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

[Smash_Gigas]

♪ Theres no reason to put spoilers for a game that came out just about two years ago, and we all know about the girl with an endless stomch and how she stands, lol. †

No! I haven't beaten Shadow Dragon yet!

Hahah, nah, it doesn't matter too much. I have the tendancy with FE games to just quit at the last level. Though I actually came back and finished PoR / RD, I've still yet to go back and complete SD. (I'm not so sure if it's worth it, actually.)

 

[§leepy God]

♪ But that whole spoiler was about the thunder girl that get's no love in RD. D: †

 

[Meorksies]

Now, I'm not trying to say Ilyana's better then Soren, who is commonly regarded as the best Sage in the series, but that she isn't a bad Sage. I know many people have probably done better, but with just a couple of items and using Blossom in a few chapters, I got her maxed out in every stat but magic (irony), which she was only one point off.
As for the Dragon King, again, I've only played on normal, so I don't know about hard, but I think she was actually able to attack him twice per round with Rexbolt on normal, and I think the Dragon King's base damage potential is maxed out (max strength and SS level weapon), which she was able to survive, though admittedly not by much.
And I may not know every character's stat potential, but through trying every potential Archsage except Tormod, soley because of how late you get him back, I think Ilyana is probably second best behind Soren. Pelleas has the problem of only being able to use the two most inaccurate types of magic, where every other Archsage, Ilyana included, can use fire and wind.
Frankly, comparing any magic user to Soren isn't even a contest. Through the five games in this country, if you were to give them all RD bases (i.e. double promote possibilities), the only one in my experience who may be able to match him is Canas. Nino, Ewan, and Lute are all great in their games, but not if you were to throw Soren into the mix, and I'm yet to see a Bishop able to match a good Sage or Canas, I mean Druid, in sheer stats.
I think a more even comparison to Ilyana in RD would probably be Pelleas.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

Now, I'm not trying to say Ilyana's better then Soren, who is commonly regarded as the best Sage in the series, but that she isn't a bad Sage. I know many people have probably done better, but with just a couple of items and using Blossom in a few chapters, I got her maxed out in every stat but magic (irony), which she was only one point off.
As for the Dragon King, again, I've only played on normal, so I don't know about hard, but I think she was actually able to attack him twice per round with Rexbolt on normal, and I think the Dragon King's base damage potential is maxed out (max strength and SS level weapon), which she was able to survive, though admittedly not by much.
And I may not know every character's stat potential, but through trying every potential Archsage except Tormod, soley because of how late you get him back, I think Ilyana is probably second best behind Soren. Pelleas has the problem of only being able to use the two most inaccurate types of magic, where every other Archsage, Ilyana included, can use fire and wind.
Frankly, comparing any magic user to Soren isn't even a contest. Through the five games in this country, if you were to give them all RD bases (i.e. double promote possibilities), the only one in my experience who may be able to match him is Canas. Nino, Ewan, and Lute are all great in their games, but not if you were to throw Soren into the mix, and I'm yet to see a Bishop able to match a good Sage or Canas, I mean Druid, in sheer stats.
I think a more even comparison to Ilyana in RD would probably be Pelleas.

Special treatment such as items does not factor into comparisons at all. Sure, Illyana could get those Spirit Dusts or w/e, but so could anyone else in the game.

All stat information is available on Serenes Forest.

As for Pelleas, he is easily the most underrated Sage in the game. Granted, to say his availability is not good is an understatement (though he seems to be easier to use than Tormod), but his stat potential is among the best- comparable to Soren himself.

I'm just going to use average stats, rather than growths, in this comparison:

Pelleas (20/20/20):
Hp- 46.45/50
Str- 23.75/25
Mag- 38.45/39
Skl- 33.55/34
Spd- 31/31
Lck- 24.8/25
Def- 24/24
Res- 33.15/36

Illyana (20/20/20):
Hp- 45/45
Str- 24/24
Mag- 37.5/39
Skl- 34/34
Spd- 29.8/30
Lck- 24.4/30
Def- 24/24
Res- 35/38

