SPOILERS blah blah don't read if you don't want to know the identity of the final.
Hmm, the boss topic has a glaring omission... by which I mean the final boss, of course. Okay, not really, it's not that close to rankable (unless you're OK) with all sorts of weird legality issues. Not to mention that there's a perfectly respectable PC form to use instead that's less headachey and used much more of the game, with fewer plot complications involving alternate worlds for those who care. Anyway, for the fun of it, to get our favorite character out of Low Middle, here's some stats. A brief comment on the Dragonskin skill first, since it's generally applicable (I guess Validar is listed as having it from Elf's list, though meh to Validar in the DL). Its damage halving is -absolute-. There exist psuedo-ITD skills in-game like Luna & Aether, and Dragonskin still works against them. e.g. you hit a 50 DEF enemy with Dragonskin, Luna proc's, you do an additional 12 damage, not an additional 25 damage. It just halves absolutely every damage you can throw at it (and rounds down). As such, I would not see vanilla ITD as negating Dragonskin (it'd still help reduce the Defense stat), and arguably even gravity might not work as usual depending on the home game. (One of the notable enemies with Dragonskin has a specific weakness only the Exalted Falchion & Parallel Falchion hit, but the swords are not ignoring Dragonskin, they're just getting a huge damage boost.) Additionally, since Dragonskin stops the "cheese" ways to win that involve rolling the dice and hoping for the best in FEA, I'd see it as putting any enemy with Dragonskin under the "assume boss immunity to disabling statuses" hat. There's something to it; other Fire Emblem games that actually had status in them tended to have status just fail against enemies who immuned instant death, and sometimes against even more than that (I think Elf claimed Thrones would grant status immunity in some of the FE games.) YRMV, but figure I'd just throw that out here.
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PC averages for SnowFire, 18 mostly stat-capped battle PCs with Limit Breaker skill, no pair-up, no Rally Spectrum [figures in brackets are full average of 20 PCs include 2x healers without Limit Breaker]:
HP: 80 [80]
SPD: 56 [55]
DEF: 50 [47]
* Note that I used some pre-battle Gaius's Confects on most characters but not all, below, giving many characters +2 STR / +2 SPD / +2 SKL. It's included. (If I'd been smart, I'd have dumped all the temporary stat boosts on everyone. Oh well.)Knock SPD & DEF up ~4-5 points to incorporate pair-up (varies by class, but around that), although fewer total PCs are active then. Knock all stats up by 4 to incorporate Rally Spectrum (and remove another ~2 PCs from consideration). See below for damage details.
Anna"Cha-ching!"
Merchant
99 HP
60 STR / 50 MAG / 70 SKL / 70 SPD / 65 LCK / 55 DEF / 55 RES (on 1st turn, effective 58 DEF / 58 RES)
Aether, Counter, Dragonskin, Rightful God, Vantage+
Slightly more than halves all damage. Reflects effective damage taken at melee range back to the user (i.e. with Dragonskin baked in). Immune to instant death / "Counter" skill / arguably "status." Always strikes first when attacked. 65% chance of Aether proc. thanks to Rightful God; first hit restores half the damage it deals to Anna, second hit halves the target's defense.
Durability, with Dragonskin included: Anywhere from .40-.90 PCHP depending on how you scale your Fire Emblem bosses. See below for details.
Damage below is *ignoring* doubles, figure out if Anna doubles or not according to your own favorite system. (Speed is listed anyway for evasion purposes.)
* Uberforged Spear: 16 Mt, 90 Hit, Range 1-2.
** vs. 50 DEF, 56 SPD:
26 (.33 PCHP) damage per hit. ~120% hit chance. 65% chance of Aether -> (26 damage + 13 HP healing) + 51 damage =
77 (.96 PCHP).
** vs. 55 DEF, 61 SPD:
21 (.26 PCHP) damage per hit. ~110% hit chance. 65% chance of Aether -> (21 damage + 10 HP healing) + 48 damage =
69 (.86 PCHP).
* Uberforged Brave Lance: 18 Mt, 90 Hit, Range 1. Attacks twice. Each attack can proc. Aether independently.
** vs. 50 DEF, 56 SPD:
28 (.35 PCHP) damage per hit. ~120% hit chance. 65% chance of Aether -> (28 damage + 14 HP healing) + 53 damage =
81 (.96 PCHP). Over 2 attacks,
1.49 PCHP on average.
** vs. 55 DEF, 61 SPD:
23 (.29 PCHP) damage per hit. ~110% hit chance. 65% chance of Aether -> (23 damage + 11 HP healing) + 50 damage =
73 (.91 PCHP). Over 2 attacks,
1.39 PCHP on average.
Anna starts with the forged Spear equipped. (And yes, Anna's forges are impossible for a player to duplicate.)
Starts on a throne [+3 DEF/RES, +20 avoid, +20% max HP regen per turn = 19 HP], but moves once someone enters within range 2 of her. (aka she still deserves Last Strike, but w/ Throne credit, since she won't go hunting you.)
