Berwick Saga Character Guide Part 1: The Best Units in the Game

 So I decided to create a character guide to give people important information that would hopefully be useful whenever they played Berwick Saga. I hope whoever reads this finds this guide useful and informative.

Based on the information I’ve seen online, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus about who the best character is. There does, however, seem to be a consensus about the best 5 - 6 characters who make up the top tier. So I’ll start by writing about them (in no particular order btw) and I’ll work my way down.

 I haven’t used every character in this game. If I haven’t used a particular character, I will go look up what everyone else is saying about that character. That being said, I have used all the best characters in this game. So without further ado, let’s begin with…

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Dean

Dean has arguably the best offense in the game for a variety of reasons. He has two great skills that boost his offense: Adept and Desperation. Adept works in Berwick Saga the same way that it works in other Fire Emblem games: It provides an additional consecutive attack. What separates Berwick Saga from other Fire Emblem games is that double attacking isn't as common so any chance to double attack is a welcome bonus. I'm going to copy / paste what I said about Desperation during my review of this game:

• Desperation: One skill that's unique to this game is a skill called Desperation. Here's how it works: It's a command skill where the user of the skill gains an additional 22 % accuracy. If the user has higher attack speed than their enemy, they get to double attack that enemy. 

Desperation comes with a few drawbacks

 (1) Enemies get to counterattack, even if they've already taken damage.

 (2) Enemy accuracy is automatically set to 100 % so they will be able to hit you.

 

(3) The user's defense becomes 0 meaning that the enemy's attack is gonna hurt.

(4) This skill can only be used against enemies who can counterattack.

Desperation won't solve everything, but it solves a lot of problems throughout the game. Being able to boost hitrates in the earlygame is also valuable.

 

Dean also has a skill called "Vengeance" which gives him a % chance to counterattack an enemy that's dealt him damage. Since nobody in Berwick Saga has a traditional enemy phase except for one unit being able to counterattack is also really good. Vengeance also boosts his damage output when he activates it, so his counterattack is going to be really powerful. 

Dean's your best axe user which means that he gets the cream of the crop when it comes to axes. The axe that stands out is the hammer. The hammer gives Dean the ability to ignore the defense of armored enemies and ignore shields. This is really useful near the end of the game when armored enemies get really powerful. He also gets a neat prf rank axe called the Bhuj (hmmm....I wonder what other prf rank axe that sounds like) that gives him the ability to attack multiple times after he promotes.

After Dean promotes he gets Fortune, which negates critical hits. This is helpful when dealing with assassins at the end of the game whose critical hit rates are around 80 %. He also gets Mercy, which leaves enemy HP at 1 but is helpful in getting more enemies captured.

Two important positives about Dean is his easy recruitment requirement and his easy promotion requirement. In order to permanently recruit Dean, you just need to have him kill 60 enemies. With combat as great as his, this comes rather easily. In order to promote him, his axe rank needs to go up to 30. Dean's base axe rank is 17 and his axe skill rank growth is 80 %. He'll easily get promoted, letting him get even stronger. He's also cheap to recruit when you pay his mercenary fee. The only real downside to Dean is that his defense is below average. Thankfully, this is somewhat offset by his enormous HP.

Conclusion: Dean has amazing offense combined with powerful weapons, and an awesome skillset that lets him wreck just about any enemy foolish enough to fight him. It's not hard to see why he's a top tier unit.

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Volo

The next member of the top tier of Berwick Saga units is our resident edgy swordmaster himself, Volo. The easiest way to describe Volo is that he is "the best single-target deletion character in the entire game". When FE Wiki is referring to you as a "single-target deletion character" you know you've done something right.

The most powerful skill in Volo's arsenal is Deathmatch. This is a command skill (meaning that it doesn't require the RNG to activate) that lets Volo initiate 5 rounds of combat against an enemy. Enemies get to counterattack even if they take damage, as does Volo. This skill alone lets Volo kill just about any enemy in the game. The downside is that as enemies get stronger and more accurate, it becomes more risky. There are strategies that can get around this, such as giving Volo a Miracle Charm or getting him the Raze Etoile. The point here is that Deathmatch is a powerful skill that turns Volo into a killing machine.