So in this comparison, Pelleas has the advantage of a +5 max health, though is only likely to have 46 or 47 health in comparison to Illyana's 45. Despite having a higher str cap, Illyana has about a 25% chance of having 1 more str than Pelleas. They both have the same magic cap, but Pelleas is going to have 38 or max magic on average, whereas Illyana will have 37 or 38. Pelleas and Illyana have the same skill cap, but Illyana is somewhat more likely to max it. Pelleas is definitely going to max speed (and likely several levels before 20/20/20) and he has a 31 speed cap, whereas Illyana might not max her speed cap of 30, though she does come close on average. Ilyana's luck cap owns Pelleas's luck cap by 5, though Pelleas is more likely to have 25 lck than Ilyana is to have 25+ luck due to growths and bases. They both have the same defense caps and are likely to max them. Illyana has a resistance lead in both caps and average stats.

So Pelleas could be 5 hp higher and will have atleast 1 more point of speed. He is also more likely to max magic. Illyana has better caps in lck, str, res, and is more likely to max skill, making her more accurate in the end.

Now when you add affinities into the equation, Ilyana's affinity will provide a defense bonus of +3 and an accuracy bonus of +8. Pelleas gains +3 attack and +3 def. The winner here is debateable, though Ilyana has the advantage of having much more time to build up a support.

Now when you compare their magics- Illyana's Thunder vs. Pelleas's Dark (assuming you want them to make the best use of their weapon levels), Thunder and Dark basically have the same accuracies. Dark magic is 3 damage stronger than Thunder magic, giving it an innate lead vs. non dragons (and when not criticalling. Naturally, the argument of magic types is a little null and void, seeing as Illyana carries the ability to use Fire, Air, and Thunder, whereas Pelleas gets Dark and Thunder. They are both equally good against the dragons (including the Dragon King), damage-wise thanks to Thunder, though Pelleas's +1 speed helps him double or not be doubled. If you were to compare Illyana's ultimate thunder magic to Pelleas's ultimate Dark Magic, Ilyana definitely wins. +3 Skl is >>> +3 Str on a mage.

So, I guess I will say that Pelleas and Ilyana can be on relatively equal footing. Ilyana has much more availability, whereas Pelleas doesn't need to be babied nearly as much. Both have roughly the same endgame potential. One of the places where Pelleas shines is that he is one of the best candidates if you are not using Soren for some odd reason, whereas Illyana has likely not been trained due to coming in for a group that can simply not afford her in Part 1. Keep in mind that Part 1 is the hardest part of the game on anything but Easy.

I think it is safe to say though that every magic user >>> Tormod.

 

[EmblemPrincess]

Soren is easily the best magic user in existence. Micaiah has to be the worst. She's so **** easy to lose. The only thing she's good for is heavily armored foot knights and that's only when she's got a Thani in her hand. I plan on giving a Thani to Rhys too, cause meloves Rhys. x3

I was playing RD all last night lol.

 

[Meorksies]

Special treatment such as items does not factor into comparisons at all. Sure, Illyana could get those Spirit Dusts or w/e, but so could anyone else in the game.

All stat information is available on Serenes Forest.

As for Pelleas, he is easily the most underrated Sage in the game. Granted, to say his availability is not good is an understatement (though he seems to be easier to use than Tormod), but his stat potential is among the best- comparable to Soren himself.

I'm just going to use average stats, rather than growths, in this comparison:

Pelleas (20/20/20):
Hp- 46.45/50
Str- 23.75/25
Mag- 38.45/39
Skl- 33.55/34
Spd- 31/31
Lck- 24.8/25
Def- 24/24
Res- 33.15/36

Illyana (20/20/20):
Hp- 45/45
Str- 24/24
Mag- 37.5/39
Skl- 34/34
Spd- 29.8/30
Lck- 24.4/30
Def- 24/24
Res- 35/38

So in this comparison, Pelleas has the advantage of a +5 max health, though is only likely to have 46 or 47 health in comparison to Illyana's 45. Despite having a higher str cap, Illyana has about a 25% chance of having 1 more str than Pelleas. They both have the same magic cap, but Pelleas is going to have 38 or max magic on average, whereas Illyana will have 37 or 38. Pelleas and Illyana have the same skill cap, but Illyana is somewhat more likely to max it. Pelleas is definitely going to max speed (and likely several levels before 20/20/20) and he has a 31 speed cap, whereas Illyana might not max her speed cap of 30, though she does come close on average. Ilyana's luck cap owns Pelleas's luck cap by 5, though Pelleas is more likely to have 25 lck than Ilyana is to have 25+ luck due to growths and bases. They both have the same defense caps and are likely to max them. Illyana has a resistance lead in both caps and average stats.

