Fire Emblem: The Discussion Thread (keep FE Fates story under spoilertags)

[Aninymouse]

Ashnard is one bad mamma jamma.

 

[NickRiddle]

FE9( Path Of Radiance update) I'm at Ch.27 right now and about to fight the Black Knight with a Lvl 19 Ike with Max Strength and Speed.

EDIT: Defeated the Black Knight with a Aether on the last turn before Nasir stopped the battle.

I was going to beat him with Aether in my LP.
And then the Luna portion of it missed.
That was over 2 years ago.
I'm still salty.

 

[Gamegenie222]

I was going to beat him with Aether in my LP.
And then the Luna portion of it missed.
That was over 2 years ago.
I'm still salty.

Dude that would be salt inducing holy crap lol.

Also in other news as a update I have finally beaten POR and holy crap this was a damn fine game. Now I need to play Radiant Dawn now and see how that goes and figure out what character I really like in the Tellius games but so far there were a few character in which I enjoyed outside of Ike and Elincia and their character developments.

 

[Spartiatis]

Dude that would be salt inducing holy crap lol.

Also in other news as a update I have finally beaten POR and holy crap this was a damn fine game. Now I need to play Radiant Dawn now and see how that goes and figure out what character I really like in the Tellius games but so far there were a few character in which I enjoyed outside of Ike and Elincia and their character developments.

You should try Path of Radiance in hard mode. Big surprise on the last chapter.

 

[Gamegenie222]

You should try Path of Radiance in hard mode. Big surprise on the last chapter.

Maybe later but I'm not down with grinding down on 29 chapters again on a harder difficulty at least not now. Just gonna do that piece by piece while working on support conversations.

 

[fe_wander]

Dude that would be salt inducing holy crap lol.

Also in other news as a update I have finally beaten POR and holy crap this was a damn fine game. Now I need to play Radiant Dawn now and see how that goes and figure out what character I really like in the Tellius games but so far there were a few character in which I enjoyed outside of Ike and Elincia and their character developments.

You get very few PoR characters back in the first part of RD. It's separated into four "parts", and the first one features a mostly new cast. Part 2 has some characters from PoR back, Parts 3 and 4 are more... complicated, let's say, in the interest of avoiding spoilers.

Just know that your cast for Part 1 is generally worse than you'll be used to after PoR. You don't get many sturdy characters, so you have to be pretty careful for most of the first 5 or so chapters.

Oh, btw, if you played on normal mode I think you can do this transfer thing from your completed PoR file to RD. It just changes some character's stats slightly if they capped them in PoR.
http://serenesforest.net/fe10/transfer.html
That page has a bit more info on it. Of course, I dunno if you can do this on an emulator, if you're using one of those to play.

 

[~Firefly~]

I finished my Chrom solo yesterday. The only catch after getting past the early game was dealing with the million Physic Sages/War Clerics/Valkyries in the final chapter that Chrom can't really deal with on his own. It pretty much meant I had to 2RKO Grima (thankfully, he always starts the enemy phase if he is capable of attacking), but I think Chrom actually one rounded him. It turns out his Great Knight Spd cap is exactly enough to double Grima, and that class also gives him the Str/Def he needs. His skillset was Rightful King, Aether, Luna, Aegis, and Outdoor Fighter, so he was able to proc double Aether and kinda bodied him.

Fun fact, if only two units get KOs (Donnel got 1 because I wanted to recruit everybody I feasibly could), everybody else that didn't get any KOs and didn't fight any battles got Bronze medals. So virtually everybody got Bronze, except for a couple units who would up participating in battles, but didn't do anything. Gaius fell under this category because Chrom had to attack somebody on the same turn he recruited Gaius, meaning he got the Gaius support for that battle, as did Henry for appearing in a map where it's challenging, but not impossible to avoid letting him die.

 

[Aninymouse]

I finished my Chrom solo yesterday. The only catch after getting past the early game was dealing with the million Physic Sages/War Clerics/Valkyries in the final chapter that Chrom can't really deal with on his own. It pretty much meant I had to 2RKO Grima (thankfully, he always starts the enemy phase if he is capable of attacking), but I think Chrom actually one rounded him. It turns out his Great Knight Spd cap is exactly enough to double Grima, and that class also gives him the Str/Def he needs. His skillset was Rightful King, Aether, Luna, Aegis, and Outdoor Fighter, so he was able to proc double Aether and kinda bodied him.

