Board 8 > Rating Every Fire Emblem Character: Day 8 - Ares, Rebecca, Genny, Ferdinand, dup

(+) Yeah! (+)

Everything subject to change for now.

Stuff:
- Ratings 1-10, no decimals. If you include a decimal, I will round down.
- We will do two ratings for each character character (CH) & unit (UN). They will be separate lists and you do not have to rate for both lists. Character rating is for design, personality, aesthetics, story, etc. and unit rating for everything gameplay related. If you only submit one rating and dont specify which, it will default to the character rating.
- You are free to rate any characters from past days or change your rating.
- Nominations for future characters are accepted. This does not guarantee your noms will be up for rating the next day but they will be moved up the queue for sooner rather than later.
- You obviously do not have to rate everything, just the ones you want.
- No regular schedule (e.g. Day 2 will not necessarily come ~24 hours after Day 1)

Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lne8OQTQ7CwA5UXfzbD-Gsl34JuhamCU9oUgW85JC9w

Past Days:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xdaRcNoKXPEjPNuA8-lRIZtVEQXI-qOJyqO3HZgdC6A

CH:
1. Soren 8.583
2. Hector 8.333
3. Joshua 8.308
4. Nino 7.727
5. Sigurd 7.700
6. Marth 7.444
7. Innes 7.222
8. Ayra 7.200
9. Lyn 7.125
10. Takumi 7.000
11. Leon 7.000
12. Hilda 6.900
13. Mercedes 6.833
14. Nanna (5) 6.800
15. Caeda 6.778
16. Leif (5) 6.750
17. Henry 6.714
18. Florina 6.375
19. Micaiah 6.286
20. Lugh 6.125

22. Sue 6.000
22. Ross 6.000

31. Astrid 5.500
32. Marcus 5.273
33. Ricken 4.400
34. Xander 4.000
35. Peri 3.000

UN:
1. Sigurd 10.000
2. Robin 9.889
3. Caeda 9.222
4. Marcus 9.000
5. Xander 8.857
6. Florina 8.500
7. Hector 8.235
8. Cordelia 7.917
9. Hilda 7.800
10. Nanna (5) 7.750
11. Leon 7.600
12. Soren (9) 7.545
13. Mercedes 7.167
14. Leif (5) 7.000
15. Joshua 7.000
16. Takumi 7.000
17. Panne 6.700
18. Astrid (9) 6.625
19. Lugh 6.375
20. Henry 6.167

22. Sue 5.667
24. Ross 5.571
25. Ayra 5.400

28. Innes 5.222
29. Peri 4.778
30. Ricken 4.300
31. Roy 3.833
32. Nino 3.455

Day 8: Ares, Rebecca, Genny, Ferdinand, dupes

Ares (4)

Cavalier -> Paladin
Stats / Growths:
Lv: 7
HP: 40 / 130
STR/MAG: 13/4 | 90/5
SKL: 12+20 / 20
SPD: 13 / 30
LCK: 6 / 50
DEF: 12 / 40
RES: 4+10 / 30
MOV: 8

Rebecca (7)

Archer -> Sniper
Stats / Growths:
Lv: 1
HP: 17 / 60
STR/MAG: 4 / 40
SKL: 5 / 50
SPD: 6 / 60
LCK: 4 / 50
DEF: 3 / 15
RES: 1 / 30
CON: 5
AID: 4
MOV: 5

Genny (15)

Cleric -> Saint
Stats / Growths (SoV):
Lv: 1
HP: 18 / 30
ATK: 7 / 60
SKL: 2 / 50
SPD: 5 / 30
LCK: 7 / 35
DEF: 1 / 20
RES: 13 / 5
TOL: 0.45
MOV: 4

Ferdinand von Aegir

Noble -> Cavalier, etc.
Stats / Growths (Black Eagles):
Lv: 1
HP: 28 / 50
STR/MAG: 8/5 | 45/20
DEX: 6 / 40
SPD: 8 / 50
LCK: 6 / 40
DEF: 6 / 35
RES: 2 / 20
CHA: 7 / 45
MOV: 4

Leif (4)
Prince -> Master Knight
Stats / Growths (4):
Lv: 1
HP: 24-32 / 130
STR/MAG: 9-12 / 3-4 | 60/7
SKL: 8-10 / 50
SPD: 7-10 / 45
LCK: 2-13 / 25
DEF: 7-11 / 50
RES: 3-4 / 10
MOV: 6

Nanna (4)
Troubadour -> Paladin
Stats / Growths (4):
Lv: 3
Variable
MOV: 8

Soren (10)

Wind Sage -> Arch Sage
Stats / Growths (10):
Lv: 5
HP: 28 / 40
STR/MAG: 9/23 | 25/80
SKL: 21 / 60
SPD: 18 / 35
LCK: 11 / 35
DEF: 9 / 25
RES: 21 / 70
CON: 6
WT: 6
MOV: 6

