Fire Emblem 10 in the DL

[Dark Holy Elf]

Yeah, weird that we don't have one of these yet.


Anyway, the usual. With FE10 being reasonably highish on the list of games that could be ranked within the next year or so (yay recent player surge?), who do you think should get in, and why? Oh yeah, and this topic can be expected to contain massive spoilers. I don't really feel like spoilerguarding the names of the people you fight. I'll warn personally before mentioning the bigger spoilers, but yeah, they're coming.


Here's my initial feelings on possible ranking ideas. Depending on what we want this could be a fairly small rank (5-7) or a bit larger (10-16). I may well change a number of these initial views fairly drastically upon argument and reflection.

PCs

Utter no-brainers assuming we rank FE10

Micaiah: No, really, I don't need to explain this. She's the main character, or at least one of them.
Sothe: Around almost the entire game, has a lot of plot, forced pretty much throughout the Micaiah route and in endgame.
Elincia: We almost ranked her in FE9, FE10 makes her a lord for a few chapters and gives her a lot more plot. Great PC too, only real concern is notable votesplit against her FE9 form which sucks. Sothe has a similar problem but it's not enough to hold 'em back.

Other ideas I intend to support

Nailah: Very strong, reasonable amount of plot, memorable as she is forced in a few maps and a great choice in a few more.
Caineghis: Rounding out the laguz royals with Tibarn/Naesala/Nailah. Often regarded the best PC in the game while he's around, though you're never forced to use him.
Sanaki: Has a fair bit of plot and is forced for most of the lategame. Not a very good PC but very memorable. Also Tal will burn you as a traitor if we don't rank her.
Marcia: Oddball pick but she's gotten a fair bit of support; we have no Falconknights ranked from the Tellius games otherwise, and she's a well-liked character with reasonable stage presence in FE10 (four forced maps) and is considered one of the best PCs in 9 (and not bad in 10). Bit of a weird case since she's very much relying on both games combined to make her rankable, but eh, she's popular and it's happened before (Barbarossa).

Borderline ideas

Geoffrey and Lucia: They're both lords briefly (two and one chapters respectively) but they leave midgame and return rather underlevelled so aren't often used endgame. Both have at least a respectable amount of plot.
Tauroneo: Well, Resolve makes him interesting, and he has a few forced maps, and is a reasonable plot player in Micaiah's path.
Ranulf: Forced for much of the midgame, and a reasonable amount of plot considering 9 and 10 put together, but laguz in the DL have issues which people might well not want to deal with.
Skrimir: Similar to Ranulf except available later and only forced for one map. More plot in 10 but lacks 9 to prop him up.

Reaaally borderline ideas

Volug: Similar to Ranulf, but only in FE10. Less plot (quite frankly probably not rankable on plot alone) but more gameplay value/memorability in that he's sometimes argued as the best PC in the game. Has Halfshift which makes him less of an interp headache, but still may vary wildly with views.
Haar: ALSO sometimes argued as the best PC in the game. Has almost no plot whatsoever, though, and doesn't really translate to the DL at all.
Leonardo, Edward, Nolan: The core of the Dawn Brigade, and you're going to use them for a few maps anyway. All are very light on plot and all but Nolan aren't terribly well-regarded PCs overall. You could extend this list to Laura/Meg/Aran but then you're really, really reaching.
Other Greil Mercenaries (Rolf, Shinon, Gatrie, etc.): Frankly, if they didn't have enough plot to be ranked in FE9, they still don't in FE10, as the GMs have a smaller role in this game relatively due to the spotlight sharing.
Kieran: Sorta like Marcia, could be argued as an overlooked FE9 character (well-liked etc.) and gets a bit more plot in this game, but it's a weaker case on most fronts.


Bosses

SPOILER WARNING once again. The further you go, the bigger they get, obviously.

