FE6 Hard Mode Character Rankings

[Dark Sage]

Two birds in one stone guys.

Wolt

Level: 1

Jointime: Chapter 1 (start)

Affinity: Ice

Supports: Roy, Lance, Alan, Marcus, Sue

Base Stats: HP 18, Strength 4, Skill 4, Speed 5, Luck 2, Defense 4, Resistance 0

Stat Growths: HP 80%, Strength 40%, Skill 50%, Speed 40%, Luck 40%, Defense 20%, Resistance 10%

Analysis: I don't think I can emphasize enough that Wolt is a horrible unit and should never be fielded in any circumstance. I mean look at his base stats. Wow, look at that awesome combo of 12 avoid and 4 defense combined with 18 HP. Fighters in his join chapter have an estimate of 60% hit on him. Look at how he can't counter at 1 range. Wolt starts out meh and gets horrible quickly. At his join chapter, he's useful as a chipper, dealing 8 damage per attack on fighters, who can't counter him, making him helpful for helping finishing stuff off. He can do some archer countering as well and he can at least take a couple of hits before going down. Even so, his durability is still among the worst, only Bors having it worse in Chapter 1. Ironically Chapter 1 is Wolt's best chapter.

Come chapter 2 and Wolt's awfulness shows even more. Enemies start carrying around 1-2 range weapons, and his avoid isn't that good, so you need to wall him in. His horrid base stats make it hard for him to chip well. Assuming he's still at base by Chapter 2 (which is possible as it's unlikely he's getting many kills in his join chapter), he 4RKOs the fighters, and 3-4RKOs loldiers as well. Against archers, Wolt 5RKOs them. Compare that to Alan and Lance who can start 2RKOing soldiers instantly. Wolt's chipping is only helpful against enemies lacking 1-2 range, and FE6 enemies love 1-2 range weapons, so Wolt needs constant shielding and healing at all times.

Come Chapter 3, Armors and Cavs start appearing. Against loldiers, Wolt needs to be at level 3 to start doubling them, which is unlikely as unless you spoonfeed him kills, you're keeping him at level 2 by then. Sure, you can give him kills, but I'd much rather spoonfeed Roy and Thany, who possess utility in Rapier or flight and can dodge various enemies effectively (Roy with fighers, Thany with loldiers and cavs). And Thany possesses 1-2 range (which destroys her AS admitedly) and WTA against mercs and the like. She also has high avoid and can provide Dieck support while Roy brings Rapier and excellent supports for Alan and Lance.

And how does Wolt fare against enemies other than loliers? Terribly. He gets constantly 2RKOd by everything and he can't scratch armors. Against cavs, Wolt 8RKOs them, getting 2-3RKOd in return. Fighters posses 1-2 range, as do soldiers, so Wolt basically is sweating against everything. By Chapter 4, he's barely tinking cavs and gets doubled by most, if not all nomads. And by that time, you have Lugh, who has bad durability issues like Wolt, but hits resistance and as such, is a far better chipper. Lugh never loses steam in chipping and at base, only gets doubled by 10 AS nomads, which are uncommon. Compare that to Wolt who gets ROFL humiliated by them.

When it comes to growths, Wolt's not bad, but he's hardly special. His strength and speed growths are negated with his awful bases while his skill growth is superfluous considering how bows are accurate. His defense growths are bad as well, so he's not getting much better in durability either.

Supportwise, Wolt's support options are either taken (Roy, Alan, Lance), not likely to be in play (Sue) or get dropped after a certain point (Marcus). His affinity isn't necessarily bad, but it's not that good either.

Overall, Wolt is an awful unit who has some form of utility in chapters 1 and 2 before being brutalized for the rest of the game.

