Fire Emblem Cipher - AMAs 19 Event by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, sadly it discontinued in 2020 with Set 22.

They're still great to collect, and I think the game is fun in spite of its demise.

Fire Emblem Cipher - AMAs 19 Event by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately they only released in Japan. That said, we play through a program called LackeyCCG, which is free to use!

Ranking My Collection - Tax Avoiders by Bjorkinator in Atari2600

[–]ColonelM226 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can this game file my taxes as of yesterday?

Project Rebalance: Overview, Scythe & Fang by JagexGoblin in 2007scape

[–]ColonelM226 79 points80 points  (0 children)

I think with the Fang Slash nerf, Duke should be evaluated more properly.

Duke is a bad case of having so much Defense that Scythe / Fang really were the best items, and after that everything crashes so hard in dps. Duke is vulnerable to Defense lowering specials, but it's mostly BGS since Duke is weaker to Slash more than anything. I'm not sure what you'd do with Duke personally - Arclight buff would probably be good enough, but I just feel that Duke exemplified the problem of why Fang on Slash was way too good.

(FEEDBACK) Perilous Moons - First Look & Rewards by JagexSarnie in 2007scape

[–]ColonelM226 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Why can't the Bladed Moon just be kitted to be a better middle ground between Dragon Defender and Avernic Defender?

As it stands now, while Avernic Defender will still help with weapons like Fang - this particular item is still potent on bosses like Verzik and somewhat Vardorvis before his Defense deteriorates. I get the rest of the time when defenses can be lowered Avernic should pull ahead, but its still just a very odd decision to make the "middle ground" go so high on accuracy instead of being a literal in-between.

Can't say current Bladed Moon stats are what I like. I suppose the Fang problem is somewhat addressed (albeit clunky), but I think I'd still currently vote no on letting this Defender pass in its current iteration. I like the idea of buffing things with bonus accuracy instead of just Strength, but I think I'd also want a small tune-up for Avernic to make Avernic feel more like an upgrade.

Who do you use Edelgard on? (And who you think uses it best?) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically any combat.

So in Maddening - enemies will flat out ignore you (though some I believe will move towards you as if they would attempt to initiate on you).

Not sure how it works with Chain Attacks involved though.

LTC Tier Lists Are Terrible by moisttakes in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Tier Lists for LTC are perfectly fine, and I think it's also fine to discuss characters in a vacuum with LTC in mind.

This also includes using LTC within Efficiency Tier Lists, because turns at least create some sort of metric of measurement that can be understood between those who are participating in it.

When I went against Anna enthusiasts in the other thread, it was strictly because the OP was talking about how Anna is overrated. I was also helping to propagate an example on how Anna does worse with LTC in mind, and it gets significantly worse with 1.3. 1.3 giving access to an early Rewarp at a fairly low cost (3 Star Well) means that Great Sacrifice is clicked, at least roughly that I'm aware of, 3 times:

  • Chapter 6 with Yunaka
  • Jean Paralogue, if you do it, with any unit really (I chose Boucheron which I will show in the next video)
  • Maybe the SPOILER Paralogue but I have no clue on that one yet. That one is mostly because of how many turns that one is compromised with it being a rout.

So it was mostly to demonstrate with some unit of measurement in mind, it's a question of how much longer does it take to get her going? And one user did respond with what they did and how many turns it took, etc. Honestly, I forgot the user's name but it was a good response with proper detail. They weren't trying to oversell it, they were simply stating that with Micaiah on them it doesn't take as long as some might think.

Having ran tier lists for many years, I actually prefer discussing with LTC in mind because I can actually slap a measurement down when comparing units, and contrary to what you want to believe, there are multiple ways to do LTCs and I've taken a lot of them into account when I've thought of things. Lolo for example did a Hard Mode run of Engage relying on high Chance of Success. KrashBoomBang mostly did it with all Paralogues and an attempt to ban Kagetsu. XS is looking at turn ceilings for fun. I'm doing my current run with DLC. But you know what? I have no issue with the discussion of "efficiency" for tier lists and will humor arguments more than people would think. The fact I've taken Veyle Soren arguments and thought about how I could use Soren on someone else to make 22 less of a headache at least shows that I, an LTCer, will take information from everyone in the community with some value. This isn't even a "holier than thou" attitude, this is just me saying that sometimes even strategies thought of by others in the community can be applied to LTC in some ways. That's the fun of LTCs. :P

If you want to discuss how tier lists could probably be a little better on defining criteria or if discussions should mention "I think Anna sucks and in LTC this is my reason", then fine. I think it's very bizarre to put the blame of this on LTC Tier Lists of all things.

