More FE10 rambling. Mostly agree with Random's thoughts. FWIW, not really giving much credit to joining with items / skills. Obviously free skills that help make the character better *when used* are worth hype since you get extra capacity that way, but Astrid gets 0 points for providing a Paragon, for example, nor does Giffca get credit for that Laguz Gem. Not really hyping Authority either since it's basically a property of the map, not the character; at no point can you choose leaders, so it's not like you have a choice between deploying the 5 Star yet worthless in combat FE7 Tactician vs. the 0 Star but unstoppable Black Knight.
Also, FWIW, I did not play hardc0re whatever levels come, come style. Sufficiently horrible level-ups early in the turn would cause me to reload the battle save, although I wasn't crazy enough to care about level-ups during the enemy turn. This has the effect of making the endgame easier and making BExp twinking more powerful, since more stats are likely to be capped which then allows a character to cover their weak stats with BExp. (Although I would totally be down for a "pregenerated" mode of playing Fire Emblem - the game rolls every single level-up in advance, and maybe has some simple chart about two bonus stats for equipping Blossom. With pregenerated level-ups, even a bad level-up is still helpful; you get some bonus, and you're getting closer to the next level-up. Pure random means that a bad level-up is strictly worse than nothing, which is disspiriting.)
This isn't news either, but Chapter 4 is largely not too bad on the difficulty level, and if you're having problems you can lean on the laguz royals you have without them being quite as much of an XP drain, and the laguz royals are often better than carefully built characters anyway, so being awesome at endgame isn't as good as it might normally be. Kinda weird that Chapters 3 & 4 have hordes of tier 2 units that don't really get better and die en mass while handing out XP like candy. I can see not wanting to subject players to random Impale and Deadeye activations, but really, by 4-3 and beyond, they could at least hand out hordes of lvl. 18-20 T2 reinforcements, and then hand out stat-boosting equipment in 4-Endgame to random T2 mooks. It's helpful for catch up, I guess, but eh. (Also, for having Chapter 4 be a more even playing field on level, Chapter 3 should take away like 3 missions from the Greil Mercenaries and then give 2 to the Dawn Brigade.)
FWIW, kill champs in my playthrough were Micaiah > Sothe > Titania (not even used in Endgame!) > Brom > Ike > Mia > Rolf. Endgame party was the 6 required slots, Reyson, Elincia, Brom, Calill, Aran, Mist, Rolf, Mia, Naesala, Tibarn, and Nailah. (I went in planning to use the Dawn Brigade to the bitter end, but I "foolishly" sent the DB along with Micaiah in Chapter 4. Yeah, the desert isn't the XP fest that the other maps are anyway, and footsoldiers like Edward / Nolan get even less XP than the rest.)
Micaiah: Sure, useful chap 1 mage, and useful chap 3 healbot since Laura can't be everywhere at once. Fears the remotely speedy, though. Chap 4, she's behind on level and doesn't get to go to an XP-fest stage, but whatevs, she can Physic-spam at worst in emergencies. She might be higher except I think I have to penalize her a point for hogging Speedwings. 6/10.
Rafiel: Move is kind of the god stat for herons. 5/10.
Black Knight: Favorite special battle music is something, I guess. I did play 1-E once with sending the BK up solo to kill everything and that was p. cool. Unfortunately is kind of an XP-thief ultimately; sure you can use him as a crutch for 1-E and 3-6 if the Dawn Brigade is dead / sucking, but then goooooooooooood luck on 3-13. Those range 2 counters means he kills everything, so yeah, Nailah is the better "distract archers and Meteor mages" on 1-E, for all that it'd make far more sense for the BK to participate there. 2/10, it's a trap.
Elincia(10): Amiti, it's kind of broken. If used even a little she can basically KO the world in a single attack, and after 2-E it's pretty easy to steer her clear of the bowguns with the high move. Worthless offensively against the last 3 bosses all of which spoil her with high DEF, but hey staff use then. She'd have liked a normal defense, 300 HP boss a lot more. 8/10.
Leanne: Canto helps a lot on preserving heron lifespans without losing sanity. 7/10.
Ike(10): Bad RES but it totally doesn't matter since he kills everything effortlessly. Way to make the easier back half of the game even easier. 9/10.
Mist(10): Healer with Canto at worst, can kill stuff if you put effort into it (although starts out hopelessly behind in STR and is saved only by the Florete, a little). Along with Elincia, probably the best character for healing who starts with it out of the box. Stat caps means that even Alondite Mist doesn't really threaten the endgame, alas. 7/10.