Jarod: Main villain of part 1, quite a bit of stage presence. Pretty memorable opponent except that he gets curbstomped by 2 super PCs.
Ludveck: Main villain of part 2. Lighter in stage presence and memorability than Jarod, so almost certainly a pass.
Valtome, Numida, Hetzel: Memorable scumbag senators (sympathetic in one case) but too minor too rank, also joke fights (literally so in Hetzel's case, he can only beat Jogurt).
Izuka: Memorable scumbag, and has a fairly neat duelling quirk, but that may spawn interpretation issues (he summons dead laguz to fight for him), and he's not ultimately a major player in the plot, though not precisely minor either.
Lekain: Arguably the main villain, blah blah blah no major interp issues. He himself is really only memorable for silence gameplaywise, but eh. Kinda someone I feel should be ranked regardless of fight memorability.

Spoilers get bigger from here!

Zelgius: You could vote on his temp forms, but then I'd have to kick you. Anyway, his boss form will vary based on interps, but either way it'll probably end up in the general ballpark of his PC form scaled to endgame, which is a good Heavy. Too much plot over two games to ignore, I'd only oppose his ranking if people decided to start hyping the temp form scaled to the time, but given that I don't see Freya or PC Ghaleon winning godlike championships I'm not too worried.
Levail: Resolve makes him fun! He has a fair bit of screentime (but no plot importance)! Yeah no.
Dheginsea: Memorable enough fight, even if his plot presence could be larger. Sort of a more rankable FE7 dragon. Says so much.
Sephiran: The other guy who is arguably the main villain, he doesn't have too much screentime but everyone is going to remember him. Gameplaywise he is sorta the Nergal though more competent, low HP but high defences/damage.
Ashera: Well assuming you allow the auras she's an honest-to-goodness FE godlike! Don't see those every day. Not much face time though, and those potential interp issues exist.


Think my order for supporting boss ranks is Zelgius > Sephiran > Lekain > Ashera > Jarod > Dheginsea > Izuka and everyone else I don't think has any chance. Not sure where I'd draw the line there, I'll probably fight at least a little for the first three.

[Dhyerwolf]

Marcia: Oddball pick but she's gotten a fair bit of support; we have no Falconknights ranked from the Tellius games otherwise, and she's a well-liked character with reasonable stage presence in FE10 (four forced maps) and is considered one of the best PCs in 9 (and not bad in 10). Bit of a weird case since she's very much relying on both games combined to make her rankable, but eh, she's popular and it's happened before (Barbarossa).

Are you sure about the 4 forced fights? SerenesForest only notes 2 for her.

Anyways, I can't comment too much given that I only played about 1/10 of FE 10 likely, but unless Kieran has something really solid, I'd remove him from the list. He's a great unit in FE 9, but lacking on plot and not a DL standout in that he's in the most common class.

I'd also be quite interested in seeing that equal EXP numbers!

Isn't Kurthnaga also a Laguz noble (...And has Formshift and that delicious Lightning weakness...)?

[Cmdr_King]

Kurth joins in Endgame (you have to take him and Ena, in fact, though not deploy them).  However, he actually starts underlevelled (L24 or something) and does not initially have Formshift; he gains that after E3, ie gets it for two maps only.  He can attack every enemy in E3 for free, so if you feel like sacrificing everyone else's exp he can catch up there, but on the whole it's reasonable to suppose that most people won't use him as a combat unit.  His support skill, Black Tide, is a dual defense boost for any other character in his vicinity, which is cool but may not justify deploying him for the efficiently minded.  Unlike Ena, whose Blood Tide (+5 Atk/(Def?) for units in vicinity) is awesome (she's a bit higher levelled, but not as good statistically, as Kurth, so she's also unlikely to be used as a combat unit, although the same "attacks for free in E3" disclaimer applies).

[Excal]

Kurth is oddly the least standout of the Laguz nobles.  Though yeah, probably at least deserves a mention.

As for Marcia, 2-P, 2-4, 2-E, 3-something are all forced maps.  And she's likely to also see play in at least one other Part 3 map, and one Part 4 map since those are ones that really reward flight.

[Dhyerwolf]

I was at least aware that Kurthnaga's deployability was limited. I was going a bit from the scope of "Who looks interesting/quirky in a duel and at least some has plot basis to back it up" which general goes to "Which laguz are the better ones and have some plot backing."

