pairing Fire Emblem Awakening; Optimal Pairing?

[AminoAcvd]

Hi Everyone!

After seeing the Fire Emblem Engage trailer in the recent Direct, I got the itch to play through the Fire Emblem games I own again, starting with Awakening! It's been a long time since I've played Awakening, but I've decided to try and tackle Lunatic+ Classic this time around.  On top of that, I really want to create the 'best saves' I can through all of the games I have. So that brings me to purpose of this thread; What pairings will help me create the best possible force in Awakening? I'm not worried about what pairings make the most sense story/interaction wise, just purely what would be most powerful (I'm willing to grind whatever is needed).

Now I've obviously looked around prior to posting this, a lot of the pairing threads are from years ago understandably, but to no surprise they do contradict one another and there doesn't seem to be a definitive pairing list agreed by the majority. I was wondering if over the years there finally is an answer now the dust has long settled? The pairing guide I've looked into the most and considering following is SSJDennis' Fire Emblem: Awakening – Optimal Pairing Guide. I'm not going to post the link, I'm not too sure if that's allowed on this forum, but I'll just put his pairing suggestions below;

Robin (F) X Laurent , Sumia X Chrom , Lissa X Ricken , Olivia X Frederick , Maribella X Lon'Qu , Sully X Donnel , Cordelia X Vaike , Cherche X Gregor , Panne X Stahl , Miriel X Libra , Tharja X Gaius , Nowi X Henry

I'd recommend giving it a read as it is probably the most in depth pairing suggestion I've been able to find, but to summarize I think the main idea behind his pairing is to prioritize each characters speed stat so that they can double and of course try to distribute OP abilities. Is this the best guide to follow for the most OP force, or is there some things (or everything) that you guys would do differently? Please let me know, feel free to go into as much detail as you want!

Also on a side note, because I haven't really seen this discussed much, are DLC characters worth using on the main lineup? The general consensus I've seen is that the children of the future are the most OP units and the DLC characters can't form supports with other characters, but are they still OP in their own right or just outclassed completely? I own the majority of the DLC for Awakening so please enlighten me :).

Thanks in advance!

SSJDennis Pairing Guide: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/3ds/643003-fire-emblem-awakening/faqs/67085

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by AminoAcvd
Added referenced link

[indigoasis]

54 minutes ago, AminoAcvd said:

I'm not going to post the link, I'm not too sure if that's allowed on this forum, but I'll just put his pairing suggestions below;

Nah, don't worry, you can do that. I link other sites all the time, so a GameFAQs thread should be perfectly fine.

Here, I'll do it right now. Here are some Awakening calculators on the main Serene's Forest site that you can test out. You can set the parent and class for each child unit, and in the case of the first calculator, you can set the modifiers instead of class if you wanna see that. There isn't anything for skill inheritance to make it easier, unfortunately, but there is a page with a list of skills and what classes they come from, so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.

• This one is for stats/modifiers.
• This one is for growth rates.
• This one is the skill list page.

Now, I'm no pairing expert in the slightest, so I'll leave that for other users to discuss in depth. However, if I recall correctly, Robin paired with a second-gen unit (ew) can result in an extremely busted Morgan if planned out correctly. I also can't help myself, but I'm an absolute shill for Chrom and Olivia. Inigo can get Rightful King from Chrom, which he wouldn't be able to pass down if he was paired with Sumia. Olivia can also pass down Galeforce to both Inigo and Lucina, I do believe.

But honestly, the game is very flexible in how units can be paired and built, so you can make a lot of different pairings work well enough. I'd mess around with those calculators, see what classes they can inherit from each parent, and figure out what skills from those classes you'd like to put on each unit. It'll probably take some time and research, but I think it'd be better to figure out what works best for you and your playstyle rather than follow a guide.

[AminoAcvd]

1 hour ago, indigoasis said:

Nah, don't worry, you can do that. I link other sites all the time, so a GameFAQs thread should be perfectly fine.

Here, I'll do it right now. Here are some Awakening calculators on the main Serene's Forest site that you can test out. You can set the parent and class for each child unit, and in the case of the first calculator, you can set the modifiers instead of class if you wanna see that. There isn't anything for skill inheritance to make it easier, unfortunately, but there is a page with a list of skills and what classes they come from, so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.

• This one is for stats/modifiers.
• This one is for growth rates.
• This one is the skill list page.

Now, I'm no pairing expert in the slightest, so I'll leave that for other users to discuss in depth. However, if I recall correctly, Robin paired with a second-gen unit (ew) can result in an extremely busted Morgan if planned out correctly. I also can't help myself, but I'm an absolute shill for Chrom and Olivia. Inigo can get Rightful King from Chrom, which he wouldn't be able to pass down if he was paired with Sumia. Olivia can also pass down Galeforce to both Inigo and Lucina, I do believe.

But honestly, the game is very flexible in how units can be paired and built, so you can make a lot of different pairings work well enough. I'd mess around with those calculators, see what classes they can inherit from each parent, and figure out what skills from those classes you'd like to put on each unit. It'll probably take some time and research, but I think it'd be better to figure out what works best for you and your playstyle rather than follow a guide.

Thanks for the reply! I'll edit the original post and add the link.

A valid point with Chrom+Olivia, I think that is the other most common pairing against Chrom+Sumia; I didn't think about the rightful king perk so thats a plus. Although Lucina and Inigo can get gale force regardless of which way I go. 

And yeah I guess the conensus has always been to play your own way, I just thought maybe after all these years after release there might have been a definitive set up but I guess not... I'll stick with SSJDennis guide for now unless someone else sheds some more light on the topic. I'm still clueless about the DLC characters too.

[TheSilentChloey]

Just go for the Apo best pairs and you have the best pairings in the game.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13b2KxYlWGqnMPbXMqjGj850dKa88sAytTCCJw7gpaS4/edit

[indigoasis]

2 hours ago, AminoAcvd said:

And yeah I guess the conensus has always been to play your own way, I just thought maybe after all these years after release there might have been a definitive set up but I guess not... I'll stick with SSJDennis guide for now unless someone else sheds some more light on the topic. I'm still clueless about the DLC characters too.

I think with how many viable options there are, there are most likely multiple optimal setups. And the way I see it, if you're doing Lunatic+ Classic, then the extra units you get from the DLC would be good just in case one of your other units goes bye-bye. It never hurts to have backup options.

[genesis]

Of the lost I can see some pairings aren't optional. 

 

Chrom x Olivia is more optional overall

Robin x second generation character (so they can produce top tier Morgan) 

Sumia x Henry specially for stronger magical Cynthia 

Nah is good being Kellam's daughter if you don't want to give a galeforcer father (Gaius or Donnel)