Reyson(10): Yeah I'll take the speed and occasionally surviving a doubled Blizzard over Leanne's cute trick. 8/10.
Sanaki: Eminently usable mage after a few level-ups. Definitely requires a bit of grindin' to take advantage of the high growths, but whatever. Lack of staves is too bad, but she's required anyway, so whatever. She didn't feel as super-vulnerable as, say, Micaiah did, although that's partially Chapter 4 being easier than Chapter 1. 5/10.
Lehran: battle heron / 10.
Fiona: Man FE10 hates Fiona. So she joins, and then has a map she has a move penalty on, a map she just plain can't deploy to, another map with a move penalty, a water map where she also has movement troubles, a single real cavalier map (although so crowded with NPCs it's barely noticable), and then a defense map with lots of ledges she can't use. Which might all be fine, except she's also a project character with questionable bases yet decent growths, except her worst maps are when she's fighting the bad bases, and these maps are among the hardest in the game anyway which you are making harder so that uh you get a shiny Fiona in Chapter 4. So much easier to just bench her instead. If she'd had the sense to, say, join the Crimean Knights instead, she could easily have made it to a 4 or something! 1.5/10
Geoffrey(10): Great in Chapter 2, questionable in Chapter 4. At least he's got a free Paragon + rejoins on an XP-fest map if you do want to use him for Endgame. 6/10.
Kieran(10): Was okay in Chap 2, didn't use after. I do believe I already have a red-haired axe cavalier, except she's got like 10 levels on you. 4/10.
Makalov(10): See Kieran, except worse in Chapter 2 and even farther behind on levels in Chapter 3. 3/10?
Titania(10): Pretty great. Is annoyed by that 32 Spd cap in endgame and that's about it. 7/10.
Oscar(10): Had pretty much identical stats to Titania. The general dearth of enemy peg knights / hawks / crows meant that archery as a side interest was kind of worthless, though. 7/10.
Renning: Slightly worse stats than Titania, notably worse speed but maybe he's got a great growth? Seemed like he wouldn't shame your team if brought along to endgame, useful safety valve I guess. Didn't use anyway.
Aran: Was pretty good for me, at least, since he got enough speed and BExp covered the rest. Mr. Plotless Sympathetic Guard even made it to my endgame team. 7/10.
Meg: She's apparently okay if she gets the right growths on level-up, but eh, I looked at her lvl. 9 stats and realized she was still sucking and just benched her. Was amazingly killable for an Armor Knight. 2/10.
Tauroneo(10): Helps out the DB, and there are worse picks in Chapter 4 what with Resolve. He didn't suck there. 5/10.
Nephenee(10): Was useful-if-killable in Chapter 2. I used her in FE9 so gave her a rest this game for Brom, but she's apparently Aran with mildly better speed and resistance and mildly worse other stats. 7/10?
Brom(10): I actually liked the all-defense-all-the-time build. He could stick his neck out on maps like 3-5 and not even be scratched by cavs, and his speed is decent enough to not get doubled all the time. Cool stuff, although not really an offensive powerhouse except when Luna fires. 6/10.
Danved: Nepheene/Aran if they were missing 5-10 points of Defense. That is not a stat to skimp on. Still, like Makalov, is a warm body for C2 which is appreciated. 3/10.
Gatrie(10): Base stats of totally broken. Why is an Armor Knight doubling everything?! Even underleveled lvl. 16 Tier2 Gatrie was able to hold off the reinforcement hordes in 4-4 easily enough. What. 7/10
Nolan: More killable than I'd hope for, but yeah, solid all around, and more likely to have decent speed at endgame. Tarvos can save his neck in Chapter 3. Is around and quite key for the toughest parts of the game. 8/10.
Muarim(10): XP thief. 1/10.
Mordecai(10): Well, if you want to use a beast laguz in Chapter 3, congratulations you are using Ranulf because he's required. If you want to use another... I want to say Mordy is potentially the best choice? You will have to invest a Speedwing, and Micaiah already wants to eat 1-2 of them, but +4 Speed on a Tiger pretty well covers the sole crippling weakness they have. And he'll have time in Chapter 2 to build strike levels, and you'll take as much support as you can get for 2-E. Kind of silly but sure, potentially usable. 3.5/10?.
Boyd(10): Boyd was just fine for me, although part of this was C3 being massively tilted in favor of the Greil Mercs with authority boosts, forged weapons, solid support, etc. Probably worse than Nolan endgame due to the worse speed, but whatevs. Still solidly 2HKOs the world and doubles the C3 lamers easily enough. 6/10.
Kyza: Hi random plotless tiger. 2/10?
