utter crap at this stage in the game, and combined with the fact that his steel sword drops him to 7AS(17atk is also nothing to write home about, either), his offense is god awful, though with 105% AS growth and 55% str growth, his offense picks up quickly. Durability wise, he's decent enough with 30HP/10Def and he has above average durability growths for a cav(60HP/45Def), but while he has WTA on most of his starting map, he can't dodge since he has only 22 avoid assuming neutral bio.

Because he joins so late, and is more underleveled than Marcia and Neph were(and without Elite to make up for the difference), he needs BEXP to function. And I mean a LOT of it. But once he IS caught up, he's actually above average statwise. As in, his str is just as good as Kevin's and he almost reaches Oscar's durability levels. However, it's because of his pitiful level that he's promoting so late, so yeah. When he DOES promote, axes and Sol assume position.

Like with a lot of people, his supports aren't anything special. He has Thunder affinity(which is good); however, ALL his supports are wind affinity, and two of those join VERY damn late(not to mention that Bastian just sucks). Really, Astrid is his only good support, with Haar as a secondary(but I wouldn't bet on it). As for any skills, Sol is standard fare for paladins, but he makes use of stuff like Guard and Resolve.

His rating:

6.5/10

Support suggestion: Astrid A. Haar comes too late, and lolBastian.

Band suggestion: He would like KW for the first 10 levels of his existence. Otherwise, anything with def.

Edited October 29, 2010 by DA125

[Anouleth]

6.5 for Makalov?

what are you smoking and can I have some pls

[Smiley Jim]

Stefan

Base Stats

LVL 	MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
20/08   38  19  08  27  25  05  12  09

Growths

MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
70  50  20  40  55  25  30  25

Soanevalcke is probably one of the hardest characters to find in this game. In fact, most new players don't know that he even exists.

In all seriousness, his base stats are completely ridiculous. Right from when you get him, he has the most ridiculous offense in the posse. 25 base AS will basically double everything the game has to offer besides really REALLY fast things, and with a 55% spd growth, this continues for the rest of his existence. Add to that, he has 19 str, which gives him 31 atk with the Vague Katti(never mind that he's the only unit that can use it for a LOOONG time), and has 63 base crit with it. Ridiculous. Even with something like a steel sword, he has 27 atk, and it keeps going up thanks to his 50% str growth. And even if he can't one round something, he still has Astra to make up for it. WTF IS? You first give us all these weak-ass first tiers(from C9-C16), then you put in a prepromote who simply spits in their faces like forever. Defensively, he could be a bit better. 38HP/12Def is about average, and 55 avoid isn't too bad either.

What prevents him form being as ridiculous as, say, Boyd or Oscar is that he doesn't have 2 range options other than the highly-competed for Sonic and Rune Swords. So basically, while the affronted units are tearing things apart with hand axes/javelins, respectively, Stefan easily gets mugged by mages and archers. Also, many enemies later on will have significant critical on him due to his absolutely piss luck. And I'm not talking about the dudes that may have 1-3 crit on him. Swordmasters and snipers all pose a significant threat to him since he's usually getting 3HKO'd, and a crit will easily finish him. You might want to give him a few Ashera icons if you really are paranoid.

Supports, eh? He's heaven, but both of his supports increase atk, so that's cool. He also doesn't need help with skills since Astra is alright(despite the fact that this is NOT FE4 where Star Strike was absolutely broken and Ayra Lakche(possibly the best swordmaster in FE history) had it).

So basically, he's good the whole game thanks to his ridiculous offense. His rating:

8.0/10

Support suggestion: Mordy A/Soren B is about the best he can hope for. At least he ain't Fireman.

Band suggestion: Anything with luck.

Edited October 29, 2010 by DA125

[Narga_Rocks]

6.5 for Makalov?

what are you smoking and can I have some pls

What's wrong with that? He obviously assigns pretty high penalties to needing massive bexp. Astrid got a 7. The fact you can bexp them to level 17+ (or even promotion) the first time they get access to the base and have them be better than most of the foot units doesn't seem to matter to him.

and in a way, he's actually got a point if you assume his playstyle. He used a lot of units and a large number of them needed a pretty high amount of bexp. That basically means that Makalov and Astrid can't be given quite as much bexp. Even though you can pretty cheaply get Astrid to level 11 or 12 or something, she's not going to be nearly as good as everyone else at that point. And Mak can go to level 14 or 15 fairly cheaply, I guess, but again he'll suffer. Those ratings aren't exactly shocking.

Oh, and Shanan, Lakche > Ayra. Heck, Mareeta probably has a fairly good argument. FE10 Mia does, too.

