Is Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn really that bad?

[TGJesusfreak]

I keep reading online that this new FE game was nothing new. I also keep reading *cough*gamespot*cough* that it was a mistake not to put motion senative stuff in the game.

seriously. what can you do in a turn based RPG game with motion sensative equipment?

"Here! Shake the wiimote to move faster!"
see what I mean? XD

I also hear that it's "way to hard for beginners" a lot.

1. It's a SEQUAL. why are you playing it if you haven't played the first one?
2. It's about time we had a really hard FE game! We've been begging for one!


What are your opinions on this?

[Nate]

Well there's your problem, you're reading GameSpot.

Don't read GameSpot. They suck so bad. Not even joking.

I've never played it, but the general consensus seems to be this: It's a pretty hard game, and it's pretty good if you're a Fire Emblem fan. So if you like the Fire Emblem games, then definitely get Radiant Dawn.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

All right. Begin rant. (And if you want a hard FE game you obviously haven't played Hector Hard Mode on 7, or tried to go through some of the maps on Sword of Seals)

Radiant Dawn has done poorly with reviewers. Reviewers get the score right for all the wrong reasons.

The actual gameplay is pretty solid. As per usual, it was the same base system with a bit of tweaking to make it fresh. Adding third tier classes would have been a good idea, except that pretty much any character you should ever want to use besides Michaiah has to start at a second tier class, so we're back where we started. The Laguz pretty much suck minus the royals and the hawks and maybe Ranulf, so another good idea lost. Difficulty wasn't that bad since you have battle save now.

However, the plot and characters are awful. The plot is basically a bunch a fanservice for people who've played Path of Radiance, and so much of it(except the awesome part two) is executed horribly. The reveal of the Black Knight is basically Ranulf saying "Oh, by the way Ike, the guy who killed your father is SPOILER."

The worst part by far though is the awfulness of the characters. The support system is what made FE FE, with the compelling minor characters that you actually care about. When you watch one of them die, you automatically restart the console because you care about them. I don't really care what happened to Edward or Leonardo or any of the new characters who weren't here before because they aren't developed at all. There isn't any conversation, no development. The old ones get screwed just as poorly, with Ike losing most of his previous character and no one shows the personalities we grew to love in PoR. Jill, a character who struggled with her racism in the previous game, is now devoid of pretty much any character at all. Yes, you might see a bit of the stereotype they start off as, but nothing more is developed from them. Zihark, a character who joined a wanted band simply to help a few laguz, shows nothing for his love for them, or his commitment to fighting the rampant racism in Tellius.

So if all you want is the maps, go ahead. If you want a fitting story to the sequel of perhaps the strongest Fire Emblem game ever, then don't waste your money.

[TGJesusfreak]

(And if you want a hard FE game you obviously haven't played Hector Hard Mode on 7, or tried to go through some of the maps on Sword of Seals)

Yes I agree XD

@HatNClogs I actually really enjoyed the storyline, a lot. However I do agree that the new "support" conversations kinda suck the personality out of some of the characters.

I would say that the plot is fairly well written. Though it DEFINATLY has it's share of holes.

Also, my Micaiah doesn't suck... and I thought everyone said she sucked XD. Guess I'm lucky with those level ups! XD

Well there's your problem, you're reading GameSpot.

Don't read GameSpot. They suck so bad. Not even joking.

Glad someone finally agrees with me!
I know it wasn't perfect. But a 6 out of 10? seriously. It's a decent Fire Emblem game through and through. I would give it about an 8/8.5 out of 10. Not great, but decent.

However that is still ONLY my opinion.

[Nate]

I haven't liked GameSpot in ages. The whole Jeff Gerstmann firing was a big factor in this, along with many other employees from the site leaving it.

Also, they gave Strange Journey a 6/10. That game is at least an 8/10.

