FE10 Tierlist 2017

[-Cynthia-]

. . .I mean, there's votes all over the place, and the most interesting thing to talk about is Edward? Tiering philosophy is nice and all, despite the fact that there's a really interesting phenomenon occurring RIGHT NOW.

Like, why do you guys think there's such a gigantic range on the non-royals?

Part of it could be how one views availability- Stefan's not a traditionally 'bad' unit in the sense that he has poor stats or something similar but his only opportunity for deployment is extremely limited (4-E) to the point where on a lot of playthroughs he's doing literally nothing. To me, this makes him a pretty useless unit (definitely worse than someone like Tormod who I will likely get some use out of every playthrough).

I think people are just overrating Skrimir. No 1-2 range/flight/Canto, needs to spend first few turns with laguz gauge stuff to have worthwhile combat, struggles to double particularly in 4-3 even when transformed. It's a lot of issues for a unit who essentially has 2 chapters of availability (I don't think Skrimir is worth bringing to 4-E).

[Dunal]

For units like Stefan, people might rate them low because he won't really match their uber trained units like Edward/Zihark/Mia.

However, he's a powerful enough replacement and almost zero opportunity cost. But some people do disregard that.

It depends on how people value potential in unit, superficial/unnecessary or otherwise.

OR low availability, which is really valid. Endgame isn't the hardest part of the game for most people, so I understand that completely -- he doesn't exist where it might matter.

Edited January 8, 2017 by DLuna

[Sweet_Basil]

I was honestly going to rank Stefan a 1 but I was afraid people would get upset I ranked him lower than Fiona, but to me Fiona is a much better unit because I can either raise her to become one or she can contribute as a supporting role and he can't.

[Dunal]

I was honestly going to rank Stefan a 1 but I was afraid people would get upset I ranked him lower than Fiona, but to me Fiona is a much better unit because I can either raise her to become one or she can contribute as a supporting role and he can't.

That's... harsh considering he's perfectly usable in Endgame with little resources.

Assuming Edward/Zihark/Mia is about 20/20/10 for Endgame their stats are... pretty much the same. In HM of course. Normal mode that might be 20/20/15 or something.

Granted he has almost no availability, but that's not stopping the Laguz royals who have no 2 range. Granted it's hard to rate due to that. I personally wouldn't rate the royals any higher than 8/10 because of this alone. Except Nailah who I'd rate the highest because of her extra existence (still lacking two range though -- what are these Royals doing on enemy phase on say, 4-E-3 or 4-E-4?).

In fact, it's surprising how low Stefan's level is for how good his stats are. Just means he gains EXP faster~

Edited January 8, 2017 by DLuna

[ping]

@Augestein:
Who do you pair Volug up with?

I still don't see why you consider the Dracoshield when rating Edward, but not Zihark. I mean, I can accept that Edward is a valid recipient, although I think that Jill (because she's more likely to go ahead and do enemy phase fights) or even Volug (because his giant HP pool allows him to apply the Def boost more often per EP and he effectively gets a +3 and at some point +4 boost out of it) make better use of it than either Zihark or Edward.
It's just no specific advantage either of them has over the other and I find it a bit silly to consider it only for one of them. If either made considerably more use out of it (like Milady@Speedwings for example, or the old argument to give Dracoshields to units that can already tank more than two hits at a time), but I just don't see why Edward would profit more from the +2 Def than Zihark. The way you use it as an argument pro Eddy is a textbook example of favoritism.

Rating's not the issue. The issue is that said gap is non existant in NM and is overstated in HM.

In an HM Tier List you're not using your resources effectively if you want to train the whole DB army. Investing in Jill and Edward/any other unit is much wiser than investing in Jill, Nolan, Volug, Zihark, Aran, Laura, etc.

Zihark, at jointime, deals more damage, takes less damage, has better hitrates, better avoid and has one more movement point than Eddy. How is that not a gap?

Neither DLuna nor I made such a comparison. DLuna explicitly used

Team 1: Jill / Nolan / Edward.