Offence isn't the only thing that matters. Ayra's durability isn't that great. On top of that, Ayra starts with just 16 skill. Two chances with 16% each. 60% growth as well. For a while, Mia with Adept in fe10 has a much higher kill rate than that. Just saying.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[Anouleth]

Makalov doesn't really need massive BEXP, though. Even if he promotes coming out of Chapter 17, he's still very good. 16/17 strength, 19/20 SPD with some Knight Ward use, and 16/17DEF. Plus axes, plus nine movement. That's way better than the likes of Gatrie or Soren, and Makalov can back it up with one of the best growth spreads in the entire game.

[Narga_Rocks]

Makalov doesn't really need massive BEXP, though. Even if he promotes coming out of Chapter 17, he's still very good. 16/17 strength, 19/20 SPD with some Knight Ward use, and 16/17DEF. Plus axes, plus nine movement. That's way better than the likes of Gatrie or Soren, and Makalov can back it up with one of the best growth spreads in the entire game.

chapter 14 recruitment. late. chapter 15 is desert. He's got chapters 16 and 17 to get exp. Even if you consider all 4 parts of chapter 17 as full chapters (and considering what a promoted Marcia or Jill can do to your turncounts, they really aren't) that's 11 levels in 5 chapters. You are going to need a lot of bexp, I'm sorry.

Compare level 13 Makalov in chapter 16 to a level 16 Makalov in the same. And that level 13 is already 3 levels of bexp since you know he's not getting anything for chapter 14 or 15. His performance in chapters 16 and 17 does affect how easy it is to give him more exp, as well.

[Anouleth]

chapter 14 recruitment. late. chapter 15 is desert. He's got chapters 16 and 17 to get exp. Even if you consider all 4 parts of chapter 17 as full chapters (and considering what a promoted Marcia or Jill can do to your turncounts, they really aren't) that's 11 levels in 5 chapters. You are going to need a lot of bexp, I'm sorry.

Compare level 13 Makalov in chapter 16 to a level 16 Makalov in the same. And that level 13 is already 3 levels of bexp since you know he's not getting anything for chapter 14 or 15. His performance in chapters 16 and 17 does affect how easy it is to give him more exp, as well.

300 is not a 'lot'. It's 10% of all the BEXP you've gotten so far, providing you ignore the pacifist BEXP and bits of optional BEXP here and there, like the Chapter 11 Vigilantes. And given that we're assuming stinginess with BEXP, how are we going to have promoted Jill and Marcia? Jill joins two levels lower, two chapters earlier, and even though she has desert, I doubt she'd be promoted in time for 17-2 unless we were to dump a whole load of BEXP on her.

Finally, there's Gatrie who's a whole 1.5 points above Makalov. Assuming a 3 level gap, we can expect 20/4 Gatrie and 20/1 Makalov going into C18. Gatrie probably has 13 speed to Makalov's 19, so he doubles much less than Makalov. While you could argue that Makalov has less str/def, with a Steel Axe he has 28ATK, so he still 2HKOes most enemies on the map and can get the few he misses with a forge. He's also so durable that even the strongest enemy on the map only 5HKOes him with 34 display hit. But he has an absolutely crushing lead in movement, and a generally superior growth spread and a lower level too. So even from just Chapter 18, Makalov is beating a 8.0 unit with low BEXP investment. How is he a 6.5?

[Smiley Jim]

Tormod

Base Stats

LVL 	MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
07/00   20  02  10  09  09  08  04  09

Growths

MHP STR MAG SKL SPD LCK DEF RES
50  20  45  40  45  35  25  45

In chapter 15, you get WTFStefan, and we all know that he rips the face off everything. But then we get to this game's 'Est', Tormod.

His stat spread is decent for the level he's at, but that's the problem, since he is VERY underleveled when you get him. He has 9 speed at base(8AS w/ Fire or Thunder), which IIRC, was good back in C7 and 8, not C16. In other words, he's not doubling anything except armors, and is in real danger of getting doubled himself. At least he hits decently hard thanks to his 10 mag and his attacks hitting res, though 14 atk with Thunder is unimpressive. And his durability is absolutely atrocious. 20HP/4Def is what base Sothe has(and god forbid your using Sothe as a combat unit), and considering quite a few enemies in his first five maps can reach 24 atk(the amount needed to OHKO him at base), you really need to watch his ass.

