# 10 - Sumia (Awakening)

                                 So if Cordelia was going to get an honorable mention it would only make sense that Sumia would be on the list. Why you may ask? Well, Sumia's biggest advantage over Cordelia is the fact that she joins five chapters earlier as the only flier in your group. This is a big advantage because this means that everyone wants to Pair Up with her since she can move them around the map. Usually it's best to pair Frederick or Kellam up with her since they give her strength and defense (which is what she wants) while Sumia in turn can fly them around from Point A to Point B and can give them speed (which is what they want).

                              As you'd expect of a Pegasus Knight, Sumia's speed and skill are overkill for her game allowing her to double attack right away. Because Dark Flier is her best class Sumia can feasibly get Galeforce in an efficient, no grind ltc run of hard mode. All of the same chapters that benefit Cordelia after she joins also benefit Sumia (see Cordelia's post for further details). Sumia also has access to some other good skills in addition to Galeforce such as Luna, Dual Guard +, Renewal and several different rallies.

                          Her support options may be limited but they do help her out in meaningful ways. As I mentioned earlier, Frederick and Kellam boost her strength and defense in the early game while Henry can boost her magic should the player decide to make Sumia a Dark Flier. You also can't go wrong with using Chrom or Robin as Pair-Up partners so she has that going for her too. Btw, do you know how Dual Strikes work? According to serenesforest.net the activation rate for Dual Strikes goes as follows:

                        (Lead & Support unit’s combined Skill / 4) + [a certain number ranging from 20 - 60 depending on the support rank of the two units] (Source: http://serenesforest.net/awakening/miscellaneous/dual-system/)

                    What does this mean? It means that characters with high skill are more likely to activate Dual Strikes. Sumia's skill growth as a Pegasus Knight is 70 % and her skill growth as a Dark Flier is 65 % so she'll be activating more Dual Strikes due to her higher skill growth. 

                           As great as Sumia is, she does have her drawbacks. Even though she has solutions to this problem, her low strength is still an issue and this tends to show around the Valm arc. Also, her durability is what you'd expect of a Pegasus Knight too. Sumia also wishes that she had more support options. Just compare and contrast Cordelia's support options with Sumia's:

Sumia's Supports

Romantic Supports

• Chrom
• The Avatar (Male)
• Frederick
• Gaius
• Henry

Other Supports

• The Avatar (Female)
• Sully
• Cordelia
• Cynthia
• Morgan (Only if Sumia is her mother)
• Lucina (Only if Sumia is her mother) 

(Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Sumia)

Cordelia's Supports

Romantic Supports

• The Avatar (Male)
• Frederick
• Virion
• Stahl
• Vaike
• Kellam
• Donnel
• Lon'qu
• Ricken
• Gaius
• Gregor
• Libra
• Henry

Other Supports

• The Avatar (Female)
• Sumia
• Panne
• Severa
• Morgan (Only if Cordelia is her mother)

(Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Cordelia) 

                In a game where supports tend to play a much bigger role from a gameplay perspective having limited support options is a bad thing as it gives you less chances for major stat boosts. Also, while Galeforce is great, it requires you to kill enemies and Sumia's offense may have issues around the time that she actually gets Galeforce.   
  
                 Overall: Sumia is a great unit and one of the best units in Awakening. While she may have her flaws, her positives are overwhelmingly in her favor. The fact that she's this low on the list speaks more about how tight her competition is rather than about her. Pegasus Knights have a tradition of excellence and Sumia is part of that proud tradition.