Rating: .5/10

Bors

Level: 1

Jointime: Chapter 1 (start)

Affinity: Wind

Supports: Lilina, Ashtor, Barth, Wendy, Oujay

Base Stats: HP 20, Strength 7, Skill 4, Speed 3, Luck 4, Defense 11, Resistance 0

Stat Growths: HP 90%, Strength 30%, Skill 30%, Speed 40%, Luck 50%, Defense 35%, Resistance 10%

Analysis: Armor knights in FE6 are bad. Armor knights in FE tend to be bad. Bors is a prime example of this. On his join Chapter, he gets doubled and hit consistently by every fighter on the map. He has WTD as well, so his durability in Chapter 1 is actually the worst of everyone there. He doesn't hit much in return and 3RKOs them in return, assuming he hits. Which he won't, due to bad skill and WTD.

In chapter 2, he improves somewhat, still getting ravaged by fighers, who are armed with Hand axes now, but can stand up to loldiers. Still, he has awful move, so he's unlikely going to be in the frontlines. He also doesn't double anything with a lol 3 speed and as such, leveling him is difficult. By Chapter 3, you're still likely going to have him at base. Fortunately for Bors though, sword users start appearing and he can use his defense to merely get tinked by them, again, assuming he reaches the front lines.

Chapter 4 is kind to Bors somewhat. The layout in the beginning means he can go block a bridge and use his defense to get tickled by sword using cavs while doing some damage in return. However, nomads double and deal a respectable amount of damage to him while if two lance using cavs gang up on him, he's pretty much done. Still, a base Bors has some utility here.

Come Chapter 5 though, and Bors sucks. Bors again suffers WTD, his low movement is horrible here and he gets 2RKOd by everything. Even later on Bors doesn't get better. His move is awful, he gets doubled by everything, his stat growths are mediocre and his support options are terrible.

Overall, Bors is an awful unit, but at least has a little more use early on than Wolt.

Rating: 1/10

[Parrhesia]

EDIT: Oh, POINT Five. ...okay, that's HARSH. Probably.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Furetchen

[Dark Sage]

It's Wolt. Wolt fails at life.

[Integrity]

Wolt on a level with, presumably, Wendy who doesn't even have a chapter of utility chipping? At least give the man a full point.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Integrity

[Dark Sage]

Wendy will get a WORSE ranking, considering how she's one of the two worst units in the entire game.

[Integrity]

Wendy will get a WORSE ranking, considering how she's one of the two worst units in the entire game.

WHAT

There's ...worse than a half point? Wha?

I'll argue Wendy can punch that wall once to let the majesty of OJ loose and therefore deserves a .5

[Parrhesia]

Wolt deserves more than a .25 over Wendy, I feel. Unless you're going for 0 or a negative rating...

[Dark Sage]

Ellen

Level: 1

Jointime: Chapter 2 (Start)

Affinity: Wind

Supports: Chad, Lugh, Zeiss, Miledy, Saul

Base Stats: HP 16, Magic 1, Skill 6, Speed 8, Luck 8, Defense 0, Resistance 6

Stat Growths: HP 45%, Magic 50%, Skill 30%, Speed 20%, Luck 70%, Defense 5%, Resistance 60%

Analysis: The first healer we get. And before we start, I have to say that I cannot overemphasize how trashy Ellen's durability is. 16 HP with 0 defense, with rofl 5% in defense and 45% in HP? Not to mention awful speed growth? Yeah, Ellen's nearly equal to Sophia in durability.

However early on, she has pretty high base avoid compared to everyone else. She never gets doubled and on a forest tile can dodge a good chunk. Ellen early on is invaluable, being your only healer. Sure, 1 magic is not at all impressive, but she makes up for it with high magic growth. And for the most part, she can also function as a support bot as well to Lugh and Chad, who benefit greatly from her supports.

