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[isamu]

Started playing Fire Emblem(GBA) yesterday and man, you guys were right. This game totally kicks ass! This is my first strategy RPG ever! I'm up to Chapter 10 and just about to invade the castle where Lord Lungred is hanging out.

But I gotta a serious pet peeve:

THIS GAME IS VERY UNFORGIVING!! During chapter 9, where we had to seive the gate, I lost Darcos( the axe guy) and Erk(the mage). I just couldn't keep them alive for SHIT. And now I've discovered that once you lose a party member in battle they're gone forever(or so it appears)!!! Is this really true? Is there NO WAY to bring back members that fall in combat? This is extremely harsh on the player and keeping the entire remaining party members alive is becoming harder and harder!

What characters do you guys recommend concentrating and focusing on? Who's most valuable in your opinion and who should I work on builiding up?


The other thing is the game appears to be really short. Like I said, I just started playing yesterday and I'm already up to Ch.10. Without spoiling it too much, once I've defeated Lord Lungred is that the end of the ENTIRE game? If it is, it seems like it didn't even give me enough time to flesh out my skills and abilities. WTF is up what THAT?

 

[Mejilan]

Best SRPG I've ever played, PERIOD. Nothing ever came close, imho.

And once a foo goes down, he's down for the rest of the game.*

* Until Chapter 10 ends. Chapters 1-10 are considered the TUTORIAL, so maiming there isn't permanent. Once you start Chapter 11, if a character gets maimed, it's over for his/her fighting. They'll just stick around for story sequences. Occasionally.

Edit - You are NOWHERE near done. Do you want to know how many Chapters there are?

 

[Diomedeskun]

Don't worry, you are in the tutorial. All dead characters up till that point will be revived after chapter 10 and the battles get much longer and more complex.

Late levels can take hours, especially if you don't turn off animations. Plus, replaying the game you can get more levels and new characters as well as a choice of a harder difficulty.

 

[lexi]

Well, you can stop worrying about the length, the game practically begins at Chapter 12.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Careful son! This here's GAF and that there is bannable talk! Ah'm jus' keedeeng!...

Hell yeah Fire Emblem rules. I just wish I had the sense to listen to all the people saying so before now. Yeah you have a way to go yet...Hell I'm on chapter 23 right now (Linus' map). I restarted after using Marcus too much and getting owned later on.

Bit of advice: Level up your lords and kick Marcus to the curb ASAP.

 

[Ironclad]

I actually started a new game tonight. I was playing for about 2 hours. Finally gave my PSP a rest. One tip that will really help you along in the game is to utilize arenas to the best of your abilities. Just defeat all of the lesser enemies and then go back to the arena and just keep leveling up your characters.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I actually started a new game tonight. I was playing for about 2 hours. Finally gave my PSP a rest. One tip that will really help you along in the game is to utilize arenas to the best of your abilities. Just defeat all of the lesser enemies and then go back to the arena and just keep leveling up your characters.

bah arenas are cheap.

 

[isamu]

O.K. I just wanna say thank you ***VERY MUCH*** for not mentioning how many chapters there are, and letting me know I'm just starting the game. I was seriously getting worried there for a minute heh heh.

Still....I am worried about characters dying in the future. Can you at least tell me if there is some sort of elixer to bring them back? Or perhaps their HP or armor defense will increase significantly? Cuz right now some characters have embarressingly low HP(Erk, and Forina come to mind).

And again, any characters in particular that I've gotten so far that you'd recommend focusing on more than others?

Lyn?
Sain?
Kent?
Florina?
Will?
Dorcas?
Serra?
Erk?
Rath?
Mathew?
Nills?
Lucious?
Wallace?(who is unGodly strong now)

 

[bionic77]

Yeah, this is easily the best SRPG I have ever played as well. This and Winning Eleven are the two most brilliant games I have played this generation, nothing else comes close.

I have to agree with all of the advice, remember to try and have one guy in every category be as strong as possible and dont' be afraid to replay battles. What you do in the first 10 levels won't be that important btw. Lord Hector becomes a beast later on in the game. Oh and Florina is good too, though she seems worthless at first once she gets a few levels on her she is awesome.

Can't wait for the sequel.

 

[Monk]

Heh, no. Bear in mind a more difficult mode opens up when you beat the game. :lol

 

[bionic77]

O.K. I just wanna say thank you ***VERY MUCH*** for not mentioning how many chapters there are, and letting me know I'm just starting the game. I was seriously getting worried there for a minute heh heh.