Which is why you could half trick me into a Nasir ranking (Note again, haven't played much of a the game, so this is partly a joke. Partly)...

[Ultradude]

I kinda like the idea of Kurth, but I did that 'sacrifice everyone else's exp' thing because I wanted to see how good he could get if you caught him up. Definitely agree with Elf's boss ranking list.

I like Geoffrey/Lucia and Ranulf... almost as much as Marcia? More plot, less uniqueness. The other pegs aren't around as much even if Sigrun does kinda sorta have some plot. They weren't terrible ideas in FE9, so I think the extra plot and forcedness might be enough.

Also tempted to back Ed/Leo/Nolan for the analog to 'rank the Grei Mercs' in FE9, except the GM we ranked were some of your best units in 9, as opposed to the DB often being difficult to use past their own chapters.

One more thing: Rank Oliver yes this is pretty much a joke though I'd probably back it if someone put him in.

[OblivionKnight]

Rank:

Micaiah, Edward, Leonardo, Nolan, Sothe, Laura, Aran, Fiona, Haar, Tauroneo, Zihark, Jarod, Pelleas, Izuka, Elincia, Lucia, Geoffrey, Kieran, Makalov, Astrid, Marcia, Bastian, Ludveck, Ilyana, Brom, Meg, Largo, Calill, Devdan, Danved, Heather, Rolf, Shinon, Gatrie, Rhys, Sanaki, Sephiran, Numida, Lekain, Valtome, Hetzel, Oliver, Zelgius, Sigrun, Tanith, Tormod, Muarim, Vika, Stefan, Nailah, Volug, Renning, Caineghis, Skrimir, Giffca, Ranulf, Lethe, Mordecai, Kyza, Lyre, Ulki, Janaff, Nealuchi, Rafiel, Leanne, Reyson, Dheginsea, Kurthnaga, Nasir, Gareth, Ashera.  Also would probably suggest some FE9 carry-overs as well (Petrine, Ashnard) who don't truly appear in FE10.

Everyone appears in some vein, and plot-wise...eh.  Everyone except the FE10-specifics (mostly DB) appear in both games, and again, fan-favourites in some cases (hell, Edward has fans too!).  The humans have occults, which makes them a bit less boring, and the Laguz are cool in general.  Personally think everyone has enough plot, comparably, to be ranked (FE plot I find a bit subjective anyway, since it tends to be more of the over-arching story than individual character plot anyway).

But yeah...I'll make a less inclusive list later for those who want something more specific, since my opinion on what to rank is typically invalidated anyway >_>

[superaielman]

No brainers are fine. We rank Sothe/Elincia as FE10 and that will avoid any silly votesplit nonsene. Naliah/Cain/Sanaki are fine as well. No opinion on Marcia, I don't think she brings anything special to the table in the DL but I can see why people want to rank her. I'm fine with the first three bosses unless people get profoundly stupid with Zel, against the rest.  We ranking Zel as the Black Knight or no?

Borderline ideas- No to the Laguz. Skimrir not only blows ass as a PC, he is barely around until endgame in battle. Ranulf gets boned hardcore, sadly. He's a cool character and has the plot presence at least to back up being a decent PC in game.  I'm fine with Geoff/Lucia/Tar, but I like all three characters.

Volug- Probably against, even with halfshift his translation looks like shit. That is a major strike against a character who's being considered rankable for how good he is (and rightly so) in game. For that matter, I'm pretty strongly against how Meeple did the topic with halfshift but that is a story for another day.

Zihark- Like Volug he is a crutch for the DB. He doesn't have much plot but he's good. He does lack Volug's general ultilty use though.

Oliver- I'd support him. He is argubly FE9's most memorable villian behind Naesala and god damn if he isn't hilariously bad in the DL in either game.

Ed/Leo/Nolan/Laura/Meg/Aran- *Whimper* No more fail brigade *Whimper*. Joking aside, they're just really generic PC's that lack even the plot you get from conventional FE supports. The uber weapons for the trio are neat enough, but not enough to justify ranking. Could be pushed into an abstain on the first four if people really want to fight for them.