Team 2: Jill / Nolan / Zihark.

as an example.

--

. . .I mean, there's votes all over the place, and the most interesting thing to talk about is Edward? Tiering philosophy is nice and all, despite the fact that there's a really interesting phenomenon occurring RIGHT NOW.

Like, why do you guys think there's such a gigantic range on the non-royals?

That's tiering philosophy, too, isn't it? ;) I really struggle to find a satisfactory metric for myself to compare average units with a lot of screentime to units that are god tier for three fights and I would assume I'm not alone with that.

Stefan I gave a low score (3.5) because he has only a small impact on a small part of the game, unlike Boyd (5.0) who isn't really a huge factor either, but has more time to do stuff, or the BK (8.0) who could easily solo 1-E if you wanted but technically has even less maps to fight in than Stefan does. It's not a scale I could really defend in an argument, though, and FE10 makes it even worse with its weird availabilities. Tormod and friends, for example, are absolutely amazing in part 1 (even Vika is really helpful in the swamp map thanks to Jill's absence), but I still factored in their performance after they rejoined. I'm not happy with it (because why should a unit be better if they didn't exist?), but I didn't want to just ignore the fact that they're rather poor choices in part 4, either.

[Anacybele]

Idk how to understand this.

You don't know how to get him in the second playthrough, or you just don't feel like to play it?

I meant what I said. :/ I never did the second playthrough. I never felt like it after how difficult the game is on one run... xP

[eclipse]

My view on lategame units is "what do I have to do to get you going?" Stefan lost quite a bit of rating from me because his affinity blows, and because he's such a pain in the ass to recruit. However, I don't have to work very hard to make him viable, which is what I like about him (besides being the best-looking Swordmaster). Pelleas requires work, which is why his rating is lower. However, he can chip, and he forces himself on a map, so he's not a totally lost cause.

Laguz are on a weird tier system, based on what happens when their gauge runs out:

- Dies to a stiff breeze: This will have a negative impact on my rating

- Can take a hit or so before dying: Slight negative impact

- Can take multiple hits before dying/possibly kill things while untransformed: In other words, just like a weaponless beorc. This is worth a slight positive rating, since it means this unit can be used as bait.

- Ulki: Due to his high avoid, I can use him as bait while untransformed, which is why he was rated higher than Janaff (who can take a hit or two before going down).

- Never worries about gauge: Higher rating in terms of other laguz, since this is like a one-range beorc with absolutely insane stats.

- Gauge is gravy: You're a heron, and you already have insane ratings from me.

[Radiant head]

i abstained on stefan, because i have no idea how to rate someone who only exists for endgame. and that too, he sits between the royals for being an out of the box endgame unit, and someone more useless like renning or volke

[Dunal]

i abstained on stefan, because i have no idea how to rate someone who only exists for endgame. and that too, he sits between the royals for being an out of the box endgame unit, and someone more useless like renning or volke

He's not strictly worse than the royals because he has two range. Most enemies in endgame have two range.

But that mostly account to the royals being overrated as opposed to Stefan being amazing or anything. And granted you need to not be using another sword user for Stefan to get dibs on Alondite.

I'd rate him higher than Giffca but about .5 less than Cain. Other royals have more availability though.

Edited January 8, 2017 by DLuna

[Augestein]

Who do you pair Volug up with?

I still don't see why you consider the Dracoshield when rating Edward, but not Zihark. I mean, I can accept that Edward is a valid recipient, although I think that Jill (because she's more likely to go ahead and do enemy phase fights) or even Volug (because his giant HP pool allows him to apply the Def boost more often per EP and he effectively gets a +3 and at some point +4 boost out of it) make better use of it than either Zihark or Edward.

It's just no specific advantage either of them has over the other and I find it a bit silly to consider it only for one of them. If either made considerably more use out of it (likeMilady@Speedwings for example, or the old argument to give Dracoshields to units that can already tank more than two hits at a time), but I just don't see why Edward would profit more from the +2 Def than Zihark. The way you use it as an argument pro Eddy is a textbook example of favoritism.

