The Great Knoll Debate

[DragonBladeSniper]

I voted yes because I don't mind tower abusing at all or buying promotion items.

[Sublime Manic]

I voted no. I don't find him "worthwhile", but he does have his uses as a Summoner when using him I guess.

Promoted at level 10 to a Summoner the chapter I get him (meaning I could care less about his stats), his phantoms can be used in the fog of war chapter you defend Mansel to see go out and see things before you get there. If they walk into an enemy that one of your real units would have wasted their turns walking into, Knoll served a purpose. If they lure an enemy that you otherwise wouldn't have seen, Knoll served a purpose. And his phantoms are somewhat useful on the gorgon egg chapter also.

For me,

Worthwhile>unique utility>useless.

But are phantoms worth a guiding ring? Hell no. He's just fun to play once in a while.

[sandmanccl]

how the hell is this poll tied???

Definition of the phrase "worthwhile."

I'm of the mind a unit doesn't have to have the best stats out there in order to be useful and worth the time to raise them up. Knoll offers a fantastic intangible for my playstyle: unlimited bait units. Throwaways I can use to lure out, say, enemy gargoyles, which otherwise would have attacked and severely injured/killed my weaker units.

His support tree, while it's pretty limited, just means if you want to use him outside of the creature campaign, you plan around it. All three of his options are pretty good units in their own right (Duessel more so on Ephraim's campaign but that's not really the point) and honestly, I've never payed much attention to specific elemental affinities outside of the Radiant sub-series. If they are getting whatever bonus it is, that's usually good enough for me because it's more about who they are with than the slight extra boosts they get.

Remember, I never said "IS KNOLL THE BEST GUY IN TEH GAIM??!!" but simply asked if people raised him up and found him to be a useful member of their team. I've already stated why I think the biggest argument against him (that of his miserable defenses) doesn't really affect my opinion of him, same way it doesn't really affect my opinion of Micaiah in Radiant Dawn or hell, any of the other sage/bishop options inside Sacred Stones (except Moulder the Boulder, who is oddly enough one of the most durable units in the whole series.)

I also don't really find the whole "But you could just promote another guy with your guiding ring instead" to be very valid because you get, like, 6 of them throughout the plot assuming you steal the one or two that you can. You have to be seriously magic-heavy if he's genuinely stealing a rank-up item from someone else you were planning on using for end-game.