Top 30 Fire Emblem Characters of ALL TIME Countdown

[eclipse]

"Lovely" is a horrid understatement for Percy's looks. Try "my eyes are drawn to you, and yes I'm staring at you because I think you're hot".

[dondon151]

Percival can use both Malte and Durandal if you have him work that sword rank. It's ideal if you use him for bosskilling since swords are more accurate than lances and he'll get his WEXP that way.

[OrangeCrush980]

Will any more FE7 or FE8 characters make the list besides Marcus and Seth?

[deranger]

Raven!

[Balcerzak]

"Lovely" is a horrid understatement for Percy's looks. Try "my eyes are drawn to you, and yes I'm staring at you because I think you're hot".

If that is a description for "Soft Spot" tier, man, I don't know how to assess the others.

[Original Alear]

You should add how Ragnell is a million times better than any other ranged weapon (also +5 def) and Ike does somewhat poorly against magic using enemies.

Ragnell > Wishblade by not that big a margin, actually.

Personal experience, unless a large number of playthroughs are involved, can easily be skewed by chance.

But playing according to that chance is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and talking about games that actually happen, as opposed to games where everyone is what their averages predict they will be like, makes sense.

Personal experience means something if the skilled player is willing to ride out what actually happens instead of focusing totally on what was "supposed" to happen.

Unless a luna critical kills my units goddamnit.

[/s]

If that is a description for "Soft Spot" tier, man, I don't know how to assess the others.

Maybe eclipse isn't all about the looks.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Mr. Game and Watch

[Thor Odinson]

Will any more FE7 or FE8 characters make the list besides Marcus and Seth?

Probably not. Lynmode Sainskip 14/1 Sain might be able to, and that's /really/ pushing it for FE7 and I wouldn't count on it. Considering that Franz and Nessie are the two directly one tier in top below Seth in the tier list, and they're already accounted for, I doubt any FE8 characters will make it here other than Seth.

Raven!

Likely not. Mekkah did say that the rest of these will most likely be mounted at some point or another and while Raven's quite excellent as a combat unit, no way is he better than Percival. Only unmounted unit I can think of that may get on this list is Safy for being FE5 Staffchick with awesome availability, earliest Warp user possible, and Hammerne prf. Arthur DOES get a horse, after all.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Luminescent Blade

[dondon151]

Ragnell > Wishblade by not that big a margin, actually.

Oh, boy, I love it when people miss the point. Do you get a Wishblade in 3-11? No? Then GTFO.

[Original Alear]

Oh, boy, I love it when people miss the point. Do you get a Wishblade in 3-11? No? Then GTFO.

Boy, I love it when people are hostile for no reason. And it's even better when they make themselves look like a dumbass doing it.

If we're counting availability, then hand axes, wind edges and javelins are all superior to Ragnell. Especially since they aren't locked to Ike and multiple ones can be purchased, allowing for multiple characters to have one.

*Alarm sound*

Edited December 24, 2011 by Mr. Game and Watch

[eclipse]

Uhhh. . .Ragnell is ranged, hits way harder, gives a defense bonus, and while locked to one unit, it's one that's stuck with swords for, like, most of the game.

[dondon151]

If we're counting availability, then hand axes, wind edges and javelins are all superior to Ragnell. Especially since they aren't locked to Ike and multiple ones can be purchased, allowing for multiple characters to have one.

Missing the point. Again.

[deranger]

Likely not. Mekkah did say that the rest of these will most likely be mounted at some point or another and while Raven's quite excellent as a combat unit, no way is he better than Percival.

He's got better availability than Percival.

[Thor Odinson]

Percival's got movement in a game with huge maps that only loses to FE4 and comes with ridiculous bases of awesome. Raven also has 5 levels of lolswordlock at least before he reaches promotion and doesn't even have a horse.

Also, Rutger will have to be at a very high level (something probably not achievable if you play even only 75% as fast as efficient runs) to even match Percy's base durability. 51HP/15DEF at his level 5 base is really fucking sexy. If Percy's got Raven's availability, he'd break FE6 in half so hard like Seth breaks FE8.

