PAIRINGS The Pairing Thread

[Czar_Yoshi]

Robin gains the most from having Cordelia as a wife, Nah gains the most from having Robin as a parent, and Robin x Lissa is a good middle ground between the two. Sumia is also a good choice who's very similar to Cordelia, but she's got Chrom.

To elaborate: a +Spd/-Def (or +Mag) Robin x Cordelia will give Morgan and Severa +5/7 Spd mods, which make them fast enough to be 75 Spd Wyverns or Valkyries (with or without All+2 depending on whether +Spd was chosen). Str isn't lacking at +2 either way, and +0/4 Mag isn't bad- you're essentially getting two kids from that that can fill the roles of most 3rd gen Morgans while leaving Robin with a fully capable wife. In Lissa's case, +Spd/-Def will yield +5 Spd mods on Owain and Morgan (as well as +2 Skl), which is far above what any other proc dad will give Owain- Morgan can still run her Valkyrie without major issues, and Owain can do whatever (GM x DF is an appealing choice for him, especially with a Lucina spouse). Lissa herself has no proc, but she does have two Faires and several good ending classes, making her capable as Robin's wife. You know the story with Nowi already: while Robin gives Nah her coveted proc+GF combo, he does so at the expense of Morgan's mods, and leaves himself with a practically useless (for Apo) wife. Sumia will play pretty much exactly the same as Cordelia if you use her.

[ShadowGuy1]

Chrom x Sumia is fine, so is Ricken!Owain. Donnel!Kjelle is OK but not great.

VV Laurent is worth it in that he's really strong, but not worth it in that he takes more effort/care to use, has a greater risk of getting you killed if you mess up than a normal pair, and will either do nothing or make half your team useless. Give him a try though, it's easy to switch skills around after you make your pairings and Laurent x Lucina can do very good with a normal set too (especially Gregor!Laurent), so there's no long-term risk at all.

Brady is good. Yarne is great, but keep in mind he can switch to a Sniper if you want for a high DS rate. Severa is good too.

Henry!Nah really likes being a Valkyrie, but Wyvern Lord is her backup if you need physical. She's very good, though. Noire doesn't get Tomefaire so her Mag will be really weak, I'd advise going with a physical class instead. Gaius!Noire's Bow Knight and Dark Knight are both worthy of mention for Apo.Inigo will work, though keep in mind that he'd really like a +Spd support (Paladin, BK, or Hero). She'll probably wind up with Brady or Owain.

Bowfaire Gerome tends to prefer Warrior, as Yarne does much better at fulfilling a hard support Sniper's role (high DS%), but their Warriors are more similar so he doesn't get eclipsed. You'll want to put him behind someone who doesn't care about their Spd much- not Nah, as having no GF on either member of a pair is an instant condemnation to the bench. Unfortunately, he doesn't have that many other options: physical Noire wants a fast support, and Kjelle is already slow enough as-is. Overall Kjelle will still be the better option, though: as a Paladin/Assassin with All+2 or a Hero without, she can take a +0 Spd support and not mind too much.

In the end, that leaves Morgan and Yarne splitting themselves up between Noire and Cynthia. Both combinations have their advantages, though since Morgan isn't very magical I'd advise putting him with Cynthia and Yarne with Noire (if he was, then he could get Noire and have her go DK instead).

In the end the only odd one out is Severa. Normally I'd recommend giving her Inigo (they compliment eachother perfectly as a Hero x Paladin pair), but Inigo seems to be taken already (if it's not a big deal, go with a Brady!Morgan instead (or Owain if you don't like Brady) and give Inigo to Severa! Otherwise she'll be stuck with a fairly weak Paladin Owain instead- if you do go this way, also consider swapping Ricken and Stahl. Ricken!Gerome is better than he sounds and Owain makes good use of the switch).

If you have other child pairings you want to go with, go right ahead, but I recommend:

Sumia!Lucina x Gregor!Laurent

Chrom!Cynthia x Fred!Inigo!Morgan (can't tell good classes without asset/flaw)

Donnel!Kjelle x Stahl!Gerome

Gaius!Noire@BK x Virion!Yarne

Robin-F@Hero x Fred!Inigo

Lon'qu!Brady x Henry!Nah

Vaike!Severa x Ricken!Owain@Paladin

You always mention, Donnel x Sully is ok, but not great. What do you think is the best kjelle pairing?

[Lucina's Husband]

Which Lucina and Brady pair the best together? I like the idea of marrying them together because their voice actors are happily married in real life!

[Czar_Yoshi]

You always mention, Donnel x Sully is ok, but not great. What do you think is the best kjelle pairing?

Gaius!Kjelle, bar none.

Which Lucina and Brady pair the best together? I like the idea of marrying them together because their voice actors are happily married in real life!

Well, Lucina typically does best with Sumia regardless of her husband. Brady will go nicely with either Lon'qu or Virion in this case (if you're going for aesthetics, Virion would also give both of them blue hair which might be nice).

