Itadakimasu Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I have used Donnel on several occassions (gameplays) and he is quite good, often capping stats early... however several people tell me he is underused, and one even said: Well, almost everyone here on SF agree that he is one of the worst units in awakening. But if you have used him a lot, and don't want to use him anymore, ok. Can anyone explain why he is so terrible, if he is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) No grind, Lunatic? You're shooting yourself in the foot. It takes so much effort to train him, and the payoff isn't even that great once the enemies promote and start getting hackforges. You're better off pumping the EXP into someone else. He is terrible because you have to shovel so much effort into babying him. He'd be REALLY horrible in a regular FE game where there isn't infinite EXP. Edited November 22, 2013 by shadowofchaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom037 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 He starts at a pathetically low level, and lances become useless to him upon promoting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magical Glace Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 There's a new mechanic in 13 called modifiers. You see, while his growths really are stellar, the final stat caps he gets are worse than most units. Combine that with lack of choice for final promotion, he really isn't all that great. Access to the mercenary class and Armsthrift and ability to pass on the pegasus knight tree to his daughters is really the only reason he's a good parent at all. Yeah, sucks to be Donnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_ Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 wearing a pot on your head gives you -10 to all stats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceBrand Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Normal Mode: Totally usable. Hard Mode: Takes some effort but is passable. Lunatic and Lunatic + Mode: Lol no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) Donnel's problem is primarily his TERRIBLE bases. Being a lance user creates more problems, too, since he'll have to discard that lance rank when he reclasses (speaking of which, he NEEDS a Second Seal to not suck). And all this for a unit who doesn't even turn out THAT much better than most of my other guys despite all the hoops I had to jump through to get him there... Edited November 22, 2013 by Levant Fortner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itadakimasu Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Wow, guess I never thought of it in a lunatic perspective... I was thinking of him from a normal difficulty perspective. Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tables Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Donnel is bad during the part of the game which is hardest, and is great during the part of the game which is the easiest. Given that, does he sound like a character who would make things easier to use or harder? That said most people have summed up his flaws (except well Glaceon's points aren't really at all relevant, caps are incredibly minor and the only gen 1 characters worth using postgame (when caps actually matter at all) are ones with Galeforce). He's very usable on Hard, but on Lunatic, he's pretty tough to train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airship Canon Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 He's worth fathering Kjelle, and that's it. His bases are low, his growths aren't that spectacular compared to everyone elses (they're actually kind of subpar without Aptitiude in place), and he's really hard to train, and then his modifiers are bad, which combined with the fact that his skill pool is atrocious [He gets all of nothing worth mentioning.] means he's got no postgame potential. "War God Donnel" is a complete myth, too- since you get better results feeding those kills into other characters and leaving the farm boy behind. He doesn't even get the reason why the Trainees worked: They got 50 levels of growth, everyone else got 40 at most- and then there's Donnel who's in a game where: 1. His "trainee" class is eating up a slot where he could have a normal class [by the gods he should have Cavalier.] 2. Everyone gets unlimited levels, which means that perk is totally useless. If you want a unit that skyrockets with a small amount of babying, well Chapter 6 gives you Panne at Level 6. Give her a bit of babying [and unlike Donnel, she can actually hold her own so it's not really babying] and then a Second Seal (to Wyvern)-- she's better at being what Donnel's supposed to be than Donnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarfishh Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 1 word-Aptitude. If you use him for nothing else, pass this skill on to someone. Makes capping stats a lot easier, especially with limit breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airship Canon Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 1 word-Aptitude. If you use him for nothing else, pass this skill on to someone. Makes capping stats a lot easier, especially with limit breaker. Veteran and Paragon > Aptitude. 1000 EXP 50% Growth Rate: None of the skills: 10 levels, ~5 points. Aptitude: 10 levels ~7 points Veteran: 15 Levels,~7.5 points Paragon: 20 Levels, ~10 points. One of them is also available to everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarfishh Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Veteran and Paragon > Aptitude. 1000 EXP 50% Growth Rate: None of the skills: 10 levels, ~5 points. Aptitude: 10 levels ~7 points Veteran: 15 Levels,~7.5 points Paragon: 20 Levels, ~10 points. One of them is also available to everyone. Both those increase the amount XP gained, not the growth rates themselves. My point was that you shouldn't need to reclass as much, therefore saving money (and time) that would've been spent on seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy: Marquess of Pherae Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 If you reclass him into Mercenary and then promote to Hero and play like Normal mode, he is a god. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skynstein Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 (edited) Rey and AC summed it up nicely. He's supposed to be a Gyarados when reclassing, but Gyarados in Pokémon is a powerhouse with great coverage moves and one of the highest BSTs in the game, while Donnel has an early good start but his caps are atrocious. wearing a pot on your head gives you -10 to all stats This, so much. Edited November 23, 2013 by Malebolganone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tables Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 His bases are low, his growths aren't that spectacular compared to everyone elses (they're actually kind of subpar without Aptitiude in place), This isn't true at all. His base growths are still among the best in the game, when you exclude Aptitude. 45% Str/45% Spd/35% Def is really solid, and his secondary growths are still alright. And don't forget, Luck might not do much, but when you're getting 80% growth in it and get access to Armsthrift, it becomes quite a good thing. I have a growth comparer spreadsheet I sometimes use, and well you can make a copy and tinker with how you weight the growths, but for any reasonable comparison, Donnel comes out quite comfortably in the top echelons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) Meh, I really wanted to use him. Aptitude is good, Underdog is alright, but he isn't really all that tough. I had to baby him a bit in both the early chapters and late chapters. I usually ended up pairing him up with someone and having them attack. But then I reclassed him into a hero, so now he's actualy able to hold his own. So if you're planning on using him, do that after you level up enough. Make sure he's a mercenary first so he can get Armsthrift, which is really good, especially if you give him a forged Leif's blade. This is a good setup because of Donnel's REALLY high luck, and you can make some extra money in the process. Edited December 2, 2013 by dracojawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Laufeyson Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 Depends on your playstyle/mode. If you play Normal, Donnel is pretty wiggy. If you play Hard, hes hard to train up, but is good for genes. On Lunatic, i wouldnt even bother with him. Donnel is fun for tweaking but his reclass options other than Merc/Hero, suck the big one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButteredToast Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 wearing a pot on your head gives you -10 to all stats Just like Brock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuvarkz Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 Plus, in addition, comparatively Ross had much better bases (Amelia kinda, and Ewan had insta access to ranged attacks in exchange for joining late), whereas Donnel's bases terribly suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiac Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 Veteran and Paragon > Aptitude. 1000 EXP 50% Growth Rate: None of the skills: 10 levels, ~5 points. Aptitude: 10 levels ~7 points Veteran: 15 Levels,~7.5 points Paragon: 20 Levels, ~10 points. One of them is also available to everyone. Isn't Aptitude unaffected by internal level cap?It's a rumor I heard but I want to see it confirmed.But I'm aware both Veteran and Paragon are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magical Glace Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 No, it directly raises growths, only stopping when stats cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faye Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 As much as I like Donnel, it's true that he's not very useful if you're doing something silly like no-grind in a game with no limit to grinding. 8U Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czar_Yoshi Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 As much as I like Donnel, it's true that he's not very useful if you're doing something silly like no-grind in a game with no limit to grinding. 8U In Lunatic (where Donnel is worst) grinding is very tedious/hard without paid DLC. It's still possible, but forgoing it is far from silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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