Best Wyvern Riders List # 4 - Jill (The Tellius Games)

                               

                                  Red-heads may make terrible lords, but when they’re wyvern knights they’re awesome! Behold Jill Fizzart! Jill is one of the few Tellius characters who’s awesome in both Tellius games. In fact, she performs really well in both of them that I decided to talk about both her Path of Radiance version AND her Radiant Dawn version. They’re similar enough in terms of usefulness that they’d both get # 4 on this list.

                             So let’s talk about PoR Jill first. She joins you with base stats that leave room to be desired. Her 9 speed needs a lot of work and the ravens in her join chapter all double-attack her. Thankfully she has a Laguzguard which keeps her from dying. Path of Radiance is one of the best game in the series to be an underleveled unit on. Bonus Experience and forges exist, which let underleveled units get good relatively fast. Jill’s flying also really comes in handy given the number of levels in Path of Radiance that have terrain on them. Let’s take a look shall we?

• Her join chapter: Any non-flier unit is stuck on the ship and has to wait for the ravens to attack them. Fliers have a field day here.

• The next chapter - The ship chapter (Chapter 13): Jill can fly over the gap between boats, kill ravens and can move freely here.

• Chapter 17-4: There’s an annoying meteor mage that Jill can get to easily. What once was a nuisance is now a non-issue. She also can get to the boss easier.

• Chapter 19: There are hills that she can fly over, letting her kill things that most other units can’t get to.

• Chapter 20: She can fly over the mountain wall thing. This is immensely helpful if you want to beat the level quickly.

• Chapter 21: Jill can fly over the water that separates one side from the other.

• Chapter 23: Jill can fly over pot-holes sparing you grief. She can also fly over the little walls.

• Chapter 24: It’s a pretty big map and you’re going to want to help Geoffrey and co. out as soon as possible. Guess who’s one of the first units that can get to him?

• Chapter 25: Mountainous area with a kill boss objective. Hm, guess who can fly over said mountains?

• Chapter 28: Jill can fly over the bits of forest. 
  
  
  
  
  

                         So you get the point. Jill’s flying utility is immensely valuable throughout most of Path of Radiance. Her base speed may not be the best, but her base strength and defense are, which is a really great boon for her. Once Jill promotes she will get axes after promotion making her a mini Titania on wings. While Jill may need a bonus experience dump she will get good and she’s totally worth the investment in resources put into her. Unfortunately for Jill Marcia exists who can do everything Jill can except earlier and better. Still, Jill is pretty amazing in Path of Radiance and she’s a major asset to the team.

                                Radiant Dawn Jill: So Jill’s bases are slightly better here than they were in Path of Radiance. The only problem is that availability is so jumbled that she’ll only have so many levels to make a contribution on. Jill joins the Dawn Brigade who all desperately need her. Most of the units in the Dawn Brigade aren’t very good so they can use all the help they can get. Also, transfer bonuses are a thing in Radiant Dawn. In my opinion here is the order of best Jill to worst Jill:

Transfer!Jill > PoR Jill > Non-transfer Jill.

                               “Jill is the only flying unit in the Dawn Brigade and like her Path of Radiance counterpart, she may need an investment in resources in order to get good. A forge here, some bonus experience there, Jill will need whatever the player can give her. Also, Jill has the advantage of being in an OP class in Radiant Dawn. I mean seriously Dracoknights aren’t even affected by bows in this game in addition to flying, using axes and being durable. Sure thunder mages can deal damage to them but thankfully they’re so few and far in between, and so fragile, that they’re a total non-issue for someone like Jill. Here’s a great quote about Jill that I came across:

There are only 2 units in the entire DB that don't have issues in Part 1, they are BK and Sothe. The laguz lack 2 range or availability, characters are prone to Rng screwage and most have tough time surviving, even Zihark. Jill's selling point her flight, and unlike Vika she stays. She'll need a robe and can use other boosts effectively. Has good caps, high move, and after some training she works out very well throughout the game. Sothe's potential stops at the end of part 1, his 22 str cap being ineffective for Part 3. So the player needs a main fighter and she's one of the best candidates. Zihark’s poor experience gain and durability are inferior to what Jill offers. Volug only needs strike so Nolan and Jill are the best choices for BEXP + forges and training. I consider her Haar-lite.

Axes are incredibly cheap so a max MT forge with hit bonus would serve her nicely and not costly at all ^^' and she's entitled to the Brave Axe, Nolan has Tarvos.” (“RNG Princess” here: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=31917) 

                       So yeah, Radiant Dawn Jill may need some investment in resources too, but she’s a worthwhile investment in them and she’ll annihilate enemy units. In Radiant Dawn Jill is Haar-lite. Having her start out with axes works to her advantage even more since axes are usually considered to be the best weapon type in Radiant Dawn. To repeat what the quote above said, Jill gets dibs on the Brave Axe and what also makes her special here is that she can take more than two hits. That's actually pretty rare among Dawn Brigade units which in turn helps to make her all the more special.

                        So to wrap things up Jill is a fantastic unit in both games and it would be in the player’s best interest to give this awesome character resources, because in return she will rock with them.