Fun fact, if only two units get KOs (Donnel got 1 because I wanted to recruit everybody I feasibly could), everybody else that didn't get any KOs and didn't fight any battles got Bronze medals. So virtually everybody got Bronze, except for a couple units who would up participating in battles, but didn't do anything. Gaius fell under this category because Chrom had to attack somebody on the same turn he recruited Gaius, meaning he got the Gaius support for that battle, as did Henry for appearing in a map where it's challenging, but not impossible to avoid letting him die.

I was bragging on you to the GameFAQs cretins the other day. I'm quite proud of your accomplishment. Good job

 

[Gamegenie222]

You get very few PoR characters back in the first part of RD. It's separated into four "parts", and the first one features a mostly new cast. Part 2 has some characters from PoR back, Parts 3 and 4 are more... complicated, let's say, in the interest of avoiding spoilers.

Just know that your cast for Part 1 is generally worse than you'll be used to after PoR. You don't get many sturdy characters, so you have to be pretty careful for most of the first 5 or so chapters.

Oh, btw, if you played on normal mode I think you can do this transfer thing from your completed PoR file to RD. It just changes some character's stats slightly if they capped them in PoR.
http://serenesforest.net/fe10/transfer.html
That page has a bit more info on it. Of course, I dunno if you can do this on an emulator, if you're using one of those to play.

Thanks for the info and I have a physical POR game. I'm looking for a job so I can get a Radiant Dawn one as well as pay my friend who lend me the POR game.

 

[majora_787]

I'm starting my first playthrough of Genealogy of the Holy War once again. It's already turning out way better than one of the last ones I played, though I feel like I have too much room and too much to do. Noish is already dead. I have a feeling I'm going to mess some things up.

 

[NickRiddle]

How stupid would it be to try to play Thracia without some sort of guide in front of me?
I'm thinking of Let's Playing it blind.

 

[Raziek]

Stupid hilarious. I want to watch.

 

[Gamegenie222]

As long as there is salt it will be always funny to watch.

 

[BlueSuperSonic1]

How stupid would it be to try to play Thracia without some sort of guide in front of me?
I'm thinking of Let's Playing it blind.

Considering several things in the game, along with its not-so-good translation patch, it'd be pretty dumb. Though it'd probably be pretty funny.

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

Made a lot of progress on my Awakening Lunatic run. Just killed Walhart the Conqueror, which is WAY further than I ever thought I'd get on Lunatic. The mind-blowing part is that I've done it with minimal deaths. I guess I'm a better strategist than I thought.
Deaths since Chapter 7: Kellam (Final Battle against Walhart, Swarmed by Valmese while protecting Lissa)
Lissa (Relied on Kellam for protection)
Frederick TT_TT (Picked off by Walhart)

This was about a week ago, so I forgot the chapter number, which is why it's left vague. I managed to get all the way to Walhart without any deaths, which, in the end, only made the sting of losing them all the more painful.

 

[Terywj [태리]]

Aight so my roommate is going to have Fire Emblem Awakening which means I get to have a brand new run. Now that I've gone through the game once, I plan on having relatively optimal parent / children / pairings this time around, while still keeping attention to flavor (after all that's what all support is for). I have the following pairings pretty much set in stone.

* Chrom x Sumia - Married these two in my original run and extremely satisfied.
* Lissa x Ricken - Adorable, though questionable for Owain.
* Cordelia x Lon'qu - I love Severa so giving her Lon'qu as a dad should be hilarious and beast.
* Olivia x Stahl - Yes.

Less confident but still like quite much.
* Robin x Cherche - My son is Batman. And I'm making my unit a Hero so more Strength for Gerome.
* Maribelle x Gaius - The groundwork is already there. Also a huge fan of Brady.
* Tharja x Henry - Makes too much sense.
I also toyed with the idea of using female Robin for male Morgan since my original playthrough was with male Robin. That would mess up my plans thus far though. Undecided.

Which leaves Miriel and Sully. Truth be told I'm not the biggest fans of their kids. Maybe Miriel x Libra, Sully x Donnel.

Nowi and Panne's husbands are of far less importance to me since I don't really care much for their characters or their children (rip Nah). Will probably have like a Nowi x Kellam and Panne x Frederick.