[MasterDias]

The actual gameplay is pretty solid. As per usual, it was the same base system with a bit of tweaking to make it fresh. Adding third tier classes would have been a good idea, except that pretty much any character you should ever want to use besides Michaiah has to start at a second tier class, so we're back where we started. The Laguz pretty much suck minus the royals and the hawks and maybe Ranulf, so another good idea lost. Difficulty wasn't that bad since you have battle save now.

However, the plot and characters are awful. The plot is basically a bunch a fanservice for people who've played Path of Radiance, and so much of it(except the awesome part two) is executed horribly. The reveal of the Black Knight is basically Ranulf saying "Oh, by the way Ike, the guy who killed your father is SPOILER."

The worst part by far though is the awfulness of the characters. The support system is what made FE FE, with the compelling minor characters that you actually care about. When you watch one of them die, you automatically restart the console because you care about them. I don't really care what happened to Edward or Leonardo or any of the new characters who weren't here before because they aren't developed at all. There isn't any conversation, no development. The old ones get screwed just as poorly, with Ike losing most of his previous character and no one shows the personalities we grew to love in PoR. Jill, a character who struggled with her racism in the previous game, is now devoid of pretty much any character at all. Yes, you might see a bit of the stereotype they start off as, but nothing more is developed from them. Zihark, a character who joined a wanted band simply to help a few laguz, shows nothing for his love for them, or his commitment to fighting the rampant racism in Tellius.

So if all you want is the maps, go ahead. If you want a fitting story to the sequel of perhaps the strongest Fire Emblem game ever, then don't waste your money.

Really? I thought the story was good enough, and about on par with the other Fire Emblem titles. I liked it about the same as PoR anyway. The fact that the POV switched between opposing armies over multiple chapters was interesting. I'll agree it didn't have as much "character development" per se as previous titles, but this was partly because it really had too many characters for most of them to get focus, and partly because many had already received character focus in PoR. I thought Sanaki got pretty good focus in RD anyhow.

If someone enjoys the previous Fire Emblem, there is really no reason why they shouldn't enjoy RD. The opening chapter is more difficult than normal (mostly due to the fact that most of the Dawn Brigade units are sort of subpar examples of their classes), but the fact that it lets you permasave in the middle of battles should basically offset this.

And man, if the reviewers complained about RD, some of the pre-7 Fire Emblems are supposed to be seriously difficult.

[ADXC]

@ Hat-I think you're being a little too harsh on it.

I dunno, I loved it. But I'm a Fire Emblem fan so I don't know if that counts for anything. XD

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Really? I thought the story was good enough, and about on par with the other Fire Emblem titles. I liked it about the same as PoR anyway. The fact that the POV switched between opposing armies over multiple chapters was interesting. I'll agree it didn't have as much "character development" per se as previous titles, but this was partly because it really had too many characters for most of them to get focus, and partly because many had already received character focus in PoR. I thought Sanaki got pretty good focus in RD anyhow.

If someone enjoys the previous Fire Emblem, there is really no reason why they shouldn't enjoy RD. The opening chapter is more difficult than normal (mostly due to the fact that most of the Dawn Brigade units are sort of subpar examples of their classes), but the fact that it lets you permasave in the middle of battles should basically offset this.

And man, if the reviewers complained about RD, some of the pre-7 Fire Emblems are supposed to be seriously difficult.

The moving from army to army was a nice touch, but I still think the plot was pretty weak. The first part was essentially a rehash of the PoR, only with less awesomeness(I know they pointed it out in game, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable), the second part was actually pretty awesome(and, of course, the shortest) and while the third part started out okay, I think it really lost something in there. From there on, the plot was just kind of there, with crap like "Hey, lets just throw Oliver in there. Why not?". Part four didn't have much of a plot, just being a series of chapters to get to the tower.

