First playthrough

[Garlyle]

Technicly second playthrough, but this is the save where I got further. I did play FE7 on Normal mode, and I got hooked on this game. It is much more difficult, but the story is more to my liking and the maps seems to be more rewarding. I'm at Chapter 16, and it's a tedious map for me now, because all my thieves are underleveled. I'm going to post my character picks, interested about your opinions on it.

With archers, I got a really bad Wolt, but my Sue turned out to be good, so I promoted her. Thany started weak, while Dieck was always good, I picked both of them. I found Lugh was great, until I levelled up my Lilina, she's a Mage Tank at this point. I give her a staff of Heal, and she heals tons while also very offensive. I still have a Lv18 Clarine, and I'm thinking to promote her or not. On the debate between Rutger and Fir, I decided to use them both, I really like good accuracy and evasions. Training Wendy was painful, but now she's doing her job well as a General. Lalum and Echidna didn't got much scores from reviews, but I feel good relying on them. Fa is just wonderful against Bolting, and there's a nice support triangle between her, Igrene and Sophia. I'm a bit concerned about Sophia, I should probably just go with Ray(Rei) instead. On a final note, Tate(Thite) is also interesting - Falcoknights start weak, but always turn out good, but she's really bad on the damage part.

[De Geso]

Glad you're enjoying the game so far! I won't comment on individual unit choices since it's largely up to personal preference, especially on Normal Mode, but I will say a few things:

Don't feel obligated to use a unit from every or most classes. Some classes are just better than others - Paladin and Wyvern Lord for example are the best classes in the game, while all of the Dark Mages and Generals are pretty awful - why use Sophia or Raigh when you could field another horse or flier? Not to mention you get Niime later, who's got all sorts of crazy utility.

That being said, your team seems fine for a first playthrough of Normal Mode.

Oh yeah, and Lalum is one of the best units ever because she's a dancer. They're amazing.

[Aut]

I’m curious, did you use one of the gamefaq guides? I’d advise staying away from them if you plan on doing hard mode as they are notorious for their inaccuracy.

Wolt- yeah he’s not good. His start is notoriously bad, and you get 2 better snipers. If you plan on doing a hard mode run, I’d recommend avoiding him.

Sue- Sue is ok. Her strength can be problematic, as is bowlock, but her speed is good. Only problem with her is that you can go to Sacae if you use her/Shin more than Thany/Tate You can do worse than her

Thany - I really like Thany as a unit. She takes a while to get decent offense, but if you promote her by the end of 8x, she is really good for the western isles and decent for rest of the game. Definitely recommend her use

Dieck - He’s alright. His bases are alright, his growths are alright, and his class is alright. On hard mode he isn’t amazing, but he’s pretty decent.

Rutger - He’s much better on hard mode. In hard mode he gets about +2 to most of their stats, and he becomes more relevant. His high speed and skill makes him an ideal boss killer on hard mode, and his high speed makes him a good offensive unit in general. On normal mode he’s decent, as you experienced. Definitely a solid choice

Fir - She’s Rutger, but joins much later. She also get’s about +2 to most of her stats, so she’s also decent for hard mode. Her biggest problem is that Rutger is her but better, and you only need one bosskiller. But as an offensive unit, she definitely has her merits, even if she needs training.

Lugh - He’s decent. Magic damage is good, but his mediocre bases means that he takes a lot of training to get competent. Once he does, he’s very good but until then he has notable problems as a unit.

Lilina - I don’t think Lilina is good. She’s usable on both modes, but her bases are kinda bad, her growths aren’t as good offensively as Lugh’s (higher speed> higher magic) and she joins kinda late for her level. She’s fun to use, and I’m glad you enjoyed using her, but I don’t think she’s that good.

Clarine - she’s ok. Takes a while to level her up, and her magic isn’t that great, but for slower playthroughs the Rutger/Clarine/Dieck support triangle makes her fun to use. Without that she’s not that great, and I prefer Saul/Cecilia as healers compared to her but she’s fun to use.

