Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War 2017 Tier List - Day 39: The support kids (Corple, Lene, Sharlow and Laylea)

[CappnRob]

Azel is a bro. A gimpy bro, mind, but a bro.

Pursuit is what saves him tbh. He can one-round-nuke almost any enemy in the prologue and if his magic keeps up (which it should due to minor Vala) he'll be doing the same for chapter 1 as well. Fire magic is stupidly heavy sadly but this moreso effects his ability to DODGE early game than his ability to double - provided his speed is higher than his enemy's, he'll still double, even if his speed - weight ends up being zero, because zero is still higher than the -13 speed most of the Verdane axemans have.

However that lack of dodge does make him a pain to babysit against said axemans, because they can and will easily 2-shot the poor guy. Once chapter 2 rolls around, where enemies start using cavalry as a mainstay, Azel falls behind a bit - he simply can't keep up. However, once he promotes he does overcome that hurdle with his own horse. He's still delicate, but promotion gains give him a solid edge and the ability to move far and remove after attack make hit and runs much more viable for him - provided he can hit promotion early enough to get use out of it anyway.

As a father, Azel is damn good. He's a mainstay for Tiltyu, the two of them combining their magic strengths to produce kids that are great at both (and when they promote can access both A rank fire AND lightning magic). He's a popular choice for Lachesis as well, really giving Nana some much needed buffing as a healer and making Delmud probably the most effecient magic sword user in the game. The fact both Tiltyu and Lachesis lack pursuit and Azel has it means either kids become multi-hit powerhouses with the right gear.

All in all, Azel gets a 7/10 for me. His weakest point is the mid-game where his flaws overshadow his early game strengths, but when he picks back up he's fantastic, and is a great father character. I just wish his estranged relationship with Alvis was explored more thoroughly in game, but lore beefs are a thing I have against FE4 in general so pft.

[General Horace]

Azel is bad when he's unpromoted, and he's bad in the arena. Once he promotes he's decent but by no means fantastic, and he's not promoting until chapter 4 at the earliest. I'll give him a 3/10. He just takes too long to get promoted for little payoff

[Jedi]

Azel is not mounted and doesn't have access to the best magic type in the game until a fair bit later (wind) and when he does have access to that. The better magic users and even more mounts have arrived.

He's a decent dad, but aside from that, he isn't doing anything too spectacular even after mounted promotion, 3/10

Edited December 9, 2016 by Jedi

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Azel has three main problems for me:

• non mounted
• no special tome (unlike Lewyn and Tiltyu)
• no special skill

He has his uses in earlygame because he can double most of the enemies and even oneround in the prologue thanks to continue. However he will fall behind levelwise fast because he can't catch up the others. Even in the arena he's incredibly hard to train because of his bases. Even his restistance is so low that he can't even take two hits by magic users.

Another issue is that he starts with the heaviest anima tome so you have to buy wind or thunder to benefit from pursuit.

He has continue which makes him a potential average husband for women who don't have it. Pairing him up with Tiltyu and Silvia would make the most sense for their children, but pairing him up with Tiltyu automatically means no access to Forseti in earlygame.

All in all it's so effortful to give him kills and the promotion what I haven't could do yet. He's totally outclassed by Lewyn and Tiltyu.

4,5 / 10

Also I don't give any (anti-)bias boosts. All ratings are absolute objective depending on the usefulness in terms of gameplay.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Ayama Wirdo

[Caster]

I like Azel but he's incredibly hard to raise up.
Low movement, really hard to keep up with the pack.
He does get a pony on promo, but it's really hard to get there.

Although, being a mage is kind of nice, especially since the low res in this game, he can still contribute a little against most enemies, because of his high speed and the enemies usually being weighed now. Even if I don't use him much, I usually bring him along anyways. He can usually take out an enemy or two. He's not useless.

I'll give him a 4.5/10, 5 with some bias cause I like the kid.

He's not great, but can still contribute a little bit even with low movement.

Think he's worth bringing it take out a few enemies.

[Punished Dayni]

Alright, so we get a mage. As someone who has his bias for magic in FE, how does he fare to me?

Azel is not someone who's consistently great. He's not got great bases, he's got the heaviest weapon type for anima magic and he has 5 movement (Just.... why?) in FE4. He does get Pursuit though, magic tears through G1 and he'll get a horse on promotion, so he's not abysmal at all. When he starts off it's no big deal is he can double the axes (not the bow units though, remember that when playing), and can get a few levels if you're playing slower. The arena is not kind to him, and when swordfighters show up he's got no chance, even with a Thunder tome from chapter 2, so he'll have to level up in the maps.... where 5 movement laughs at you. He's a write-off for Chapter two in the first half, and more likely than not he's not going to help much after then either. If he's getting solid experience and gains (especially in speed) though he can still contribute, however promoting before Chapter 4's unlikely. And that's a problem for him, because he'll be behind the main party at that point. Mage Knight is still a good class, and with gains like +6 spd and +4 def and +5 res he'll certainly be ready to contribute. But getting him there is the main concern.

