FE9 Which mage should I use? Or should I use multiple?

[Darros]

Hey guys! I'm playing FE9 for the first time and I don't really know how the mages stack up against each other here? I'm not really playing for extreme efficiency, but I don't want to have to stop and grind any characters either or have any team members that lag behind all the rest of them. Is there a preferred mage or two that are better than the rest?

[Rezzy]

Definitely use Soren, he's the best. You could easily use two mages if you like.

Ilyana is a good choice with great availability, but she can get speed screwed sometimes.

Tormod is okay, but he comes a bit underleveled.

Calill is good, but she has Knives, instead of Staves. There's also Bastian, but he also has Knives and less availability.

If you want one Mage, use Soren, if you want a second, use Ilyana or Calill, depending on if you have an early game slot open, or want to use a late mid game prepromote.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

• Soren has the best availibility, decent growths all around and adept. Furthermore he's the most interesting supports.

Ilyana has the highest strength growth so she's the only one who can use all tomes without speed penalty maybe (probably energy drop necessary) but she's sort of slow.

Tormod comes a bit late but his growths are good all around. Celerity is an advantage to use him more frequently than the others.

Calill joins with good bases and good weapon levels. She is a good alternative if you didn't use Ilyana and Tormod. She's also one of the magic users who can use heavier tomes.

[sirmola]

Definaatly use soren. He has a slow start, but gets much better once he gets some stats, and you can buy more powerfull tomes If you are planing to use the file for RD fransfer bonuses, also use ilania. Otherwise, don't. Also, rhys is pretty good as a magic user, even though light magic is the worst weapon type (the fact that staffs and light magic share a weapon rank helps.) THe only reason not to use rhys is that a promoted mist helps the dark knight fight, and she arguably gets more use out of transfer bonuses in RD. Calil is a typical late game prepromote (who is not helped by the fact that she uses knives instead of staves), and tormund joins a litel too late to be easy to use. Both of them are absolutly useless in RD, so don't bother with transfer bonuses. I find that two mages (possibly including rhys) is a good number.

[Shin]

Go Tormod and Callil. Whilst probably less useful as units, they're pretty interesting characters. The game's not terribly difficult, and BEXP means almost anyone can be pretty usable.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Also, rhys is pretty good as a magic user, even though light magic is the worst weapon type (the fact that staffs and light magic share a weapon rank helps.)

Since his strength growth is awful, his speed growth is mediocre and light tomes weigh a lot you must be very careful with him.

Nosferatu weighs 12. Almost everyone which isn't a first tier enemy with a steel weapon (except for myrms) or a general will double and kill him.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Ayama Wirdo

[Rezzy]

I wish Mist had used Light Magic instead of Swords. I'm not a fan of only having one unit who can use a weapon type.

[Quintessence]

Soren and Ilyana are the most friendly here. Tormod requires a bit of levelling to catch up your team by the time he joins. Calill is like mini Pent without staves. Bastian is pretty much underwhelming, like Renault.

Soren has some decent stats all around, although he'll be weighed down by tomes because of his low to non existant strength. He then becomes pretty strong upon promotion and will take good use of Vantage+Adept combo.

Ilyana is my fave. I have some bias here, and female sages are cool. She has the highest str to handle tomes, but her spd issues may be troublesome and might disregard her 'advantage' of high str. Anyways, thunder magic with high crt is cool. Also, Rexbolt is a thing.

Tormod is also all around and good as a Sage, although I recall he needed a forge and some care because he comes kinda underlevelled and needs to be on par with your team. Still, he's a nice addition if you want to invest on him.

Calill is pretty good, comes with good bases and has good growths too. She'll be fine without much care.

Bastian is the last option but he's a bit meh. I used him once but felt that any if the other 4 mages are better options, unless you want some Elincia, Lucia, Geoffrey and Bastian royalty combo.

Rhys is a no no imo unless you really want him.

