Artur or Lute?

[Titamon]

in a game that's so easy, why are you not voting based on HAIR STYLES?

because artur fails there three times over.

Are you kidding? Artur's curls are glorious! Many women would kill for that volume!

[Integrity]

in a game that's so easy, why are you not voting based on HAIR STYLES?

because artur fails there three times over.

fuck you I have artur's hair

or rather I do when I grow it out

but on the other hand unfuck you because I can find nothing wrong with your reasoning

EDIT: and if artur's hair weren't so glorious I'd be tempted to switch my vote to lute simply because your point is so excellent

Edited March 12, 2012 by Integrity

[Ein]

Lute can get a pony.

Artur can slaughter the undead.

Neither of them are Saleh.

Go with Saleh because why bother with scrubs.

[Thor Odinson]

fuck you I have artur's hair

or rather I do when I grow it out

but on the other hand unfuck you because I can find nothing wrong with your reasoning

EDIT: and if artur's hair weren't so glorious I'd be tempted to switch my vote to lute simply because your point is so excellent

Furet's hair's similar too. I'm even more obliged to vote Artur now.

[Baldrick]

I voted for Artur because of CC

In-story they're mostly the same.

[PuffPuff]

Lute.

Because she has better caps in Mag and has a chance at getting a pony.

[dondon151]

I any kind of low turn playthrough the choice is clearly Artur. Easier Warp, Slayer...

In any kind of low turn playthrough, Slayer is pointless and Artur has trouble getting to the staff rank necessary for Warp.

[Anouleth]

In any kind of low turn playthrough, Slayer is pointless and Artur has trouble getting to the staff rank necessary for Warp.

While that's true, even the low-turniest of low-turny playthroughs will see that Artur can get his hands on other useful support staves such as Barrier, Rescue, and Hammerne. Looking at the map, it might also be possible to get the Chapter 5 Guiding Ring within 3 turns, in which case Artur could also reach A staves, but you'd probably know better than me.

In addition, Artur can almost certainly reach A Staves in a draft. Then again, Lute might have a chance herself...

[Narga_Rocks]

While that's true, even the low-turniest of low-turny playthroughs will see that Artur can get his hands on other useful support staves such as Barrier, Rescue, and Hammerne. Looking at the map, it might also be possible to get the Chapter 5 Guiding Ring within 3 turns, in which case Artur could also reach A staves, but you'd probably know better than me.

In addition, Artur can almost certainly reach A Staves in a draft. Then again, Lute might have a chance herself...

You can get all the villages in 3 turns on chapter 5. I've done it. Go Vanessa. Seth needs to KO some soldiers on a tree, though. Well, you get 100% hit with iron lance on the soldiers, but then it's harder to hit an axe guy on the tree. Or you pull out the iron sword and get 100% hit on the axe guy on the tree. I never bothered to figure out which way was most likely to work.

Edited March 21, 2012 by Narga_Rocks

[Anouleth]

You can get all the villages in 3 turns on chapter 5. I've done it. Go Vanessa. Seth needs to KO some soldiers on a tree, though. Well, you get 100% hit with iron lance on the soldiers, but then it's harder to hit an axe guy on the tree. Or you pull out the iron sword and get 100% hit on the axe guy on the tree. I never bothered to figure out which way was most likely to work.

Slim Lance? I imagine Seth would still 2HKO.

Still, if that's the case, then Artur can promote in time for the midgame Fog of War map. Being promoted in those chapters allows him to make use of Torch which provides an enormous staff rank boost that could make the difference between A Rank and B Rank staves.

Edited March 21, 2012 by Anouleth

[phokingbeast]

lute because shes a female.

[Integrity]

Now that this is all shaking out, opinions don't seem to be especially divided.

I like that.

[Narga_Rocks]

Slim Lance? I imagine Seth would still 2HKO.

Still, if that's the case, then Artur can promote in time for the midgame Fog of War map. Being promoted in those chapters allows him to make use of Torch which provides an enormous staff rank boost that could make the difference between A Rank and B Rank staves.