Ellen is of the wind affinity, which is mostly scrubby, but fortunately Fire is a good combo for the wind affinity. LughxEllen support offers both full attack, crit, and hit bonuses, with a small amount of evade and some useless crit evade bonuses. It's also reasonably quick as well, so it should be Ellen's go to support. It's helpful for Lugh's chipping early in the game and the boosts make his attack quite respectable later on. Her support with Chad isn't quite as helpful, offering half attack, half hit, and partial avoid, but it's still useful in conjunction with Lugh support and again, has a reasonable speed. The combined bonuses should boost Ellen's evade to some decent proportions early on. The downside is bad defensive options, since wind affinity gives no bonuses to defense, except for SaulxEllen support, which isn't the fastest in the world (I think).

Later, Ellen is mediocre. She still has staff utility and support botting, but Chad is a thief, so he's not always on every map. Lugh's evade boost doesn't quite cut it either and Ellen's awful durability can really bite her in the rear later. A 20/20 Ellen has 3 defense and 36 HP, making her durability worse than Yodel's. And this is assuming you even get to 20/20. Ellen also upon promotion has to deal with low light magic rank, so while she has excellent magic growth and hits resistance, does mediocre damage since she can't double. In fact, she often GETS doubled.

On the other hand, you can just keep her in the back and have her spam Physic and Fortify, having the staff rank to use them, and high enough magic to have good range with them. She can also Warp, Rescue and the like. Of course this means she'll be behind Lugh and not give him bonuses or receives her own bonuses, so Ellen is pretty mediocre later on.

I'm cutting her slack because early on, her healing is invaluable, but she has awful lategame and among the worst durability in the game. So as such she's merely average.

Rating: 7/10

Edited November 14, 2010 by Red Magister

[Anouleth]

I don't understand how being a staffbot is not worth at least a 7/10, possibly even an 8/10. Staves are just so useful in this game.

[Dark Sage]

This isn't like in FE5 where using staves automatically propels you to high tier. Staves are indeed useful in this game, most notably the Restore staff. However, Ellen gains competition early on, in the form of Saul and Clarine who are far superior to Ellen. There are a decent amount of staffers in this game, and Warp staves and the like don't come in till late. And Ellen's stats in general are sort of trashy. She can't even supportbot effectively because she's too worried about getting WTF pwned by everything to go near Lugh, who will be near the frontlines and as such, will draw fire.

I was actually considering raising her rating. A 6.5/10 for now.

Now if you excuse me....*gets the flameproof gear.*

Edited November 14, 2010 by Red Magister

[dondon151]

There are a decent amount of staffers in this game, and Warp staves and the like don't come in till late.

Warp is available in chapter 14 and Hammerne is available in chapter 15. You don't get Niime until chapter 20/21.

Granted, Ellen tends to have less mag than Saul and lower mobility than Clarine, so she's outclassed in both respects. But she does have a couple of chapters all to herself.

[Dark Sage]

True. Ellen also has less speed than both Saul and Clarine. See, Saul can double and has some dodging capabilities and Clarine is hax, so yeah.

That and there's also Cecilia. Who admittedly has an awful join chapter and bad stats, but also has mobility, horse, aircalibur use, etc.

I'm not giving Ellen an 8 though. I am considering raising her score a little more though.

[Silvercrow]

As much as I think Wolt is complete garbage, a .5 is hilariously low even for him. He does do SOMETHING. A .5 is more befitting of like... Dorothy, who's like Wolt but without being able to help in the earlygame.

[Anouleth]

This isn't like in FE5 where using staves automatically propels you to high tier.

I'm not suggesting that the likes of Yodel go to high tier purely off the strength of staff access. But Ellen gets to build up staff utility over the entire game. I consider that better than Roy's shitty combat.

Staves are indeed useful in this game, most notably the Restore staff. However, Ellen gains competition early on, in the form of Saul and Clarine who are far superior to Ellen.

I don't see why Saul is far superior to Ellen. Both have shitty combat, except Saul is made of glass rather than paper. Ellen has the same movement and does the exact same thing, but for longer.

She can't even supportbot effectively because she's too worried about getting WTF pwned by everything to go near Lugh, who will be near the frontlines and as such, will draw fire.