I haven't though too far ahead on the children's ending classes, or skills either but I have general ideas.

Thoughts? Could use all the help I can get, heh.

 

[Spartiatis]

FE4 and 5 are indeed the toughest ones in the series. They require a lot of attention to every move you make. I have played all the games of the franchise over twice, and my favorites are Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776. The Jugdral saga is definetly an intense challenge for everyone.

 

[majora_787]

I have no idea how I'm going to do chapter 2 again. I don't remember how I managed it last time. This is going to be shenanigans for everyone.

 

[Aninymouse]

Aight so my roommate is going to have Fire Emblem Awakening which means I get to have a brand new run. Now that I've gone through the game once, I plan on having relatively optimal parent / children / pairings this time around, while still keeping attention to flavor (after all that's what all support is for). I have the following pairings pretty much set in stone.

* Chrom x Sumia - Married these two in my original run and extremely satisfied.
* Lissa x Ricken - Adorable, though questionable for Owain.
* Cordelia x Lon'qu - I love Severa so giving her Lon'qu as a dad should be hilarious and beast.
* Olivia x Stahl - Yes.

Less confident but still like quite much.
* Robin x Cherche - My son is Batman. And I'm making my unit a Hero so more Strength for Gerome.
* Maribelle x Gaius - The groundwork is already there. Also a huge fan of Brady.
* Tharja x Henry - Makes too much sense.
I also toyed with the idea of using female Robin for male Morgan since my original playthrough was with male Robin. That would mess up my plans thus far though. Undecided.

Which leaves Miriel and Sully. Truth be told I'm not the biggest fans of their kids. Maybe Miriel x Libra, Sully x Donnel.

Nowi and Panne's husbands are of far less importance to me since I don't really care much for their characters or their children (rip Nah). Will probably have like a Nowi x Kellam and Panne x Frederick.

I haven't though too far ahead on the children's ending classes, or skills either but I have general ideas.

Thoughts? Could use all the help I can get, heh.

Seems decent enough. They're not the pairs I like the most to be sure, but they all look decent. Henry x Tharja doesn't do anything for Noire other than make her a stronger Sorcerer than Tharja, but with pretty much all the same skills, since Henry doesn't give her much she wants to utilize. Even so, you have to ask yourself, "why do I care how 'perfect' these kids are?" Are you going for completing Apotheasdfasdfasdf secret route? Then maybe you want as much Galeforce as possible. Is it just le OCD/autism/perfectionist? Then just go with the pairs that make you happiest.

GameFAQs did a series of polls to decide top fathers for each child. I helped finish them, so I have all the results. I think I posted them on the previous page...

Spoiler

The best fathers for each child, as voted on by the GameFAQs community:

Lucina
Sumia!Lucina: S
Olivia!Lucina: S
Maribelle!Lucina: S
Sully!Lucina: B
maiden!Lucina: C

Cynthia
Gaius!Cynthia: S
Chrom!Cynthia: S
Henry!Cynthia: S
Frederick!Cynthia: B


Kjelle
Gaius!Kjelle: S
Donnel!Kjelle: S
Vaike!Kjelle: A
Virion!Kjelle: B
Kellam!Kjelle: B
Lon'qu!Kjelle: B
Gregor!Kjelle: B
Libra!Kjelle: B
Henry!Kjelle B

Brady
Donnel!Brady: S
Lon'qu!Brady: S
Gaius!Brady: S
Gregor!Brady: S
Libra!Brady: S
Henry!Brady: S
Chrom!Brady: A
Frederick!Brady: A
Virion!Brady: A
Vaike!Brady: A
Kellam!Brady: A
Ricken!Brady: A

Owain
Stahl!Owain: S
Ricken!Owain: S
Frederick!Owain: A
Virion!Owain: A
Lon'qu!Owain: A
Gaius!Owain: A
Libra!Owain: A
Henry!Owain: A

Inigo
Chrom!Inigo: S
Frederick!Inigo: S
Stahl!Inigo: S
Kellam!Inigo: S
Ricken!Inigo: S
Libra!Inigo: A
Henry!Inigo: A

Severa
Frederick!Severa: S
Kellam!Severa: S
Lon'qu!Severa: S
Stahl!Severa: S
Ricken!Severa: S
Virion!Severa: S
Vaike!Severa: A
Gregor!Severa: A
Henry!Severa: A
Libra!Severa: A
Gaius!Severa: A