Still....I am worried about characters dying in the future. Can you at least tell me if there is some sort of elixer to bring them back? Or perhaps their HP or armor defense will increase significantly? Cuz right now some characters have embarressingly low HP(Erk, and Forina come to mind).

And again, any characters in particular that I've gotten so far that you'd recommend focusing on more than others?

Lyn?
Sain?
Kent?
Florina?
Will?
Dorcas?
Serra?
Erk?
Rath?
Mathew?
Nills?
Lucious?
Wallace?(who is unGodly strong now)

I don't want to spoil anything for you, so wait until a chapter two and ask us again.

 

[GaimeGuy]

O.K. I just wanna say thank you ***VERY MUCH*** for not mentioning how many chapters there are, and letting me know I'm just starting the game. I was seriously getting worried there for a minute heh heh.

Still....I am worried about characters dying in the future. Can you at least tell me if there is some sort of elixer to bring them back? Or perhaps their HP or armor defense will increase significantly? Cuz right now some characters have embarressingly low HP(Erk, and Forina come to mind).

And again, any characters in particular that I've gotten so far that you'd recommend focusing on more than others?

Lyn?
Sain?
Kent?
Florina?
Will?
Dorcas?
Serra?
Erk?
Rath?
Mathew?
Nills?
Lucious?
Wallace?(who is unGodly strong now)

Out of those charactes, I'd definitely focus on Lyn and Florina.
Rath can be good, although he is a little too strong at the moment, so you don' want him to eat up your exp for now.
Will and matthew can ge good.
And despite what some people may say, I think erk is good (could just be my luck with the stat ups, though).
I guess Lucius is decent as well

But really, the ones I'd definitely focus on are Lyn and Florina first and foremost, and then Wil and Erk.

Focus on Rath when the enemies get a bit stronger (so he doesn't earn only like 5-10 hp per kill).

And take your sweet time with matthew, because it's easy to level him up.

 

[Jotaro]

I always h8 strategy games, could this one be any different?

 

[john tv]

Fire Emblem seriously might be my favorite GBA game of all-time. I literally couldn't put it down for weeks, playing every single night until 4am until I finished the game. It's too bad Nintendo never brought out the first GBA Fire Emblem (Fuuin no Tsurugi), because it's actually a sequel to this one, continuing the story another 20 or 30 years beyond what you're playing now. Very, very awesome series and I can't wait for the GC version in two weeks.

PS -- Old-school Fire Emblem snobs who join every single FE thread to say how much better the old, obscure FE games are than the new GBA ones -- don't. We've heard it a thousand times already, and we don't need to hear it again.

EDIT: And no, once they're dead, they're dead. That's it. Nothing more to it. If you don't want to lose anyone, then keep replaying chapters until you can beat them w/o any casualties. I finished the entire game without losing anyone, so don't let anyone tell you it's impossible.

 

[LordPhlegm]

Seriouisly, Wallace was my one man army for a couple of levels. I was able to balance out the experience still, but he took the front, and held it. Wallace is fantastic.

 

[explodet]

Fire Emblem GC is out in Japan in two weeks? Damn.

Those in the US will have to settle for the next GBA game in May. \

You know you want it.

 

[MutFox]

Don't level guys in the arena too much.
because they'll only use their best weapon in the arena.

If you want to have a character with all their weapons at S and A ratings, do normal fights. (You can only MAX out 1 weapon type.)

And yeah, it's possible to finish the game without losing anyone, it's easy.
It's VERY hard on Hard Mode, but it's also possible, my brother did it.
(Hard mode is REALLY hard, enemies that stood still in normal mode, rush now... It's scarey.)

 

[Jive Turkey]

Fire Emblem GC is out in Japan in two weeks? Damn.

Those in the US will have to settle for the next GBA game in May. \

You know you want it.

Heh...Will be a first for me to go out and buy a portible game on day one. Fire emblem owns me.

 

[Ghost]

New one in May? Awesome.

 

[Ash Housewares]

I gave Erk all the chances I could and still didn't get anything out of him, every so often he will be great but its much more likely that he will be a total failure

You could restart a stage if someone gets killed, I let Dorcas stay dead though, he was an asshole anyways

 

[john tv]

Experiences can vary greatly for everyone. There is no one set strategy you need to follow, and really, every character can become extremely useful if you raise them properly. My Erk kicked all kinds of ass, for example.