Astrid (10)

Bow Paladin -> Silver Knight
Stats / Growths (10):
Lv: 2
HP: 33 / 55
STR/MAG: 13/8 | 40/20
SKL: 16 / 45
SPD: 15 / 40
LCK: 17 / 70
DEF: 10 / 30
RES: 14 / 50
CON: 7
WT: 31
MOV: 9

Marth (12)

Lord
Stats / Growths:
Lv: 6
HP: 26 / 90
STR: 8 / 60
SKL: 10 / 65
SPD: 10 / 65
LCK: 9 / 80
DEF: 8 / 30
RES: 0 / 5
MOV: 7

Caeda (12)

Peg Knight -> Dracoknight/Falcoknight, etc.
Stats / Growths (12):
Lv: 4
HP: 19 / 60
STR/MAG: 6/2 | 30/0
SKL: 7 / 80
SPD: 15 / 95
LCK: 13 / 80
DEF: 7 / 25
RES: 6 / 10
MOV: 8

Form:
Ares CH
Rebecca CH
Genny CH
Ferdinand CH

Ares UN
Rebecca UN
Genny UN
Ferdinand UN
Leif UN (4)
Nanna UN (4)
Soren UN (10)
Astrid UN (10)
Marth UN (12)
Caeda UN (12)

If your character rating for Leif through Caeda would be different depending on the game, you can specify that and it will be recorded. Otherwise, it will be assumed to be the same for both games they appear in.

Ares CH 8
Rebecca CH 6
Genny CH 6
Ferdinand CH 3

Ares UN 8
Rebecca UN 2
Genny UN 7
Leif UN (4) 3
Nanna UN (4) 7
Soren UN (10) 6
Astrid UN (10) 3
Marth UN (12) 6
Caeda UN (12) 7

My unit rankings are going to be pretty wonky today, aside from FE7 I've only played each of these games once. I am open to corrections!

Ares I remember being very strong with his Mistletoe sword, not completely dominant but close to it. I like him a lot! He's the son of my favorite NPC and I wish he had a real story arc to speak of instead of just a grudge against Seliph.

Rebecca is bad, she can be serviceable if you really need an archer but FE7 protip: you don't really need an archer. As a character she's cute I guess? The Rebecca/Dart character arc is pretty interesting at least.

Genny is good, she has a solid magic learnset and is just a capable healer with eventual damage output once she gets Seraphim. Tempted to go 8 here but I'll stick with 7. She's also a more interesting character than Silque but only just. I don't like the way her name is spelled at all #NotMyJenny

Never used Ferdinand because I haven't played SS/CF yet and his support doesn't grow in part 1 and he demands ranks in stuff like Riding that my Byleth never had and so he's the only character I never recruited in VW and yes i am bitter about it thank you. He's one of my least favorite playables in 3H too but again I've never used him so I can only judge him from interactions at the monastery.

Leif is kind of a nightmare to train. I did it, it's possible, but it sucks. The payoff is access to (arguably) the best class in the game, but tbh it's probably not worth it because it doesn't make him THAT much better than anyone else who's already good at the start. Like Ares. Did I mention I like Ares.

Nanna is a solid healer on a horse. I remember FE10 Soren being kind of unimpressive? I mean he's fine, but not bonkers like some FE10 characters are. Astrid FE10 sucks. Marth FE12 is a superior combat unit compared to his FE11 self I think? Still not great. Caeda isn't nuts in FE12 like she is in FE11 but she's solid if you want a flier that isn't Sirius reclassed into a dragonlord.

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Ares CH 8
Rebecca CH 6
Genny CH 6
Ferdinand CH 8

Ares UN 8
Rebecca UN 2
Genny UN 8
Ferdinand UN 8
Leif UN (4) 9
Nanna UN (4) 8
Soren UN (10) 5
Astrid UN (10) 2
Marth UN (12) 7
Caeda UN (12) 8
---

Ares CH 4
Rebecca CH 5
Genny CH 5
Ferdinand CH 7
Leif (4) CH - 6

Ares is a generic "cool" guy who isn't cool because that type rarely is. Ferdinand is decent. Don't care about Rebecca and Genny. What little personality Leif gets in Genealogy is alright.

Ares UN 9
Rebecca UN 1
Genny UN 7
Ferdinand UN 8
Leif UN (4) 9
Nanna UN (4) 8
Soren UN (10) 3
Astrid UN (10) 1
Marth UN (12) 6
Caeda UN (12) 8

Oh boy. Okay Ares is really good, he falls a bit short against a few bosses but mostly only ones that few units can fight effectively and he at least doesn't auto-die to Arvis like 90% of the cast. Stats and skills let him be good no matter what and Mistletain (I don't think I ever spell that thing the same way twice, or correctly ever) is a cherry on top, can run into a bit of money trouble with it but that's the price you pay for guaranteed ORKOs or a monster crit rate vs things that need them to die.