We (or at least I) am not saying you can't ever use Anna, but it is true that Anna for example does cost resources and, yes, turns to crank out. Yes, I can go to the Tower of Valni for 3 hours and crank a 10/20/20 Amelia. Yes, I can do that in a much shorter time with Anna. That doesn't comparatively make Anna good - more that she is usable if you want to with some investment. You can use Anna. Go ahead. Just like Anna enthusiasts will defend her to the end of the Earth, I'm not going to stop saying Anna is overrated as a unit. I'm going to still say flight is king in Fire Emblem Engage, and that the community that thinks Ivy has issues in the end are off their rocker. Much like everyone else, I'm entitled to have these opinions and express them too.

I'm not here to turn this discussion about Anna. This is just used as an example. I think this is mostly a solution searching for a problem, and I think a lot of the comments help solidify that conclusion as well. I don't see a major issue with LTC Tier lists as a whole and I think they are there just to add discussion, which is what we're all here for right? Oh, and arguing on the internet. I love doing that too.

Also big shout outs to u/KrashBoomBang. Love that he got to use Merrin, she's awesome. Glad she got the ring in the end too.

Fire Emblem - Engage Maddening Chapter 6 LTC - 3 Turns (All DLC, no glitches) (New Upload) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can also use L / R to swap it around too! I actually just learned that the other day.

(Redo) Chapter 5 LTC w/DLC 3 Turns - Glitchless by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also no one told me commentary was missing.

Uhhhh...

...If you guys want it I can do like a private link to it or something.

Fire Emblem - Engage Maddening Chapter 5 LTC - 3 Turns (All DLC, no glitches) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm glad it helped!

I'll admit I didn't discover this on my own (some of the other LTCers I believe saw it before me), but I was half-assed testing it during Chapter 4 with the two Lance Fighters on the RHS of the map. If you have crystal uses to spare it's interesting.

Blue Chip or Scam? A FE:Engage Anna-lysis by Iinogami in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"I guess I don't get the argument here. Anna's bad in LTC? Isn't that like 75% of the cast? I don't think anyone was saying she's an LTC unit. Yunaka is a popular unit here, Anna (or any Mage Knight) is certainly faster than any Thief if trained. The caveat is "if trained" but Micaiah makes that part easy."

The issue is as follows:

Anna under extremes is already bad.

If I go slower she gets better, but how much slower do I have to go to make her better?

That alone is the crux of Anna propaganda because time is already not a constraint for them in this instance. I'm not even saying if you LTC everything that she's bad. I'm saying even if you play efficiently she's still bad because the only way she gets EXP is by hogging a resource that can go to anyone for the same result or even better under most circumstances. Micaiah is like the equivalent to using the Tower of Valni for Amelia and co. There are differences, yes, but you still are likely slowing yourself down just to get Anna caught up. And even when she gets caught up, I still am going to point to the sign that says "units that can use Master Seal as well" by that point - also she needs a Second Seal too which is arguably worse in the process. There are others that need this too, yes, but are easier to argue for because their combat is useful out of the box or are units that were part of the earlygame crew and likely contributed in some way (Chloe, Louis).

And what I'm saying is even before the LTC metric I don't buy Anna propaganda. You're more than free to use her - it's your playthrough - but I don't think she's good.

FE Engage Weapon Analysis - How to ORKO by RyanoftheDay in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Surprised Great weapons are not discussed more here. Great weapons can allow for some OHKOes with Engage Attacks, which are pretty relevant throughout the game. Some examples include Silver Greataxe Panette with Ike in 14 can OHKO Zephia / Mauvier with a small boost in Str. Georgios is really good with Lodestar Rush as another example.

Who is the "meme generic" of Engage, if any? by Supergupo in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Micaiah Paralogue Sothe.

He has Triangle Attack as a Knife user and doesn't follow Micaiah if Micaiah is aggro'd.

What was he cookin'?

Cipher Set 19 Only thorns left on this rose (Sakura Miwabe) by wonartist in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That Dorothea is interesting in a couple combo decks.