Wendy - yeah Wendy is bad. Good on you for using her, but I’d highly recommend you avoid training her (or any armor knight) if you do another playthrough. If you want a unit that’s bulky like an armor knight next time you play, I’d recommend that you go for Milady (the female Wyvern Rider) instead.

Lalum - dancers are nice. She’s pretty popular in most circles. Don’t worry, most players use her.

Echidna - She’s also a fairly popular unit. Statwise she’s good, high speed is always nice. She’s popular among people that go A-route.

Fa - can’t say much about her, but I do know that she has a big problem in that she can only attack 30 times. Don’t feel compelled to unnecessarily use her, she’s not necessary.

Sophia - Sophia is infamous for being bad. If she’s still a pain to use, I’d recommend dropping her for someone else (not necessarily Raigh/Niime though, you don’t need a dark magic user). Not worth it.

Raigh - mediocre. In normal mode he’s fine to use, but in hard mode he’s very weak defensively and his accuracy is mediocre. Plus he’s kinda slow. Like I said, he’s fine on normal mode but I’d avoid him on a hard mode playthrough.

Igrene - good. Snipers are decent in Binding blade (not archers though), and Igrene is more solid than Klein on NM. She’s got some problems but she’s still ok.

Tate - Tate is decent. She shows up a bit late for my tastes, but she’s not bad and she’s definitely worth using (especially if you’re using Sue/Shin). Flyers are just generally decent.

Anyways that’s just my opinion on your unit team. I’m glad that you are enjoying the game, as it’s my personal favorite, and if you plan on doing a hard mode playthrough, I’d recommend asking around about good units, because the HM guides on Gamefaqs are terrible.

[Flee Fleet!]

12 hours ago, Aut said:

Lilina - I don’t think Lilina is good. She’s usable on both modes, but her bases are kinda bad, her growths aren’t as good offensively as Lugh’s (higher speed> higher magic) and she joins kinda late for her level. She’s fun to use, and I’m glad you enjoyed using her, but I don’t think she’s that good.

One good thing about Lilina though is that she can make fast supports with Roy, and since they have the same movement, they don't slow each other down to get supports. So, that way, she can be more useful.

 

13 hours ago, Garlyle said:

Training Wendy was painful, but now she's doing her job well as a General

Heh, I did the same on my first playthrough of the game. She turned out pretty good for me as well. However, it's literally near impossible to train her in HM (she doesn't even get bonus stats so...) so unless you wanna tear off your hair, avoid using her.

 

13 hours ago, Garlyle said:

I'm a bit concerned about Sophia, I should probably just go with Ray(Rei) instead

Yeah, imo Sophia won't turn out great, even when promoted. That's why Raigh is better, but even he isn't that useful. If you want to use a dark mage, use Niime, who also has other utilities.

[Garlyle]

Thanks for the informative feedbacks. As someone already guessed, I did rely on gamefaqs till now. My save already has a very reliable Lilina, who only lacks in Defense. Her Skill at 14 is the second lowest, and with an almost maxed Magic and A support with Roy she has to make it to the end for me. In FE7 shamans destroyed bosses, so I thought it's best to keep one around. Miledy was also mentioned, I could use her, but she need some training before that.

[Shadow Mir]

4 hours ago, Garlyle said:

Thanks for the informative feedbacks. As someone already guessed, I did rely on gamefaqs till now. My save already has a very reliable Lilina, who only lacks in Defense. Her Skill at 14 is the second lowest, and with an almost maxed Magic and A support with Roy she has to make it to the end for me. In FE7 shamans destroyed bosses, so I thought it's best to keep one around. Miledy was also mentioned, I could use her, but she need some training before that.

Bold: Only because of Luna. Not so much here, where everyone's on a gate or throne, with the latter providing 5 bonus Resistance (of course, the game doesn't tell you this).

Edited November 21, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Garlyle]

I made it to Chapter 20 Ilia route. I almost made all the promotions I planned, and the game is still able to give me the challenge(FE7 at this point was a walk). I need 1 more level for Tate before promoting her, yet she seriously lacks in Strength(maybe she's better in HM). The growth rates in defense part(Def/Res) is too low for my liking, so I guess it is a good idea to rely on good speed and skill(with strength being 3rd). It also makes dodging status spells more difficult.

