Life's Character rating thread

[Life]

This isn't to mock Snowy, it's literally to show how to do this thing. We shall start the list.

Ike - This post

Titania

Oscar

Boyd

Rhys

Ike:

Ike is a Lord. Your FE9 Lord to be exact.

Anyone who has played this series probably thinks that because of that, he starts shitty and ends... mediocre. Well... not exactly. Ike's base stats aren't that stellar (alright, they're downright shit with defensive parameters of 19/5/0 and 5 Str working in combination with 7 AS) but his growths look like he's just started to take steroids. 75/40/40 are growths worthy of being an Armour Knight (I'm not kidding here, Brom has 75/55/25 while Gatrie sits at 80/60/30, barely more than Ike defensively) and 50 Str and 55 Spd will get his offense up to par very quickly. We're talking like Sigurd/Celice growth rates, not Eliwood/Roy style. This shit is bananas.

Ike does have a few downsides. Weak bases have already been covered and he's also got swordlock which starts to hurt at about... Chapter 4. That being said, he also gets the Regal Sword then which gives him 14 eff Mt before Str on Cavalry and Armours. It's a bit of a nuke on harder earlygame enemies but it doesn't do much. No 1~2 range also means that he'll always just stand and take 2 range shots but that's pretty much a given with swordlock. 6 Move isn't great but most of the units in this game are infantry so I'd rather call 6 Move average and give points to Cavs for being redonkulous.

Aside from that, Ike goes into beastmode if he's about 10/0 by the end of Chapter 8. His defensive growths should have started to kick in by now (26/9/4 on average with the possibility of the Chapter 1 Seraph Robe) and there's no reason why he shouldn't be doubling everything in sight. While being a lord, Ike promotes at the end of Chapter 17 (midway through the game) so he's a bit later than the rest of the team but not Roy/Eliwood late. After that, Ike is simply a very good infantry unit who turns into God after Chapter 27 because let's face it, the last two and a half chapters are just an interactive cutscene while Ike slaughters everything with Ragnell.

Speaking of Ragnell, let's just get into how ridiculous this weapon is (because I can). 18 Mt, 80 Hit, 5 Crit, 1~2 range, +5 Def and infinite uses. Wut. Even the Sword of Seals or Tyrfing break sometime (and let's not get into the fact that Tyrfing is nothing special due to Holsety, Ichival and the Balmung). This may be the best holy/ultimate weapon of all time for a Lord. Anything that gets hit by this thing dies. Sure it's got 20 Wt but that means nothing when your Lord can wield it without AS loss at 20/6 on average. Ike's usually 20/20 when he gets it.

All of Ike's other features are pretty groovy pants. Since this is the only game where supports are actually attainable, Ike's got a WTF double Earth support with Oscar that is fully done by about... Chapter 13. That's +30 Avo on a unit that should be sitting at 38 natural Avo at about 13/0. Titania and Soren are both early supports with Soren's bonuses being a bit better (the downside is Soren himself) while more mediocre supports in Lethe/Ranulf/Elincia are in the future and simply give those units some much needed Avo (because while the cats are Laguz, neither can really take that many hits and 10/15 Avo does wonders). Ike's skills are also pretty good. Aether is a free Sol/Luna rolled into a single skill while combinations like Wrath/Resolve help Ike take down the BK in Chapter 27 fast, not to mention turning the man unkillable.

Just for shits and giggles, IF an enemy were to get Ike down to 50% HP in Chapter 29, this is what they'd be facing. Ike would have 57 Att with Ragnell from 1~2 range, 75 Crit and something retarded like 148 Avo with A Oscar and B Soren. And on the off chance that something manages to hit him, they still have to go through Ike's 28 Def with Ragnell attached to dent Ike's still 25 HP. In case any of you were wondering, Berserk Ashnard has 160 Hit so even the final boss can't really touch Ike. On the plus side, he does 2HKO Ike (assuming he can touch the man) but 60 Att is pretty much enough to 2HKO even Giffca so Ike still stands out.

tl;dr Ike has a shaky start like all lords but once he gets over that hump, he'll turn into a wrecking ball of chocolatey nougat fuck. Care for him in the early chapters and he'll never disappoint.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Am Yisrael Chai

[Junkhead]

Nice one.