You missed my point about character development, I think. I wasn't complaining that the main character's characterizations were weak, and indeed, Sanaki remained one of the better ones. Jill and Zihark were my only examples, but I could include many, many more. Think about any of the knights under Geoffrey's command. How much do we know about any of them? Makalov's a scoundrel, Astrid's confused, Marcia thinks her brother is a scoundrel, and Kieran is overzealous. Good bases to work with, and indeed, PoR does expand on these bases. But by making supports into "Oh hey, hope you have a fun battle" "Oh, hope you have a fun battle too", we get nothing more. One or two conversations at most when you're at the base, but that's it. Fire Emblem's greatest strength is its cast, and when the cast is bland, it falls as kind of weak.

Again, the maps are fun enough that I've played through multiple times for some of the excellent chapters. I did enjoy how it often gave you a fair force of rank-and-file to aid you(and lol'ed at the thought of Meg being one of the chosen, while all those awesome units you have aren't.

Also, while we're on the topic of hard pre-7 FEs, 6 had reinforcements arrive at the beginning of the turn. This essentially meant your healer was never safe. I can't speak for the others, though, 6 is the only one I've found a decent translation patch for.

[MasterDias]

I don't know. Like I said, I enjoyed the story well-enough, so I guess we will have to just agree to disagree. You might be the first person I've seen who was this harsh on RD's plot though, but I won't say I've looked around extensively.

Yes, Oliver was pretty random. I'm pretty sure the designers threw him in and made him recruitable just for the lolz.

Fire Emblem's greatest strength is its cast, when the cast is bland, it falls as kind of weak.

I agree with the first part actually, but I'm not sure I fully agree with the last part. Interesting characters and character interactions are one of the big draws of this series, but the gameplay is good enough that I think it could hold it's own fairly well. There weren't any supports or deep character interactions when the series started back on the NES, so I assume it gathered its initial fanbase based on gameplay. I sort of wonder if US fans who started with 7 were actually spoiled a bit, as I believe 6 was the first game to have support conversations.

6 is the only pre-7 installment I've played as well, but it looks like Intelligent Systems is remaking a number of the early FEs. Thracia 776(FE5) is the title that's supposed to be really difficult.

[TGJesusfreak]

The thing is. You shouldn't be playing FE: RD if you haven't played or know something about PoR.

But I thought the plot was really rivetting and exciting. The character growth was, I beleive, mor the HatNClogs is giving it credit for. I enjoyed the levels. And found myself wanting to see what happens next. I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of that. expecially in part 3. Which I actually think is a really cool part of the storyline.

Personally I think that the only problem with this FE game is the way they changed the supports conversations. But is that really a reason to condemn all of the game?

Heck even the items you get are better. In PoR you could only get 2 Arm Scrolls in the ENTIRE game. Which kinda sucked. You were WAY limited. You only got one wind blade (or whatever it's called). And when you wanted to remove a skill it was gone forever. ALL of these have been corrected in Radiant Dawn. Along with a FAR superior 3rd class change.

So I beleive that a 6 out of 10 in wrong. They broke new ground on the Fire Emblem series. Yet they're complaining about a lack of "Motion Sensative" controls for a TURN BASED RPG.
lol Sorry to beat a dead horse guys. I know we all agree on this last point. Just had to clear that up.

[ADXC]

Yeah you have to play PoR to be able to fully get the grasp of RD.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

It makes me so happy to see at least three other people on CAA who play FE. Despite our disagreements, this brings me much joy.

Heck even the items you get are better. In PoR you could only get 2 Arm Scrolls in the ENTIRE game. Which kinda sucked. You were WAY limited. You only got one wind blade (or whatever it's called). And when you wanted to remove a skill it was gone forever. ALL of these have been corrected in Radiant Dawn. Along with a FAR superior 3rd class change.

You're arguing items are better because you got more of the incredibly useful ones? Despite there being more, they lost the usefulness they had in PoR, since RD weapon levels grow far faster. Seraph Robes maybe be the most useful item in the game(well, Ragnell is the most useful item in the game, butttt), but that doesn't mean Blazing Blade is better than Sacred Stones simply because it has three and Sacred Stones has two. Now, I'm not arguing that RD is weaker because it has more arm scrolls, but that's unfair to say it's stronger because of that.