Thing about magic is that similar to the weapons, there's a bias, only it's more obvious here. Each of the anima magics share the same stats, except for in weight. Fire is the heaviest at 12 weight, and exactly where Azel specialises. Thunder is in the middle, but 7 weight matters early on for a unit. And Wind is sitting on a paltry 2 weight, which helps Levin destroy without Pursuit. (Helps that he also has 2nd tier, while Azel has 1st)

As a dad however, things get interesting. While he's pretty much a no sell for Ayra or Brigged (unless you want magic swords, and Patty getting Pursuit early), he's far more interesting otherwise. For Aideen, he's probably the best choice for a great Lana while Lester's not a complete joke (though he is still thrown onto the fire). He also gives Aideen the Rescue staff (which does have some glitch potential), though sadly Lana cannot inherit it (and of course no Hero Bow, but you're pairing Azel with her that's not a surprise). Lachesis's kids get fantastic for magic swords, and Nanna is better with the Earth Sword and healing, and they can double! (plus Azel can pass some equipment to Delmud if you promote him). For Sylvia, they get Pursuit and Corple's growths are good for him (Leen will still have higher magic growth. :P), though I recommend against this partly because combat's not their focus. For Fury, the main benefit is that Sety can take Bolganone later on, as while he gets good stats, there's no skills to benefit from, while Fee just gets good magic and speed. He's a great dad for Tiltyu as well, boosting both kids where they want to be boosted, giving Pursuit (which really helps their output without Wrath) and means they'll both have A rank lightning and Fire and can pick Thoron and Bolganone between them. Also, they've got a convo which boosts Tiltyu a bit as well, which is no bad thing. It's not Chapter 6 Holsety, but it's still good.

So I'll rate him a 7/10. While his personal contributions are limited before promotion (if he gets there), his worth as a father has to be given credit. He's better at it than Alvis.

[CappnRob]

So I'll rate him a 7/10. While his personal contributions are limited before promotion (if he gets there), his worth as a father has to be given credit. He's better at it than Alvis.

Edited December 9, 2016 by CappnRob

[Peppy]

Azel is pretty damn mediocre. He is quite squishy and is stuck using the worst magic type for the first two chapters. Even once he gets access to better types of magic, Azel typically doesn't one round enemies and him not having for a mount while unpromoted really does not help his case in self-improving.

While Azel can become decent once he gets his mount when he promotes, It is a long road to get there and it is not worth traversing. 3.5/10 (with 0.5 bias included. He has it tough and deserves a bit of appreciation).

[Darrman]

Azel is... not that great. Sure he starts out being able to 1RKO bandits in the prologue, but his combat quickly falls off. He can't arena very well, the myrms laugh at him. Fire weighs him down by 12, so he won't be doubling anything with a sword. He can probably still double lance users with his high speed and Pursuit, but when you actually see lance users, he's just left in the dust since he has five move. Sure he gets a horse when he promotes... not that he's getting there any time soon.

He's alright in axeland, but he becomes near-useless once Ch2 begins. 4/10.

[eclipse]

It's not that Azel is bad. It's that he gets himself outclassed in a hurry. But this is the Azel show, so I'll donate my thoughts.

Azel takes a while to get to the action, and he doesn't want to be in the thick of it. Once he gets there, he can wreck the low-RES guys. Gaining a horse upon promotion is nice, but getting him there is another matter. Oh, and he doesn't get his own personal beatstick, but eh.

5/10, and that's with some bias because I feel sorry for him.

[Flee Fleet!]

Ah, Azel, he gets a 7.5/10, with positive bias of course.

Azel is the first mage you get, and he also has Pursuit. Thus, he can do massive damage, and ORKO most enemies in the Prologue (even in chapter one).

However he comes with the worst tome, a fire tome, that is so freaking heavy! And because of this Azel is bound to get hit, a LOT! It also doesn't help that he has low defense and has 5 movement.

Fortunately, he gets a horse when he promotes, thus ultimately becoming awesome!

He can also use other magic like Wind, and he passes down Pursuit when paired.

All in all, not bad, just hard to train.

[Etrurian emperor]

Ouch. I'm seeing a lot of low grades and many expression of pity for poor Azel.

I think I'll take a ride on that positive bias train.

I took Azel along because he has the potential to be a great character rather than an amazing unit. As a unit Azel is problematic because of his extremely low movement and his heavy fire tome. Even if you want to use Azel his lack of a pony doesn't make it very easy to do so. He is also quickly outshined by Levin who I believe joins at a lower level.

But with almost no enemy having any resistance to speak off there will always be some role a mage like Azel can play. He's tedious but mobility aside he never exactly burdened me either and he eventually gains that mighty pony.

On his own I'd give Azel a 6 but because he's Azel I'm willing to bump it up to a solid 7.

[Shin]

Azel's unfortunate in that he wields the worst magic type and waddles about as fast as Ardan until promotion. His stats generally work for the most part, and pursuit is definitely worth having. It helps that enemies have butts for res, but he has to wait until chapter 3 until he can have a wind tome. Fire nukes his avoid and AS pretty bad so there will be a lot of times he's not dodging or doubling. He's pretty dandy when he promotes, but realistically that's going to be chapter 4 at the earliest.