So Pelleas could be 5 hp higher and will have atleast 1 more point of speed. He is also more likely to max magic. Illyana has better caps in lck, str, res, and is more likely to max skill, making her more accurate in the end.

Now when you add affinities into the equation, Ilyana's affinity will provide a defense bonus of +3 and an accuracy bonus of +8. Pelleas gains +3 attack and +3 def. The winner here is debateable, though Ilyana has the advantage of having much more time to build up a support.

Now when you compare their magics- Illyana's Thunder vs. Pelleas's Dark (assuming you want them to make the best use of their weapon levels), Thunder and Dark basically have the same accuracies. Dark magic is 3 damage stronger than Thunder magic, giving it an innate lead vs. non dragons (and when not criticalling. Naturally, the argument of magic types is a little null and void, seeing as Illyana carries the ability to use Fire, Air, and Thunder, whereas Pelleas gets Dark and Thunder. They are both equally good against the dragons (including the Dragon King), damage-wise thanks to Thunder, though Pelleas's +1 speed helps him double or not be doubled. If you were to compare Illyana's ultimate thunder magic to Pelleas's ultimate Dark Magic, Ilyana definitely wins. +3 Skl is >>> +3 Str on a mage.

So, I guess I will say that Pelleas and Ilyana can be on relatively equal footing. Ilyana has much more availability, whereas Pelleas doesn't need to be babied nearly as much. Both have roughly the same endgame potential. One of the places where Pelleas shines is that he is one of the best candidates if you are not using Soren for some odd reason, whereas Illyana has likely not been trained due to coming in for a group that can simply not afford her in Part 1. Keep in mind that Part 1 is the hardest part of the game on anything but Easy.

I think it is safe to say though that every magic user >>> Tormod.

I fully agree and understand that added items and skills don't reflect how good a character is or isn't. I was just saying while it took some of this special treatment, Ilyana became a worthwhile unit for me.

For me, Pelleas' availability is helped by the fact that, at least in my plays in normal, he comes in the team with the best chapters for upgrading your lower level units. Every time I've played I took Jill on that team and got her from horrid to amazing in just those two levels. The thing that annoys me with Pelleas is that at first he misses half the time.

And in my normal mode plays, Part 1 is very tricky, but if you set your mind to it, you can pretty much choose who you upgrade in it out of any non-prepromote there. Except Fiona in my case. I've tried to make her good, and failed miserably.

And I feel these stat sheets show Pelleas and Ilyana potential-wise is just a matter of preference in what stats you find more importaint.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

Soren is easily the best magic user in existence. Micaiah has to be the worst. She's so **** easy to lose. The only thing she's good for is heavily armored foot knights and that's only when she's got a Thani in her hand. I plan on giving a Thani to Rhys too, cause meloves Rhys. x3

I was playing RD all last night lol.

Micaiah is indeed absolutely horrible, but she is a necessary evil. On the bright side, she atleast has excellent availability and a built-in A support with Sothe (his guard ability makes protecting her easier as well). Thani does atleast allow her to kill armors and calvalry. Her beginning game is bad (though giving her Shade might help it a bit). Her ending game is essentially just abusing physics and unlimited use purges. Still, her availability makes her better than Tormod, IMO.

Oh and Thani can not be used by anyone but Micaiah.

 

[§leepy God]

Soren is easily the best magic user in existence. Micaiah has to be the worst. She's so **** easy to lose. The only thing she's good for is heavily armored foot knights and that's only when she's got a Thani in her hand. I plan on giving a Thani to Rhys too, cause meloves Rhys. x3

Soren is the best magic user, Micaiah is a close 2nd. Micaiah would be better for having Thani so early, except Soren starts with Adept. Elincia is the best healer though. 9 Movement with Canto and Fortify = win.

