Battle of the Battalions, Endgame: Which Battalion was Best?

[lenticular]

Alliance Youths, Pirates, Rogues, Thieves, Duscur Infantry, Duscur Cavalry: 0/10. I can just barely imagine a situation where you have a unit with E authority as late as chapter 18: late recruited Anna. As far as I'm aware, she doesn't auto-level Authority at all, joins with it at E rank, and then has a weakness in it. So in the niche but plausible circumstance where someone is doing an ironman run, loses a unit, and recruits Anna as a replacement deep into part 2. And even then, they're still not going to use any of these when they could be using Jeralt's Mercenaries, Seiros Holy Monks or Almyra Mercenaries instead. This makes these, at best, the fourth best option for a situation that is only going to come up once in a blue moon.

Reaper Knights: 4/10. Only having 1 point of Charm really hurts here. Pretty much any character who cares about Avoid is also going to want to have a good Charm stat to help them dodge enemy gambits, and this just doesn't deliver. And if you compare this with Gautier Knights, the biggest reason to favour the Reaper Knights would be if you wanted to have an offensive gambit. Except that you also want to have good charm to power that gambit. Even if you don't recruit Sylvain and don't have the Gautier Knights, you're definitely going to have access to the Brigid Hunters, which are going to be a better choice for many (though not all) grounded dodge tanks.

Morfis Magic Corps: 5/10. I'm pretty sure that I have used these and been reasonably happy with them. I mean, you probably aren't looking for C-authority magic battalions all that often by the time they show up, but in the few games where you are, these are a solid choice.

[SnowFire]

On 12/9/2022 at 7:07 AM, haarhaarhaar said:

Duscur Cavalry - 0.75/10

Maybe it's slightly better than Duscur Infantry? Why give an E-rank battalion available from Ch. 18 on one route -10 in Avo? Aren't there already enough obstacles to using it? 

Yeah, it's dumb, but I can definitely see where it came from.  Speculation, but...   so I think it's pretty inarguable that Monastery phase post-timeskip is a lot skimpier than pre-timeskip.  Where White Clouds is sometimes over-stuffed with pointless make-work quests, post-timeskip tends to be a lot emptier.  It wouldn't shock me if the devs threw in some placeholder quests as "post-skip quests" that never got fleshed out, just something to do when battling on weekends or when exploring the monastery.  There needed to be some reward for them, but nothing too good, lest it distract from the Paralogue rewards (which is clearly where the devs decided to place the best optional goodies).  The problem is that something you'd care about post-skip that doesn't compete with really good stuff is...  well, pretty much impossible.  I guess ore could work if these quests offered rare stuff like Mythril?  Anyway, they needed to put *something* there.  And further, there's something to be said for letting the player have access to various enemy battalions for completionism if it wouldn't be too ridiculous flavor-wise (i.e. not Agarthan battalions).  So they took various battalions designed as enemy-side battalions (Bandits, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves are obvious; Duscur Infantry from Dedue's paralouge; and Duscur Cavalry...  was designed for Dedue's paralogue and they forgot to stick it on any enemies?) and threw them in as quest rewards later on as a way to get them.  And, if you start from the perspective of "these are enemy battalions", I actually agree that enemy battalions should generally be crappy E-rank ones where the main distinction is that this unit has a Gambit, rather than "this unit is mysteriously awesome."  In older FEs, you could tell extra-strong enemy units at a glance from their high level or promoted class, but the curious way 3H does it means that level or class doesn't tend to matter very much.  A strong battalion is quietly much more important for how strong an enemy unit is.  Using mostly weak enemy battalions evens out this issue somewhat.

This doesn't explain Alliance Youths, though!  No idea what's up with the insanely late join time there, since that isn't an enemy battalion to my knowledge.

[haarhaarhaar]

2 hours ago, SnowFire said:

Yeah, it's dumb, but I can definitely see where it came from.  Speculation, but...   so I think it's pretty inarguable that Monastery phase post-timeskip is a lot skimpier than pre-timeskip.  Where White Clouds is sometimes over-stuffed with pointless make-work quests, post-timeskip tends to be a lot emptier.  It wouldn't shock me if the devs threw in some placeholder quests as "post-skip quests" that never got fleshed out, just something to do when battling on weekends or when exploring the monastery.  There needed to be some reward for them, but nothing too good, lest it distract from the Paralogue rewards (which is clearly where the devs decided to place the best optional goodies).  The problem is that something you'd care about post-skip that doesn't compete with really good stuff is...  well, pretty much impossible.  I guess ore could work if these quests offered rare stuff like Mythril?  Anyway, they needed to put *something* there.  And further, there's something to be said for letting the player have access to various enemy battalions for completionism if it wouldn't be too ridiculous flavor-wise (i.e. not Agarthan battalions).  So they took various battalions designed as enemy-side battalions (Bandits, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves are obvious; Duscur Infantry from Dedue's paralouge; and Duscur Cavalry...  was designed for Dedue's paralogue and they forgot to stick it on any enemies?) and threw them in as quest rewards later on as a way to get them.  And, if you start from the perspective of "these are enemy battalions", I actually agree that enemy battalions should generally be crappy E-rank ones where the main distinction is that this unit has a Gambit, rather than "this unit is mysteriously awesome."  In older FEs, you could tell extra-strong enemy units at a glance from their high level or promoted class, but the curious way 3H does it means that level or class doesn't tend to matter very much.  A strong battalion is quietly much more important for how strong an enemy unit is.  Using mostly weak enemy battalions evens out this issue somewhat.

This doesn't explain Alliance Youths, though!  No idea what's up with the insanely late join time there, since that isn't an enemy battalion to my knowledge.

This makes a lot of sense to me, although as you say I don't recognise Duscur Cavalry from anywhere else on AM. Collecting every battalion and maxing their level is something I tried (and failed) to do, so I could see the appeal from a completionist perspective. Although I still resent -10 Avo, even if it's coherent with cavalry battalions generally having Avo penalties.

I don't know if anyone has actually levelled up every single battalion in the game to max on one save file - I imagine if there were rewards to that it'd be recorded somewhere. The reason I thought to try collecting every battalion was because of how meaninglessly large the barracks are for a NG save file, so it'd make sense if there were...

[lenticular]

2 hours ago, SnowFire said:

So they took various battalions designed as enemy-side battalions (Bandits, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves are obvious; Duscur Infantry from Dedue's paralouge; and Duscur Cavalry...  was designed for Dedue's paralogue and they forgot to stick it on any enemies?) and threw them in as quest rewards later on as a way to get them.  And, if you start from the perspective of "these are enemy battalions", I actually agree that enemy battalions should generally be crappy E-rank ones where the main distinction is that this unit has a Gambit, rather than "this unit is mysteriously awesome."

I largely agree with you here, but I wonder if they couldn't have explored the space a little bit more by giving these battalions more generous stat gains when you level them up. Let their starting stats be the same crappy ones that you see when enemies have them equipped, but then let them level up to become maybe not actually good but at least competent. That would maintain the link between the enemy version and player version of the battalion, but allow for some extra actually usable battalions. I also quite like it thematically, since it implies that the members of the battalion are improving rapidly once they're transferred under the player's tutelage.

[Dark Holy Elf]

4 hours ago, SnowFire said:

There needed to be some reward for them, but nothing too good, lest it distract from the Paralogue rewards (which is clearly where the devs decided to place the best optional goodies).  The problem is that something you'd care about post-skip that doesn't compete with really good stuff is...  well, pretty much impossible.  I guess ore could work if these quests offered rare stuff like Mythril?

The devs seemed to have little sense of what would actually be valuable when making these quests... likely because the rewards were decided before the final balance. That said honestly there are plenty of good choices for still-relevant quest rewards (which wouldn't eclipse paralogue rewards): ore (wootz, mithril, agarthum, umbral), stat boosters, money, and some of the rare valuable foodstuffs/fish for cooking the better meals. The choice of "massively outclassed battalions" doesn't really make much sense to me.

 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Before I forget, I'd better actually give my scores:

Availability:

Alliance Youths, Pirates, Rogues, Reaper Knights, and Morfis Magic Corps all first become available in chapter 13 or 14. This is relatively late in the game, so they all get a 2.

Thieves, Duscur Infantry, and Duscur Cavalry come even later, in chapter 16 or 18. The game is basically over at this point, so they just earn 1 out of 5.

Accessibility:

A lot of E-rank Infantry this time around: Alliance Youths, Pirates, Rogues, Thieves, Duscur Infantry, and Duscur Cavalry (well Cavalry, but same diff). They all get a perfect 5 out of 5, on the off-chance that someone is stuck with E-rank Authority.

Morfis Magic Corps are C-rank Infantry, giving them a 3.

Reaper Knights (the playable version) are B-rank Cavalry, so they get just 2.

