How to Choose Pairings

[Byte2222]

Ok, I've seen plenty of threads asking about what pairings to use or if their pairings are good but I don't think I've seen any with advice on how to choose. What do you guys recommend basing the choice on? Growths? Class sets and skills? Cap modifiers? Please enlighten me.

[singularity]

I think most people made their pairings based off skills and class sets, sometimes mods but the class and the skills got prioritized.

[Zerker]

For Morgan, prioritize cap modifiers as skills don't really matter for him/her.

For the other pairings, prioritize classes and skills.

[Tables]

In game: It's all about inheritance. Skills and base stats are king, with side story difficulty also being a factor. For example, Chrom x Olivia, often shipped as the best pairing for postgame, is far and away the worst for in-game, because of these factors. It also means other pairings I'd choose mainly on who I'm training up. Avatar x someone is fairly common, ideally someone who'll have a relatively easy side story so I can get the two Morgans.

Post game: Honestly, pairings here matter a lot less, because any children can easily clear everything. But if you want to optimise, it's generally best to maximise good points and neglect weaknesses than to try and balance things out. You can do a lot more with a Sage and a Wyvern Lord than you can with two Dark Knights. Galeforce inheritance is also very nice and well worth considering where possible (I believe Gaius, Donnel and Avatar can pass on Galeforce to Kjelle, Nah and Noire, while Maribelle, Lissa and Olivia can pass it to their sons).

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

You can have Morgan's parent be anyone. Boy or girl, they destroy everything.

[Folt]

Classes and skills for most characters.

Cap modifiers for Morgan (any of them), as Morgan already has access to just about every normal class and skill in the game (that's not barred by gender, character, or race) + the Tactician tree, and can get Galeforce through F!Avatar inheritance (if male) anyways, or learn it normally (if female). Though the Avatar's ridiculous genes means that you can go with one of the "restricted" first-gen characters and get something good anyways.

[Volke29]

I would say skill set. I didn't really look into stat base too much. I married couples based on their personalities. Had loads more fun that way.

Last skill on parents is the skill the child will receive, BTW.

[Nobody]

Class sets/ skill are the priority, with modifiers being a distant second place. Like, the pairings bellow are pretty good because the children get good classes and mods:
Stahl x Cordelia

MU x Nowi

Chrom x Olivia

Sumia x Hnery

Maribelle x Lon qu

Lissa x Ricken

Miriel x Gregor

Tharja x Gaius

Cherche x Frederick

Panne x Kellam

Sully x Vaike

Edited July 9, 2013 by Nobody

[Airship Canon]

First off, decide if you want a "Morgan Focus" or not. Morgan Focus means "Marry 2nd Gen, get 3rd Gen Morgan". This works great and easily matches or exceeds the benefit of all classes on another kid, depending on who you marry.

Afterwards:

Classes > Skills > Mods for non Morgan kids. Don't ignore mods though: Mix it- some kids want nothing but mods (Read: The Non-Galeforce Boys: Gerome, Laurent, Yarne-- these guys are pretty much built for being hard supports, except Laurent who only needs a Vantage to wreck as a Tank (and of course in addition to them, Morgan, Who gets all classes/skills as-is) where as skill sets and class availability matter for everyone else.

But, here's a catch, think your playing style first, and remember characters don't exist in a vacuum. You can do great things throwing GDL on everything willy-nilly, at the same time, it might just be better to have some good ole hard supports in there- something like Vaike!Gerome (best hard support in the game, if you ask me).

[BlueFire]

I use the avatar's class set to give the worst kid I want to use the best skill options. Morgan will be fine anyways since he/she already copies your avatar's modifiers as some of his/hers.

[Prometheus]

From what I've seen (and all of these, save Noire, are assuming that the child will be played in their default class, unless the player desires otherwise):

Cherche - Gerome is a powerful unit. Prioritize defense against projectiles. Paladins like Stahl (and Frederick after a reclassing) make great fathers for Aegis, as does Virion for Bowbreaker.

Nowi - MU and Donnel are naturally good partner choices.