♪ Master Umbreon has spoken, those who don't agree shall be lost in darkness. O_o †

 

[kirbywizard]

Well Pelleas just needs more love but like a good amount of other magic users he gets out shined by Soren. It really doesn't matter how late you Pelleas as like a few other characters all you need to do is give them that skill that doubles the exp gained when fighting or killing an enemy unit.

Anyone else notice how easy it is to kill the last boss when you use parity >_>, I mean my edward almost killed those little aura things because of parity <_<

As for Pelleas and Illanya I would use both of them if I had that much exp >_>. I waste most of my exp on Meg and she still end up ****** in the last chapters. Well except for the time I accidentally blessed a steel sword for her <_<

Tormod<<<<<<<< any other magic user learn this and burn it into your brain.

 

[Nnoilalala]

I don't use magicians.
But Soren's gay so Illyana > Soren.

............STFU >:

 

[SyOn]

you should use magicians.

they're like good archers.

archers sucks.

 

[Nnoilalala]

What's wrong with archers? I find them to be quiet awesome.

Magicians are really just boring.

Yes. Tibarn is one of my very favorite characters.
They only made him join so late because he's super broken and only fit to fight against someone like Beserk Ashnard. =P

I wouldn't mind an easy broken game if I can play him more /fangirl

 

[SyOn]

they're useless on the enemy phase.

 

[Emperor Time]

....So...how 'bout that FE4 >_>

 

[Chris Lionheart]

they're useless on the enemy phase.

While this is true, it doesn't stop Shinon from being one of the best characters in Radiant Dawn. His stats are very good, he has enough defense to occassionally frontline with a crossbow, and can attack from 3 squares away upon promotion. In addition to that, the ultimate bow in Radiant Dawn is the single best weapon in the game, thanks to its strength bonus, great damage, and 1-3 attack range in the hands of a Marskman. There is no good reason to NOT use Shinon unless you want to make the game harder.

 

[Nnoilalala]

While this is true, it doesn't stop Shinon from being one of the best characters in Radiant Dawn. His stats are very good, he has enough defense to occassionally frontline with a crossbow, and can attack from 3 squares away upon promotion. In addition to that, the ultimate bow in Radiant Dawn is the single best weapon in the game, thanks to its strength bonus, great damage, and 1-3 attack range in the hands of a Marskman. There is no good reason to NOT use Shinon unless you want to make the game harder.

This.

Though I gotta add Rolf too, I only started using him really late on RD but was surprised at how good he turned out to be.

But I play easy mode, so go ahead and take me with a grain of salt.

 

[SyOn]

i guess.

i still hate them though.

 

[Teh Brettster]

But I play easy mode, so go ahead and take me with a grain of salt.

*downs a whole salt shaker*
Do it the right way. It's fun.
Sometimes aggravating. But totally worth it.
I mean, I have only played hard difficulty, but I think it makes me appreciate the story more because I worked hard like the characters did. I'd be waaaay less engaged if it were really easy.

 

[Nnoilalala]

*downs a whole salt shaker*
Do it the right way. It's fun.
Sometimes aggravating. But totally worth it.
I mean, I have only played hard difficulty, but I think it makes me appreciate the story more because I worked hard like the characters did. I'd be waaaay less engaged if it were really easy.

I don't like a challenge.

or atleast until after the first playthrough, when it doesn't matter if I keep everyone alive.

 

[Smash_Gigas]

The most difficult I'm willing to go in the Fire Emblem series is Normal Mode. D= Normal in FE feels like Hard in other games. That might just be because I'm a poor player. Other than Fire Emblem, I usually start games on Normal right off the bat, then move onto Hard if it's a good game.

 

[SyOn]

Hard Mode in Sacred Stones is like Easy Mode in other games.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

From experience, Hard in Path of Radiance is a piece of cake compared to Normal in Radiant Dawn. No RD player should really be criticized for playing on Easy. Hell, even Easy can occassionally provide a challenge of some sort. Granted, it is easy enough for even a casual gamer to get the hang of it, but it is by no means Sacred Stones.

At the very least, a player shouldn't be expected to go past Normal on Radiant Dawn. Let's face it... Part 1 with the Fail Brigade... really hard. On Hard, I imagine that it must be a living nightmare.

There is a such thing as challenge. Then there is also something called frustration.

 

[Smash_Gigas]

At the very least, a player shouldn't be expected to go past Normal on Radiant Dawn. Let's face it... Part 1 with the Fail Brigade... really hard. On Hard, I imagine that it must be a living nightmare.

I might as well jump in a lake.

I would imagine on Hard mode, you'd probably have enough room for one wrong move per map, at most.

No thanks.

 

[EmblemPrincess]

I found RD hard on easy mode. XD

I found all the FE games to be challenging in some way, actually.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

I found RD hard on easy mode. XD

I found all the FE games to be challenging in some way, actually.

A couple levels can be quite the challenge in Easy mode- particularly the last level of Part 3. I really hate having to fight Zihark/Edward or other particularly dangerous members of the Dawn Brigade. As "bad" as Leonardo is, he could quite possibly be the most annoying member of the Dawn Brigade to face. I hate to say that I've experienced my Nephenee getting OHKO'd by Leonardo's Deadeye from 3 squares away.

 

[Nnoilalala]

Annoying chapter that is.
No matter how much I restarted, I couldn't make it to kill micaiah in time
Actually, I couldn't kill most of them and I wanted to eliminate all those *********

 

[Deathcarter]

A couple levels can be quite the challenge in Easy mode- particularly the last level of Part 3. I really hate having to fight Zihark/Edward or other particularly dangerous members of the Dawn Brigade. As "bad" as Leonardo is, he could quite possibly be the most annoying member of the Dawn Brigade to face. I hate to say that I've experienced my Nephenee getting OHKO'd by Leonardo's Deadeye from 3 squares away.

If we don't include the Dawn Brigade chapters since they are all hard, I would say the hardest chapters would be 2-E, 3-1, and 3-5 since these chapters in particular cannot be won by exclusively relying on your heavy hitters. And that is saying something considering two of those chapters include Haar.

 

[kirbywizard]

Hm I can never remember the names or numbers of the chapters, but I must say the chapter where you have ike's team trying to stall the dawn brigade in the river was hard mostly because I always try to get that magic user in the end. But you need to have ike attack the black knight and survive >_>. I have to waste speed wings to have ike not get doubled by the Black Knight at the river <_<.

 

[§leepy God]

♪ Well you could have Mist or Rhys to heal you if you get attacked when running into him, though you better have Ike at a good level becuase after the Black Knight attacks you, more people attack Ike afterwords. >.< †

 

[kirbywizard]

♪ Well you could have Mist or Rhys to heal you if you get attacked when running into him, though you better have Ike at a good level becuase after the Black Knight attacks you, more people attack Ike afterwords. >.< †

I battle save when I have ike get near the bottom of the river, then the next turn if the Black Knight is close enough I attack from far range and if Ike is till alive I save him with Harr and run >_>. I just have to make sure the thunder mages do not get in the way.

 

[Mardyke]

Micaiah is indeed absolutely horrible, but she is a necessary evil. On the bright side, she atleast has excellent availability and a built-in A support with Sothe (his guard ability makes protecting her easier as well). Thani does atleast allow her to kill armors and calvalry. Her beginning game is bad (though giving her Shade might help it a bit). Her ending game is essentially just abusing physics and unlimited use purges. Still, her availability makes her better than Tormod, IMO.

Oh and Thani can not be used by anyone but Micaiah.

I really don't get the Micaiah hate. What's so horrible about her in part one? Is it that she can't take many hits? She's a mage, she's not supposed to. Yet her dodge rate is actually pretty high, thanks to her immense luck - couple this with a good support (I prefer Earth, personally) and Tauroneo's resolve, and she'll do perfectly fine.

And that's not even starting on her monstrous attack power. D:

 

[Chris Lionheart]

I really don't get the Micaiah hate. What's so horrible about her in part one? Is it that she can't take many hits? She's a mage, she's not supposed to. Yet her dodge rate is actually pretty high, thanks to her immense luck - couple this with a good support (I prefer Earth, personally) and Tauroneo's resolve, and she'll do perfectly fine.

And that's not even starting on her monstrous attack power. D:

In Easy, she might be able to take a couple hits. In anything else, 1 hit pretty much = death. Her hp is bad from the start, meaning that she will need atleast one of the Seraph Robes just to survive part 1. Her defense stat is worse than that of most other Sages. She may carry a Luck growth that is nothing short of excellent, but her bad speed growth will ensure that her dodge rate is never impressive.

Yes, her magic growth is quite good, though light magic is the weakest type damage-wise, reducing her damage potential against anything but mounted and armored units. Unfortunately for Micaiah, her speed growth is nothing short of bad, being almost as bad as Illyana's. This, coupled with a low cap means that she will not be doubling very many things.

What's worse is that she does not hit second tier until the end of part 1. So for the entire first part, she will not be able to use staves and is really quite the nuisance to protect. To make matters even worse, she does not hit 3rd tier until the endgame. The endgame is FAR from the hardest part of the game. Naturally this gives you a unit who will be a burden throughout a significant portion of the game.

Now, what's so bad about a unit that needs the protection of others... normally, not not much, but when said unit is part of the single worst group in the game during the single hardest part of the game... ouch. The only good tanks available are Nolan, Sothe, Aran, Jill, Zihark, Volug, and Tauroneo, the Black Knight, and Nailah, the last 3 of whom are completely unreliable do their their temporary nature. Edward is simply to meh to be a tank during part 1 except on Easy. Micaiah isn't even the only person on the team who needs CONSTANT protection. You must also be able to protect Laura, the weak priest, Ilyana, the thunder mage with defenses almost as bad as Micaiah's, and Leonardo, the wonder archer of the Fail Brigade, atleast until the end of 2-3. After that, whoever you use is, of course, your choice.

In summary, Micaiah is more of a burden than she is worth, but she is required, making her a necessary evil.

 

[Deleted member]

every time I've played through RD, Micaiah was fragile up until about 8 chapters in. After that, she has A support with nolan (dark/earth) and I leave her on the frontlines for the rest of the game and she does fine. She's always one of my highest performing units.

It's also fun to wall several white dragons with her at once on 4-F-3.

 

[EmblemPrincess]

I have to admit...with a Thani in her hand, Micaiah can take out the heavy foot knights with one hit. But she still lacks as a mage, imo. Plus I hate her anti-Ike and stuck up personality.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

I have to admit...with a Thani in her hand, Micaiah can take out the heavy foot knights with one hit. But she still lacks as a mage, imo. Plus I hate her anti-Ike and stuck up personality.

She's not so much stuck-up as she is the biggest Mary Sue that Fire Emblem has ever had (even moreso than Eliwood who never once shows a character flaw). I can understand why she would hate Ike though. He was kind of the reason that Daein was defeated and thus in their oppressed situation. Without ever meeting him, it is only natural that she would see him as the enemy. And after she does meet him, she practically wants to be his lover or something given her attitude at the epilogue.

Still, I don't really like her. She's just a pretty face (among a game with many many pretty faces) and little more.

 

[Teh Brettster]

If I could hack the game to have a Boyd replica as every character (except for Ike, of course), I would.

 

[Mardyke]

Forgive any blunt/potentially offensive comedy in this post.

In Easy, she might be able to take a couple hits. In anything else, 1 hit pretty much = death. Her hp is bad from the start, meaning that she will need atleast one of the Seraph Robes just to survive part 1. Her defense stat is worse than that of most other Sages. She may carry a Luck growth that is nothing short of excellent, but her bad speed growth will ensure that her dodge rate is never impressive.

And again, she is a mage. If you're using her as a frontline shield like Brom, Aran or Nolan, you're doing it wrong. Put her up as a secondary; if there's a particularly hard-hitting unit up ahead against whom Micaiah won't survive against, move Nolan or Edward or someone up in front of her. Her retaliation in the player phase is more than enough to compensate.
I beg to differ completely. When will her dodge rate be unimpressive: at the very start of Part I? Part III? I know for a fact that her dodge rate can force a 45-50 hit rate for enemies in Part IV - and that's without any support.
I wouldn't know about Micaiah's durability in Easy, as I've never played that mode. :V I agree that she warrants one Seraph Rope, for comfort's sake.

Yes, her magic growth is quite good, though light magic is the weakest type damage-wise, reducing her damage potential against anything but mounted and armored units. Unfortunately for Micaiah, her speed growth is nothing short of bad, being almost as bad as Illyana's. This, coupled with a low cap means that she will not be doubling very many things.

Thani, m'boy. Abuse it. That baby packs all the punch you'll ever need. Micaiah's attack is high enough so that she doesn't need to double: she'd be broken and incredibly boring if she did double all the time. Please remember that she isn't the only unit on the field, either: if you're desperate for her to take a kill, have someone soften that unit up. Not that I can see any problems with levelling her; Paragon in 1-8 guarantees she'll touch level 20 before the endgame.

What's worse is that she does not hit second tier until the end of part 1. So for the entire first part, she will not be able to use staves and is really quite the nuisance to protect. To make matters even worse, she does not hit 3rd tier until the endgame. The endgame is FAR from the hardest part of the game. Naturally this gives you a unit who will be a burden throughout a significant portion of the game.

Pacing, m'boy. I'm not sure how you play, but if a unit can only hit so many levels before they can't level again, then I don't abuse the life out of it. Everyone who isn't already promoted needs all the experience they can garner out of Part I as it is.
My tactic for Micaiah after Part III is to relegate her to exclusively support, which can accumulate as much as seven or eight levels: that being more than what she actually needs. Her two missions in Part IV before the Endgame are so favourable to her that level 20 is hit very early into the desert mission.
And to be fair, she has it really easy in the endgame as well, even at level 1.

Now, what's so bad about a unit that needs the protection of others... normally, not not much, but when said unit is part of the INSERT GENERIC DAWN BRIGADE HATE HERE BRAGAHRARHAGAHRAGAHRAHG

Let's not start Dawn Brigade hate, we see enough of that as it is. And you listed a lot of tanks there - are you telling me that none of them are willing to work with her?
At the risk of starting another horrible tangent as FE debates always do I'd also consider Edward perfectly viable in Hard mode. I'm not going to go into it, beyond that he's probably the best performer on my team as of Part I, as you're just going to whine 'HAH, HE BLOCKS AXES WITH HIS FACE, YOU SUCK EASY-MODE PLAYER!!' or spout statistic after statistic and tell me that I can't possibly be right, I just use him differently than you expect a myrmidon to play.

She's not so much stuck-up as she is the biggest Mary Sue that Fire Emblem has ever had (even moreso than Eliwood who never once shows a character flaw). I can understand why she would hate Ike though. He was kind of the reason that Daein was defeated and thus in their oppressed situation. Without ever meeting him, it is only natural that she would see him as the enemy. And after she does meet him, she practically wants to be his lover or something given her attitude at the epilogue.

Still, I don't really like her. She's just a pretty face (among a game with many many pretty faces) and little more.

Dang it, don't start this one again, Chris. I won last time and you know it.

In summary, Micaiah is more of a burden than she is worth, but she is required, making her a necessary evil.

no u

If I could hack the game to have a Boyd replica as every character (except for Ike, of course), I would.

An army of Boyds headed by Ike invade the kingdom of Boydopia and put all the Boyds living there to the torch. Only Nolan can save us now.

 

[Nnoilalala]

Micaiah is lame. Because I say so.

 

[Chris Lionheart]

Forgive any blunt/potentially offensive comedy in this post.



And again, she is a mage. If you're using her as a frontline shield like Brom, Aran or Nolan, you're doing it wrong. Put her up as a secondary; if there's a particularly hard-hitting unit up ahead against whom Micaiah won't survive against, move Nolan or Edward or someone up in front of her. Her retaliation in the player phase is more than enough to compensate.
I beg to differ completely. When will her dodge rate be unimpressive: at the very start of Part I? Part III? I know for a fact that her dodge rate can force a 45-50 hit rate for enemies in Part IV - and that's without any support.
I wouldn't know about Micaiah's durability in Easy, as I've never played that mode. :V I agree that she warrants one Seraph Rope, for comfort's sake.




Thani, m'boy. Abuse it. That baby packs all the punch you'll ever need. Micaiah's attack is high enough so that she doesn't need to double: she'd be broken and incredibly boring if she did double all the time. Please remember that she isn't the only unit on the field, either: if you're desperate for her to take a kill, have someone soften that unit up. Not that I can see any problems with levelling her; Paragon in 1-8 guarantees she'll touch level 20 before the endgame.