Gambit:

You're getting Disturbance! You're getting Disturbance! You're all getting Disturbance! Yep - Alliance Youths, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves all have the most common gambit in the game. They get 3, because at least it's accurate.

Duscur Infantry offer Onslaught, which is like a variant of Disturbance. But they don't change enough to elevate it above a 3.

Reaper Knights and Duscur Cavalry both bring Assault Troop, giving them a 5 out of 10.

Finally, Morfis Magic Corps provide Resonant Lightning. The least accurate Resonant gambit, sure, but its high damage and area-of-effect earns it a 6.

Stats:

Alliance Youths offer a sliver of Avoid. That's it. They pretty clearly tie with their Empire and Kingdom counterparts for "worst stat boost in the game". That's a mere 1 out of 10.

Remember Bandits? They're back - in three forms! That's right - Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves offer exactly the same mediocre statline as the pre-skip Bandits battalion. I gave that bunch a 2, and that's what this group gets, too.

Duscur Infantry are rather reminiscent of Kingdom Brawlers, awarding Attack and Avoid, but at a cost to the magical stats. This bunch grants Protection, too, but a little less Attack. I don't think it deserves any more than a 3.

Duscur Cavalry grant a little more attack, a little less Protection, and get an Avoid loss this time. If nothing else, they don't lose magical stats. Let's say another 3.

Morfis Magic Corps give a respectable 5 Magic, alongside modest defensive boosts. That's reminiscent of the likes of Empire Magic Users. I think they could see their way to a 5.

Reaper Knights are clearly the strongest bunch here, at least as far as stats are concerned. 7 Attack is meaty, and they've got +10 Crit and +15 Avoid, albeit with -2 Magic and an underwhelming +1 Charm... where have I seen this before? That's it! This is just Jeralt's Mercenaries, with 4 more Attack and Protection each! I would say this warrants an 8 out of 10.

Uniqueness:

I'll make this quick - in terms of gameplay, there is nothing unique about any of these battalions. Same old gambits, no outstanding stat boosts, nothing that's even "bad, but good for its rank". Being uniquely edgy, or being a window into the far-off-land of Morfis, aren't enough to elevate any of these battalions above 0.

Heck, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves are all exactly the same as Bandits. Alliance Youths are identical to Kingdom and Empire Youths. And they're all available on every route, so it's not even a matter of route limitations... You know what? It's time. Their very existence is an insult. They're getting my first-ever negative score, in any category. They each earn a -1.

Convenience:

All these battalions can be acquired through quests - but not all quests are created equal. Alliance Youths, Pirates, Rogues, Reaper Knights, and Thieves all require an Aux battle. This puts them at 1 each.

The remaining battalions - Morfis Magic Corps, Duscur Infantry, and Duscur Cavalry - require quests of their own, but you don't have to leave the Monastery for this one. Not much more effort than simply hiring from the Battalion Guild. That's why they get a 2 each.

Endurance:

Alliance Youths have a pathetic 30 durability, so they get 0.

Morfis Magic Corps have 45 durability, which isn't a big surprise for a magical C-rank battalion. But it's not great, so they get just 1.

All the rest have at least 75 durability. Say what you will about Duscur, but they don't retreat from a battle. They get 2 each.

Experience:

Of these battalions, Morfis Magic Corps is the only one I've ever used. It's not necessarily "worth it", and it's not a great endgame choice, but you could do worse. They get a 1.

The others, I don't think I've ever used outside of NG+ settings. Reaper Knights, I haven't used yet, but mainly because I've never played CF with Jeritza. Maybe next playthrough they'll get a use from me? Still a meager 0.

Final Scores:

Alliance Youths: 2 + 5 + 3 (*2) + 1 + (-1) + 1 + 0 + 0 = 14 -> 2.8

Pirates: 2 + 5 + 3 (*2) + 2 + (-1) + 1 + 2 + 0 = 17 -> 3.4

Rogues: 2 + 5 + 3 (*2) + 2 + (-1) + 1 + 2 + 0 = 17 -> 3.4

Reaper Knights: 2 + 2 + 5 + 8 (*2) + 0 + 1 + 2 + 0 = 28 -> 5.6

Morfis Magic Corps: 2 + 3 + 6 (*2) + 5 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 26 -> 5.2

Thieves: 1 + 5 + 3 (*2) + 2 + (-1) + 1 + 2 + 0 = 16 -> 3.2

Duscur Infantry: 1 + 5 + 3 (*2) + 3 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 0 = 19 -> 3.8

Duscur Cavalry: 1 + 5 + 5 (*2) + 3 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 0 = 23 -> 4.6

[SnowFire]

8 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

The devs seemed to have little sense of what would actually be valuable when making these quests... likely because the rewards were decided before the final balance. That said honestly there are plenty of good choices for still-relevant quest rewards (which wouldn't eclipse paralogue rewards): ore (wootz, mithril, agarthum, umbral), stat boosters, money, and some of the rare valuable foodstuffs/fish for cooking the better meals. The choice of "massively outclassed battalions" doesn't really make much sense to me.

Oh, I agree it doesn't work at all game balance wise.  Just saying where I think it came from.  I agree that ore makes sense as "useful but not distracting the spotlight" (hence mentioning it myself), but I'm skeptical on the other options...  rare food/fish was clearly intended to be a notable upgrade, but just isn't unless the player skipped fishing / gardening entirely.  (I guess Goddess Messenger and Magdred Kirsch would be a mild upgrade, but really, just cooking Bullheads for +1 Spd is fine.)  Money overlaps too much with what Auxiliary Battles are intended for.  Stat boosters are probably too strong for these relatively trivial quests; when stat boosters appear in Paralogues, they're often as *optional* loot that are hidden in chests or that Thieves try to run off with, like in Sylvain's paralogue, implying that they aren't merely Paralogue-quality loot, but *rare* Paralogue quality loot.  

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

23 hours ago, SnowFire said:

So they took various battalions designed as enemy-side battalions (Bandits, Pirates, Rogues, and Thieves are obvious; Duscur Infantry from Dedue's paralouge; and Duscur Cavalry...  was designed for Dedue's paralogue and they forgot to stick it on any enemies?) and threw them in as quest rewards later on as a way to get them

Wait, do these battalions (Bandits, Thieves, Pirates, Rogues) actually show up on the enemy's side? Like, it makes sense that they would, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen them. Enemies usually have enemy-exclusive battalions (i.e. "Miklan Troops", "Iron King's Thieves", "Western Church Mages", etc.).

19 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

That said honestly there are plenty of good choices for still-relevant quest rewards (which wouldn't eclipse paralogue rewards): ore (wootz, mithril, agarthum, umbral), stat boosters, money, and some of the rare valuable foodstuffs/fish for cooking the better meals.

Adding to this, what about Gift Items, such as Owl Feathers? That can help raise motivation while spending fewer activity points at the Dining Hall. Rare seeds could be an option, too, to grow cooking ingredients or stat boosters.

20 hours ago, lenticular said:

I largely agree with you here, but I wonder if they couldn't have explored the space a little bit more by giving these battalions more generous stat gains when you level them up. Let their starting stats be the same crappy ones that you see when enemies have them equipped, but then let them level up to become maybe not actually good but at least competent. That would maintain the link between the enemy version and player version of the battalion, but allow for some extra actually usable battalions. I also quite like it thematically, since it implies that the members of the battalion are improving rapidly once they're transferred under the player's tutelage.

In some cases, though, the enemy battalions you fight are already "leveled up" somewhat. On Maddening, for instance, all the enemy battalions I saw on chapter 5 were at level 3. And since leveling boosts scale roughly linearly, this means "low bases, high caps" would have to be giving moderate bonuses at level 3.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Well, well, well, what have we got here? A new batch of battalion ratings, it seems!

Spoiler

Alliance Youths received 5 scores, averaging out to 0.61

Pirates received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.08

Rogues received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.08

Reaper Knights received 5 scores, averaging out to 4.82

Morfis Magic Corps received 5 scores, averaging out to 4.34

Thieves received 5 scores, averaging out to 0.99

Duscur Infantry received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.11

Duscur Cavalry received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.27

...That's it. I think it's time. Reaper Knights, Morfis Magic Corps, you can stay aboard. The rest, though - they're walkin' the plank! There's nothing they can do that can't be done by the crewmates we already have.

Round 20: Return of the Paralogues - Sothis Save Us, They're Back!

The time for quests is over. The time for Paralogues has returned to us. Now, there aren't as many Paralogues in the post-skip as there are in the pre-skip, even spread out over four routes rather than one. And some of these Paralogues don't even provide a battalion. But for those that do, what sort of battalions are they giving you? Well...