 

[Kiriku]

So, is this game HARD? Like "Tactics Ogre - Let us Cling Together"-hard? I found that game almost impossible at times, when I sometimes barely got a chance to move a character before he/she got killed in a battle (and gone forever, at that). I want a game that's at least somewhat forgiving.

 

[Buggy Loop]

So, is this game HARD? Like "Tactics Ogre - Let us Cling Together"-hard? I found that game almost impossible at times, when I sometimes barely got a chance to move a character before he/she got killed in a battle (and gone forever, at that). I want a game that's at least somewhat forgiving.

Havent played tactics ogre but fire emblem is forgiving, you usually have plenty of time to place your units around before the enemy gets near you, you can even change their formation before you even start the level. In fire emblem it will always go right if you send the appropriate units against the appropriate enemy, you cant just send anyone against any enemy, the Sword<axe<spear<sword (iirc) and magic's circle (which i dont remember) play a key role in this. Also, i always have my "big" guys that i know kicks all kind of ass as my main attackers, and then give them a support unit to help, as much as possible if i know a certain battle will be hard against a bunch of units, i send a wyvern rider or horse rider nearby to rescue an unit thats too close to death.

My favorite game on GBA, and nintendo's biggest underdog imo. Without the nintendo logo at the start you wouldnt think its from them, the art, the story, the dialogue, its just weird coming from them.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Havent played tactics ogre but fire emblem is forgiving, you usually have plenty of time to place your units around before the enemy gets near you, you can even change their formation before you even start the level. In fire emblem it will always go right if you send the appropriate units against the appropriate enemy, you cant just send anyone against any enemy, the Sword<axe<spear<sword (iirc) and magic's circle (which i dont remember) play a key role in this. Also, i always have my "big" guys that i know kicks all kind of ass as my main attackers, and then give them a support unit to help, as much as possible if i know a certain battle will be hard against a bunch of units, i send a wyvern rider or horse rider nearby to rescue an unit thats too close to death.

My favorite game on GBA, and nintendo's biggest underdog imo. Without the nintendo logo at the start you wouldnt think its from them, the art, the story, the dialogue, its just weird coming from them.

That because Intelligent Systems kicks all kinds of ass.

 

[Diomedeskun]

Use any characters you like, except for Marcus. Almost all the other characters will be at least decent if leveled enough. Just make sure you balance your team to have a good mix of units for many different situations.

The key to the game is knowing what parts of the map are safe for your weaker units and also balancing exp gain among your chosen characters.

 

[Tempy]

And again, any characters in particular that I've gotten so far that you'd recommend focusing on more than others?

Lyn?
Sain?
Kent?
Florina?
Will?
Dorcas?
Serra?
Erk?
Rath?
Mathew?
Nills?
Lucious?
Wallace?(who is unGodly strong now)

Lyn - She's one of the three Lords, so yes, use her. Her HP is low, and while her dodge rate is great, I'd still give her the HP boosting item later on.
Sain/Kent - Useful to focus on at least one of them. You get two other cavaliers later on, but either Sain or Kent is good enough to use.
Florina - She's very very vulnerable and I've had her die often. Could use defense boosting items and later on the Delphi Shield. Fun character even though she's hard to play with.
Will - I prefer Rebecca as an archer.
Dorcas - Don't like him personality wise. Hector and Dart are better axe-wielders.
Serra - I always play the later stages with 2 healers, Serra and Priscilla.
Erk - Not as good as Renault or Nino but useful to have a Nature magic user around in the early stages.
Rath - Haven't played him much as I've preferred using the female archers Rebecca and Louise.
Matthew - Weaksauce compared to Legault and Jaffar, but you still need him early on for those fog of war missions and for unlocking and stealing things.
Nils - Very useful in some missions.
Lucius - I really like using him with his very high RES.
Wallace - Do not use him! He promotes way too early and will cap much lower than the other knight you get later. Sure he might seem powerful now, but like Marcus he's just an experience leecher.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Lyn - She's one of the three Lords, so yes, use her. Her HP is low, and while her dodge rate is great, I'd still give her the HP boosting item later on.
Sain/Kent - Useful to focus on at least one of them. You get two other cavaliers later on, but either Sain or Kent is good enough to use.
Florina - She's very very vulnerable and I've had her die often. Could use defense boosting items and later on the Delphi Shield. Fun character even though she's hard to play with.
Will - I prefer Rebecca as an archer.
Dorcas - Don't like him personality wise. Hector and Dart are better axe-wielders.
Serra - I always play the later stages with 2 healers, Serra and Priscilla.
Erk - Not as good as Renault or Nino but useful to have a Nature magic user around in the early stages.
Rath - Haven't played him much as I've preferred using the female archers Rebecca and Louise.
Matthew - Weaksauce compared to Legault and Jaffar, but you still need him early on for those fog of war missions and for unlocking and stealing things.
Nils - Very useful in some missions.
Lucius - I really like using him with his very high RES.
Wallace - Do not use him! He promotes way too early and will cap much lower than the other knight you get later. Sure he might seem powerful now, but like Marcus he's just an experience leecher.