He does improve somewhat thanks to his decent growth spread. 45Mag/45Spd is about average compared to other magic users in this game, and his durability woes don't disappear either. lol50HP, lol25def. However, what sets him apart from other magic users is that Tormod comes with Celerity, which means than any movement problems that mages(READ: Soren) might have don't apply to him. However, in order to abuse his growths, he needs around 400-500 points worth of BEXP to function properly, and considering that you may have used up a lot of it on Marcia/Neph/Jill/Astrid, that's a very tall order. And because of his poor level, he's promoting quite late; like Ch19 at the earliest.

Tormod is Fire affinity, and all his supports save Sothe give full atk. His best supports overall are with Calill and Raisin/Devdan(Sothe is wind and sucks as a unit). He doesn't really need skills, but you can give him Adept or Wrath if you like.

Due to his underleveledness, he gets a

3.5/10

Support suggestion: Calill A, maybe? Raisin and Danved can try their luck, and lolSothe.

Band suggestion: He can really use the mage or paladin bands. A soldier band couldn't hurt either.

Edited October 29, 2010 by DA125

[eclipse]

And I thought Makalov got his hard with the BEXP hammer. . .

I'd dump 200-300 BEXP in him, to see if he cooperates. If so, I'd use him, because he can keep up with everyone (which is better than Soren and Ilyana can say). If he decides not to cooperate, you're not out too much BEXP.

[Anouleth]

He does improve somewhat thanks to his decent growth spread. 45Mag/45Spd is about average compared to other magic users in this game, and his durability woes don't disappear either. lol50HP, lol25def. However, what sets him apart from other magic users is that Tormod comes with Celerity, which means than any movement problems that mages might have don't apply to him. However, in order to abuse his growths, he needs around 400-500 points worth of BEXP to function properly, and considering that you may have used up a lot of it on Marcia/Neph/Jill/Astrid, that's a very tall order. And because of his poor level, he's promoting quite late; like Ch21 at the earliest.

I have no idea how 400-500 points of BEXP is a 'very tall order', when it's about an eighth of all the BEXP you've gotten up to this point, or a twelfth if you played pacificistally. Or how Tormod is promoting in Chapter 21. You would have to give him no BEXP at all for him to promote that late - which is an absurd situation.

And I see you don't even consider the possibility of Sealing him at level 10. After a Seal, he has 8 move, which is the same as promoted Mist... who also needs BEXP to reach level ten, has inferior offense, and who you gave 7.5, a full four points more than Tormod.

[Narga_Rocks]

300 is not a 'lot'.

Except I was suggesting you want to take him to level 16. Which is considerably more bexp than 300. You didn't even address how you are making him get 11 levels in what is probably equivalent to about 2.5 chapters (17 = 1.5 since it is that short). I'm stretching credulity as it is assuming you'll get from level 16 to 20/1 in that time.

Now, those 600 could instead be used to assist Marcia in reaching promotion in time for chapter 15. And Jill. And whatever else. It can be spent back in chapter 12 to make Mia or Zihark double everything with the laguzslayer. Stuff like that. If it was only 300, I wouldn't have an issue with it. But 600? And don't forget, the guy is using like 11 characters or something and many of them are idiots like Rolf. Well, not that bad, except Rolf, but a lot need a fair amount of exp as it is. You may have been skipping over it because you wanted to complain more, but I did state that the ratings will be from his perspective, not ours, and he has a lot of characters vying for a lot of bexp and so it's a lot harder for him to afford 600 bexp than it would be for the rest of us.

And Tormod needs even more than Mak. I'm not sure I see the point of getting him to just level 10 and then promoting him. So if you want him to perform you are probably looking at 800 points. Or more. Now, for those of us that use small teams and don't use too many bexp heavy units, that's not a problem. Check Balcerzak's HM playthrough where he took Marcia to promotion in chapter 11 and Tormod to promotion in chapter 16. But for the way that this guy plays? No way.

[Junkhead]

Tormod is not an Est dammit.

And I actually have to put the same arguement Anoulethe put. Tormod might make a better healer than Mist, if only for the E rank in staves...now, the only problem would be the lack of Physic, but we have Rhys for that! Who will take a little less BEXP than Mist at least. I'll only take credit for the fact Mist will help in Ike's fight with the Black Knight. =P

[Anouleth]

Except I was suggesting you want to take him to level 16. Which is considerably more bexp than 300. You didn't even address how you are making him get 11 levels in what is probably equivalent to about 2.5 chapters (17 = 1.5 since it is that short). I'm stretching credulity as it is assuming you'll get from level 16 to 20/1 in that time.

