Hrothgar777 Posted August 4, 2023 Share Posted August 4, 2023 (edited) #1 - Alear, Divine Dragon (Female) Stats: Build: 11 SP: 1029 Mov: 5 HP: 57 Ph Atk: 49 Hit: 175 Avo: 111 Crit: 19 Ddg: 29 Str: 35 Mag: 10 Dex: 38 Spd: 41 Def: 32 Res: 26 Lck: 29 Rating: 222 Items: -Armorslayer+5 -Liberation+5 -Shielding Art -Steel Sword -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Lucina, Bond 20 (Pact Ringed with Merrin) Skills: -Divinely Inspiring -Divine Spirit -Vantage++ -Avoid+15 -Dual Strike -Dual Assist+ -Dual Support -Bonded Shield -All For One AKA the most goody-goody two shoes protagonist in the franchise's 33 year long history, who was advertised as having an evil psycho side which...turned out to not exist at all. it goes without saying that this metaphoric iron fetter around my leg had to see action and stay competitive. And that she did. I tried to strike a balance between her seeing the action on the front lines but with enough other stuff happening around her so that the hordes of usually corrupted mooks wouldn't pile on her. And in this regard I usually succeeded. All of my mages (with maybe the exception of Clanne) glass cannons who couldn't get that close, so she found her niche 1 hit KO-ing armor bros some of my other units could barely scratch. Overall, no complaints here. Alear, invariably, started the game behind the curve but ended in a strong position. #2 - Merrin, Wolf Knight Stats: Build: 12 SP: 942 Mov: 6 HP: 57 Ph Atk: 43 Hit: 208 Avo: 130 Crit: 49 Ddg: 61 Str: 26 Mag: 18 Dex: 39 Spd: 45 Def: 24 Res: 29 Lck: 31 Rating: 224 Items: -Silver Dagger+5 (engraved w/ Fates effect, which boosted luck & I think dex) -Stiletto -Steel Sword -Vulnerary -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Ryoma S (this came with the ability Bushido, which made me reluctant to swap this for a proper Emblem) Skills: -Knightly Escort -Hobble -Knife Precision 5 -Bushido Merrin did NOT start out as the best member of my party. I initially flirted with the idea of using her because she was somebody who I completely ignored on my first playthrough, which was also distinctly lacking in knife users before Veyle. My experiences with her were frustrating at first because she didn't seem to have a lot of potential. ...Boy was I wrong. As soon as I engraved and then forged that silver dagger, she turned into a mother-effing beast. The only true dodge tank in my party, and my only "crit tank", if that's even a phrase. Her catchphrase is: "That was cool, was it not?", and she did indeed earn the right to call herself cool. #3: Jade, General Stats: Build: 17 SP: 1573 Mov: 4 HP: 71 Ph Atk: 57 Hit: 138 Avo: 38 Crit: 15 Ddg: 13 Str: 41 Mag: 14 Dex: 31 Spd: 16 Def: 50 Res: 17 Lck: 13 Rating: 199 Items: -Silver Axe -Hand Axe -Steel Axe -Poleaxe -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Ike, Bond 20 Skills: -Meditation -Swap -Resolve+ -Demolish -Resolve+ -Reposition -Wrath -Laguz Friend -Great Aether Like with Merrin, my initial relationship with Jade was a troubled one. It took me a while to find her a usable niche. It so turns out that, when there's a surplus of enemies, diverting 5 or 6 away from your vulnerable flank toward Engaged Jade, ready to send half of them to kingdom come next turn with Great Aether (Urvan), was that niche. Like with Merrin she was somebody I passed up my first playthrough, and I didn't regret this investment. #4: Alfred, Avenir Stats: Build: 13 SP: 77 Mov: 6 HP: 63 Ph Atk: 53 Hit: 149 Avo: 71 Crit: 14 Ddg: 47 Str: 35 Mag: 9 Dex: 28 Spd: 29 Def: 38 Res: 18 Lck: 47 Rating: 217 Items: -Spear -Silver Lance+3 -Steel Lance -Javelin -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Byleth, Bond 20 Skills: -Self-Improver -Golden Lotus -Lance Power 3 -Divine Pulse+ -Divine Pulse+ -Mentorship -Lost & Found -Instruct -Goddess Dance Alfred was a so-so unit. He was an offensive underperformer until the last 2 chapters, right before which I forged his Silver Lance and gave him Lance Power 3. His role was to give me a Goddess Dance boost once per battle. Anybody but the mages could've done this, but he did the job well enough. I don't remember him dying very often, meaning he could stay alive long enough for the need to arise, and the fact that he was a cavalry unit the whole game meant I could depend on him to be to the right place when the time came. #5: Louis, Great Knight Stats: Build: 21 SP: 1700 Mov: 7 HP: 74 Ph Atk: 56 Hit: 152 Avo: 49 Crit: 17 Ddg: 18 Str: 40 Mag: 2 Dex: 34 Spd: 20 Def: 56 Res: 