the Bernadetta placement...and Hilda...and Ferdinand Von Aegir...and Dorothea...and Marianne...and Shamir...and Constance...we gotta fight to the death now
I'll argue each one
Bernie - I'm sorry but I literally cannot stand her character. No backbone in the five years between. What puts her down for me is how weak she is and can barely keep up with the other archers even on CF and SS routes. Leonie in my opinion is the better archer and Shamir helps as well.
Hilda's speed hurts her a bit. That's pretty much the main reason she gets lower. Maddening she's having a hard time so far for me.
Marianne can handle her own. Her issue with Faith magic is she doesn't have Fortify which is why Mercedes gets an advantage over her allowing to heal multiple times. Marianne is an incredible dancer and secondary healer here. Had she had Fortify, I'd rank her a bit higher
Coco, Dorothea, Ferdinand, and Shamir I'd love to rank higher, but they have quite a competition among them. I feel Lysithea and Hapi are the best magic units and can dish damage harder. Dorothea have to complete with many mages in the reason class and I've noticed Coco does slightly better than Dorothea. She has flight interest that helps her with the Dark Flyer class too. And Slyvain I feel is the better unit over Ferdie becaue of the amount of damage he can deliver. If you think that's crazy, I'm already working on a Maddening team for Golden Deer and so far this is my roster:
Haru (Byleth), Claude, Lysithea, Leonie, Hilda, Felix, Shamir, Hapi, Mercedes, Sylvain, Marianne, Cyril (may remove)
Last two spots go to either Ralph/Ignatz/Lorenzo/Petra/Dorothea