I think I'm bad at babying units. My Artur is still level 6.5 at that chapter. Oops. Josh and Garcia are both 11, at least, so I need to pick a unit to promote (obv Gerik is at least level 10 (he's 11) as well).

[Anouleth]

I think I'm bad at babying units. My Artur is still level 6.5 at that chapter. Oops. Josh and Garcia are both 11, at least, so I need to pick a unit to promote (obv Gerik is at least level 10 (he's 11) as well).

I'm not really sure why anyone would ever wait to promote Gerik. Normally, I promote him turn 1 of Chapter 13. I guess if you have other unpromoted Hero Crest units, you might want to give it to them, but I think Joshua and Garcia need the growth time more than Gerik does.

Anyway, Aquilae had a level 12 Artur at the end of Ch. 10. He went at a fast pace, so I would guess that his results can be replicated by most playthroughs.

Edited March 23, 2012 by Anouleth

[Narga_Rocks]

I'm not really sure why anyone would ever wait to promote Gerik. Normally, I promote him turn 1 of Chapter 13. I guess if you have other unpromoted Hero Crest units, you might want to give it to them, but I think Joshua and Garcia need the growth time more than Gerik does.

I have a hard time with picking a unit to promote. It's just so...permanent. I even have a hard time deciding on which path to promote Gerik. I want hand axes, but I want that pony and the ability to still pick him up with promoted pegs. But then I have no (decent) 1-2 range, so... I think I've been sitting on chapter 11 Eirika for a month.

Anyway, Aquilae had a level 12 Artur at the end of Ch. 10. He went at a fast pace, so I would guess that his results can be replicated by most playthroughs.

So I indeed just suck at it. Or I was trying to train too many at once. Maybe too much Garcia and Josh.

[Anouleth]

I have a hard time with picking a unit to promote. It's just so...permanent. I even have a hard time deciding on which path to promote Gerik. I want hand axes, but I want that pony and the ability to still pick him up with promoted pegs. But then I have no (decent) 1-2 range, so... I think I've been sitting on chapter 11 Eirika for a month.

Yeah, that's one of the more contested promotions in FE8.

[Faye]

I always go with Artur and make him a Sage. :| I think you're not supposed to do that, but eh. I have Moulder and Natasha if I need a bishop. OTL

[The_Purple_Knight]

I use both and get them to a support they make a great power couple .

[Nihil]

I like Lute, but Artur's slayer skill really comes in handy. Unless you make him a sage 0.o

[Colonel M]

It's okay Narga. Garcia is more MANRY anyway!

Fuck both of them, I vote Garcia.

[SJS]

Many of what differences they do have are honestly minimal:

- Speed: both characters have the same Spd. Lute's poor Con gets her weighed down, but anything that isn't Lightning will weigh down Artur too. The difference is negligible, additionally, because pretty much every enemy in this game has poor Spd, so both characters double most of what they fight.

- Survival: Lute has slightly more Def, but Artur has slightly more HP and slightly more Res (the latter of which doesn't give him any real advantage over Lute)

- Accuracy: Artur is more accurate because of his Skill and use of light magic, but Lute isn't that far behind because her Lck stat is much higher than Artur's.

- Evasion: Artur doesn't get weighed down as much by his weapons, but Lute seems to win out in dodging because of her similar Spd and significantly higher Lck.

- Potential: Lute has 1 extra level-up.

The relevant differences are:

- Lute wins out in earlygame and midgame because of her higher attack power, which she derives both from her better Mag growth and Anima magic.

- Given identical leveling for the two characters, Artur wins out in endgame and postgame because his Bishop promotion lets him do triple damage to monsters without using a Sacred Twin.

- Lute has a reliable option in either of her promotions; as a Mage Knight, she can maximize her short term Mag potential and increase her Mov; as a Sage, she can get better caps for postgame and remain very strong in endgame.

