Xander is so good he's bad

[Espinosa]

Really, just how useful is a character who has such bulk that no enemy will bother attacking him anyway? It's almost sensible to have him sandbag himself intentionally, attacking ninja with weak weapons to be debuffed and taking his Prf sword away so that his defence drops to an amount where enemies start targeting him again.

Wouldn't be #1 character on my tier list!

[Tooru]

His Def is not high enough to receive 0 damage without any bonus.

He joins in Lunatic Nohr 16, where all the promoted enemies will try to attack him.

[Espinosa]

His Def is not high enough to receive 0 damage without any bonus.

That's the problem though - if you want him to not receive any bonus, you have to put his amazing 1-2 range sword into the Convoy and basically just use him as a readymade Silas on steroids.

[Duke of Dozel]

Only on normal does Xander receive no damage from weaker enemies at base. And he's still a bit slow. It's about as bad as he will get. He's like Leon except physical and can take a hit much better.

[Tooru]

That's the problem though - if you want him to not receive any bonus, you have to put his amazing 1-2 range sword into the Convoy and basically just use him as a readymade Silas on steroids.

I mean with Siegfried being his only bonus.

[Espinosa]

My current experience with Hard shows physical enemies tend to avoid Xander even without any non-Sieg defence boosts.

Only on normal does Xander receive no damage from weaker enemies at base. And he's still a bit slow. It's about as bad as he will get. He's like Leon except physical and can take a hit much better.

Let's not underestimate Leon's bulk either!

[Tooru]

Xander: 23(base Def)+4(weapon)+2(personal skill)=29

Hard Nohr 16 Hero: 18(str)+12(sliver sword)+2(weapon rank) = 32

Edited January 6, 2016 by Tooru

[Espinosa]

So he's taking 3 dmg from the hero (!), which should tell you how much he receives from just about everyone else on the same map. Have him end end his turn next to Elise or pair up with Elfie and that'll be 0 damage. That's exactly what I'm talking about.

[Tooru]

So he's taking 3 dmg from the hero (!), which should tell you how much he receives from just about everyone else on the same map. Have him end end his turn next to Elise or pair up with Elfie and that'll be 0 damage. That's exactly what I'm talking about.

So you put Xander next to Elise and then complain that he cannot reveive damage?

It is not even in the case of "without any non-Sieg defence boosts".

Edited January 6, 2016 by Tooru

[avengerfive]

He's probably still a good combat unit regardless. His PP offense is better than most units anyways. And later into the game he will start taking damage. The AI change is really nice.

And Kamui would be #1 on any tier list, but I guess he wouldn't be your #2 :p

Edited January 6, 2016 by R O Y B O Y S

[Espinosa]

So you put Xander next to Elise and then complain that he cannot reveive damage?

It is not even in the case of "without any non-Sieg defence boosts".

Can you try imagining yourself playing that chapter for a second? Most enemies will not attack Xander, so alongside Xander, you send more units who actually are attacked. Not only are they attacked, but they can die too (what with the ninja debuffs having a great effect on your units' durability), so you will want your premiere mounted healer to both heal and provide +3 def to adjacent allies as an aura.

Xander is still impervious to all the other folks anyway...

He's probably still a good combat unit regardless. His PP offense is better than most units anyways. And later into the game he will start taking damage. The AI change is really nice.

And Kamui would be #1 on any tier list, but I guess he wouldn't be your #2 :p

I would say it's him vs. Camilla for the #1 spot, but I haven't tried making a flier MU yet. Probably would pale in comparison to Cammy since she comes with actual weapon ranks and most probably also better stats than what MU can have as a result of (somewhat limited due to the new exp mechanics) snowballing that the MU may receive in the first 9 chapters.

I guess flier MU could be better for Hoshido though? I mean, Hinoka is already really damn good, then you get Crimson right when you feel you could use another one, and there's Tsubaki with his 1 chapter availability advantage over Hinoka who's pretty popular among Tonic and Pair-Up enthusiasts the world over.

And IK is just ridiculous as far as viable fliers go - Yuugiri and Camilla join so early, and Takumi is practically a meaty chipper on wings with his Prf bow (and he can counter at 1-range on this path too, since Nohr Armoury is accessible, as if you needed more reasons to use him).

[Tooru]

I don't need "imagining" play it. I have actually played it again and again.

But you need to stop "imagining" that there are ninjas in Nohr 16.

Why must I put Xander next to Elise for 0 damage when other units are atttacked?

[Duke of Dozel]

Xander joins with the highest defense base in the game. The only character who can come close is an instant promoted Benoit.