As for skills, I originally thought it was better that you could swap skills, but then I realized that it made for other issues. Astrid, with lowish growths, bases, and a weapon ill-suited for catching up, is now useless, since in PoR she was incredibly useful because only her and Geoffrey had Paragon, but now all she is is a free Paragon to give to someone else. Blossom, something that formerly made Sothe an interesting unit, could now be applied to anyone. Characters lose their uniqueness even more so as you go on, if Stefan, Zihark, or Edward can all have gamble and have highly similar growths and minimal personalities, then what makes them different besides appearance?

And while the 3rd tier classes seemed like an awesome idea at first, they essentially became just the new second tier. With the exception of the Daein characters, everyone starts at the second tier anyways. Swordmasters are the new Myrmidons ten chapters in, and then Trueblades are Swordmasters. It's the same, really, except with higher stats.

We should start arguing tiers or something next. I've always wanted to do that.

[TGJesusfreak]

It brings me much joy as well Hats

It makes me so happy to see at least three other people on CAA who play FE. Despite our disagreements, this brings me much joy.


You're arguing items are better because you got more of the incredibly useful ones? Despite there being more, they lost the usefulness they had in PoR, since RD weapon levels grow far faster. Seraph Robes maybe be the most useful item in the game(well, Ragnell is the most useful item in the game, butttt), but that doesn't mean Blazing Blade is better than Sacred Stones simply because it has three and Sacred Stones has two. Now, I'm not arguing that RD is weaker because it has more arm scrolls, but that's unfair to say it's stronger because of that.

As for skills, I originally thought it was better that you could swap skills, but then I realized that it made for other issues. Astrid, with lowish growths, bases, and a weapon ill-suited for catching up, is now useless, since in PoR she was incredibly useful because only her and Geoffrey had Paragon, but now all she is is a free Paragon to give to someone else. Blossom, something that formerly made Sothe an interesting unit, could now be applied to anyone. Characters lose their uniqueness even more so as you go on, if Stefan, Zihark, or Edward can all have gamble and have highly similar growths and minimal personalities, then what makes them different besides appearance?

And while the 3rd tier classes seemed like an awesome idea at first, they essentially became just the new second tier. With the exception of the Daein characters, everyone starts at the second tier anyways. Swordmasters are the new Myrmidons ten chapters in, and then Trueblades are Swordmasters. It's the same, really, except with higher stats.

We should start arguing tiers or something next. I've always wanted to do that.

All of these are pretty good points. Yet they're not all true in all cases. Yes the Arms scrolls aren't quit as useful, but they're still very usefull nonetheless.

I contend that the ability to swap skills is a good thing. Because you can now customize your team better than ever before. You can take a skill from a unit that is really lame that no one would ever use. You have more skills available to you, and therefore more freedom to create a team that you see fit to your own desires.

The 3rd tier I suppose is basically a second tier in about 50% of the cases. But then again you still have a first teir to train a lot of them through. Which gives you a lot of freedom as far as levels ups. Like using the new way bonus experience works in RD is very helpful, and can be used strategically to one's advantage.


@HatNClogs You wanna agrue about tiers? XD ok then

I say that Haar as a Dragon Lord in RD is.... POWER.
Especially with Nihil. (no more bonus damage from bows and thunder )

What do you think?

[MomentOfInertia]

I say that Haar as a Dragon Lord in RD is.... POWER.
Especially with Nihil. (no more bonus damage from bows and thunder )

Unless they changed it fro PoR that should be Bows & Wind.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Unless they changed it fro PoR that should be Bows & Wind.

Wind is effective against Pegasi, while Thunder is effective against Wyverns, if I remember correctly. Fire magic still is lame though.

Also, Haar, pshh. Jill is way better.

[TGJesusfreak]

@Hats Jill is way better in PoR

In RD Haar is awesome. ALL his stats except magic and a few resistance were maxed out. He takes 0 damage from dragon laguz and always double attacks.

and as far as I know. Jill's stats suck in RD. But she's 5 times better than Haar in PoR.

[Furen]

I'd tell anyone to buy it, but it's best if they played PoR first. There's not a huge need to know about the first game unless you like history (Which can be really cool). Make sure to level up all main characters as well as:
Edward, Nolan, Aran, Leo, Mia, and Haar. Everyone else is just preference but those characters are the strongest.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I'd tell anyone to buy it, but it's best if they played PoR first. There's not a huge need to know about the first game unless you like history (Which can be really cool). Make sure to level up all main characters as well as:
Edward, Nolan, Aran, Leo, Mia, and Haar. Everyone else is just preference but those characters are the strongest.

What game were you playing? Mia and Haar, yes, are both excellent units, but you'd have to be on easy mode to possibly use all the others. Pretty much all of the Daein characters except Jill and Zihark are pretty awful. Edward, if you spend large amounts of time babying him isn't as bad, but Leo has consistently bad speed, defense, and strength, leading him to pretty much have no offensive or defensive power. Aran has decent defense, if I remember correctly, but his speed is lacking to the point where he's like a knight, except with less defense, so if you need a general, then use Gatrie, but if you need a halberdier, use Nephenee. Then there's the fact that the Daein characters get very little experience, so you should use what you have to baby Michaiah and raise Jill or Zihark, who can actually keep up with the characters from the other factions.

[Furen]

What game were you playing? Mia and Haar, yes, are both excellent units, but you'd have to be on easy mode to possibly use all the others. Pretty much all of the Daein characters except Jill and Zihark are pretty awful. Edward, if you spend large amounts of time babying him isn't as bad, but Leo has consistently bad speed, defense, and strength, leading him to pretty much have no offensive or defensive power. Aran has decent defense, if I remember correctly, but his speed is lacking to the point where he's like a knight, except with less defense, so if you need a general, then use Gatrie, but if you need a halberdier, use Nephenee. Then there's the fact that the Daein characters get very little experience, so you should use what you have to baby Michaiah and raise Jill or Zihark, who can actually keep up with the characters from the other factions.

Okay thanks, I usually play in easy just for a nice easy go but okay I'll do that and give that a shot.

[TGJesusfreak]

What game were you playing? Mia and Haar, yes, are both excellent units, but you'd have to be on easy mode to possibly use all the others. Pretty much all of the Daein characters except Jill and Zihark are pretty awful. Edward, if you spend large amounts of time babying him isn't as bad, but Leo has consistently bad speed, defense, and strength, leading him to pretty much have no offensive or defensive power. Aran has decent defense, if I remember correctly, but his speed is lacking to the point where he's like a knight, except with less defense, so if you need a general, then use Gatrie, but if you need a halberdier, use Nephenee. Then there's the fact that the Daein characters get very little experience, so you should use what you have to baby Michaiah and raise Jill or Zihark, who can actually keep up with the characters from the other factions.

I agree with MOST of this.
Although. Nolan is just as good as Boyd. based upon stat growths and personal experience.

Edward has GREAT stat growths. All his stats were WAY higher than Mia's when he was 5 levels lower than Mia. This is true for multiple playthroughs.

Zihark is about as Good as Edward. But Edward is usually better because he gets a really awesome sword in part 3.

Jill is, once again, just ok in RD. Haar levels up so much better. Jill's strength growth is only like, 35%.
Haar's is way higher. and his speed, defense, and skill growths are pretty awesome as well.

And my Micaiah has never had issues with speed either. She capped ALL of her stats except strength on 2nd teir. Although Sothe.... WHY DOES HE HAVE TO USE KNIVES?! HE WOULD BE WAY MORE AWESOME WITH SWORDS! T__T
he has almost all caped stats and yet he is so hindered by the fact that he uses knives T__T

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I agree with MOST of this.
Although. Nolan is just as good as Boyd. based upon stat growths and personal experience.

