How am I looking in my first Fire Emblem game ever?

[SimpleEnigma]

So a couple weekends ago I picked up on of those cool Zelda 3DS XL bundles and after I beat Zelda I decided it was finally time to check out Fire Emblem. I'd seen friends play Fire Emblem and I've always liked turn based tactical games like XCOM and Civilization. Anyways, I'm really enjoying Awakening and I think I have myself on decent footing for my first play though (technically my second as I abandoned my first save when I learned letting Frederick carry me through the first chapters did not set me up for success). However I'm pretty clueless on how to advance my team properly and not screw myself late game. Namely I'm unsure if I should focus on my favorite 10 or so companions and ignore everyone else, or if I should do all I can to keep everyone in fighting shape. Also should I bother with healers? They seem pretty worthless in pairs which is how I've been keeping my team. I've completed Chapter 6 I believe and the first 2 paralogues (and a couple random spawn battles). After a very tough Chapter 5, my 'A team' has been stomping the last few battles handily, but I tried to get some of my scrubs some experience in a random battle and they struggled pretty hard. Edit: Forgot to say I'm playing on Classic Hard.

I'd love some tips and suggestions going forward but please no spoilers or complete walkthroughs (for example "Pair X and Y, P and Q, etc and you will beat the game no prob). Some general advice would be awesome.

Here's how my team looks so far:

Pairing:

Avatar and Sumia: My current powerhouse. They are super quick and dodge/double up most enemies. Sumia is still pretty fragile but she dishes pretty heavy damage. Seeing how far my avatar has jumped out in front of everyone I'm trying to let Sumia do most of the work (since I want the avatar to able to participate in any mission story dialog).
Avatar - Level 13
Sumia - Level 8

Support Level: A

Sully and Virion: I'm surprised how well this pairing has turned out. They work really well together with Sully providing awesome mobility and decent tankiness, while Virion doubles and/or crits most things he touches.
Sully - Level 10
Virion - Level 10

Support Level: A

Stahl and Kellam: My super tank combo. While they are vulnerable to magic they can absorb a lot of punches and Stahl gives some much needed mobility to Kellam.
Stahl - Level 7
Kellam - Level 8

Support Level: B

Chrom and Vaike: I really wanted to pair Chrom with Lon'qu and was really sad to see they couldn't build support with each other. So I paired him with Vaike for now until someone better pops up. Vaike underwhelms me since he seems to get bursted down easily despite his high health, although he is extremely useful when using a hammer to kill high armor targets.
Chrom - Level 7
Vaike - Level 6

Support Level: B

Panne and Lon'qu: I just got Panne but they seem a decent combo. Lon'qu is obviously awesome since he can one shot about any unarmored unit and dodges most attacks. Haven't completely figured out how to best use Panne but she does decent damage and gives me a serviceable tank for when Lon'qu does get hit.
Lon'qu - Level 7
Panne - Level 7

Everyone else:
Miriel is normally who I add when I'm allowed to bring 10, and I normally pair her with the healer so she can at least benefit from the bonus magic. I like her but is outshined hard by the Avatar.

As far as the healers go I've been trying to use Maribelle over Lissa since Maribelle can at least contribute mobility to a pairing. However Maribelle is only level 3 so squishy is an understatement,

Frederick has only gained a whopping 4 experience points so far, although I did use him (only in a support role) in Paralogue 2 since I need all the tanky mobility I could get to save Anna.

Donnel and Ricken have pretty much sat on the bench since I got them. Avatar and Miriel seem to be more useful as mages than Ricken. And Donnel... well I understand he can be really strong later but I did not enjoy all the work of setting up for him to finish off an enemy but not in a position to get one shot by another enemy. Doesn't help that my team is currently really bursty and rarely leaves targets alive with a sliver of health for Donnel to farm.

As you may notice my main strategy has been to pair high damage companions with mounted units to burst down targets while using my tankier and/or slower units to cover them and make sure they don't get collapsed on.

Edited January 11, 2014 by SimpleEnigma

[kdports]

I would recommend Cordelia and Fredrick. (FYI I think you get Cordelia next chapter.) I have found that Fredrick is great for Cordelia because of how great of bonuses are given to her. MAKE SURE Chrom has a support with the woman you want him to marry before chapter 11. Otherwise he will automatically merry a generic lady which is the worst thing that could happen. EVER! Also, with Sumia I would recommend reclassing to Dark Flyer to get the Galeforce ability at level 15. Suffice to say, that ability is REALLY good, especially if she deals out a lot of damage.

EDIT: Chapter 11, not 13.

Edited January 11, 2014 by kdports

[Gcubedude]

Namely I'm unsure if I should focus on my favorite 10 or so companions and ignore everyone else, or if I should do all I can to keep everyone in fighting shape.

In most Fire Emblems, you should usually pick a main team and constantly use them, benching anyone who isn't on that team. This is usually due to the limited experience in each chapter, but Awakening has those random spawns, as well as DLC that can be repeated over and over, so it's not as important as it is in other games since there's unlimited experience. That said, the more encounters and DLC you use to get experience, the easier the game becomes overall, possibly getting to the point of "too easy."

Also should I bother with healers? They seem pretty worthless in pairs which is how I've been keeping my team. Edit: Forgot to say I'm playing on Classic Hard.