Brigid Mercenaries

Spoiler

Accessibility: E-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Petra and Bernadetta recruited, complete “Foreign Land and Sky” Paralogue

Gambit: Onslaught

Endurance: 30

Phys: +1 / +3

Mag: 0

Hit: +5 / +10

Crit: +5 / +10

Avo: 0

Prt: 0

Rsl: 0

Cha: +1

Brigid Hunters

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Petra and Bernadetta recruited, complete “Foreign Land and Sky” Paralogue

Gambit: Poison Tactic

Endurance: 105

Phys: 0 / +4

Mag: -2

Hit: 0

Crit: +5 / +10

Avo: +15 / +20

Prt: 0

Rsl: 0

Cha: +7

Varley Archers

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Petra and Bernadetta recruited, complete “Foreign Land and Sky” Paralogue

Gambit: Fusillade

Endurance: 75

Phys: 0

Mag: 0

Hit: +20 / +30

Crit: 0

Avo: -10

Prt: +1 / +5

Rsl: 0

Cha: +7

Hevring Prayer Troops

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Linhardt and Leonie recruited, complete “Legend of the Lake” Paralogue

Gambit: Blessing

Endurance: 75

Phys: 0

Mag: +3 / +7

Hit: 0 / +5

Crit: 0

Avo: -10

Prt: 0 / +4

Rsl: +3 / +7

Cha: +7

Sauin Militia

Spoiler

Accessibility: C-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Linhardt and Leonie recruited, complete “Legend of the Lake” Paralogue

Gambit: Poisoned Arrows

Endurance: 75

Phys: +1

Mag: 0

Hit: +10 / +20

Crit: 0

Avo: +5 / +10

Prt: 0 / +2

Rsl: 0

Cha: +5

Holst's Chosen

Spoiler

Accessibility: C-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (CF only), complete “Insurmountable” Paralogue

Gambit: Assault Troop

Endurance: 60

Phys: +3 / +7

Mag: 0

Hit: 0 / +5

Crit: 0 / +5

Avo: 0

Prt: +3 / +7

Rsl: 0

Cha: +3

Edmund Troops

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (all routes), with Marianne recruited, complete “Forgotten Hero” Paralogue

Gambit: Flash-Fire Arrows

Endurance: 105

Phys: +1 / +5

Mag: +1 / +5

Hit: +30 / +40

Crit: 0

Avo: 0

Prt: 0 / +2

Rsl: 0 / +2

Cha: +7

Only seven to look at in this second-to-last batch. What do you think? Are they a return-to-form, comparable to the pre-skip paralogue battalions? Or do they fail to impress? Let me know in the comments!

[SnowFire]

Brigid Mercenaries - 0/10.  See our other too-late E-rankers.  Note that CF can apparently get this for free from the "Taking Care of Business" quest that unlocks the Dark Merchant, but that is still Way Way Too Late to care.  

Brigid Hunters - 6/10.  Tied for highest Avoid of any battalion with Gautier Knights / Aegir Astral Knights / Blue Lion Dancers...  but I have to say that Gautier Knights is still substantially better, packing +3 Atk & +5 Prot vs. +10 Crit.  And more importantly, Gautier Knights was pre-skip and thus is already leveled and was available for Reunion At Dawn.  And Petra's paralogue is one of the more difficult ones, too, meaning that delaying doing it a chapter or two to unlock more Master classes can help out a lot.  High Avoid still makes this interesting, just a bit disappointing.  (Really this is more "Gautier is busted"..)

Varley Archers - 1/10.  See comments on Golden Deer Archers, except Varley Archers at least doesn't require A-Authority.  +0 Atk is not acceptable on a post-skip unit, but if you are doing something goofy like Encloser-spam from max range Bow Knight Bernadetta and don't have Edmund Troops, +30 Hit and an okay gambit is something I guess.

Hevring Prayer Troops - 5/10.  It's Alliance Sages with -1 Magic but better Prot/Res, which is a losing trade IMO.  Or alternatively a mildly better on stats but later-joining Empire Holy Magic Users.  Unfortunately, availability is a really important "stat", and the availability is not good here, especially with Lin's paralogue both being one of the toughest ones (maybe even the outright toughest, depending on how well you know the reinforcement rules) and thus liable to not be done ASAP, and also requiring a cross-house team to do in the first place.  It'd be a 7 or 8 if it just joined a little earlier.

Sauin Militia - 0.5/10.  Evidence that IS apparently balanced the Paralogue battalions with no regard to whether they were pre- or post- timeskip.  Might have been vaguely usable pre-skip since it's C-Authority, but just wildly outclassed by everything, even Varley Archers, post-skip.  Same problem as Hevring above on availability, too.  Gambit is okay but can't really imagine a scenario where you don't just use store-bought battalions instead.  (I will grant that this is at least flavorful, as Leonie is depicted as having just about the most humble background of anyone in the cast (along with maybe Cyril too?), and probably shouldn't have elite troops at her beck and call.)

Holst's Chosen - 3/10.  Stats & Gambit are okay, but this is too late to care - CF has what, four story maps left by the time you can get this?  Plus, there's pretty heavy competition in grounded slugfest unit.  It's an option if you don't like Nuvelle Chamberlain's gambit and still have someone using Empire Knights, I guess.

Edmund Troops - 6/10.  An interesting option for units that really care about accuracy, with the amazing +40 Hit (sorry Essar Research, I don't bother with you).  Marianne's paralogue isn't THAT bad either, unlike Leonie / Lin or Petra/Bernie.  It joins a little too late to get a truly amazing score, but Edmund can contribute once it's around.

Edited December 12, 2022 by SnowFire

[haarhaarhaar]

Brigid Mercenaries - 1.25/10

Okay for E-rank, but entirely unnecessary when you get them.

Brigid Hunters - 6.5/10

I've mentioned this battalion before, because it's the best at its (small) niche, for grounded crit dodge tanks. You may not have any in a given run, but if you do they should be running this over any of the other +20 Avo battalions. Being the best at what it does puts it over a 6, but if you don't have this specific build you shouldn't be using this.

Varley Archers - 1.25/10

Even if you're running more than one unit that requires significant hit help, this shouldn't make your party. 0 Atk/Crit and negative Avo means this battalion only brings one useful thing to your build - you'd rather have slightly lower hit from somewhere else (provided you can't use Edmund Troops/Essar for some reason) because there are other ways to build hit.

Hevring Prayer Troops - 4/10

On stats alone, it's not good enough for endgame unless you've missed other battalions. But it's a bigger Mag Atk boost than Essar, and more available than Alliance Sages. So if you do run Blessing, you might pick this over Essar - although Essar can suit physical units, requires no Authority investment, and has a significant boost to Hit, so it's not the obvious winner. Better than the other house battalions with Blessing, which deserves to be reflected in score.

Sauin Militia - 1.25/10

If it weren't for its Hit boost, it'd be a 1 or lower. Given the effort you go through for this, its stats are practically disrespectful.

Holst's Chosen - 3/10

A worse Holy Knights of Seiros, with much worse accessibility. It's not bad though.

Edmund Troops - 7.5/10

An excellent battalion. Top in its niche (boosting Hit), it also provides respectable boosts to both Phys and Mag Atk, and a solid offensive gambit. Multiple kinds of builds should be considering this a candidate for endgame. Its relative lateness is mitigated by the fact that it arrives before enemies with really serious Avo show up (and just in time for the completion of builds for units that appreciate it). 

Edited December 12, 2022 by haarhaarhaar

[lenticular]

Brigid Mercenaries: 0.5/10. It's unlikely that you care about E-rank battalions by this point and even if you are, then you're probably preferring Jeralt's Mercenaries, Almyra Mercenaries, Seiros Mercenaries, Essar Research Group or Seiros Holy Monks. Giving it a half point partly because it is unique in offering both crit and hit at E rank, but mostly just because I'm in a generous mood today.

Brigid Hunters: 5/10. Only really worth considering if you're running a grounded dodge tank, and that's not a build that I particularly care for. And even then, you're only choosing this if you really care about crit as well or if you don't have the Gautier Knights or Aegir Astral Knights. Still, it has a niche which means I'm not going to give it lower than a 5, but it's a narrow niche which means I'm not giving it more than 5.

Varley Archers: 2/10. Stacking hit tends to run into diminishing returns earlier than stacking most other stats, so a battalion that goes all-in on hit just isn't good. Especially if you aren't doing good damage with those hits. At least Fusillade is good.

Hevring Prayer Troops: 4/10. In order for these to be worthwhile: You have to want Blessing. You have to want Blessing at some point after doing the Leonie/Linhardt paralogue. You have to be on a route other than Verdant Wind (since you have Alliance Sages there).  You have to either not have used used another Blessing battalion before getting these, or you have to be using Blessing sufficiently often afterwards to make it worth leveling these up. Admitedly, I'm not a fan of Blessing to begin with, but I'm just not seeing the opportunity for this one.

Sauin Militia: 1/10. And about 0.9 of that 1 is for the excellent gambit. 20 hit is good, but not exceptional, which means it doesn't even have the hypothetical "what if I just really need to stack hit?" niche. This is basically a sidegrade from Alliance Archers, which was available 7 chapters earlier and required a lower authority rank.

