Pairings: Gameplay Discussion

[grandjackal]

So, since I have this game, one thing I kinda wanna talk about is pairings from a gameplay point of view. Basically what supports are really good, and in conjunction how this brings you an awesome kid (potentially, I don't care about guys like Inigo). It's one thing to make an awesome kid, but it's better to get a great kid when you've had a great functioning support the whole way through. So I suppose in a way to promote discussion, I'd kinda brainstorm and give thoughts on characters and their supports, and see what others think on the functions.

Hard Mode in mind, my body is not ready for Lunatic. I don't even know if children are viable and worth the effort in Lunatic. Probably not.

Chrom

As a Support: Well, he can do one of two things. He can be a backup fighter for someone, or someone can support him so that he can ball out of control as he's fully capable of doing so. Sully appreciates the stats and could do with a backup fighter, and Sumia giving Chrom wings makes him absurd in some chapters (Namely the first few wyvern chapters where Plegia is trolling you, thank you Falchion having wyvernslayer). In fact, those are the two choices. Everyone else is stupid.

As a Parent: He's an awesome father for certain. Great bases, great growths, Lucina starts with Aether so hehas no worries on helping Lucina out so he can focus entirely on the mother's kid. All the skills he can hope to offer are pretty good. Charisma is just good to have and even better when you have 3 people stacking it, Dual Strike is just helpful if his mother's kid is a combat support, and Aether if they're facepunch support. Since Kjelle wants to reclass to Myrm, he makes an awesome father to her, and for Sumia he gives you a second baller flying unit (something that's actually kinda rare in this game). If we're talking female avatar...Good god, could you imagine that kid?

Avatar

As a Support: We all know he prefers to be in the action rather than behind. He/she is super flexible in what role you can give them, so it's more just finding a mother who can contain his awesome genetics to create a godchild. His support is pretty good on top of it, so generally anyone that wants a boost would like him. Panne imo is probably the best, since she needs a little help when she first reclasses to Wyvern Rider. This not only gets her out of that rut quick and become a super facedestroying galaxy killer, but it also pays off for Yarne.

As a Parent: Veteran is a golden skill to pass to a kid. Imo, there are two kids that stick out that would like him: Yarne and Larent. Larent because he wants to get Lifetaker as a Dark Knight along with benefit on how good Dark Knight is as a class+benefit from Avatar's better defensive growths, and Yarne so that he can get out of his rut and become another godlike destroyer like his mother. His kid, Morgan, might appreciate Rally Magic since if I recall, Rally uses ALL Rally skills you have so you can have this humongous magic boost, though there is also really any wyvern skill Panne can reach to give as well. Quick Burn looks pretty good.

Other Suggestions

You can also go female Avatar, something that is usually completely overlooked since many think that male Avatar is better since it allows Chrom and Avatar to spread out more awesomeness. However, there is also the idea of Chrom and Avatar hooking up to make supergods. It gives you two children with so many options since Avatar gives a nice balance of stats along with Veteran. In fact, Lucina can have a really unique option in that Avatar can pass down something like Ignis (if you're doing this coupling, doubt Avatar will have the level for Rally Spectrum), then she can instantly reclass to Tactician for Veteran, level for Solidarity, then swap to something else or stay as Grandmaster. Morgan will come instantly with just about all these skills, so he can just reclass to whatever he wants since Chrom gave her supergenes.

Lissa

As a Support: She's pretty bad. All a support does for her is serve as her bodyguard. She gives resistance and magic...Not that helpful. She can give an early boost to Avatar, but he's probably better off fathering someone else. Other than that, there's nothing really notable about her.

As a Parent: Stupid Lissa, why did you have to spawn a myrmidon? Of all the things that make no sense, it's a healer giving birth to a unit who's nothing but offense. She doesn't even give him anything good. The best thing she can offer him is Miracle. Extra healing does him no good, Luck Rally is lol...Resistance Rally might be ok for where magic is heavy, but who cares? Would you bring a Myrmidon for that? I can't even thin of a good father for him. Lonqu is pretty awful cause as a level 10, he already knows the things Lonqu would (Don't even bother thinking Astra, cause it's the shitty FE9 variety). She'd probably prefer a mate that puts meat on his bones. Kellam and Vaike come to mind, though Kellam has better things to do and Vaike isn't THAT good a bodyguard. Neither want her support either.