Rebecca is garbage. Bases so bad she doesn't even reliably set up kills for other units, worst class imaginable, exists in a game with very limited deployment slots so using her is an even bigger sacrifice than it is for most bad growth units, no enemy phase in a super enemy phase heavy game...it's a miracle there manage to be worse units in the series (arguably in her own game, though purely due to availability) because she fails in every way.

I don't have a lot to say about Genny or Ferdinand, both are good.

Leif is basically the one unit in the entire series where "they get good later" actually means something besides "they suck but eventually they're like everyone else". Genealogy allows you to level up everyone without issue and Leif reaches level 20 by chapter 9 without hassle. Master Knight is the best class in the game and he becomes a monster for combat, but his real value is being the only mounted Rescue staff user. The last two chapters feel like a different game entirely with that on your side. Honestly I'm at a bit of a loss here, factoring in availability should nudge him down to a 9 since he's only good for half the generation and only special for a third of it, but he's so absurd in that third that he's worth a 10 if you ignore availability and I haven't quite decided how much weight to put on it for these ratings. Barring certain Jagens in the early game few units in the series are ever as good as Leif is for those two chapters.

Nanna is the always useful mounted healer who makes it possible for your army of horses to keep running on.

Soren sucks. Radiant Dawn must have had a traumatic childhood experience where a mage stole its teddy bear because man oh man does it hate mages. Enemies have higher Res than in most games, mages tend to have bad bases, their speed caps are dreadful in a game where that matters...not fun. Soren pokes things once for okay damage and dies to stuff. Not fun. At least he's better than whatever the hell Astrid thinks she's doing this time around.

Marth gets to be quite a bit better in New Mystery with better bases and sword lock not being nearly as bad, though still not ideal. He still spends a lot of time just wandering places to recruit people but he can do some damage when needed, and in practice he'll often have somewhat inflated stats from feeding him kills and some stat boosters to ensure he can actually survive a round with Medeus. Caeda is not the broken goddess she used to be but she's still pretty good, in a game where speed thresholds are through the roof she manages to double almost everything throughout the mid game, and the Wing Spear is still very strong on some maps even if it's not the Win The Game Button anymore. Runs into some problems late game due to lack of good endgame classes that work for her stat spread and/or lance rank, but that's a common issue. And the stat boosters that fix her issues are far less in demand than the infinitely valuable speedwings she'll never need.

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Ares CH 7
Rebecca CH 4
Genny CH 3
Ferdinand CH 6

Ares UN 7
Rebecca UN 2
Genny UN 8
Ferdinand UN 8
Leif UN (4) 9
Nanna UN (4) 8
Soren UN (10) 6
Astrid UN (10) 1
Marth UN (12) 8
Caeda UN (12) 8

Ares' offense is impeccable, but since his unique weapon is 1-range and his early durability isn't too great, he's more limited than the best units in terms of how many units he can kill in one turn. The basic setup for his character is good but perhaps a little under-explored.

Rebecca suffers from poor base stats and is stuck in the worst class in the game. As a character she's kind of generic.

Exploiting Genny's summon soldier ability is a core strategy in Echoes, with healing being a nice bonus.

Ferdinand is pretty good but doesn't reach the top tier of TH. His stats are good, he has a crest, and proficiency in axes and riding are nice.

Aside from the excellent post-promotion performance, Leif's early weakness can be mitigated a lot through inheritance. Last time I played I promoted him in early chapter 8 by giving him a silver sword and some stat rings and having him clean up most of the enemy reinforcements on his side of the map in chapter 7 while Nanna and Finn ran support.

Nanna is a mounted healer. She doesn't need to fight much, but can possibly pull some tricks with tools like the magic swords.

RD Soren is a little under-rated I feel. When he joins not many of your characters can 1-round enemies, and he can contribute pretty well by combining with people like Boyd and Gatrie for kills. Interestingly, he can hit his most important caps in stats like mag and spd very quickly and promote at level 10 - 12 without much loss, so he can start building staff ranks (though having arc sage start with like E staves is a huge kick in the teeth, lol) and occasionally nuking someone with Flare. He also joins with the weapon ranks to use all 3 types of siege tome, and passing Callil's Meteor to the Griel Mercs for him to play with is probably more practical than using it in her join chapter.

The only thing redeemable about Astrid is that she has high mov and canto, but being able to run away after shooting a guy for 1 damage isn't worth much.

Marth is definitely better in 12, capable of 1-rounding a lot of early enemies on some difficulties and gaining access to some nice exclusive goodies later on, including the binding shield for +2 for all stats. Falchion still comes disappointingly late, but this time it's one of your best options against the final boss.

