Part 80: Odin

ODIN DARK
Dark Mage (HS: Samurai)
A+ Support Classes: Niles (Outlaw), Laslow (Mercenary), Leo (Troubadour)
Personal Skill: Aching Blood (+10 crit when equppied with a forged weapon with a name 12 characters or longer)
Growths (With Default Class):
HP: 55% (55)
STR: 35% (45)
MAG: 30% (50)
SKL: 55% (55)
SPD: 35% (45)
LCK: 60% (60)
DEF: 40% (45)
RES: 20% (30)

First of all, whatever I have to say about this guy is much better said by the videos on this channel. This person has turned using Odin into an art form. If you want to see how to make the most of your funny meme magic man then it's really worth watching some of his videos! Otherwise here's my Odin Opinions:

Looking at his bases and looking at his growths probably won't fill you with much hope for him. He's way underleveled, and despite having the highest growth total in Conquest (only beaten in Fates by Saizo, a unit you can't get in CQ) his average stats really aren't very good thanks to how terribly they're distributed. His highest growths are in skill and luck, the game's least important stats (although Nyx is a good example of what happens if you neglect those stats entirely...), and he's got a higher strength growth than his magic growth despite being a mage. He's not got the raw firepower of Elise or Nyx, he's not got the immediate useability of Leo, and as an all-rounder mage you'd be better off using your Corrin instead, even if they don't have magic as their boon. So why would you use him...?

The reason is because Nosferatu. Nosferatu was nerfed massively in Fates after Awakening's mechanics made it possible to solo almost the entire game on the hardest difficulties just by deploying a single Dark Mage with a bunch of Nosferatu tomes, and even then the tome itself was nerfed in Awakening by making it only absorb half the damage it deals instead of all of it... In Fates, Nosferatu cannot double attack, it reduces your avoid, and it cannot critical or activate in-combat offensive skills like Luna or Vengeance. It's also the only dark tome in the entire game, making it the only tome unique to the Dark Mage and Sorcerer classes. People were pretty quick to dismiss it as having been nerfed to the point of unusability.

...but it's still really useful. It's only a D rank tome, it never breaks so you'll only ever have to buy it once, and at the end of the day it's still a weapon that reliably heals your HP at the end of combat so long as you can hit with it. Odin, for all his faults, is a Dark Mage with excellent accuracy, good enough bulk, and near perfect availability. All Odin needs is a pair-up partner and maybe some tonics or some investment and you can send him away to tank powerful enemies that would otherwise wear you down. The entire left side of Chapter 10, one of the game's hardest chapters, can be trivialised by Odin and a Nosferatu tome. He's also got unique access to the normally Hoshidan exclusive Samurai class, in turn allows him to use the always great Vantage & Nosferatu combo.

Odin's poor bases and mediocre growths make it hard for him to stay relevant past the mid-game without investment, but it's pretty easy to replace him when he stops being good. Using him in combat and building supports will bring you closer to unlocking his daughter, Ophelia, who with a good enough mother can easily become a better Odin who joins just in time for him to stop being useful. Ophelia will inherit some of Odin's stats and one of his skills, so training and then abandoning him won't be a complete waste. Reclassing Odin into Samurai to get Vantage, having Ophelia inherit it, and then benching Odin is a good way to save on Heart Seals. And even if you have no plans on using her, her paralogue comes with one very useful tome you can't get elsewhere.

Otherwise Odin is kind of just okay. His personal skill & high skill stat can work for funny crit builds. You can take advantage of his high strength growth by making him a Dark Knight or a Samurai (although reclassing him into a Samurai won't actually increase his strength growth). If you're not using him to Nostank or taking advantage of his high critical hit then there's not much point in using him at all, unless you want to relive the days of Awakening with Samurai Odin.

Oh and all his quotes are Arthur tier of good so it is vital that you play with the volume turned all the way up and with animations turned on if you're going to use him.

TL;DR:

Pros

• Incredibly useful as a Nosferatu tank in the early chapters with relatively little investment
• High skill & personal skill allow for fun crit builds (that aren't as risky as Arthur's)
• Access to the Samurai tree and all the great skills it has
• You need to use him to get Ophelia's paralogue so you may as well

Cons

• Atrocious base stats and underwhelming growths make it easy for him to be RNG screwed
• Not much long-term viablity without investment
• Will need to use at least two Heart Seals for his Vantage & Nosferatu combo

My Rating: WELCOME TO MY FELL STOREFRONT... thank you for your dark business.

Walla" post="518268037 posted:

Odin is competent as a Dark Mage, he retains a decent magic stat as a Samurai and his daughter is the most powerful magic user in the game whose Paralogue gives a Horse Spirit and Calamity Gate which are game changing in Conquest. Also he can pass on Vantage to Ophelia, and that can proc with Nosferatu.

Promoted to Dark Knight around level 16 he will have more strength, speed and defense than Leo and a decent magic stat. Staying Sorcerer lets him do some fun strats with Nosferatu. A defense tonic and a pair up will let him solo the archers in Chapter 10 and a Malig Knight pair up lets him solo some powerful foes in Cheve.

And he's still Owain, so he's fun. And Ophelia is goofy and adorable.

SloppyDoughnuts" post="518267208 posted:

Odin sucks.