Edited September 18, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

Although the giant signal of using renewal with vengeance seems to imply that you aren't getting your bang for your buck at all. Renewal deletes your damage output as well as exits vantage range (all in one skill). At that point, you're two skills down--you're better off running Luna and another filler skill.

Actually for Renewal Gregor!Severa, what I had in mind was a self-healing set with Sol and Lifetaker. Sorry if I've implied that btw. :x

Either that or she could opt out for Wrath/VVW set if anyone in their right minds would want to run Sorcerer...?

But what Severa wants isn't Luna, it's Spd.

Gregor!Severa is just as fast as Stalh!Severa. Maybe not as fast compare to Vaike/Lon'qu!Severa, but +3 Spd is still alright. : /

Edited September 19, 2015 by Formerly Colm

[Ownagepuffs]

IIRC Stahl!Sev is at +4

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

Pretty sure its +3 if I'm seeing this correctly...

[Vascela]

Cordelia has +2

Stahl has +0

Gregor has +0

Vaike has +1

Lon'qu has +3

[Shadow Mir]

Actually for Renewal Gregor!Severa, what I had in mind was a self-healing set with Sol and Lifetaker. Sorry if I've implied that btw. :x

IMHO, 3 healing skills would be wasteful overkill...

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

To be fair, I run it with Vantage to increase her chances of survival as an Assassin for special occasions...

Edit: Maybe its not as strong as Stahl, Lon'qu or Vaike, but the point is Gregor!Severa have its purpose.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Formerly Colm

[Vascela]

The best chance of survival is when you always kill the other person. As ironic as it sounds, abused vantage creates a stronger durability compared to a defensive multi-healing set.

And I know it's a few posts late, but Sorc is pretty comparable to Sage. Yeah, it's not as good (really tho, just because you're not a Sage or Sniper....), but it's still a strong class.

[Shadow Mir]

To be fair, I run it with Vantage to increase her chances of survival as an Assassin for special occasions...

Edit: Maybe its not as strong as Stahl, Lon'qu or Vaike, but the point is Gregor!Severa have its purpose.

Which is just shooting yourself in the foot - THREE healing skills and a skill that requires low HP to work??? Are you serious??

Edited September 19, 2015 by Levant Colthearts

[sylveonzoroark]

Is Chrom!Inigo viable? What support should Chrom!Inigo have?

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

Which is just shooting yourself in the foot - THREE healing skills and a skill that requires low HP to work??? Are you serious??

Lifetaker only activates during your turn (and only if you successfully defeat an enemy unit), which doesn't work if its on the enemy's turn. While Renewal heals 30% of your HP at the start of your turn (which works if Lifetaker backfires). And Sol recovers half of the damage dealt to the enemies (which can vary), ideally it could work if you accumulate that with Vantage/low HP. So yeah, depending on the scenarios, its really not that bad tbh.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Formerly Colm

[Shadow Mir]

Lifetaker only activates during your turn (and only if you successfully defeat an enemy unit), which doesn't work if its on the enemy's turn. While Renewal heals 30% of your HP at the start of your turn (which works if Lifetaker backfires). And Sol recovers half of the damage dealt to the enemies (which can vary), ideally it could work if you accumulate that with Vantage/low HP. So yeah, depending on the scenarios, its really not that bad tbh.

I wouldn't consider it good by any stretch of the imagination either, when the skillset is rife with redundancy and polluted with negative synergy.

[Admiral "Bull" Halsey]

Well the point of this set is to ensure that Severa survives in worst case scenarios, obviously its not meant to be an offensive set by any means. But like I said again, Gregor!Severa have its purpose.

[Radiant head]

Alright, I'm playing Lunatic with FeMu. Tentatively thinking about these as pairs:

- Chrom x Sumia (was going to try Olivia, but accidentally unlocked the Chrom/FeMU in the beginning of the game).

- Ricken x Lissa

- Gaius x Sully

- Stahl x Olivia

- Gregor x Maribelle

- Vaike x Panne

- Lon'qu x Cherche

- Libra x Tharja

- Frederick x Miriel

- Virion X Cordelia

Any switch arounds suggested? I know the last one sounds kind of iffy to me, but I had paired away all of Severa's good fathers without realizing.

Is Chrom!Inigo viable? What support should Chrom!Inigo have?

Yes. I think RFK Inigo is overhyped, but Chrom!Inigo is most definitely viable.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Radiant head

[Czar_Yoshi]

Worst case scenario: you get attacked by the Nightmare Sniper and the RNG fails you. None of those skills will do a thing to stop you from taking 100+ damage and dying instantly.

Alright, I'm playing Lunatic with FeMu. Tentatively thinking about these as pairs:

- Chrom x Sumia (was going to try Olivia, but accidentally unlocked the Chrom/FeMU in the beginning of the game).

- Ricken x Lissa

- Gaius x Sully

- Stahl x Olivia

- Gregor x Maribelle

- Vaike x Panne

- Lon'qu x Cherche

- Libra x Tharja

- Frederick x Miriel

- Virion X Cordelia

Any switch arounds suggested?