IIRC in 0 growths, dondon, didn't Percy take Rutger's place in being epic bosskiller lategame?

Edited December 24, 2011 by Luminescent Blade

[Original Alear]

Missing the point. Again.

Look, either Wishblade is almost as good as Ragnell and I was right the first time, or it isn't because of availability in which case the infinitely buyable ranged weapons are far better and we were both wrong until I was right. +5 def isn't enough of an edge over +? luck to make Ragnell "a million times better."

(None of this makes Ike worse.)

Edited December 24, 2011 by Mr. Game and Watch

[Mekkah]

12. Sain / Kent, from FE7

I don't think Sain and Kent need an introduction, so here's the first few lines of their A support.

Sain: Hey, Kent! We've learned quite a bit on this quest, haven't we?

Kent: I suppose.

Sain: You suppose? Why, when we get back to Caelin, we should gather all the lovely lasses we know and have one big, magnificent--

Kent: Don't start with that again, Sain. This is no time for gaiety.

What are these two doing up this high, after the already controversial placing of Alance at #17? Aren't they worse, since they join quite a bit later in Hector Mode, have an overall worse support, and less of a chance to stand out due to the Marcus incarnation of this game being better? Well, yes, those are valid arguments. But the difference between these two and the FE6 Christmas Cavaliers (Calvary, if you will): Alance don't get 11 chapters of training and the option of promoting before the first chapter of the real quest!

Some people (cough SDS cough) kind of acted like this was a big discovery all of a sudden and made it look like Paladin Sain (and not Kent) was suddenly the only way the game is to be played. I don't agree with this, but I think the potential is big enough to where these two deserve this spot. Maybe a little lower if you take alternatives into account, but if you do this "trick" then whichever Calv you promote will dominate the field no matter how you play.

What is this "trick"? Well, you get either Kent or Sain to some satisfactory level above 10 in Lyn Mode, and before Lyn reclaims Caelin you just promote them with Wallace's Knight Crest. The more levels you can get them beyond 10 the better, since they will have a bit of trouble gaining EXP once they're promoted. This might mean you have to focus on one over the other, though I think it's very possible to get both to L10. Some fellows claim Sain is so infinitely superior to Kent that Kent should actually be penalized for doing this little promotion jig because it deprives you of SuperSain (see what I did there), but I think they're so close that you can't really separate them like that. So that's why they're both here.

How dominant are they? Well, using Sain as an example, at L12 he will have 28 HP, 14-15 Str, 8 Skl, 10-11 Spd, 8 Def.

Promotion will make that 30 HP, 15-16 Str, 9 Skl, 11-12 Spd, and 10 Def.

From his joining chapter:

L6 Archer w/ Steel Bow: 17 Atk, 25 HP, 4 Def, 4 AS. Even with an Iron Sword, Sain will ORKO, and in the meantime he gets 5HKO'd back.

L5 Merc w/ Steel Sword: 16 Atk, 25 HP, 5 Def, 10 AS. Sain doesn't double, but with WTA he is getting 6HKO'd in return.

L5 Mage w/ Thunder: 14 Atk, 21 HP, 4 Def, 7 AS. Sain nearly OHKOs this with an Iron Axe and does so with Steel...not that he needs to, since he doubles. He does get 3HKO'd back but w/e.

Whew, I hate compiling this kind of data. Why did I ever like debating again?

There's some more jokes, like enemies with Iron Swords and Slim Lances. These do joke damage, like 2-3 dmg to his 30 HP. Sain doesn't even notice them.

Enemies get a bit stronger over time, but Sain does too, generally faster than them since his growths are better than enemy class growths, and he can expose himself so much. The same goes for Kent, really. The main differences between the two are that Kent has more AS and hit, so he can double ast swordies and sometimes hit stuff when Sain would miss, whereas Sain has an easier time 2HKOing tougher enemies, or can use a weaker (like, a ranged) weapon to do so.

If you don't LynMode Knight Crest these two, then they're still good, but not as broken. They could still promote somewhat early with the Knight Crest from Ch17, which would only carry an opportunity cost if you're raising any other Knight Crest units, but in a more relaxed playthrough you're probably better off just letting them enjoy the double or triple EXP gain they get unpromoted while you can, and then promote them when you feel they've hit their soft cap.