Where's his score?

[Life]

Titania:

The best unit FE9 bar none. Except Bastian because the man talks like Shakespeare who got high on cocaine.

In all seriousness, Titania is the best unit in the game when it comes to Efficiency and/or Speed runs and simply quite awesome on regular runs. She comes in Chapter 1 with decent base stats for a promoted unit (she could use a little more strength) but fucking hell, check out those growths. Better defensive growths than Ike in 80/40/45 (and I was busy slobbering over Ike's) and good Str/Spd growths in 45/50. Titania's offensive and defensive capabilities can be expected to stay high throughout the entirety of the game.

I'm going to pass over any "she sucks up Exp" comments with a reply of "BExp says hi" and move on to advocating feeding Titania early bosskills. For killing a boss, a unit gains an extra 45 Exp (15 for HM, 30 for Boss Exp), no matter how high of a level that unit is. That 45 Exp goes a lot longer of a way on Titania since she needs to kill a lot of minions to equal that amount of Exp. However, if Boyd or Oscar were to kill Zuwana, that 45 Exp goes more to waste because both gain a lot of Exp from regular mook kills. I know I didn't phrase this paragraph well but basically, give Titania boss kills. You'll appreciate it more.

Titania also starts off with amazing weapon choices to complement her stats. She uses every Axe in the game at base level and can also do the same with Killer/Laguz Lances. A single proc in Str lets her wield Hand-axes without AS loss (14 Spd at ??/1 is already good so this ensures doubling at range) and by the time heavier axes come into play, Titania should have more than enough Str to not lose AS from them.

There's really not more to add here. Obviously Titania slows down as the game progresses and Oscar starts to match her but she remains a very solid combat unit right up until the end of the game, similar to how Seth was in FE8. Being mounted allows her to create rescue chains (awesome) and Light affinity gives her really good supports (Acc is always welcome when using Axes), most notably with Boyd. The Boyd support is a bit slow (20 Chapters to A can go fuck itself) so Rhys and Mist exist (with Mist having similar movement on promotion) for quicker supports.

tl;dr On the whole, fantastic unit no matter what type of play. Invaluable when playing quickly and/or efficiently and just overall solid for any run. No actual flaws exist here.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Mr. Wanker

[Life]

Nice one.

Where's his score?

I don't believe in scores. You can't accurately describe a unit with one because every unit has positives and negatives everywhere. If Soren gets a 4 and Geoffrey gets a 4, it doesn't mean that both suck. Soren's just mediocre (and a magic user) while Geoffrey comes at a shitty time (he's essentially usable for 4 chapters and 2 of those don't exactly have him doing much).

Words explain the situation more.

[Integrity]

Except Bastian because the man talks like Shakespeare who got high on cocaine.

So in short, he talks like Shakespeare.

[Junkhead]

But then where's the "rating"?

[Vicious Sal]

Do note that in Fixed mode Titania actually benefits from killing loads of mooks, they give her more points for growths and since she needs takes a long time to fill the EXP bar, she usually gets at least 4 stats up from any given level up.

[Integrity]

But then where's the "rating"?

Read the tl;dr if you really want a rating.

Or, y'know, go to every other ratings thread ever instead of being confused by a decent attempt at something different.

[Snowy_One]

I am curious. Do you want us to submit stuff, or what?

[Life]

I am curious. Do you want us to submit stuff, or what?

Sorry, war nearly broke out and a rocket almost killed me last week. Pardon me for not caring about FE9 so much.

Oscar:

Oscar is... solid. There are really no bad points about him except for the fact that he's not Titania. But nobody is.

Let's start with the bases. For a level 3 unit in Chapter 1, his defensive bases of 26/8/0 are the best you'll find for a while (Titania, Gatrie and Shinon excluded from this group). His offensive skills are slightly less memorable with 6 Str having him lose AS from every lance you see but a 45 growth rate should change that soon. Same thing with Speed (7 AS with a 45 growth rate) so doubling shouldn't be a problem after the early chapters.