Most characters in this game can't supportbot at all because their supports are absurdly slow. Take Saul:

Dorothy

20 +2

Yodel

40 +2

Cecilia

1 +1

Igrene

1 +1

Ellen

1 +1

Oh, enjoy your +2 supports with an fail-archer and a guy that joins five chapters before the end of the game. The irony is that the best character on Saul's list is Ellen, who he's never going to be deployed with because they're both healers.

True. Ellen also has less speed than both Saul and Clarine. See, Saul can double and has some dodging capabilities and Clarine is hax, so yeah.

How does speed matter if you're using staves? And Ellen's avoid is actually slightly better than Saul's, because her luck is just that much better than his.

That and there's also Cecilia. Who admittedly has an awful join chapter and bad stats, but also has mobility, horse, aircalibur use, etc.

I'm not giving Ellen an 8 though. I am considering raising her score a little more though.

Well, Cecilia is a pretty decent character in her own right.

[Dark Sage]

I'm not suggesting that the likes of Yodel go to high tier purely off the strength of staff access. But Ellen gets to build up staff utility over the entire game. I consider that better than Roy's shitty combat.

True. I'll move her to a 7 for that.

I don't see why Saul is far superior to Ellen. Both have shitty combat, except Saul is made of glass rather than paper. Ellen has the same movement and does the exact same thing, but for longer.

Because Saul doesn't get doubled? Saul can double? Saul starts at a higher level? Saul starts with higher magic? Ellen only has 2-3 chapters over him? I think that's pretty much it right there.

Most characters in this game can't supportbot at all because their supports are absurdly slow. Take Saul:

Dorothy

20 +2

Yodel

40 +2

Cecilia

1 +1

Igrene

1 +1

Ellen

1 +1

Oh, enjoy your +2 supports with an fail-archer and a guy that joins five chapters before the end of the game. The irony is that the best character on Saul's list is Ellen, who he's never going to be deployed with because they're both healers.

Did I say Saul was a better support bot or even that? No sir, I did not. Besides, Ellen's a pretty shitty supportbot anyway, since she doesn't dare get near Lugh since she's worried about getting ROFL pwned by all the enemies. Not to mention bad avoid. And Wind affinity being a mediocre at best affinity. It doesn't boost her evade that much.

How does speed matter if you're using staves? And Ellen's avoid is actually slightly better than Saul's, because her luck is just that much better than his.

Well, Cecilia is a pretty decent character in her own right.

You know, I'm going to be nice and assume Ellen has A Lugh and Saul has nothing. I'm also going to assume that Saul gets nothing in return and that both are 20/8

Ellen (A Lugh): HP 30.3, Speed 15, Luck 25.5, Defense 3.2. Avoid = 62

Saul: HP 36.2, Speed 21.8, Luck 5.3, Defense 7.3. Avoid = 47

Yeah, she does beat him in 15 avoid. But keep in mind, she also gets doubled. And Saul could likely have 22 speed as well. And that I've given him no Goddess Icons (which he wants by the way and has no competition), speedwings, or anything. Keep all of this in mind. Keep in mind that Ellen doesn't want to necessarily be in range of Lugh's support because she's afraid of being attacked. Keep all of this in mind. Without A Lugh, she then has 55 avoid, only beating Saul by 8 avoid. Being double means true hit for enemies is higher on her.

To be honest, I should probably raise her score a bit.

[Anouleth]

Because Saul doesn't get doubled? Saul can double? Saul starts at a higher level? Saul starts with higher magic? Ellen only has 2-3 chapters over him? I think that's pretty much it right there.

Neither of them ever have to enter combat to do their job, and by the time Saul joins, Ellen should be near his level. However, Saul's higher base magic is a valid point. I don't see how this adds up to Saul being 'far superior'. Obviously, he's better, but not by a large margin.