Evasion: First turn, evades ~55% of attacks vs. solo characters (or pair-up attack activations), ~45% of attacks vs. paired-up leads with nearby characters, ~40% if Rally Spectrum is up. (This all assumes the Throne.) Knock 20% off that after the first turn (so ~15% evade vs. Paired-up characters w/ Rally Spectrum, which might become 0% evade vs. an axe.) Anna's high Luck means she's practically immune to critical hits. (Excalibur, a tome with +30 Crit, along with a support bonus of +10 Crit, had a 3% chance of triggering a crit on her. Further area support bonuses could have knocked that to 8% or 13%, I guess.)
Time limit: If Anna & her crew are not defeated within 7 turns,
she claims the power of the Supreme Fire Emblem for herself and corners the market on Vulneraries, FOREVER the fight is over. (You're kicked back to the world map and would have to repeat the entire 5 battle sequence that just ate hundreds of thousands of gold worth of weapon charges, and some extremely-annoying-to-replace regalia weapon charges. But it's not a Game Over. I'd still call it a defeat.)
Scaling / Support: Fights 20 PCs (counted singly). However, she has
very significant support in 13 powerful enemies scattered around the map, and the battle occurs only at the end of a 5-battle chain. Your best weapons are very likely ground down after 4 battles with 'em, especially the forged Brave weapons. Details:
The player starts in the middle; there are 2 Helswath Berserkers who start nearby Anna to the north, 6 Nosferatu Sorcerer tanks to both the east & west (that are super-annoying thanks to Hawkeye, Vengeance, Miracle, Vantage, & Dragonskin of course), and 5 Snipers to the south (don't laugh, they have Counter to mess with closing on them at range 1, Luna+ to make their shots 2HKO everyone, and one of them has the ol' 70 Spd / 70 Def / Brave Bow / Luna+ / Aegis+ / Pavise+ / Vantage+ combo of oh god no). None of these will charge the player, and they're about two turns of movement away in 3 different directions. Basically, you CAN send lures to bring 'em closer and use Rescue Staves to shuffle troops around, but with opposition this badass, it's not really trivial to munch through 'em all and then send everyone to face Anna at the end. (I basically had 2 turns left to kill Anna, 1 to bait her into equipping the Brave Lance with a sacrificial lamb, and the other to kill her at range. Don't try that on Classic.)Accuracy: While Anna's accuracy might look good (I'm not entirely sure how to express "overkill hit"), it's beatable in-game, so don't hype it too much. First off, Dual Guards are kind of like a miss, and you should fight Anna with happily married couples, so there's a flat ~30% chance in-game of her damage just getting nulled in-game. Additionally, Lancebreaker exists (as does +10-20 Avoid bonuses from Pair-Up / Proximity), and the combo of Lancebreaker + support can knock her down to around a 50% base hit chance even ignoring Dual Guards. Lancebreaker + support + wielding an Axe is even better.
Damage: Lots of options here, unfortunately, depending on how harsh you want to be. Assuming you YOLO into the Counter skill for more damage with a Brave Axe rather than hang back at range with a Tomahawk or the like. [bracket averages include healers]
Damage w/ unforged 9 power Brave weapon (e.g. Brave Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow, Waste, or 4-power Celica's Gale for healers) or Dragonstone+ to 55 DEF / 55 RES (pre-Dragonskin, no skill procs, no evasion, ignoring weapon triangle):
17 [15] (Anna dies to 12.4 PC actions)
Damage w/ forged 14 power Brave weapon (e.g. Brave Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow, Waste, or 9-power Celica's Gale for healers) or Dragonstone+ to 55 DEF / 55 RES (pre-Dragonskin, no skill procs, no evasion, ignoring weapon triangle):
28 [27] (Anna dies to 7.1 PC actions)
Damage w/ forged 14 power Brave weapon (e.g. Brave Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow, Waste, or 9-power Celica's Gale for healers) or Dragonstone+ to 55 DEF / 55 RES (pre-Dragonskin, no evasion, ignoring weapon triangle) if everyone sets Luna and has 55 SKL for 55% trigger chance:
56 [54] (Anna dies to 3.5 PC actions)
Damage w/ forged 14 power Brave weapon (e.g. Brave Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow, Waste, or 9-power Celica's Gale for healers) or Dragonstone+ to 55 DEF / 55 RES (pre-Dragonskin, no evasion, ignoring weapon triangle) if everyone sets Luna and has 55 SKL for 55% trigger chance, has a pair-up for +5 power:
65 [64] (Anna dies to 3.1 PC actions)
Damage w/ forged 14 power Brave weapon (e.g. Brave Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow, Waste, or 9-power Celica's Gale for healers) or Dragonstone+ to 55 DEF / 55 RES (pre-Dragonskin, no evasion, ignoring weapon triangle) if everyone sets Luna and has 55 SKL for 55% trigger chance, has a pair-up for +5 power, and their pair-up attacks 85% of the time:
89 [87] (Anna dies to 2.3 PC actions)
Decide for yourself Anna's durability (and remember that it's slightly higher on the first turn where she has +3 DEF/+3 RES). The one thing I would recommend that as you "move up" the averages, you
reduce the total number of PCs you hold against Anna. The benefit of Pair-up / Rally / etc. is better stats, but the price is fewer actions. Also note above comments on support credit distracting some PCs. Anyway, sample durability scalings:
* "Lenient" - Forged weapons, 4 PCs: (7.1/4) = 1.78 rounds of PC offense =
.71 PCHP (.36 without damage-halving) (on turn 1, effective ~
0.90 PCHP)
* "Harsh" - Forged weapons + skill procs + pair-up stats + attack, 3 PCs: (2.3 /3) = .77 rounds of PC offense =
.31 PCHP (.16 without damage-halving) (on turn 1, effective ~
.34 PCHP)
I personally would probably see Anna as around ~.50 PCHP (~.55 on first turn).