Like Dean, Volo also has Adept. As you'd expect of a Swordmaster, Volo procs Adept a lot so he gets numerous opportunities to get additional consecutive attacks. He also has a cool skill called Iaido. Iaido is a skill that lets Volo counterattack enemies who attack him and miss. Iaido also increases Volo's hitrate by 33 % and his critical hit rate by 3 %. Adept and Iaido can both be used when he's using Deathmatch. These three skills allow Volo to keep hitting any enemy that he fights until that enemy dies. 

As you'd expect of a swordmaster, Volo's accuracy is great even in the early game where the hit rates are low. His base stats are excellent, and he has another skill called Despoil which gives him  a chance to earn the player gold whenever he kills the enemy (which happens a lot). Volo also joins pretty early on in the game too so you get to use him for about 99 % of the game. 

Before I forget, there are three ways to recruit Volo. The easiest way to recruit him is to raise his Happiness to 12 by bringing him to nearly every mission, having him kill enemies, and feeding him dishes in the Kingfisher Pavilion.

Volo has two weaknesses: He has durability issues and he's the second most expensive character to hire in the game. Personally, I think he's worth every bit of gold that you have to pay for him.

Conclusion: Volo has god-tier offense in this game due to the incredible combination of Deathmatch, Adept, and Iaido. His base stats are excellent, and he's available all game long. It's true that he's expensive, but he's definitely worth the cost. Volo is an amazing unit and a must use during any playthrough of Berwick Saga.

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Sherlock

I'm going with Sherlock next, because he's among the first characters that the player gets to control in the game. Sherlock is a character that may not look like much, but he can pull off some impressive things that make him a top tier unit. 

The main reason why Sherlock's a top tier unit comes from his skill(s) Double-Shot, and later Triple-Shot. Double Shot lets Sherlock attack twice in a row. After he promotes, this skill upgrades to Triple-Shot where he can attack one enemy three times consecutively. Triple-Shot is stupidly good, and he's the only character in your army that has it. 

Sherlock also has another skill called One-Two. This gives him an extra consecutive attack after he's already attacked an enemy. When this skill combines with Triple-Shot, it gives Sherlock the ability to attack one enemy up to 4 times a row. That's insane! You can demolish a LOT of enemies with that skill combination.

Once he reaches Level 7, he gets a skill called Overwatch, which allows him to give up his turn in exchange for being able to fire at the first enemy that moves in his direction. If he lands a hit, he effectively ends that enemy's turn.

 Sherlock is also your only mounted bow user, which means that he gets Canto. Sherlock is the best canto user in the game. In Berwick Saga mounted units don't get access to canto if they take even one point of damage from enemies. Most mounted units will be attacking enemies at melee range, and have to risk getting counterattacked. Sherlock consistently attacks from range, which means that he usually doesn't have to worry about taking damage from enemy counterattacks. This lets him pull off fun hit-and-run tactics all throughout the game.

Sherlock is also the only top tier unit who joins the player for free. You don't have to pay any money to bring him with you on various chapters. You also don't need to worry about jumping through any hoops to recruit him either, since he already permanently joins you for free.

Sherlock also joins during the first chapter of the game and it's pretty easy to promote him. All Sherlock needs to do is raise his bow rank to 30, which is pretty easy for a guy who has a 70 % growth in that stat.

Sherlock's main weakness is that he starts out pretty weak. His accuracy is questionable at best, and his damage is limited due to the fact that arrows in the beginning of the game aren't anything special. Just keep using him, and I promise that when he gets better you'll be glad you stuck with him.

Conclusion: Sherlock's a low maintenance character with a powerful combination of skills. His firepower is strong enough to let him destroy enemies as long as you're willing to take the time to train him. He's definitely worth it, and you should try giving him a shot (pun intended).

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Clifford

The next top tier unit on this list is Clifford the big red dog.   Clifford is a mounted wall of destruction. His base stats are so powerful that he's basically invincible during the early game, and even if he never gains a single point in any of his stats, he's strong enough to contend with enemies during the final chapter. 

One of Clifford's skills is "Shieldfaire", which is a skill that increases his chance of blocking hits with an equipped shield. Thanks to this skill, Clifford will block a lot of hits which makes his already impressive bulk even better. Clifford is easily one of the most durable units in the game. 

Clifford also has a high spear rank, which means that he's super accurate whenever he attacks with a spear. He also has the ability to use lances. (Yes, those are actually two different weapon types in this game) I've actually spoken about how powerful lances are before during my Berwick Saga review:

 "All of them wield lances, which in this game gain additional damage for each space that they move. Let's take a look at the Greatlance for example.

The Greatlance deals 1 + 5H (5H means that it deals 5 damage for every hex you travel in). The maximum movement that a rider can move is 7 spaces. So 1 + 5(7) = 36. If your rider moves the full distance while a Greatlance is equipped, they deal an additional 36 damage in additional to their strength stat. THAT'S INSANE! I've been able to one-shot an armored unit at full health with that kind of damage. Wait, didn't you just get done saying that armored enemies are super tough? Yes I did." (Source: 

https://thecrusadergrant.blogspot.com/2021/07/berwick-saga-review-part-2.html) 

Spoiler Alert: The character that I used to kill that armored enemy at full health with the Greatlance was Clifford. His damage output with lances is really high. The only other characters in the game who can equip lances are Adel and Leon. The problem with them is that Adel and Leon have to promote in order to use lances. They have to promote in order to do what Clifford does immediately. Not only that, but it will take a while for both Adel and Leon to promote, so while they take their sweet time doing so, Clifford will effectively be your only lance user.

 He also has a skill called "Provoke" which is useful in case you need to keep weaker units alive, or you want to use him to chip away at enemies so that you can feed other units kills.

Clifford also has a special horse with super high HP, meaning that he can stay mounted and take lots of hits without the player needing to worry about buying a new, expensive horse. His weapon ranks at base are so high that he can use pretty much any sword, shield, or spear / lance that you want him to use.

Clifford has two weaknesses

 (1) He's the most expensive character in the game to hire. Clifford typically costs a little under 3,000 gold to hire. That adds up fast. 

(2) In order to permanently recruit him, you first have to permanently recruit a character named Ruby. Ruby is this game's underleved unit with low bases and high growths. Just one problem: She's a massive hassle to use, and to promote. It'll take a while before she promote which means that you have to be careful about how often you want to use Clifford.

And here's Ruby. I love her character design, but I can't get over just how annoying she was to use during my last playthrough.

Conclusion: If this were a normal Fire Emblem game, Clifford would probably be the best unit. His base stats are awesome, his damage output is great, he's durable, and has high movement. Clifford will do whatever you need him to do. Just keep in mind that he's very expensive to hire, and his recruitment requirement is legitimately difficult. If you decide that he's worth the cost, he will serve you well.

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Sherpa

The second-to-last character in this tier is the legend himself: Sherpa. One of the biggest reasons why Sherpa is a top tier legend is that he's the only character in the game that gets to have a stereotypical Fire Emblem enemy phase! This is because he gets exclusive access to a skill called Counter, which lets him do that. 

He also has an amazing prf rank sword called the Brymranger. This weapon lets him attack enemies two extra times, which means that it's common for him to attack enemies up to 3 times in a normal round of combat.  This weapon is also super durable, so it's unlikely that it'll break which means that you get to use it a lot!

Sherpa also has access to a skill called "Guard" which lets him redirect attacks aimed at adjacent allies towards himself. This is incredibly useful for protecting weaker allies, and it combos well with his skill Counter, which means that he gets to fight more enemies than usual.

