My opinion on Radiant Dawn characters

[ClLoulD]

I'm going to rate units based solely on my opinion and I would love to hear what other people think even if you disagree with my opinion. I have played every single unit in this game and they are all useful to an extend and I'll make sure I rate them to the extent that they are useful. For example I think Laura arguably contributes more to the Dawn Brigade than Rhys does to the Greil Mercenaries mainly because mist is there to heal as well but nonetheless. I will also rate NM (normal mode ratings) and HM (hard mode ratings) as well to please as many people as possible.

Characters completed

Micaiah

Edward

Leonardo

Nolan

Sothe

Micaiah:

Cons

Micaiah is one of those units no one really wants to train but usually ends up having to anyway in this case it's because Micaiah is force deployed in every map she is available for. Micaiah is the games only light mage and she isn't very good as one in all honesty with terrible growths in defence, strength and speed with pretty terrible caps for HP and not much growth for it anyway. Micaiah is most likely going to get ORKO'd if any physical class get's in reach of her so she requires pretty much 24/7 meat shielding in a group of just as fragile units. Micaiah can't even be given BEXP efficiently because of her luck growth being so high and her others being so low she wouldn't benefit from it as much as other units because luck on Micaiah is almost useless because we tend to keep her away from combat as much as possible.

Pros

Micaiah has a completely different set of Pros than most other units let's start first of all with the Thani tombs she obtains, Micaiah get's two of these awesome tombs which are exclusive to her and they deal bonus damage to both cavaliers and knights and 98% of the time take them out with 1 hit. Micaiah also has use to the sacrifice skill which gives away some of her hp to heal another character for however many LP she has lost as well as healing them from any status ailments which is useful because there is a fair bit of venin weaponry in Micaiah's chapters such as the swamp chapter or 1-E. Micaiah is one of the few units I've encountered (possibly the only one?) with 20 skill points at tier 1 which means she can be given skills such as paragon to make those level ups so much easier from chapter 1-7 onwards or something like Resolve to increase her speed. One more great thing about Micaiah is that she doesn't cost to be deployed as she is force deployed so you are losing out on nothing by using her and if you don't want her getting into combat then just wait until she get's her first promotion and then she can just use her physic staves from afar. Finally Micaiah has 1-2 range being a magic user and all so she can always chip in from the back you just have to be a bit weary of hand axe/javelins/wind edge/bow users.

EDIT:She also has an A support with Sothe which is actually pretty great especially in part 1

To conclude, you lose out on nothing by using Micaiah, she is force deployed so make the most of her. She can help out a bit with sacrifice and supporting from afar but sometimes she can be a liability and after part 1 she isn't going to be doing much apart from healing anyway.

NM rating: 6/10

HM rating: 5/10 (Necessary at times but also the cause of most of your game over screens)

Leonardo:

Cons

Not as good as other snipers such as Shinon

Needs a lot of exp in a group that also need a lot of exp

No enemy phase counter-attacking

Usually struggles to double hit or even hit a good damage

Not durable at all so may require a lot of baby sitting

Pros

Can range from afar >.>

Useful for chipping away at enemies

Get's his own PRF weapon

Comes with Dracoshield

There really is not a lot to say about Leonardo and apart from drafts or PMU I don't see why you would use him as there are better archers out there than him and also better units he could actually be salvaged slightly if he could use crossbows but by the time you actually get crossbows for him to get any benefit out of him you would of either had to train him up 20 levels or dump a load of Bexp into him both aren't very practical. Leonardo is one of those units who is there to help out in the first couple of chapters but err not much more.

NM rating: 4/10

HM rating 2/10 (Warms the bench as soon as he isn't force deployed any more)

Edited February 12, 2013 by ClLoulD

[charmander6000]

Wrath Micaiah is pretty fun to watch, though she usually becomes a healbot after part 1.

You could always just raise Leo to level 10 and then seal him (the DB has access to 4 seals and truly no one wants an early seal) and then give him beastfoe + crossbows. Of course beastfoe makes everyone good, but the DB doesn't exactly want to see multiple laguz in a row.

[ClLoulD]

Edward:

Edward is actually a very decent Myrmidon/swordsmaster/trueblade and usually turns out the best out of the 5 you get if you are willing to invest in him. Edward may seem a bit fragile when you first get him but that actually works in his favor because of his inept wrath skill which is pretty much going to guarentee a KO. Edwards contributions to the Dawn Brigade are fantastic...until chapter 6 when Zihark comes along most likely at a higher level as well. The majority of people just pick one of the swordmasters to use and although you could train the two of them and then have Zihark switch sides to the GM later on it would just be so much easier to train Zihark and Mia instead. Edward is a fantastic unit and you aren't going to lose anything by using him and he surely will not let you down but the problem is that everyone in Micaiah's team is hungering for experience you could master seal him but then he isn't going to end up as good as the other trueblades stat wise so then what's the point? Edward does get his own PRF weapon the Caladbolg which raises his luck and allows him to become just that much harder to hit/critical.

Pros

Will double everything

Turns out the best trueblade

Inept Wrath

Caladbolg

Great availability

Cons

Needs a lot of EXP

Fragile at first

Needs a lot of EXP

Outshined by Zihark later on

Needs a lot of EXP

To conclude, Edward is a fantastic unit and you lose nothing by using him but he needs too much EXP and you want him to warm the bench later on when he isn't needed anymore.