But with the Knight Crest, they essentially provide a second Marcus to your team, giving you good combat in multiple places, or allowing one of them to carry someone while the other kicks enemy butt.

Oh btw, they're mounted and they have weapon triangle control and everything...just in case you didn't understand that from the last times I analyzed a Paladin.

[Thor Odinson]

Yep. No way Raven's showing up after this. XD

[Lord Raven]

Boy, I love it when people are hostile for no reason. And it's even better when they make themselves look like a dumbass doing it.

If we're counting availability, then hand axes, wind edges and javelins are all superior to Ragnell. Especially since they aren't locked to Ike and multiple ones can be purchased, allowing for multiple characters to have one.

*Alarm sound*

The one guy using the Ragnell has way more killing potential with Ragnell than the million people able to use those three ranged weapons.

[Rewjeo]

Really? So Ike alone with Ragnell can kill more than Ike with a generic 1-2 range sword, Titania, Haar, Sothe, etc etc using 1-2 range weapons? Somehow I doubt that.

[dondon151]

@ Mekkah: Energy Ring on Kent.

Look, either Wishblade is almost as good as Ragnell and I was right the first time, or it isn't because of availability in which case the infinitely buyable ranged weapons are far better and we were both wrong until I was right.

False dichotomy: you were wrong the first time, and you're still wrong now. This isn't some sort of contrived weapon comparison that you're trying to make it out to be. Would everyone like to use Ragnell instead of forged Hand Axe, forged Javelin, or Tempest Blade? Yes?

This was honestly not a difficult point to grasp until some pedant waltzed into this thread and said "herp derp technically Hand Axes are better because they have more availability also Wishblade." I don't give a fuck. Ragnell is the best 1-2 range weapon in the game from 3-11 until 4-E-3 and Ike gets it all to himself.

[Mekkah]

Energy Ring does cost one or two turns to get to Kent. That's okay with me but SDS makes a big deal about it whenever you bring it up...

[Rewjeo]

False dichotomy: you were wrong the first time, and you're still wrong now. This isn't some sort of contrived weapon comparison that you're trying to make it out to be. Would everyone like to use Ragnell instead of forged Hand Axe, forged Javelin, or Tempest Blade? Yes?

This was honestly not a difficult point to grasp until some pedant waltzed into this thread and said "herp derp technically Hand Axes are better because they have more availability also Wishblade." I don't give a fuck. Ragnell is the best 1-2 range weapon in the game from 3-11 until 4-E-3 and Ike gets it all to himself.

That's not what happened. You said that Ragnell was the best 1-2 range weapon. He said that Wishblade was pretty great, too. Then you said that Ragnell was better because of its availability. He said that, by that logic. other weapons are better. Then, frustrated, you basically said "I'm right, you're wrong." The one argument you offered (that you would use Ragnell, if given the choice, over Hand Axes, Javelins, or Tempest Blades) falls back into the realm where Wishblade is really not much worse, because, if given the choice, Wishblade would not be far behind Ragnell. In fact, depending on the situation, I might choose Wishblade over Ragnell. If you want me to analyze the whole 3-11 to 4-E-3 thing and show how it actually supports the Wishblade or is really just cut off at a completely arbitrary place, I can.

The problem with debating online is that no one is ever willing to concede. It's about winning the argument, not actually coming to a conclusion of which side is better/correct.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Energy Ring does cost one or two turns to get to Kent. That's okay with me but SDS makes a big deal about it whenever you bring it up...

Actually it takes something stupid like five to get to promoted Kent, since he has to be killing Lundgren in order to get that extra level up, and that happens about the time the rain hits, which tanks his movement. I don't dispute Energy Ring being good on him (I'd rather have promoted Sain and Energy Ring Kent, though I still claim Florina gets better use out of it), I just say that any item that basically triples turncount on a ridiculously simple map is a bit much when we can give it to someone else equally deserving.