Based upon these facts, I argue that Lute is better if postgame isn't considered:

- Lute fulfills a need for a powerful, reliable Mage that no other character can, as Saleh and Knoll join late / suck and Ewan takes too much time to level up. Artur's favorable position as an endgame Bishop is also found in Natasha and Moulder, one of whom the player is very likely to already be training alongside Lute because of their healing utility prior to endgame. Although this fact doesn't weaken Artur's endgame and postgame utility, this means that favoring Lute over Artur before endgame, which can give a clear offensive advantage to the player before endgame, does not incur much practical cost for endgame as some assume.

- Artur's pre-endgame weakness in attack power makes him harder to train than Lute. This simple fact also leaves him less wiggle room for getting RNG screwed.

- Given that one isn't afraid to use Sacred Twins in endgame, Lute is better. Assuming that Lute has equal Mag to Artur, she will, with Excalibur, be negligibly different from an Artur with Ivaldi (because Ivaldi's 2x attack power bonus as a Sacred Twin overwrites Slayer's 3x attack power bonus) or Aura (which is also a bit costly to obtain). Since Lute, more than often, has better Mag, this means that she will do more damage than Artur against endgame enemies.

tldr: I vote Lute because, on the whole, she is much easier to use.

[Gryz]

To me, the most relevant difference is:

Lute gets a pony when she promotes.

Artur gets Restore staff access when he promotes.

Eh, doesn't matter, because I end up dragging both of their behinds past the level 10 mark anyways.

[Elieson]

Artur will be Warp/Rescuing years before Lute, meaning that while Lute is limited to only Combat, Artur can actually do something to push your team forward.

[Anouleth]

- Lute has a reliable option in either of her promotions; as a Mage Knight, she can maximize her short term Mag potential and increase her Mov; as a Sage, she can get better caps for postgame and remain very strong in endgame.

Actually, Lute is a pretty bad endgame character who struggles to deal good damage and survive against bosses.

- Lute fulfills a need for a powerful, reliable Mage that no other character can, as Saleh and Knoll join late / suck and Ewan takes too much time to level up.

Actually, there are many other characters who can fill the same role as Lute only better, such as Garcia, Seth, Franz, Joshua, Duessel, and Gerik.

Artur's favorable position as an endgame Bishop is also found in Natasha and Moulder, one of whom the player is very likely to already be training alongside Lute because of their healing utility prior to endgame.

Natasha is a Valkyrie, not a Bishop, in addition Artur is better at using staves than Natasha or Moulder because of his higher magic.

Although this fact doesn't weaken Artur's endgame and postgame utility, this means that favoring Lute over Artur before endgame, which can give a clear offensive advantage to the player before endgame, does not incur much practical cost for endgame as some assume.

- Artur's pre-endgame weakness in attack power makes him harder to train than Lute. This simple fact also leaves him less wiggle room for getting RNG screwed.

Artur is easier to train than Lute because he has to suffer through less levels before taking an early level 10 promotion.

- Given that one isn't afraid to use Sacred Twins in endgame, Lute is better. Assuming that Lute has equal Mag to Artur, she will, with Excalibur, be negligibly different from an Artur with Ivaldi (because Ivaldi's 2x attack power bonus as a Sacred Twin overwrites Slayer's 3x attack power bonus) or Aura (which is also a bit costly to obtain). Since Lute, more than often, has better Mag, this means that she will do more damage than Artur against endgame enemies.

Artur is admittedly very bad in endgame in terms of combat, but Lute herself is so bad that it's not really a win, and Artur has very useful staff using abilities.

[Espinosa]

Actually, there are many other characters who can fill the same role as Lute only better, such as Garcia, Seth, Franz, Joshua, Duessel, and Gerik.

I don't think any of these can function as a mage lol. Unlike the previous poster though, I don't see a magical attacker as a dire necessity in this game. Saleh probably makes the biggest contribution in terms of kills accumulated, mostly on Eirika route.