It's entirely dependent on who I plan on using. On a standard playthrough, if I don't plan on using any of the DB, I just use them as the following:

1) Micaiah x Sothe / Leonardo - It's fine, and I leave it alone by virtue that it's free and gives both a +2 attack. The evasion boost between wind and dark is okay, and both are forced, so it doesn't weigh down anyone in this case as Sothe isn't going to really have time to build supports, much less an A rank with anyone else if I don't plan on taking the DB to the end. If I plan on specifically ignoring Sothe, I'll replace him with Leonardo for Micaiah on the account that both are back row and it gives them both +3 attack. Unfortunately, it's not really useful for Micaiah at moments as most of the enemies she can't kill, +3 isn't helping, and on the ones that it does? She kills them anyways.

2) Nolan x Leonardo / Edward / Aran - The support can start out ASAP and Nolan and Leonardo get everything all around outside of hit. If you like Crossbows or need one in a quick bind, this can be pretty useful for Nolan, and unlike Aran, he doesn't have to wait a chapter.

3) Edward x Leonardo / Aran / Nolan - These are the only supports I bother with for Edward. If Nolan is going with someone else, Edward is generally not used. +2 atk and + 3 defense is nice, but it's not enough overall IMO.

4) Volug x Aran / Laura / Micaiah - Honestly, it's faster for Volug than other supports which is nice, and he gets more evasion. Aran is probably the best one for him since he's never taken when Volug is around, and Laura really isn't a good choice for him or Aran for that matter. They are a match made in heaven tbh.

5) Zihark x Jill - Is pretty much the OTP for them on a normal playthrough. They both join at the same time, they have movement that's close to one another, neither needs to break support chains already established when they join in 1-6, and they have the closest movement to one another without falling behind.

The rest generally I just ignore and don't worry about.

Primarily because I'm not arguing pro-Zihark. I'm arguing pro-Ed. I don't care if it's used on both. But considering that people were saying +2 defense doesn't matter, I figured there's no reason to include an argument pro Zihark for +2 defense when we apparently throw it out on Edward.

@DLuna. I never said that you called him bad. I simply said people go against Edward a bit too much and praise Zihark a bit much. The gap between them in Hard mode and normal isn't that big. I've honestly never found Zihark to be anything special.

Even using your example, there's still a problem with that. In Jill / Nolan / Edward versus Jill / Nolan / Zihark, we basically have Edward not taking much more from the units. What happens is that you get a slightly better team for Part 1, and Edward gets better from Part 3 to the end. I'd say that the early game is a bit more annoying on the account that things annoy you less with more levels (biorhythms hurt less etc). My issue is that both Zihark and Edward need some TLC to be able to make it passed part 3 to be good. Edward needs some in Part 1, and once you do, he's fine. The opportunity cost you talk about aren't even that bad. Because all of the DB needs them even the good ones. That's my beef with how people are talking about the units. And I agree on Leonardo. Leonardo doesn't have to do anything to be "okay" in usefulness. Basically what I said about Leo applies, he just doesn't have much potential.

[Dunal]

and Edward gets better from Part 3 to the end.

I'll single out this point because I think that's highly debatable.

Zihark can cap every relevant stat if you're using BEXP on him as much as Edward.

So stats aren't a factor. It's basically Adept vs. Wrath and Caladbolg vs. Earth affinity.

BTW, I don't think you've taken into account the fact that Zihark's Earth makes him a better partner for certain units, not just the fact that it benefits Zihark. Other units want Zihark more than Edward. Volug has all of 6 turns on 1-5 before Zihark joins and that's arguably not enough time to get a C with anyone else (I mean, in Redux I've buffed support speeds a lot, and even then Volug struggles to support anyone for 1-6 as you need to be stood next to someone for 2 of the only 6 turns that exist). Besides the fact that Volug again, wants to be even more powerful by pairing with Zihark.

Zihark's supports are not selfish towards him, he's pretty valued for other units. That needs to be brought up.

