EarthboundAddict Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I apologize if a million threads like this have been made already. I'm attempting a no grind, hard, classic playthrough and I just unlocked donnel's prologue. As a lot of people know donnel can be one of the best units in the game if babied enough but I really don't want waste too much exp on just one unit. Is donnel really worth it? If so what's the best way to get him to his full potential without neglecting or risking the lives of my other units? If not are there any other uses for him? Like a marriage partner. Aptitude is a very good skill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthboundAddict Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 · Hidden by Florete, November 18, 2015 - No reason given Hidden by Florete, November 18, 2015 - No reason given I apologize if a million threads like this have been made already. I'm attempting a no grind, hard, classic playthrough and I just unlocked donnel's prologue. As a lot of people know donnel can be one of the best units in the game if babied enough but I really don't want waste too much exp on just one unit. Is donnel really worth it? If so what's the best way to get him to his full potential without neglecting or risking the lives of my other units? If not are there any other uses for him? Like a marriage partner. Aptitude is a very good skill... Link to comment
twice Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Donnel is very worth it. He is a good unit but I've never practically trained him much (as of yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Donnel exists for people who enjoy babying units. That's about it. You want a low investment free god unit? Use Wyvern!Panne. But honestly hard mode isn't even that hard, grinding is not necessary in any mode (yes, including L+), and Donnel's use is for the people who really just like turning scrubs into not scrubs and looking at nice level ups (or they like his character). For actually beating the game with less effort and investment, most units do a better job. He does give galeforce to a daughter, for what it's worth. His mods are crap, though. Edited November 18, 2015 by Thor Odinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 If it's a no grind playthrough, than I'd say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitlynMellark Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Donnel is only worth it when you grind, because then he gets Sol & Counter & all those good skills. But for no grind, he isn't worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Donnel is only worth it when you grind, because then he gets Sol & Counter & all those good skills. But for no grind, he isn't worth it. Bold: Counter is good... When it's on an enemy, that is. It's shit for the player. Anyways, to the question, since you're doing a no-grind playthrough, I wouldn't bother. Edited November 18, 2015 by Levant Colthearts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthboundAddict Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Bold: Counter is good... When it's on an enemy, that is. It's shit for the player. Anyways, to the question, since you're doing a no-grind playthrough, I wouldn't bother. Ok. Does he make a good marriage partner than? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Mir Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Ok. Does he make a good marriage partner than? Not rly - like Lumi said, he does give Galeforce to a daughter, but unfortunately, his mods are crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tragonight Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) I apologize if a million threads like this have been made already. I like how you say that and then make two duplicate threads about it. For topic, yes and no. Generally, without grinding, he isn't worth it. Sure, Aptitude is nice, but it mainly helps when you want to grind. Like Thor said, his mods aren't that good. He gives really high Luck IIRC, but that should be about it. edit: ninja'd Edited November 18, 2015 by Tragonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Falchion Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) If it's a no grind playthrough, than I'd say no. This. Give the experience to a unit that doesn't need babying. I wouldn't even bother pairing him up since Hard doesn't require super high stats and it'll be difficult to get any child fathered by him up to par. A proc skill would be more beneficial than Aptitude imo. However, if you really really want to try to use him, you can. Edited November 18, 2015 by Ambling Falchion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthboundAddict Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 I like how you say that and then make two duplicate threads about it. For topic, yes and no. Generally, without grinding, he isn't worth it. Sure, Aptitude is nice, but it mainly helps when you want to grind. Like Thor said, his mods aren't that good. He gives really high Luck IIRC, but that should be about it. edit: ninja'd Sorry about the duplicate...it wasn't intentional. My iPad lagged and I thought that the thread was deleted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke of Dozel Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 It depends on your opinion. He's probably one of the worst minimaxed units in the game, as well as in no grinding runs. He's got terrible mods that belie his amazing growths, and probably his biggest problem is the lack of skills. Lack of good ones at that, thanks to having only 3 base classes, one of which is