[EricaofRenais]

I always use Soren and Ilyana and they both turn out great for me with Soren being slightly better.

Edited June 5, 2016 by EricaofRenais

[Reality]

Soren becomes pretty good eventually, but the first few maps of the game are blatantly biased against him and make him look bad, which makes you doubt that the day will come. Also losing speed due to awful con is a thing. Soren's built for speed and skill, so he's the only mage worth blowing abilities on, and conveniently he already has adept.

Ilyana is really practical to use. She's basically the "power" mage, and usually gets high magic, but her speed growth is annoying. I love promoting her as early as possible, so that I won't have to rely on Rhys with staffs. Sadly, her bad speed growth makes me doubt her for the last 7~ maps, while I'll still use the other mages.

Tormod is the genuine speed mage, but he's about 11 levels under when you get him, so you have to feed him Base Exp. The extra movement is cool, and he has an actual con stat like ilyana, but for some reason, he will almost never CRIT or activate skills. That skill stat doesn't lie. Of the other units in the BExp dependent category(Rolf, Shinon, Astrid, Makalov) I'd put him second to Shinon, unless you use the brokenness of forged axes for the paladins.

Calill is probably my favorite and actually works the closest to the GBA mages. Yeah she has no staves, but she has a little defense as a backup, excellent speed, decent mag, and weapon ranks (this game is BAD about raising weapon ranks).

Most to least Practical: Ilyana, Calil, Soren, Tormod, Bastian

Endgame Potential: Soren, Tormod, Calil, Ilyana, Bastian

Support Quality: Bastian, Soren, Tormod, Calil, Ilyana

I'd use multiple just so that you could ignore the cleric units entirely and use staves via sage. The second half of the game has a giant deployment limit anyway, even if you do find the physical units more fun you'll probably have some space left over.

[Lady Sansa]

Soren and Ilyana are complete garbage. Zero durability and require precious early game bexp that Marcia/Jill/Boyd make better use of.

Tormod needs a big bexp dump, but he joins right after the desert map, so it's perfect. Celerity makes him the best staff user.

Calill's bases and weapon ranks are incredible. She and Tormod have a fast support together too.

Bastian is okay filler if you have a bunch of siege tomes lying around.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

There's absolute no need to use bexp. on Soren and Ilyana.

Even base level Soren can double enemies with steel weapons (orko with adept). After a few levels he'll be on the ball.

And there's no need to waste bexp. on Jill, Marcia and Boyd either since a forged weapon covers strength and skill issues and FE9 gives you enough money.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Ayama Wirdo

[Shadow Mir]

Soren and Ilyana are complete garbage. Zero durability and require precious early game bexp that Marcia/Jill/Boyd make better use of.

Tormod needs a big bexp dump, but he joins right after the desert map, so it's perfect. Celerity makes him the best staff user.

I kinda disagree - Tormod needing a big BEXP dump is kinda a point against him, imho. And I don't really think BEXP is a must if you want to use the early mages.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Radiant Dragon]

Tormod gets my vote as the best option for primary mage. That two extra movement more than makes up for any minor statistical gains Soren might have over him (and Ilyana only beats him in Skill and Res). It lets him reach more enemies than the other mages can as well as give him more flexibility in who he can heal once he promotes. His only disadvantage compared to Soren and Ilyana is that he joins later than them at a low level, but he joins immediately after one of the most lucrative BEXP maps in the game, and he's the perfect choice to use some of that on to get him up to speed immediately.

I would also recommend using Calill as your second mage when you need/want one, since she joins with excellent bases and requires zero investment to become a part of your team, letting you use your resources (combat EXP, BEXP, stat boosters, etc.) on the rest of your team to make them stronger. However, using one of Soren/Ilyana and then bringing on Tormod later is also an option if you want to be training a mage in the early game, but I feel that Tormod will make them look pretty bad come late game when the maps get bigger.

[Snowy_One]

Soren is, unquestionably, the best mage choice. He's fast, got great magic, and a solid support with Ike. He's a strength weenie but you only need him strong enough for forged Thunder.

