FE9 Draft Tier List and Character Discussion

[MacLovin]

-Sixth Pick-

Haar

Geoffery

Janaff

Largo

Elincia

Janaff/Largo>Rescue!Elincia?

[Ema Skye]

PKL and I have spent about a week updating this, and I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to bump this due to said update.

The list hasn't changed a whole lot. Some of the bigger changes have been the buffs to:

Mist (The Rescue Staff is critical for saving turns later on in the game)

Janaff (despite the mediocre bases, he can still ferry Ike transformed, letting him help out in 21, while also helping out in 25 when our paladins can't)

Ulki (same reasons as Janaff)

So let's see what other changes we can bring to this list.

[Terrador]

The Chapter 21 moat. That alone allows JanUlki to save... I don't even know, but at the VERY least two turns. Can someone tell me ANYONE from pick 3 down can do that reliably? If not, these two need to go up up up.

Also, Lucy's doing some analysis to back this up. And I know PEMN means nothing, but I can testify that my Ulki never had issues with bad combat stopping him from full-moving to necessary tiles.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Terrador

[PKL]

You are wrong about Janaff/Ulki saving turns in Chapter 21. With their lolcombat and not being able to beat Ena themselves, a Paladin with Boots can easily match, if not beat their TC.

[Ema Skye]

Hawks can make it over the Ch.21 moat in 3 turns without boots. But any turn advantage they have over Ike+Titania+Reyson is made up by their inability to do any respectable damage to Ena, not to mention a lack of canto, or 1-2 range, or forges. So in the end they don't really save any turns.

[Hawk King]

Rolf up. Like above Geoffrey.

Rolf is one of the best non-flyers for Chapters 17-2 and 17-4 since he can be shoved by pretty much anyone. The kid has a ton of availability to make various contributions and he has some pretty good stats to get shit done.

[Ema Skye]

Yeah, I can agree with that. I think I'll put him above Rhys. Rhys saves a max of three turns from Ch.2 to Ch.7 and then he's pretty much done being useful since Purge comes so late for him to attempt to replicate the seige tome strats the Sages do.

[Florete]

Why are Shinon and Tauroneo red? I've never actually re-recruited Shinon, but I would imagine with the right team (especially if Rolf is on it), it can be done without costing turns. I have also personally recruited Tauroneo without losing turns, and you may actually have to recruit him just to get him out of the way. Giving Ike the Knight Ring will help.

I am also pretty sure Marcia will cost turns no matter what you do, due to Ch 9. Even with just Titania and Ike I think it's possible to clear that map before she appears.

Back to Tauroneo, why is he even at the bottom? He doesn't deserve better than 7th pick, but I'd pick him before Brom, Stefan, ENasir, probably even Devdan if only for Tauroneo's use in his joining chapter. He's just a lategame filler unit, but he's not the worst.

Still think Haar > Ranulf, but w/e.

[Ema Skye]

The list assumes undrafted Rolf for Shinon's tiering, which does cost turns for Shinon's re-recruitment.

Knight Ring assumes undrafted Hawk, which also costs turns to obtain. I've personally found it easier to break through Tauroneo with a seige tome and a max hit forge than drop Ike and recruit him. I'll make him blue though.

Ike+Titania can 5 turn Chapter 9, which is the turn Marcia arrives on. I'll make her Red and will drop her to under Jill who can get near identical turncounts and doesn't cost turns for Ike+Titania. Should Marcia drop below Oscar too? He get a pretty significant turn lead on her until the desert when she finally promotes. Discuss.

I'm going to work a bit more on the bottom two tiers, because I'm not too sure myself on the order once 7th pick starts. I'll put them in shortly.

Edit: Bottom two tiers updated.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Lucina

[Florete]

I find the Knight Ring to generally be worth it regardless of Tauroneo. It only takes one turn. And what's the significance of "assumes undrafted Hawk?" Drafted or not shouldn't change anything there.

[Ema Skye]

Getting the Knight Ring with an undrafted hawk is pretty tough without increasing your turncounts (Any mount with Boots and Reyson can 2 turn Ch.19). They can obtain it as an undrafted unit, but they can't be attacked en route to Naesala without obtaining a penalty.