Basically, you're giving Edward too much credit with his 'potential'. FE10 isn't exactly a game where it's remotely difficult to cap stats. Part 4 is kinda easy for the most part and it's effortless to just cap out any unit to speak of.

Edited January 9, 2017 by DLuna

[Quintessence]

That's fine. Have you voted in this poll?

just did it now!

Going to rate based on availability, contributions, potential and effort. And also other metrics on comments but thag's too much to list!

Nestling: 7

As a Royal, he's automatically good. You play safe with him, with his spd and decent attack, although he'll rely on tear to break through generals. Bad point on him is lack of SS rank, and while it is acquirable, it is quite hard to do so, unless you slow down your chapters. Good things are mobility, flight and Formshift. However his contributions aren't stellar when you've gone throughout all the game and his endgame isn't awesome because you'll want ranged attackers to clear 4-E-1 really fast.

Skrimir: 6.5

Lower than Nestling because of flight basically. Despite he has higher dmg output, having gauge is not that cool. However he does his job quite well.

Tibarn: 7.5

Basically a stronger Nestling with SS rank. Both of them do similar jobs in their respective routes, so they're pretty equal on that regard.

Pelleas: 6

Long live outliers! Would rate 5 or 5.5 but there's also bias here as he's one of my fave characters.

Pelleas is a good sage, he needs some BEXP levels to cap mag and spd, and maybe skl and res, insta promote and be a competent unit on 4-5 with Resolve+any other skill like Daunt, Vantage or something. I love to give him Arcthunder to watch dem crts and also train him to kill Izuka! Feels so good. Other than that, his endgame is just good, not stellar though, but being combat + staff utility is nice.

Stefan: 5.5

Not a fan of him. While he's pretty good and has good stats, his endgame contributions are equal to any other trained Trueblade, even Lucia. And he does nothing in 4-3 besides killing a warrior reinforcement.

[Sweet_Basil]

@DLuna when you said that Edward has one of the highest opportunity cost you mentioned that Fiona and Meg has more than him. With Fiona I understand because she'll need a forge/shielding/stat boosts and then she has to watch out for enemy crits. I'm curious what makes Meg's opportunity cost the second highest though, she really doesn't seem that different to anyone else since everyone else (save Sothe/Volug) is more or less the same durability in they can only take 1 hit at most for all through part 1 until they grow out of it.

[Dunal]

@DLuna when you said that Edward has one of the highest opportunity cost you mentioned that Fiona and Meg has more than him. With Fiona I understand because she'll need a forge/shielding/stat boosts and then she has to watch out for enemy crits. I'm curious what makes Meg's opportunity cost the second highest though, she really doesn't seem that different to anyone else since everyone else (save Sothe/Volug) is more or less the same durability in they can only take 1 hit at most for all through part 1 until they grow out of it.

Meg is reliant on you playing less efficiently in order to actively use/train. She also needs more EXP from her jointime onwards than Edward. Level 7 or 8 for Eddy is reasonable for 1-4 and stats to match. Granted Meg's bases are pretty good for her level and that means more EXP gain. Overall Edward needs less than her from her jointime.

Her movement is bad though forcing you to play slower to make use of her. And in hard mode you pretty much are forced to make her choke-block in 1-4 for dozens of turns to make her relevant after that. 1-5 she sucks at climbing. 1-6-1 the only thing she can reasonably do is tank the armors that show up to the slight north. 1-7/1-8/1-E etc... she's just slow.

I don't even think her stats end up bad or anything (like some seem to suggest). Her growths are kinda weird but she works. She just takes a lot of effort to progress. You need to give her a forge and Dracoshield to consider using as well -- to patch her middling STR and DEF.

She also really wants/needs the Brave Sword and Killing Edge to help her offence when needed. Which means not giving it to someone else. I suppose she would get dibs on an arm scroll though for Javelin use.