Skrimir: I'd potentially have been down for Skrimir hype if he joined earlier. Resolve + giant HP + Str of doom is p. cool. That said you get him for all of two maps before he gets massively overshadowed by his uncle AND Giffca who will have 8-9 levels on him. So uh still usable, just strictly better options for the role available. Is probably fine if you pretend you're under FE9 rules about laguz royals but uh you're not. 4/10.
Caineghis: God stats. You only get so high a score for stomping just 5 maps, though. 8/10.
Giffca(10): We liked Cain so much we decided to give you two copies of him? 8/10.
Edward: Man. Edward does require serious babying, no doubt about it. Even as late as 3-13 a slightly mispositioned Edward meant a very rapid trip to the afterlife. And he's just not all that fast early in Chapter 1, defanging him of the main thing swordmasters live off of. That all said... you need warm bodies in Chapter 1, and while it's chokepointy, it's often 2-space wide chokes. Trying to solo everything with Nolan seems dangerous and slow so you're not getting that BExp. So... I can see the argument to just ignore Edward than lean on Zihark, but eh, I trained him up, and having both him & Zihark was handy at times. Also I totally used Caladbolg Edward to take down a dude with a Killer Axe in 4-P. SPOILED. 4/10.
Zihark(10): Was shockingly okay despite being almost totally ignored (reasonably so, since he doesn't get much for Chap 1 kills). Lvl. 5 Zihark ended up a better deploy than lvl. ~10 Danved as a 15th slot in 4-1; they both get 2HKOed at that point, but Zihark will randomly dodge and can hit his opponents. No idea how good he is if seriously used, though. ?/10.
Vika: XP thief in part 1 and then is a project crow in case you hate Naesala and Nealuchi or something? On a map with decent number of enemy archers? 1.5/10.
Nealuchi: Okay in chapter 2, don't see the point in chapter 4. 3.5/10.
Lucia(10): Jagen in Chapter 2. Is actually not too bad to catchup in Chapter 4 despite bad Strength, just that by the time you've caught her up it's time for Endgame, and Mia still should have a huge level edge on her. So... usable, but why. 4/10.
Mia(10): Mia really likes being on maps with an authority advantage most of the time, since you can safely send her into the middle of a horde of enemies and she'll kill them all. She'd probably be great anyway, but cheats in Chapter 4 by having had access to the cornocoupia of XP that was the Greil Mercernaries Chapter 3. 8/10.
Naesala(10): Laguz royals, they cheat. 8/10.
Stefan(10): Didn't use (aside from FAQing -> stealing your cool sword).
Leonardo: About the worst archer possible who somehow ends up useful anyway. (Obviously helped by the lack of competition for DB deploy slots, so it's him or giving the XP to someone else.) Chapter 1 is chokepointy enough for him to get in free shots for XP, and chapter 3 Lugandsadh makes him downright okay. He helps hold the line against the hordes from crawling up the ramp in 3-13 while shooting downward at 'em and all. Worthless in Chapter 4 of course. 3/10.
Volug: Not really on the Volug hype train, although he's certainly useful. Pretty much a second copy of Sothe in Chapter 1, and pretty useful in Chapter 3. Is still sorta usable in Chapter 4 although not a star, of course. 6/10.
Nailah: <SnowFire> <RandomConsonant> Laguz royal with extra part 1 helperness? I'm in. 8.5/10.
Lethe(10): If for some strange reason you want a cat, use Ranulf. 2/10.
Astrid(10): Report in! Astrid? Astrid? Astriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid! (saved from a 1 because a Canto'd Archer is still hypothetically useful I guess, but even then, just use Oscar.) 2/10.
Shinon(10): Less Strength than Rolf but better other stuff? Marksmen are kind of hax. 8/10.
Rolf(10): Likes the fact that GM Chapter 3 is XP heaven, so his level disadvantage on Shinon doesn't matter much. Why is Rolf stronger than Ike. And oh yes 3 range pain bows in case you want to cheese every boss ever, Deadeye kicks in a lot, etc. 8/10.
Lyre: If for some strange reason you want TWO cats, use Ranulf and Lethe. 1/10.
Ranulf(10): His stats are okay, just. dat cat gauge. You can never safely send him near a thicket of enemies once his gauge hits 15 or so for fear of poke-poke-(forced revert)-double-dead cat. I'd rather not have to worry about this. Might have been acceptable if untransformed cats got +30 gague a round, but they don't. 3/10.
Jill(10): My Jill had some bad luck on level-ups and ended up something of a glass cannon - decent offense, but questionable HP / Defense. Luckily flying and canto meant she was just fine as a skirmisher, if not the death machine FE9 Jill was, and the DB will take what it can get. 6/10.