Also, unrelated to the Knight Ring, I've moved Haar over Ranulf. Haar's flight is helpful in chapter 24 (where there is water to cross, saving turns compared to Titania), chapter 25 (flight lets him clear it faster than Titania can, and he's got pretty sweet combat as well) and Chapter 28 (rescue Ike and fly over the trees). Ranulf can smite Titania to get to seize/arrive missions, which translates to about a turn each in 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. However, he's pretty bad outside of that use, and it really shows in 25 when you need to route the map with his mediocre combat and Titania's nerfed movement). Speak up if you aren't okay with this.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Lucina

[Florete]

If you have one of the other three fliers (and if you don't, you should have Janaff or Ulki anyway) you can lure Naesala in immediately, and with Reyson's help, getting a Hawk to talk to him and then getting out of there shouldn't be a problem. I've done it multiple times myself. It makes 3 turns the best you can get, but I usually find the Knight Ring to end up saving more than the turns it costs (these situations tend to be...situational, though). Getting Tauroneo and then continuing to move is only one of them.

[Hawk King]

Despite Marcia's costing turns, isn't she still better than Jill? Or do the new Bexp rules lower Marcia that much?

And regardless of the old or new rules, i've always thought Oscar > Jill.

Edit: Jill should be blue. Chapter 11 CAN be 4 turned with certain teams. I'm thinking a Jill, Lethe, Mia/Soren, Neph/Brom, Rolf team is reasonable. Something like that could 4 turn Chapter 11 thus making Jill potentially cost a turn.

Also, are WTF teams ever considered? I know Sharpy once got Jill, Boyd, and Tanith before. A team with Boyd could 4 turn Chapter 11 making Jill cost a turn as well.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Hawk King

[Ema Skye]

In regards to characters costing turns, the generally has to be a reasonable chance of happening in a draft setting. So no Marcia/Oscar/Kieran/Tanith quad teams.

Jill is over Marcia now because they both get near identical turncounts, but Jill costs one turn (and only sometimes), where Marcia costs two (every time). I find that due to BEXP limits, it's harder for her to save turns in Ch.10 and 11 before Jill shows up.

[Florete]

Marcia costs more than two turns. On the first map you see her (3/4?), if you don't have Shinon or Gatrie, I don't think it's at all reasonable (is it even possible?) for Ike to talk to her within 3 turns. Then she appears about as far away as possible from the Seize point on Ch 9, costing you another potential 3-4 turns depending on the rest of your team. So yeah, under the new BEXP rules, I'd definitely say Jill > Marcia. It's pretty unlikely to have a team that can clear Ch 11 in 4 turns, anyway.

[PKL]

I definetely agree with Jill over Marcia. Marcia costs 1 turn in C3 and 2 in C7 and due to BEXP limits, saves like only 1 turn before Jill shows up. Then they're equal for awhile until Jill starts roflstomping her in durability, offense and everything. Jill also makes a better endgame unit with her Hand Axe forges and higher str cap and durability. I dont think oscar>Marcia though. Not quite convinced of that, considering that I was 1 turn short of beating a theoretical marcia drafter with an amazing team of Mordecai, Mist and Ranulf. There is only one advantage to Marcia over Jill in C21 though. Higher Res for the sleep staves. But that's about it, I'd say.

Edited November 16, 2012 by HORSEBIRD

[Junkhead]

I think Boyd is rather low. He is definitely First Pick material while Kieran is really situational (depends on your team) and arrives rather late in comparison. An earlygame combatant is really appreciated, especially when him and Oscar are really the only ones doing a decent job at it (granted, neither double right away or anything, but their damage output raises somewhat quickly) and their durability isn't too shabby. Andd I certainly wouldn't put him below Mordecai and Mist.

[Ema Skye]

Boyd really doesn't save that many turns before Kieran shows up though. He saves one in Ch.1, possibly another one in Ch.2 depending on your Ike's strength and one in Ch.6. He's helpful in chapter 7, but you really need more units than just Boyd to save turns. Then none in Ch.8, 9 or 10, and then Kieran shows up who can easily save three turns, and more, which leads to his higher rank.

As for Mordecai, his monopoly on Smite utility exists until Ch.21. Every time he smites, he gives your main mount (Jill/Marcia/Oscar/Kieran/Tanith/Titania) two extra movement, decreasing the distance they need to travel in seize and arrive missions. He doesn't even need to be transformed to smite the Paladins or Falcon Knights.

As for Mist, the Rescue Staff alone saves a turn each time you use it, and she gets lots of range on it fast. With three uses of Rescue, and three uses of Hammerne, that's nine turns shaved right there. Her mounted combat with the Sonic Sword really helps cut down on your turn count in ch.18 where you need lots of mounts, and in a draft setting, it's pretty easy to give her both of the arm scrolls.