Holst's Chosen: 4/10. Competent, but nothing more. Might see play in a low recruitment run, given how poor the competition is from CF native paralogue battalions.

Edmund Troops: 6/10. The hit-stacking battalion that puts all other hit stacking battalions to shame. If you're really looking to stack hit, this not only offers more of it, but also gives you some solid damage bonuses to back it up. Still, stacking hit still isn't particularly strong, so that's not a huge endorsement. But even beyond the hit, this isn't bad. At +5/+5 this probably isn't your best attack boosts for hybrid attackers, but it's solid and is definitely a contender if you have more than one such unit. The gambit isn't the best, but is also prtty solid. Overall, you've got a battalion that is excellent at one thing and then solid across everything else, which means that it's pretty easy to find a place to slot it in.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Brigid Mercenaries: 3 stats, 3 gambits. E rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

It's Pirates/Thieves/Rogues with maybe marginally better stats, a slightly worse gambit, and no endurance. So a bit worse than them, and later than all but Thieves, but it's gated behind a paralogue with weak rewards otherwise. Probably not quite Alliance Youths bad but it tries.

In a vacuum: 3. Adjusted: 0.5/10.

Brigid Hunters: 6 stats, 6 gambit. B rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

It occupies an interesting niche, if short of good. 20 avoid is best in class, and while most would prefer Gautier's stats to this, it's not crazy to prefer want crit... and it's not crazy to have two grounded dodgetanks for that matter. This is definitely niche due to largely being both worse and late than Gautier, but it can occasionally see use. Better than Reaper Knights overall, I'd say.

In a vacuum: 6.5. Adjusted: 4.5/10

Varley Archers: 4 stats, 7 gambit. B rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

If you really want 30 hit and nothing else... you'd do Marianne's paralogue instead, and get something better in every way. The stats are just not acceptable for this point overall. Fusilade off +7 cha is nice but not enough.

In a vacuum: 6. Adjusted: 2.5/10.

Hevring Prayer Troops: 7 stats, 6 gambit. B rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

Empire/Alliance Blessing gambits are available earlier with comparable stats, and as I've hammered on about, Indech himself is one of the best reasons to use Blessing. But if you're on AM, and you've recruited both Linhardt and Leonie, maybe this is worthwhile to levelup and replace the somewhat shakier Kingdom Blessing battalion. Or maybe you just want to use Blessing twice. Both are not awful niches, but yeah it's not great.

In a vacuum: 6.5. Adjusted: 4/10

Sauin Militia: 4 stats, 8 gambit. C rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

Ew. Poisoned Arrows is good, but those stats at this point are wretched. An interesting comparison with Varley Archers (very similarly mediocre stats outside hit and a good gambit): they're C rank and this is a better paralogue to do, so half a point more sure. You're not using either outside of wild circumstances.

In a vacuum: 6.5. Adjusted: 3/10.

Holst's Chosen: 7 stats, 6 gambit. C rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

Huh, the stats are actually kinda solid for a C rank. But unfortunately, it's from a hard paralogue with few other rewards on a route that ends shortly after, so the availability is in practice just about the worst in the game.

In a vacuum: 7. Adjuted: 3/10.

Edumund Troops: 8 stats, 6 gambit. B rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

Oh hey, a battalion I actually regularly use. 40 hit and competent otherwise (both physical and magic) means it often gets put to use.

In a vacuum: 7.5. Adjusted: 6.5/10.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Alright, time to rate this second-to-last bunch:

Availability:

They all show up in chapter 15 or later. The game's almost over at this point (especially on CF), so they all get 1 out of 5.

Accessibility:

Brigid Mercenaries are E-rank Infantry, so they get 5 out of 5.

Sauin Militia and Holst's Chosen are C-rank Infantry, meaning they get a 3 each.

The remaining battalions are all B-rank Infantry, earning them a mere 2.

Gambit:

With the weak Onslaught, Brigand Mercenaries get a mere 3.

There's definitely an upswing from here, though. Hevring Prayer Group are a premier source of Blessing, giving them a 4 for support.

Brigid Hunters provide Poison Tactic, a Blaze variant, netting them 5.

Holst chose a group with Assault Troop, a rather common gambit, but good enough for 5.

Edmund Troop's Flash-Fire Arrows is essentially a variant of the previous gambit, but I'd say they improve to the point of 6.

Varley Archers aren't your first source of Fusillade, but they are one of them. It's a good gambit with long range, warranting a 7.

What could be better than Fusillade? How about a variant with a higher Hit rate? That's Poisoned Arrows, netting Sauin Militia a serious 8.

Stats:

This late in the game, the boost provided by Brigid Mercenaries is pretty pathetic. But for an E-rank Battalion, 3 Attack, plus 10 each in Hit and Crit, is honestly one of the best around. If you have a physical attacker still stuck at E-rank Authority, it's a considerable boost. This warrants a 4.

Brigid Hunters are a bit odd, specializing in Avoid and Crit. The Attack boost isn't great, and they're doing nothing for the defensive stats. Like Reaper Knights, they're kind of like an evolved Jeralt's Mercenaries - this time with more Charm and Avoid, but no more Prt. I think it's enough for a 6.

Varley Archers have +30 Hit and... wait, is that it? I mean, there's +5 Prt, and the usual Charm boost. But it comes with no attacking boost, and -10 Avoid. This is pretty insulting at this point. Hit is nice, but not enough to bring these above 3.

Hevring Prayer Troops grant a solid +7 to Magic, with comparable boosts to Rsl and Cha. There are small Hit and Prt boosts, but they come at a cost of -10 Avoid. Pretty similar to Nuvelle Fliers, but trading Avoid for Prt. They're on the losing end, but I'm not putting them below a 7.

Sauin Militia are another head-scratcher. 20 Hit is great, and 10 Avoid is nice, but the boosts to Attack and Prt are practically non-existent. It's preferable to whatever Varley Archers are doing, but only barely. They get a 4.

Holst's Chosen grant a solid +7 to Attack and Prt alike, making them considerable for physical tanks. Or just any attackers that haven't hit B-rank yet. The boosts to Hit and Crit are modest, though, and +3 Charm is weirdly low. Still enough to award them a 7.

+40 Hit. I've never met Edmund, but I wouldn't want to be on his hit list. This puts Varley Archers to shame, making them a stellar choice for any grounded unit with hit issues. And I mean "any" - it's a hybrid battalion, offering a respectable +5 on both offensive sides. This is a genuine competitor for the best hybrid boosts in the game, and I wouldn't give them anything less than 9.

Uniqueness:

Two of these battalions provide unique gambits... depending on what route you're playing, that is. Saiun Militia are your only source of Poisoned Arrows on non-VW routes, while Edmund Troops are the only battalion with Flash-Fire Arrows on AM in particular. Within these specific contexts, that's enough to earn them each a 3.

Otherwise, there isn't much that's specifically "unique" here. I guess Varley Archers can get 1 for an uncommonly high Hit boost. As can Holst's Chosen, for providing the biggest Protection boost of any "C-rank or lower" battalion.

The rest will get a 0, though.

Convenience:

This is an area where none of these battalions particularly prosper. Hevring Prayer Troops and Sauin Militia come from a cross-house battalion, so one way or another, you need an out-of-house recruit. Edmund Troops doesn't demand this (on VW), but it does on AM (where I gave them a 3 for Flash-Fire Arrows). Plus, the last two paralogues have fog. These three battalions each get a 0.

How about "Foreign Land and Sky"? It doesn't demand an out-of-house recruit (on SS or CF), and it doesn't have fog. But plenty of ink has been spilled about how BS the chapter's victory condition. That gets Brigid Hunters and Varley Archers 0 each.

Why not Brigid Mercenaries? Well, they can also be acquired through a battle quest a chapter later. This margin wouldn't make a difference to the "Availability" ranking, so I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt, and award them a 1.

Finally, there's Holst's Chosen. "Insurmountable" may be a scary chapter name, but I don't remember it being particularly difficult. Plus, it's a singular "bosskill" map, so with the right setup, you might just be able to one-turn it. They get a 1.

Endurance:

With a mere 30 durability, Brigid Mercenaries get a 0 here.

Holst may have not Chosen enough people, because his battalion has only 60 durability. They get a 1.

The remaining battalions all have at least 75 durability, giving them a 2 here.

Experience:

I've definitely made use of Edmund Troops and Hevring Prayer Co. They're an excellent hybrid battalion, and arguably your best source of Blessing, respectively. They get a 2 each.

I've used Holst's Chosen, too, but moreso as a curiosity than anything else. They're not a "must-bring", but they can hold up for units who haven't hit B-rank Authority. They get a 1.

The rest, I can't say I've used at all. There's very little inviting me in, or drawing me to most of them. Even a near-exclusive gambit can't make up for Sauin Militia's pathetic attack boost. They all get a 0.