Since this is DA's playstyle (as you state later on), and DA is perfectly fine with favouring Rolf to the extent that he gains 7 levels over chapters 15, 16, and 17, then I think it's well within the bounds of credulity that Makalov, a superior character, can gain 5 levels over the same time frame. Or even 8 (as he would need given 300 BEXP)

Now, those 600 could instead be used to assist Marcia in reaching promotion in time for chapter 15. And Jill. And whatever else. It can be spent back in chapter 12 to make Mia or Zihark double everything with the laguzslayer. Stuff like that. If it was only 300, I wouldn't have an issue with it. But 600? And don't forget, the guy is using like 11 characters or something and many of them are idiots like Rolf. Well, not that bad, except Rolf, but a lot need a fair amount of exp as it is. You may have been skipping over it because you wanted to complain more, but I did state that the ratings will be from his perspective, not ours, and he has a lot of characters vying for a lot of bexp and so it's a lot harder for him to afford 600 bexp than it would be for the rest of us.

It cannot be spent back in Chapter 12. We get 600 BEXP in Chapter 14. Another 600 in Chapter 15. If we promoted Marcia for that chapter

(as you suggested), then a thousand more. Obviously we are going to give Makalov BEXP out of that. We are not going to save BEXP up from Chapter 12 when we're constantly getting more to spend.

And Tormod needs even more than Mak. I'm not sure I see the point of getting him to just level 10 and then promoting him. So if you want him to perform you are probably looking at 800 points. Or more. Now, for those of us that use small teams and don't use too many bexp heavy units, that's not a problem. Check Balcerzak's HM playthrough where he took Marcia to promotion in chapter 11 and Tormod to promotion in chapter 16. But for the way that this guy plays? No way.

To be a mobile healer, obviously.

[uzy5o]

I fail to see how Rolf and Tormod could possibly have the same score.

[Junkhead]

We won't see how you see that unless you provide your reasons.

[Lilmik11]

I fail to see how Rolf and Tormod could possibly have the same score.

I agree. If you gave Tormod a 3.5, I think you should at least raise Rolf by 0.5 or 1 point. You see, Rolf can provide a bit of help where Tormod can't. They are both weaklings who needs to be babyied, that's for sure. Rolf comes at chapter 9 at level 1. That's kinda bad, but raising him is not impossible. Now for Tormod he joins at chapter 16 at level 7. Now THAT'S hard to raise, when almost everyone is promoting you are still babying him. Rolf promotes a bit of earlier. And Rolf is your only bow user for a moment. If you raise him a bit he is great against crows. And he can also chip enemies for decent damage. He can help kill birds in the desert. He has a lot of use when you know how to use him well. Tormod, not so much. He gets almost ORKO'ed by everyone in his starting map, and even OHKO'd by some. And you have better option if you really want a sage:Soren! While the other sniper,Shinon, has really bad bases. So Rold has almost no competition while Tormod has a bit more. And what about BEXP? Tormod joins somewhere where everyone wants BEXP,and late arrivers like Astrid and Makalov could do better use of it than him. Really,raising Rold OR dropping Tormod should be done.

[Shadow Mir]

I agree. If you gave Tormod a 3.5, I think you should at least raise Rolf by 0.5 or 1 point. You see, Rolf can provide a bit of help where Tormod can't. They are both weaklings who needs to be babyied, that's for sure. Rolf comes at chapter 9 at level 1. That's kinda bad, but raising him is not impossible. Now for Tormod he joins at chapter 16 at level 7. Now THAT'S hard to raise, when almost everyone is promoting you are still babying him. Rolf promotes a bit of earlier. And Rolf is your only bow user for a moment. If you raise him a bit he is great against crows. And he can also chip enemies for decent damage. He can help kill birds in the desert. He has a lot of use when you know how to use him well. Tormod, not so much. He gets almost ORKO'ed by everyone in his starting map, and even OHKO'd by some. And you have better option if you really want a sage:Soren! While the other sniper,Shinon, has really bad bases. So Rold has almost no competition while Tormod has a bit more. And what about BEXP? Tormod joins somewhere where everyone wants BEXP,and late arrivers like Astrid and Makalov could do better use of it than him. Really,raising Rold OR dropping Tormod should be done.

Why should Rolf be raised? I think that he's already too high to begin with. And Rolf also has heavy competition for BEXP, you know.

[Lilmik11]

Why should Rolf be raised? I think that he's already too high to begin with. And Rolf also has heavy competition for BEXP, you know.

Right...well, I don't know, it depends on how you play...Like you could give Rolf a BEXP level one or two chapter and feed him some kills and BANG he's good too go! But I guess you could do the same with Tormod...Anyway, I'll let the author see if he agrees or not..