Rate the Unit, Day 3: Alan and Lance

[Kngt_Of_Titania]

FE6 is one of my least played Fire Emblems at this point, and I've only just started my LTC HM run, but these two I'm familiar enough with to rate.

Lance: I prefer this guy, for sure. Higher SPD base means he won't be doubled by nomads in C4-5 and early mercs, although he usually doesn't have enough to double any but the slowest enemies. His damage in HM leaves much to be desired (at least early on), and he has less SKL in a game where SKL actually matters somewhat, so that hurts him a bit. Still, high MOV, javelin access, and WTC in a game where WTA is a large boon makes things easier, for sure. 7/10

Alan: Again, not as much of a fan -- not when he can get doubled if you get unlucky with SPD procs early on. Nomads have like 10-11 SPD around C4-5, and Alan has 6 SPD base, IIRC. He needs 2 SPD with a 45% growth and a chance to gain around 3-4 levels at most -- on average, he will PROBABLY get it, but still, it's too high a chance to be screwed like that for my comfort. The biggest issue (or one of them) is the issue of leveling them; Marcus is used really heavily early-game, especially on HM. The cavs not only have him to compete against, but then you have tthem eating a counterattack greater than the damage they actually do; even if you set it up so that they can finish off the enemy with the hit, hit rates are low enough that they have a chance to be whacked for 40-50% of their health in the early chapters, meaning they will die or be close to it after enemy phase. If Alan is being doubled by nomads and mercs, then...damn, that's a big issue. 6/10

Alance leveling is somewhat annoying -- I find somebody like Wolt easier to train, frankly (NOT saying Wolt is better, obviously). Wolt has crappy bases, but he has 2 range and bows have decent hit rates, so he can actually finish off enemies for easy experience reliably and without the chance of being whacked in the face for half his health if he fails. Wolt also has better chip early on, simply because hit rates for javelins are atrocious...like Bartre using hand axes in early-game FE7 atrocious. I rate them 2 points lower than Sain and Kent respectively simply because FE6 HM has slightly harder enemies than FE7 HHM imo and they don't get a LHM option to train them.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Kngt_Of_Titania

[Blasied]

As someone who couldn't give a flying fuck about turncounts and would rather focus on a "minimum frustration" playstyle, Alan and Lance are very useful. They require a bit of attention but they at least have the decency to join at the start of the game (where it is acceptable to not be breezing through everything). When they grow a bit (and get some supports from each other) they're great.

I give both of them 9.5/10 (after a +.5 bias point for both of them because I like Christmas Knights)

[eclipse]

Screw LTC in a game with this kind of RNG; I'll go for "get myself through the game in a relatively efficient manner that doesn't require something in the range of 30% to happen".

I find them both helpful for leaving massive damage on things so Roy can finish them. Alan does a better job of "chipping"; Lance does a better job of leveling his own rear up, because of his slightly higher Speed. I don't mind using both of them, though~!

Alan: 8/10

Lance: 8.5/10

[Anouleth]

I never rely on Erik getting 11 spd. Erik always has 12 spd if you start the map from a chapter save and skip the entirety of the pre-battle cutscene. He also loses at least 1 AS from either of his weapons. The only thing that will throw a wrench into my plans is if Rutger procs 14 spd, but that rarely happens.

Also, if Rutger double crits, Erik's dead, and there's no need for the Marcus manipulation. Starting the map as I've described above will always generate a 9 def Erik, which is 6HKO'd by Rutger @ Killing Edge.

It's still manipulation of the RNG.

You only need to rig Marcus hitting Erik if Rutger gets crit + hit (the dude has 63 hit, 32 crit, so Rutger gets a crit and hits twice 28.6% of the time), and if Rutger doesn't get a crit, then you still have opportunities to try again. Oh no! An 8 turn clear! That's not fundamentally different from a 7 turn clear if you still recruit Rutger as early as possible and get him to attack Erik on turn 7.

And it would also give more opportunity for Alan and Lance to get experience. Since apparently, they gain experience so slowly that Noah will join at a higher level than them.

I might actually start making everybody give reasoning rather than the sorta-roundabout thing I have going on now. People seem to be better about it here, whether that's a consequence of FE6 rather than FE8 forum or what have you.

Fine. Alan and Lance have okay base stats, good movement, partial WTC, and some of the best growths in the game. And a good support with each other.

[Integrity]

Fine. Alan and Lance have okay base stats, good movement, partial WTC, and some of the best growths in the game. And a good support with each other.

While I appreciate the token (really), I won't make any retroactive rule changes ever. I'd start that with the next day.

Anyway, tallying.

[dondon151]

It's still manipulation of the RNG.

Are you implying that it's beneficial to assume that the RNG will never roll in favor of the player? You are very likely to get 1 critical hit on Erik over 2 rounds of combat (talking about 8 turning), almost guaranteed to get a 15 spd Rutger, and very likely to get a 9 str Rutger.

But OK, assume that you are pretty unlucky and despite taking a few stabs at Erik, have not yet killed him. For this chapter in particular, by the time you reach Erik, most of the enemies are dead anyway given how open this map is, and whether you take 7, 8, 9, or 10 turns doesn't yield significantly more EXP for Allen or Lance as long as you recruit Rutger ASAP and have him ready to take on Erik immediately.

Furthermore, I was contesting your claim that my RNG manipulation for that map was as extensive as you made it out to be. It's not.

And it would also give more opportunity for Alan and Lance to get experience. Since apparently, they gain experience so slowly that Noah will join at a higher level than them.

As circumstances would have it, Allen and Lance gain EXP more slowly than Wolt over the first 3 maps of the game. This is only if you're aiming for LTC.

Edited March 7, 2012 by dondon151