Final Scores:

Brigid Mercenaries: 1 + 5 + 3 + 4 (*2) + 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 18 -> 3.6

Brigid Hunters: 1 + 2 + 5 + 6 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 22 -> 4.4

Varley Archers: 1 + 2 + 7 (*2) + 3 + 1 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 23 -> 4.6

Hevring Prayer Troops: 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 25 -> 5.0

Sauin Militia: 1 + 3 + 8 (*2) + 4 + 3 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 29 -> 5.8

Holst's Chosen: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 (*2) + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 27 -> 5.4

Edmund Troops: 1 + 2 + 6 + 9 (*2) + 3 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 34 -> 6.8

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Guess who? Battalion review!

Spoiler

Brigid Mercenaries received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.17

Brigid Hunters received 5 scores, averaging out to 5.28

Varley Archers received 5 scores, averaging out to 2.27

Hevring Prayer Group received 5 scores, averaging out to 4.4

Sauin Militia received 5 scores, averaging out to 2.31

Holst's Chosen received 5 scores, averaging out to 3.68

Edmund Troops received 5 scores, averaging out to 6.56

Edmund Troops shot high, and they seem to have set the world on fire. As for Brigid Mercenaries, perhaps they should've just stuck to their small island nation.

Round 21: Saving the Best (?) Battalions for Last

That's right - we've finally made it. The six battalions that follow are the last ones remaining in the game. They aren't necessarily the last you will acquire, but just like last week, most of these come from post-skip paralogues. In any case, we've spent a whole game waiting, so how do these battalions reward our patience? Well...

School of Sorcery Soldiers

Spoiler

Accessibility: C-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 14 (AM only), with Annette and Gilbert recruited, complete “Weathervanes of Fodlan” Paralogue

Gambit: Resonant Flames

Endurance: 75

Phys: -2

Mag: +2 / +6

Hit: +10 / +20

Crit: 0

Avo: 0

Prt: 0

Rsl: +2 / +4

Cha: +5

Church Soldiers

Spoiler

Accessibility: C-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (non-CF routes), with Caspar and Mercedes recruited, complete “The Face Beneath” Paralogue

Gambit: Resonant White Magic

Endurance: 75

Phys: 0

Mag: +1 / +3

Hit: 0 / +5

Crit: 0

Avo: 0

Prt: 0

Rsl: +2 / +6

Cha: +5

Bergliez War Group

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 15 (non-CF routes), with Caspar and Mercedes recruited, complete “The Face Beneath” Paralogue

Gambit: Onslaught

Endurance: 105

Phys: +4 / +8

Mag: 0

Hit: 0 / +5

Crit: 0

Avo: -10

Prt: 0 / +4

Rsl: 0

Cha: +7

Aegir Astral Knights

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Cavalry

Availability: From chapter 17 (non-CF routes), with Lysithea and Ferdinand recruited, complete “Retribution” paralogue

Gambit: Assault Troop

Endurance: 105

Phys: +3 / +7

Mag: -2

Hit: 0

Crit: 0

Avo: +15 / +20

Prt: 0 / +2

Rsl: 0 / +2

Cha: +7

Ordelia Sorcery Co.

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: From chapter 17 (non-CF routes), with Lysithea and Ferdinand recruited, complete “Retribution” paralogue

Gambit: Resonant Lightning

Endurance: 75

Phys: -1

Mag: +4 / +8

Hit: +10 / +20

Crit: 0

Avo: 0

Prt: 0

Rsl: +2 / +6

Cha: +7

Opera Co. Volunteers

Spoiler

Accessibility: B-rank Infantry

Availability: Bring Dorothea or Manuela to the Opera Hall in chapter 18 (SS), 19 (VW), or 21 (AM)

Gambit: Dance of the Goddess

Endurance: 75

Phys: 0

Mag: 0

Hit: +10 / +20

Crit: 0

Avo: +10 / +15

Prt: 0 / +4

Rsl: 0

Cha: +10

As has lately been the case for me, I don't have my grades prepared just yet. However, I will definitely be adding them in the next couple days. After that, we will have a final "wrap-up" round over the weekend.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Thanks for running this!

School of Sorcery Soldiers: 7 stats, 9 gambit. C rank grounded, C14 paralogue.

A very solid magical battalion, only downside being you get it a bit late for when its niche would really shine. But 6 magic / 20 hit / Resonant Flames is nice, especially at C rank; far better than Kingdom Magic Users once you have both. I think it's a bit better than Vestra Sorcery Engineers overall, which is the best comparison. I wish the prot weren't 0 but you can't have everything.

In a vacuum: 8. Adjusted: 7.5/10.

Church Soldiers: 4 stats, 2 gambit. C rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

It's Alliance Physicians, which is to say it has terrible stats and a gambit which is somehow worse. THe plus side is it's at C rank, minus side is it requires a paralogue. That probably balances... out to being garbage.

In a vacuum: 3. Adjusted: 1/10.

Bergliez War Group: 7 stats, 3 gambit. B rank grounded, C15 paralogue.

+8 atk is cool, the other stats aren't, and Onslaught at B rank post-timeskip whhyyy. I guess it's the better battalion from The Face Beneath? Yikes.

In a vacuum: 5.5. Adjusted: 2/10.

Aegir Astral Knights: 8 stats, 6 gambit. B rank grounded, C17 paralogue.

Gautier Knights with slightly worse stats (-3 prot) and much later. Its niche is having Assault Troop instead of Stride, which might be the choice if your dodgetank also has sky-high charm, depending on the fight. It's pretty marginal but I have used it.

In a vacuum: 7.5. Adjusted: 5/10.

Ordelia Sorcery Co.: 8 stats, 7 gambit. B rank grounded, C17 paralogue.

Time to compare this one to Macuil, which is similar. Advantage: only needing A authority. Disadvantage: way later, -3 cha (also -10 hit and +1 magic, but I'd consider the cha the biggest difference since Resonant Lightning really likes that). I'd say it comes out a bit behind; by the time you actually get this, having a mage at A authority isn't much of an ask. But it's still an overall solid option for a grounded magic battalion; if you're not playing CF and don't have the DLC it's one of the better lategame choices.

In a vacuum: 7.5. Adjusted: 5.5/10.

Opera Co. Volunteers: 5 stats, 9.5 gambit. B rank grounded, late.

Rating it on VW/SS, it has three maps of use. Compared to Blue Lion Dancers, it's much later but only B rank, I'd say that's slightly a losing trade. Stats are marginally better (0 offence instead of -1) but still very bad; I'm not inclined to boost its overall score for that difference. Still, it's a Dance of the Goddess battalion. That deserves a competent score.

In a vacuum: 8. Adjusted: 6.5/10.

[lenticular]

School of Sorcery Soldiers: 6.5/10. Would be pretty great if they showed up earlier, with great stats for the C authority requirement, and the best offensive magic gambit. As is, they arrive past the point when you're typically relying on C authority battalions, and you probably have better choices by the time you get them. Even so, they can still be a good choice if you have multiple mages or if you have someone (maybe Hapi) who is lagging behind in authority.

Church Soldiers: 0/10. What if we took Alliance Physicians, but gave them to you a chapter later, and only give them to you if you do a paralogue that's one of the hardest in the game to access and one of the hardest in the game to complete?

Bergliez War Group: 2/10. +8 to physical attack is great. Everything else varies between mediocre and terrible. The only time I'd even consider equipping this would be if I somehow didn't have any of the other +8 attack battalions and I absolutely needed all 8 points of that in order to secure some break point. But realistically, that's never going to happen, and you're always going to have better choices by the time you get this. If you ever do get it, given the awkward paralogue requirement.

Aegir Astral Knights: 5/10. The paralogue that gives these is the one that I've done least in the game. Not only is it inaccessible in Crimson Flower, not only does it require two characters from different houses, but one of those characters is Ferdinand, who is probably the most awkward recruit in the game (heavy armour requirement, and no B support until post-skip). I think I've done it once or maybe twice. Realistically, this makes this somewhere close to being a Silver Snow exclusive battalion. Yes, you can grab it in Azure Moon or Verdant Wind, but there's a pretty high opportunity cost to doing so. Once you do pick them up, though, they're pretty nice. I'm not really a fan of grounded dodge tanks, but if you're running one then this is as good a choice as anything. But the niche role and the poor availability stops it getting anything above a middling score.

Ordelia Sorcery Co: 5/10. Great stats, but same terrible availability as the Aegir Astral Knights, and the worst of the three Resonant gambits. In a way, this is actually pretty similar to the starter battalions from back in chapter 2: I'm probably going to use it for a few chapters, but it gives a small enough bonus over what I would otherwise have that I wouldn't miss it too much if it wasn't there. But this also has the disadvantage that I'm only seeing it in a small fraction of games.

Opera Co Volunteers: 7.5/10. Worse availability than the Blue Lion Dancers, but lower authority requirement. Honestly, it's a little tricky to say which I prefer. Since I'm so hesitant and generally of two minds, I think it's fair to say that there isn't that much difference, so they deserve the same scores.

