How should I build up a team in Fire emblem in general?

[Spellsion]

In my mind, I hate to leave a character behind and never use them again, but with the older fire emblem I can't grind all character to use them all. So I was wondering what is a good balance of classes in a team? (Sorry if it sounds confusing, I really don't know how to ask.)

[Quintessence]

It depends on the game, and then on personal preference. There's really not a formula that says 'you should build a team like this and that', you should find what units and classes are more successful and effective in the game and build a team around them, assigning roles to each unit (one can be boss killer, one can be tank, one can be healer, one a dancer, one a support/pair up bot, and so on).

I don't like to mess up with what you should use, but rather give advice on how to use what you want to use. If you're starter level or not so experienced, begin with units easier to use, which are pre promoted units, units with good bases and effective throughout a playthrough, etc.

[eclipse]

A lot of it is game-dependent, if you're looking for an ideal team (in which case, you need to define "ideal"). If you just want to get through the game and see the credits, most FE installments are easy enough that you can focus on a small group, and win. For game-specific advice:

FE4 - Your "I win" button is either Sigurd, or very closely related to him. If for some reason Sigurd can't be in two places at once, you'll pick up a guy named Levin who'll take care of the rest.

FE6 - Marcus will carry you through the worst parts of the game. By the time he feels like he's falling behind, the rest of your team should be able to cover for you.

FE7 - Literally. Anyone. Pay attention to the tutorial concepts, and it's not that hard at all!

FE8 - You can grind here.

FE9 - Ike is pretty damn good on his own. Titania can easily hold her own here, which means that the rest of the cast is fairly flexible.

FE10 - Due to the in-and-out nature of the cast, don't start with this game. Once you have several under your belt, you should have an idea of who's good and who isn't.

FE11 - Someone did a run with the stand-in characters, who are absolutely terrible. A regular run with named characters will be much easier. . .and yes, this is another "anyone goes" game.

FE12 - Unit overload! Focus on the units you pick up early (even Arran - he's very helpful early on).

FE13 - One of your initial characters is Robin, who starts with a skill that gives him/her more experience. Since Awakening is Snowball Levels: The Game, take advantage of all that experience!

Fates - There's a ton of discussion in that subforum, but it's nigh-impossible to go wrong with the eldest brothers.

[Ether]

A lot of it depends on how you want to play. Your playstyle, what difficulty you play on, all of that. Throughout the series there are no units that are technically "unusable" provided you have the dedication to use them. There are better and worse units, but the most important thing is to pick units that are gonna help you enjoy the game.

Do you wanna steamroll with tonnes of mobility? A small team of cavaliers and fliers with exp pumped into them will let you have a blast. Want a low effort win? Jeigans always have a strong start, some are good the whole game(hi FE7 Marcus, Seth, Titania), and by the time they would lose steam, you have more high base stat units ready to go. Want shiny green stats? As a general rule, if they join late at a low level, they probably have high growth rates(or they're just a trap, but you'll find that out pretty quick most of the time). Pick your playstyle, pick your favourites(I'll almost always use female characters over males as an example, and you have to be pretty damn good or bad to break this convention, aside from a few who appeal to me personally for whatever reason)

tl;dr - find who you like and who plays in a way you enjoy, and use them. Aside from the hardest modes of the toughest games in the series, any team comp can clear through most FE games with little compositional difficulties.

[Parrhesia]

There is no Fire Emblem (though there are some difficulty levels on some FEs) that you cannot just take all of your favourite characters, irrespective of class, and use them right through to the end. The only uniform advice is not to be afraid to use your promoted fighters earlygame when you need to relieve some pressure.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Parrhesia

[alatartheblue42]

Note in advance: I don't do special runs (LTC, PMU, insert run here) so units are also somewhat based on my personal playstyle.

In FE 7 & 8 (any mode), you can use most anyone because the games are fairly easy. My teams usually end up like this:

1-2 Generals, All the Swordmasters I can get, 1 Valkyrie, A few Sages/Bishops/Druid (depends on who I want to play), At least 1 Falcoknight and Wyvern Lord, 1 thief/rogue, The forced lords (except Eliwood because he's been trash in every run I've ever done and not for lack of trying). Round out team with anyone else I feel like in the event there's more space.

FE 10 (I've only done easy, it's hard and long enough for me) is weird because the playable characters change frequently, as eclipse mentioned.

[spoiler=Mild spoilers since I name some characters specifically] For me, the Dawn Brigade sans Micaiah & Sothe is usually cut by endgame because they don't get enough screentime and start at low levels. The lord-types usually end up pretty good (Sothe & Micaiah are often underleveled though). I almost always end up using Haar, Nephanee, Lucia, Geoffrey, Gatrie, Shinon, Danved, Mist, Sanaki, and Bastian. I don't particularly like using Laguz myself (I prefer normal weapons), but the royals are definitely powerful enough to hold their own even with relatively little training.

