The next portion of this list consists of characters who are very good. Before I begin, I'd like to repeat something that I said in my previous post:
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.
There are a couple of characters here that I haven't used. I have managed to do research on what has been said about them. With that out of the way, let's continue:
_________________________________________________
Reese
- The Sweet Prf Rank Swords, a Prf Rank Shield, and a Prf Rank Circlet: Reese gets 2 powerful prf rank swords throughout the game: Gram and Nothung. Gram is described by FE Wiki as "pretty much a Brave Sword with +18 Crit and the same effect as an Amulet." Amulets in this game break when a character is about to die. So basically, Gram will break if it's equipped and Reese is about to die. Like other lords in Fire Emblem, Reese's death will cause a game-over, so this is a neat ability. I also ended up relying on this sword in Chapter 9 when those terrifying Black Riders nearly killed him. Gram also has very high might in this game. It's easily one of the strongest swords in the game.
As if that wasn't enough, he also gets Nothung near the end of the game. Nothung has the second highest might of all the swords in Berwick Saga and it deals magic based damage. This makes it incredibly useful for tearing armored enemies to shreds. Heck, I've seen Reese straight up one-shot non-armored enemies with Nothung.
During the last chapter of the game there's a character named Lanette who joins your group. She has a skill that gives Reese a 100 % critical hit rate whenever he stands next to her. It's hilarious watching Reese tear enemies to shreds with Nothung while he's standing next to her. I advise you to take as much advantage of this as you can. He can one-shot the uber tanky Gigas Knights with Lanette and the Nothung. During my playthrough, Reese gained between 3 - 4 levels during the final chapter alone because of this strategy.
 |
| According to FE Wiki this is an unused beta portrait of Reese |
Reese begins the game with a prf rank shield called Perseid. It's a shield that gives him up to + 7 defense, is super light weight (so it doesn't heavily affect his attack speed and chances to proc Adept), and is one of the most durable shields in the game.
The final prf rank item that Reese gets is a circlet that negates critical hits. This helpful in the final chapters where enemy assassins get super high crit rates.
Finally we're on to his skill set! He gets Commander, which boosts ally hit rates by 10 if they're within 3 spaces of him. This skill is a Godsend in the earlygame where hit rates are awful. It's still useful in the mid - latter portions of the game where the RNG can still screw you over, even if you have high hit rates.
 |
| An unused portrait of Reese with blue hair. This isn't in the game fyi, |
Reese also gets Adept, which gives him the chance to attack consecutively. Reese typically activates this quite a bit. He also has access to Robust, the skill that Sherpa has that makes its user immune to crippling. This is really helpful, since it means that you'll never have to worry about Reese being able to randomly not attack, heal, or do anything. It increases his reliability as a unit.
Reese also gets access to a nifty skill called Expert. Here's an explanation for the skill Expert: Essentially lets Reese have a seven weapon level lead, say Reese is at level 1 and the rapier is at level 8, he can use the rapier freely without any weapon penalty or a chance to fail.
As a further explanation, if a character in this game uses a weapon whose rank is higher than that character's level, there's a % chance that the character won't be able to deal damage with that. Their attack will fail. What Expert does is let Reese use higher rank weapons from a lower level. This helps his combat performance, since weaponry plays an even higher role in your success in combat than usual.
Last but not least, Reese also gets access to a horse, which means that he gets higher movement. This is helpful for the chapters with a time limit. It's also nice for when he has to seize.
So what are his weaknesses? Reese's main flaw is that he does not participate in gaiden chapters. Depending on your playstyle, that could be anywhere between half of the game to three-quarters of it. His combat during the early section of the game before he gets Gram is lackluster. It gets better, and it's worth it to train him when he's there.
Conclusion: Reese is a solid unit who's reliable from start to finish. This game hands him everything he could ever want on a silver platter. For a guy who's absent for half the game he's pretty dang useful.
______________________________
Ward
Ward is this game's Jagen, and a well designed one that future designers could learn from. He's a solid unit without being able to break the game in half. His base stats are so good that he'll be viable even during the final chapter of the game. And you get this guy during the first level of the game! He doesn't even have to gain a single point during a level-up either and he'll still be great!
Ward will be one of your more tanky units, and his strength is high enough to let him either kill enemies or deal solid damage to them. Ward's weapon ranks are so high that he can use pretty much any sword, spear, or shield that he wants to.
Ward has two skills: Guard and Robust. Guard lets him redirect enemy attacks to one adjacent ally in exchange for his ability to attack. As has been mentioned before with Reese and Sherpa, Robust prevents crippling which means that he's a fairly reliable unit to use.
As the picture shows, Ward is a mounted unit. This is great for time-sensitive levels. Ward's flaw is the same as Reese's main flaw: He can't be used during gaiden chapters. This means that you won't be able to use him for roughly half to three-quarters of the game.
There are two extra notes about Ward that you should be aware of: First, Ward is mandatory during the main story chapters, just like Reese. Second, if Ward dies then it's game over.
Conclusion: Ward is the gold standard for how a Jagen should be designed. He's not flashy. He can't break the game in half by himself. But he is reliable, and he'll always find a way to be useful in every part of the game.