[SnowFire]

Thanks for running this!

School of Sorcery Soldiers: 6/10. It joins annoyingly late given that one of its benefits is being C-Authority, but it is maybe the best C-Authority magic battalion out there - probably worth switching to from Nuvelle Attendants due to the much better gambit.  I'm not sure this gets run THAT often since having mages at B-Authority isn't that hard, but this is an absolutely serviceable battalion if you have some lagging-Authority mages or are just running a few extra ones.

Church Soldiers: 0/10. While strictly speaking not the weakest battalion in the game, certainly the most disappointing, given that Paralogue-exclusive battalions normally have a larger "power budget" yet this doesn't even seem notably better than Alliance Physicians.  (And as for the balance..  I think lenticular was speculating on what the heck happened with battalions earlier as possibly being related to battalions being class-locked, e.g. Linked Horses being a cavalry-only gambit, etc.  I'm of the opinion that there was some "flavor balance" where the game just assumed you would attach heal-flavored battalions to healers and they'd be a bit softer in combat as a result.  Which is fine for enemy design, but not going to fly on the player side where you can just, y'know, use different battalions even on alleged healers.  That and gambits like Resonant White Magic being most useful if playing against type, i.e. if a fighter-battalion intended for no-magic characters had it, maybe, but merely having a different heal everyone else up button on a healer is a lot less compelling.)

Bergliez War Group: 2/10. Substantially worse than Nuvelle Chamberlains which also offered +8 to physical attack but was around chapters earlier, only required C Authority, had a Hit & Crit bonus, and didn't pack a random Avoid penalty.  Just awful, only kept out of 1/10 by the existence of some true stinkers.  Although it might deserve the demotion to 1 anyway...  I apparently gave Imperial Guard a 2/10.  Maybe I was a little harsh there, but either Imperial Guard is a 3 or this is a 1, since IG joined earlier with a better gambit and without an Avoid penalty, meaning it's cleanly better.  And Imperial Guard still sucks!

Aegir Astral Knights: 6/10. I gave a bit of a higher score to Brigid Hunters than everyone else, and same score works here.  "6/10" is still "probably not going to be used"  given you only need the top-12 battalions for your team, and Aegir is only a sidegrade on the mighty Gautier with slightly worse stats but a damaging gambit if you want that.  So you're probably just going to run Gautier anyway.  And further, as we all know, most dedicated dodgetanks require flying battalions.  Despite all of these issues, "late-joining Gautier" is still not a bad place to be, so if you don't have Gautier for some reason and/or just equip AAK for variety, +20 Avo and +7 Atk are still one of the more interesting stat spreads out there.

Ordelia Sorcery Co: 5/10. I think that if I know I'm doing Lysithea's paralogue, I might be less interested in building A-Authority on any mages, since this really is a discount Macuil at B-Authority.  Just...  horrible availability.  Annette's paralogue at least opens up right away post-skip, but Lysithea & Ferdinand takes until...  checking...  C17 to open up?  There's really not that much game left. It'd be one thing if the battalion offered something truly different like our final battalion, but it's basically yet another Timotheos / Nuvelle Flyers / Nuvelle Attendants / etc. variant.  Agree it was probably more important pre-DLC or without the DLC.

Opera Co. Volunteers: [4 (AM) / 6 (VW) / 7 (SS)] / 10.  A rare battalion whose worth really varies by route despite being accessible on most of them.  On AM, you have them for exactly one map with no Aux Battle grinding it, and they won't be leveled at all so their stats will be even more hyper-garbage than usual.  At least DotG is still useful on that map for doing things like diving mages & the Slitherer guy.  On VW, you have them for 3 maps, but the VW version of Conclusion of the Crossing Roads is notably easier than Oath of the Dagger, and I don't feel like DotG is at its best on the other two maps - City Without Light is easy, and Nemesis's map's difficulty is more determined by if you can tangle with Nemesis himself rather than efficiently killing dudes since the AI is kinda sleepy.  Silver Snow is where the OCV are helpful if you have 'em for the final map there, and you could have grinded them up at Shambhala or Aux Battles.

Edited December 16, 2022 by SnowFire

[haarhaarhaar]

School of Sorcery Soldiers - 5/10

It's perhaps the best magic battalion at C-rank, or at the very least competitive with the Nuvelle mag-boosting battalion. But it's locked to one route, its linked character (Annette) will likely be at B Authority and have access to better, and in general mages will have already hit B Authority or be there soon after this becomes available. Given this it's not worth training up, although it gets a 5 on the off-chance you're struggling with B-rank/missed better battalions/are running 5+ mages.

Church Soldiers - 0.75/10

I knew this was bad, but this is actually straightforwardly awful. Wow.

Bergliez War Group - 1.75/10

+8 Atk on its own isn't enough to justify fielding this battalion over its competitors.  

Aegir Astral Knights - 6.5/10

If you're a regular grounded dodgetank (i.e. not building crit) I think this is the battalion you run. Unless your dodgetank's Cha is abysmal or they have Canto, they'd rather have an offensive gambit over Stride provided by Gautier Knights, because they want to be at the front of your charge, not at the back. It doesn't match Gautier's score due to its late arrival (and it's also behind a tough paralogue), but it's pretty good.

Ordelia Sorcery Co. - 7/10

I'm often running this from join to endgame, but being the latest battalion that actually makes my endgame means its score caps at 7. 

Opera Co. Volunteers - 6.5/10

Probably the least accessible battalion in the game, all things told. However, even unlevelled, it is an upgrade on fully levelled Blue Lion Dancers (+1 Atk, +10 Hit, -10 Avo, -3 Prt, -3 Res, B Authority), and your only source of Dance of the Goddess outside of AM. Docking it half a point compared to Blue Lion Dancers seems fair. 

[Dark Holy Elf]

11 hours ago, haarhaarhaar said:

It's perhaps the best magic battalion at C-rank, or at the very least competitive with the Nuvelle mag-boosting battalion. But it's locked to one route, its linked character (Annette) will likely be at B Authority and have access to better, and in general mages will have already hit B Authority or be there soon after this becomes available. Given this it's not worth training up, although it gets a 5 on the off-chance you're struggling with B-rank/missed better battalions/are running 5+ mages.

 

It's worth pointing out that if you don't have the DLC, there really aren't better magic battalions even at B rank. Ordelia's got +2 mag but a less accurate gambit and is way later (and requires two recruits). Gloucester has slightly better stats but Assault Troop is significantly worse than Resonant Flames for a mage. Edmund Troops is kind of in a similar boat (and later).

The DLC does cut into its niche though, for sure; both Nuvelle Attendants at C itself and Timotheos just being all-around great for a mage at B rank (plus Dark Flier not being able to use grounded magic battalions, of course). I've noticed that I'm not weighing competition from DLC battalions as heavily as others, though. "You might not spend extra real money on this game" seems like one of the single most compelling "what-ifs" to consider.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

So it's come to this - I'm finally grading the last batch of battalions. Let's do this.

Availability:

Most of these units are late-joiners. The School of Sorcery Soldiers deserve a touch more credit, joining in chapter 14 of Azure Moon (the same chapter that buyable post-skip battalions emerge). For that reason, I'm giving them a 2.

Four of the others join via paralogues on non-CF routes. Two become available in chapter 15, and the other two in chapter 17. They're all getting a 1.

The last battalion can be acquired after the Enbarr map, which is chapter 18 (SS), 19 (VW), or 21 (AM). As the last-acquired battalion in the game, the Opera Co. Volunteers are uniquely getting a 0.

Accessibility:

The School of Sorcery Soldiers are C-rank Infantry, as are the Church Soldiers. Almost everyone in your army will be able to equip them at this point, so they get a 3.

The other four battalions are some flavor of B-rank Grounded. As a result, they each walk away with a 2.

Gambit:

School of Sorcery Soldiers hail from the frigid city of Fhirdiad, so naturally, they try to warm themselves up with Resonant Flames. It's the best magical gambit in the game, worthy of an 8.

Church Soldiers provide Resonant White Magic. It's one of the worst support gambits in the game, especially this late on. It earns a mere 3 out of 10.

Bergliez War Group, from the same paralogue, instead offer an offensive gambit in Onslaught. As a variant of Disturbance, it only gets a 3 in its own right.

Aegir Astral Knights use Assault Troop. We've all seen this before, a very middle-of-the-road offensive gambit. As such, I award it 5.

Ordelia Sorcery Co. use Resonant Lightning, which hits harder than the Flames, but is less accurate. That leads me to drop it to 6.

Finally, the Opera Co. Volunteers. They provide the rare Dance of the Goddess, a support gambit which can be a serious game-changer. Letting multiple allies move twice is a serious boon, but it's limited to once per map. As such, I think an 8 is appropriate here.