So yeah, Owain probably isn't worth it anyways.

Oh, I forgot about Fred...That would be good for Owain. Not an effective support though.

Sully

As a Support: To be honest, Cavalier bonuses are garbage. However, if you're using Sully, it should be for fighting and face punching. She'd prefer to be the one up front busting heads rather than being in someone's saddlebags. She's not that bad at it either, but she appreciates a good nudge to start her off. Chrom supplies her with speed along with a capable switch in case Sully needs to take the back role (to which Chrom being good all over doesn't mind the meh cav support), or Vaike who supplies her with a huge amount of Str and some Def. Vaike isn't all that dependable, however, what with his lol 6 speed and garbage cav support. It'll leave both to be rather short roled, and Kelle because of it will suffer with her bases.

As a Parent: Kinda depends on what you do with her. She gives pretty good stats, can offer the Myrm class to Lucina if she hooks up with Chrom, grants it to Kjelle (so that Vaike's Str could probably make reclassing worth it). Discipline is a pretty sick skill to pass to a non-cavalier who wants to class swap. So yeah, when it comes to parenting, Sully's not the problem. It's finding a good father. Chrom's pretty solid, but she limits Chrom in a way because Sully wants some of the action too, to which Chrom is just better at it.

Other Suggestions

Kjelle could also reclass to Cavalier, as it lets her retain her lance rank though she won't have the speed. Other stats will be better though, so for her fast leveling she'll probably appreciate a speed support more. Also, a Weapon Scroll let's her have D swords while having Silver Lances to all back on

Miriel

As a Support: Mage does not give that good a support, outside of an absurd boost to Magic. However, she can be flexible. She can be back or front, depending on who her support is. If she has a good defensive support like Fred or Kellam, she can probably fly ahead on Fred's horse to microwave something, or provide a blast of magic while Kellam tanks for her. Avatar can also be a good choice, as he supplies her with speed, and she in turns supplies him with magic. They can easily work well off one another, and her kid will probably come out of it incredible (along with having Veteran).

As a Parent: Considering her kid is the same class as her at level 10, she would prefer to be level 5 promoted before meeting with him to give him a new skill. She might want to go Sage in this case, so that when Larent promotes to Dark Knight, he has Rally Magic for the likes of Tharja and Avatar. As for a father, as mentioned above, Avatar makes a pretty good one for her. Outside of him though, no one really gives Miriel a father that would do her son any good. Ricken I guess gives growths though he also overlaps...It's pretty tough for Miriel. Her son really is destined to be a clone of her.

Sumia

As a support: She offers some good speed, a nice res padding when it counts, but more importantly she offers wings. Anyone that wants to jump terrain and wreck face greatly appreciates her, along with anyone who needs the speed to become that facewrecker. Frederick is a good one, as he gives her +1 move, can function as her bodyguard, or he can supply her with the defensive stats so that she can take the action herself (though her HP usually keeps her form doing so). Chrom is an amazing frontliner with a need for a pegasus, and while Chrom will hog all the glory for himself, Chrom will be good enough to give his kids great bases regardless of how much action Sumia sees. Avatar is a unit that appreciates flying so he can abuse Veteran sooner.

As a Parent: Depends on the father. Chrom for example kinda shuts her down and gives her kids nothing useful aside from +2 Speed for Lucina. If she's more frontliner like if you gave her Frederick, she can potentially get to level 5 promoted to actually give her kid something, such as Rally Speed or Rally Movement (Since I doubt Sumia will be used too long term, and again works well with an Avatar support if we go Dark Flier). Otherwise, mostly it's the father who does the most for Cynthia. Though in the case of Chrom, she DOES supply Lucina with a pegasus reclass...