OverallThis was all a long way to say "I sure hope you OHKO" here. Oh and your OHKO better have good accuracy, since Anna's evade is excellent on turn 1. And not involve a Sword unless it's ITE (lol 35% listed chance to hit, which is even worse due to True Hit). And you better be able to tank a Vantage'd Aether'd Spear too which is nearly a OHKO. If you're not inclined to let Dragonskin stop ID-like statuses like Petrify, I guess she mildly fears status whores, though her Resistance is quite good (Dark Fliers were assumed to use their Brave Lances in the damage average, not Celica's Gale or Waste, for good reason). Anyway, Anna is problematic in-game for reasons that don't exactly translate to the DL, like "needing to slowly and inaccurately chip at her gives her lots of chances to Aether for healing + a delicious corpse" if you want to kill her in a single turn. Regardless, 70 Speed means she is doubling everyone short of WA4 bosses, and you are going to like it. Let her get a turn to put a Brave Lance in your skull, and you're looking at 2.8-3.0 PCHP damage or so. Buffers with anything short of perfect evasion or physical immunity are in trouble.
Low Godlike. Despite the HP woes, deceptively good; the combination of turn 1 evade and Vantage+ means that even duelers who'd OHKO her either die first or miss rather often. Fears MT damage and ITE damage, though.
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More ramblings:
Everyone having Luna is obviously unrealistic and impossible, some characters will have more than 1 proc and Rightful King, others will have none, but I picked that just because it makes calculations easy, and it's actually rather good in the postgame (after SUCKING HARD in the normal game).
To talk more about Pair-up attacks, the pair-up attacker has a 80-90% chance of joining in (~80% if A-Support, ~90% if S-Support, 50% if no support). Also note that the damage average probably overstates Sorc damage, as they're affected by accuracy woes worse than everyone else and probably should forge to 13 Power / 70 Acc instead. Even with maximum upgraded accuracy, an A support, and Anathema for -10 AVD for Anna, Henry has like a 42% hit rate; w/ Rally Spectrum it's 55%. Swordfaire users are also badly off; I have 3x Swordfaire users in the average, but in actual practice vs. Anna on a throne they all want to fall back to some other weapon. And needless to say, the unforged weapons vs. Anna will have -15 to -25 HIT, which is a bad place to be unless you decide to bait her off the throne first.
I have no idea how to take Anna's defense / resistance as far as "compared to other enemies" like Elf did for his bosses. You can look up the stats of her goons in the 5 Apotheosis secret battles at Serenes Forest here:
http://serenesforest.net/wiki/index.php/Awakening_Enemy_Data:_ApotheosisHowever, a DEF/RES average of these would still be misleading, because huge amounts of these enemies have Aegis+/Pavise+ which makes their durability much better than it might look like at first glance stat-wise (and some have BOTH, which is just another layer of damage-halving after Dragonskin. Well, except for Pair-up attacks.).
I didn't bother to mention it, but PC Anna's damage above was using a Forged Levin Sword rather than tinking with a Brave Sword. Damage was still pretty bad since no doubles. (She was really a 3rd healer who could jump in and help kill something in a pinch if need be.) No, there isn't special dialogue for the clash of Light and Shadow that is Anna vs. Anna, alas. For the curious, the PCs I did use (assume married unless stated otherwise) were Paladin Chrom + Sorcerer Robin; Sorc Henry + Falcon Knight Cordelia (not married, just A-support); Manakete Tiki + Assassin Say'ri (A support); Great Lord Lucina + Wyvern Lord Gerome; Paladin Owain + Manakete Nah; Dark Flier Cynthia + Swordmaster Morgan; Sorcerer Laurent + Assassin Severa; Aversa + DLC Ike (no support); DLC Catria as a free-agent who could theoretically Rally Spectrum (if I'd remembered to set it) or team up with Anna to kill stuff; Trickster Anna (mostly a healer), Valkyrie Lissa, Valkyrie Emmeryn (both strict healers / Rescue Staff users, stats irrelevant).
Snowfire new interps clearly hatin' on Anna, 0/10
FTFY