Stats:

School of Sorcery Soldiers have clearly been doing their homework. They grant a clean +6 Magic and +20 Hit. That's excellent for a C-rank battalion, and honestly competitive with higher-tier magical battalions. This warrants an easy 8.

Church Soldiers, on the other hand, might wish to get themselves to a nunnery. +3 Magic and +5 Hit is pathetic at this point, with +6 Resilience as the only vague "standout". This is barely better than the D-rank magical battalions, so these clueless clerics walk away with a 4.

Bergliez War Group are off to a strong start, with +8 Attack. Beyond that, though, the picture is pretty bleak - modest boosts to Hit and Prt are offset by an Avoid malus. Other battalions with a comparable Attack boost (Nuvelle Chamberlains, Indech Sword Fighters, and Goneril Valkyries, etc.) offer much better boosts elsewhere, so I wouldn't award these war-mongers anything above a 7.

+7 Attack and Charm... +20 Avoid... where have I seen this before? Gautier Knights, is that you? Nope, it's Aegir Astral Knights. Compared to Sylvain's battalion, Ferdinand's trades some Prt for a modicum of Res. I'd say these are pretty comparable boosts, so they get an 8 of their own.

Ordelia Sorcery Co. grant some of the best boosts for a magical attacker, with +8 Magic and +20 Hit. +6 Rsl is pretty solid as well. I don't think these boosts are quite as strong as those on Macuil Evil Repelling Co. As such, I'm upgrading them to a 10, while Lysithea's crew gets a fairly formidable 9.

Opera Co. Volunteers are one of the few battalions that offer no stat boosts in either offensive stat. If you recall Varley Archers and Blue Lion Dancers, you'll know that I'm none too kind to battalions that do this. That said, these Volunteers offer perhaps the best statline within these constraints, with a solid +20 Hit and +15 Avoid, plus an outsized +10 Charm. They get a consolation prize of 4.

Uniqueness:

Opera Co. Volunteers are your only source of Dance of the Goddess, if you're playing on Silver Snow or Verdant Wind. They earn a clean 3 for uniqueness.

None of the other battalions offer anything that could reasonably be construed as "unique". Ordelia Sorcery Co. and Bergliez War Group may offer unusually large offensive boosts, but even those are matched by the pre-skip Nuvelle battalions. I don't think any of these warrant more than a 0.

Convenience:

School of Sorcery Soldiers come from "Weathervanes of Fodlan", a paralogue that requires Annette and Gilbert to have a C-rank support with each other. It's not an especially challenging map, and you essentially get these two units for free on Azure Moon. They're not especially inconvenient to get, so they get a 1.

The next four battalions come from "cross-house" paralogues. That means you have to make at least one out-of-house recruitment to play them, regardless of route. Even without considering their difficulty level, that's inconvenient enough to put them at a 0.

The last battalion, Opera Co. Volunteers, basically come through a secret event. You have to bring either Dorothea or Manuela to the Enbarr map, and have her stand within a specific range of tiles. This can be challenging if you're trying to clear the map before reinforcements arrive, and is quite obscure overall. This one merits a 0 as well.

Endurance:

All these battalions have at least 75 durability. They all get a 2.

Experience:

School of Sorcery Soldiers, Ordelia Sorcery Co., and Aegir Astral Knights have all found places onto my army, even into the endgame. If I find the time to train them up, they rank among some of the best I have available. They all get a 2.

Opera Co. Volunteers... I'm conflicted on. I've only used them a couple of times. They had a huge impact in VW Chapter 20, where they let me beat the boss (and open all three chests) in a single turn. But I didn't go for a "quickclear" of Shambala or the Endgame, so Dance of the Goddess didn't feel quite so essential. They're irreplaceable when you need them, but forgettable when you don't. I'm giving them a 1 from experience.

Church Soldiers and Bergliez War Group... why would I ever use these? They don't do anything better than battalions I already have. They get a 0 each.

Final Scores:

School of Sorcery Soldiers: 2 + 3 + 8 (*2) + 8 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 34 -> 6.8

Church Soldiers: 1 + 3 + 3 + 4 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 17 -> 3.4

Bergliez War Group: 1 + 2 + 3 + 7 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 22 -> 4.4

Aegir Astral Knights: 1 + 2 + 5 + 8 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 28 -> 5.6

Ordelia Sorcery Co.: 1 + 2 + 6 + 9 (*2) + 0 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 31 -> 6.2

Opera Co. Volunteers: 0 + 2 + 8 (*2) + 4 + 3 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 28 -> 5.6

 

FINAL NOTE - tomorrow will be our final round, where I'll update the score list for the last time. If you have any revisions to make to your scores, please do so within the next 24 hours. I've really appreciated the chance to do this, but all good... exhausting... time-consuming... overwhelming things must come to an end. Thanks, and take care until then.

[SnowFire]

23 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

It's worth pointing out that if you don't have the DLC, there really aren't better magic battalions even at B rank. Ordelia's got +2 mag but a less accurate gambit and is way later (and requires two recruits). Gloucester has slightly better stats but Assault Troop is significantly worse than Resonant Flames for a mage. Edmund Troops is kind of in a similar boat (and later).

The DLC does cut into its niche though, for sure; both Nuvelle Attendants at C itself and Timotheos just being all-around great for a mage at B rank (plus Dark Flier not being able to use grounded magic battalions, of course). I've noticed that I'm not weighing competition from DLC battalions as heavily as others, though.

There are definitely some battalions whose worth changes in a no-DLC run and get +1 to their scores or so, although oddly I wouldn't say either SoSS or Ordelia is one of them.  The battalions hit the worst by DLC existing are the A-Authority ones, for sure, to me... without DLC and without heavy recruitment, you might get stuck with either accepting outdated battalions or grinding at least some characters to A-Authority.  Adding 8-9 new battalions worth of options at the B and C level means that the scenario of being stuck with using a D-rank battalion out of necessity is a lot less likely unless you're running 5+ fliers on Azure Moon or something, which really dampens enthusiasm for hitting A-Authority barring the known exceptions like Cichol Wyvern Co. or Blue Lion Dancers.  So it's more Macuil Evil Repelling Co. that'd be aided by a no-DLC score among mage battalions, to me.  (Also, obligatory note that if not running a Dark Flier, Nuvelle Fliers is still totally valid to use on grounded battalions, too, it's not bad.)

I suppose Gloucester & Edmund might get a score boost as well because hybrid battalions are in such short supply with no-DLC, and the very cheap and brainless Enlightened One Byleth build likes a hybrid battalion.

[Dark Holy Elf]

The DLC battalions definitely help magical builds and hybrid ones more than pure physicals. The good DLC battalions are (broadly) the four wolves' and the three Nuvelle C9 battalions, which total three magic, three hybrid (and notably, all the hybrid battalions are quite mediocre for a pure physical character), and only one pure physical. Secret Transport Force as well but that's an odd utility duck. So I don't think the DLC significantly impacts the lategame physical battalion situation; random A-ranks like, I dunno,  Black Eagle Cavalry are a little worse for introducing compeition from Nuvelle Chamberlains, but not much. I think magical battalions are definitely impacted more.

Macuil Evil Repelling might be the single most hurt of all, though, I'd agree there. Without DLC, if you use e.g. three mages, someone is almost assuredly gonna be stuck using something like the C8 storebought C rank battalion without Macuil, and Macuil is a massive upgrade on that, easily worth getting someone to A. But if you already have the injection of power from the wolves and Nuvelle Attendants, that same level of investment now yields a far lower upside.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Dark Holy Elf

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

That's right, we're doing this one more time - reviewing battalion scores!

Spoiler

School of Sorcery Soldiers received 5 scores, averaging out to 6.36

Church Soldiers received 5 scores, averaging out to 1.03

Bergliez War Group received 5 scores, averaging out to 2.43

Aegir Astral Knights received 5 scores, averaging out to 5.62

Ordelia Sorcery Co. received 5 scores, averaging out to 5.74

Opera Co. Volunteers received 5 scores, averaging out to 6.62

So it looks like we have some Opera fans in the audience, as well as people who wouldn't mind going back to school. But that doesn't extend to Sunday School, as the Church Soldiers ranked phenomenally low.

So, where does this leave us? All 128 battalions have been considered by the community, and given a score. Therefore, it's finally time to ask -

Endgame: Which Battalion Is Best?

Three Houses introduced the Battalion mechanic, and it certainly didn't do so by a half-measure. There are a lot of them in the game - perhaps more than were ever needed. But with so many options, we have to ask - which ones are worth using? While our ratings may not be definitive, I do think they can point us in the direction of how powerful and useful they are.

I've updated the list on page 1 with the final scores provided, so hopefully that will be useful to everyone. But is that really the best way to interpret them? How would they look if they were instead organized by score? Well... like this!