Mariabelle

As a Support: A healer that offers magic support, but unlike Lissa she also supplies a horse. This makes Avatar a good potential choice, since he likes magic and speed. Outside of that, it's Ricken as a father and Miriel for...Yeah, Mariabelle only really helps Avatar, and he has better things to do/better options (like Panne).

As a Parent: It's kinda silly how she can help Brady. If you're nuts about leveling Mariabelle, she can give him Demoiselle for a male only Charisma, and the father can give him...Whatever, he's a healer, he's not asking for much. Ricken can give him Magic+2 or potentially Rally Magic if you went super nuts on the leveling aspect on both these characters (which case, you are nuts). To be honest, there's so many ways to heal in this game that Brady probably just doesn't cut it unless he reclasses. You'd probably want him to go mage, so...Yeah, I dunno.

Panne

As a Support: Really, she just wants a boost so that she can be capable in combat for when she can get to level 10, so she can reclass to Wyvern Rider and go nuts. Avatar's support can do just that, though anyone with some extra durability or speed works fine. She's another unit that prefers combat to support.

As a Parent: Well considering how abusable she can be with her power, she can potentially give Yarne any good wyvern skill such as +2 Strength or Quick Burn. Since Yarne is a Taguel, this means he would do anything for Veteran, so again, Avatar to the rescue (along with giving Yarne some super boss base stats). Really, I think Avatar is so good a choice for her that anything else ust seems silly really.

Cordelia

As a Support: See Sumia, but comes later when Chrom is already married, Avatar is boning Panne, so now she has other potential mates to help out. Again, really anyone who can make use of wings and a speed boost. In fact, Gregor is one such unit.

As a Parent: She's probably more concerned about this than she is of who she's supporting since she has plenty of options. Hell, even Donnel is an option since he's probably stopped sucking by the time she shows up, and can give Severa the Aptitude skill. Cordelia starts high enough that with a little bit of minimum effort she can probably give Severa a Rally ability without much effort, which then she can focus on the father, or vice versa. Severa would probably appreciate some beef to go on her, so Kellam or Gregor are pretty good options (Gregor probably being the better choice. As for the father, Kellam can give her something like +2 Def, while Gregor could do something like reclass to give her Despoil, seeing as she's gonna get Sol anyways. I did something silly, namely I let her and Gaius team up so that potentially she could have unique things like Locktouch, +1 Movement, or even a promoted thief skill like Lethality or Lucky 7. There's a lot of options for Severa.

Nowi

As a Support: Provides some artillery along with +2 Strength and some additional beef. However, that's a pretty awful support unless you already have speed. Considering Nowi is a growth unit, she would probably prefer to frontline. Anyone that gives speed would be nice, like Lonqu.

As a Parent: Not much she can do for her kid other than give her an earlier Wyrmsbane. Really, it's up to the father to supply her with the things Nowi can't, like stats. Speed being the big one, so Lonqu is again a good choice. Not much I can say really, Nah is pretty straightforward in her needs.

Cherche

As a Support: You can promote her ASAP to be a Gryphon or a Wyvern Lord. Gryphon is far more unique, and gives some pretty good boosts. As far as stats go, she's already pretty balanced out. Could probably just give her a support that builds off that and gives her more. Libra sounds pretty good for her actually.

As a Parent: As a Gryphon, she gives her son a pretty awesome Deliverer skill, along with some well balanced stats. Gerome's not really hurting for good skills or much of anything really. So again, Libra's probably pretty good. Solid bases and good skills form himself and his mom.

Tharja

As a Support: Would prefer to frontlines, and someone that gives her more durability and magic to hit hard and not care. Henry's pretty perfect for her.

As a Parent: Uhhhh, Noire. She'd probably prefer to being a Dark Mage rather than a lolArcher. That being said, she won't be hurting for promoted skills earlier, since this pair has a ton of options. Henry can give her an early Vengeance, and Tharja an early Anathema to make Noire instantly into the perfect Nosferatank. Well, maybe not statistically...Noire's not that good, but that's not why you use Tharja.

