Leaders you always recruit?

[JanuaryWinter12]

Hi everyone,

A while back I started a thread comparing certain characters, and while I was looking through the replies, I also learned some interesting perspectives on the use of units/unions. So I was thinking why not start a thread where people talk about why they choose certain characters? :)

So to start off, here are some of my "always-have" units....

1. Rush - because... need I say more? lol He's your only chance at going as crazy as you could! Although I have never had the patient to get him to Ordainer or Warlock though @@ Most of the time he ends up as Ninja, one other time he was Gladiator and this time he's an Alchemist.
2. Emmy - because she kicks a**... and Nightbloom seems much better off in her hand than Irina's OR Rush's
3. Torgal - just overall a good leader. Plus a cool sovani (lol)
4. Caedmon - early + easy access and a pretty capable and dependable leader; also needed for some formations. His commands and the way he acts seem to vary a bit, maybe it's his "independence", who knows :)

Now onto somewhat an unpopular opinion....
5. Wyngale - Quite honestly a struggle for me. I usually tell myself not to recruit him because by the time he's accessible, most of my units have made him quite a newbie. His versatility is both a strong and weak point ... His excelling at too many things sometimes makes me uncertain about which - among his vast collection of arts - would I like to develop more!? In the end, I tend to gear toward the mystic route to get him to the Warlock class. Most of the time though, he just jumps to Ninja, which isn't exactly terrible either. So for Wyngale, I really just let this guy get the freedom of doing whatever he wants (lol), that seems fitting to his personality as well hahah.
6. David - Mostly because I like him lol! He doesn't outdo physical or mystic damage of your expert, doesn't heal as good as well but he's a generally a managed/reliable leader to have around. Most of the time I'd have him play the Assassin to get some fun ambush commands (+shards). Plus Gae Bolg provides some fancy animation when you're bored and just want to wipe the floor with (most) everyone.
7. Leshau - I actually didn't use him until recently, but I've liked him since. I got him recruited pretty early and with Thaumaturge, he's quite the capable guy. He seems to have way higher INT than Pagus in most of my playthrough, plus a very good bonus meter :)
8. Allan - Also because I like him haha. Somewhat okay STR but his weapon is too mediocre. Plus his MA is horrid (yet if I don't disable the option, he would insist on using them - maybe it's his "Selfishness", who knows!). I just love his dark sense of humor and twisted way of speech lol. When I'm bored I would train him to Moonlight to get some nice extra capability!

So that's it for my list... what about yours? :)

[ArcRiseGen]

For me (besides the sidequest specific reasons) I always get

Gaou
Baulson
Wyngale
Nora
Caedmon
Allan
Leceutius
Darien

Everyone else is fair game for me

[PinkPаптҥэя]

I agree on your 1-4, but am sceptical about 5-8 :-)

Before I list my units, I'd first like to point out that I consider Invocations and Evocations useless (except for triggering certain Arcana) compared to Hexes and Psionics. This is because they mostly only provide damage and lack utility (except Silencer/Palsy Skein, but these are way more expensive than the respective Hexes).
For this reason no Invo or Evo focused unit makes it to the top.

So here's my list in descending order of my liking:

Great units

Rush	Talisman & Omnistrike FTW
Wyatt	He starts out so much ahead in Hexes, that he's the only unit in the game which can master Cachexia in time for the Fallen battle without additional grinding.
Duke Ghor	For his Bilqis' weapon art, which cannot be dodged
Jager	For his Schiavona weapon art, which cannot be dodged
Torgal	Quad Wield for maximum damage. Evos useless but has high HP going for him. Suffers from low AP and difficult weapon upgrades. Lugh's Revenge relatively weak damage and not that useful, since it can be dodged. Can become Bard, if mystics disabled.
Baulson	Great stats and can become Bard, if Herbs are disabled from the very beginning
Pagus	Adds huge AP to the pool. I immediately disable his Invos and develop his Remedies and his Dragon Crush (yes, he kicks it as soon as he gets his Heartache and Ama-Gi).
Irina	Huge AP, awesome Remedies unit, plus Retreat Flare
Emmy	Awesome damage for her Dual Wield and the Nightbloom. As with Irina above, I don't use her as leader any longer. The better player I become, the less her special art triggers, since my unions almost always are fully healed at the end of the turn.
Faye	Awesome damage for her Dual Wield. Early reviver and good Scout later on. Grabs the Waraxe, two of them will add +50% to her HP as a bonus.
Roberto	Huge AP together with the Frostblade. And Bard, nuff said...

