Most Balanced Cast

[Jotari]

I'm half way through playing Thracia and so far I've been quite impressed with how hard it is to decide who to use. It seems everyone has some kind of niche role to fill or personal weapon that gives them an edge and the presence of Crusader Scrolls even make units with bad growths stand a chance at keeping up. What about you? In terms of gameplay which game has the most balanced cast? Which game has the fewest useless/broken units?

[Arrout]

I say Sacred Stones, there are few units who aren't good, if there are bad units at all. You have plenty of time to train your units, so avability is no bother.

In Awakening just about every single unit can be very powerful, specially because of the reclass system, but balance is inexistent in this game, so it doesen't counts.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Arrout

[Shadow Mir]

I say Sacred Stones, there are few units who aren't good, if there are bad units at all. You have plenty of time to train your units, so avability is no bother.

I disagree there, given Seth's existence, and the fact that Marisa, Dozla and Syrene are pretty outclassed to the point of being near useless. And then there are the trainees, two of which wind up outclassed by others that do the same thing as them, even with their extra levels.

Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll say RD.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Levant Caprice

[BrightBow]

I would go with Tear Ring Saga. Personally I even like to use Luca. That Guy learns Charge and has the speed growth to use it properly.

However, Shirou is pointless. He is a worse Lionheart and nothing else. The same applies to Attrom, who is almost a clone of Xeno.

On the broken side, Raffin and Narron stand out. But man, they do stand out a lot.

Raffin is effectively already Sigurd before he gets a Dragon. Downright daunting given how hard it is to get your Pegasus Knights promoted. And this guy gets that promotion or free.

Narron is a Cavailer with Elite... that can join right after chapter 1. As if that wasn't broken enough, he gets this game's equivalent of the Master Knight class. The class doesn't allow to use every weapon type in the game but instead comes with Continue and Big Shield.

Otherwise I would say that everyone has something to offer. I think the game is even well balanced on a class level, with magic, bows, armors and even armored bows all having their use.

Edited May 18, 2014 by BrightBow

[General Horace]

I disagree there, given Seth's existence, and the fact that Marisa, Dozla and Syrene are pretty outclassed to the point of being near useless. And then there are the trainees, two of which wind up outclassed by others that do the same thing as them, even with their extra levels.

Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll say Thracia (never played it, and probably never will, though)

Dozla honestly isn't too bad and Syrene can be deployed as filler (even if her stats are pretty much as good as Seth's in chapter 1)

The trainees not named Ross are pretty bad though.

a lot of people say "game x isn't balanced because unit x does the same thing unit y is supposed to do better" but that honestly applies to most all the games. There's always going to be units that crush the game, and units that are worthless. FE isn't supposed to be balanced.

FE6's cast is honestly not too bad. Wendy and Sophia are totally useless, but your strongest units come halfway through the game, and still have their own weaknessess (Miledy is bad against all he magic around, Percival has some hit issues) but there aren't any units like Seth or FE7 Marcus that just steamroll without help.

[Shadow Mir]

Dozla honestly isn't too bad and Syrene can be deployed as filler (even if her stats are pretty much as good as Seth's in chapter 1)

The trainees not named Ross are pretty bad though.

a lot of people say "game x isn't balanced because unit x does the same thing unit y is supposed to do better" but that honestly applies to most all the games. There's always going to be units that crush the game, and units that are worthless. FE isn't supposed to be balanced.

FE6's cast is honestly not too bad. Wendy and Sophia are totally useless, but your strongest units come halfway through the game, and still have their own weaknessess (Miledy is bad against all he magic around, Percival has some hit issues) but there aren't any units like Seth or FE7 Marcus that just steamroll without help.

You'll get no argument from me on the "FE isn't supposed to be balanced" point. Though admittedly, I find it jarring that Syrene comes in at level 1 with bases similar to those of Seth, who joined in the prologue.. when you're all of 4 chapters from the end of the game. As to Dozla, admittedly, he might not be as bad as I've plastered him to be, but I still think GBA axe mainers aside from Hector and Geitz tend to leave much to be desired...