Edited March 16, 2013 by grandjackal

[NinjaMonkey]

The best thing she can offer him is Miracle.

Surely Renewal would be a better skill to pass down to Owain than Miracle?

[Just call me AL]

Surely Renewal would be a better skill to pass down to Owain than Miracle?

Assuming she can even get up to Level 15 as a War Cleric. Which will likely be only done through grinding. Passing down Renewal is just unviable otherwise.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Little Al

[Bryan]

Assuming she can even get up to Level 15 as a War Cleric. Which will likely be only done through grinding. Passing down Renewal is just unviable otherwise.

Wut. Why would you screw over her kid by not passing down gale force?

This list is all kinds of stupid. Chrom offers nothing of value to kjelle. Sully wants donnel for arms thrift and gale force access. Lucinia wants olivia or Sumia for peg knight and galeforce. Olivia is the best pairing since it gives Lucinia everything she wants.

And inigo is a boss child. He has access to evey class he ever wants before taking his faters into account.

[Just call me AL]

Because this list is assuming an efficient playstyle in play, and doesn't really allow much if any room for grinding by default.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Little Al

[Konnor97]

As a Parent: He's an awesome father for certain. Great bases, great growths, Lucina starts with Aether so hehas no worries on helping Lucina out so he can focus entirely on the mother's kid. All the skills he can hope to offer are pretty good. Charisma is just good to have and even better when you have 3 people stacking it, Dual Strike is just helpful if his mother's kid is a combat support, and Aether if they're facepunch support.

Uh, what skill Chrom passes down depends on the gender of the kid. If it's female, then it's Aether, and males get Rightful King.

[Bryan]

Because this list is assuming an efficient playstyle in play, and doesn't really allow much if any room for grinding by default.

Then don't get the kids. I get hella low turn counts a d my kids are still awesome. I use them right from the get go. Just use around eight characters, it's faster than using more anyway. You're not forced to get the kids, so why would I pass down speed+2?!? Loolololollolol.

[grandjackal]

Bryan, go be silly somewhere else.

Uh, what skill Chrom passes down depends on the gender of the kid. If it's female, then it's Aether, and males get Rightful King.

Oh, my bad. Guess he's the odd horse in that sense.

[I.M. Gei]

Uh Chrom doesn't pass down Myrmidon (he can't be one), Sully's the one who passes the class set down to Kjelle

[Redwall]

So, since I have this game, one thing I kinda wanna talk about is pairings from a gameplay point of view. Basically what supports are really good, and in conjunction how this brings you an awesome kid (potentially, I don't care about guys like Inigo). It's one thing to make an awesome kid, but it's better to get a great kid when you've had a great functioning support the whole way through. So I suppose in a way to promote discussion, I'd kinda brainstorm and give thoughts on characters and their supports, and see what others think on the functions.

Hard Mode in mind, my body is not ready for Lunatic. I don't even know if children are viable and worth the effort in Lunatic. Probably not.

A lot of people swear by Lon'qu/Panne and like to use both in combat while building up that S support. In that pairing, I like to have Panne as the lead combat unit exclusively since she makes a better lead combat unit than...almost everyone not named Avatar.

Any child character who inherits Veteran or Rally Spectrum is pretty much a showstopper, whether on Hard or on Lunatic. Lucina with Veteran needs almost no investment to become better than Say'ri since she gains nearly 100 EXP per paired-up kill for a long time. Although it sounds effective, I've never tried sticking Veteran on Yarne since Lucina comes a bit earlier and has many easy opportunities to get kills in the midgame chapters--Chs 14 and 15 feature a lot of weak mounted/armored units that she can ORKO. As for Rallybots, I'd say they're comparatively less useful on Hard since your other units are generally going to be pretty capable fighters with or without that +4 boost, but they're still really handy. From a HM LTC standpoint, getting a child Rallybot is probably not worth the turns, but Lucina needs no turncount investment and hence works great as the daughter of Avatar.

