[FE9] PoR Draft Tourney Tier List

[Kaoz]

As some draft tourneys started again, I figured it'd be nice to have some kind of tier list around that focuses on them, so here I go. Note that in PoR, there are usually 5 players per draft which results in 8 characters per player.

Mekkah made an explanation for Pokemon Tier Lists before, so I'll just adapt it:

The best possible character is available in all chapters, can OHKO all enemies and is invinicble, while also having infinite move, one or more useful skills and being able to seize. The closer a character is to this hypothetical character, the better that character is and the sooner he should be picked.

The goal of this tier list is to recommend a select group of characters that allows the player to complete the game with a turn count as low as possible. Characters that safe a lot of turns will be put in 1st Pick, characters that safe next to no turns (or force the player to go slower in order to protect that character) are put in 7th Pick. The closer a character is to 1st Pick, the more turns he can safe over the course of the game.

The opporunity cost associated with a given resource (BEXP, Skills, Forges) exists like in a normal tier list, but the actual cost that comes with a resource can vary due to a different team structure.

This list assumes Hard Mode, as well as the generic ruleset as shown here, that means:

-Meatshielding, defined as being attacked without an equipped weapon, is prohibited

-Undrafted units cannot do ANYTHING EXCEPT:

*Shop

*trade

*rescue undrafted characters

*recruit characters

*find hidden treasure

*Reyson, Janaff and Ulki may talk to Naesala in Chapter 19 without incuring a penalty

Free

Ike

Titania

1st Pick

Marcia

Jill

Oscar

2nd Pick

Kieran

Astrid

Makalov

Boyd

Reyson

3rd Pick

Tanith

Mordecai

Lethe

Mist

Muarim

Mia

Nephenee

Zihark

4th Pick

Soren

Ilyana

Tormod

Calill

Haar

Ranulf

Rhys

5th Pick

Gatrie

Shinon

Stefan

Elincia

Geoffrey

Tauroneo

Volke

Sothe

Devdan

6th Pick

Largo

Janaff

Basitan

Lucia

Brom

7th Pick

Ulki

Rolf

Ena/Nasir

Of course we don't have that much data yet, so this list is nowhere near perfect, but it's a start.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Kaoz

[Radiant Dragon]

Stefan may need to drop. Unless you have both Marcia and Jill (not happening), he's probably costing quite a bit of turns and/or the BEXP from keeping the laguz alive.

[Krad]

Mist is too low. She should move up to 3rd pick or maybe even 2nd, because she is the best user of the Rescue Staff.

The Rescue staff is kind of like a mini-Reyson, in that it allows a unit to move nearly two times its normal move. While you probably only getting one use per chapter, that is already more than enough to save a turn or more every chapter. The Hammerne ensures that it lasts the rest of the game.

Stefan should go down. How much, I'm not sure, but why would you even choose a character that you are not even getting: a team with a flier can 2 turn Ch 15, a team with a sage can 3 turn it, and getting Stefan takes around 6 or 7 turns. And Stefan will not make up for those turns wasted here.

Devdan should also go down. Ch 16 can be 4 turned with a team with mounts (Titania + 1 is enough for this to work), and Devdan can't be recruited until turn 6 or 7 if I remember correctly. Devdan's lackluster combat isn't getting you those turns back.

Ranulf should move slightly up, since he can shove mounts, and that is enough in some chapters to save a turn.

Mordecai up to second pick. Smite is one of the best skills in the game, and Mordy's huge weight allows him to smite everything, which is essential in getting low turncounts.

[Florete]

Stefan may need to drop. Unless you have both Marcia and Jill (not happening), he's probably costing quite a bit of turns and/or the BEXP from keeping the laguz alive.

To be fair, unless you have one or both, you probably aren't getting all the experience from keeping the Laguz alive in the first place. There are only two of them, after all.

Stefan should go down. How much, I'm not sure, but why would you even choose a character that you are not even getting: a team with a flier can 2 turn Ch 15, a team with a sage can 3 turn it, and getting Stefan takes around 6 or 7 turns. And Stefan will not make up for those turns wasted here.

This, however, is why I regret choosing Stefan over Sothe.

[Radiant Dragon]

I wonder if Lethe could go up to the bottom of 2nd pick? She's pretty good early on, before your team's really powerful, and she can still contribute later on as well.

