Creating a Magical Beast Byleth

[daisy jane]

I've had the same Byeth Build for 5 playthroughs now. 
Mercenary/Assassin to Pegasus knight to Falcon Knight - with a bow. 

but I want to try Gremory (or Dark Knight) byleth - but i also don't want to cripple the strength (going through Mage/Bishop/Priest/whatnot). but i also want her to have really good res and magic (which means she needs to go through those paths. Byleth also doesn't get workable magic until Faculty training starts which is .. chapter 3? (4?). 

How would you create a Magic Strong Byleth - without diminishing her physical strength?

[Chaotix]

Byleth will basically always have good strength in my experience, even if you run through only magic classes. His/her strength base is so good it will probably be higher than magic for at least the first half of the game. Only the intermediate mage classes carry a strength growth penalty and it's only -5. Enlightened One has a +10 strength growth boost so you can run that until you qualify for Gremory (and it will be a while because ranking up Byleth's reason takes forever).

The real stat you have to worry about is speed. Without the speed boosts that mercenary or peg knight provides, Byleth might have trouble doubling enemies in the midgame. Low magic weight does help with that, though.

So with that in mind you might want to run Assassin or Falcon Knight for a few levels, or otherwise just keep a speedwing or two on hand in case you get stat-screwed.

[daisy jane]

21 minutes ago, Chaotix said:

Byleth will basically always have good strength in my experience, even if you run through only magic classes. His/her strength base is so good it will probably be higher than magic for at least the first half of the game. Only the intermediate mage classes carry a strength growth penalty and it's only -5. Enlightened One has a +10 strength growth boost so you can run that until you qualify for Gremory (and it will be a while because ranking up Byleth's reason takes forever).

The real stat you have to worry about is speed. Without the speed boosts that mercenary or peg knight provides, Byleth might have trouble doubling enemies in the midgame. Low magic weight does help with that, though.

So with that in mind you might want to run Assassin or Falcon Knight for a few levels, or otherwise just keep a speedwing or two on hand in case you get stat-screwed.

 

Oh thanks
(yeah that's also true -magic doesn't have good speed growths either). yeah some midgame assassin should help w/that!

[timon]

I mean I did a Dark Bishop Byleth run, which is by far the worst magic class, and he still was a top unit. The most annoying thing is Mov tbh, as Gremory with Shoes of Wind (and maybe March Ring) you won't really have this problem.

Str is not an issue, magic classes don't actually cripple it that much (though I have to wonder why you want a Gremory with Str... the moment you're in that class you should forget about any weapon that isn't a spell). As with most FE games (and RPG in general really) I can remember, hybrids are trash, either you're a mage or a warrior, doing both never pays off.

Edited September 10, 2019 by timon

[Ivan Tridelan]

To be fair, people like Byleth, Edelgard, Ingrid and Sylvain who have decent magic and strength growths will appreciate the option to attack weaker defense stat (use magic against armored and physical against mages/pegasi). Byelth's magic isn't so high that he can one-round mages with magic

[dragontamer]

White Magic Avoid +20 and Faith 5 for +40% avoid when using Nosferatu. Throw down Weight-3, and you only need 25 STR to wield at full attack-speed. Throw down a few Bow Knights with A-level support and watch as Bayleth hits astronomical levels of Avoid, while self-regenerating with Crest of Flames + Nosferatu, maybe even with Alert Stance (+15% Avoid for Flying C, or +30% Avoid for Flying A) for ridiculous enemy-phase action.

 

Holy Knight Byleth for the win. Enlightened One also works I guess.

 

EDIT: The only problem is that you only have 15 castings of White Magic per map: 12 Nosferatu + 3 Aura.

Edited September 10, 2019 by dragontamer

[eclipse]

3 hours ago, timon said:

Str is not an issue, magic classes don't actually cripple it that much (though I have to wonder why you want a Gremory with Str... the moment you're in that class you should forget about any weapon that isn't a spell). As with most FE games (and RPG in general really) I can remember, hybrids are trash, either you're a mage or a warrior, doing both never pays off.

Curved Shot has its uses. 😛

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I'd train up riding via faculty stuff, while going into Soldier, then a magical class (unlock both Fire and Heal for your sanity).  That way, you can choose one of Dark/Holy Knight.  Might not be a bad idea to get both certifications, as the ability to walk on hazard tiles freely is damn helpful on certain maps.  This means Byleth will be more of a team player, which isn't a bad thing IMO.