Ilyana is a great choice as well. Her early join-time gives her ample chance to level-up and her high STR makes her capable of wielding most tomes without penalty. However her SPD growth is low which can be an issue if not addressed. She gets enough +DEF supports that, if supported, she can be about as durable as a SM though.

Tormod is, technically, the 'best' mage. However, unless you're doing a speedrun, that doesn't really matter. He has some high movement and great all-around stats but his supports are middling at best (Reyson is okay, but Rolf and Devdan are less likely to be deployed and Calill may be muscled out by other mages). If you put the effort in he's the best. If you don't he's the worst (besides Bastion).

Calill requires the least work/effort to make 'good' and can even be deployed much later on without issue and without work. However she is locked to knives, a pretty laughable weapon, and her supports are middling. Nephenee is okay but Tormod... you want only two mages at most and Geoffery may be muscled out by better paladins in a non-tier run.

Bastion is lulzy. Statistically he's better than a base Calill, but his supports are a joke (Volke and Lucia are very unlikely to be deployed leaving just Makalov) and he joins late. At least Calill has time to level-up.

IMO it's pretty much in join order with Tormod and Ilyana potentially interchangable but Ilyana winning due to cuteness.

[Shadow Mir]

I guess I'm the only one here who sees the chapter 15 BEXP as more trouble than it's worth, and thus is accounting for the possibility that OP won't go for it...

[Rezzy]

I guess I'm the only one here who sees the chapter 15 BEXP as more trouble than it's worth, and thus is accounting for the possibility that OP won't go for it...

I don't go out of my way to kill the Laguz, but it's a desert map, and that means hidden treasure, so I prioritize getting all the items over sparing enemies and low turn count. Maximizing BEXP would mean going straight for Maurim and missing a lot of items and maybe not even recruiting Stefan. I don't think the extra BEXP is worth it.

There may be a optimized way to get every single item, recruit Stefan, and not kill any enemies, but that requires a level of planning that I'm not willing to waste time on.

[Shadow Mir]

I don't go out of my way to kill the Laguz, but it's a desert map, and that means hidden treasure, so I prioritize getting all the items over sparing enemies and low turn count. Maximizing BEXP would mean going straight for Maurim and missing a lot of items and maybe not even recruiting Stefan. I don't think the extra BEXP is worth it.

There may be a optimized way to get every single item, recruit Stefan, and not kill any enemies, but that requires a level of planning that I'm not willing to waste time on.

Exactly - I won't kill any laguz that don't get in my way, but I think the BEXP from going full-on pacifist is too much headache for me to consider worth the hassle, especially considering that there are items to be had, and even another character.

[Radiant Dragon]

I personally love the challenge of getting all of the items and Stefan while also getting max BEXP on that map, since it makes that chapter much more interesting than basically every other desert map in the series. There are also plenty of guides and videos showing how to do it if you don't want to spend a ton of time trying to puzzle through it yourself.

Most strategies for finishing the map quickly do require a strong Marcia or Jill that can ORKO the boss, though. Too bad we don't get Bolting until the chapter after this one.

[Rezzy]

I personally love the challenge of getting all of the items and Stefan while also getting max BEXP on that map, since it makes that chapter much more interesting than basically every other desert map in the series. There are also plenty of guides and videos showing how to do it if you don't want to spend a ton of time trying to puzzle through it yourself.

Most strategies for finishing the map quickly do require a strong Marcia or Jill that can ORKO the boss, though. Too bad we don't get Bolting until the chapter after this one.

I don't mind looking at a guide to see where the hidden items or location or stuff like recruitment requirements, but I really don't like having to rely on a turn-by-turn guide for any chapter of FE. If I can't draw on my experience and a try or two of trial by error to beat a map, it's poorly designed, and there should be multiple ways to tackle any map.