Ilyana- Better character than Soren!?

Generic Greil PC's- No. You get the added bonus of votesplit with several characters as well.

Kieran- No. He really isn't remarkable in FE10.

Kurth- No as well. He isn't really a combat PC.

Nasir- Will get back to you on this one as soon as I finish the game.  If he works like other generic Laguz, no. Sadly. EDIT: Looks like no.

Support list: Miciah, Sothe, Elincia, Naliah, Cain, Sanaki, Lucia, Geoffery, Tauroneo, Oliver, Seph, Zel, Lekain
Maybe: Marcia,ILYANA?!?!?! (no), Volug, Zihark, Edward, Leo, Nolan, Laura, Meg, Aran
No: The rest

[Dark Holy Elf]

Re: Marcia, yeah, Excal got 'em. Technically you can not deploy her in 2-3 and 3-9 but then you're opting for an empty slot over her which seems unlikely, especially given how small your team is for those maps.

I'd be fine with Oliver since he's certainly popular and memorable (hell, I supported him when we ranked FE9), but how would people vote on him? Highly missable PC form? Optional FE10 boss form? FE9 boss form? I guess it doesn't really matter, they're all Light (lolspeed/def in all cases), so sure.

Fairly opposed to Kurth as he's very much a support PC and he's pretty darn underlevelled so most people won't even see his combat potential. IIRC he was used as a Heavy in tournament of champions which I'll readilly admit I kneejerk him much below and I suspect most people would be the same, even if on paper he deserves the rank. Has the plot but yeah.

I'd support ranking Zelgius by that name since it's his real name, and also makes it very clear we're referring to the FE10 form (game switches to calling him that before his final fight). I support an [FE10] tag for him/Sothe/Elincia, though the latter two are highly arguable.


Equal exp for FE10 is a horrific headache (70 PCs + the different paths = argh) though I could be kicked into doing it. I have end-of-part-1 numbers!

[superaielman]

I'd say FE10 PC form for Oliver is both legit and probably the best in the DL, which says something. I'd like to see an FE10 stat topic without the halfshift nonsense, so go for it.

Oliver and Nasir were both rankable on plot in FE9, just not battle forms. Nasir/Moredcahi/Lethe/Ranulf/Volug I'd all support ranking if it weren't for Laguz issues. Are there any others I'm blanking on?

[Meeplelard]

No Brainers: Yeah, this category was well labeled!

Good Ideas: Agree to all of these, but to add to the list, Caineghis, and possibly Nailah, may both pass as "FE Godlikes" which as you noted is rare.  Caineghis is also immune to Crits! ...cause he totally has durability issues <_<

Borderlines (this is both categories): I'd probably support all the Beorc except Kieran and Haar, who feels kind of off on the list; yeah, he's a memorable character, but honestly don't feel the need here.  Haar, the fact that he doesn't translate at all and has minimal plot is a bad idea; Jill already being ranked, who does translate rather accurately doesn't help his case.  Leo, Edward and Nolan all have slightly more interest value cause of their unique weapons to boot, so they have some stat manipulation.  Branching from that, I'd definitely support Volug, cause you're forced to use him for half of Part 1, and due to the nature of Part 3, you'll most assuredly use him here.  The existence of Halfshift means that at very least, the worst interps won't completely screw him over.
Skrimir and Ranulf...I'm tempted to allow Laguz in the DL to use Olivi Grass cause its more representative of them in game, and is a nice comprimise to avoid total suckage...though probably not enough.  Feels weird not to rank either of them, but then, we didn't rank Elincia so...eh...