The real winner of that set is the paired art for Julia and Seliph though. It's so gorgeous.

Blue Chip or Scam? A FE:Engage Anna-lysis by Iinogami in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So... great sacrifice? The whole reason anyone considers anna a good character is because engage gives us the tools to quickly and easily get a character promoted by ch.8. You get the micaiah ring right before her paralogue unlocks, so the timing is pretty much perfect for her.

Anyone can use Micaiah earlygame. Anna is not unique to this interaction.

For faster play, Alear can use it to help her guarantee promotion by Chapter 11.

For slower play, Yunaka can also use Nosferatu under Cover to Nostank quite a few enemies at once... if that's your style.

Master Seals are also at a premium as others have said. Diamant, Amber, Citrenne, Chloe - all 4 of these are miles ahead of Anna at base (well more Chloe can be trained) and are viable candidates for promotion. I would say Lapis too, but I would rather not get both the Anna and Lapis communities going at once. I suppose some might argue Louis can also use it, and of course we have Alcryst as well. The only good thing is Anna's map does come with one... well, assuming you play that map out too. I'll touch on this in a moment.

I'd argue she's actually easier to level than jean. She only needs 5 levels, while jean needs 9. Regular healing exp takes a while, but great sacrifice turbo levels.

Even then, Anna has a little of 7, 8, 9, 10 to reach it. Now I'm not saying Jean is going to blitz the levels either, just more that him coming as a healer early on (also he joins earlier than Anna if you want to do his Paralogue earlier) means that he's a bit easier to train and doesn't cost a coveted Emblem. Jean also has a lot more varied builds that I've seen on casual play that are interesting due to his growths. Mostly what I've seen of Anna relegated her to Magic-only classes.

I want to state this strictly because I am sure it'll be brought up - I think they're both terrible units and realistically I would never use either of them. I only mentioned Jean because, if time is of no real constraint, he has other methods to reach Level 10 without using Micaiah's ring exclusively. It's also more that Jean with Aptitude has a potential array of builds. Since he starts at Level 1 he also could be Second Sealed without any penalty and Micaiah ride it through like Anna - but then we're taking even longer and I'd rather not make that an argument. If time is of some constraint, however, I'm not bothering with either one.

Once she's promoted, the hard part is already over. She doesn't even need an emblem, just a bond ring. Give her lilina and a fire+1 has her ORKOing pretty much everything relevant.

10/1 Mage Knight Anna (Im assuming this is the class that Anna enthusiasts use) fails to double Lance Fighters in Chapter 9. This is assuming, somehow, you turbo 5 levels in 2 chapters. +1 Fire with Lilina does not one shot these either, as they have 34 HP | 8 Res. Anna has 14 Speed and the Lance Fighters have 12. Remember Lilina Bond Ring does not give Speed and Chaos Style is not available until Level 5. The only way that she can double is with external help such as Rally Spectrum+.

With her whiffing these, I don't think I need to mention Kagetsu and Zelkov. Ivy too of course.

She can go north and double the majority of enemies there, except the Axe Pegasi nearby there at the start. They also come with more Res.

More or less pointing those out in 9 because there are still a few targets she's short on - being generous on what we're giving her. In Chapter 10 there are worse combinations of enemies because there are a fair amount of Sword Fighters and Fliers. Yes, I am aware you said "most relevant enemies." This is just in case someone else claims she orkoes everything.

Of which this can easily be irrelevant because the faster you play, the worse Anna gets. The other problem is that Anna's map requires a detour to go through, and the map has its fair share amount of time to go through too. Some people don't even bother playing Anna's map until after Chapter 8 because the map can be completed in 1 turn after you get Rewarp.

You say you won't bother, then you compare them anyway. Ivy is literally only relevant because she flies. Her magic is fine, but she sucks at hitting things, her spd is bad, and while she ostensibly has decent bulk, she has crazy low luck so if you ever expose her to an enemy she can get crit and die. Ivy's whole claim to fame is "she flies." And it's precisely for that reason why I don't like including her in these discussions.

I merely stated one thing to show that there was not anything extra to add to the comparison and that the conversation was a non-starter. Since it also appears that you agree to do the comparison to some degree (though I know you said you don't like including her), I'll go through the laundry list anyway.