Edited January 9, 2017 by DLuna

[ping]

My view on lategame units is "what do I have to do to get you going?" Stefan lost quite a bit of rating from me because his affinity blows, and because he's such a pain in the ass to recruit. However, I don't have to work very hard to make him viable, which is what I like about him (besides being the best-looking Swordmaster). Pelleas requires work, which is why his rating is lower. However, he can chip, and he forces himself on a map, so he's not a totally lost cause.

That's interesting, I never considered recruitment at all, but I have to agree that it's a fair point. I'm a perfectionist in that regard, so I recruit almost always every possible character (even Shinon in PoR, Mathis in New Mystery and most definitely Treck in Binding Blade). And since I will do it regardless of whether I want to use the character or not, I never really saw the recruitment itself as an opportunity cost. But if the player is less anal about complete recruitment than me, it's definitely a factor.

Edited January 9, 2017 by ping

[Dunal]

That's interesting, I never considered recruitment at all, but I have to agree that it's a fair point. I'm a perfectionist in that regard, so I recruit almost always every possible character (even Shinon in PoR, Mathis in New Mystery and most definitely Treck in Binding Blade). And since I will do it regardless of whether I want to use the character or not, I never really saw the recruitment itself as an opportunity cost. But if the player is less anal about complete recruitment than me, it's definitely a factor.

I think it would be a far greater factor if Micaiah wasn't a mage. But since that's not the case, I don't believe it's too detrimental to go out of your way to recruit him. A slight factor indeed, nonetheless.

Micaiah is probably just Physic healing people anyway and not much else. So it isn't placing her anywhere ineffective.

Edited January 9, 2017 by DLuna

[ping]

Yeah, I meant that as a general statement. RD!Stefan isn't as bad as he's obscure (good luck finding him if you don't know where to look), but some recruitable enemies can be a real pain to recruit, especially if they require a unit like Lilina or Rolf that die to a stiff breeze if untrained.

And since you responded faster than I could edit my last post, I'll move it here:

I don't even think her stats end up bad or anything (like some seem to suggest). Her growths are kinda weird but she works. She just takes a lot of effort to progress. You need to give her a forge and Dracoshield to consider using as well -- to patch her middling STR and DEF.

Her caps are horrible, though. :/ 22 speed as a General really sucks and it means that she'll be rather slow after her second promotion, as well. And it's not like Marshall caps are any good - Dracoknights have a higher Def cap, ffs. Meg just starts bad and will never really go anywhere, even with investment.

[Dunal]

Her caps are horrible, though. :/ 22 speed as a General really sucks and it means that she'll be rather slow after her second promotion, as well. And it's not like Marshall caps are any good - Dracoknights have a higher Def cap, ffs. Meg just starts bad and will never really go anywhere, even with investment.

On the flip side it just makes her good with BEXP.

Her overall Marshall caps are better than all other Marshalls for what its worth.

She also still doubles tigers in 3-6 and 3-13 and only gets better with the Brave Sword or Killing Edge. Only Zihark and Volug double cats anyway so she's not exactly bad off in this regard. Nolan needs to reach 20/9 to be at 22 speed in the first place.

She's still second worst in the DB but I can raise points in her favor where I can (there's a maaassive gap between her and Fiona though so that sounds more bad than it actually is). Meg is a bit underrated... but still not good. =L

Edited January 9, 2017 by DLuna

[Sweet_Basil]

I'm doing an all-girl playthrough on HM and she seems rather good lol none of the other girls can take hits. Granted I am playing at a slower pace and more defensively than I am used to, although I raised the question because at that point I had just gotten to Fiona and I noticed a massive difference in their performance.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Sweet_Basil

[Radiant head]

He's not strictly worse than the royals because he has two range. Most enemies in endgame have two range.

But that mostly account to the royals being overrated as opposed to Stefan being amazing or anything. And granted you need to not be using another sword user for Stefan to get dibs on Alondite.

I'd rate him higher than Giffca but about .5 less than Cain. Other royals have more availability though.

yeah but i would say a). movement is the main advantage for royals, and b) no one is really filling the role of someone like tibarn or caineghis the way mia/zihark/edward would for being the alondite. well maybe haar and tibarn fill similar roles.