Maribelle - As a Priest, Brady is naturally squishy. MU is a great choice of father (especially with HP asset) for his strong growths and Ignis, which is potentially amazing on a War Monk. Kellam is also a strong choice.

Sumia - Cynthia's pretty much amazing regardless. Henry for Dark Flyer Cynthia. Chrom can donate Aether. All of her husband choices have something to bring to the table.

Lissa - MU can be a good partner, as Ignis helps make up for the otherwise bad stat contribution that Lissa gives him. Gregor can contribute Sol to increase Owain's survivability.

Panne - One of the primary problems of a Taguel is a lack of powerful offensive skills. Lon'qu can contribute Astra to make up for this. Frederick, Kellam, or Stahl can give Yarne Luna.

Sully - Kjelle is a pretty flexible daughter. As a general, she has powerful defensive utilities, but lacks offensive skills, making a more damage-oriented father wise. As a Great Knight, Luna synergizes with Chrom's Rightful King quite nicely (and Lucina would probably benefit from the skills Sully brings to the table as a Paladin or Great Knight).

Cordelia - Cordelia can contribute Gale Force to Severa. That along with Sol is more than enough to keep the young tsundere alive. Focus on the offensive side. Lon'qu is a strong choice for Astra, as is (Great Knight) Stahl for Luna. Gaius for Lethality is not optimal, but is a last resort if other fathers are taken.

Olivia - Pretty much the same as Cordelia, except with the addition of Chrom as a potential mate. Rightful King can be quite powerful on Inigo, and Lucina can benefit from the potential Galeforce from Olivia.

Tharja - Probably better off changing to a magic user, to capitalize on the modifiers from Tharja. With MU as her father, she's a wrecking ball.

Edited July 9, 2013 by Prometheus

[singularity]

Kids with unfitting stats for their class: Owain and Noire(maybe Brady if he's a War Monk but Bolt Axes)

Since Tharja's mods doesn't reduce Strength, she's still somewhat viable for Sniper.

Poor Owain has -2 mods though, so he's mostly a magical unit despite his sword hand. He's still viable as a physical unit though.

[Skarthe]

The Avatar is pretty much the best pairing for anyone of the opposite gender, so that's really a matter of where MU is best used, which depends on what you're after. Maximum Galeforce distribution puts MaMU with Nowi, Sully, or Tharja (Donnel and Gaius get the other two). Maximum single-unit optimization puts MU with a child character, and which one depends, again, on what you're after. You can give female Morgan a stupidly high defense cap by doing something like Kellam!Nah!Morgan or male Morgan a really high strength cap by going Vaike!Gerome!Morgan or anything you want, really. Morgan can be basically whatever the hell you want if you build your file around it.

Otherwise, yeah, generally class > skill > mods for anyone you aren't pairing with MU.

[HeoandReo]

For the most part, I try to pick based on class selection and class synergy(i.e. how well the classes work together for the child's particular role or roles). Good mods are a bonus, if anything.

I also enjoy being creative with pairing and doing uncommon builds that nevertheless seem to turn out effective, such as Nosferatank Kjelle, Stahl!Severa as a Sorcerer, physical Noire, magic Yarne/Gerome, mobile tanks, make everyone who can into Galeforce Snipers, that sort of stuff.

[shadowofchaos]

I only have two kids on this file.

SO I CHOSE THE THIRD OPTION: NO PAIRINGS EXCEPT FOR FORCED MARRIAGE. MWUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

...by the way, don't listen to me. I'm like one of the worst people to ask when it comes to actual gameplay pairings... because I actually don't give a damn.

Edited July 9, 2013 by shadowofchaos

[Da Bear]

Use Hubba.

Only way 2 play.

[Lissa's Husband]

Isn't it obvious just to get Male My Unit with Lissa?

[Mighty Kamina]

Isn't it obvious just to get Male My Unit with Lissa?

If your Avatar's asset is strength and if your going for optimization Lissa is not a good choice. She's alright if your Avatar's asset is magic though.

Who am I to talk though? I pair Avatar with Cordelia when their are children who want him as their father.

Edited July 9, 2013 by Virion

[euklyd]

Two words:

Hair. Color.

Hair color all day, everyday, all the way; nothing else matters.

...don't believe me?