NM rating: 5.5

HM rating 3.5 (He is helpful every now and again in the first few chapters of HM but he can be a hinderance at times)

Edited March 13, 2013 by ClLoulD

[Inference]

Edward is really just a glorified experience hog. He has horrible offense and defense upon recruitment and almost no utility up until Zihark shows up. In the time it takes him to get Caladbolg (or a decent Enemy Phase), you'd already have Nolan and Zihark pushing B-support and ramming through the game.

He's actually a lot like Leo in that it will take a long time for him to become relevant, and you won't lose anything by benching or killing him. You will probably need the bulk of that experience to make Micaiah less of a liability and to get Nolan to 2nd tier by the end of Part 1.

[aku chi]

He's actually a lot like Leo in that it will take a long time for him to become relevant, and you won't lose anything by benching or killing him. You will probably need the bulk of that experience to make Micaiah less of a liability and to get Nolan to 2nd tier by the end of Part 1.

Except Edward can double enemies from the get-go, isn't locked to 2-range, and has great Str and Spd growths. Edward can actually grow into a good unit (though it generally takes more time and resources than it's worth). Leonardo cannot. Also, experience given to Edward is generally a better investment than experience given to Micaiah. Micaiah 2HKOs everything without resources and takes tons of resources and a little luck to either double or survive more than two hits.

[MacLovin]

Hey hey.

It's a mere opinion.

[ClLoulD]

Chuck Nolan

Nolan is the sort of character who comes in at a great time and stays great pretty much till end game. I tend to use him on nearly every play through because it's just too much effort to NOT use him. Nolan is the type of character who like everyone else (Albeit Haar) has weaknesses but what is great about Nolan is that they are easily cured! Stat deficencies? Invest BEXP! Quite fragile? Pair his support with Zihark or Volug for a whopping +45 Avoid as well as getting tarvos (+4 Defence), and finally once promoted Nolan can begin to use Crossbows although with stats as good as Nolan's why would you want to?

Pros

Great stats

Access to decent 1-2 range (lolwindedge)

Gains Xbows on promotion

PRF weapons

Good Growths

Earth Affinity

Tank

Cons

Dawn Brigade availability

Has competition for Endgame + Urvan

In harder modes can struggle to get EXP

NM Rating: 9.0

HM Rating 9.5

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Sothe

Sothe is a unit a lot of people dislike but I genuinely find him useful, Sothe is a jeigan...without a horse...or decent weapons...and badish availability but don't let that stop you from using him because Sothe is a unit that that demands very little but is necessary on HM and still useful on NM. Like Micaiah, Sothe costs no deployment and his weaponry will probably last throughout all of part 1 and although he slows down a bit in part 3 he does have a beast killer to deal with those pesky Laguz and an A support with Micaiah and if that stll isn't enough to get you to stop questioning his durability he can also get PoR transfers.

Pros

Jeigan...Kinda

Thief utility

Incredible defence for a thief

Pre-promote

A-Support with Micaiah

Best growths I think I have ever seen (He's capped everything at level 12 for me with bonuses before)

Cons

His usefulness dwindles as game progresses

Bit of an EXP hog

Knives :S

That shirt...

Takes ages to hit third tier (and when he does it's in the desert so useless)

I like using Sothe and he is necessary for part 1 but he's a real liability in part 4 so I don't get too excited about using him for that reason alone. Sothe is ok to use but...shouldn't be used excessively when units like Nolan need experience and Volug needs strike levels.

NM Rating 8.0

HM Rating 9.0

Edited March 10, 2013 by ClLoulD

[Inference]

Except Edward can double enemies from the get-go, isn't locked to 2-range, and has great Str and Spd growths. Edward can actually grow into a good unit (though it generally takes more time and resources than it's worth). Leonardo cannot. Also, experience given to Edward is generally a better investment than experience given to Micaiah. Micaiah 2HKOs everything without resources and takes tons of resources and a little luck to either double or survive more than two hits.

I was being slightly facetious in comparing him to Leo. However, I still found the both of them generally useless on Hard mode. Eddie's about as easy to kill as Micaiah for all of Part 1. He requires massive babying. I might need some stats on the early fighters because I think he fails to double some of them on Hard at base.

On Normal, the sheer abundance of experience allows him to get out of his rut in a reasonable amount of time. An effective weapon triangle gave him some use vs. early Fighters too. Only thing I would hold against him on Normal aside from frailty is Zihark showing up a little too quickly. Like, Chapter 6? Come on.

[Randa]

I don't think you meant inept wrath.: generally incompetent : bungling <inept leadershi>

Meriam webster dictionary.

[ClLoulD]

Laura

Laura is just...FE10's Moulder the healer that helps while she's there but she certainly isn't end game material and she is soon over shadowed by Micaiah. I know she gains access to light magic but Micaiah does that anyway and she also gains staves on promotion making Laura practicaly useless after part 1 and useless for part 4 because there are better bishops/saints out there and who uses them that often anyway? I know I know if you ACTUALLY invest in her she COULD be useful right?...Yeah, she isn't I mean even on easy mode you could put that same BEXP into Edward and just have him destroy everything with Nolan, Volug, Zihark and Jill. Just ditch her after part 1.

Pros

Staves

Light Magic on promotion

...

Cons

Where to start...

Level 1

Staff locked

Light magic sucks

Waste of CEXP/BEXP

Low defence

Doubled by everything

Low hp

Bad movement

Slow exp gain (11 exp a heal)

NM Rating 2.0

HM Rating 5.5 (Only because healing is needed so much more in HM)