[Just call me AL]

Uh Chrom doesn't pass down Myrmidon (he can't be one), Sully's the one who passes the class set down to Kjelle

I'm thinking you misread. The OP said that Kjelle might want to go Myrmidon. He didn't say that Chrom passed it down to her.

[Dark Sage]

I have no idea why Kjelle would want to go Myrmidon though. Wouldn't she prefer promoting to Great Knight or reclassing to Cav to keep her lance rank while still gaining swords?

[grandjackal]

I have no idea why Kjelle would want to go Myrmidon though. Wouldn't she prefer promoting to Great Knight or reclassing to Cav to keep her lance rank while still gaining swords?

Reclassing to cav is another good idea that I completely forgot. Reason I don't consider an instapromote to Great Knight is that her base speed combined with slow leveling due to promotion hurts a lot. Not even a speed support like Lonqu was saving her. So an easier fix would just be to abuse fast leveling while giving her a strength or defensive boosting support.

Cav sounds a lot better though now that you mention it, on the basis that with a weapons scroll she can have D swords on top of Silver Lance access to fall back on.

[Florete]

Haven't read the whole thing yet, but

Chrom

As a Support: Well, he can do one of two things. He can be a backup fighter for someone, or someone can support him so that he can ball out of control as he's fully capable of doing so. Sully appreciates the stats and could do with a backup fighter, and Sumia giving Chrom wings makes him absurd in some chapters (Namely the first few wyvern chapters where Plegia is trolling you, thank you Falchion having wyvernslayer). In fact, those are the two choices. Everyone else is stupid.

Avatar x Chrom?

You people and always treating Avatar as male. Since you're going for the highest level of efficiency here, I'm pretty sure Avatar x Chrom is the way to go for the Lucina and Morgan you'll get. Thing is, if Avatar is female, Chrom is really the only viable option (since you lose out on getting Avatar bonuses for a second child), so it is kind of restrictive, but that shouldn't really matter here.

[grandjackal]

Haven't read the whole thing yet, but

Avatar x Chrom?

You people and always treating Avatar as male. Since you're going for the highest level of efficiency here, I'm pretty sure Avatar x Chrom is the way to go for the Lucina and Morgan you'll get. Thing is, if Avatar is female, Chrom is really the only viable option (since you lose out on getting Avatar bonuses for a second child), so it is kind of restrictive, but that shouldn't really matter here.

You raise a good point.

Should I edit my OP to fix these other good/better ideas in? Or should I just let it ride in the topic?

[Florete]

If you want to preserve the original post ideas, you can just add in the extras however you want, like with spoiler tags or something. It really depends on how far this topic goes, since if it goes for a while, an updated first post would be a handy resource.

[grandjackal]

I'll edit them in. Even if it doesn't go for a while, it's still a nice and handy suggestion list for whoever just wants to browse.

[Florete]

Minor thing here: Avatar (F) produces Morgan (M) (you refer to Morgan as "she" when pairing Chrom and Avatar). Unfortunately. Though it is significant since it means Avatar needs to pass down Galeforce if Morgan wants it.

[grandjackal]

Minor thing here: Avatar (F) produces Morgan (M) (you refer to Morgan as "she" when pairing Chrom and Avatar). Unfortunately. Though it is significant since it means Avatar needs to pass down Galeforce if Morgan wants it.

Galeforce is a pretty damn late ability to get by the time you get Morgan (which is immediately).

Fixed the gender reference though.

[Titamon]

Having used Fredrick!Owain, I can honestly say he's not very good.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Merry Sioux

[Galenforcer]

Most of the children are pretty inferior to the parents without training.

My Sumia!Morgan is only just as strong as the rest of us, only with less defense and no supports built up.

[grandjackal]

Figure I might as well do a write up on the fathers. Will be longer, but it helps flesh out the ideas.

Chrom and Avatar were already detailed. So, we'll start with the first suitor available to the team.