OKish

Paris	Has Psionics, quite a good Remedies unit. Low AP, but can somewhat be overcome by setting him to combat focus and letting him equip the Verge of Victory
Wyngale	Psionics, Remedies & Swordflash
Jorgen (Sage)	Good combat unit plus Psionics later on
Perneth	First available Hexes unit, but still behind Wyatt when he enters.
Lukorra	One more viable Hexes unit.
Zolean	Can be hired as second or third Hexes unit. Quite expensive to hire. Picks up the Imperator's Katana.
Blocter	For his Wonder Bangle. Axman class boosts his damage, if Herbs are disabled from the very beginning
Gaou	Decent combat unit with Lotions. Great remnant weapon with a WA.
Darien	Like Gaou but without a WA.
Rhagoh	Huge AP, awesome Remedies unit, but that's it. For me it's still great, since I want exactly one such unit per union.
Neo	Great Scout with good stats and an easy end game weapon
Semry	Good unit to help carrying you through the first half of the game. Picks up the Defender and has an easy option for a great end game weapon.
Caedmon	Strong combat unit, but very expensive to hire at the point where he becomes available. Also too difficult weapon upgrades.
Khrynia	Although her stats suck when she finally enters the game, she's great fun with Moonlight or Dual Snowpetal

Meh...

Kate	Comes too late. If you picked some of the Hexes units listed above, these probably are already better developed than her.
Yuniver	Only his Psionics are really useful. For that he comes too late.
Violet	Expensive to hire. One more combat unit with Remedies but weak INT. At least she can become quite a decent fighter if she becomes Runemaiden. Still, there are better units around.
Sibal	Also too late, although he'd be quite good if you develop him and also gets a great end game weapon.
David	Severely lacks AP later in the game, where Gae Bolg isn't that useful anymore.
Gabriel	At least has more AP than David at the expense of Special Arts
Jorgen (Adventurer)	Stats/skills like Gabriel, but has no good class options like him.

Next to 'useless'

The Seven	Basically useless for their stats, arts and late appearance, but definitely fun to use!
Leucetius	I've never had such a high BR but in my very first run...
Maddox	Everything potentially useful has to be developed from scratch -> waste of time. Even great stats don't help much.
Leshau	Same as Maddox
Glenys	Better no Remedies at all than coupled with a low INT like her.
Loki	Low stats, even when fully developed. Invos useless, Hexes have to be developed from scratch -> waste of time
Nora	Same as Loki
Sheryl	Only Evos until BR 51, nuff said...
Allan	Comes too late to be useful with these low stats. Invos useless anyways.
Haruko	Well, I like a good healer, but she's locked behind The Ladies of Bloody Alice quest, so way too late...

I hope you guys like it...!

[JanuaryWinter12]

Originally posted by ArcRiseGen:

For me (besides the sidequest specific reasons) I always get

Gaou
Baulson
Wyngale
Nora
Caedmon
Allan
Leceutius
Darien

Everyone else is fair game for me

Do you have a reason you prefer them over the other? Or just because you like them? :) I've tried to train Leucetius but always run out of patience.

@pinkpanther: I did say that I was aware option 5-8 are somewhat of an unpopular/uncommon opinion, and mostly because I like them.
I think for Allan - I tend to train him in more of an Combat+Item arts focus (everyone would disable his MA because it's horrid indeed). My memory might be a bit hazy but I recall him as one of the earliest unique leaders with access to explosive, if one doesn't want to lvl up to get Violet on it, or wait until after the Fallen to get Khrynia (or Wyngale for that matter, but I think it's a bit of a waste to make Wyngale an item-art focus).
And yes, you just make me remember Faye! She's indeed awesome, though I have a bit of a bias in that I always choose unique leaders for the end game....

I also used to always recruit DoG & Jager, now I only take Jager (or DoG at the expense of the other, because of their quite "similar" functions) to experiment some other new units. This time I find Jorgen (warrior) with the dual-katana to be quite useful as well.

[Avataristche]

Unless i run some self-restricting run, i always end up with Rush, DoG, Emmy and Irina as leaders, plus someone at Hex union.
In midrows i rarely exclude Pagus and Paris (wards), and Violet and Nora (unique blings).