Kind of like Zealot or Echidna, but with better stats than Zealot and more move/defenses than Echidna.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Radiant Dragon

[Junkhead]

But Janaff is defeneatly better than Rofl, Lucia and Bastian. :(

Rofl lacks 2-range and starts out too crappy. Then again, the usual counter-arguement would be "Oh, but you have tons of BEXP by then!". Sure, we do. But then again, he still lacks a Player Phase and will most likely turn out decent by 20/1. Maybe I'm just not taking forges into account, but we know Titania could nab a forge much more easily and use it effectively as to actually saves us some turns due to reliable 1RKO'ing.

Lucia and Bastian. All I'm going to state is, that they have major avaibility problems. And not only that, there's the fact they happen to be crappy fighting units. I'm not saying that Janaff isn't, but at least he has 6 chapters of avaibility over them. Not to mention he can fly.

I assume the reason for him being that low is his gauge and his mediocre fighting. But it's fixable. Our resources are pretty vast because of our small numbers. So I don't see why an Energy Drop and an Str Band would hurt him, since that was his only stat with problems. As for his gauge, we aren't supposed to be taking so long in maps. So that isn't much of a problem.

[NinjaMonkey]

Rofl lacks 2-range and starts out too crappy.

Since when do archers lack 2-range?

[Lilmik11]

Tormod shpould go down a tier or two.He basically is level 7 when everyone is close to promotion. I think he's not worth a pick as Shinon,Gatrie,Zihark,Calil and Mist.Shinon has early-game utilityandhas a amazing growths,Calil is a very good prepromote,Zihark is probably the best SM you can get,Mist is a mounted healer and Gatrie is very good wall. What about Tormod? Celerity? That's it.But that's just my opinion,I'm open to debate.

[Radiant Dragon]

Since when do archers lack 2-range?

He meant 1-range, obviously. And I agree that Janaff should at very least be above Lucia and Rolf. Bastian has Siege tomes, but arrives much later so I'm not as sure about that one, but I would probably draft Janaff before Bastian. He's probably better than Largo and Geoffrey and maybe even Ranulf as well.

Ulki, however... Being a late transformer hurts when we only have 4 uses of Laguz Stones. His speed is problematic as well.

@Limik11: Not only Celerity, but also Staves and Magic. He's Mist with better offense instead of a horse and higher staff rank.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Radiant Dragon

[NTNP]

I could see both Ilyana above Brom. She shows up at a pretty good time for anyone not using Mia, Marcia, Mist of Rolf and can usually be BEXPed up a few levels to help her survivability and let her 1RKO enemies easier. Due to targeting RES, later having access to staves, having higher availability and coming in with higher movement does bode pretty well for the hungry little mage.

[Radiant Dragon]

I could see both Ilyana above Brom. She shows up at a pretty good time for anyone not using Mia, Marcia, Mist of Rolf and can usually be BEXPed up a few levels to help her survivability and let her 1RKO enemies easier. Due to targeting RES, later having access to staves, having higher availability and coming in with higher movement does bode pretty well for the hungry little mage.

Ilyana does not have more move than Brom. I agree that she could go above him, though. Magic and Staves > Defense. Her offense isn't much better or worse than his, I believe.

[WeaponsofMassConstruction]

Notable issues:

-Shinon > Gatrie is weird

-Zihark/Mia tier gap makes little sense

-Haar/Geoffrey are below Tauroneo; they should probably be a tier higher, maybe > Calill

-Most everything Volke/Sothe can get you either 1. doesn't save turns 2. can be gotten with chest keys or 3. takes extra turns to get may not pay off

[Radiant Dragon]

-Haar/Geoffrey are below Tauroneo; they should probably be a tier higher, maybe > Calill

Why?

[WeaponsofMassConstruction]

Actually maybe not Geoffrey, though him > Tauroneo is simple, but Haar flies. 5 uses of Meteor is really all I see Calill doing that'll shave turns.

[Radiant Dragon]

There are other siege tomes than her Meteor. Ch16's Bolting is probably skipped, but the Ch22 Bolting and Ch23's Blizzard are easily obtainable. Haar should probably still go over her, though. Especially since those tomes aren't obtained very long before he's recruited (Blizzard may very well be obtained afterwards).

I agree Geoffrey shouldn't, though. He really only has four chapters of use, since he's useless in Ch25. In addition, I don't think either him or Haar are doing anything very important in Endgame. Calill can blast someone out of the way at least.

