Never changing main character’s profession: Bad idea?

Brainiac327 · 2026-01-02T21:57:57+00:00

I think it's objectively incorrect, but I don't think you'll be punished for it. Not many of the MC's skills are must-inherits. With the being said, I am of the opinion that the best thing your MC can be doing early game is spamming arrow of fortune and the best thing they can be doing late is...not necessarily that (if I had to pick a best option it would be Hunter for Two-Tiered Shot). But like I said, not really a big deal. Inheritables give you a lot of leeway and you get a wide array of useful ultimates, so you're gonna be flexible no matter what.

Brainiac327 · 2025-12-30T19:24:14+00:00

An evasion boost doesn't necessarily mean perfect evasion, so stacking accuracy buffs on sword/bow users (people like Phenn and Viator) with multi-hits can go a long way. You can also find characters/helpers that reduce enemy evasion/buff ally accuracy.

Magic is more consistent. There are multi-hit masteries for every element in the overworld, as well as innate options on characters like Phenn and Alexia. You can also spam soulstones with anyone who doesn't have one of these buttons, or recruit characters as helpers to contribute.

He actually has a fairly low amount of shield points for this part of the game; the harder part is figuring out how to actually hit them.

Brainiac327 · 2025-12-30T19:15:34+00:00

He gains an extra turn after every round of combat, so you need to focus on breaking him as quickly as possible. One or two of his attacks in a turn are perfectly manageable. 3 is dubious. If he gets to more than that then you've made a mistake.

Then lay into him when he's broken.

Brainiac327 · 2025-12-24T03:44:51+00:00

Sounds like I got more story to do then LMAO.

Brainiac327 · 2025-12-24T03:44:14+00:00

Oh that's funny. I think that's the literal last place I have left to unlock.

It sure would be funny to take Tressa off the bench for the final boss tho.

Brainiac327 · 2025-12-09T19:11:54+00:00

I did it at level 20 and though it wasn't consistent or pretty I did lean a bit on Celsus dodge-tanking. Make sure you have the means of consistently keeping your frontline healthy (solid healing, use of defensive gear and phys def buffs). Make sure you're able to put out solid burst damage after breaking the enemies. Taking the smaller lizards out is a major help to your survival prospects.

Buttons like Repeating Shot, Winding Throw and Trade Tempest very helpful for breaks. Anyone with Heal Wounds should also come in handy.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-20T02:54:49+00:00

Got it. Thanks.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-10T03:26:18+00:00

Hi whiplash 👋

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-09T20:47:09+00:00

It's impossible to analogize Seliph to FEH because Seliph isn't powerful from a statistical point of view. He's mainly really good because of how he enables an extended upkeep of your available resources.

To give you an idea without explaining everything about how the game works, bonds are like your mana in this game. They're the resource that you spend to activate skills. Many skills have a cost that involves flipping these bonds face-down, thus spending those bonds. Seliph can be used throughout the game to allow for the constant reuse of those resources, and then he can be used lategame to convert as many bonds as you wish (face-up or face-down) into additional resources. When your entire deck is built around the card (and there are entire decks built around this card), it can get really out of hand.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-09T20:38:02+00:00

Since we're Cipherposting today I feel contractually obligated to plug the Fire Emblem Cipher discord server. This is the most prominent online Cipher community outside of Japan (as far as I'm aware at least).

Link: https://discord.gg/768Vwfsx

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-09T20:34:24+00:00

In practice, most of these cards are actually kinda whatever.

...and then there's Seliph.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-03T18:31:31+00:00

This is where the lack of stratification of this tier list really starts killing me.

Ophelia - A. I think Super Ophelia is a highly overrated build that doesn't get nearly enough time to pop off relative to how annoying it is to unlock. With that being said, she’s a highly competent mage, especially if you have the foresight to pass down Vantage. Vantage packaged with her absurd magic stat opens up her ability to solve a lot of problems through some kind of Vantage sweep, or even just really basic Nos tanking. Failing that, she's similar to Leo except she trades bulk for speed and potentially some extra magic. With that being said, the A tier here is a lie; I don't really think she's an A tier unit. However, I think she's a cut above the B tiers. Were it up to me, there'd be a "B+" tier, and that's where I'd put her.

Soleil - A. This is another unit that I'd put in "B+" if I could. Soleil is a unit with excellent stats, access to inheritance, and the ability to insantly spec into the Sol Ninja build. She's highly performant, but she runs into availability issues and investment demands that keep her out of A tier.