[Quintessence]

I've never seen recruitment being a factor against any unit, in ratings, tier lists and debates. It's good to be considered but it hasn't been in action as far as I can tell since (some examples off the top of my head) Stefan can be recruited at Turn 5 with full moves, and (extending recruitment to other games), Lucius can also be recruited by playing ltc.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Okay, I am VERY late!

Naesala:

Laguz royal, fantastic.

9/10

Skrimir:

Best non-royal laguz besides Giffca.

8/10

Tibarn:

One of the two BEST units in the game!

10/10

Pelleas:

Eh, not great. He can be fun to use, though.

5/10

Stefan:

He's not necessary but if you didn't train anyone else up then he's okay.

7/10

Edited January 9, 2017 by Fire Emblem Fan

[Augestein]

BTW, I don't think you've taken into account the fact that Zihark's Earth makes him a better partner for certain units, not just the fact that it benefits Zihark. Other units want Zihark more than Edward. Volug has all of 6 turns on 1-5 before Zihark joins and that's arguably not enough time to get a C with anyone else (I mean, in Redux I've buffed support speeds a lot, and even then Volug struggles to support anyone for 1-6 as you need to be stood next to someone for 2 of the only 6 turns that exist). Besides the fact that Volug again, wants to be even more powerful by pairing with Zihark.

I have. The problem is that you're largely ignoring that Edward's affinity isn't selfish. Getting +8 hit basically means that any unit that has a "worst" biorhythm loses 2 hit instead of 10 and + 2 defense to help with losing avoid. I still believe that people are too harsh on Edward and too light on Zihark.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

It's entirely dependent on who I plan on using. On a standard playthrough, if I don't plan on using any of the DB, I just use them as the following:

1) Micaiah x Sothe / Leonardo - It's fine, and I leave it alone by virtue that it's free and gives both a +2 attack. The evasion boost between wind and dark is okay, and both are forced, so it doesn't weigh down anyone in this case as Sothe isn't going to really have time to build supports, much less an A rank with anyone else if I don't plan on taking the DB to the end. If I plan on specifically ignoring Sothe, I'll replace him with Leonardo for Micaiah on the account that both are back row and it gives them both +3 attack. Unfortunately, it's not really useful for Micaiah at moments as most of the enemies she can't kill, +3 isn't helping, and on the ones that it does? She kills them anyways.

2) Nolan x Leonardo / Edward / Aran - The support can start out ASAP and Nolan and Leonardo get everything all around outside of hit. If you like Crossbows or need one in a quick bind, this can be pretty useful for Nolan, and unlike Aran, he doesn't have to wait a chapter.

3) Edward x Leonardo / Aran / Nolan - These are the only supports I bother with for Edward. If Nolan is going with someone else, Edward is generally not used. +2 atk and + 3 defense is nice, but it's not enough overall IMO.

4) Volug x Aran / Laura / Micaiah - Honestly, it's faster for Volug than other supports which is nice, and he gets more evasion. Aran is probably the best one for him since he's never taken when Volug is around, and Laura really isn't a good choice for him or Aran for that matter. They are a match made in heaven tbh.

5) Zihark x Jill - Is pretty much the OTP for them on a normal playthrough. They both join at the same time, they have movement that's close to one another, neither needs to break support chains already established when they join in 1-6, and they have the closest movement to one another without falling behind.

The rest generally I just ignore and don't worry about.

Primarily because I'm not arguing pro-Zihark. I'm arguing pro-Ed. I don't care if it's used on both. But considering that people were saying +2 defense doesn't matter, I figured there's no reason to include an argument pro Zihark for +2 defense when we apparently throw it out on Edward.

@DLuna. I never said that you called him bad. I simply said people go against Edward a bit too much and praise Zihark a bit much. The gap between them in Hard mode and normal isn't that big. I've honestly never found Zihark to be anything special.