And he's mounted. Canto. 8 move BEFORE promotion. Which is WTF ridiculous, mind you. You'll find slower units really having a harder time keeping up in this game, especially with no Warp staff existing. Being able to carry everything and their mothers (aside from untransformed Mordecai before promotion) is incredible utility simply for the fact that Mia has now just been upgraded to 9/10 move and maybe more depending on the length of the Rescue chain.

There's really no negatives for Oscar. Base stats and growths? Very nice. Mounted unit? Wonderful. Dual wielding Lances and Axes after promotion? Cash. Earth affinity and double Earth supports with both Ike and Tanith? Shit son. If Titania didn't exist, I'd be pushing for Oscar to be the perfect unit of the game.

tl;dr: All positives, no negatives. Slow(er) start shouldn't discourage you from raising him.

Edited November 29, 2012 by Am Yisrael Chai

[aku chi]

And he's mounted. Canto. 9 move BEFORE promotion. Which is WTF ridiculous, mind you. You'll find slower units really having a harder time keeping up in this game, especially with no Warp staff existing. Being able to carry everything and their mothers (aside from a few mounted units and Mordecai) is incredible utility simply for the fact that Mia has now just been upgraded to 9/10 move and maybe more depending on the length of the Rescue chain.

Corrections:

Mounted units have 8 mov at tier 1 in Tellius. Mounted units simply cannot be rescued. Oscar, when promoted, is one of the few units that actually can rescue an untransformed Mordecai, which is occasionally useful.

Edited November 28, 2012 by aku chi

[Espinosa]

Corrections:

Mounted units have 8 mov at tier 1 in Tellius. Mounted units simply cannot be rescued. Oscar, when promoted, is one of the few units that actually can rescue an unpromoted Mordecai, which is occasionally useful.

Untransformed you mean?

[Life]

Corrections:

Mounted units have 8 mov at tier 1 in Tellius. Mounted units simply cannot be rescued. Oscar, when promoted, is one of the few units that actually can rescue an untransformed Mordecai, which is occasionally useful.

Appreciated. Will make the changes. Haven't played forever so if I make any mistakes, please tell me.

[Snowy_One]

Why did you say Mia in that one bit? Bah. Dun matter.

Would it be alright with you if I did Mia's review? I promise I'll be fair and even-handed in it.

[Life]

Why did you say Mia in that one bit? Bah. Dun matter.

Would it be alright with you if I did Mia's review? I promise I'll be fair and even-handed in it.

I picked a random footunit.

No. I'll do Mia. I know what I'm going to say.

[Constable Reggie]

Would it be alright with you if I did Mia's review? I promise I'll be fair and even-handed in it.

*snicker*

Come on, someone who's known for heavily defending Mia from everything will undoubtedly be pretty biased when talking about her.

[Snowy_One]

What I was going to say is that Mia is a character who either needs a full investment, or should be ignored. If invested in she can become a strong melee fighter and one of (possibly the) best skill-users in the game. However, waffling on her and giving less than full support will result in a weaker melee fighter. Basically, Mia with full investment = 7.5 (maybe 8)/10, Mia without full investment 3.5 (maybe 2)/10.

[Life]

What I was going to say is that Mia is a character who either needs a full investment, or should be ignored. If invested in she can become a strong melee fighter and one of (possibly the) best skill-users in the game. However, waffling on her and giving less than full support will result in a weaker melee fighter. Basically, Mia with full investment = 7.5 (maybe 8)/10, Mia without full investment 3.5 (maybe 2)/10.

You're not wrong but early investment in Mia is worth almost nothing so she usually ends up good regardless.

[Parrhesia]

Why did you say Mia in that one bit? Bah. Dun matter.

Would it be alright with you if I did Mia's review? I promise I'll be fair and even-handed in it.

I agree, whenever I see 'Life's Character Rating Thread' I think "This is totally open for anyone to contribute entire character ratings"

[Life]

Boyd:

Such good offense. Such shit defense.