Did I say Saul was a better support bot or even that? No sir, I did not. Besides, Ellen's a pretty shitty supportbot anyway, since she doesn't dare get near Lugh since she's worried about getting ROFL pwned by all the enemies. Not to mention bad avoid. And Wind affinity being a mediocre at best affinity. It doesn't boost her evade that much.

Well, Lugh is hardly going to be charging out on the front lines himself. But my point is that generally, supports are hard to build anyway. Sure, Ellen isn't going to be supporting anyone any time soon. But nobody in this game can really 'supportbot', except like, Roy and Cecilia.

And who cares about her evade? Neither her or Saul are ever going to be durable.

You know, I'm going to be nice and assume Ellen has A Lugh and Saul has nothing. I'm also going to assume that Saul gets nothing in return and that both are 20/8

Ellen (A Lugh): HP 30.3, Speed 15, Luck 25.5, Defense 3.2. Avoid = 62

Saul: HP 36.2, Speed 21.8, Luck 5.3, Defense 7.3. Avoid = 47

Yeah, she does beat him in 15 avoid. But keep in mind, she also gets doubled. And Saul could likely have 22 speed as well. And that I've given him no Goddess Icons (which he wants by the way and has no competition), speedwings, or anything. Keep all of this in mind. Keep in mind that Ellen doesn't want to necessarily be in range of Lugh's support because she's afraid of being attacked. Keep all of this in mind. Without A Lugh, she then has 55 avoid, only beating Saul by 8 avoid. Being double means true hit for enemies is higher on her.

I don't really care. I was just pointing out a factual error, neither of their avoid is really important.

And the only enemies that would double her are like, Nomad Troopers, which Saul can't really fight himself because they have like 20 crit against his lol5 luck.

[Frosty]

Do Thany please! I wanna see how my favorite Peg. Knight in the entire series fare well....

THANY!!!! <<<<333

[dondon151]

You know, I'm going to be nice and assume Ellen has A Lugh and Saul has nothing. I'm also going to assume that Saul gets nothing in return and that both are 20/8

20/8? When are they ever going to be 20/8, let alone reaching level 20 in tier 1?

Saul's only real advantage over Ellen is maybe doubling with Lightning. When you consider that he has like, 9 mag on promotion for a total of 14 atk hitting res, it's really not that big of a deal.

[Dark Sage]

I was being nice with 20/8. The thing is, once Clarine hits the scene, you're dividing healing duties between the two. Not to mention healers are harder to level, 10 exp only and all.

So I estimate that Ellen will be, say 4/0 by chapter 6.

Asking what enemies doubling her? Are you kidding me? Paladins, nomads, mercenaries, myrmidons, nomad troopers, wyvern lords, pegasus knights, falco knights.

I'll raise her to a 7, but no more.

[Anouleth]

I was being nice with 20/8. The thing is, once Clarine hits the scene, you're dividing healing duties between the two. Not to mention healers are harder to level, 10 exp only and all.

So I estimate that Ellen will be, say 4/0 by chapter 6.

Asking what enemies doubling her? Are you kidding me? Paladins, nomads, mercenaries, myrmidons, nomad troopers, wyvern lords, pegasus knights, falco knights.

I'll raise her to a 7, but no more.

Go check the enemy stats topic. Mercenaries have like, 18 speed max, Paladins have ~16AS, Falcoknights generally have 15 or less speed because they weigh themselves down. Wyvern Lords have 16 or less. Even putting her at 20/1, she only gets doubled by Nomad Troopers, Mercenaries and Myrmidons, but these are all enemies that Saul is scared of too because they have a good chance to crit her.

Level 4 by chapter 6? If you assume that healers get 2 levels in 4 chapters, I can tell you right now that you are NEVER going to promote Clarine. You would need to wait until about Chapter 17 just for her to reach level 10. That's a ridiculously slow rate of level gain.