Bosses:
I'd rank all bosses in a chapter that has the word "Endgame" in it, barring Hetzel.  FE9 has no bosses ranked (unless Ena counts), this would kind of make up for it (...kind of...), and some of the more iffy bosses are some of the more memorable fights in the game (Dheginsea.)  Toss Numida and Izuka back on the list as well if you want.
Hetzel shouldn't be ranked cause he's one of those "Cannot win unless he fights Jogurt" scenarios.  Hilarious as these duelers are, I'd prefer we didn't rank them.  Valtome's plot meanwhile isn't quite enough.  Izuka has a lot of presence in Part 1, for example, and has some background workings too IIRC.  Valtome is more just another dick to pop up to give Elincia another "Rival" of sorts, and is short lived, for all that he is memorable.

So if its not obvious, I'd rank Jarod, Ludvek, Lekain, Zelgius, Dheginsea, Sephiran and...
wait, Ashera, she has interp issues.  I honestly think it'd be weird to NOT rank a final boss whose got genuine plot, but...then Ashnard exists too.  Flipside, Ashera's interp isn't invincible vs. Not-Invincible (heck, someone with mass MT Damage can totally ream her) like Ashnard's is, so its not quite as bad...eh, I guess I'll pull one of those "Wouldn't object" scenarios.
I'd also not object to Numida or Izuka.

[OblivionKnight]

Ok!

So, just so someone might take this post seriously, here's some more "logical" rankings!

Playable Characters Who, If Not Ranked, Will Be Anally Violated By OK at DLCon (with last names!)
I'd like to think these people should obviously be ranked based on their FE10 appearance!  Hopefully the Rule of OK doesn't apply here >_>

Micaiah Miller - First primary character in the game.  Loads of plot importance, required for use, etc.  Pretty obvious.

Sothe McVargus - Sleeps with Micaiah!  Or not >_>  Anyway...required for use in the end, pretty damn good in the Dawn Brigade, present overall.  

Elincia von Mistoff - Major importance in both games, pretty playable and present for both Part 2 and Part 4.  Not required, but most people probably use her, and she's got too much plot viability to not rank.

Sanaki Smith - BURN TRATIOR~  Otherwise...plot important, present in both games, unique weapon, class, item, etc.  Stands out since she's required, too.

Kurthnaga Adair- Plot in both games.  He's also required, and a good unit.  You're going to use him a little, even if it is just for the support skills.  Formshift also avoids most Laguz issues too!  Really feels like a good character that fits all that you'd be looking for in the laguz translation (he's like a Royal!  And level 24 isn't crazy far behind - he catches up fast, and there are loads of opponents on the final maps).

Reyson - Plot in both games, may be required near the end of FE10 (is the best of the Herons anyway), is awesome with his support abilities as well.  Strikes me as big enough to rank, really.

Playable Characters Who, If Not Ranked, Might Be Anally Violated By OK, If You're Cute (with last names!)
Characters that, while not people who should be obvious ranks, are strong nonetheless and really should have a strong chance of being ranked

Lucia Ishfal - Plays as a Lord for a chapter.  She's...pretty decent?  Anyway, she has plot in both games as part of Elincia's retainer crew, is a required join (though not use), and is memorable at the least for being usable.  More plot than the other swordmasters, and is memorable for also having voice lines!  I think!  Plus, hey, more FE10 swordmasters are cool.

Geoffrey Grashford - See above.  Also has Brave Lance hype, so turns out pretty good in the end too.  Is also a better green-haired cavalier than FUCKING OPEN YOUR GODDAMNED EYES YOU WORTHLESS PILE OF SHIT OSCAR!!!!

Bastian McManus - See above.  Same thing, except he doesn't serve as a Lord, but is instead a SECRET AGENT ("That Sage is a Spy!")

Nailah Jackson - Laguz Royal.  Least plot of all of them, really, I think, but she's the first you have access to, and she's pretty awesome.

Caineghis Moriselli- See above.  More plot than Nailah too.  

Playable Characters Who, If Not Ranked, Might Be Anally Violated By OK, If He's Drunk And It's Dark (with last names!)
Characters that, while not people who should be obvious ranks, probably are interesting enough to get in, give or take.  This also includes old FE9 characters

Pelleas Ponmerci - I...lots of plot, and, while a 2nd game character...he's easy to get, and he's awesome.  It's FE/PKMN - a lot of the basis of characters is theoretical and based on stat tierings, etc.  