 Sherpa also has a skill called "Robust", which prevents him from getting crippled. Cripple is a status unique to Berwick Saga that prevents its victim from being able to move very far, they can't attack, heal, or use any items at all. It genuinely sucks, because if your character gets crippled, they can't do anything. Robust makes Sherpa immune to crippling, which means that this will never happen to him. 

He also has "Windsweep" which lets him attack enemies while negating any possible chance of a counterattack. In addition to everything I've said, his base stats are incredible. It should be noted that his accuracy is great, meaning that you won't have to worry about him missing his target. 

He's also extremely easy to recruit. All you have to do is use him during a side quest, and then bring him to Chapter 8. Have him talk to a character in Chapter 8 named Kay. A cutscene happens, and then he'll have permanently joined your army during the next level. That's an extremely easy requirement for such a powerful character.

The only downside to using Sherpa is that his defense is questionable. He's like Dean in the sense that his HP is really high, but his Defense leaves room to be desired. Oh, and his prf rank sword nerfs his avoid by 50.

Conclusion: Sherpa's amazing! His stats are great. His skills are great. His prf rank sword is great! He's a low maintenance unit that can kick all kinds of ass without requiring any real effort on the player's part. What more can you ask for?

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Larentia

The last top tier character is Larentia. She's the only flier that you get. I realize that having a top tier flier here might cause you to expect her to be like Camilla, Miledy, Haar, or Jill. If that's the case, then allow me to clear up that misconception: Larentia's worth lies in her utility, not her combat.

That's right, a flier is considered useful not from their combat, but from their utility. Berwick Saga tweaked flying in ways that benefit Larentia. Enemies with melee range weapons cannot target her for attacks. Fliers also get to move past enemies as if they had the skill Pass. Fliers can't occupy the same tiles as non flying units, which is both a positive and a negative. It's a positive, because it lets her block off certain tiles. It's a negative because she can't land on houses, which can be a nuisance at times. One feature of Berwick Saga's map design is that there are a lot of different terrain types that tend to mess with your units movement. Since Larentia's a flier, she gets to ignore all of that, which is helpful on time sensitive missions.

Larentia has a unique skill called Watch. This lets her detect invisible thieves, assassins, and crossbow wielding enemies. This may not sound like much, but in the mid to later parts of the game those types of enemies become more frequent. You won't be able to deal with them unless you have a character with Watch nearby. Larentia clearly fits that role, and will make a painful part of the game less painful. FE Wiki also has this interesting tidbit to share about her:

"Larentia also has a lot of utility with capturing, being one of the few units with Mercy, and arguably the best user due to her high mobility and access to accurate and damaging weapons. Because of this, she can be an important part for capturing strategies, making her very handy for gathering all the collector's items and full payouts for bounties." (Source: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Larentia#Overview)

Larentia also has access to a prf rank weapon called Euthyphro. It's a spear that deals magical damage to enemies. This is handy when dealing with bulky enemies. Larentia also has the added benefits of being super easy to recruit. She joins your army when Reese promotes, and Reese promotes automatically between Chapters 7 - 10. Her hiring fee is pretty cheap too, so you can use her a lot without worrying about running out of money.

Larentia does have a drawback: Her combat is mediocre. Her bulk leaves much to be desired, and the only skill she has that improves her combat is Adept. To be fair Adept is a great skill, but she won't activate it anywhere near as often as Dean or Volo. This is because her speed stat isn't anything to write home about, and she gets weighed down whenever she uses spears. Her accuracy is shaky, meaning that she might not even hit her target. She also has Windsweep, just like Sherpa. It's helpful for giving her risk free ways to attack, but Windsweep comes at the cost of movement, which is a big deal for Larentia, since she's a flier. 

Conclusion: I think FE Wiki summarized her contributions accurately when it said: "While Larentia is no combat juggernaut, she is an incredible asset to the player and is useful in any playthrough." (Source: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Larentia#Overview)