Even using your example, there's still a problem with that. In Jill / Nolan / Edward versus Jill / Nolan / Zihark, we basically have Edward not taking much more from the units. What happens is that you get a slightly better team for Part 1, and Edward gets better from Part 3 to the end. I'd say that the early game is a bit more annoying on the account that things annoy you less with more levels (biorhythms hurt less etc). My issue is that both Zihark and Edward need some TLC to be able to make it passed part 3 to be good. Edward needs some in Part 1, and once you do, he's fine. The opportunity cost you talk about aren't even that bad. Because all of the DB needs them even the good ones. That's my beef with how people are talking about the units. And I agree on Leonardo. Leonardo doesn't have to do anything to be "okay" in usefulness. Basically what I said about Leo applies, he just doesn't have much potential.

The best DB supports for me:

Nolan x Zihark

Pretty much default because both need the evasion.

Volug x Jill / Sothe

Jill needs as much evasion as she can in the beginning of part 3 because she barely will take two hits by the tigers. Also the extra defense will help both.

Sothe x Volug can make Sothe much more usable in combat since his defense is bad and needs evasion.

Edward x Leonardo

Edward needs all the power he can get. With the strength he might oneround some enemies (without the brave sword). And Leonardo's support grants him up to +3 defense which can make it possible to take two hits by certain enemies. Since his affinity doesn't grant him any evasion, an support with an earth unit won't help him much. It'll only screw the earth unit.

Micaiah x Sothe / Jill

It's a good enough support for both. Both have extra attack and Sothe has quite a bit evasion. But not enough for Sothe in part 3.

Jill can up to +15 evasion too, +2 strength and defense. All the stats she needs.

Aran x Laura

It's the only left support choice. A bit evasion is for Aran quite nice, although not enough.

[Dunal]

I still believe that people are too harsh on Edward and too light on Zihark.

I could just as well say that you're being too bias towards Edward? (gets dibs on a dracoshield and all the BEXP that the DB has apparently)

Nolan has high SKL/LCK. Aran has high SKL. Volug has 90 hit on his weapon let alone high SKL. Jill... might need hit the most? But her high SPD means she abuses extra avoid even more. Biorhythm or no Biorhythm I doubt 8 hit is making that much impact. Forged irons can be made cheaply if that was ever an issue.

Handaxes/Javs can have iffy hit, but you're fighting Laguz for most of part 3 so you don't even need those on enemy phase.

If this mattered at all then Heaven affinity would suddenly be fantastic. But it really isn't.

I mean, you're kinda grasping at straws here. Earth is established to be the best support affinity because it's over-tuned considering avoid tanking is OP in FE. Especially in this game. To the point of where it can make DEF/RES redundant.

1 or 2 points of DEF really isn't doing anything in HM either since enemies are either 2HKOing or 3HKOing everyone across the board. Very very rarely will minor points of DEF will let you live (if you have 35 HP and enemies are dealing 15 damage per round, you need 11 more DEF to survive an extra hit). Unless you dodge them... And Earth/Earth is +45 avoid. It's broken and shouldn't exist but it does.

Tigers in 3-6 have 39 ATK. Edward having 16 DEF means taking 23 damage. Suddenly his DEF really is meaningless. With 35 HP he needs 22 DEF to survive more than 2 hits. Defensive stats really don't mean a whole lot unless you're taking single digit damage. That's always been the case in Fire Emblem.

Overall I'd rate Edward 5.5 and Zihark 7.5 (in HM). I don't think that's unreasonable whatsoever. Ignoring everything else, Zihark has lower opportunity costs in an army that's really scarce for resources/availability. That's really the only main factor necessary.

(In NM, Edward being 7 and Zihark 8 -- Edward is allowed to be given BEXP with not much detriment to the army and can actually fight axe users and reliably avoid their attacks, making it easier to train him while still given reign to train other units as well). Reason why Zihark also drops slightly is because his EXP is almost cut in half in part 1 and goes from being 3HKOed to 2HKOed in some instances (from 1-E onward).

Edited January 9, 2017 by DLuna