8.0 and above

Spoiler

Immortal Corps: 9.56

King of Lions Corps: 8.88

Timotheos Magi Corps: 8.41

Seiros Holy Monks: 8.357

Supreme Armored Co.: 8.31

Goneril Valkyries: 8.28

Alliance Wyvern Co.: 8.18

Galatea Pegasus Co.: 8.16

Nuvelle Flier Corps: 8

7.0 through 7.999

Spoiler

Gautier Knights: 7.76

Leicester Mercenaries: 7.72

Cichol Wyvern Co.: 7.7

Gloucester Knights: 7.65

Empire Archers: 7.643

Duscur Heavy Soldiers: 7.54

Nuvelle Chamberlain Co.: 7.525

Nuvelle Attendants Co.: 7.333

Empire Magic Users: 7.233

Jeralt's Mercenaries: 7.2

Empire Armored Co.: 7.167

Blue Lion Dancers: 7.1

Secret Transport Force: 7.05

Kingdom Armored Co.: 7

6.0 through 6.999

Spoiler

Seiros Pegasus Co.: 6.971

Alliance Sages: 6.95

Empire Pegasus Co.: 6.917

Kingdom Archers: 6.9

Kingdom Magic Users: 6.8

Nuvelle Stewards Co.: 6.733

Leicester Dicers: 6.71

Opera Co. Volunteers: 6.62

Kingdom Pegasus Co.: 6.58

Edmund Troops: 6.56

Vestra Sorcery Engineers: 6.52

Kingdom Knights: 6.514

Kingdom Cavalry: 6.36

School of Sorcery Soldiers: 6.36

Knights of Seiros: 6.271

Empire Knights: 6.214

Alliance Pegasus Co.: 6.18

Alliance Knights: 6.136

Empire Elite Wyvern Co.: 6.12

5.0 through 5.999

Spoiler

Alliance Magic Users: 5.97

Seiros Archers: 5.85

Empire Wyvern Co.: 5.85

Macuil Evil Repelling Co.: 5.817

Ordelia Sorcery Co.: 5.74

Alliance Archers: 5.72

Kingdom Wyvern Co.: 5.62

Aegir Astral Knights: 5.62

Kingdom Snipers: 5.56

Empire Heavy Soldiers: 5.56

Fraldarius Soldiers: 5.54

Seiros Magic Corps: 5.5

Victor Private Military: 5.48

Alliance Snipers: 5.36

Black Eagle Pegasus Co.: 5.36

Essar Research Group: NaN

Empire Snipers: 5.3

Brigid Hunters: 5.28

Kingdom Brawlers: 5.257

Alliance Brawlers: 5.229

Empire Magic Corps: 5.2

Empire Brawlers: 5.086

Royal Guard: 5.02

4.0 through 4.999

Spoiler

Kingdom Heavy Knights: 4.94

Seiros Mercenaries: 4.857

Reaper Knights: 4.82

Kingdom Magic Corps: 4.671

Golden Deer Wyvern Co.: 4.63

Church of Seiros Soldiers: 4.614

Kingdom Infantry: 4.586

Holy Knights of Seiros: 4.583

Empire Holy Magic Users: 4.52

Hevring Prayer Troops: 4.4

Alliance Magic Corps: 4.371

Morfis Magic Corps: 4.34

Mockingbird's Thieves: 4.28

Empire Warriors: 4.043

3.0 through 3.999

Spoiler

Empire Pavise Co.: 3.95

Kingdom Priests: 3.93

Merchant Military: 3.817

Almyra Mercenaries: 3.76

Holst's Chosen: 3.68

Blue Lion Magic Corps: 3.62

Golden Deer Cavalry: 3.41

Kingdom Lance Co.: 3.229

Empire Cavalry: 3.217

Bandits: 3.2

Imperial Guard: 3.2

Alliance Cavalry: 3.06

Seiros Sacred Monks: 3.057

Alliance Master Archers: 3.02

2.0 through 2.999

Spoiler

Alliance Armored Co.: 2.84

Alliance Veteran Duelists: 2.82

Kingdom Holy Knights: 2.82

Black Eagle Cavalry: 2.76

Alliance Guard: 2.75

Gaspard Knights: 2.68

Alliance Pavise Co.: 2.64

Seiros Armored Co.: 2.45

Bergliez War Group: 2.43

Sauin Militia: 2.31

Varley Archers: 2.27

Empire Raiders: 2.24

Alliance Duelists: 2.186

Seiros Brawlers: 2.117

Cethleann Monks: 2.117

Empire Infantry: 2.093

Blue Lion Knights: 2.09

Alliance Infantry: 2.014

1.999 and below

Spoiler

Black Eagle Heavy Axes: 1.84

Golden Deer Archers: 1.72

Kingdom Heavy Soldiers: 1.64

Duscur Cavalry: 1.27

Brigid Mercenaries: 1.17

Remire Militia: 1.15

Alliance Physicians: 1.12

Duscur Infantry: 1.11

Pirates: 1.08

Rogues: 1.08

Kingdom Youths: 1.067

Church Soldiers: 1.03

Thieves: 0.99

Empire Youths: 0.917

Alliance Youths: 0.61

There's more I could say, but I think I've said enough. I might just swear off battalion banter for the next... well, ever. If there's one conclusion that I can draw from this, it's a simple one:

There are way too many battalions.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
Typo.

[SnowFire]

 Awesome stuff.  Thanks again!  (Although I think there's a typo on Alliance Veteran Duelists - it scored a 2.82.)

For a slightly alternate view of the final data, a Church of SigDis approved version of the above chart that compresses some of the minor differences (higher scores within a division on the left)...

Battalion rankings (compressed version):

Spoiler

9.5: Immortal Corps

9: King of Lions Corps

8.5: Timotheos Magi Corps, Seiros Holy Monks, Supreme Armored Co., Goneril Valkyries

8: Alliance Wyvern Co., Galatea Pegasus Co., Nuvelle Flier Corps, Gautier Knights

7.5: Leicester Mercenaries, Cichol Wyvern Co., Gloucester Knights, Empire Archers, Duscur Heavy Soldiers, Nuvelle Chamberlain Co., Nuvelle Attendants Co.

7: Empire Magic Users, Jeralt's Mercenaries, Empire Armored Co., Blue Lion Dancers, Secret Transport Force, Kingdom Armored Co., Seiros Pegasus Co., Alliance Sages, Empire Pegasus Co., Kingdom Archers, Kingdom Magic Users

6.5: Nuvelle Stewards Co., Leicester Dicers, Opera Co. Volunteers, Kingdom Pegasus Co., Edmund Troops, Vestra Sorcery Engineers, Kingdom Knights, Kingdom Cavalry, School of Sorcery Soldiers, Knights of Seiros

6: Empire Knights, Alliance Pegasus Co., Alliance Knights, Empire Elite Wyvern Co., Alliance Magic Users, Seiros Archers, Empire Wyvern Co., Macuil Evil Repelling Co.

5.5: Ordelia Sorcery Co., Alliance Archers, Kingdom Wyvern Co., Aegir Astral Knights, Kingdom Snipers, Empire Heavy Soldiers, Fraldarius Soldiers, Seiros Magic Corps, Victor Private Military, Alliance Snipers, Black Eagle Pegasus Co., Empire Snipers, Brigid Hunters, Kingdom Brawlers

5: Alliance Brawlers, Empire Magic Corps, Empire Brawlers, Royal Guard, Kingdom Heavy Knights, Seiros Mercenaries, Reaper Knights

4.5: Kingdom Magic Corps, Golden Deer Wyvern Co., Church of Seiros Soldiers, Kingdom Infantry, Holy Knights of Seiros, Empire Holy Magic Users, Hevring Prayer Troops, Alliance Magic Corps, Morfis Magic Corps, Mockingbird's Thieves

4: Empire Warriors, Empire Pavise Co., Kingdom Priests, Merchant Military, Almyra Mercenaries

3.5: Holst's Chosen, Blue Lion Magic Corps, Golden Deer Cavalry

3: Kingdom Lance Co., Empire Cavalry, Bandits, Imperial Guard, Alliance Cavalry, Seiros Sacred Monks, Alliance Master Archers, Alliance Armored Co., Alliance Veteran Duelists, Kingdom Holy Knights, Black Eagle Cavalry, Alliance Guard

2.5: Gaspard Knights, Alliance Pavise Co., Seiros Armored Co., Bergliez War Group, Sauin Militia, Varley Archers

2: Empire Raiders, Alliance Duelists, Seiros Brawlers, Cethleann Monks, Empire Infantry, Blue Lion Knights, Alliance Infantry, Black Eagle Heavy Axes

1.5: Golden Deer Archers, Kingdom Heavy Soldiers, Duscur Cavalry

1: Brigid Mercenaries, Remire Militia, Alliance Physicians, Duscur Infantry, Pirates, Rogues, Kingdom Youths, Church Soldiers, Thieves, Empire Youths

0.5: Alliance Youths

Unranked: Essar Research Group

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by SnowFire