Viable Magic Units

[Aestury]

So other than Corrin and Leo, are there any magic units that can make magic in fates at least somewhat salvageable

I hear Hayato is great, but tbh I just want to a have a magic heavy team like I did in awakening. It's just magic is so nerfed in this game I rarely see anyone using magic units.

[bowfanatic]

Are you looking for route-specific magic users or just magic users in general?

I'm not completely sure about the best, but I feel like with Leo, Nyx, and Odin in Nohr you might be pretty good? And Odin's kid will probably have a good magic stat as well; an even better one if you pair Odin with Nyx or Orochi. Same would be for Hayato's kid. Orochi also seems to have a pretty good Magic stat.

[Mango Giamatti]

I wouldn't say that magic is nerfed in this game (unless you are talking about Nosferatu), but most of the magic users you get are mediocre.

In Birthright, Orochi is slow and very fragile, and Hayato comes way underleveled with terrible bases.

In Conquest, Odin has low-ish bases and only average growths, while Nyx is made of glass and has problems hitting. Ophelia's paralogue does give you good things like Horse Spirit and a Reverse Spirit, though.

In Revelation, Hayato is much better for he comes with reasonable bases and makes a good Oni Chieftan. Orochi is mostly the same as in Birthright, but joins later which makes her even worse. Nyx and Odin come very late in Revelation with terrible bases and are ORKO'd in their join chapters. Felicia can be sealed into Strategist in all routes, but she's also frail and has to deal with E rank tomes for awhile.

Depending on your difficulty, the only units I would call unsalvageable are Odin and Nyx in Revelation, but the only one that I would call good is Hayato in Revelation.

[Esme]

It depends on which route you're currently playing through. I can try my best to give a quick breakdown, though.

[spoiler=Conquest]Your natural/potential magic units in Nohr are: Leo, Camilla, Elise, Nyx, Odin, Felicia, Jakob, Flora, Forrest, Ophelia, Nina, and Izana.

Leo is really good. I'm sure you're aware of that already.

Camilla is better off chopping heads with her axe rather than casting spells. Still, she's not too bad at that, but I wouldn't dedicate her to the role.

Elise has staff utility and a horse, but she can't actually use tomes until she promotes. She lacks any semblance of durability and will be stuck with a low tome rank for a while unless you promote her early and make her burn a bunch of filthy Hoshidans.

Nyx is literally figuratively made of glass and is probably half-bat considering how blind she is. She's not slow, and she can hit kinda hard, which is nice.

Odin is unremarkable stat-wise. His growths are the same. His personal ability is really cool, though. Free crit is always nice.

Felicia has staff utility and a great MAG growth. She can't actually use tomes unless she reclasses, but she can hit pretty hard with magical hidden weapons. However, she suffers from the same weapon rank problems as Elise (If you reclass.) and isn't very durable either.

Jakob has staff utility, but his bases/growths are definitely not suited for spellcasting.

Flora also has staff utility, but joins very late. I don't think there's any point in reclassing her, either. Why would you want E-rank tomes near endgame? There's no point.

Forrest, Ophelia, and Nina are child units. In Conquest, resources are limited. Naturally, as children, they require quite a bit of investment, but I think they have the potential to be much, much better than the First Gen spellcasters. I think it might be up to you to decide whether or not that investment will pay off. (Also, despite Nina not actually starting as a magic unit, I think she's pretty well-suited to the role provided that you give her a magical mother. She seems like she could play both a physical and a magical role pretty well.)

Izana has a weird recruitment requirement, but I'd say he's a pretty decent spellcaster. I don't know if he should be considered a lategame unit, though. Either way, he's a decent staffbot with a great personal skill.

[spoiler=Birthright]Your natural/potential magic units in Hoshido are: Sakura, Hayato, Orochi, Asama, Izana, Rahjat, Asugi, and Mitama.

Sakura is cute!!! has staff utility, but just like Elise, she cannot use tomes until promotion. Still, it's not like Birthright is all that tough. She shouldn't have a problem getting that tome rank up considering she joins you so early.

Hayato sucks, plain and simple. He joins underleveled, so you have to waste time training him until he's decent. You could spend them time using Sakura or Orochi or something. Although, considering the fact that you can grind in Birthright... Maybe that's not much of a flaw.

Orochi has an ass so fat that it slows her down on the battlefield. Seriously, she's really slow. She's definitely a good candidate for a ninja pair-up or something. Other than that, I'd say she actually has some pretty good stats/growths. I also hear she makes for quite the tanky Shura or whatever you call it.

Asama has staff utility, but his physical growths are ridiculous. You are literally squandering his potential if you keep him as a magic unit.