20 Lck: 18 Rating: 211 Items: -Spear+4 -Ridersbane+5 -Steel Lance -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Sigurd, Bond 20 Skills: -Admiration -Allied Defense -Resolve -Arms Shield+ -Canter+ -Momentum+ -Headlong Rush -Gallop -Override Louis is tied with Merrin as MVP of my playthrough. I've already heaped praises on this guy in another thread so I'll abstain from repeating myself. I have two complaints/regrets: first, he could sometimes be taken out in certain maps where the enemies piled on the chain attacks in lieu of damaging him the normal way (I believe there is an anti-chain attack ability I could've invested in had I been smarter about this). Second, his own offensive power was kind of lackluster. I can't remember a time when Override actually killed every unit lined up. Anyways, good man. #6: Clanne, Mage Knight Stats: Build: 8 SP: 1498 Mov: 6 HP: 55 Mag Atk: 43 Hit: 137 Avo: 59 Crit: 15 Ddg: 14 Str: 28 Mag: 25 Dex: 30 Spd: 26 Def: 22 Res: 33 Lck: 14 Rating: 186 Items: -Thoron -Bolganone -Elsurge -Elfire Emblem/Ring: Roy, Bond 20 Skills: -Verdant Faith -Chaos Style -Dual Assist -Hold Out+++ -Advance -Rise Above -Blazing Lion I had Clanne in my party from Chapter 1 but didn't pay much notice to him until later, when he established himself as the generally more useful version of Celine. When I got my first Thoron I was quick to give it to him. Emblem-wise, he had it equipped but almost never used it. Overall a decent guy. #7: Fogado, Cupido Stats: Build: 16 SP: 1435 Mov: 6 HP: 61 Mag Atk: 41 Hit: 155 Avo: 86 Crit: 15 Ddg: 16 Str: 23 Mag: 17 Dex: 31 Spd: 39 Def: 24 Res: 29 Lck: 16 Rating: 195 Items: -Radiant Bow+5 -Longbow -Silver Bow -Killer Bow -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Leif, Bond 20 Skills: -Charmer -Back At You -Draconic Hex -Arms Shield++ -Vantage++ -Adaptable -Quadruple Hit Fogado was another "I didn't use him in my first playthrough" picks. Along the way I made the decision to axe Alcryst (from my first playthrough) and replace him with Fogado. He found his niche as soon as I equipped him with the Radiant Bow, whose mechanics I admittedly don't understand but is frigging awesome. I don't know of another bow weapon in the game that'll smash through virtually anything without explanation, and Fogado was a worthy wielder of it. I didn't use his emblem very much, but on occasion it offered me a way to fight back when attacked not at range. Overall a solid guy. #8: Framme, High Priest Stats: Build: 4 SP: 712 Mov: 6 HP: 43 Ph Atk: 33 Hit: 148 Avo: 74 Crit: 13 Ddg: 32 Str: 18 Mag: 32 Dex: 26 Spd: 29 Def: 22 Res: 39 Lck: 32 Rating: 202 Items: -Silver-Spirit Art -Steel-Hand Art -Psychic -Elixir -Mend Emblem/Ring: Micaiah, Bond 20 Skills: -Crimson Cheer -Self-Healing -Healing Light -Defense+5 -Cleric++ -Healing Light -Silence Ward -Augment -Great Sacrifice Another repeat unit along with her brother, because she's cute and because she's a healer. But I wonder if there were better picks because she spent the bulk of my playthrough dying easily. I had hopes she would become a tank once Engaged with Micaiah and set up with Nosferatu ahead of the Enemy Phase, but it was not to be. Early on I also had issues with her moving too slow to catch up to the front lines and heal stuff, but that resolved when I acquired Psychic. Overall, Framme was serviceable. #9: Etie, Sniper Stats: Build: 7 SP: 296 Mov: 5 HP: 47 Ph Atk: 46 Hit: 175 Avo: 73 Crit: 21 Ddg: 22 Str: 34 Mag: 1 Dex: 42 Spd: 31 Def: 18 Res: 18 Lck: 22 Rating: 173 Items: -Longbow+5 -Silver Bow -Steel Bow -Vulnerary -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Lyn, Bond 20 Skills: -Energized -No Distractions -Speed+5 -Dexterity+4 -Alacrity++ -Speedtaker -Call Doubles -Astra Storm Though an early game unit, I didn't adopt Etie in my first playthrough, so I thought I would this time. I started out with high hopes for her, especially after equipping her with the first longbow I got. But (surprise surprise) she was a glass cannon who very often didn't survive the first enemy phase, so I ended up relying more on Fogado than her. Despite this I had an odd bias for most of my playthrough of assuming she'd be more important to my upcoming battle than she actually was. I couldn't tell you why. Still, she did fill the niche role of being my "Lyn's special one shot" person. Unlike in my first playthrough, however, this wasn't particularly useful because it almost never 1-hit KO-ed the target. #10: Veyle I'll skip her because this