About Wallace....

Spoiler

I haven't tried this yet, but what if you choose to not use the Knight's Crest in Hard mode? (It's not forced on you then. )

 

[JavyOO7]

At first, I found Hector to be a piece of crap really.

Boy... did I ever eat crow later on in the game.

Great game. Haven't finished it though. I will.

 

[bionic77]

Florina - She's very very vulnerable and I've had her die often. Could use defense boosting items and later on the Delphi Shield. Fun character even though she's hard to play with.

Florina actually becomes very strong after she levels up. It is hard to level her up because she is so weak in the beginning, but she is amazing later on in the game. She ends up having a high attack with a super high evade later on.

Fire Emblem seriously might be my favorite GBA game of all-time. I literally couldn't put it down for weeks, playing every single night until 4am until I finished the game. It's too bad Nintendo never brought out the first GBA Fire Emblem (Fuuin no Tsurugi), because it's actually a sequel to this one, continuing the story another 20 or 30 years beyond what you're playing now. Very, very awesome series and I can't wait for the GC version in two weeks.

This series is amazingly addictive. I felt the same way, I generally can only play most games 1-3 hours before I get sick of it and need a break, but Fire Emblem was so addictive that I would go for 10 straight hours and see my SP's battery die on me. I would love to see what IS would do with a huge budget for Nintendo's next system, I get the feeling that whatever they would produce would put Square, Enix, Konami, and every other company that makes rpgs to shame. Square especially can learn a lot from IS on how to make rpg gameplay more fun.

The series also demostrates the stupidity of Nintendo, I can't believe it took those idiots so long to bring this series out of Japan.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Quick question here:

Spoiler

I just started Chapter 24 and Pent has given Eliwood the Heaven Seal however even though Eliwood is level 20 he couldn't use it. I thought he would being level 20 and all. Do I have to wait for the third Heaven Seal to change Eliwood?

 

[bionic77]

Quick question here:

Spoiler

I just started Chapter 24 and Pent has given Eliwood the Heaven Seal however even though Eliwood is level 20 he couldn't use it. I thought he would being level 20 and all. Do I have to wait for the third Heaven Seal to change Eliwood?

Spoiler

Give it to Hector or Lyn. As I remember you only get two Heaven Seals to use and you just use them on Hector or Lyn, I suggest Hector first assuming you get both Seals. Eliwood levels up eventually, but I won't say how or when so as not to spoil it for you.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Ah thanks. Yeah, I just tossed it to Hector.

 

[slayn]

my opinion -

Lyn - I don't like her, I leveled her some on hard mode just because I knew I would be forced to use her at times.
Sain/Kent - I forget which is which, but the one that is str based has always been far FAR better for me and is generally the best cavalier. I'm thinking its Kent.
Florina - worst flier in the game imo
Will - I don't like archers
Dorcas - I used him my first time through and wasn't impressed.
Serra - I like my healers to be on horses, but thats just me.
Erk - found him useless.
Rath - don't like archers, not even when they're on horses
Mathew - I really wanted to use him but he turns out pretty meh. Use him only for opening chests and the like.
Nills - never liked him.
Lucious - this the priest guy? He was alright.
Wallace - don't use him except for defensive reasons (take away his weapons and have him clog the road or something)

 

[GaimeGuy]

my opinion -

Lyn - I don't like her, I leveled her some on hard mode just because I knew I would be forced to use her at times.
Sain/Kent - I forget which is which, but the one that is str based has always been far FAR better for me and is generally the best cavalier. I'm thinking its Kent.
Florina - worst flier in the game imo
Will - I don't like archers
Dorcas - I used him my first time through and wasn't impressed.
Serra - I like my healers to be on horses, but thats just me.
Erk - found him useless.
Rath - don't like archers, not even when they're on horses
Mathew - I really wanted to use him but he turns out pretty meh. Use him only for opening chests and the like.
Nills - never liked him.
Lucious - this the priest guy? He was alright.
Wallace - don't use him except for defensive reasons (take away his weapons and have him clog the road or something)