Frederick

As a Support: For how early he shows up, you either want a support that lets him fully unleash his badass earlygame fury, or you want someone that he turns into a badass since he gives astoundingly good bonuses for how early he shows up thanks to his class of Great Knight. The former usually results in an easier earlygame, but the latter gives you a strong kid for a better lategame since Frederick will just drop off eventually. Even if you can get him to 10 and reclass him to something like Gryphon Knight, without boosts he just falls off. If you want the former, Stahl gives him more mobility so he can get up to the front lines faster, and then punch things with astounding force. Sumia on the other hand gets everything she'd ever need from Frederick, and he even grants her additional movement on top of it. It also helps that he has a pretty sweet base Skill, which just adds a pleasant bonus to Dual Attack, which can help with one's player phase.

As a Father: His bases are pretty secure, so again you want someone who will want levels and tasty stats while he plays the passive role. He and Sumia are practically a match made in heaven in this sense, since he lets her become pretty crazy early, and lets her jump into what normally would be dangerous situations since when you get to that point you can just switch to Fred where he will then be where he shouldn't, kicking even more ass than if he just hoofed it. He'd make Cynthia really well balanced while Sumia will supply the absurd amount of speed. That being said, Frederick will not be giving good skills. You're pretty much strapped for either Discipline, Outdoor Fighter or Luna, two of the 3 of which are garbage, and the other is a tier 1 level 1 ability to which she could get by class swapping if she really wanted to. You can wait till he hits 15 for Dual Guard+, or class swap him when he hits level 10 so he can reach level 5 for something like Quick Burn or Carrier, but by then it would be reeeeeeeeeal late into the game, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of getting Cynthia whom you can get..fairly early I wanna say? Her chapter isn't that difficult.

Virion

As a Support: He's pretty heavily outclassed by just about anyone, namely Vake who gives the same bonuses and more, and even then the bonuses aren't that helpful that early on. Virion's kinda up a creek in that sense, cause no one wants him on point as the acting man.

As a Father: He can't father if no one wants to put up with his mediocre ass in the first place. Even if they did, what does he give? Skill+2? That silly player phase skill? He reclasses to Wyvern, so he gives Strength+2? Which they could get anyways if they class swapped with the classes he himself gives? He won't be giving stats, that's for sure. Yeah, Virion sucks even in having sex. This is not what all true warriors strive for.

Stahl

As a Support: Well, he gives the classic Horse, and with his stats he can have a bit more profound effects with his strong stats, Strength and Defense. The issue is that he's just kind of a poor man's Frederick, since Sumia doesn't mind Strength and Defense, and Stahl loves him some speed. That's kind of the sucky part though, only support that he wants that gives speed is Chrom can get better out of sully since her base speed is higher so she can make use of his support as well. He has to wait for Gaius or Lonqu for a speed support. In fairness, they'd love him as a support too, especially Gaius to make use of his utility.

As a Father: Depends on how he goes, really. He could stay cav and hit it up with Panne, having the fortune of plenty of his own time to build levels before Panne decides to hog all the glory. That's not cool either though, cause sticking as a cav is something he's just not all that great as. He can class swap into a Myrm, which works great considering his beef, his need for speed, and the fact that he's all about the sword rank. However, he could either be waiting for Cordelia if he wants speed, or even longer for Cherche if he wants to give speed instead. I'm sure Jerome wouldn't mind a free Vantage. So yeah, his issue with being a father is more in finding the right woman in time to actually make use of it. He needs help quick, and no one really wants to give it to him. Poor Stahl.

Vake

As a Support: He gives a pretty fat Str bonus of 4 off the bat, 5 with just a single Str level up, along with a nice bonus of +2 Def. If you already have speed, this is a pretty nice bonus to have. He wouldn't mind playing the passive role to someone who already has speed, like Chrom or Lonqu. His base speed of 6 kinda screws him at a chance for playing hero, but he doesn't seem to mind. At least he's a good teach in that sense.