Volug Afroman - Half-shift makes him better than all the other non-Royals!  Helps the DB, and people like his usability (for all that I didn't get much out of it in-game).

The Dawn Brigade (Edward, Leonardo, Nolan, Fiona, Laura, Aran, Meg) - The first three are a bit more unique due to their weapons, but they all fall in the same vein as a FE9 Character who only appeared in FE9.  i.e., used in-game (and horribly memorable for failing like sin...except Laura), but moreso as bodies than anything.  Laura should be ranked most definitely, as she is the uber tank in the Dawn Brigade.

Remaining FE9 People (Kieran, Tauroneo, Zihark, Makalov, Astrid, Marcia, Brom, Largo, Calill, Devdan, Danved, Rolf, Shinon, Gatrie, Rhys, Tormod, Muarim, Stefan, Renning, Mordecai, Haar, Ilyana, Giffca, Ranulf, Lethe, Ulki, Janaff, Nealuchi, Leanne, Nasir) - Uh...don't feel like going through all of them.  Stefan has claim to Vague Katti, Renning has a boss form, Giffca is a kind of Royal who starts with a Laguz Gem...yeah, not much else to say.  Granted, I'd say rank Kieran, boot Oscar >_>

Playable Characters Who I Don't Care Enough to Fight Over (with last names!)
Characters that...are borderlineish

Remaining New Laguz (Vika, Kyza, Lyre, Gareth, Rafiel, Skrimir) - Eh...whatever.  They suck DL-wise - all puny, pretty much.  Plot important in...Skrimir's case, but...


Bosses!

Jarod, Lekain, Hetzel, Valtome, Ludveck, Numida, Izuka, Zelgius, Sephiran, Ashera, Levail, and Oliver (PC, I know, blah blah blah) are the strongest, I think.  Have to be killed, are awesome (LIKE HETZEL), and plot important.  Oliver is just coooooooool.  The others...are fine to rank, but not as important, really.  I could see saying no to Ludveck (not required to kill), and on Numida since he's...kind of generic, but eh.  Would also support some FE9 people like Ashnard and Petrine as well.

[OblivionKnight]

I'm also against, pretty heavily against, at that, ranking characters present in FE9 and FE10 as FE10 only.  That means you're saying someone who played FE9 but not FE10 can't vote on the match.  Rank them as FE9+10 or something. 

[OblivionKnight]

Also, Super - I agree with your Half-shift issue, and you can find the info helpfully posted by Tal here:

http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php/topic,52.msg48023.html#msg48023

[superaielman]

Bastian I thought about but... eh. He barely is in FE9 and 10 in spite of the plot, and joins really damn late in both cases.

*Looks at Black Knight* Is that assuming scaling him directly to endgame? Can he be recruited on later playthroughs? BK/Lehran/Pellas not in the PC average? Also, Tal: Do you have AS listed in that post? I'm not seeing it.

[OblivionKnight]

Blackie isn't available end-game, beyond the Desert chapter.  Since his level is maxed, he's taken (to the best of my knowledge) at that level against the others

[Cmdr_King]

I'm also against, pretty heavily against, at that, ranking characters present in FE9 and FE10 as FE10 only.  That means you're saying someone who played FE9 but not FE10 can't vote on the match.

That's the point.  Puny vs Middle (Sothe)/Low Heavy (Elincia) is an unacceptable vote split.  So, we want FE9 only players to not vote on them, in much the same way we no longer wanted VP1 players to vote on Hrist after VP2.  Though fortunately, people who played FE9 but not FE10 are probably the minority of people who can vote on Tellius games at this point.

[Dhyerwolf]

Equal exp for FE10 is a horrific headache (70 PCs + the different paths = argh) though I could be kicked into doing it. I have end-of-part-1 numbers!

Seems like the effect would be fairly important though! I guess people who have actually played the game would have a better idea of how it shakes out though.

