# 8 - Saleh (Sacred Stones)

                       So next on the list is Saleh from Sacred Stones. Unlike the previous two entries, Saleh starts out as awesome right off the bat and ready to go, unlike his super lame trainee Ewan. When you first get Saleh during Eirika's route he literally kills every enemy unit in either 1 round of combat or in 2 rounds of combat with a thunder tome. This basically never changes throughout the game, which should give you a good idea about Saleh's combat prowess in Sacred Stones. Saleh is also considered to be the best candidate for Excalibur. Lute gets weighed down a lot for it, Ewan sucks and is never getting to the point where he's using it (not without babying or Tower of Valni abuse, which is not considered a valid factor for lists like these) and good luck getting anyone else to use it. Saleh is also well known for wrecking the desert map, which is the one chapter Seth can't destroy everything in due to lowered movement in the desert.

                      What also makes Saleh stand out in particular is his C rank staff level. With a C rank in staves, Saleh can basically abuse the ever-living crap out of Barrier staves up until he gets the coveted Warp staff. From then on Saleh turns into the guy who warps Seth to wherever he needs to go. His high magic also allows for a very nice warp and physic range and just makes him a fantastic healer in general.

                    Saleh's only "issues" are his meh growths and meh defense. Dondon151 summed up Saleh's defense during his Top 25 Fire Emblem Characters in 0 % growths" list:

                    "30 HP, 8 def actually renders him 2HKO'd by some stronger unpromoted enemy types; even Iron Lance gargoyles in chapter 12 3HKO the solemn sage. Often the player simply has to bite the bullet and count on Saleh dodging enemies, since his 1-2 range offense is too powerful and consistent to be restricted by death chances. As a point of comparison, Saleh @ Thunder has about the same atk and AS as Gerik @ Hand Axe, except Saleh has 26 more hit and targets lower enemy resistance stats. When the going gets tough, Saleh can even fall back on Excalibur for a blistering 34 atk with no net AS loss." (Source: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=45927&page=3 All credit to dondon151 for his wonderful analysis here)

                 Now to be fair, this IS him analyzing Saleh's defense in a 0 % growths playthrough, but I think this still applies to Saleh even when growths get taken into account. That being said, Saleh is a great unit and a great mage with a lot of perks. Another big reason why Saleh isn't getting higher up on the list is because he's often considered to be a nerfed version of another sage well known for his staff rank who may or may not make it to this list. ;)