(Refer to the Conquest spoiler for Izana.)

Rahjat, Asugi, and Mitama are child units. Just like the ones in Conquest, they require investment. Luckily, you can freely grind for supports, so they can potentially become some of your most impressive spellcasters. Anyway, Rahjat is a natural magic unit with a magic dad. Giving her a magic mom is an obvious choice. She'll pretty much always turn out pretty decent, if not, great. Asugi starts off as a ninja, but his offensive growths are actually pretty even. Much like Nina, he can play the role of a physical, magical, or mixed unit. Mitama, like her father, should be reclassed ASAP. She does not belong in any magic class at all. I repeat: If you keep her in a magic class, you are squandering her potential.

As for Revelations, Nyx and Odin are irredeemably terrible. Hayato is amazing because of his buffed stats and early join time. Everyone else ranges from mediocre to pretty decent. I'd argue that the second gen spellcasters are even better in this route because you have access to units from both Nohr and Hoshido and you can freely grind for supports.

So, yeah, I might be wrong about some stuff, but that's what I think of the spellcasters in Fates.

[Supercredit]

Honestly magic hybrids are better. Like dark knight or chieftain.

OR use magic weapons on physicals that have good magic.

Example: I had nina use the magic 1-2 range bow and she was great.

[NekoKnight]

Esme's summary sounds accurate. My best casters were Nyx!Ophelia and Elise. Camilla has a terrible base magic and Nyx will get ohko'ed by anything without a seraph robe.

For Hoshido, Sakura (tomes or a Shining Bow) might be your best magic damage dealer. Orochi can hit for a lot of damage but she'll get doubled without Horse Spirit, or some other speed boost. I haven't used her yet but Shara has the growths to be good.

A +magic Kamui is a good choice for any play through because you'll probably have enough physical attackers regardless of your route choice.

[Jedi]

From what I heard, Nyx is the only solid magic user outside of Leo.

[Shadow Mir]

From what I heard, Nyx is the only solid magic user outside of Leo.

On Conquest, or in general? Because if it's the latter, I'd say Sakura might be better (stafflock be damned).

[Jedi]

On Conquest, or in general? Because if it's the latter, I'd say Sakura might be better (stafflock be damned).

Thats what I've heard in general, but I could be mistaking what I heard with on Conquest.

[Tooru]

Elise doesn't worry about weapon rank. She is going to use Fire for high Hit even when D or C ranks are unlocked.

As a Revenant Knight she can take one physical hit, though it is not necessary for her to take any.

Camilla only uses a Tome when I want to leave the EXP for other units XD.

Bolt Axe is only good for fighting Golems, because there is Hammer for Generals.

Conquest midgame enemies have low Spd and low Res, so not only Felicia but also Jakob can ORKO almost everything with Explosive Shuriken.

Flora joins late and misses the chance to be powerful.

Anna has high Mag growth&base, and starts with C-rank for Shining Bow.

There is no Shining Bow in Hoshido for Sakura.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Tooru

[NekoKnight]

You can get a Shining Bow with BP (if we're counting that as an option).

[Soonaynay]

BP? Can you elaborate?

[NekoKnight]

Battle Points. You get them by doing My Castle Battles. Battle points can be used to 'purchase' Nohrian weapons and Visitor Points (acquired by visiting other castles) can get Hoshidan weapons. I know some people are purists about getting items outside of normal missions but I think it's fair game to get items that just aren't available in your version without DLC. The Shining Bow, for example is perfect for Sakura as a War Priestess and the only magic bow in the game, but you get exactly zero if you bought Birthright. Considering how magic barren Hoshido is, it might be worth getting.

[Jakkun]

not sure if this is factoring in grinding or not
but for Revalations, Nyx!Rahjat is amazing, problem is training Nyx on that route.
Conquest, you could go for Nyx!Foleo & Elise!Ophelia

Birthright, you have Orochi!Rahjat (warning, Orochi's speed is bad)

[Soonaynay]

Battle Points. You get them by doing My Castle Battles. Battle points can be used to 'purchase' Nohrian weapons and Visitor Points (acquired by visiting other castles) can get Hoshidan weapons. I know some people are purists about getting items outside of normal missions but I think it's fair game to get items that just aren't available in your version without DLC. The Shining Bow, for example is perfect for Sakura as a War Priestess and the only magic bow in the game, but you get exactly zero if you bought Birthright. Considering how magic barren Hoshido is, it might be worth getting.

Ah I see. Thanks!

[Thane]

Well, I'll tell you who not to use in Revelations: Odin and Nyx. Nyx deals three damage to generals on the map she's introduced in, and Odin is doubled by every single unit (I believe) and is killed in two physical hits when he joins.