[Shadow Mir]

I personally love the challenge of getting all of the items and Stefan while also getting max BEXP on that map, since it makes that chapter much more interesting than basically every other desert map in the series. There are also plenty of guides and videos showing how to do it if you don't want to spend a ton of time trying to puzzle through it yourself.

Most strategies for finishing the map quickly do require a strong Marcia or Jill that can ORKO the boss, though. Too bad we don't get Bolting until the chapter after this one.

The problem is, if I have to do things one very specific way to accomplish it and said way falls apart if even one thing goes wrong, it's poorly designed. Also, what Rezzy said.

Edited June 11, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Radiant Dragon]

The problem is, if I have to do things one very specific way to accomplish it and said way falls apart if even one thing goes wrong, it's poorly designed. Also, what Rezzy said.

I don't mind looking at a guide to see where the hidden items or location or stuff like recruitment requirements, but I really don't like having to rely on a turn-by-turn guide for any chapter of FE. If I can't draw on my experience and a try or two of trial by error to beat a map, it's poorly designed, and there should be multiple ways to tackle any map.

There are plenty of ways to tackle that map, full-on pacifist is merely one of them, and completely optional besides. You can also only go after the laguz that get in the way, or you can kill everything for the extra combat EXP. You can try to get all of the treasure, you can only get some of it, or you can not bother trying to get any of it. You can run the map quickly with fliers and mages, or you can move slowly as a group towards Muarim with your favorite infantry units.

The starting values of the enemy's transformation gauges are not random, either. They were chosen to prevent you from getting completely swarmed by enemies you're trying to spare. With smart placement, base level Sothe can run around for basically the entire chapter with zero chance of death.

PoR's desert map is very well designed. God forbid a strategy game would make you think a little to get the best reward.

Edited June 11, 2016 by Radiant Dragon

[Rezzy]

There are plenty of ways to tackle that map, full-on pacifist is merely one of them, and completely optional besides. You can also only go after the laguz that get in the way, or you can kill everything for the extra combat EXP. You can try to get all of the treasure, you can only get some of it, or you can not bother trying to get any of it. You can run the map quickly with fliers and mages, or you can move slowly as a group towards Muarim with your favorite infantry units.

The starting values of the enemy's transformation gauges are not random, either. They were chosen to prevent you from getting completely swarmed by enemies you're trying to spare. With smart placement, base level Sothe can run around for basically the entire chapter with zero chance of death.

PoR's desert map is very well designed. God forbid a strategy game would make you think a little to get the best reward.

I think it has too many elements to be considered a good map. The hidden treasure element and spare the enemies element work well on their own, but put together, it requires a very specific way to beat within a reasonable turn count, which rubs me the wrong way. I've seen a similar turn-by-turn guide for Battle Before Dawn, which requires standing on very specific squares, and seemingly puts units within inches of death and requires decent RNG and a thorough knowledge of enemy AI.

The Priest level of PoR does the "Spare the Enemy" requirement much better, in my opinion.

[Shadow Mir]

There are plenty of ways to tackle that map, full-on pacifist is merely one of them, and completely optional besides. You can also only go after the laguz that get in the way, or you can kill everything for the extra combat EXP. You can try to get all of the treasure, you can only get some of it, or you can not bother trying to get any of it. You can run the map quickly with fliers and mages, or you can move slowly as a group towards Muarim with your favorite infantry units.

The starting values of the enemy's transformation gauges are not random, either. They were chosen to prevent you from getting completely swarmed by enemies you're trying to spare. With smart placement, base level Sothe can run around for basically the entire chapter with zero chance of death.

PoR's desert map is very well designed. God forbid a strategy game would make you think a little to get the best reward.

Yeah, because putting two side objectives that conflict with each other in the same map is totally the pinnacle of game design... Alone, they work well enough, but together... not so much.

As stated by Rezzy, the priest level was a much better designed example of the spare the enemy side objective.

Edited June 11, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Shadow Mir]

Seriously?!

Edited June 11, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia