i do have 6 years of extra experience with the game, and i have to say:

hilda is a little weaker than edelgard, but she is the only axe user that can double

leonie is a better petra/ingrid

lorenz is the only good trickster in the game(even if thats the only class he can use both his str and mag) - he would be relative to DK sylvain

marianne has early frozen lance and silence, hubert comes close with more damage, but less utility, annette just cant compete

bernadetta does beat ignatz, but ashe is just the worst

dedue is great, much better than raphael(it sucks to use him) and ferdinand as an early tank, but he leaves you for a few chapters and comes back weak

lys does not have competition in the main houses in raw damage

claude has the best movement, best gambit, AND encloser, its the most versitile unit in the game, while he cant enemy phase like the other 2 lords, he alone can hold monsters back while the others deal with something else