Who's Robin going with?

Those will all be solid for postgame (except Laurent, not sure what his deal is), but pretty much all of them except Chrom x Sumia are going to be very shaky ingame. Stahl and Olivia are your best bet for getting someone trained and helpful, so I'd try to give them a lot of attention.

Of course, if you're grinding then anything will do.

[Radiant head]

Probably one of the 2nd gens.

I'll probably rearrange these pairs, since I'm not too happy with them the more I think about it.

[JediZelda]

In my current playthrough I am trying to go with pairings that I have not used in my previous runs. I have the pairings themselves figured out, but I'm stuck on a few of the classes/skills.

First, what is a good class for Olivia!Lucina? I don't want to switch out one of her skills for All Stats+2, so she likely won't hit the 75 speed threshold. I'm not too bothered by this, since I have several speedy pair ups as it is. Her husband will be Virion!Yarne, who has several different support options depending on what Lucina ultimately becomes.

Second, what can I do with a Cordelia!Morgan x Chrom!Inigo pairing? Their skillsets are pretty standard, but I'm not sure about appropriate classes. Avatar is +Speed -Defense by the way.

Lastly, what's a good skillset for a support Avatar as a Grandmaster? So far I have Limit Breaker/Tomefaire/Aggressor. I thought about something like Anathema, but I think his wife Cordelia has an open slot to run that herself (unless I want to put Armsthrift on her, but I don't see much point in preserving a Brave Lance).

Edited September 19, 2015 by JediZelda

[Czar_Yoshi]

Lucina will probably just want to stick to a standard Paladin/Sniper with Yarne as a Berserker support. Missing 75 Spd is a pity, but having it isn't all that makes those combos good. You could also have Lucina as a Bow Knight and switch Yarne to Bowfaire Warrior, for more Hit in the back while staying in the same Spd bracket.

Morgan will likely want to be a Wyvern Lord without All+2. She'll appreciate a Hero or Bow Knight support from Inigo (Berserker is nice too, but Inigo doesn't want to be a Berserker). Her Spd mod is also well suited to being a Valkyrie (maybe make Severa one) because she hits 75 without a +Spd support, but Inigo doesn't have Sage so you'd only see a benefit from doing that if he was a Sniper.

I take it you're using Cordelia as a Falco with LB/GF/LF/Vengeance? Since you've got room, you might as well go with double AT and Anathema on Robin. Just because AT doesn't help you win battles doesn't mean it's not extremely convenient.

[Xenomata]

I'm a little late in asking since I already recruited both Nowi!Morgan and Avatar!Nah (passing on Axefaire), but is it considered a waste to use any Avatar born children as a Rally-bot, or really any characters recruited in the main story/paralogues if you don't have a use for them otherwise?

I ask because as far as I know, the only female units who can have all rally skills naturally (with Rally Strength being exclusive to the male-only Warriors via normal means) are the DLC versions of Palla and Katarina, requiring DLC which surprise-surprise I still don't have, ergo Morgan or their sister would be the only other option for Rallying units when going without the required DLC.

...oh and I've just been using a Streetpass Avatar for rallying because they already had Spectrum and Movement in their skill list.

[Vascela]

You can just use a spotpass [or streetpass or logbook] unit from the wireless menu. Honestly, females with rally strength isn't even that important. I have a male rally bot anyway (I use 2 rally bots), so it's not really as critical as you think. Just because I run 2 doesn't mean you have to either. Some people like 1-4, it just depends on your personal preference + your unit placement management.

And it depends on what you mean by waste. Because if you banned those methods above (it sounds like you didn't ban streetpass; just grab more), then only the Avatar and kids can run rally spectrum. While being a bot isn't glorious, it's still a keystone element in Apo. No rallies might cause more trouble than it's worth (although you might enjoy the challenge).

[Lucina's Husband]

Best Mother, Class, and Husband for a Physical Lucina? I was thinking either Olivia or +Strength, -Defense Female Robin for mothers, either Great Lord or Bow Knight or Sniper, and Morgan, Inigo, or Yarne for husbands (depending on the mother)?

Additionally, can Lucina function well as a Grandmaster? I'd like to think +Speed, -Def grandmaster with Ignis, Dual Strike +2, Aether, and Galeforce would be good. What are the best Robin! Lucina exclusive classes?

[Czar_Yoshi]

Sumia or Robin will do the best as a mother, Olivia's Str is really nothing special. Stahl!Yarne or Robin would make good husbands (she'll want a Berserker support, and GF Berserkers are underwhelming). If she gets +Str Robin as a mother, she'll want to go Wyvern Lord, with Sumia her options are Paladin and Sniper. Great Lord is also an option, though it's usually more appealing on challenge runs.

GM Lucina might work out, with either a Paladin support or something Str-neutral like a BK or Hero. But in general I'd rather make her a DF and put the GM behind her.