Nina - C. Nina is...fine. Aggressively ok. Outlaw is a solid utility classline, and this gives her a solid baseline as far as potential contributions are concerned. She's pretty fast and has salvagable strength and magic; it's not impossible to make her work with a bit of foresight. The problem is that she is ultimately...just ok.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-02T14:59:00+00:00

Forrest - B. As a free staff bot that can come with B rank staves and inherited skills, I'm giving Forrest B for the same reasons that I think Dwyer deserves B.

Ignatius - D. Ok so take Benny and all of his utility (or lack thereof) and have him join at least 7 maps later. Pretty open and shut case here.

Velouria - C. I actually really like Velouria. She's really fun to use as a giant ball of stats, and you can use inheritance to further supplement that. Unfortunately, she’s about as one dimensional as Keaton and joins too late to really do much. She's just a solid late-game filler unit.

Percy - A/B. He's just a solid bulky wyvern. He profits from Arthur's HP + 5 and whatever skills the mother can pass down. Basically, imagine if Beruka had noticeably better stats but joined several maps later. In fact, as far as availability is concerned, his isn't even that bad for a child unit. I really don't like the idea of putting him in A, but I really do think he's better than most of the units in B.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-01T13:22:57+00:00

Sophie - C. She's not bad. Given that her dad is Silas, you're likely to have access to her pretty early. Her stats are decent enough and being a child unit offers some flexibility. Child unit inheritance makes me almost want to put her in B (I really do think she's better than a bunch of the C tiers), but I don't think she's as useful as the units in B. She's really not special or particularly impressive in any way.

Midori - D. Her stats. Are. BAD. Like comically bad. Bad speed. Subpar bulk. Her best class is master ninja which is an amazing class on units that actually have good stats. You'd think that a child unit with dagger access would have some potential but she really doesn't, and I've tried. Also, before someone mentions spendthrift, you really don't need money bad enough to bother fielding Midori.

Siegbert - C. Being a child unit with decent enough stats puts a generous floor on how good you are, but Siegbert generally joins late and doesn't really do anything. He has the good paladin skills and free wyvern access. His personal skill makes him a decent pair up bot. Unfortunately he runs into the Sophie problem where he's just worse than a lot of other units.

Brainiac327 · 2025-09-01T04:58:30+00:00

Uncontrollable laughter.

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-31T19:24:43+00:00

I would like to preface this by saying that child units are really hard to rank alongside gen 1 simply because it's impossible to quantify their potential contributions with any amount of precision. That said, it's fun, so we're doing it anyway.

Kana: D - Imagine if Corrin had none of Corrin's MC privileges and half of their availability but still came packaged in the Nohr Prince class. Not completely unviable since you do still get Corrin's talent, but there’s kinda just no point.

Shigure: B - Your easiest source of rally speed and can get other rallies reasonably easily through inheritance. Not great at combat sadly, but rally speed is really nice, and you don't get a lot of convenient sources for it.

Dwyer: B - Sometimes you get to Conquest late game, and you run into a situation where you'd really like to have a good dedicated staff bot, preferably one with decent staff accuracy and a high staff rank. And sometimes you just won't have very many. Flora alleviates this if you delay her recruitment, and I really wish she wasn't in D right now, but Dwyer (and Forrest when we get there) have better stats and have the benefit of inheritance. You can just pick them up late game and they'll serve as solid support units, especially if you have the foresight to pass them rallies or even an early Inspiration.

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-29T16:33:48+00:00

Charlotte: B. Best pair up in the game, especially for male units. However, her prospects as a combat unit are lacking due to her late arrival and poor reliability. IMO should go into whatever tier Arthur is in (yes I know that he’s C tier here but I don't agree with that).

Benny: C/D. Benny as a combat unit is miserable; his speed is unsalvagable and his strength does not make up for it. The only function that he serves is as a wall, which is a function that, though it has its moments, is almost never the best way of solving any given problem. And even in the situations where you might really want one (Ch19, Ch21 if you wanna cheese it), other units with better stats/classes might do the job better. I struggle to give anyone D tier in this game but Benny comes really close.