[Aut]

1 hour ago, Garlyle said:

I made it to Chapter 20 Ilia route. I almost made all the promotions I planned, and the game is still able to give me the challenge(FE7 at this point was a walk). I need 1 more level for Tate before promoting her, yet she seriously lacks in Strength(maybe she's better in HM). The growth rates in defense part(Def/Res) is too low for my liking, so I guess it is a good idea to rely on good speed and skill(with strength being 3rd). It also makes dodging status spells more difficult.

Glad you’ve made it that far. I’d earlypromote Tate at this point if you plan on seriously using her, she’s not getting anything by waiting to promote (her strength growth isn’t exactly amazing). Yeah, Defense and resistance growths are overall lower than FE7 from what I remember, but on hard mode you get monsters like Milady and Percival who start out with a ton of defense. FYI, in ch. 21 there is a secret shop that sells every statbooster in the game if you want to get boots/speedwings/energy rings.

If you plan on playing through hard mode, I’d recommend these units - 

Marcus, Allance, Shanna, Rutger, Saul, Zealot, Shin, Ashtol, Tate, Lalum/Elphin, Milady, Percival, Niime. With some other units as well, but these units are very good on hard mode. I’d recommend eventually dropping Marcus and Zealot around Arcadia, maybe a bit earlier for Marcus, but both of them are very good for a long stretch of time. I’d also recommend earlypromoting Shanna by the end of chapter 8x so she is a monster in the Western Isles. Rutger should be promoted before you face the boss of 8x or he’ll be a pain to take down.

I’d avoid using any armored units, unpromoted archers, unpromoted axe users, and unpromoted dark mages. Not to say you shouldn’t use Bors Wolt Wade and Lot when they have free deployment, but after that they probably shouldn’t really see much use. Lilina and Hugh also aren’t great for hard mode. Most of these units can be used if you want to use them, it’s just that they start of bad and don’t see any real payoff. 

[Dandy Druid]

On 11/20/2017 at 8:34 AM, Garlyle said:

Lalum and Echidna didn't got much scores from reviews, but I feel good relying on them. 

Dancers may not be able to attack in GBA emblem, but who used their dancers to attack anyway? There's only 2 dancers (out of the 9) that deserve to go head to head in battle so anyone that criticizes the GBA dancers for lack of counterattack shouldn't have left them open anyways- dancers aren't supposed to be counterattacking because they're fragile. That's not their job.

As you probably know, FE6 has limited resources, so training a bunch of people and not using her can backfire because you may not have any resources to promote all of them and experience is limited- Lalum wouldn't be stealing any experience from anyone.

Who scored her poorly? I'll fight them. The only reason I can see points being knocked off for are that she's crazy in her support conversations. I find her entertaining, but I can see why people may not like her personality.

On 11/24/2017 at 6:03 AM, Aut said:

Lilina and Hugh also aren’t great for hard mode. Most of these units can be used if you want to use them, it’s just that they start of bad and don’t see any real payoff. 

It's a real shame about Hugh. He's the safe medium between Lilina and Lugh, but he comes so late though.

[Garlyle]

Hey guys, I'm just here to report that I successfully completed my first playthrough. Partial success, as I goofed up and didn't trigger the 20x Gaiden chapter and the game ended after I defeated Zephiel. Still, your posts gave me confidence in my team, and I am planning to do a second playthrough. Hard mode sounds interesting, but some early chapters(4,7,8) are still something I'm not playing properly in normal playthrough, there's just too many things that could go wrong. I'll give a chance to Cavaliers this time, in FE7 they just didn't seem to be end-game worthy(they didn't excel in anything for me). Here, I'll have a free spot instead of a Shaman.

[Flee Fleet!]

7 hours ago, Garlyle said:

I'll give a chance to Cavaliers this time

You should definitely give a chance to at least Alan and Lance. They're both useful units, and due to their fast supports, they can easily become one of the most powerful units.