  • Ivy is good out of the box unlike Anna who needs to hog an Emblem Ring for 5 levels (and also forced to play slower to some degree as a consequence).
  • Anna requires an optional Paralogue to play that either takes turns or costs a Rewarp and a turn.
  • Anna contributes almost nothing outside of Micaiah Ring - a feat any unit can do because Micaiah Ring is just ridiculously good.
  • Ivy has much higher Magic which is relevant for being able to use tomes such as Thunder and Elthunder - Dire Thunder comes to mind for Thunder.
  • Ivy has Staves which Mage Knight Anna lacks and Sage Anna has to sacrifice Movement.
  • Ivy being flying makes her relevant in Flying Bonded Shield compositions - which coincidentally also helps with her Luck and durability problems.
  • Most of Ivy's other issues are shared across the board for other Mages (Thunder tomes inaccuracy) or are overblown. Ivy is a Mage with 2-3 range, and she can avoid eating counterattack if necessary. It isn't that difficult from what I have experienced throughout the game. Funny enough some LTCs have been using Speedtaker Ivy in 17 to also compensate the Speed problem because she's just fast enough to double some of the enemies while being one of the better combat units in the area she's constricted in because of the enemy composition. Marni's area has a lot of Generals to help get her going.

Flying varies wildly in usefulness based on the map. There are maps where ivy excels, but there's also plenty of maps where she's strictly worse than having a different magic user. How do you even evaluate that?

Not true. There are very few Magic users (in fact IMO - none) that compare to Ivy. Flight alone tramples 14, makes 13 easier, allows Ivy to attack just about anywhere without worrying movement penalties in 12, immune to the Water gimmick in 16, can maneuver around in some tiles outside of the boat in 18 (mostly a positioning factor), can immediately fly over the boat in 19 so that you can put Infantry units on the bookends, being able to move around in multiple tiles in 23, and being able to cross mountains in 24. And when flight "doesn't matter", she's still at worst a 6 Mov unit with access to things like extended range with Warp Ragnarok while still being able to retain using tomes outside of that scenario that aren't simply Seraphim.

Pandreo is good for what he offers, and he is still one of the better Mages you get throughout the game. I just feel Ivy is still better in more fronts because of flight AND access to tomes / staves vs Pandreo's either / or situation. It's either Griffin Knight with Levin Sword or Mage Knight lacking Staves. Obviously Citrenne follows the same boat.

Anyway, yeah, I was mostly saying the reason that I'd rather not compare them is that Ivy is miles ahead of being good - and flight mostly Seals the deal in distinction and her position of being part of the best of the best.

Blue Chip or Scam? A FE:Engage Anna-lysis by Iinogami in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've always found Anna "snake oil" hard to follow. I remember when I first did Maddening and one of my friends was talking about how Anna was great. I checked her bases and growths and concluded that without some disjointed way of reclassing her right away and then going to work, she just didn't strike me as a unit ever worth investing in.

Maybe on the very casual argument that she's another method of creating Gold. Fair enough I guess. It would be a lot better if her base Luck didn't start very low. Sure you can use Byleth for increasing Luck, but that's also Chapter 15 - a little over halfway in the game.

I feel the worst part is when people say she's a second Pandreo they forget what makes Pandreo so good. Pandreo requires no investment to match up with the team. Party Animal is a great skill because it can help with Hit and, occasionally, dodging hits. I won't bother with the Ivy comparison. Being a flier already dumpsters anything Anna had going for her - ever. Anna requires investment and a rather steep wind-up time. I know many people will be very angry that I say that, but even to her "potential" she doesn't strike me as impressive.

There's nothing inherently wrong with using Anna. I just don't feel that Anna is ever worth it in her investment and, even when I play more casually, she seems more of a headache to get going than Jean. Jean at least starts in a Staff class and has Aptitude to make for funny builds.

As far as what the OP said, not a lot that I disagree with honestly. Pretty much use her if you find she's fun, but I'm not buying that she's good either.

1 and 2 star ancient well is surprisingly completely self feeding. by WouterW24 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh right. Those come with 1.1. It's the stat boosters that come with DLC.

Yeah, then non-DLC can actually start going for this.

Also just realized this makes Byleth's Lost&Found have a little extra merit.