Anyway, I will dispute Kent being even on the same level as Sain, but it's no doubt that the duo of those two combined with the wtfery of FE7 Marcus (before he lost all his stats in the transition to FE6) make the whole game basically a joke, with Marcus covering the start, Sain covering the midgame, and Sain+Kent covering the endgame. Like Allen and Lance, the two go together perfectly, and form a pretty ridiculous tag team that can barrel through the game and leave everyone not endowed with an equine boon in the dust.

[RNG Princess]

Haar hands down and

Elincia, Caeda, Tana, Vanessa, and Marcia(FE9) imo oh and Florina and Palla

Edited December 25, 2011 by Queen_Kittylincia

[Original Alear]

The problem with debating online is that no one is ever willing to concede. It's about winning the argument, not actually coming to a conclusion of which side is better/correct.

I'm not trying to get into an argument with you here, I appreciate your assistance, but I actually conceded that I might have been wrong about Wishblade due to availability.

or it isn't because of availability in which case the infinitely buyable ranged weapons are far better and we were both wrong until I was right.

And Dondon calling me a pedant is just a fancy way of conceding he might have been wrong (i.e. you are right but it doesn't matter), so we've both made concessions.

This might mean you have to focus on one over the other, though I think it's very possible to get both to L10. Some fellows claim Sain is so infinitely superior to Kent that Kent should actually be penalized for doing this little promotion jig because it deprives you of SuperSain (see what I did there), but I think they're so close that you can't really separate them like that. So that's why they're both here.

It's nice to learn about duh ideas like using the knight crest on non-wallace characters. I have a great Sain on my ch 10 LM PT so I'll have to use this from now on.

[Mekkah]

Miredy Christmas, everyone.

11. Miledy, from FE6

I think there's two ways to look at HM bonuses. One: a programming oversight, meant to boost only the things you fight, that just happens to help out units you recruit from the enemy side. Two: a way to reward you for being able to neutralize the harder enemies, including the very unit that just accepted the blue paint. Not only did you outmaneuver or survive that enemy recruitable, you did it when they were stronger than normally.

Miledy makes me think the former approach is correct. While she appears as an enemy several times in cutscenes during the game, you never actually fight her (even though Merlinus pretty much suggests you shoot her on sight). She's red, she flies towards you in one smooth motion (I wish she kept that much movement during player phase), and then she's blue. But despite all that, she has Hard Mode bonuses on top of her already solid base stats. What we have here is, well, a flier that can destroy stuff. Out of the gate.

Miledy joins at a perfect level of 10, with a ridiculous 38 HP, 16-17 Str, 13 Spd, and 15-16 Def. From here you have the option to either raise her a bit, taking advantage of her relatively large EXP gain with her 75% HP, 50% Str, 50% Skl, 45% Spd and, well, 20% Def growths...or you can promote her whenever you want to turn on beast mode and give her access to an extra point of movement. And E Swords. Because Iron Swords are very useful at this point of the game.

Pretty much her only weaknesses are the usual flier ones, plus the bad resistance. The Delphi Shield comes a couple chapters later and is perfect for her, turning ballistae and Nomads into joke enemies. The FE6 AI is very flunky at detecting the Delphi Shield, usually not seeing it, and will therefore target her down a lot over your frailer units (eg dancers and healers).

Unlike a lot of other fliers (the "chicks with wings" category), Miledy's speciality is flying somewhere and taking on a bunch of enemies on her own. She lasts almost forever, and a single Physic or Elixir can often recharge her just like that for another huge horde of enemies. Ferrying, however, is not her strongest suit. Thanks to the weird con/aid formula, she only has 11 aid before, and 10 aid after promotion. She can carry most people you'd like to ferry around, such as Roy, staffbots and dancers. However, someone like Dieck (13 con before promo) or Gonzales (15 con before promo) is too heavy for her, and she's obviously no good at trying to get your Generals (lol) to the front line. It is only a minor problem though, and the upside is that she can weild Silver and Killer Lances without AS loss while she's only a little slowed down by Javelins (compared to the Peg sisters).

So there's Miledy in a nutshell: fast, durable, and powerful. Her only flaw is that she's only available for half of the game. In other words, her only problem is that there's not more of her.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Mekkah