[Aestury]

It depends on which route you're currently playing through. I can try my best to give a quick breakdown, though.

[spoiler=Conquest]Your natural/potential magic units in Nohr are: Leo, Camilla, Elise, Nyx, Odin, Felicia, Jakob, Flora, Forrest, Ophelia, Nina, and Izana.

Leo is really good. I'm sure you're aware of that already.

Camilla is better off chopping heads with her axe rather than casting spells. Still, she's not too bad at that, but I wouldn't dedicate her to the role.

Elise has staff utility and a horse, but she can't actually use tomes until she promotes. She lacks any semblance of durability and will be stuck with a low tome rank for a while unless you promote her early and make her burn a bunch of filthy Hoshidans.

Nyx is literally figuratively made of glass and is probably half-bat considering how blind she is. She's not slow, and she can hit kinda hard, which is nice.

Odin is unremarkable stat-wise. His growths are the same. His personal ability is really cool, though. Free crit is always nice.

Felicia has staff utility and a great MAG growth. She can't actually use tomes unless she reclasses, but she can hit pretty hard with magical hidden weapons. However, she suffers from the same weapon rank problems as Elise (If you reclass.) and isn't very durable either.

Jakob has staff utility, but his bases/growths are definitely not suited for spellcasting.

Flora also has staff utility, but joins very late. I don't think there's any point in reclassing her, either. Why would you want E-rank tomes near endgame? There's no point.

Forrest, Ophelia, and Nina are child units. In Conquest, resources are limited. Naturally, as children, they require quite a bit of investment, but I think they have the potential to be much, much better than the First Gen spellcasters. I think it might be up to you to decide whether or not that investment will pay off. (Also, despite Nina not actually starting as a magic unit, I think she's pretty well-suited to the role provided that you give her a magical mother. She seems like she could play both a physical and a magical role pretty well.)

Izana has a weird recruitment requirement, but I'd say he's a pretty decent spellcaster. I don't know if he should be considered a lategame unit, though. Either way, he's a decent staffbot with a great personal skill.

[spoiler=Birthright]Your natural/potential magic units in Hoshido are: Sakura, Hayato, Orochi, Asama, Izana, Rahjat, Asugi, and Mitama.

Sakura is cute!!! has staff utility, but just like Elise, she cannot use tomes until promotion. Still, it's not like Birthright is all that tough. She shouldn't have a problem getting that tome rank up considering she joins you so early.

Hayato sucks, plain and simple. He joins underleveled, so you have to waste time training him until he's decent. You could spend them time using Sakura or Orochi or something. Although, considering the fact that you can grind in Birthright... Maybe that's not much of a flaw.

Orochi has an ass so fat that it slows her down on the battlefield. Seriously, she's really slow. She's definitely a good candidate for a ninja pair-up or something. Other than that, I'd say she actually has some pretty good stats/growths. I also hear she makes for quite the tanky Shura or whatever you call it.

Asama has staff utility, but his physical growths are ridiculous. You are literally squandering his potential if you keep him as a magic unit.

(Refer to the Conquest spoiler for Izana.)

Rahjat, Asugi, and Mitama are child units. Just like the ones in Conquest, they require investment. Luckily, you can freely grind for supports, so they can potentially become some of your most impressive spellcasters. Anyway, Rahjat is a natural magic unit with a magic dad. Giving her a magic mom is an obvious choice. She'll pretty much always turn out pretty decent, if not, great. Asugi starts off as a ninja, but his offensive growths are actually pretty even. Much like Nina, he can play the role of a physical, magical, or mixed unit. Mitama, like her father, should be reclassed ASAP. She does not belong in any magic class at all. I repeat: If you keep her in a magic class, you are squandering her potential.

As for Revelations, Nyx and Odin are irredeemably terrible. Hayato is amazing because of his buffed stats and early join time. Everyone else ranges from mediocre to pretty decent. I'd argue that the second gen spellcasters are even better in this route because you have access to units from both Nohr and Hoshido and you can freely grind for supports.

So, yeah, I might be wrong about some stuff, but that's what I think of the spellcasters in Fates.

Man that was really the exact kind of analysis I was looking for so thank you for that, I plan on using Magic + Corrin on both of my runs with their counterpart mages for each run (Diviner in Nohr, Dark mage in Hoshido) Since magic has always been a soft spot for me. I don't plan to use Nyx much in Nohr since ill probably be having to shield Felicia and Elise, so having to go the extra mile for a low accuracy glass canon doesn't seem very worth it. Hopefully she'll do fine just standing next to Leo.