[Kaoz]

Mist is too low. She should move up to 3rd pick or maybe even 2nd, because she is the best user of the Rescue Staff.

The Rescue staff is kind of like a mini-Reyson, in that it allows a unit to move nearly two times its normal move. While you probably only getting one use per chapter, that is already more than enough to save a turn or more every chapter. The Hammerne ensures that it lasts the rest of the game.

I was a bit concerned with getting her stave rank up, but after looking at the WEXP gains again I have to agree.

Stefan should go down. How much, I'm not sure, but why would you even choose a character that you are not even getting: a team with a flier can 2 turn Ch 15, a team with a sage can 3 turn it, and getting Stefan takes around 6 or 7 turns. And Stefan will not make up for those turns wasted here.

It's correct that he'll never be recruited when the team has Marcia or Jill, but it should be possible to 3 turn the chapter and still get him by having Jill rescue either Lethe or Mordecai and drop them near his location on turn 2 (undrafted characters may rescue other undrafted characters after all). There could be issues when it's not possible to avoid transformed laguz however... I'll test this when I get there.

Devdan should also go down. Ch 16 can be 4 turned with a team with mounts (Titania + 1 is enough for this to work), and Devdan can't be recruited until turn 6 or 7 if I remember correctly. Devdan's lackluster combat isn't getting you those turns back.

While that's true, whoever drafted a flyer probably wants to have the Full Guard, and I'm pretty sure it takes at least 6 turns for that to work. While his combat is bad, at least he has 7 move, which should make him superior to Brom. That being said, maybe Brom needs to drop too.

Ranulf should move slightly up, since he can shove mounts, and that is enough in some chapters to save a turn.

Hmm just above Geoffrey maybe?

Mordecai up to second pick. Smite is one of the best skills in the game, and Mordy's huge weight allows him to smite everything, which is essential in getting low turncounts.

While I agree that Smite is great, is it enough to surpass Tanith?

I wonder if Lethe could go up to the bottom of 2nd pick? She's pretty good early on, before your team's really powerful, and she can still contribute later on as well.

Kind of like Zealot or Echidna, but with better stats than Zealot and more move/defenses than Echidna.

Possibly. She can save a turn or two in Chapter 10, maybe a turn in 12 and 14 each, possibly 16 as well. After that I'm unsure whether her combat abilities are good enough though, she can still shove a good amount of units I guess.

But Janaff is defeneatly better than Rofl, Lucia and Bastian. :(

Rofl lacks 2-range and starts out too crappy. Then again, the usual counter-arguement would be "Oh, but you have tons of BEXP by then!". Sure, we do. But then again, he still lacks a Player Phase and will most likely turn out decent by 20/1. Maybe I'm just not taking forges into account, but we know Titania could nab a forge much more easily and use it effectively as to actually saves us some turns due to reliable 1RKO'ing.

Lucia and Bastian. All I'm going to state is, that they have major avaibility problems. And not only that, there's the fact they happen to be crappy fighting units. I'm not saying that Janaff isn't, but at least he has 6 chapters of avaibility over them. Not to mention he can fly.

I assume the reason for him being that low is his gauge and his mediocre fighting. But it's fixable. Our resources are pretty vast because of our small numbers. So I don't see why an Energy Drop and an Str Band would hurt him, since that was his only stat with problems. As for his gauge, we aren't supposed to be taking so long in maps. So that isn't much of a problem.

He meant 1-range, obviously. And I agree that Janaff should at very least be above Lucia and Rolf. Bastian has Siege tomes, but arrives much later so I'm not as sure about that one, but I would probably draft Janaff before Bastian. He's probably better than Largo and Geoffrey and maybe even Ranulf as well.

Ulki, however... Being a late transformer hurts when we only have 4 uses of Laguz Stones. His speed is problematic as well.

@Limik11: Not only Celerity, but also Staves and Magic. He's Mist with better offense instead of a horse and higher staff rank.

I guess Janaff could go above Lucia and Rolf, unsure about Bastian for the reasons stated by RD. Rolf has 9 chapters more than Janaff though and might be better in chapters with a decent amount of flying enemies.

Tormod shpould go down a tier or two.He basically is level 7 when everyone is close to promotion. I think he's not worth a pick as Shinon,Gatrie,Zihark,Calil and Mist.Shinon has early-game utilityandhas a amazing growths,Calil is a very good prepromote,Zihark is probably the best SM you can get,Mist is a mounted healer and Gatrie is very good wall. What about Tormod? Celerity? That's it.But that's just my opinion,I'm open to debate.