[Jotari]

Dozla honestly isn't too bad and Syrene can be deployed as filler (even if her stats are pretty much as good as Seth's in chapter 1)

The trainees not named Ross are pretty bad though.

a lot of people say "game x isn't balanced because unit x does the same thing unit y is supposed to do better" but that honestly applies to most all the games. There's always going to be units that crush the game, and units that are worthless. FE isn't supposed to be balanced.

FE6's cast is honestly not too bad. Wendy and Sophia are totally useless, but your strongest units come halfway through the game, and still have their own weaknessess (Miledy is bad against all he magic around, Percival has some hit issues) but there aren't any units like Seth or FE7 Marcus that just steamroll without help.

I've always found the awful hit rates in FE6 make axe users quite useless.

[-Cynthia-]

FE10 ends up with a pretty balanced cast due to all units having somewhat limited availability. Units like Brom who would ordinarily be subpar filler often get a chance to shine in a few chapters and no one unit can steamroll the whole game since they're not available for significant parts of it. It's not very balanced chapter by chapter, but fares better than many FEs overall due to structure.

[Jotari]

FE10 ends up with a pretty balanced cast due to all units having somewhat limited availability. Units like Brom who would ordinarily be subpar filler often get a chance to shine in a few chapters and no one unit can steamroll the whole game since they're not available for significant parts of it. It's not very balanced chapter by chapter, but fares better than many FEs overall due to structure.

But in the end game they just hand you the Laguz Royalty free of charge who are usually superior to units you've trained the entire game. The only reason you wouldn't use them is to make things harder on yourself.

[-Cynthia-]

But in the end game they just hand you the Laguz Royalty free of charge who are usually superior to units you've trained the entire game. The only reason you wouldn't use them is to make things harder on yourself.

Cain and Giffca are powerful for these chapters obviously, but since they aren't around for the rest of the game I don't see them as very unbalancing overall.

[Rainbow Skittles]

how is tear ring saga balanced?

it has narron/raffin and maerhen/thomas in the same game

[BrightBow]

how is tear ring saga balanced?

it has narron/raffin and maerhen/thomas in the same game

With just two godlike units like Narron and Raffin, TRS is still pretty good by comparison.

As for the other two, Maerhen has the unique ability to steal the entire inventory of enemies that he defeats. But more importantly, he can open chests. And I found that Thomas' 15 Def butt came in handy surprisingly often.

Rina is way worse then either of them. However, even a failure of a unit like her is build in a rather interesting fashion, starting with her having more Movement then any other unit. If Thunder Swords would be easier to come by, she might be fun to use.

Edited May 18, 2014 by BrightBow

[Jotari]

Cain and Giffca are powerful for these chapters obviously, but since they aren't around for the rest of the game I don't see them as very unbalancing overall.

Nailah is obtained quite early in the game and while her availability isn't spectacular it's as even as some units who are nowhere near as good. Tibarn and Naesala are likewise available for the entirety of part 4. Even if the others are only available at the end I'd still say it's unablanced. No thought has to be put into the decision of using them because they weill be better than members of your army you've trained up til that point. And while a couple of power house units at the end of the game fill their own role like Athos or Gotoh, Radiant Dawn gives you six overpowered units. Compare them to Renning who you receive at the same time.The only reason you're going to use him over Tibarn is if you really like the character.

[-Cynthia-]

Nailah/Naesala/Tibarn are only available for 2 Part 4 maps each though and they're not clearing these maps by themselves, which still incentivizes the player to have multiple teams of capable units.

[Shadow Mir]

Nailah is obtained quite early in the game and while her availability isn't spectacular it's as even as some units who are nowhere near as good. Tibarn and Naesala are likewise available for the entirety of part 4. Even if the others are only available at the end I'd still say it's unablanced. No thought has to be put into the decision of using them because they weill be better than members of your army you've trained up til that point. And while a couple of power house units at the end of the game fill their own role like Athos or Gotoh, Radiant Dawn gives you six overpowered units. Compare them to Renning who you receive at the same time.The only reason you're going to use him over Tibarn is if you really like the character.