is taking me a frigging long time to write up, and because she was so late game as to be irrelevant anyhow. Glass cannon, not useful, yada-yada. I only took her and Mauvier on because I had 2 more slots to fill in late battles and nobody else would've been reasonably competitive at this point. #11: Mauvier Skip for the same reason. Was a bit more useful than Veyle because of Psychic, but still. #12: Chloe, Griffin Knight Stats: Build: 7 SP: 673 Mov: 6 HP: 55 Ph Atk: 33 Hit: 173 Avo: 98 Crit: 50 Ddg: 61 Str: 26 Mag: 26 Dex: 40 Spd: 40 Def: 18 Res: 26 Lck: 36 Rating: 219 Items: -Killer Lance -Spear -Heal (seldom used despite what you might think) -Elixir Emblem/Ring: -Eirika, Bond 20 Skills: -Fairy-Tale Folk -Clear the Way -Dodge+25 -Night and Day -Lunar Brace+ -Gentility+ -Sacred Twins -Twin Strike Like Etie, an early game addition I didn't use my first time around, who I ran with this time for the heck of it. She actually wasn't that useful and I didn't know if I was really going to keep her...That is, until she picked up Eirika. Then she gained a second wind and started pulling her weight. Eirika's ability, Lunar Brace, is like a less potent but more versatile form of the move Nosferatu, which let Chloe (player phase only) recover HP from whoever she was striking with whatever weapon. I find this pretty useful and Chloe was a good fit for this Emblem. #13: Ivy, Lindwurm Stats: Build: 10 SP: 944 Mov: 6 HP: 70 Mag Atk: 51 Hit: 145 Avo: 52 Crit: 11 Ddg: 8 Str: 15 Mag: 37 Dex: 23 Spd: 24 Def: 26 Res: 35 Lck: 8 Rating: 178 Items: -Elfire+3 -Excalibur -Elsurge -Vulnerary -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Corrin, Bond 20 (almost never used) Skills: -Single-Minded -Grasping Void -Draconic Hex -Dragon Vein -Quality Time+ -Draconic Hex -Pair Up -Dreadful Aura -Torrential Roar Ivy was somebody I brought back from my first playthrough. She was really solid back then but she kind of left me wondering about her viability the second time around. My core motive for keeping her around was to recruit that one character I missed before (Lindon), but after that I ended up keeping her just because. Not much to say about her; she was one of my backup units who didn't appear every battle. Though, like with Fogado she did have a niche use once I equipped her with Draconic Hex. #14: Celine, Vidame Stats: Build: 6 SP: 821 Mov: 5 HP: 47 Mag Atk: 54 Hit: 156 Avo: 68 Crit: 12 Ddg: 37 Str: 27 Mag: 34 Dex: 24 Spd: 25 Def: 19 Res: 31 Lck: 37 Rating: 203 Items: -Bolganone+4 -Thunder+5 -Elfire -Elixir Emblem/Ring: Celica, Bond 20 Skills: -Gentle Flower -Ignis -Holy Stance++ -Magic+2 -Holy Stance++ -Resonance+ -Favorite Food -Echo -Warp Ragnarok In my first playthrough, Celine had the weird status of somebody I used in the first half, then dropped for a long while, then picked her back up. This time I used her consistently from the beginning...and to very little payoff over time. Seriously, she wasn't that good. She was sort of there to do Warp Ragnarok but I didn't even do that often because either it had no particular value or she would certainly die come the next Enemy Phase. So there you have it. After doing this, which has taken me since June, I feel like...I don't know? Like I've (just barely) graduated from being a Fire Emblem noob, or whatnot. The sense of accomplishment hasn't kicked in yet, because I spent the last two hours awkwardly typing up this thread instead of celebrating. Now I'm not sure how I'll go back to spending my late nights since I won't be doing this anymore. But anyhow, at the end of this journey, I can say I think more positively of this game than I do Three Houses; this is not an objective value judgment but more a testament to the sweat and tears I've sunk into mastering this game's mechanics. To be honest my two playthroughs of 3H several years ago were very casual and I didn't study the battle system (I mean, I didn't need to because it was easy). Maybe I would feel differently if I'd taken the effort to challenge myself back then. But since I never did, and since I don't actually own a copy of the game to go back and do that now, it is what it is and my assessment will likely persist. Fire Emblem: Engage was 100% a worthwhile purchase and, despite my initial snobbish attitude, I hope it does ultimately sell as well as 3H and I hope it's remembered just as fondly. Edited August 6, 2023 by Parrhesia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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