In short, Azel is severely limited by his awful movement and weapon options for the first half of his existence. Hitting res is pretty cool, but he's left behind early on and requires a lot of investment to get good. If he'd come as a magical cavalier with a less sucky magic type, his usability would probably skyrocket.

2.5/10

[Valkama]

Only really good in chapters 4 and 5 if you bother with him. 4/10

Edit: I think people over exaggerate Azel's bad magic type. The only two magics he's locked out of initially in Gen 1 are Elwind and Thoron and on promotion he can use Elwind. He wouldn't really have time to steal Lewyn's Elwind anyways until chapter 3 and he usually promotes around chapter 4 so he's losing out on it by one map. He still doubles most enemies in the prologue and chapter 1 with fire and most enemies in chapter 2 and chapter 3 with thunder so he really doesn't notice it.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Valkama

[Etrurian emperor]

I find it a bit amusing how I see Azel classified as "kid" , "boy" and "little dude" in some posts despite him being an adult, and not a technical one like Elise.

Its probably his girly looking portrait. I myself assumed Azel was about Lugh's age when I first saw him.

[Flee Fleet!]

^ I actually assumed he, and Midir, were girls when I first saw them

They're still pretty as males

Edited December 9, 2016 by Flee Fleet!

[Etrurian emperor]

^ I actually assumed he, and Midir, were girls when I first saw them

They're still pretty as males

Yeah, it was quite the shock when Midir let out a very manly scream when he got defeated in the intro.

[Yojinbo]

5/10

Underappreciated unit. Does pretty decently in the arena actually [being one of the few units that can complete the Ch.1 arena] and it's easy enough to have him promoted by Ch.4 from where he starts being one of your strongest units, in terms of raw offense. He can start making himself useful in Ch.2 where he easily takes out annoying/tanky armors and paladins/duke knights with Magic. Overall he gets too little time to shine to be anything better than average but he's fairly self-sufficient until he promotes and doesn't require a lot of resources. The effort isn't that big, he's overall still worth it.

[Excellen Browning]

Decent stats and hits res but horrendous move and horrible starting weapon. Promotion and a wind tome will fix him, the problem is getting to promotion. Interesting pairing for Lachesis or Fury. 3/10

[ZemZem]

Better to train up than Ardan with more worthwhile results, but still not quite as useful as other units. Good growths + Pursuit helps him, at least. Gets a shitload better when promoted due to the horse, but that won't be until near the end of Gen I.

He makes for an interesting father when paired with Fury and Raquesis, at least. Azel/Sylvia makes for a hilariously good Corple, too. And Azel!Patty has one of the highest MAG growths in the game, as well.

3/10

Edited December 9, 2016 by Zeems

[CappnRob]

I'm rather amused at how across the board opinions on Azel are. He's far less unanimous than the Chalphy Knights or even Lex, heh. It seems to boil down to if people think his merit as a promoted unit outweighs the struggle to train him - though being a good dad does seem to be giving him some points too lol.

[Refa]

Lex is entirely self sufficient and pretty good once he starts to get going. He's a little outclassed in the first two chapters but still useful (at least in Chapter 1 due to being like 10 levels above everyone else). However, Chapters 2 and 3 are where he gets to shine and his contributions there are REALLY GOOD (like everyone has stated) which is worth a lot of points. He's almost dead weight in Chapter 4 (I think the reinforcement peg knights don't even attack him unless I'm remembering incorrectly) but he's useable enough in Chapter 5 although he's not making any impressive contributions. 7/10.

Azel is bad. Like other people have said, it takes a fuckton of time for him to get going and by then the game's already almost over. Promoted Azel is actually pretty decent in Chapter 4 (especially considering you don't have many other mounts who can take care of those pesky mages) but is only moderately more useful than Lex in the final chapter. 3/10.

EDIT Also I don't believe in giving points to units for how good their baby making skills are.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Refa

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Heh, I still give Midir female pronouns.

Only really good in chapters 4 and 5

That's actually quite the opposite for me. In lategame he's pretty much unusable for me. Even the wind mages in chapter 4 tworound him. In chapter 5 he's only good against the axe armors.

[Rinehart]

4/10 for Azel. He's decent at killing pirates in the first couple of chapters, but the high weight of fire tomes really hampers his offensive potential. Having Pursuit is nice, but being a foot unit doesn't help and his growths aren't great. That being said, since Gen 1 has less inflated stats than Gen 2, he's a decent backup and certainly usable if trained. Since there's no limits on how many units you can deploy in FE 4, it can't hurt to have him tag along.

[The Draco Knight]

Azel is your only mage until Lewyn comes and he can do a decent job actually: in the prologue and chapter 1, the enemies are very penalized by their axes so Azel, even with a fire tome, will be able to double them and kill them.

In Chapter 2, he can get a thunder tome and still do a fine job, especially with the armor knights.

In Chapter 3, he isn't that useful, unfortunately, but when, he promotes, he is fantastic in Chapter 4 and 5 due to his biggest issue(movement) being pretty much deleted.

Still, his low mov as an unpromoted unit and his bad defenses doesn't do him any favor.

I think I'll give him 6.5/10 since I love him as a character and I have a great time using him.