[Leif]

Well, I'll tell you who not to use in Revelations: Odin and Nyx. Nyx deals three damage to generals on the map she's introduced in, and Odin is doubled by every single unit (I believe) and is killed in two physical hits when he joins.

I haven't seen any of the Revelation streams for Fates via Gamexplain, but I wonder if Odin and Nyx got buffed through Treehouse? If I'm not mistaken, some of the units in the Sacred Stones were buffed upon localization. Do you think that'll happen in Revelation?

[Aestury]

I haven't seen any of the Revelation streams for Fates via Gamexplain, but I wonder if Odin and Nyx got buffed through Treehouse? If I'm not mistaken, some of the units in the Sacred Stones were buffed upon localization. Do you think that'll happen in Revelation?

Actually I think they were nerfed upon localization. Ewan for example had a 55% growth in japan while 45% growth after localization, but then again maybe other units gained opposite treatment but id have to dig more into it.

EDIT: I think localization was just an overall balancing in general, some units were buffed while others were nerfed. I can't see that happening in fates though unless online is region locked.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Aestury

[Esme]

Man that was really the exact kind of analysis I was looking for so thank you for that, I plan on using Magic + Corrin on both of my runs with their counterpart mages for each run (Diviner in Nohr, Dark mage in Hoshido) Since magic has always been a soft spot for me. I don't plan to use Nyx much in Nohr since ill probably be having to shield Felicia and Elise, so having to go the extra mile for a low accuracy glass canon doesn't seem very worth it. Hopefully she'll do fine just standing next to Leo.

If you're gonna use a +MAG Corrin, then I recommend going for the hybrid classes (War Priestess, Dark Knight) and using magic weapons like the Shining Bow and the Levin Sword. Since they can't proc skills, you can just invest in Bow/Sword-faire, Vantage, and other non-proc skills.

Also, Line of Death + Vantage is a fantastic combo and works well with both physical and magical units. (On paper, at least. They seem like they're made for each other.)

Edited February 17, 2016 by Esme

[Duke of Dozel]

Pick your Rhatja:

Mother is Sakura - Diviner, Priestess, Oni Savage

Recruited class Growths: HP: 43/STR: 28/MAG: 70/SKL: 35/SPD: 60/LUK: 48/DEF: 28/RES: 38

Modifiers - (STR: 1/MAG: 4/SKL: -1/SPD: 4/LUK: 2/DEF: -1/RES: 0)


Mother is Orochi - Dviner, Oni Savage, Herb Merchant

Recruited class Growths: HP: 38/STR: 15/MAG:78/SKL: 40/SPD: 48/LUK: 38/DEF:25/RES: 50

Modifiers - (STR: 1/MAG: 5/SKL: 2/SPD: 1/LUK: 1/DEF: -2/RES: 1)

[Eriotto]

Pick your Rhatja:

Mother is Sakura - Diviner, Priestess, Oni Savage

Recruited class Growths: HP: 43/STR: 28/MAG: 70/SKL: 35/SPD: 60/LUK: 48/DEF: 28/RES: 38

Modifiers - (STR: 1/MAG: 4/SKL: -1/SPD: 4/LUK: 2/DEF: -1/RES: 0)

Mother is Orochi - Dviner, Oni Savage, Herb Merchant

Recruited class Growths: HP: 38/STR: 15/MAG:78/SKL: 40/SPD: 48/LUK: 38/DEF:25/RES: 50

Modifiers - (STR: 1/MAG: 5/SKL: 2/SPD: 1/LUK: 1/DEF: -2/RES: 1)

Honestly i'm suprised how huge spd modifer have Syalla with Orochi as mother. xD

48 isn't that bad imo, almost 1/2 chance for getting speed.

[Duke of Dozel]

Well Rhatja has pretty insane speed as well as having a fast dad. Orochi does slow her down a bit, but on promotion she'll be in the 50's and you'll forget about it. It's all a matter of preference. One of the few kids who can handle Orochi as a mom.

[Eriotto]

Well Rhatja has pretty insane speed as well as having a fast dad. Orochi does slow her down a bit, but on promotion she'll be in the 50's and you'll forget about it. It's all a matter of preference. One of the few kids who can handle Orochi as a mom.

Yeah, one thing good. :P

[NekoKnight]

Also, Line of Death + Vantage is a fantastic combo and works well with both physical and magical units. (On paper, at least. They seem like they're made for each other.)

Bolded relevant words. This is low HP Emblem so an extra +10 damage can be the difference between surviving an attack and getting one shotted. It might work for some characters (Ryoma seems like a good candidate) but I think it's a pretty big risk.