You have Nyx, Aqua, Mozume, Odin, Charlotte, and potentially Felicia who want Elise's bonus infinitely more. Not to mention having Elise right next to Xander will obviously result in the AI going after her and not him.

Excessive use of Xander that early would just steal EXP from some units who want it more. Use him as a distraction and have your units close in. And if someone is especially hard, thats why he's there!

[Espinosa]

I don't need "imagining" play it. I have actually played it again and again.

But you need to stop "imagining" that there are ninjas in Nohr 16.

Why must I put Xander next to Elise for 0 damage when other units are atttacked?

My bad; the debuffs on that map come from the Adventurer's Weakness staff. It's Nohr classes all the way there, indeed.

Elise could end up anywhere in relation to Xander, to attend to healing and aura duties. While doing so, she may cause Xander to entirely void the aforementioned hero's damage. This is, in fact, pointless if slightly curious trivia, as Xander receiving 0 damage or 3 damage from the hero does little to contribute to him somehow dying on that map (the mage-infested left-side is a whole lot more challenging and, on the contrary, it's probably not the best idea for him to go there).

I fail to see what point you're trying to make now, but you do enjoy being really picky about isolated details.

Xander joins with the highest defense base in the game. The only character who can come close is an instant promoted Benoit.

You have Nyx, Aqua, Mozume, Odin, Charlotte, and potentially Felicia who want Elise's bonus infinitely more. Not to mention having Elise right next to Xander will obviously result in the AI going after her and not him.

Excessive use of Xander that early would just steal EXP from some units who want it more. Use him as a distraction and have your units close in. And if someone is especially hard, thats why he's there!

Benoit is pretty crappy though, isn't he? Not a huge fan of any of the units you mention as wanting an Elfie Pair-Up, but I do agree that she is quite desirable still (often depending on the current situation), and that Xander probably wants her the least.

One effective way to use Xander early on is to suck it up and send Siegfried to the Convoy for a short while, and give him the Short Sword or whatever the Nohr path's non-doubling 1-2 rng blade is called, and solve a lot of Xander's midgame problems this way - he gets targeted, counters for heavy damage and doesn't steal experience for other units to grab the kills.

[Tooru]

My bad; the debuffs on that map come from the Adventurer's Weakness staff. It's Nohr classes all the way there, indeed.

Elise could end up anywhere in relation to Xander, to attend to healing and aura duties. While doing so, she may cause Xander to entirely void the aforementioned hero's damage. This is, in fact, pointless if slightly curious trivia, as Xander receiving 0 damage or 3 damage from the hero does little to contribute to him somehow dying on that map (the mage-infested left-side is a whole lot more challenging and, on the contrary, it's probably not the best idea for him to go there).

Then don't heal him and don't give him any aura when Xander cannot move away.

I don't understand why you are putting all you effort to have Xander receiving 0 damage, which is not a must but a bad thing for you.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Tooru

[Ownagepuffs]

Lol Xander is kinda funny in that you sorta wanna hope he doesn't proc defense too much because enemies just avoid him. But that's just unpromoted enemies which don't last long. Late game enemies packing silvers and capped weapon ranks can actually dent him but he still scoffs at them compared to everyone else. Normal mode Xander sounds pretty hilarious though. Here's this god unit who no enemy wants to attack ever unless they target res

[Espinosa]

Lol Xander is kinda funny in that you sorta wanna hope he doesn't proc defense too much because enemies just avoid him. But that's just unpromoted enemies which don't last long. Late game enemies packing silvers and capped weapon ranks can actually dent him but he still scoffs at them compared to everyone else. Normal mode Xander sounds pretty hilarious though. Here's this god unit who no enemy wants to attack ever unless they target res

Is Normal Mode in Nohr comparable to Awakening's? The lack of difficulty was almost unplayable. Nohr Hard is certainly challenging enough however.

[Ambulz]

Is Normal Mode in Nohr comparable to Awakening's? The lack of difficulty was almost unplayable. Nohr Hard is certainly challenging enough however.

Not at all. It's much easier than Hard mode (I mean, duh), but the better level designs and the ineffectiveness of non-DLC grinding in this game make it challenging enough for me, anyway. Hard mode kicked my ass sometimes, though.

The point though, it's harder than Awakening by a considerable margin.

[Ownagepuffs]

Is Normal Mode in Nohr comparable to Awakening's? The lack of difficulty was almost unplayable. Nohr Hard is certainly challenging enough however.

I hear Nohr NM is close to Awakening HM. I also agree that Nohr HM is a good difficulty. Based on what I've watched of it, there's enough to throw players for a loop for their first time through without being brutal.