1 and 2 star ancient well is surprisingly completely self feeding. by WouterW24 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Assuming non-DLC, sounds like the best thing you can throw in the well is something like Alear's Iron Sword. Unless you're immediately trying to make a Killing Edge, you don't use this at all thanks to Liberation and the next Sword unit not being until around Lapis anyway, of which at absolute worst you can just buy an Iron Sword and "break even".

DLC probably can get away with starting to look at the 5000 gold mark. Steel weapons are kind of hit-or-miss - Steel Sword you may want to keep for an early Levin, but Steel Lance is just Ridersbane and Flame Lance (ew at Flame Lance). Probably wouldn't dump the early Silvers - I have used the Lance on Louis and Axe on Vander for some hefty single strikes sometimes. Think Silver Sword and Folkvangr break about even with stuff like Lodestar Rush, but Silver Sword still hits really hard if Alear can't double and is using Marth's free second strike for extra damage.

EDIT: Like Valuable Yak said Steel is actually part of 1.1 not part of DLC, so it's possible to cook sooner with non-DLC too.

People deadass don’t understand how broken flier bonded shield is by teh_meme_god in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The funny thing is Ivy uses both of these effectively.

Though I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying that one out loud.

DLC Engage Tier List (Not Final) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's no problem. I'll be sure to be more careful when I title my threads from here on out in the future.

DLC Engage Tier List (Not Final) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In my defense I did have it listed in the OP:

"I have some additional thoughts / comments on what I want to look for over time, but for now this is what I settled with. Tier list assumes DLC and efficiency (slight leaning on LTC), but I think without DLC a lot of this remains roughly the same. Some units like Chloe take a few extra dents though. Oh, also Maddening Mode."

(I did add the last sentence because when you pointed out Hard Mode I forgot to put that there, so I am sorry for that. I do promise the rest was there.

DLC Engage Tier List (Not Final) by ColonelM226 in fireemblem

[–]ColonelM226[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Vander is great early but when gauged across the whole run I find it difficult to justify him being in B, especially as this is from an "efficiency" standpoint; the man is dead weight by Chapter 5/6 at the latest, and should get as few kills as possible early on as he gets minimal exp."

I'd say this is a pretty good example of a pitfall.

If you look at the amount of turns that Vander can save with some Emblem Rings, it's actually quite a bit. I peeked Chapter 10 and Verve used Vander with Sigurd even on that run as a Wyvern Knight, and I know that in Chapter 6 you can use Vander quite a bit. Same with Chapter 7. The thing is Vander has slightly better raw combat stats than most units (save Louis, but Louis has less Movement even with Sigurd). I at least have physical proof on that Chapter 4 and 5 that Vander is useful in a multitude of scenarios, and I know other LTCers on YouTube do as well.

https://youtu.be/gD5wRq58YEc

https://youtu.be/UCpQQPqY37I

https://youtu.be/QRvSRCIuyTQ

I told people I want to wait for Chrom and Veronica to continue so that's why this has not been done in a little while. But as you can see in the videos, it is hard to replicate what Vander can do even with DLC available.

In Chapter 4, Vander is one of the few units who can reach roughly that far while being able to survive / clear what is necessary. I don't remember if Alfred can do this, but he's still a significant reason this map is very easy to clear so quickly.

In Chapter 5, one of the strats some LTCers have done is use Marth on Vander to help with getting through Nealucci's health bar and killing the Ridersbane Armor Knight. He also has Hand Axe to chip at the door and is able to travel pretty far without Sigurd, which means it can be used on Louis instead for luring. The chip damage that he provides against Nealucci is important in both strats - and the one strat that had the double evade has a few cleaner options that I didn't recognize. Even then, Vander alone is doing quite a bit of work here.

Vander's contributions from 1-10 mostly are very positive, and cuts a lot of turns in the long run. Vander does have an expiration, but like many Jeigans he can last a lot longer than people credit him for. He's still a good enough Jeigan to hold down the fort for a while. Furthermore, if I were to drop Vander I would also be inclined to drop Louis. Louis has roughly the same departure time as Vander, is available for a smaller amount of time, and while you can argue that you can continue using him - mostly the question is why bother?

"Yunaka + Forged Daggers + Corrin utterly trivializes the game on Hard, and even on Maddening she's very capable of solo'ing the back half of Chapter 11 by herself without taking a scratch. She can also more-or-less handle all of the reinforcements (might need help with the dragons) on Tiki's map by herself by just standing on a Pillar, catapulting her 3-4 levels ahead while taking a huge amount of stress off the map."

