Across the sixteen core games in the Fire Emblem series, the franchise has allowed players to recruit hundreds of unique characters. These characters have come in all shapes in sizes, with many bringing unique utility and abilities to the table. However, while some characters are frequently lauded for their usefulness and others are banned for their lack of power, there are other characters that have fallen through the cracks, being largely unappreciated.
Many of these characters bring something advantageous to the table, but often go unappreciated for whatever reason. So today we’re going to explore the unsung heroes of the Fire Emblem series and examine the ten most underrated units in the franchise’s history.
9 Shinon (Radiant Dawn)
Bow-wielders are often regarded as some of the weakest units across Fire Emblem‘s history due to their inability to consistently contribute to combat during the enemy phase. Despite this, Shinon is a deceptively stellar unit in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, automatically joining the player’s army at the beginning of Part Three as a pre-promoted Sniper. Shockingly durable with a 45% defense growth, Shinon can take hits quite reliably while being able to dish out substantial damage. Once promoted into a Marksman, Shinon’s usefulness only improves as his range grows.
8 Garret
Garret is a pre-promoted berserker that is recruitable in the fifteenth chapter of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. While he joins the player’s army somewhat late through the game, he has a notable selling point that no other character in the game can offer as easily: his class.
While Gonzales and Geese can each be promoted into the Berserker class, Garret is the only pre-promoted berserker in the game, meaning he allows the class to be used for the least amount of effort. It should be noted that the Berserker class distinctly gets +30% critical rate, allowing Garret to have a consistently devastating critical rate when wielding a killer axe.
7 Shura
Recruitable in each route of Fire Emblem Fates, like Garret, Shura can offer a lot to a player while requiring little to no investment. As a pre-promoted adventurer, Shura is able to serve as a backup healer who is slightly more durable than other more frequently used healers such as Elise and Sakura whilst also being able to contribute to combat with his bow when in a pinch. This is a sizable amount of versatility for a unit that required no prior training or resources to access.
6 Sue
Appearing in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, similar Shinon, Sue is an underrated bow wielder. While there are numerous terrible bow-users in The Binding Blade, Sue has two factors working in her favor. Firstly, as she can be recruited in Chapter 6, her availability allows her to gain plenty of experience over the course of the game. Secondly, as a nomad, Sue is a mounted unit with great mobility access to canto, and access to rescue-drop strategy. She even gains access to swords upon promotion, further opening up her versatility.
5 Manuela
When it comes to the faith magic users in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, many players tend to focus on Marianne, Linhardt, and Mercedes for their raw healing potential. However, Manuela is a unit that is recruitable in each of the game’s routes that brings a great deal of alternative utility to the table that makes her an interesting inclusion to one’s forces.
While other faith magic units tend to learn numerous spells that restore HP, Manuela’s faith provides numerous other useful effects, including the likes of Ward, Silence, and Warp.
4 Niles
While he is initially locked to bows and has both base stats and growths that leave something to be desired, Niles can provide significant utility in Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. The only unit able to capture units with his Kidnap ability, Niles can be used to capture numerous bosses that can them be made playable. Niles is one of the only ways to gain access to the famous “Rallyman,” a generic Master of Arms that is often regarded as one of the most useful units in the game’s Lunatic mode.
3 Nolan
The earliest chapters of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn have the player control the Dawn Brigade, a group that is frequently panned by players for lacking in power. However, of the members of the Dawn Brigade, Nolan is a fighter that doesn’t deserve much of the flack the group gets. A level 9 fighter with solid bases and shockingly high growth rates in speed and skill, Nolan is one of the strongest units a player has access to in the game’s earliest chapters. In addition to being able to flexibly attack near and far with hand axes, his growth rates and the personal weapon he gains in Chapter 6 of Part Three help his long term viability.
2 Knoll
Unless a player decides to promote Ewan into a shaman, Knoll is the only dark magic user available in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. While he isn’t available until somewhat late into the game, Knoll is able to be promoted into the Summoner class. This class has the unique ability to summon phantoms, weak units that can be used to manipulate and distract the enemy AI or serve as human shields.
Geitz is a great pre-promoted warrior in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade that is held back by one major detrimental factor: his recruitment. Only appearing in the Linus version of “Four-Fanged Offense,” Geitz can only be recruited if the collective level of the player’s lords is fifty or over. Getting these lords to high levels can be an inconvenient hoop to jump through, especially on higher difficulties.
However, once he’s in a player’s army, Geitz joins with B ranks in bows and axes, pairing well with his high offensive stats making him one of the most ideal wielders of a brave bow.
1 Capturable Bosses (Conquest)
As mentioned with Niles, Fire Emblem Fates allows the player to capture numerous bosses and recruit them into the player’s forces. In higher difficulties, many of these bosses such as Haitaka, Kumagera, Gazak, and Zhara join with not just impressive base stats, but several notable skills that make them invaluable assets. For example, the hero Zhara joins with the absolutely incredible suite of Sol, Countermagic, and Pass, all despite being an inconsequential member of the cast. For being characters that don’t have supports and many players gloss over completely, these capturable bosses are easily the most underrated units in the series.
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