Boyd is your lone Fighter for this game and it looks like IS finally figured out how Fighters are supposed to play out since they had clearly forgotten about the formula after making Lott. Boyd's bases are very similar to Ike's and Oscar's but is almost doubling Myrmidons in Chapter 2 (single Str+Spd proc has him doing it). With an effective AS growth rate of 60+45 (that translates to about 78%) until around 13 Str, Boyd's going to be doubling stuff very soon and forever. Boyd's HP is pretty fantastic, maxing it out at 20/20 66% of the time and his Str follows suit by also maxing out. High Skl will make sure that he's accurate with Axes and high Spd is just high speed.

I do want to note something that I forgot to mention when first writing this review. The C2 Speedwing. Boyd is very borderline doubling but tends to hang on the good side. The Speedwing that comes in C2 actually ensures that he stays at that point along with his AS growths. Boyd's not the only contender (you could argue that the C2 Speedwing is the only thing that keeps Ilyana from being complete trash or some other nonsense) but he does make incredible use out of it and not to stum gain 2 AS.

So where's the rub? Unfortunately, Boyd's defensive parameters outside of HP are pretty terrible. Defense is a paltry 5+25 and will be lucky to break 10 Def before promotion. Res is the same story but starts at 0, allowing Boyd to take hits worse than a stationary wet cardboard box. The only good news is that he'll absorb the hits with his HP but they'll still hurt. 7 Move after promotion is also... well, he's infantry.

Aside from those two (really one-and-a-half) problems, Boyd's a pretty stellar unit. He gains bows on promotion which gives him a ranged assault (it also allows him to do less damage if you're trying to set up a kill but he'll probably kill regardless). Fire affinity gives him Att and Acc in supports which really help him out, not to mention that every support of his gives him Def (two of them are even good supports). 10 Wt lets him get shoved by almost every foot-unit (exceptions are all three kids, the sages, Mia, Reyson and untransformed Janaff). Great growths, amazing availability and probably the best foot-unit in this game aside from Ike. But Ike has Ragnell.

tl;dr The best foot soldier after Ike. Careful with Boyd taking too many hits; his HP is superb for soaking hits but his Def/Res is trash. Also, giving him the C2 Speedwing gives better returns on Boyd than any other earlygame unit.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Am Yisrael Chai

[Dark Sage]

You're not wrong but early investment in Mia is worth almost nothing so she usually ends up good regardless.

Sorry but Mia sucks, regardless of whether or not you invest in her. When you have trouble 1 rounding things and only have 7 move in a game where most people have little trouble, then you know you're bad. Granted she's never a liability, but few bad characters are in this game.

Zihark also sucks.

[aku chi]

Boyd is borderline on doubling faster enemies throughout the game. For this reason, he makes good use of the C2 Speedwings. On the other hand, Boyd's physical durability post-promotion is not a significant issue. It's no worse than the Swordmasters or Falcon Knights, at least.

[Life]

Boyd is borderline on doubling faster enemies throughout the game.

Only on Maniac is he borderline. With a Str and/or Spd proc, he doubles pretty much everything for the next two chapters where he exists. That's one level for 2 chapters with a lot more coming plus BExp.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Am Yisrael Chai

[Lord Raven]

Sorry but Mia sucks, regardless of whether or not you invest in her. When you have trouble 1 rounding things and only have 7 move in a game where most people have little trouble, then you know you're bad. Granted she's never a liability, but few bad characters are in this game.

Zihark also sucks.

They don't "suck" they're just not as useful as others. And given that there are characters in this game that are pretty bad compared to them (but really just "meh" overall), Zihark/Mia are almost preferable as units. Granted, there are many more units I'd rather use, but by no means do they "suck"

[Chiki]

Sorry but Mia sucks, regardless of whether or not you invest in her. When you have trouble 1 rounding things and only have 7 move in a game where most people have little trouble, then you know you're bad. Granted she's never a liability, but few bad characters are in this game.

Zihark also sucks.

Don't believe a word of that post. Mia and Zihark are both above average.