Marcia(10): Quite handy in Chapter 2. Of questionable use in Chapter 3 since Sigrun / Tanith get forced, and Tanith probably has a 6-8 level edge on her, but seems eminently usable if you don't mind a bit of catchup. 6/10.
Haar(10): Well, FE10 let at least two characters retire and enjoy civilian life. Cute cameo there flying by in 2-P, I wish him well at his delivery service and maybe he can team up with Largo or something. Haar/10.
Janaff(10): Nice stats, doesn't really require any grindin' to be useful in Chapter 4, then will get benched by Naesala / Tibarn (if you're playing "seriously"). 7/10.
Ulki(10): See Janaff. 7/10.
Sigrun: Shockingly okay for someone with base strength & strength growth that bad. She can skirmish with Javelins all day and not steal XP, or double and look for Stun odds, and then be fully healed by next turn since the great Magic makes her an awesome Imbue target. 4/10.
Tanith(10): Decent enough, and will have a level edge on Jill / Marcia. 6/10.
Tibarn(10): Is a git but a sadly powerful one. It took 5 attacks for Feral Ones to drag down untransformed suicidal charging Tibarn in 4-5, which is crazy. 8/10.
Ilyana(10): Wind: 4 damage, 95 Hit. Fire: 5 damage, 90 hit. Thunder: 3 damage, 80 Hit, 5 Crit. One of these is not like the others. And Ilyana makes the problem even worse with bad skill. 2/10.
Tormod(10): XP thief, better to feed any kills he might get in the swamp prisoners level to Volug or Sothe instead if you need Jagening. Designers of FE10, there's this other game I've heard about called "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones." In it, the twin whose path wasn't chosen comes back in the desert level having actually gained some levels during their adventures. Ephraim / Eirika do not come back at exactly the same level as the beginning of the game as bait to be doubled and die to anything that moves, like a certain Fire Sage does. Sheesh. 1/10.
Calill(10): Useful in Chapter 2. I initially ignored her after the rejoin in Chapter 3... to level her from T2 9 up to T3 16 thanks to Paragon + going with Elincia in Chapter 4. She actually made it to endgame. Anyway, I don't really like Rhys / Laura for the endgame, and Mist / Micaiah can use another Staff user, and she has offense, so yeah. 7/10.
Soren(10): That tier 2 speed cap. What. Is pretty good anyway throughout Chapter 3, but his Tier 3 is gimped even with lucky level-ups due to those terrible Wind Sage stat caps. At least he can use staves. 5/10.
Pelleas: You could have at least challenged Micaiah to a duel to the death, and then she'd have gotten some XP.
Bastian(10): Sure, semi-useful crutch in 4-5 if you needed one, but bad base speed + high level means that fixing that will require grindin' + luck if you want to use him in Endgame. 3/10.
Ena(10): <RandomConsonant> Blood Tide is p. cool for endgame. No offense whatsoever though. 5/10.
Kurthnaga: Uhhh I have no idea. With Paragon, grinding him up isn't too bad! ...except that after he's all set to go kick ass, there's only 4E-4 and 4E-5 left, which aren't really Fire Emblem maps. Gets some credit for being an emergency escape-hatch autovictory on 4E-3 if you need it, I guess. 5/10?
Gareth: Wouldn't you want White Pool for Unlimited Meteor Works with Sanaki anyway? Anyway uh joins too late, no game left.
Nasir(10): Joins too late, no game left.
Laura: You need healing, just never ever let bad guys in range lest she be instantly sliced into many little pieces. 5/10.
Sothe(10): Sure, super useful in the tough Dawn Brigade missions. Eventually his ninja skills waver, but oh well. He can go hunt Spirits in the Endgame at least!!1! Is annoyed by the SS Dagger being total FAQ-bait, too. 8/10.
Heather: Eh, there seemed to be plenty of stuff to steal, and money is a problem in FE10, so I'll take it. Easily higher level than Sothe thanks to not just having the freaking Desert Map to level her Tier 3 on, but Sothe is required anyway for Endgame, so she's kind of screwed there. 6/10.
Rhys(10): See Laura. Also, I believe a period works better than a comma: Rhys. Rhys never changes. 5/10.
Oliver: Sure, Endgame staff spammer if you somehow got too many of them killed, I guess. 2/10.
Volke(10): Pretty strong for 4-5, but Sothe is required for endgame, Baselard is still FAQ-bait, and if you did get it there's only one to go around. Plus endgame has lots of high-DEF types, like hordes of generals, Red Dragons, and the E345 bosses. 4/10.