Gerome
Vaike!Gerome: S
Henry!Gerome: S
Stahl!Gerome: S
Gregor!Gerome: S
Ricken!Gerome: A

Noire
Gaius!Noire: S
Donnel!Noire: S
Lon'qu!Noire: A
Gregor!Noire: A
Stahl!Noire: A

Laurent
Stahl!Laurent: S
Gregor!Laurent: S
Lon'qu!Laurent: A
Ricken!Laurent: A
Gaius!Laurent: A

Nah
Gaius!Nah: A
Donnel!Nah: A
Frederick!Nah: B
Stahl!Nah: B
Vaike!Nah: B
Ricken!Nah: B
Kellam!Nah: B
Gregor!Nah: B

Yarne
Stahl!Yarne: S
Frederick!Yarne: A
Virion!Yarne: B
Kellam!Yarne: B
Lon'qu!Yarne: B
Ricken!Yarne: B
Gaius!Yarne: B
Donnel!Yarne: B
Gregor!Yarne: B
Libra!Yarne: B

Skills and class selection are prioritized over stat caps, though that is only a general statement and does not always hold true for this list. But, it is mostly the case.

The majority of the time, skills and classes count for more than stat mods. You can have high stats, but if you have no skills or classes to use them properly, do they really matter as much? This is why Vaike!Yarne is generally frowned upon, despite having high attack, for instance, since Vaike just gives Hero class. Literally.

Avatar x Anyone makes for a decent pair. Usually the best pair (S rank). It's hard to make a bad Avatar pairing, though if you deliberately tried, it is possible, I guess.

Lower-scoring pairs aren't listed in the interest of keeping the list shorter and more manageable. If a pair isn't listed here, it's considered mediocre at best. The scale goes: D (below average), C (mediocre), B (above average), A (fantastic), S (perfect/best possible).

 

[nessokman]

Replaying sacred stones. I couldn't resist making this.

He died that same chapter. Ewan is tanking everything in this game.

 

[Terywj [태리]]

Seems decent enough. They're not the pairs I like the most to be sure, but they all look decent. Henry x Tharja doesn't do anything for Noire other than make her a stronger Sorcerer than Tharja, but with pretty much all the same skills, since Henry doesn't give her much she wants to utilize. Even so, you have to ask yourself, "why do I care how 'perfect' these kids are?" Are you going for completing Apotheasdfasdfasdf secret route? Then maybe you want as much Galeforce as possible. Is it just le OCD/autism/perfectionist? Then just go with the pairs that make you happiest.

GameFAQs did a series of polls to decide top fathers for each child. I helped finish them, so I have all the results. I think I posted them on the previous page...

Spoiler

The best fathers for each child, as voted on by the GameFAQs community:

Lucina
Sumia!Lucina: S
Olivia!Lucina: S
Maribelle!Lucina: S
Sully!Lucina: B
maiden!Lucina: C

Cynthia
Gaius!Cynthia: S
Chrom!Cynthia: S
Henry!Cynthia: S
Frederick!Cynthia: B


Kjelle
Gaius!Kjelle: S
Donnel!Kjelle: S
Vaike!Kjelle: A
Virion!Kjelle: B
Kellam!Kjelle: B
Lon'qu!Kjelle: B
Gregor!Kjelle: B
Libra!Kjelle: B
Henry!Kjelle B

Brady
Donnel!Brady: S
Lon'qu!Brady: S
Gaius!Brady: S
Gregor!Brady: S
Libra!Brady: S
Henry!Brady: S
Chrom!Brady: A
Frederick!Brady: A
Virion!Brady: A
Vaike!Brady: A
Kellam!Brady: A
Ricken!Brady: A

Owain
Stahl!Owain: S
Ricken!Owain: S
Frederick!Owain: A
Virion!Owain: A
Lon'qu!Owain: A
Gaius!Owain: A
Libra!Owain: A
Henry!Owain: A

Inigo
Chrom!Inigo: S
Frederick!Inigo: S
Stahl!Inigo: S
Kellam!Inigo: S
Ricken!Inigo: S
Libra!Inigo: A
Henry!Inigo: A

Severa
Frederick!Severa: S
Kellam!Severa: S
Lon'qu!Severa: S
Stahl!Severa: S
Ricken!Severa: S
Virion!Severa: S
Vaike!Severa: A
Gregor!Severa: A
Henry!Severa: A
Libra!Severa: A
Gaius!Severa: A