As a Father: Well in fairness, he's in a fairly unique position in that he's forced the Fighter role, a class characters normally don't want to touch on account of it being awful. If by some miracle he ever hits 10, he has some pretty good options. Like, he could just swap to Thief to give his kid Locktouch for some free utility, Despoil for coinage (though you never are in a shortage for gold), could rush to level 5 as a Hero or Warrior for Sol, or could just give his +5 HP since again no one wants to touch the Fighter class. Bigger issue is that since his real use is s short lived, he wants to be a father to someone early like Sully or Sumia. While he makes good for both, he's kinda outclassed. If Chrom is going for Avatar, Vaike totally has a shot with Sully since Stahl and her overlap classes hardcore. Kjelle would end up being super beefy. He also gives some pretty cool class options too.

Kellam

As a Support: Again, he plays it pretty passive, though luckily there are a few chapters on his arrival that could make use of him. He would prefer to protect those that need the extra defense, like Sumia, Lonqu (Lonqu being the good one, as Kellam gives him just enough defense. Lonqu's evasion works well enough against axes) and Cordelia.

As a Father: It's pretty hard to get him anywhere. He's got a high base level, but his use really is super passive. If you're determined though, it's probably best to rush him to 10/5 as a General for Defense Rally (Trust me, Great Knight doesn't help him any better with his offense). He can class swap, but when your options are Thief and Priest, you're probably better off just junking him ASAP. Kellam's kinda screwed in pairings that actually want him though, so finding someone who actually can mate with him is uh...Difficult.

Donnel

As a Support: Skill and Luck? Get out of my face, Donny. Really, what Donny needs is help and not even Frederick can give him enough of a boost to manage. If by some miracle someone finds a way to pull it of without wasting a lot of time, congratulations. If you can hit level 10 though quick enough and reclass him, he gets better, but that is some serious work.

As a Father: Well, you put up with the farmer this long, might as well reap the harvest. If you really went the extra mile, they'll at least have some good stats, provided you got him a late-arriving kid. Kinda depends on who you want him to pair up with. Tharja would like some Speed and Defense, which is what Mercenary gives (along with some Luck since Donny has a metric shitton and Thara would like any). Cordelia would like more oomph, and Fighter can give it along with some extra padding. I'd imagine Cherche likes Merc too. Regardless, the big thing he'd pass down is Aptitude, a skill unique to him that just gives the kid a ridiculous boost in growths. I think Noire's chapter is easier than Severa's, so I think Noire would thank you more for it since she'd actually arrive some point this year.

Lonqu

As a Support: He can do fine as on point, or as support since there are characters out there who would like his speed+his tag teaming with a Killer Edge. Quite a few tanky guys out there willing to give him a hand, like Stahl or Kellam, or Vake to help with the facepunching. With Killing Edge in hand, he can cleanly ORKO early pretty effortlessly

As a Father: That being said, the issue isn't him passing down skills or stats, it's finding a female unit that pairs up well with him. Sully is probably taken by now, and most other women don't give him what he needs: Strength and Defense. That being said, there is one shining star: Cherche. Wyvern gives him just what he needs on top of flight, and it comes later so he has enough time to actually train up and be of use to her. I'm sure Jerome will be very thankful for the speed and Vantage.

Ricken

As a Support: He can give magic and take magic alike. While he doesn't double, oftentimes he hits hard enough that a support chipping in can easily handle what's left. So, he'd prefer to support up with someone with a high ability to tag team fools, or just tag up with another mage. Miriel, Avatar, or generally anyone that doubles but would also like a heavy blast to avoid wasting weapon uses/avoid counterattacks. The bigger question is who wants him.

As a Father: Chances are, nobody. If Avatar and Miriel aren't getting it on, then Miriel would probably prefer to be a spinster since Ricken overlaps classes super hard on the entire family despite how much he could actually help Miriel out. Few mothers want a magician, his only other real options being Tharja and Miriabelle. Miriabelle is a really lousy support for him. She offers him a horse and some magic, but they don't solve his bigger problem of being able to kill things on his own. Tharja would take a while to get good, and Tharja would much prefer a support that gives speed and/or defense, but it wouldn't be too bad. Noire's terrible as a physical fighter, and gains a lot of magical talent from her mother. Ricken opens plenty of doors for Noire, in that he can give her something like Rally Magic so she can be an aura as a Dark Mage, or +2 Magic to help her a bit more in getting out of her meh start. Noire's not that good anwyays, so Ricken probably shouldn't be patting himself on the back for this.