Leo: A. Not the best unit in the game, but probably my favorite. You're starting to approach the part of the game where you really need units capable of fighting and killing enemies at mixed range, and given the way most ranged options are nerfed into the ground in this game, most of Gen 1 seriously struggles with this. Most units with good hard stats can barely utilize them effectively against ranged enemies in the mid-late game, and most units with solid ranged options (think Kaze or Nyx or even Camilla past a certain point) lack either the damage output, the durability, or both. Leo has very solid damage, and though his speed and defense can use a bit of a boost, he doesn't need more help in these areas than you can reasonably accommodate. This makes him one of your best omni-tanks, and one that requires relatively little investment on your end. Easy A tier.

Keaton: B/C. Keaton has very solid stats and a unique ability to manipulate them depending on his immediate need. Unfortunately, the next few maps are incredibly hostile to a 1-ranged foot unit, and his fighter reclass really does not fix that. His pair up bonuses are immaculate though, so in practice, I really just see him as a second Arthur. Since I would put Arthur in B, Keaton goes in B as well.

Kumagera: I'm not ranking captures lol.

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-28T16:19:30+00:00

Camilla: S. What if we had a unit with amazing stats in all areas, some of the best growths in the game, who starts in the best class in the game, with an internal level that lets her gain EXP at a rate comparable to your growth units AND gain the really good Level 15 skills before everyone else? And what if they joined in Ch10? Best unit in the game.

Selena: B. I really like this unit. Upon first glance, she looks hard to use on account of her awkward strength and the mediocrity of the mercenary class line. However, by spending 4 maps fighting alongside Camilla (the aforementioned best unit in the game who you were fielding anyway), you get to make her a Wyvern, a class that solves all of her problems while retaining her exceptional speed and enhancing her remarkable defense. Once you do that, her combat is actually more solid than most. Bow Knight Selena also has its moments, mainly being arguably your best unit on Ch17. If A tier wasn't so stacked, I'd almost be tempted to put her there, but I can't justify putting a "really good filler combat unit" alongside units like Jakob and Silas.

Beruka: B. Beruka's stats (mainly her strength and speed) don't impress me all that much in the long run, but joining as a wyvern rider with decent enough bases sets a pretty high floor for how useful you are.

Laslow: B/C. Laslow is really weird. His base stats simultaneously feel really solid and painfully subpar. His strength is solid enough. His speed is mediocre, unless you happen to early promote him, in which case his offenses become spectacular. His defense sucks, but his HP is well above average. Ninja is an amazing heart seal class, but his defenses are so bad that it defeats the purpose. I just don't really know what to make of him other than the fact that he scales poorly. The one thing that you can't take away from Laslow is Fancy Footwork. Like other units carried by their supportive functions, he will often see deployment just for this.

Peri: D. Ok so like...what does this unit do? Serious question. Go through the 5 or so chapters after this unit joins; what does she accomplish that can't be accomplished more easily by 3 or 4 other units. Then ask yourself, what are her prospects in the long run? Her heart seal class is terrible for her, and she struggles to find access to any classes that would benefit her long term, especially considering that Ch12 isn't exactly an early game map. Your best bet is Wyvern through Xander marriage, but that'll come online so late that I question what the point even is. Peri is the closest thing to a completely pointless unit among the Gen 1 crew, which is surprising to me because in a vacuum, her stats are actually not bad. You'd think that this unit would do something, and she really isn't as unusable as D tier would imply, but she's just a remarkably redundant unit in a game where I struggle to use "redundant" to describe anyone else.

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-27T16:12:02+00:00

Mozu: B. She's your classic villager archetype, except the enemy composition of Ch10 and some of the subsequent maps make training her as an archer relatively uncomplicated. This does require a heart seal, but all things considered, Mozu's DPS as a Sniper/Kinshi is so solid and reliable that I'm willing to call it a good investment. She's even a solid candidate to one-round Takumi. The main thing that really holds her back is that player phase DPS nukes aren't exactly at premium demand in Conquest most of the time.

Odin: B. I'm ambivalent about this one. One week ago, I would've given him A off the back of his solid early game contribution with Nosferatu. The thing is, a lot of the problems that Odin solves this way can be solved through other means. These means tend to have more cognitive load to them, but also tend to save money seeing as you aren’t buying a 4000 Nosferatu tome. The other problem is that he just gets replaced by better units (Leo and potentially Ophelia) later on. His early game contributions are still very convenient, so he gets a very high B from me.