The level disadvantage doesn't mean much, in order to promote, Tormod needs 1695 BEXP, we could get 1360 BEXP in chapter 15 alone and assuming we got max BEXP everytime, we have over 4260 BEXP at this point. He is superior to Calill and Gatrie thanks to Celerity and Staves, better than Shinon because of 1-2 range and targetting res. I give you Mist and probably Zihark.

I could see both Ilyana above Brom. She shows up at a pretty good time for anyone not using Mia, Marcia, Mist of Rolf and can usually be BEXPed up a few levels to help her survivability and let her 1RKO enemies easier. Due to targeting RES, later having access to staves, having higher availability and coming in with higher movement does bode pretty well for the hungry little mage.

Ilyana does not have more move than Brom. I agree that she could go above him, though. Magic and Staves > Defense. Her offense isn't much better or worse than his, I believe.

I agree, but Soren should go above Brom for the same reasons then.

Notable issues:

-Shinon > Gatrie is weird

-Zihark/Mia tier gap makes little sense

-Haar/Geoffrey are below Tauroneo; they should probably be a tier higher, maybe > Calill

-Most everything Volke/Sothe can get you either 1. doesn't save turns 2. can be gotten with chest keys or 3. takes extra turns to get may not pay off

1) Well, they save the same number of turns before they leave, but when I'm not mistaken about Provoke, picking Shinon allows Ike to have a higher level, as well as saving 3 Hand Axe uses. Gatrie rejoins earlier, but neither can do much in mid and late game, Shinon because he's tied to player phase and Gatrie because he lacks move (and there are better units to rescue-drop). I guess Gatrie could go above Shinon but they should be right next to each other.

2) Yeah, that's a mistake on my part, sorry about that.

3) Haar I can see, Geoffrey not so much. Tauroneo can 2HKO Ena with Resolve and a Laguz Slayer, something your other units might struggle to do. They should probably be closer though.

4) Boots. Volke and Sothe are the only ones that can get to them in time for a 2 or 3 turn clear and have a 100% chance to find them. I'm pretty sure there is a Hawk that transforms on turn 1 right next to the Boots, so you'd have to take a penalty of 4 turns for them. They could probably drop a bit though.

Edited the list a bit:

-Mordecai goes between Tanith and Lethe

-Mist rises to 3rd Pick

-Zihark replaces Stefan, Stefan drops a tier

-Shinon drops just below Gatrie

-Haar goes to the bottom of 4th Pick

-Volke and Sothe drop slightly

-Ranulf above Geoffrey

-Devdan, Brom and Tauroneo drop to the bottom of 5th Pick

-Janaff goes above Rolf and Lucia

[Krad]

It's correct that he'll never be recruited when the team has Marcia or Jill, but it should be possible to 3 turn the chapter and still get him by having Jill rescue either Lethe or Mordecai and drop them near his location on turn 2 (undrafted characters may rescue other undrafted characters after all). There could be issues when it's not possible to avoid transformed laguz however... I'll test this when I get there.

I don't think either Marcia or Jill can survive at base level while rescuing Lethe/Mordecai against laguz. Then they may get attacked by the enemies in the northeast getting you as high as a +8 turn penalty. That's a lot for recruiting a unit that won't get any of those back.

While that's true, whoever drafted a flyer probably wants to have the Full Guard, and I'm pretty sure it takes at least 6 turns for that to work. While his combat is bad, at least he has 7 move, which should make him superior to Brom. That being said, maybe Brom needs to drop too.

Not really. I used Jill in the draft I participated (NM), didn't get the Full Guard (4 turned that chapter), and had no problems at all during the rest of the game. Snipers aren't common enough to pose enough of a threat, and until they get Silver Bows they weren't doing more than 10 damage to Jill (2x effective bonus sucks for them). The Full Guard (And Devdan) aren't really worth the extra turns.

By the way, I drafted Devdan in that playtrough, and that's why I say he is a waste to recruit.

Hmm just above Geoffrey maybe?

Sure.

While I agree that Smite is great, is it enough to surpass Tanith?

Mordy is available for almost twice as much of the game, has great combat due to being able to get a Speedwing more easily, can Smite everything, and combined with a flier can do ridiculous stuff like a 3 turn of Ch 11, 2 turn of Ch 14, a 3 turn of Ch 17-2, a 2 turn of Ch 19, etc. I think that is enough to be over Tanith.