FE 11 (only did one playthrough and on easy or normal, not sure which). I don't remember much aside from using Marth, Caeda, Tiki, the two mages with personal e-rank spells, and a whole mess of mounted people. It didn't seem all that hard, but I probably used a lot of the better units and I was on a low difficulty.

FE 13: grinding makes it possible to use anyone you want as long as you have the funds to buy Reeking Boxes. Of course, my problem with Lunatic is that I have trouble getting through the first few levels to get to the point where I can grind.

Fates: Obviously depends on the route, but the eldest brothers are OP, the other royals aren't too terrible either, and in Birthright or Revelations you can grind. Don't play Conquest unless you already know what unit types you like to play FEs with.

[quasimopho13]

Most team combinations are viable on Normal mode.

A Normal run, can teach you the mechanics of that specific game as well as the strengths and weaknesses of certain characters. This will give you a feel for what is viable on harder modes.

Also, fe tends to work in extremes. What is good in Normal mode tends to be amazing in Hard mode and vice versa.

For example, swords have high accuracy in fe6. Rutger (sword user) wrecks fe6 normal mode, so chances are he's a great unit for hard mode.

Kaga (series creator) made the game winnable using tons of different methods. I believe he wanted the player to be able to pick the units and strategy that they preferred.

[quasimopho13]

Most team combinations are viable on Normal mode.

A Normal run, can teach you the mechanics of that specific game as well as the strengths and weaknesses of certain characters. This will give you a feel for what is viable on harder modes.

Also, fe tends to work in extremes. What is good in Normal mode tends to be amazing in Hard mode and vice versa.

For example, swords have high accuracy in fe6. Rutger (sword user) wrecks fe6 normal mode, so chances are he's a great unit for hard mode.

Kaga (series creator) made the game winnable using tons of different methods. I believe he wanted the player to be able to pick the units and strategy that they preferred.

[Spellsion]

This is a bit unrelated topic, but I don't want to spam the forum so I want to ask. When should I promote my unit. In the 3ds FE games, I usually wait till their lv 20 twenty before promoting, but in the older ones is it better to upgrade early, late, or around the middle.

[Ether]

It honestly depends on the unit and the situation, In games like 4, 9 and 10, early promotion is basically a non-option, limited if available at all. If you need a boost of power immediately and don't mind a unit growing a bit more slowly, go ahead and promote early. In the GBA and DS games, units are unlikely to hit 20/20 unless you're grinding, so losing a few pre-promo levels isn't the end of the world. If there's no pressing need to promote, then don't feel pressured to promote early, but waiting until 20 is usually unnecessary.

[eclipse]

This is a bit unrelated topic, but I don't want to spam the forum so I want to ask. When should I promote my unit. In the 3ds FE games, I usually wait till their lv 20 twenty before promoting, but in the older ones is it better to upgrade early, late, or around the middle.

Do you need the extra stats/weapons RIGHT NOW? That's what I ask myself, and the answer to that question is the same as the answer to "should I promote right now".

[Spellsion]

I think I have a gist to tackle the older FE games. Thank you to those who answered my questions.

Edited January 8, 2017 by Spellsion

[Quintessence]

A fun way to play is also using varied classes.

For instance, an example can be using the classic classes, like Myrmidon, Fighter, Cavalier, Knight, Archer, Mage, Priest/Bishop and find other variants if you want, like Pegasus Knight/Wyvern Night and Thief.

FE has a big virtue and is its high replay value. Once you finish a game, you can bump a new file and approach it with different strategies and different units.

[iridium137]

For a first playthrough, my team-building process tends to go something like this:
1. Add the main lord and other "important" characters.
2. Add the dancer and at least one healer.
3. Add at least one thief, at least one flier, and other "utility" characters (if any).
4. Add whichever characters seem good, or I'm interested in trying out, or whatever, until I reach the desired number. (I tend to aim for 12).
5. Make sure there's at least one user of every weapon type, and no weapon type is overrepresented. Also make sure there's at least one "tank".

After the first playthrough, I evaluate which characters were pulling their weight and which characters were lagging behind, and see if there's any common characteristics. I also try to remember if there were any situations that I had trouble in, and adjust accordingly in future playthroughs.

[geraq]

As people have told you, it depends mainly on your playstyle. I tend to go with cavaliers for their high movement and weapon versatility, and I also like to use high-defense units like armors or mercenaries, and one or two mages and healers. Personally, I don't like to use myrmidons and axe fighters, and I rarely use pegasus knights and dancers.

However, be wary that this depends on the current map you're playing, the terrain and the enemy classes. Rememer that flyers are usually vulnerable to arrows, that armors are weak against magic, that archers can't counter-attack in close range, that mages are not penalized in their movement in desert maps and that horses are strongly penalized in those maps, and things like that. This is not indispensable in easier games like FE7 and FE8 but pay attention to the weapon triangle and effective weapons (weapons that deal bonus damage to certain classes) whenever you can. I always check the map and the enemy units before deciding which units am I going to bring, specially if there are choke-points I need to block or defend.