Classes and skills, then. Vantage on a Tome-wielder is great, and Galeforce is always nice. Keep in mind which characters pass gender-locked classes (Vaike, Gaius, Donnel, etc) and pass skills accordingly (basically, pass gender-locked skills).

Mods are of lesser importance, usually, and to varying extents. Growths come last.

Do you want specific advice, or just general guidelines?

[Folt]

Well, for specific advice, I usually go with these options:

* ChromxSumia (Most versatile Lucina, has such a great set of skills and classes that she's able to do mostly anything. Also makes the best tank!Lucina thanks to access to Pavise/Aegis in combination with Rightful King and/or other skills.)

* LissaxHenry (Sorcerer or Dread Fighter Owain.)

* OliviaxVirion (Makes for quite the versatile Inigo.)

* LibraxMaribelle (Sorcerer!Brady)

* SullyxVaike (Axefaire and Luna + Pavise/Aegis for a physical Helswath General tank, and good enough skill to ensure it will activate often. If you're worried about using up Helswath, Vaike also passes down Mercenary to Kjelle, for Armsthrift.)

* Lon'quxCordelia (Speedy Hero Severa with all -breaker skills, and terrific dodge skills)

* GregorxCherche (Very strong physically offensive Gerome.)

* FrederickxPanne (Pavise/Aegis + Axefaire and Luna Yarne makes for a nice Berserker, with decent stats all around. Having 46 Speed as a Berserker also helps in this regard.)

* KellamxMiriel (Gives Priest to help with staffbotting and other goodies, but Kellam also gives Luna if you want to go with something more offensive regarding Laurent.)

* TharjaxRicken (+6 Magic Pavise/Aegis + Luna and Tomefaire Sorcerer or Dark Knight is fucking awesome for a magical tank!)

* StahlxNowi (Good Strength and Defense + access to Luna and Aegis, makes for a good tank Manakete Nah.)

[Naui]

Personally, I could care less for skill, class, and stat mods, because I play for fun (at least in terms of my normal run). Playing for maximization just isn't my style, though I know that some pairings make the children into very powerful and sometimes broken units. I can respark the old debate of Japanese supports > Localized supports since a few supports were a result of those, but I mostly just paired each unit to whoever I felt like putting them with like Vaike and Sully and Frederick and Cherche. Support convos are my main reason for pairings.

I mean in the end I got some solid kids, stat, skill, and aesthetic wise. Other than my dislike of Stahl!Brady's hair color, I'm rather happy with the results.

Edited July 9, 2013 by Naui

[FrostyFireMage]

I'm forever shipping VirionxLissa and not giving a crap about Owain's lack of proc skills.

Any character with access to the Cavalier, Knight, Mercenary or Pegasus Knight class makes great children anyway.

[Chaotix]

Personally, I could care less for skill, class, and stat mods, because I play for fun (at least in terms of my normal run). Playing for maximization just isn't my style, though I know that some pairings make the children into very powerful and sometimes broken units. I can respark the old debate of Japanese supports > Localized supports since a few supports were a result of those, but I mostly just paired each unit to whoever I felt like putting them with like Vaike and Sully and Frederick and Cherche. Support convos are my main reason for pairings.

I mean in the end I got some solid kids, stat, skill, and aesthetic wise. Other than my dislike of Stahl!Brady's hair color, I'm rather happy with the results.

I have a Stahl!Brady as well, and I always find myself wishing he just had blond hair instead of that gray-green mess.

To be honest, I think Stahl's hair mostly bothers me because I (or rather, my mind) can't seem to figure out what color it is supposed to be. Is it gray? Green? Brown? It's a mix of all three, but that's too vague. Make up your mind, Stahl!

Anyway, on the topic of pairings: OP seems to be asking for optimization advice rather than support advice. It's been said, but generally you are fine as long as you make sure that as many kids as possible get Galeforce. Which means make sure Lissa, Maribelle, and Olivia pass it down, and pair up MU, Gaius, and Donnel with Nowi, Sully, and Tharja. Beyond that... I don't have much to contribute.

I try to experiment with different combinations, but I'm generally more interested in hair colors than stat mods...