Gerome
Vaike!Gerome: S
Henry!Gerome: S
Stahl!Gerome: S
Gregor!Gerome: S
Ricken!Gerome: A

Noire
Gaius!Noire: S
Donnel!Noire: S
Lon'qu!Noire: A
Gregor!Noire: A
Stahl!Noire: A

Laurent
Stahl!Laurent: S
Gregor!Laurent: S
Lon'qu!Laurent: A
Ricken!Laurent: A
Gaius!Laurent: A

Nah
Gaius!Nah: A
Donnel!Nah: A
Frederick!Nah: B
Stahl!Nah: B
Vaike!Nah: B
Ricken!Nah: B
Kellam!Nah: B
Gregor!Nah: B

Yarne
Stahl!Yarne: S
Frederick!Yarne: A
Virion!Yarne: B
Kellam!Yarne: B
Lon'qu!Yarne: B
Ricken!Yarne: B
Gaius!Yarne: B
Donnel!Yarne: B
Gregor!Yarne: B
Libra!Yarne: B

Skills and class selection are prioritized over stat caps, though that is only a general statement and does not always hold true for this list. But, it is mostly the case.

The majority of the time, skills and classes count for more than stat mods. You can have high stats, but if you have no skills or classes to use them properly, do they really matter as much? This is why Vaike!Yarne is generally frowned upon, despite having high attack, for instance, since Vaike just gives Hero class. Literally.

Avatar x Anyone makes for a decent pair. Usually the best pair (S rank). It's hard to make a bad Avatar pairing, though if you deliberately tried, it is possible, I guess.

Lower-scoring pairs aren't listed in the interest of keeping the list shorter and more manageable. If a pair isn't listed here, it's considered mediocre at best. The scale goes: D (below average), C (mediocre), B (above average), A (fantastic), S (perfect/best possible).

I'm actually not sure how much DLC content my roommate's game will have. Could make grinding difficult if he doesn't have Golden Gaffe / EXPonential Growth. And Infinite Regalia.

Yeah I'm mostly playing to my heart's content for this run through. Mostly just my organization drive / OCD at work.

The main problem is definitely which gender to play as lol.

 

[Aninymouse]

Well, female Robin gets Galeforce, and male Robin doesn't. If I go with female, I tend to marry Chrom. I usually pick male Robin, though, seeing as how I'm a guy. I do it, not because I identify with Robin so much as picking the female and having a guy propose to the screen in a flowery cutscene is definitely not my cup of tea. I can excuse it with Chrom but it's not something I want to see all the time.

Or maybe you like a certain voice actor? Hair style? Some people like to pick one sex or the other because they want to even up the second gen marriages, but I've never been a fan of marrying a second gen, really. As much as I like Lucina, it just doesn't sit well with me. But to each their own, I suppose.

 

[_Sheik]

I was going to beat him with Aether in my LP.
And then the Luna portion of it missed.
That was over 2 years ago.
I'm still salty.

The Luna part can miss? Oh wow.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

FE4 and 5 are indeed the toughest ones in the series. They require a lot of attention to every move you make. I have played all the games of the franchise over twice, and my favorites are Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776. The Jugdral saga is definetly an intense challenge for everyone.

FE4 is not hard at all lol.

 

[Terywj [태리]]

Well, female Robin gets Galeforce, and male Robin doesn't. If I go with female, I tend to marry Chrom. I usually pick male Robin, though, seeing as how I'm a guy. I do it, not because I identify with Robin so much as picking the female and having a guy propose to the screen in a flowery cutscene is definitely not my cup of tea. I can excuse it with Chrom but it's not something I want to see all the time.

Or maybe you like a certain voice actor? Hair style? Some people like to pick one sex or the other because they want to even up the second gen marriages, but I've never been a fan of marrying a second gen, really. As much as I like Lucina, it just doesn't sit well with me. But to each their own, I suppose.

Yeah I'm almost certainly going to go with male Robin. I don't care about marrying the children units since they don't matter lol.

 

[Aninymouse]

Yeah I'm almost certainly going to go with male Robin. I don't care about marrying the children units since they don't matter lol.