Lyn is awesome, and probably the best in the game if you luck out and get a high attack stat with her.
Kent is the one with the high attack, although the cavaliers in FE, overall, are pretty weak.
Florina? She's amazing. You just have to level her up a bit.
Serra can be good, but it takes time.
Erk is a wildcard
Rath is one of the strongest characters in the game, especially after you promote him to a nomadic trooper. High stats all around, and HUGE movement.
Matthew is someone I like personally.
Lucius, being the only light purely light magic user you have (unless you promote your healers or mages, but that takes a while) until nearly the end of the game, can be VERY useful.

 

[bionic77]

This is about the last battles of the game, so obvious spoiler tags.

Spoiler

What do veterans of the game find to be the best party for the last two battles? Obviously your Lords are necessary, but they make the bosses ridiculously strong at the end of the game and for me it took more strategy then anything else to keep everyone alive. Nils and Hector were my MVPs at this point in the game. Obviously Nils is a pussy and will die if he gets hit, but if you can keep him safe he makes the last two battles go 2x as quickly. This was one of the few battles where Erk seemed to be weak and Florina was barely strong enough to fight (even though she was maxed out).

 

[heavy liquid]

I always h8 strategy games, could this one be any different?

You should give it a shot. I tried, but could never really get into the FF Tactics or Ogre Battle games. And while I liked Advance Wars a lot, I didn't LOVE them like some people. Fire Emblem was my favorite out of all of them for some reason... it had a grip on me that none of the others had. I hope the GC and next GBA game do the same for me.

 

[slayn]

Lyn is awesome, and probably the best in the game if you luck out and get a high attack stat with her.
Kent is the one with the high attack, although the cavaliers in FE, overall, are pretty weak.
Florina? She's amazing. You just have to level her up a bit.
Serra can be good, but it takes time.
Erk is a wildcard
Rath is one of the strongest characters in the game, especially after you promote him to a nomadic trooper. High stats all around, and HUGE movement.
Matthew is someone I like personally.
Lucius, being the only light purely light magic user you have (unless you promote your healers or mages, but that takes a while) until nearly the end of the game, can be VERY useful.

lyn, for me, has always been the worst of the 3 lords. I am just not a fan of relying on luck. I can plan much more efficiently if I know I can send in hector and he will do exactly this much damage and is absolutely 100% guaranteed not to die.

florina is the worst flier statistically speaking. Its definitely possible to get lucky with her, but she has the worst stats if you write out all the math.

Rath could definitely be very could, but I'd never use him. Me and archers just don't go well togethor.

Lucius is someone I always use early on, but his usefullness always seemed to start decreasing pretty rapidly in late game. Maybe I jsut got unlucky.

my best people at the end have always ALWAYS been:

Spoiler

Hector, Canas, Priscilla, Raven, Oswin

they are always the core of my team and the ones that do all of the heavy work.

 

[bionic77]

lyn, for me, has always been the worst of the 3 lords. I am just not a fan of relying on luck. I can plan much more efficiently if I know I can send in hector and he will do exactly this much damage and is absolutely 100% guaranteed not to die.

florina is the worst flier statistically speaking. Its definitely possible to get lucky with her, but she has the worst stats if you write out all the math.

Rath could definitely be very could, but I'd never use him. Me and archers just don't go well togethor.

Lucius is someone I always use early on, but his usefullness always seemed to start decreasing pretty rapidly in late game. Maybe I jsut got unlucky.

my best people at the end have always ALWAYS been:

Spoiler

Hector, Canas, Priscilla, Raven, Oswin

they are always the core of my team and the ones that do all of the heavy work.

It almost isn't luck with Florina and Lyn, it is almost a guarantee they will make the enemy miss like 60% of the time. The only time I wouldn't try it is with a high level boss, but otherwise that is why they can kick a lot of ass. And Florina also has some of the highest Speed stats in the game.

 

[slayn]

I've had the florina argument... too many times... but I jsut want to make one thing clear. Floring is not as fast as she *appears* to be. Speed is never used in any game calculcations like dodge or how many attacks you get. The number used for all of those things is a number never displayed I refer to as 'quickness'

if weapon weight < character constitution
quickness = speed
else
quickness = speed - (weapon weight - constitution)

floring has a con of what, 4? Most good spears weigh what, 10? So when comparing her to other characters you should generally mentally subtract 6 from her speed score.