They are pretty much worthless in Pair Ups, since they usually don't provide any big boosts and can't get a Dual Attack. That said, using healers allows you to save money on Vulneraries and Concoctions, plus it doesn't use up your combat units turns to heal themselves, so they can get back to fighting quicker. I don't know if you know about class promotions yet, but when healers hit Lv. 10 or higher, they can promote and use magic, which allows them to defend themselves in combat and gain experience quicker.

Edit: Forgot to say I'm playing on Classic Hard.

Just a general comment, but in any difficulty below Lunatic, pretty much anyone can be good, so you can go ahead and use units that you like. Some units (like Donnel) may require a bit of babying, but you can always use the random encounters to level them up.

You have Panne, but did you recruit Gaius? You didn't mention him.

[SimpleEnigma]

I didn't recruit him and I don't think I've even run into him. Name doesn't sound familiar. Maybe I will run into him soon.

[Aurath8]

I didn't recruit him and I don't think I've even run into him. Name doesn't sound familiar. Maybe I will run into him soon.

Unfortunately he won't appear, as he must be recruited in Chapter 6 and you probably killed him anyway. It's not the end of the world, as there are other Thieves, but many would consider it a waste of a Second Seal to change a character to a Thief. I must say you will struggle to get all the items in chests later on unless you hoard Chest Keys.

[Gcubedude]

I didn't recruit him and I don't think I've even run into him. Name doesn't sound familiar. Maybe I will run into him soon.

Like Aurath said, Gaius appeared only in Chapter 6 as an enemy, but you could recruit him by moving Chrom next to him and selecting Talk. That's another thing in most Fire Emblem games; if you ever see an enemy that has a unique face and isn't called Bandit/Plegia/whatever or isn't the boss, they can probably be recruited by someone on your party. In a few more chapters, there will be another enemy named Tharja that you can recruit in the same way.

If you really want someone who can open chests and you saved over your file/don't want to restart your game, you can reclass Avatar/Vaike/Kellam/Lon'qu/Panne once you get a Second Seal, either in Chapter 8 or if you happen to have a merchant appear selling Second Seals.

[SimpleEnigma]

I'm getting nervous about Chrom and the marriage thing. I didn't realize there were so few he could marry and of the 3 I currently have in my party, Sumia and Sully are already married to MU and Virion respectively, and Maribelle doesn't seem particularly useful, especially having her paired to Chrom. Will there be another female character he can marry that pops up soon enough? I've gotten 2 more female companions since but none are even eligible to even build Support with him :( Getting the sense I shoulda followed the story's wishes and paired Sumia with Chrom and waited for Cordelia to pair with MU (except I didn't know she was coming).

[Shadow Mir]

I'm getting nervous about Chrom and the marriage thing. I didn't realize there were so few he could marry and of the 3 I currently have in my party, Sumia and Sully are already married to MU and Virion respectively, and Maribelle doesn't seem particularly useful, especially having her paired to Chrom. Will there be another female character he can marry that pops up soon enough? I've gotten 2 more female companions since but none are even eligible to even build Support with him :( Getting the sense I shoulda followed the story's wishes and paired Sumia with Chrom and waited for Cordelia to pair with MU (except I didn't know she was coming).

Unfortunately, the only other marriage prospect for Chrom is... Olivia, who joins in the very chapter in which Chrom has to marry (which, as stated earlier, is chapter 11).

Edited January 12, 2014 by Levant Fortner

[Czar_Yoshi]

If Maribelle has no support with Chrom, Chrom can marry Olivia by hanging out with her and fighting at least four dudes in Cht.11.

As previously stated, everyone can be good on Normal/Hard and you'll run into exp issues if you try to train everyone. If you want to use Panne, she's best if you use a Second Seal on her and reclass to Wyvern Rider.

[eclipse]

Unpromoted staff users get, uh, Miracle (not that great for a story-only run, IMO) or Resistance + 2 (that's Maribelle). However, staves are more for utility rather than flat-out damage. Perhaps you'll find a use for one of the promoted staff users later.

Pay attention to Vaike's Speed - the more of it he gets, the more insane he'll be.

Edited January 12, 2014 by eclipse

[Marc71]

C Support with anyone that can marry Chrom is sufficient enough. Beware that there is a priority, if the ranks are the same. In order: Sumia > Sully > Maribelle > Female MU > Olivia.

After that......uhm, given that this is your first playthough...dont click unless you want to be spoiled

The children starting stats are based on how good the stats of both parents are...they start at lv10, unpromoted

[Czar_Yoshi]

C Support with anyone that can marry Chrom is sufficient enough. Beware that there is a priority, if the ranks are the same. In order: Sumia > Sully > Maribelle > Female MU > Olivia.

After that......uhm, given that this is your first playthough...dont click unless you want to be spoiled

Not so. If Olivia has enough support to activate the C support when the map ends and all Chrom's other potential candidates are married or haven't seen their C support with him yet, Chrom will marry Olivia. The tiebreaker formula only happens when Olivia's support isn't maxed, or when there's a tie between two other units.

That spoiler is only relevant until clearing Cht.13, TC.

[SimpleEnigma]

When should I start promoting units to their advanced class? Not until they reach level 20 of their base class right?

[Skarthe]

When should I start promoting units to their advanced class? Not until they reach level 20 of their base class right?

In Awakening, I think the usual is 10 if you're not restricting yourself from grinding (and possibly if you are) since due to Second Seals, there's no limit to the number of levels you can get overall.

[eclipse]

Whenever you think you need the additional power boost. Units will gain experience at a reduced rate once promoted, so be careful!