Last time I used male Robin, I went with a Warrior with Res flaw and Str asset. Axefaire, Bowfaire, Luna, and some cool filler stuff. I almost always have gone with magic in the past, so I though, hey, why not the two strongest physical weapons? Plus, I mean, almost no one ever uses Warriors, and they're pretty decent. I hate the low Skill cap for Berserker, and mono-axe isn't that great, either. People like Berserkers better for the pair-up bonuses, but eh.

 

[majora_787]

These maps are taking so long. My god. I'm only now starting chapter 3.

It's fun though. Not sure where I'd rank it compared to the rest of the series yet though.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

These maps are taking so long. My god. I'm only now starting chapter 3.

It's fun though. Not sure where I'd rank it compared to the rest of the series yet though.

FE4? Yeah, it has pretty big maps. Good thing you can save at the start of each turn.

 

[KuroganeHammer]

imma play PoR tonight

Played RD, but not PoR because the other is significantly more accessible

What are the good units so I know which ones to ignore.

I really want to use Manith.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

imma play PoR tonight

Played RD, but not PoR because the other is significantly more accessible

What are the good units so I know which ones to ignore.

I really want to use Manith.

Marcia and Jill are both amazing

Really pretty much anyone who's mounted is at least okay.

 

[KuroganeHammer]

Is Jill basically the Haar of FE 10?

Because Haar was hilariously overpowered.

I assume Haar is in FE 9 too though, but I don't know if he's as good as his FE 10 counterpart.

 

[Robert of Normandy]

Is Jill basically the Haar of FE 10?

Because Haar was hilariously overpowered.

I assume Haar is in FE 9 too though, but I don't know if he's as good as his FE 10 counterpart.

He is in the game, but he joins too late to be that good.

Marcia is probably closer to what Haar is to FE10, since she joins fairly early and is a good candidate to dump BEXP in to.

 

[majora_787]

Nephenee is also kind of absurd in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.

Also this playthrough is really awkward, mostly because I've now actually been made aware that I was wrong about Midayle and Dew ever since my last playthrough. I thought they were both female, especially Dew since I had several people repeatedly tell me this was the case. But apparently not. Awkward.

 

[~Firefly~]

RD Haar doesn't really have a PoR equivalent. He's his own tier of busted.

 

[majora_787]

I always had Nephenee turn out better than Haar, if for no other reason than Nephenee always dodged more and attacked twice where Haar seemed to just have a problem with dodging and attacking multiple times. At least in Radiant Dawn. I probably just got unlucky.

 

[~Firefly~]

Who needs to dodge or double attack when you're a flying tank who isn't even weak to bows?

 

[majora_787]

Who needs to dodge or double attack when you're a flying tank who isn't even weak to bows?

Bows weren't his concern when he died on the very last turn of the final boss battle in Radiant Dawn. Which was bizarre and unexpected for me.

 

[Ussi]

Haar's usefulness end game dimishes as his caps make him lose doubleing power. However brave axe helps his End game ability, so there is that.

There is no "Haar" unit in FE9... Well Ike is pretty broken. One of the main attractions for Haar to me is his awesome personality xD i find so hard not to use him since I like his character.

 

[majora_787]

I keep reading this and being confused because I know Haar is in FE9, though I guess he's not as absurd as he is in FE10. At least I don't remember him being.

Nephenee always was though, which works.

 

[Aninymouse]

There aren't many terrible units in PoR. Barring RNG schenanigans, most units are usable.

Makalov is usually seen as one of the worst.

Many of the laguz are bad.

Sothe sucks in PoR: he can't promote because of story reasons, and is very weak.

I like Bastion because he looks so much like one of my old friends, and he seems like a cool guy, but he's generally seen as unneeded since you have Soren.

People who train Rolf swear he's amazing, but he starts out so weak... Shinon joins a bit late but is really good, so it's up to you.

Most people use Mist as the designated healer, since she has certain perks later on that make putting up with her low starting stats worth it. But, this also means not a lot of people use Rhys. Rhys is fine, though. Way better than the Bishop you get much later...

You can't get Pelleas until your second save file. He's not necessary by any means, but it is entertaining to have a dark magic user (he's the only one).

I don't remember if Tanith is worth using... I know you get Marcia way earlier. Sigrun joins way late, but has that cool summoning green units ability.

Geoffrey and Lucia are usable but generally not needed. They join pretty late. They have good stats, though, if I remember correctly.