Caeda is essentially the same unit as she was in Shadow Dragon, but the enemy types her wing spear destroys are way less common now and the enemy stats are higher to the point where her strength and defense can't get her as far.

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Rebecca CH 6
Genny CH 7
Ferdinand CH 7

Rebecca UN 3
Genny UN 8
Ferdinand UN 8

Soren UN (10) 5
Astrid UN (10) 4

Man are mages and paladins bad in FE10. These two aren't even the worst ones. Soren at least still has Adept, and Astrid...at least isn't Fiona.

I've been a little underwhelmed with Ferdie's stats every time I've used him, but, man, Swift Strikes.

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Rebecca CH 6
Rebecca UN 3

another character i liked way more when i was younger

oh

Hi, I am Genny!

I will rank "Soren" a 10 because that is what I plan to name my first son

(Please don't take me seriously)

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Form:
Ares CH 8
Rebecca CH 5
Genny CH 6
Ferdinand CH 8

Ares UN 9
Rebecca UN 2
Genny UN 8
Ferdinand UN 8
Leif UN (4) 9
Nanna UN (4) 8
Soren UN (10) 5
Astrid UN (10) 1

Ares is a mounted holy weapon user, which is the best thing you can be in FE4. Mystletainn is a nice weapon, giving +10 to res and +20 to skill, plus the critical skill. The skill pairs nicely with critical, while the res boost plus Ares's highest non-holy blood boosted res growth makes him pretty good against mages. His biggest problem is that he's a little on the frail side physically when he joins, but he can snowball quickly and become one of the best guys in your army.

Rebecca has bad bases and growths, and is in one of the worst classes in FE7. I don't know why they thought she was okay, and they even thought she was good enough that Neimi could have the same bases except for +1 res.

Genny is the main healer in Celica's route, and her summons are pretty useful as bait. Pretty solid all around.

Ferdinand has the great Swift Strikes and crest of Cichol combo, and while he's not as good at it as Seteth is, he's around a lot more than Seteth is. Even before he gets that, he's a pretty solid combat unit.

Leif has one of the best promotions in the series, only contested by Lachesis's promotion into the same class. He goes from a sword-locked foot unit to a mounted unit who can use nearly every non-holy weapon in the game. If that wasn't enough, he gets some really good stat boosts from it, plus the always valuable pursuit skill. He's the only mounted unit who can use Rescue (not even Claude!Fee or Claude!Nanna can use it), and is just a really strong combat unit all around, being one of the few non-holy weapon users who can hang with the deadlords. I have to ding him a bit because he's fairly weak when he joins, but he pretty much has all of the Manster enemies to himself, and Finn is good at setting up kills for him, so it's not the worst start ever.

Nanna is a mounted staff user in FE4. That's all she needs to be good.

Soren gets saved a little bit if he has transfers from FE9, but he's still hurt by the fact that mages are awful in FE10. He can help out in Part 3, and even early part 4 before his speed cap becomes a liability, but that's too much to overlook in the endgame.

Astrid is so bad in FE10 that not even paragon can save her. Just take it off her and give it to someone good.

I never played FE12, so I can't comment on Marth and Caeda.

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i'll probably name my firstborn Zephiel

Panthera posted...

Genealogy allows you to level up everyone without issue and Leif reaches level 20 by chapter 9 without hassle.

Mewtwo59 posted...

I have to ding him a bit because he's fairly weak when he joins, but he pretty much has all of the Manster enemies to himself, and Finn is good at setting up kills for him, so it's not the worst start ever.

Evillordexdeath posted...

Last time I played I promoted him in early chapter 8 by giving him a silver sword and some stat rings and having him clean up most of the enemy reinforcements on his side of the map in chapter 7 while Nanna and Finn ran support.

So I remember Leif being annoying to train and Lachesis not being too hard, but reading all this is making me think I have it backwards and that Lachesis was actually the annoying one. For those of you who know FE4 better than me, does that sound more accurate?

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Neither is particularly annoying except possibly on a first playthrough. Lachesis has staffs so as long as you know what staff access, even just C rank, does to EXP gain you can get her promoted for chapter 4 fairly easily, especially if you know how the Miracle Sword can break the arena. Leif can be annoying if you don't have him inherit anything good, but there's a few options to pass him stuff that you don't miss much elsewhere that will let him get a ton of kills in his starting area, then you give him money and let him Paragon through the arena. Chapter 9 promotion is pretty easy, and realistically you don't truly *need* him promoted until chapter 10 which is trivial to arrange. Learning to manage your money so you can get the Paragon ring on everyone (that matters) for their arena runs results in a lot of experience coming in.

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Ferdinand CH 6

is Ferdinand the only character who looks better pre-timeskip

just realized i don't remember anything about using the guy even though i'm pretty sure i did