I'll just second what -Cynthia- said. While the laguz royals are OP, they're only available for part 4 mostly, and second, part 4 is a rout fest. And it's not like they can be everywhere at once. If you want to clear those maps quickly, you NEED other trained units.

[Jedi]

I've always found the awful hit rates in FE6 make axe users quite useless.

They maul Bern Wyvern riders for breakfast.

Not to mention the Pegasus Knights in Ilia who they will often double because the Pegs are dumb and wield lances too big for them

Oh yes and those 30+ HP soldiers which get chunks taken out by archer chip and axes smashing their heads

Edited May 19, 2014 by Jedisupersonic

[eclipse]

FE11 with nothing but Marth and generics

I'm partial to FE13, assuming it's not something like LTC/efficiency. All the characters have time to hit their full potential, and the amount of ridiculous the second generation can become is determined by the first generation.

[Tamanoir]

I'm half way through playing Thracia and so far I've been quite impressed with how hard it is to decide who to use. It seems everyone has some kind of niche role to fill or personal weapon that gives them an edge and the presence of Crusader Scrolls even make units with bad growths stand a chance at keeping up. What about you? In terms of gameplay which game has the most balanced cast? Which game has the fewest useless/broken units?

With the Fatigue system (and low Caps + Scrools & Skills), it makes sense.

The game encourage you to use many different units.

By design, it should be the more balanced.

Dozla honestly isn't too bad and Syrene can be deployed as filler (even if her stats are pretty much as good as Seth's in chapter 1)

The trainees not named Ross are pretty bad though.

Ewan is your best Dark Magic User (considering you don't use the Dark Magic Glitch), so he has his own niche.

Amelia doesn't grant that much however. Mainly because her best class is Seth's class.

FE7 is actually pretty balanced too. More than 6.

Some of them needs Lyn Mode to be usefull, obviously.

Karla is pretty awfull and that's about it (Renault has Staff utility, at least). Isadora, maybe. But she has at least a great class.

Marcus is a good unit, but he isn't a God like Seth. and if you promote Sain/Kent on Lyn Mode, they can takes his place easily.

No units will destroy everything from start to finish. Even Hector has some issues late game.

Raven is great, but Harken can replace it when he comes. It's more or less the same with Erk and Pent (Pent is great, but Erk has far more availabilty).

Or the Pegasus Sisters. Each has its own use (Florina is available early, and has amazing avo (Agi + Lck). Fiora is available early-mid game, has great base and is a true magic tank, Farina is available pretty late, but has amazing stats and growths).

You also could compare Legault/Jaffar, or Hawkeye/Dart.

Depending on your playthrough, some units that are otherwise unimpressive may become really great too.

Some are better than others, but the difference between the best and the worst are not as great as in most games.

[Knight]

If FE7 didn't have Marcus, then I'd say it's the most balanced cast. There are a few absolutely terrible units, (Karla, Wallace on the top of my head) but given its large cast and how they're distributed across the game, I say it's pretty good.

[Ϲharlie]

I'm inclined to say that Sword of Seals is the most balanced. Most of the cast has at least some kind of niche they can fill, and at the same time, no one character stands out as a game breaker

[PKL]

I'm inclined to say that Sword of Seals is the most balanced. Most of the cast has at least some kind of niche they can fill, and at the same time, no one character stands out as a game breaker

Milady and Perceval tho

[Kiriluk]

FE7 is the most balanced for me.

FE8 Sacred Stones has the dungeon were you can level and get most of your characters up to a decent fighting capability.

[Jedi]

Milady and Perceval tho

Not to mention Rutger.

[General Horace]

Miledy and Percy are far from invincible and have availability issues, and rutgar falls off a cliff late game. They're all fantastic, but not on the level of a true game breaker like Seth or Shiida

Edited May 21, 2014 by General Horace

[NinjaMonkey]

and no one unit can steamroll the whole game since they're not available for significant parts of it.

Does Haar not exist on your copy of RD?