Edward has GREAT stat growths. All his stats were WAY higher than Mia's when he was 5 levels lower than Mia. This is true for multiple playthroughs.

Zihark is about as Good as Edward. But Edward is usually better because he gets a really awesome sword in part 3.

Jill is, once again, just ok in RD. Haar levels up so much better. Jill's strength growth is only like, 35%.
Haar's is way higher. and his speed, defense, and skill growths are pretty awesome as well.

And my Micaiah has never had issues with speed either. She capped ALL of her stats except strength on 2nd teir. Although Sothe.... WHY DOES HE HAVE TO USE KNIVES?! HE WOULD BE WAY MORE AWESOME WITH SWORDS! T__T
he has almost all caped stats and yet he is so hindered by the fact that he uses knives T__T

The problem with Nolan isn't that he may not have as much potential as Boyd, it's that he has far less experience possibilities. Even if you you use him for a fair portion of part one, he's still far behind Boyd in terms of levels, as by the end of part three Boyd has had far more playtime. Nolan only has three chapters, while Boyd has 10+. Plus, Boyd has a personality and stuff.

First I will have to quote something I often heard when I use to go to FE forums. Personal experience means nothing. In The Blazing Blade, my Eliwood has been consistently awful. One game, he didn't gain a single strength until he was a level sixteen. So my level sixteen main character had six strength. Eliwood's growths aren't actually that bad. In fact, they're pretty good, and when paired with the right supports he actually is pretty good, on average.

As far as growths go, Mia gets screwed a bit because she's a chick so she gets more magic and resistance vs. strength and defense, but she actually does have about the same growths, with her only weak point being strength, which can easily be covered with Gamble. And again, she has an advantage that's the exact same as Boyd's;she gets playtime. Even if you baby Edward up to say, a level five swordmaster by the end of part one, Mia will be that by the beginning of part three, where she has 10+ chapters on Ed's three. Neither of them really have an affinity that's much better than the others, though Mia's compensates some for her strength.

Jill's stats are around the same as Haar's, he might have a bit of an edge since women have magic and resistance, Jill can have stat bonuses from PoR though, and quite a fair few. She also isn't plagued by the same problems that most of the Daein characters have, since Mist can recruit her pretty early on.

Geez man, you apparently get great level ups for every character, every Sothe and Micaiah I've churned out were mediocre at best.

[Furen]

Jill's stats are around the same as Haar's, he might have a bit of an edge since women have magic and resistance, Jill can have stat bonuses from PoR though, and quite a fair few. She also isn't plagued by the same problems that most of the Daein characters have, since Mist can recruit her pretty early on.

Geez man, you apparently get great level ups for every character, every Sothe and Micaiah I've churned out were mediocre at best.

Haar is playable in PoR so he can get the PoR bonus (Correct me if I'm wrong because I don't ever see what it actually accomplishes)

I have inside source *cough*Ella*cough* that he BEXP'd and saved after levels to cheap them out.

So what are the recommended characters (through out) that I should use? I'm usually playing casual but I am deciding to go for a harder difficulty. Also best skill for that character to be added on to them (like eddy and paragon+babying him to = mia)

[MasterDias]

The problem with Nolan isn't that he may not have as much potential as Boyd, it's that he has far less experience possibilities. Even if you you use him for a fair portion of part one, he's still far behind Boyd in terms of levels, as by the end of part three Boyd has had far more playtime. Nolan only has three chapters, while Boyd has 10+. Plus, Boyd has a personality and stuff.

I think I used Nolan a fair amount and he worked out decently. He is one of Micaiah's better units. But, then again, Fighters have always been my least favorite melee class. Attacks are too inaccurate]First I will have to quote something I often heard when I use to go to FE forums. Personal experience means nothing. In The Blazing Blade, my Eliwood has been consistently awful. One game, he didn't gain a single strength until he was a level sixteen. So my level sixteen main character had six strength. Eliwood's growths aren't actually that bad. In fact, they're pretty good, and when paired with the right supports he actually is pretty good, on average.[/QUOTE]
Eliwood is a good unit...once he promotes and gets a horse. But I still found him one of the hardest units to level up in his initial form. His strength is way too weak to cause effective damage to most units, and he dies way too easily, making him useless in the front-row. So the temptation is to stick him in the back and never use him.
Actually, I've not even sure I managed to get him up to Lv.20 before he promoted.

Jill's stats are around the same as Haar's, he might have a bit of an edge since women have magic and resistance, Jill can have stat bonuses from PoR though, and quite a fair few. She also isn't plagued by the same problems that most of the Daein characters have, since Mist can recruit her pretty early on.

From what I remember, you can recruit Zihark too (if he has a POR support with Illyana...or something). The problem is that one endurance mission you have to play as Micaiah in Part 3. Jill is one of her strongest units. Early recruiting Daein characters will probably make that map more difficult.

[Furen]

Eliwood is a good unit...once he promotes and gets a horse. But I still found him one of the hardest units to level up in his initial form. His strength is way too weak to cause effective damage to most units, and he dies way too easily, making him useless in the front-row. So the temptation is to stick him in the back and never use him.
Actually, I've not even sure I managed to get him up to Lv.20 before he promoted.

I am so aggressive with Lord typed character is that game I make a point to not promote until at lvl. 20 (Even if it means getting annoyed along the way) but I had to SPAM Elewood and he still had bad growths for me...
I prefered Hector as he is so overpowered it's not funny, he could take most every (if not all) of the RD characters (I personally think)

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I think I used Nolan a fair amount and he worked out decently. He is one of Micaiah's better units. But, then again, Fighters have always been my least favorite melee class. Attacks are too inaccurate]Nolan is better for one of the Daein characters, but as far as being a crucial member of your team goes, he's definitely not someone you want to bring into the Endgame, since he has such little time to get experience.

From what I remember, you can recruit Zihark too (if he has a POR support with Illyana...or something). The problem is that one endurance mission you have to play as Micaiah in Part 3. Jill is one of her strongest units. Early recruiting Daein characters will probably make that map more difficult.

Ilyana and Mordecai can both recruit him, I think. Actually, I never recruit Jill until the part 3 endgame, giving her Paragon instead so that by clearing entire maps with just her she can keep up with the non-Daein characters, but I was pointing out that if you did want to use her, she had that option available, so you wouldn't have to use all your bonus experience on just her to keep her up, depriving the rest of the team. Admittedly, I could give Paragon to someone else, but even without favoring her she is a solid character.

[TGJesusfreak]

Nolan is better for one of the Daein characters, but as far as being a crucial member of your team goes, he's definitely not someone you want to bring into the Endgame, since he has such little time to get experience.

The problem with Nolan isn't that he may not have as much potential as Boyd, it's that he has far less experience possibilities. Even if you you use him for a fair portion of part one, he's still far behind Boyd in terms of levels, as by the end of part three Boyd has had far more playtime. Nolan only has three chapters, while Boyd has 10+. Plus, Boyd has a personality and stuff.

He's actually not that hard to train. think about it. If you're only gonna use 2-3 Dawn brigade members, then it shouldn't be too hard to train Nolan or Edward. I got my Edward to a level 10 swordmaster by level 7 of part 1.
I will tend to agree that Nolan does take a bit more effort, but he's still worth it (unless you're trying to beat the game of hard mode, in which case don't even try).

Even if you baby Edward up to say, a level five swordmaster by the end of part one, Mia will be that by the beginning of part three, where she has 10+ chapters on Ed's three. Neither of them really have an affinity that's much better than the others, though Mia's compensates some for her strength.