worthless. Great help once trained early on but easily falls behind other trained units.He's good at being the dad of Kjelle and Noire, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 He's usable, although raising him takes a little while. To be honest, you're probably better off just using Gregor. In my lunatic no grind, he only started being useful around the beginning of Valm, and even then he didn't really stand out much from the others. He's good fun though, so use him if you're keen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant head Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Donnel is really easy to baby on hard mode. I just paired him up with Frederick and had him solo spotpass Edward's map a couple times and he was ready to reclass to Mercenary, and from there he stomps the main game. But if this is a no-grind run, then he probably isn't worth it. For Lunatic, I only used him for parenting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral "Bull" Halsey Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 To make long-story short: Yes and No. Yes - for female kids of non-Galeforce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) He's a good Dad, and in your average play through he's pretty good if you train him. But if you're going for like Lunatic(+) or super difficult bonus dlc, I wouldn't recommend him as a full on unit. Still as a dad though in the latter case. Edited November 18, 2015 by Jedi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant head Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 It depends on your opinion. He's probably one of the worst minimaxed units in the game, as well as in no grinding runs. He's got terrible mods that belie his amazing growths, and probably his biggest problem is the lack of skills. Lack of good ones at that, thanks to having only 3 base classes, one of which is worthless. Great help once trained early on but easily falls behind other trained units. He's good at being the dad of Kjelle and Noire, though. Just Kjelle; Tharja and Donny have horribly clashing mods to where Noire is better off without Galeforce if she can't get Gaius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosabers Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 No, the amount of babying he needs it way too much for a snowball unit. Especially when every other unit in Awakening is also a snowball unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czar_Yoshi Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) a lot of people know donnel can be one of the best units in the game if babied enough This is not actually true. If favored as much as possible, there will be a point where Donnel's growths will allow him to overtake everyone (except Robin and the kids) in raw stats. However, that point is fairly small, because eventually he'll hit his caps just like any other favored unit, and Donnel has some of the worst caps in the game. His class/skillset is also practically nonexistant, causing him to fall off hard at this point. Oh, on Hard he'll still be so far ahead of the enemies that he'll feel invincible, but that'll be entirely due to the stat difference, which lategame and with pampering isn't something he has over other units either. Anyone can get ahead of the curve in Hard, and most units can do it without babying, so with Donnel you'll have a high-investment, average-return unit, which stacks up poorly against average-investment, average-return and especially low-investment, high-return. True, he'll have a chapter or two where he's stronger than the rest of your units would be with the same favoritism, stronger than the enemies, but not strong enough where strength doesn't matter (aka worth it over other units), but only just a few, and to make things even worse they'll likely occur during the easiest part of the game (Cht.8-11). This does change on other difficulties, by the way- he gets worse on Lunatic(+) because his lategame falloff matters more and you'll be hurting more from the loss of a Second Seal, and while he's easier to train on Normal he's suddenly the only unit in the game who requires any babying whatsoever. Hard is actually his best difficulty, and he's still bad. If you still do want to train him, though, boxing Archers is a very safe and easy way to get him exp. Make sure to take them down unpaired for the extra chip exp. There are a good few in his Paralogue (especially the one in the chest room). In Cht.6, you might be able to get him a few 1v1s by starting him on the right and luring enemies as they pass by, as well- he can use the Beastkiller from Renown if he needs to finish fights quickly since there are lots of Cavs. Cht.8 is another good place to pick fights with Cavs, but he really should be out of Villager by then so it's kind of a last resort thing. Just Kjelle; Tharja and Donny have horribly clashing mods to where Noire is better off without Galeforce if she can't get Gaius. For what it's worth, Donnel and Sully have even worse mod clash than Tharja; Sully's mods are just much better than Tharja's in the first place. But yes, you should never consider having Donnel father anyone but Noire or Kjelle when seriously minmaxing, and having him take at least one of the two (the alternative being the bench) isn't even that important. Edited November 18, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant head Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Yeah I meant that Kjelle manages to be good despite the mod clash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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