[Zkirsche]

Why?

Taur has 6 mov, Haar has 9 and flies. Taur's availability advantage consists of the end of chapter 21 and chapter 22. Not a lot, definitely not enough to make up for Haar's crushing advantage over him in the chapters they share (It's like Jill vs Brom or something).

The level disadvantage doesn't mean much, in order to promote, Tormod needs 1695 BEXP, we could get 1360 BEXP in chapter 15 alone and assuming we got max BEXP everytime, we have over 4260 BEXP at this point. He is superior to Calill and Gatrie thanks to Celerity and Staves, better than Shinon because of 1-2 range and targetting res. I give you Mist and probably Zihark.

Tormod comes in, however, at chapter 16, compared to Ilyana/Soren coming much, much earlier, possibly for early promotion for quicker access to staves and better combat early on. All things considered, a tier gap is just not justified.

Speaking of the mages, why is Ilyana > Soren? Soren x Ike alone could do it, forgetting completely about the fact that Soren is actually better to start with. Ilyana and Soren up a tier and their positions reversed please, with Rhys climbing up with them, maybe.

guess Janaff could go above Lucia and Rolf, unsure about Bastian for the reasons stated by RD. Rolf has 9 chapters more than Janaff though and might be better in chapters with a decent amount of flying enemies.

A unit with no 1-range is garbage in a draft playthrough, and I'd say flying, movement and availability put him > Bastian + Lucia, who are garbage, even if Bastian has siege tomes, would you really field him over Janaff?

While I agree that Smite is great, is it enough to surpass Tanith?

Should Tanith be in 2nd pick as well then?

Mordy is available for almost twice as much of the game, has great combat due to being able to get a Speedwing more easily, can Smite everything, and combined with a flier can do ridiculous stuff like a 3 turn of Ch 11, 2 turn of Ch 14, a 3 turn of Ch 17-2, a 2 turn of Ch 19, etc. I think that is enough to be over Tanith.

Even with a speedwing, he doesn't double everything, and Tanith's a monster when she comes in. 9 mov, flying + reinforcements = win. Heck, I'd put her about Reyson, though that may be a bit extreme. There definitely shouldn't be a tier gap between the two IMO.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Kevin

[Radiant Dragon]

Just curious, but why is Ilyana > Soren?

Edit: Ninja'd.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Radiant Dragon

[Kaoz]

I don't think either Marcia or Jill can survive at base level while rescuing Lethe/Mordecai against laguz. Then they may get attacked by the enemies in the northeast getting you as high as a +8 turn penalty. That's a lot for recruiting a unit that won't get any of those back.

Yeah that was my point, I can't remember when those enemies transform and whether it's possible to stay outside their range. In case it isn't Stefan should drop more I guess.

Not really. I used Jill in the draft I participated (NM), didn't get the Full Guard (4 turned that chapter), and had no problems at all during the rest of the game. Snipers aren't common enough to pose enough of a threat, and until they get Silver Bows they weren't doing more than 10 damage to Jill (2x effective bonus sucks for them). The Full Guard (And Devdan) aren't really worth the extra turns.

By the way, I drafted Devdan in that playtrough, and that's why I say he is a waste to recruit.

I see. Marcia and Tanith would take more damage though, so maybe it should be considered for them. Where would you put Devdan?

Mordy is available for almost twice as much of the game, has great combat due to being able to get a Speedwing more easily, can Smite everything, and combined with a flier can do ridiculous stuff like a 3 turn of Ch 11, 2 turn of Ch 14, a 3 turn of Ch 17-2, a 2 turn of Ch 19, etc. I think that is enough to be over Tanith.

Indeed, but as you stated you also need a flyer, which means whether he should be on the same level as universally good units like the Paladins is debatable. Tanith is an all around great unit in any team.

Tormod comes in, however, at chapter 16, compared to Ilyana/Soren coming much, much earlier, possibly for early promotion for quicker access to staves and better combat early on. All things considered, a tier gap is just not justified.

Speaking of the mages, why is Ilyana > Soren? Soren x Ike alone could do it, forgetting completely about the fact that Soren is actually better to start with. Ilyana and Soren up a tier and their positions reversed please, with Rhys climbing up with them, maybe.

Soren/Ilyana have a few chapters over Tormod, so let's look at them individually...