Pacing, m'boy. I'm not sure how you play, but if a unit can only hit so many levels before they can't level again, then I don't abuse the life out of it. Everyone who isn't already promoted needs all the experience they can garner out of Part I as it is.
My tactic for Micaiah after Part III is to relegate her to exclusively support, which can accumulate as much as seven or eight levels: that being more than what she actually needs. Her two missions in Part IV before the Endgame are so favourable to her that level 20 is hit very early into the desert mission.
And to be fair, she has it really easy in the endgame as well, even at level 1.




Let's not start Dawn Brigade hate, we see enough of that as it is. And you listed a lot of tanks there - are you telling me that none of them are willing to work with her?
At the risk of starting another horrible tangent as FE debates always do I'd also consider Edward perfectly viable in Hard mode. I'm not going to go into it, beyond that he's probably the best performer on my team as of Part I, as you're just going to whine 'HAH, HE BLOCKS AXES WITH HIS FACE, YOU SUCK EASY-MODE PLAYER!!' or spout statistic after statistic and tell me that I can't possibly be right, I just use him differently than you expect a myrmidon to play.




Dang it, don't start this one again, Chris. I won last time and you know it.


no u



An army of Boyds headed by Ike invade the kingdom of Boydopia and put all the Boyds living there to the torch. Only Nolan can save us now.

Thanks for showing me that not only do you not know what you are talking about but that you also have no maturity at all.

Of course you don't use Micaiah as a frontliner... That is common sense. But she simply needs to be babied so much in a group that is full of babies. Every other non-priest/bishop/saint magic user has some form of liveability, whether it be Soren's great defense, Ilyana's built-in Shade (and defenses that are still superior to those of Micaiah). Micaiah simply cannot compete with the other mages in the game, except for Tormod (and we all know what a failure he is). Your dodge rate is probably assuming that she maxed speed, which she probably won't do without abuse, given her horrid speed growth.

Also, Thani is not a powerful spell except vs. armored and mounted units. This limits Micaiah's usefulness vs. units other than these. It's also worth mentioning that enemy cavalry is a rareity in Micaiah's parts, further reducing her effectiveness (and Armored aren't so terribly common that the rest of your group really needs her help). Due to her lack of doubling ability, she will not be one rounding most enemies, though she will put a nice dent in them.

As for the pacing arguement, you have not said anything viable here. The point was not that I was leveling her too quickly, taking experience from others or that she can't reach that level 20 quickly, but that her usefulness is severely gimped whereas other characters can keep getting more useful. While Nolan and anyone else that you were relying on in Part 1 are Tier 2 already... Micaiah is just a Tier 1 burden. While most of your cast is Tier 3, Micaiah has yet to promote. This is made even worse in the fact that RD, like most games in the series, gets easier as the game progresses. Micaiah will be pathetic for the early game, meh at the middle game, and passable at the endgame (but only thanks to Physic staves and a blessed Purge tome).

I don't hate the Dawn Brigade in particular. I hate their early chapters, but that is it. Once they actually get to a later part in the game, the Dawn Brigade has some of the best performing units. Nolan is simply > all other human units. The problem is that they are absolutely terrible at the beginning. Edward dies in 2-3 hits on Normal and doesn't even have a bonus against axes to save him in Hard due to a lack of the Weapon Triangle. This effectively leaves you with only Nolan and Sothe to provide a defense until you get Aran (who comes in on the hardest level of the game), Jill, Zihark, and Tauroneo (the last of whom is rarely available). If Micaiah was the only one who needed constant babying in the group, then that would be relatively fine, but she isn't. Leonardo, Ilyana, Laura, and others all need constant babying and protection (atleast until after the chapter where Aran joins is done)..

 

[Lord Viper]

Micaiah is lame. Because I say so.

☆ Does very little people love her at all? D= ☆

☆ Anyways, everyone has their reasons, usually Fire Emblem Lords shouldn't need much protection, but since Micaiah is a magic user, a light on at that, you need to protect her if you don't want Game Over. ☆