Gaius

As a Support: Provides some skill and speed. Not as much as Lonqu, but Gaius also gives +1 Move which is a fairly rare thing, and very helpful if you want to be a badass deeper into the battle. So, he'd like to pair up with someone who's already badass.

As a Father: Panne is one of those options. She wants to get to level 10 early to reclass and become a badass wyvern rider, and he lets her reach places she never could before. Cherche is another option to him, seeing as he's Lonqu Lite, but also has the silly option of +1 move to a unit with Carrier, giving Cherche some absurd move. As for skills, he can pass down some handy things. +1 Movement's never a bad thing, though if you're going to end up in the saddlebags it's not that helpful (Yarne as a Taguel wants to reclass ASAP, so chances are he will need assistance. Lucky, Jerome doesn't have this problem), Locktouch gives you an excuse to not use thieves (or ya know, use your keys), and if he can get to level 5 promotion, can even give Lucky 7 or Lethality depending on what class you took. Pass, or that Trickster level 15 thing to me is a bit...unrealistic.

Gregor

As a Support: Gregor is lucky that he has the strength and skill to allow to be played passively along with mercenary's solid defensive boosts, but is fast enough that with a proper support can be facepunch explosion. Gregor's fairly flexible, all things considered....No really, that's it. He can pair up with just about anyone, and it can work.

As a Father: As a father though, he'd probably want someone that has speed nice and secure, since his growth isn't that great so on top of it he'll have a kinda low base. Cordelia's a pretty good match for him. Tharja is...Well, it's a one sided support, but Tharja likes it that way. Lets her ball out of control early, and then she can make it up to him later, or you can try to work him in every now and then. I had the absurdly funny instance of Noire with Lifetaker+Sol...Hilarious, I know. Anyways, he does also pass down some great skills. In fact, he has a lot of options depending on how long you take to get his kid. He can have Sol, Armsthrift, Axebreaker...Pretty awesome stuff to hand down. Does make a problem for Severa though: He completely overlaps on her. Rally Skill and Bowbreaker are not going to be any better. Think the best he can do for her is Gamble.

Libra

As a Support: Gives fairly balanced supports. Is a short term unit, so he doesn't mind playing it passive. Generally can pair up with anyone, magic or physical.

As a Father: Probably better to pass him up for someone else, if only due to meh growths. He doesn't pass down any particularly helpful skills either, nor class sets. If you could get Renewal though, that would be cool...would take too long though.

Henry

As a Support: Gives a pretty hearty amount of defense and magic. Pretty straightforward really. If you got tank, he can facefront and Nosferatank harder, and he can do the same with a mage since bare minimum it would let Nosferatu heal him 2 more HP. His speed is so terrible, it's never going to be fixed.

As a Father: He and Noire seem a pretty natural pair, and it lets Noire become a pretty potent Dark Mage, though that again comes with the overlapping problem. They'd need to go seperate ways to let her inherit different skills, and between them there's not much one can split between. Henry can also be a helpful late option for Miriam, since he gives defense she needs while she gives him spme speed to help avoid some more doubles. Let's Laurent inherit a dark magic skill along with some Sage ability so he can just go Dark Knight and proceed to not care.

Edited March 18, 2013 by grandjackal

[Just call me AL]

Umm... Sumia and Kellam can't be paired up with each other no matter what you do.

Also, wouldn't Lon'qu X Sully wind up in as much class overlap as Sully X Stahl?

Edited March 18, 2013 by Little Al

[grandjackal]

Umm... Sumia and Kellam can't be paired up with each other no matter what you do.

I keep forgetting how garbage Sumia's list of suitors is.

Also, wouldn't Lon'qu X Sully wind up in as much class overlap as Sully X Stahl?

No, cause the additional speed he provides lets Kjelle go Cavalier just fine.