Ch. 4: Soren has to hide in a corner so that he doesn't get himself killed. One chip on turn 2 is all he can do

Ch. 5: Defend

Ch. 6: Soren will still be level 1 here, so he's still easily KO'd, if you also have Boyd on the team, Soren might get a level here

Ch. 7: undrafted characters may not rescue drafted ones and if you have to make it to Shinon/Gatrie in time for them to not enter combat, Soren is definately not helping here with enemies coming from all sides; again, he might be more useable if either Oscar or Boyd is also drafted

Ch. 8: Defend

Ch. 9: Soren is still stuck with 5 move (unless he got all BEXP available in Ch. 8 and managed to promote there, then he's stuck with 6) and Ike has priority as rescue target; he could get some CEXP when Marcia has to be recruited I guess

Ch. 10: this chapter can be 3 turned

Ch. 11: he could help clear the way for Titania and your other high move unit(s) if you have any I guess

Ch. 12: he should do fine here

Ch. 13: Defend

Ch. 14: I'm unsure how well he does here, but the fact that you probably have at least one more 9 move unit by now hurts him

Ch. 15: another good chapter for him

Ilyana is pretty much the same, but slightly weaker in Ch. 12, so neither is really doing much until Tormod joins with Celerity and better base Weapon Ranks. I can't really see them in the same tier, but I guess Soren could go above Ilyana. Also why would Rhys go up? He has the same problems as Soren in the early chapters and Healers aren't all that necessary in PoR either.

A unit with no 1-range is garbage in a draft playthrough, and I'd say flying, movement and availability put him > Bastian + Lucia, who are garbage, even if Bastian has siege tomes, would you really field him over Janaff?

Siege Tomes are nice to have around and Bastian can use all three, so depending on the situation, yes I would.

Should Tanith be in 2nd pick as well then?

Even with a speedwing, he doesn't double everything, and Tanith's a monster when she comes in. 9 mov, flying + reinforcements = win. Heck, I'd put her about Reyson, though that may be a bit extreme. There definitely shouldn't be a tier gap between the two IMO.

Maybe, depending on how the issue with Mordecai turns out. Maybe Reyson should just be top of 3rd Pick?

[Zkirsche]

Ch. 6: Soren will still be level 1 here, so he's still easily KO'd, if you also have Boyd on the team, Soren might get a level here

No, he can get exp in chapter 5. Just because it's a defend doesn't mean we don't field him.

Ch. 7: undrafted characters may not rescue drafted ones and if you have to make it to Shinon/Gatrie in time for them to not enter combat, Soren is definately not helping here with enemies coming from all sides; again, he might be more useable if either Oscar or Boyd is also drafted

This is a rout: every extra fighter helps.

Ch. 9: Soren is still stuck with 5 move (unless he got all BEXP available in Ch. 8 and managed to promote there, then he's stuck with 6) and Ike has priority as rescue target; he could get some CEXP when Marcia has to be recruited I guess

He could try the beach.

Ch. 13: Defend

This can be shortened, however, if all the enemies are killed.

Ch. 14: I'm unsure how well he does here, but the fact that you probably have at least one more 9 move unit by now hurts him

He does more here than Tormod does, at the very least.

Ilyana is pretty much the same, but slightly weaker in Ch. 12, so neither is really doing much until Tormod joins with Celerity and better base Weapon Ranks. I can't really see them in the same tier, but I guess Soren could go above Ilyana. Also why would Rhys go up? He has the same problems as Soren in the early chapters and Healers aren't all that necessary in PoR either.

If healers aren't that necessary in PoR then Tormod definitely needs to go down. See, Tormod doesn't do much after he joins either. Even with 8 mov and 1-2 range, his durability is never stellar enough to stay on the front lines fighting multiple units (mostly because he hasn't got any +def supports like Ilyana or crazy avo from supports like Soren). All of them can seige tome (weapons ranks is a non-argument, also, as you get them up very easily in this game. My soren, for example, had C in wind before even getting Tormod), and that's likely what they'll all end up doing later on.

Soren should go above Ilyana too.

Siege Tomes are nice to have around and Bastian can use all three, so depending on the situation, yes I would.

They're not that good, there aren't any kill bosses after chapter 24 anyway, so there main use is gone instantly.

Maybe, depending on how the issue with Mordecai turns out. Maybe Reyson should just be top of 3rd Pick?

Meh, whether it's Tanith up or Reyson down, so long as the gap is closed, I'll be happy.