I'd honestly say if you were looking at the Laguz unformshifted, you're looking at people who generally are going to be doubled, can't directly attack, and have sub PC durability. The can't directly attack for several turns parts makes me strongly think unformshifted=shouldn't be counted in averages.

I admit, my suggestion of Nasir seemed to be based on limited understanding that he might be in few enough battles that he could use his starting item to transform on turn 1 every time (In game, I know he can share it and such). But yeah, given that endgame is long, may not be the case. Kurthnaga is obviously the better rank. Seems like even with Olivi Grass, non-Formshift/Wildheart are just too shafted for ranking. This of course makes Volug a kind of solid rank to me (And hey, I actually saw him in game!). Good number of forced battles, at least has Wildheart in the DL.

[Talaysen]

*Looks at Black Knight* Is that assuming scaling him directly to endgame? Can he be recruited on later playthroughs? BK/Lehran/Pellas not in the PC average? Also, Tal: Do you have AS listed in that post? I'm not seeing it.

No actual raw stats change in the noshift stats, so I didn't list them.  Only the comparisons change (do they double average, durabilities, etc.).  I can redo that whole post and put in more numbers for reference (so people don't have to scroll up/down for them) later.


As for ranking... definitely support Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Sanaki, and Marcia.  Naliah, Caineghis, Haar, and one of the archers I'd probably support as well.  Bosses I don't know about, but I'd probably support the endgame ones at least (HETZEL VS. AUGST!!1).

[hinode]

I would definately support Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Sanaki, Nailah, Caineghis, and Oliver. Leaning no to everything listed as borderline and really borderline except Kieran. No strong opinion on Marcia and Kieran, and pass on the bosses until I actually play the game, which might not be for a while.

[Excal]

Support: Micaiah, Elincia, Sothe, Laguz Royals (Oddly enough, this does include Kurth, and Dheginsea), Volug, Skrimir, Ranulf, Nolan, Sanaki, Zelgius, Sephiran, Ashura, Lekain, Jarod, Izuka.

Fence Sitting: Marcia, Oliver, Kieran

[Tide]

Just getting my 2 cents in:

Definitely support: Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Cain, Nailah, Sanaki

Bosses I would support: Oliver (If you don't support, you have no SOUL), Lekain, Sephiran, Zelgius,

Borderline ideas I would support: Ranulf

No to everyone/everything else.

[ThePiggyman]

Just tossing in my input. I've played FE9 and FE10, beat both twice.

PCs
Support : Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Nailah, Caineghis, Sanaki, Geoffrey, Lucia, Tauroneo, Leonardo, Edward, Nolan, Kieran
Perhaps : Marcia, Volug, Ranulf, Skrimir, Kurthnaga, Janaff, Ulki (these last five are mostly if we can come to a consensus on how to treat Laguz in the DL)
No : Everyone else.

Bosses
Support : Zelgius (or Black Knight), Sephiran, Lekain, Izuka, Jarod
Perhaps : Ludveck, Valtome, Numida, Dheginsea, Ashera
No : Everyone else.

[Luther Lansfeld]

PCs
Support: Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Nailah, Caineghis, Sanaki, Geoffrey, Lucia, Tauroneo, Kieran, Marcia.
Maybe: Haar, would like to be argued on this one one way or another.
No but I will cry about it: Volug
No: Everyone else.

Bosses
Support: Zelgius, Sephiran, Lekain, Izuka, Jarod, Oliver.
Perhaps: Dheginsea.
No: Everyone else.
Fuck no: Hetzel

[Rozalia]

PCs: Micaiah, Sothe, Elincia, Nailah, Sanaki, Tauroneo, Leonardo, Edward, Nolan, Volug. Everyone else is either plotless, boring as dishwater, a dirty sub human or all three like Volug...even though I edited him in .

Bosses: Zelgius, Sephiran, Lekain, Izuka, Jarod, Dheginsea, Ashera, Oliver, Hetzel and finally Septimus.

Septimus deserves to be ranked you know it to be true. He has more plot then 80% of the pc cast and is the most memorable of the stage bosses. Those losers appear on one stage but he appears in TWO!