Part 2: Nohr

Time for a real chapter! As in, a chapter that takes place in reality. This is still a chapter you'd have to lose on purpose.



Meet Conquest! In the flesh. Fitful dreams about her true lineage have somehow translated into experience on the battlefield. I wonder if I got any experience from participating in combat with Brum after he ran me over in my nightmares as a child.

Corrin AKA "Conquest" (+mag/-res)
Nohr Princess (HS: Samurai)
A+ Support Classes: Literally any other girl in the cast
Personal Skill: Supportive (+2 damage dealt, -2 damage taken, +10 hit when supporting a lead unit they have at least a C support with)
Growths (With Default Class):
HP: 45% (60)
STR: 45% (60)
MAG: 45% (55)
SKL: 40% (50)
SPD: 45% (55)
LCK: 45% (55)
DEF: 35% (45)
RES: 20% (25)

By picking two boons which almost cancel each other out, I have created the world's most balanced Corrin. Factoring in her class's growth rates, that's over 50% in almost every stat across the board! That certainly is not bad. Although it is quite funny that even with a magic boon she's still got a slightly better strength growth than magic.

If you've ever played a modern FE game, you'll know that your avatar character will always be one of the strongest units there is. Exactly how strong depends on the game, but there is not a single avatar I would call undeserving of an S tier in their respective game. If I had to pick, I'd call Corrin the third strongest avatar out of four. That's pretty good if you're a mole.

What makes Corrin and indeed most avatars good is their versatility. Corrin's stats are good, but they're not amazing, although they will have a monopoly on pretty much all of your EXP until chapter 4, maybe even chapter 7 depending on whether or not you intend to use Kaze. Corrin's true strength comes from their access to nearly every class in the game. Not only can you pick whatever class you'd like for them at the start of the game, you can borrow a huge number of classes from other units via A+ supports! It's a mechanic people sometimes overlook but it really helps you to make some truly devasting Corrins.

Nohr Prince(ess) certainly isn't a bad class either. Solid growths across the board mean they shouldn't have any trouble fitting into whatever class you want them to become later on. It also gives them access to the Nobility skill from level 1, increasing their exp gain by 20%. This isn't quite as OP as Robin's 50% extra exp when paired up, especially considering how little exp Fates awards overleveled units, but it'll make them level up fast and easily able to catch up if they ever fall behind.

Oh and they're also a royal who can use dragon veins and they have a legendary sword etc. etc. etc. I bet Garon bought them a scholarship at Nohr University too.

TLDR;

Pros

• Perfect availability, there's never a chapter you cannot deploy them in
  
• Solid growths unless you pick terrible boons & banes
  
• Access to nearly every class in the game with some effort
  
• Boosted exp gain and a cool sword only they can use
  
• Dragon's blood means they can use dragon veins
  
• Personal skill makes them an amazing support unit, they also uniquely benefit from the personal skills of certain other units
  

Cons

• Dependent on growths - an unlucky Corrin might end up sucking forever
  
• Intrinsic weakness to Wyrmslayers regardless of class
  
• Nohr Princess/Noble's lack of a mount and overly balanced stats can be a detriment in the lategame
  

Rating: *Corrin's victory quote in smash voice* Good

Anyway that's a lot of words, let's give into younger sibling urges and hit our older brother with a stick.



Doesn't seem good, does it? I'll be honest, I think this is a really terrible tutorial - you're teaching the player to attack a unit who could attack back on enemy phase and kill you in return. Xander won't do that, but a newbie might expect other enemies to act like this too. It is at least a fun demonstration of his personal skill if you're paying attention - once you're no longer at full HP he'll get noticeably weaker. In fact, between his chivalry and elbow room skills, there's a lot of damage modifiers going into this simple tutorial battle.



See, one hit and the battle has suddenly shifted in my favour. I never noticed that Xander's got a defense of 1 here... He really is holding back quite a lot. Imagine a cursed used copy of Fates in which Xander was armed with Seigfried and couldn't be harmed in the tutorial.

...no I'm not padding out this pointless update.



That's pretty cool! I don't think there's all that much difference between a bad Corrin and an okay one in the tutorial chapters, but a good Corrin can potentially do some very silly things. We'll see if that happens. Corrin (or Conquest I guess, maybe I should use their actual name) wants def most of all if she's going to maximise her EXP gain in chapter 3. Here's hoping she keeps this up!



I'm going to keep track of my turncount at the end of every chapter. Not because I'm doing any sort of "efficient" run, but just for posterity's sake. And maybe to shame me into not doing things like stalling out the uses of every offensive enemy staff I encounter. It's surprisingly rare that Conquest puts any sort of time pressure on you, even in Lunatic mode, so there's not a lot you cannot defeat by doing the dishonourable thing and turtling. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Turn counts exist only for people on gamefaqs and reddit to argue about.



It's cool, we gained magic and strength in this chapter. That's why I picked a magic boon!


Next time: Strategy?