His strength is usually higher than Mia's before he's even a swordmaster.

According to Edward's stat growths he is the best Swordmaser in tha game, especially with his rare sword he gets that increases his luck by 8. With some support with Nolan he has almost a 0% chance of taking a hit from an enemy. His strength always caps from what I can see. His skill makes is so that Cancel+Astra+Wrath+Adept= TOTAL DESTRUCTION. Mia's skill, strength, and luck isn't as good. His crit+5 helps as well.

So if you're only gonna train Micaiah why not train Edward as well? Where else is that bonus exp gonna go, lol? Plus it'll be nice to have a strong character for when you have to face the Greil Mercinaries in part 3.

Geez man, you apparently get great level ups for every character, every Sothe and Micaiah I've churned out were mediocre at best.

Trust me dude, the Fire Emblem gods must love me.
I'm replaying RD right now. My Micaiah maxed out Res. Def. Mag. skll. and spd, all BEFORE she hit level 20. I swear that I am the luckiest person alive. XD

and Ike, well he's IKE for cryin' out loud. He's just awesome. trufax.

[Furen]

So really guys who should I use for my team in FE:RD?

My friend and I are going for beating them both this week (We're overpowered on PoR already)

So far I know to use
Daien team:
Edward
Michiah (Becasue she's required)
and Leo if you work hard with him
Nolan????

Crimea team:
Ike (Required)
Boyd
Mia
Haar
Jill
Marcia

and I'm doing more reaserch

I've beat the game without using the powerful units but want to see how the powerful units do.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

So really guys who should I use for my team in FE:RD?

My friend and I are going for beating them both this week (We're overpowered on PoR already)

So far I know to use
Daien team:
Edward
Michiah (Becasue she's required)
and Leo if you work hard with him
Nolan????

Crimea team:
Ike (Required)
Boyd
Mia
Haar
Jill
Marcia

and I'm doing more reaserch

I've beat the game without using the powerful units but want to see how the powerful units do.

Leo is awful, never never never use him. Shinon and Rolf are stronger without intense babying. Mist is a solid healer, working much better for me than Rhys did, though either worked fine. Janaff or Ulki both workm though definitely don't use both. If you want a ground laguz, you should probably go for Ranulf, the other beasts are pretty wea, much as I love Lethe and Mordecai. Gatrie is definitely the best knight unit, and Elincia is a god, especially earlier on. Nephenee is pretty solid, if a bit low on strength. Any of the Greil units work, really, though you probably don't want Shinon and Rolf. Kieran isn't half bad, but you probably shouldn't go for any of the other cavaliers with Geoffrey, due to underleveling. IMO Reyson is the best heron, but any of them work, really. Besides that, most of your endgame cast is laguz royals, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[TGJesusfreak]

Yes Leo is AWEFUL. Do NOT use him. Ever. The whole point of a sniper is to go on the front lines and take out as many units from afar as possible. AND to take damage as well. Leo just sucks at all of those. Soren is better for that when compared to Leo.

Now as for Nolan. I would sorta train him. He's pretty good. Him and Boyd turn out about the same. Choose either him or Boyd to train.
I recomend training him a bit. but don't waste your bonus experience on him if you'r gonna use boyd.

As for Edward and Mia, I say pick one or the other. I personally would choose Edward so that the Dawn brigade chapters aren't near as hard in part 3.

Also Titania ia a MUST as she is the best Horseman in the game.

Elincia is also a MUST. She absolutly KILLS in this game. just give her a bit of BE (bonus exp.) and she'll be one of your best units for healing or for destroying everything XD

Haar is also a good choice. and with nullify he will absolutly destroy. he's my best unit in ANY of my playthroughs. plus because he flies he's not hindered by traps or anything terrain

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Ohhhhh, Titania, I knew I was forgetting someone. Yeah, she pretty much kicks butt. Oscar is also good, but, as I said, you can't go wrong with the Greil units.