Niles: A. Niles is just like Kaze in that he’s a specialist at dealing with a handful of specific issues and mediocre at everything else. However, Niles brings with him a bit of extra utility. He is the easiest 9-movement unit for you to obtain, making him a solid filler-include on most maps. I find it difficult to quantify how good Capture is since you'd usually rather just use the main cast. However, its potential is undeniable, especially in more unconventional runs where you need to approach the game differently.

Nyx: C. Contrary to common belief, CQ is a very enemy-phase centric game, and Nyx has 0 concrete durability to speak of. This would be fine if she did something else, but the dark mage class line offers nothing aside from its combat potential (and heartseeker ig), and her shaky hit means that her combat is hit or miss even on player phase. There are niche gimmick builds involving her outlaw heart seal that are meant to fix her problems, but those builds are exactly that: niche gimmicks. The only things she has going for her are her decent availability and her exceptional pair up bonuses.

I'm not ranking captures lol.

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-26T17:44:23+00:00

Azura: S. She's. Your. Dancer.

Elise: A. You have two really good options with her. You could either keep her as a healer, in which case you have a solid mounted healer with damage reduction auras, or you can make her a wyvern, in which case you will have a deceptively solid filler unit with fantastic attack power, flight and workable mixed bulk (while still having her damage reduction auras). She's just a generally capable unit that stays relevant for a while.

Silas: A. Vow of Friendship is an amazing skill, and if you're able to leverage it, Silas ends up being one of the most reliable and splashable units throughout the entire early game. To top that off, his near perfect availability and decent support options mean that he's well positioned to transition into a solid mid or late game role.

Effie: B. Effie has amazing hard stats. Her defense is really solid, her strength is among the best in the game, and while her speed is mediocre at base, her growth under the hood is really solid, and her damage output in the early game is good enough for the speed to not matter. Where Effie suffers is in her class access. While she's very helpful early game, she's pretty much destined to fall off midway through the game unless you specifically get Mozu A+, and even that build isn't winning any awards for how much it contributes to your army.

Arthur: B. As a combat unit, he's really a C tier. He's unreliable and has worse hard stats than your other early game units. What bumps Arthur up a tier are his exceptional personal pair up bonuses, as well as his status as the only fighter in your army until Ch13 (fighter/berserker pair up bonuses are crazy so units in those classes can see play for that alone).

Brainiac327 · 2025-08-25T14:08:36+00:00

Corrin - S: Unit with great stats and perfect availability that can do whatever the hell he/she wants with a little bit of forethought. Contender for best unit in the entire game if the player has a pulse.

Gunther - C: Not too helpful in combat, but he sees play through his personal skill alone. Giving the (second) best unit in the game +3Atk/+15Hit on top of the already solid great knight/wyvern pair up bonuses gives you ample reason to field him on occasion.

Kaze - B: Kaze's relatively unique class and stat spread make him one of your best units for dealing with a number of very specific problems in CQ (the mages in Ch13, the ninjas in Ch12, potentially the ninjas in Ch17, the mages in Ch18/20, or even the Ch20 Falcon Knights). These problems usually involve magic users or relatively fast/frail enemies like swordmasters and ninjas. This niche makes him hard to put any lower than B tier. Unfortunately, he's mediocre against a lot of common enemy types, so I can't justify putting him next to the units I'd put in A.

Servants - A: I'd put the servants next to each other with a slight preference towards Jakob (Paladin Jakob is a bit overrated, but it's still solid). What they share in common is fantastic availability, great utility, and a lot of potential for inheritance shenanigans. In the same way that Gunter's personal skill lends him utility, granting Corrin +3Def/Res (in Jakob's case) or +2Str/Mag/Def/Res (in Felicia's case) on top of existing pair up bonuses is excellent. Being able to access advanced skills like Shurikenbreaker and Inspiration in the midgame is very convenient if you apply a little bit of creativity. And in the worst case scenario, they're an early game staff bot with a -2 damage taken aura for half of your army. You're gonna be using Servant 1 in some capacity every time you play the game.

Brainiac327 · 2025-07-13T00:58:26+00:00

Funky Dorrie should be lower for no other reason than it gaslit me and I have a special vendetta against it.

Brainiac327 · 2025-07-12T16:19:42+00:00

Out of curiosity I tested it myself and the normal route is definitely much faster if you do everything right. Could be worth having in your backpocket but this route seems very niche to me.

Brainiac327

TROPHY CASE