____________________________
Owen
Owen is a weird character that probably wouldn't be very useful in any other game outside of Berwick Saga. But since he exists in Berwick Saga he ends up being a very useful and unique unit. What makes Owen so strange and useful?
Escape and Return: Owen gets exclusive access to an orb called Escape. This orb lets an allied unit permanently leave the current map that they're on. For most of the game Owen will have a skill called return where he can permanently leave a map. Now you might be wondering "why are these abilities considered a positive for the character?"
The reason why they're both listed as positives is that there are a lot of escape maps in the middle sections of the game. It's actually really helpful to have a character who can get one of your units to permanently leave a map. The fact that Owen can yeet himself off a map is extra helpful in an Escape map. Another important factor about escape maps is that if a character fails to escape a map they get captured by the enemy. It is possible to pay money for their release, but it's a bit of a nuisance and not desirable at all.
These two factors alone make Owen a must have character during escape maps, which gives him a niche that can't be replicated by other units.
In case that wasn't enough, here's what FE Wiki says about him: "Olwen is, upon join, instantly your best healer. He can use every single healing Orb in the game, and joins with a lot of rare ones that can't be taken off of him.
He is also the only healer in the game that can use offensive magic outside of the incredibly rare Holy magic weapons. This is not, however, that useful since he has 1 base weapon skill in all of these magic types and a 10% growth in each, and, although you can raise his accuracy with bands and authority bonuses, he won't typically be fighting much. His role is as a healer, and he does this job better than anyone else."
Owen also gets access to two helpful orbs: Pacify and Detoxify. Pacify cures the Berserk status. Detoxify cures poison. Both of these orbs are in Owen's inventory and cannot be traded, which means that he gets exclusive access to two really useful orbs. To be fair, you can buy other Pacify and Detoxify orbs, but your other healers won't be able to use them for a while. You could also buy items that cure those statuses, but they're one use only and it's not like the temple in the game has them in infinite stock. So basically, he can save you time and money curing two nasty status effects. Owen also will be your first Physic user too, since he comes with that. As if that weren't enough, Owen is cheap to hire and is easy to permanently recruitment.
As you'd expect of a quirky character like Owen, there is a catch that's unique only to him: If Owen's still around on a map by turn 20 he turns into a bad guy. He also can't be recruited back, so if he hits that point he's gone for good. Thankfully, this can be countered by return, as mentioned earlier. Later on in the game, he'll be able to turn into a Dark Mage without becoming a bad guy. Before you get too excited I should warn you that he can't use dark magic very well, and it doesn't happen until the game's almost over.
______________________________________________
Elbert
Elbert's a solid character who has just enough going for him to really see use. Why is Elbert an A tier unit?
1) Arrowbane: Arrowbane is one of those skills that's so incredibly useful, that it makes it's user good. Here's what Arrowbane does: "When an enemy would hit with a bow, crossbow, or ballista, rerolls the hit with an accuracy cap of 33%" (Source: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Bowbreaker#TearRing_Saga:_Berwick_Saga)
Allow me to remind you of something I said during my review: "The ballista in this game make the ballista of other Fire Emblem games look like a joke. They kill your most fragile units in one hit. Everyone else dies in 2 hits. Their accuracy is pretty good too. They also have skills that improve their accuracy too. I've never been so scared of ballista when playing a strategy game."
I would also like to point out that there are numerous powerful enemies with crossbows in this game who can also do tons of damage. Arrowbane is your best response to powerful ballista and crossbow wielding enemies. One important fact about Arrowbane is that it can still activate even if ballista and bow wielding enemies have 100 % accuracy on your character.
There are three characters in the game who have Arrowbane. Of those characters, Elbert is your best Arrowbane user. The thing here is that Arrowbane activates on a % chance, so if it doesn't activate the Arrowbane user will get hit. Elbert is so durable and tanky, that he can take a hit from a ballista or crossbow enemy and not die.
Oh, and did I mention that he joins you for free? You don't have to pay Elbert money in order to hire him. You also don't have to worry about recruitment requirements because he has none. Elbert joins you in the first chapter of the game too, so you get to use him during the entire game. And he gets a horse too, so he gets all the benefits of higher movement.
The main drawback to using Elbert is that his accuracy with spears is pretty low. This is coupled with the fact that he needs a spear rank of 20 before he can promote. Elbert's got a reputation for being a pain in the butt to promote. Thankfully, promotions aren't as important in Berwick Saga as they are in other Fire Emblem games.
Conclusion: Elbert is a solid unit from start to finish. Arrowbane gives him a really useful niche, and he's one of your more durable units too. To top it all off, you get a great unit FOR FREE! Elbert costs nothing and gives so much back in return. That's what I call a great unit.
P.S. Arrowbane eventually became Bowbreaker in Awakening, and in the later Fire Emblem games. As I'm sure you'll see in other posts, Berwick Saga invented skills that would eventually see use in future Fire Emblem titles. #KagaDidItFirst
ONE MORE THING!
As long as this post is, I only got through half of the A tier units. That's why this post is titled "2-1". There's a second part, because there are quite a few powerful A tier units in this game.
No comments:
Post a Comment