[Florete]

It's correct that he'll never be recruited when the team has Marcia or Jill, but it should be possible to 3 turn the chapter and still get him by having Jill rescue either Lethe or Mordecai and drop them near his location on turn 2 (undrafted characters may rescue other undrafted characters after all). There could be issues when it's not possible to avoid transformed laguz however... I'll test this when I get there.

Seeing as I drafted Stefan and Mordecai and just did that map, let me help.

The soonest Stefan can be recruited with Rescue-Dropping (at least with unpromoted fliers) is turn 4. It takes three turns to reach a close enough spot to be able to drop Lethe or Mordecai so they can recruit Stefan on the next turn (or two turns to drop them two turns away). Unfortunately, there's a Cat and Raven near there that transform on turn 3 enemy phase, so this tactic fails.

In the end, Mordecai could reach the spot on turn 6 after using a Laguz Stone while I wasn't able to beat the map until turn 5 anyway with only Ilyana, Mia, and unpromoted Mist able to reasonably charge Muarim.

[Zkirsche]

I can confirm that, you can drop Lethe/Mordy on the square where you recruit him on turn 3, but that doesn't count. :/

[Florete]

4) Boots. Volke and Sothe are the only ones that can get to them in time for a 2 or 3 turn clear and have a 100% chance to find them. I'm pretty sure there is a Hawk that transforms on turn 1 right next to the Boots, so you'd have to take a penalty of 4 turns for them. They could probably drop a bit though.

But undrafted units are allowed to find hidden treasure, and that Hawk can just be killed. Unless you drafted a flier, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get the BEXP bonus for not killing any Laguz (Muarim aside) on that map. Too many transform early, and Sages, the only reasonable fighters with full move, are too frail.

Meh, whether it's Tanith up or Reyson down, so long as the gap is closed, I'll be happy.

I'd say Tanith needs to go to second pick. She's a flier and a good combat unit. Reyson needs to stay. I'd sooner say he should go to 1st pick than to 3rd.

I can confirm that, you can drop Lethe/Mordy on the square where you recruit him on turn 3, but that doesn't count. :/

Yeah, unfortunately.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Yui

[Kaoz]

No, he can get exp in chapter 5. Just because it's a defend doesn't mean we don't field him.

Even when he's level 2 or 3 it won't help much.

This is a rout: every extra fighter helps.

When that fighter has paper durability that's quite arguable.

He could try the beach.

Maybe.

This can be shortened, however, if all the enemies are killed.

True.

He does more here than Tormod does, at the very least.

Probably.

If healers aren't that necessary in PoR then Tormod definitely needs to go down. See, Tormod doesn't do much after he joins either. Even with 8 mov and 1-2 range, his durability is never stellar enough to stay on the front lines fighting multiple units (mostly because he hasn't got any +def supports like Ilyana or crazy avo from supports like Soren). All of them can seige tome (weapons ranks is a non-argument, also, as you get them up very easily in this game. My soren, for example, had C in wind before even getting Tormod), and that's likely what they'll all end up doing later on.

Soren should go above Ilyana too.

Let me rephrase that, in PoR, you don't need a dedicated healer, it can be useful every now and then but in general it's not worth fielding one over a combat unit. Now, Tormod can heal high move units when necessary and he can actually enter combat when needed as he can keep up with your Paladins. Higher move can be a deciding factor for siege tome uses too at times, though probably not all that often.

So, while I agree that Tormod could drop a bit, I'd still put him above the other two. I already stated that Soren can go above Ilyana.

On a side note, C Wind doesn't help all that much considering Blizzard is obtained in chapter 23.

They're not that good, there aren't any kill bosses after chapter 24 anyway, so there main use is gone instantly.

Even then, Janaff isn't the greatest fighter either and being able to hit enemies from far away is nice.

Meh, whether it's Tanith up or Reyson down, so long as the gap is closed, I'll be happy.

Let's hear some other opinions on that one then...

But undrafted units are allowed to find hidden treasure, and that Hawk can just be killed. Unless you drafted a flier, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get the BEXP bonus for not killing any Laguz (Muarim aside) on that map. Too many transform early, and Sages, the only reasonable fighters with full move, are too frail.

I guess below Geoffrey should be good then.

Yeah, unfortunately.

Indeed. On the other hand, when you can't reasonably complete it in 3 turns with a Sage, using slower methods to recruit Stefan would be possible, which would mean he shouldn't drop all that much.