[Salad Utensil]

Go check the enemy stats topic. Mercenaries have like, 18 speed max, Paladins have ~16AS, Falcoknights generally have 15 or less speed because they weigh themselves down. Wyvern Lords have 16 or less. Even putting her at 20/1, she only gets doubled by Nomad Troopers, Mercenaries and Myrmidons, but these are all enemies that Saul is scared of too because they have a good chance to crit her.

Level 4 by chapter 6? If you assume that healers get 2 levels in 4 chapters, I can tell you right now that you are NEVER going to promote Clarine. You would need to wait until about Chapter 17 just for her to reach level 10. That's a ridiculously slow rate of level gain.

Also 15 speed is rather borderline and he was being rather generous with levels so in the real game there is a fair chance to be screw a point or two in speed and risk death from bad positioning. Also it may be strategic to sometimes place a healer in line of fire if they can take a hit because the AI usually take priority to attack PCs that can't counter. At the very least it can be used to reduce the number of enemies your tanky characters will have to dodge to survive enemy phase.

Well those are shorter chapters compared to later ones where the only staves you can access are mends and heals so it makes sense that leveling is slow in chapters that can be completely easily in less than 10 turns and requires the character to be next to the injured just for 11-12exp which might not be worth it on certain turns or the situation where no one is injured.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Brighton

[Dark Sage]

Dieck

Level: 5

Jointime: Chapter 2

Affinity: Thunder

Supports: Clarine, Rutger, Thany, Ward, Lott, Klein

Base Stats: HP 26, Strength 9, Skill 12, Speed 10, Luck 5, Defense 6, Resistance 1

Growth Rates: HP 90%, Strength 40%, Skill 40%, Speed 30%, Luck 35%, Defense 20%, Resistance 15%

Analysis: Simply put, Dieck is awesometastic. Standing on a fort that he starts near, he can slaughter pretty much everything with his Iron Blade. His defense is solid too, not quite as good as Marcus, but still pretty solid. In fact, the base stats are so good, it makes up for his mediocre growths. It continues in Chapter 3 and throughout the whole game, weakening things at worst, and slaughtering things at best. With the Armorslayer, he is your second best AK killer, only surpassed by Marcus with a Hammer. You pretty much never have to worry about his levels or his offense, as he requires no babying and always deals solid damage.

When he promotes, he gains awesome stat boosts and axes. This is very good since he can now use powerful options like the Steel axe right off the bat with only 1 AS loss.f He's fast and strong, doing excellent damage and gains WTC and 1-2 range. Axes are a great addition to Dieck's arsenal since the enemies love lances and 1-2 range. Eventually, he can get Halberd and Hammer use, granting even more utility for Dieck.

Supportwise, they all boost his defense very well. He has various options. He can form a support triangle with Clarine and Rutger, though it takes a long time to take effect, mostly with Clarine. A more efficient but more underwhelming option are Lott and Thany supports, providing good bonuses and being quicker.

Overall, Dieck is one of the best characters in the game. Awesome earlygame, decent midgame (Western Isles mean lots of WTA) and great lategame.

Rating: 9.5/10

Edited December 4, 2010 by Red Magister

[dondon151]

I dispute the fact that Dieck gets a perfect score (unless you're planning on multiple perfect scores), because he does have some severe problems. Mainly:

- No 1-2 range option until promotion, so not always ideal for enemy phase counters

- No mount means no other options for shaving turncounts

I mean, he does have a lot of other things going for him, and no character is absolutely perfect (yet), but I think there's too much standing between him and a perfect score.

[Anouleth]

I dispute the fact that Dieck gets a perfect score (unless you're planning on multiple perfect scores), because he does have some severe problems. Mainly:

- No 1-2 range option until promotion, so not always ideal for enemy phase counters

- No mount means no other options for shaving turncounts

I mean, he does have a lot of other things going for him, and no character is absolutely perfect (yet), but I think there's too much standing between him and a perfect score.

He also has pretty meh speed later on. Like, even in Ilia he struggles to double, let alone Sacae.

[Dark Sage]

Lowered by half a point. His mediocre stat growths hurt him.