 

[bionic77]

I've had the florina argument... too many times... but I jsut want to make one thing clear. Floring is not as fast as she *appears* to be. Speed is never used in any game calculcations like dodge or how many attacks you get. The number used for all of those things is a number never displayed I refer to as 'quickness'

if weapon weight < character constitution
quickness = speed
else
quickness = speed - (weapon weight - constitution)

floring has a con of what, 4? Most good spears weigh what, 10? So when comparing her to other characters you should generally mentally subtract 6 from her speed score.

I am sure there are a million ways to win the game, but for me at least she developed so much better then any of the Pegasus or Wyvern riders. For a decent part of the game she was only behind Hector in her value to me.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Well I think we all agree that

Spoiler

Athos'

stats are good.

 

[slayn]

^
|

he blows! marcus rules all! ^_^

 

[Kicko]

John TV, I'm expecting Fire Emblem GC impressions from you.

 

[Jive Turkey]

When is Fire Emblem GC being released in Japan again?

 

[Ironclad]

Damn, I forgot how much I loved this game. Just put in a couple of hours in today and it is as rewarding as always. Hard mode is making me sweat but it won't be the first time I've pulled through it.

I think I may agree with john tv when he says that this is his favorite GBA game of all time. It is such a rewarding game and all of your effort shows with how well your management skills become. Also being forced to watch over some of the weaker characters until they become stronger(Florina) causes you to develop multi-layered strategies.

 

[pkasho]

send Florina up against magic users, they barely scratch her.

 

[Ironclad]

send Florina up against magic users, they barely scratch her.

Yeah, I know. Her resistance is remarkable, but for the early chapters, you run into literally no magic users except until after Erk. During that time, she can be killed very easily by an enemy wielding a SWORD! That is until you level her up a bit.

 

[Mejilan]

There's this one mission (18? 19?) where you fight oodles of mages to the SW. An outdoor map. She took out every single one, without a problem. Without support or healing. It was awesome.

 

[isamu]

Lyn - She's one of the three Lords, so yes, use her. Her HP is low, and while her dodge rate is great, I'd still give her the HP boosting item later on.
Sain/Kent - Useful to focus on at least one of them. You get two other cavaliers later on, but either Sain or Kent is good enough to use.
Florina - She's very very vulnerable and I've had her die often. Could use defense boosting items and later on the Delphi Shield. Fun character even though she's hard to play with.
Will - I prefer Rebecca as an archer.
Dorcas - Don't like him personality wise. Hector and Dart are better axe-wielders.
Serra - I always play the later stages with 2 healers, Serra and Priscilla.
Erk - Not as good as Renault or Nino but useful to have a Nature magic user around in the early stages.
Rath - Haven't played him much as I've preferred using the female archers Rebecca and Louise.
Matthew - Weaksauce compared to Legault and Jaffar, but you still need him early on for those fog of war missions and for unlocking and stealing things.
Nils - Very useful in some missions.
Lucius - I really like using him with his very high RES.
Wallace - Do not use him! He promotes way too early and will cap much lower than the other knight you get later. Sure he might seem powerful now, but like Marcus he's just an experience leecher.

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks

send Florina up against magic users, they barely scratch her.

If this is true, then that advice will come in very handy thanks

my opinion -

Lyn - I don't like her, I leveled her some on hard mode just because I knew I would be forced to use her at times.
Sain/Kent - I forget which is which, but the one that is str based has always been far FAR better for me and is generally the best cavalier. I'm thinking its Kent.
Florina - worst flier in the game imo
Will - I don't like archers
Dorcas - I used him my first time through and wasn't impressed.
Serra - I like my healers to be on horses, but thats just me.
Erk - found him useless.
Rath - don't like archers, not even when they're on horses
Mathew - I really wanted to use him but he turns out pretty meh. Use him only for opening chests and the like.
Nills - never liked him.
Lucious - this the priest guy? He was alright.
Wallace - don't use him except for defensive reasons (take away his weapons and have him clog the road or something)

Interesting. Seems there aren't any on the list that you particularly care for eh?

 

[Dyne]

I beat the whole game using mostly Canas, Lucius, Erk, and Hector. Hector would always win the weapon side of things, and well, Canas is death on legs. Lucius eventually became a very good healer, and Erk was there to round things out pretty well. Elfire is a great attack.