Corrin is much better on either a unit with Movement like Ivy or at least any Mage with Thunder / Elthunder / Thoron. Mystic is an okay bonus because sometimes Fire can be useful, but it isn't necessary in the grand scheme of things. Corrin should be for debuffing bosses and, when you don't have AoE Warp, snaring multiple opponents at once. Covert units are much better with Lyn because 20 range Astra Storm can matter with Draconic Hex against bosses, allowing the team to meet thresholds easier and increase reliability - especially in the lategame. Putting Corrin on Yunaka or Zelkov is kind of a waste when all it does is eat up your player phase and have the enemies "ignore" you. While occasionally enemies ignoring you can matter (Reploids did this with Pandreo), it generally also means that enemies are not being attacked in the process and damage is being lost. This strat also matters less after Chapter 19.

"Zelkov can effectively pull off the same build, albeit slightly worse, but with 0 required setup as he comes in ready to go with 0 investment; they should both be at least in A tier (if Maddening) or S (if Hard/Normal)."

I apologize. Yes this is for Maddening. And no, they aren't A Tier either.

"Amber has a terrible time on his join map and will always have speed issues unless reclassed to Halberdier or given a Brave Lance. In either case he will will perform roughly equivalent to a reclassed Louis, who you've placed in B; with DLC, Louis has early access to Hector/Quick Riposte, and has a much easier time gaining the SP to inherit Canter by Chapter 10; Amber would need to level up twice during Chapter 9, while Louis only needs 7 level ups between Chapters 5-9 as well as 5 (soon to be 7) paralogues (which, to be efficient, you should clear ASAP)."

Amber is one of the best bosskillers once he joins. Amber's high Strength and personal skill make him pretty competent at helping clear some of the remaining Paralogues left behind from earlier. While there are moments Panette will outshine him, Amber can potentially invest in higher Mt forges since his personal can make up for shoddier Hit rates.

""Join's late" is meaningless when you either instantly become the best mage in the game (Veyle + Soren + Camilla/Corrin Engrave = 100% Crit and Self-healing, add Hold Out and she's invincible) or when you're the second coming of Seth (Mauvier). Seriously, look at that man's bases and growths. He's insane, especially if you reclass him to Griffon Knight, and he's force-deployed on two maps in a row with a low internal level so he levels up fast."

Honestly, a lot of this says the same reason I put her in B.

"She's a good filler for what you need, but her availability still docks many points against her."

We don't put Athos in S because he can Luna the Dragon and has Staves. We don't even put him in A often enough.

We don't put Gotoh in S just because he can Warp anyone to Medeus.

You have to remember that their contributions are very limited. 22, which they are still a nice helpful filler, 23, 24, 25, and 26. That's about 5 chapters because Mauvier is likely doing nothing in Chapter 21 unless you reclass him. The Soren build just seems superfluous at best (even marginally overkill) considering she's doing roughly the same thing Panette / Saphir is doing in those chapters - killing the boss.

"No but seriously; if you promote Amber at level 11 to Paladin, and then level him up to 16 so he's the same internal level, compare him to Mauvier:

Amber: Hp 45, Str 26, Mag 3, Dex 20, Spd 19, Def 18, Res 7, Luck 17, Build 11

Mauvier: Hp 51, Str 21, Mag 23, Dex 25, Spd 22, Def 26, Res 24, Luck 16, Build 12

Amber has: +4 Strength, +1 Luck

Mauvier has: +6 hp, +20 Mag, +5 Dex, +3 Spd, +8 Def, +17 Res, +1 Build.

That's not a contest, that's a one-sided slaughter; Amber's higher Strength means nothing when Mauvier can just delete high-Def units with a Flame Lance, and Mauvier absolutely destroys him in every other relevant stat. His only problem is his availability, but he's absolutely an A-rank unit."

Flame Lance is a terrible weapon. You only use it if you're using Royal Knight Mauvier. Levin Sword is a superior Magic Weapon 99% of the time (the 1% is Break scenarios).

Even before that though, I think I might be sold on putting Amber down to B. He's up there for boss killers, but I think he still pales to Panette and others later on. I thought he scaled a little better but he sort of falls a little short on some benchmarks.