Zelot vs. Marcus

[Jerry Kuma]

So I'm playing BB for the first time (playing in hard mode, because I like being challenged) and I did use him in his recruitment chapter and he did fine in the chapter in that he was able to hold his own and didn't really need rescuing unlike Trek. However, I have heard that Zelot generally sucks compared to Marcus. And looking at his bases, yeah his skill isn't as good as Marcus' but other than that he's not much different.

So what are people referring to? Are they referring to his growth rates? (If so, that doesn't really matter considering that his bases are already fine and he's meant to fulfill a Jagen-like role). His availability? Or something else? I would like to hear what people think of him. And whether or not he's a unit worth using in a more efficient playthrough.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Jerry Kuma

[Tryhard]

I don't think he's much different. I refer to him as Second Marcus personally. Two Marcuses is better than one. Availability may have something to do with it, but he's helpful.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Edgelord

[Reality]

It's mostly the availability - the chapters up to and including his join chapter are generally seen as the biggest stat crunch - afterwards the game is more gentle and any unprompted cavaliers will have started to catch up to both of them not to mention the drastically increased rate of getting new (and often defining) characters towards the mid game. 

Personally I think he's fine.

Efficency will of course use him for a long time... you need lots of mounted units in this game because this has by far the largest map sizes in GBA, and Roy/staffers need to be rescued dropped. Most (growths) LTC actually don't use Zealot for chipping many bosses, since Lance is the best generally better for this around the same time.

[ping]

He's a lot less important when he joins than Marcus was in the first few chapters, that's all. You'll get your first Knight's Crest in chapter 8, and Allen/Lance at 15/1 pretty much out-stat Jerrot in every area except Res, so unlike Marcus in chapter 1, Zealot is just one of your best units, not THE best.

It' definitely still worth fielding him, too. There's no such thing as too many paladins in FE6 (outside the desert map, I guess) and you won't get your second Knight's Crest before chapter 13/15 (you need to recruit a character to get it and it's very much adviseable to wait until 15 to get him), so there's quite some time in which you can only have three.

[Aut]

Marcus joins 6 chapters earlier and generally the rest of your team then is worse compared to Marcus than compared to Zealot when he joins. He’s still good though, probably better than Marcus when he joins, and he’s pretty cool until like Ch. 13, then the desert hits, then his stats stop being good enough. In an efficient playthrough he’s probably used until like Ch. 13, then he’s probably not getting a whole lot of screen time afterwards. 

[sauce]

Marcus has availability and that's where he excels. Not just because you get him early, but also because he's basically necessary for use. He's near enough the exact same as Marcus in terms of stats, which is nice because it just means you have 2 Marcus, a unit who isn't really outclassed at all until you promote Lance/Alen. He's a solid unit and you can live without using him but saying he sucks is just plain wrong.

[eclipse]

The only thing that sucks about Zealot is the map he's on.  He'll work just fine as a unit, since he's a Paladin, and he can ferry most of the cast.

[Rezzy]

As mentioned, Zealot suffers from coming later.  You definitely could field him, but by that point, I've found I have strong enough units where I don't need a Jeigan, let alone two, and Marcus has already claimed that spot a bit.  He can help you in the Western Isles, which PEMN, but I found to be easy for the most part and a chance to grind up my units, and by the time the game becomes hard again, he's outclassed by pretty much every other Cavalier.  I guess if your other Paladins are RNG screwed or dead, you could use him, but FE6 sends a ton of units your way and not enough deployments slots for all of them.

[Garlyle]

I think they are the same, but Marcus has better availability. I didn't use Zealot much, but in my experience one early Paladin is enough. It kind of depends on the play, he could replace Marcus if you like him better or Marcus died for some reason, but pre-promotes have bad growth rates, so I wouldn't expect much out from them. I think after Chapter 8, you don't really need pre-promotes to help you through maps, even in Hard Mode. Also you need Zealot alive if you go to Ilia and want to achieve true ending. Also Marcus is luckier when it comes to Supports. 

[Soviet Cut]

Even though Zealot's combat is as good as Marcus in hard mode, he has plenty of utility. He is mounted and has 8 mov, he can chip a little if you want.

On 24/07/2018 at 4:38 PM, eclipse said:

The only thing that sucks about Zealot is the map he's on.  He'll work just fine as a unit, since he's a Paladin, and he can ferry most of the cast.

Chapter 7 isn't nice to anyone in HM, it's truly the hardest map in Binding Blade, maybe even in the entire GBA FEs (FE7 has HHM! Cog of Destiny and maybe Battle Before Dawn, and FE8 is just easy). I even get some Thracian vibes from it. 

[Sturm]

Something Marcus has over Zealot is that he has about 10-15 extra hit because of his Skill and Luck leads which typically wouldn't be that much of a difference but combined with FE6's hit rates and when they're chucking maybe 10+ Javelins or Hand Axes on an enemy phase Zealot has a tendency to miss more than you might like, Marcus will also probably have the weapon rank lead as well which is useful considering how slowly that builds so he can probably use things like the Brave Axe earlier, so Marcus is better even though Zealot joins later.  I'd say it's like winning  $1,000,000 on the lottery or $900,000, one is clearly better but the other is not exactly something you'd turn down. It reminds me of Marcus vs Isadora in that somehow Isadora is strictly worse than Marcus is at base even though she joins like 10 chapters later but that still doesn't mean she's a bad unit.