Fire Emblem Awakening: The Dream Team

A.k.a my absolute favourite units, my own paragons of fighting awesomeness. I lavished copious amounts of pampering on these units, lovingly leveling them up and painstakingly maxing up their weapon proficiency chapter after chapter, and let me tell you: after all the hours I spent molding them into ultimate warriors, they will definitely stick with my avatar till the bitter end. Dear fellow gamers, let me introduce you right now to my own personal Awakening top 13!

Anna: The resident trickster's inclusion into my force came as a bit of a surprise for me; because honestly, my initial feelings towards her were tepid at best and nonexistent at worst. Sure, her ditzy-yet-savvy personality was rather charming, and her ability to wield healing staves and open safes on top of being an attacker was quite interesting; but on the other hand, she could build up support with virtually no one, couldn't tie the knot at all, couldn't change class and didn't get nearly enough opportunities to deploy her safe-opening talents. I wasn't swept away, that's for sure; and yet, Anna managed to buid herself a place of choice in my force by sheer virtue of being a reliable unit and a great asset on the battlefield. She slowly grew into a formidable fighter, which is something I certainly didn't expect given her class; and her healing abilities came in handy more than once, not to mention her nimble fingers. With hindsight, I'm glad I took a chance on her and gave her the opportunity to shine, because she amply deserved it.

Chrom: It's kind of hard not to include the face of Awakening into any top-unit list; Chrom is pretty much unmissable, if only because the game forces you to take him along on a regular basis. And yet, despite the fact that he's been involved in every single main story battle since the beginning of my run, my feelings towards him are quite ambivalent. The thing is, Chrom is not the best unit around despite being the game's poster boy. He hits quite hard, granted; but he's also surprisingly fragile and not really good at avoiding blows, which can lead to some unwelcome damage. Add to this a rather limited move range, and you get an unit that, while perfectly decent and serviceable, is not quite the crème de la crème. I like to compare Chrom's evolution in my force to Tuxedo Mask's evolution in the Sailor Moon series: both went from saving the day on a regular basis in the early stages to just being pretty in the background as time went on. It certainly doesn't help matters that getting Chrom killed always lands you a Game Over, even if your whole force is still standing. So, I can turn off Permadeath, but it's still a thing for Chrom? Can't he just scurry away to lick his wounds like the rest of the crew? All this makes Chrom a bit of a bothersome unit; and while I usually take him along for the ride, I use him solely to dispose of petty, weak foes that pose no threat to his health bar. I certainly wouldn't have him go at a boss and risk getting killed in the process, no thanks.

Frederick: With his sturdiness and his ability to wield three different weapons, Frederick is a great asset in any force. Sure, the fact that he cannot change class is bothersome: it takes away some of his potential for Stat growth, which in turn leads to him losing his edge and being overrulled by newer units in the late stages of the game. That happened in my run, obviously: Frederick went from riding high at the top of my unit chart in the first chapters to lounging somewhere in the middle of said unit chart as I'm reaching chapter 20. That being said, he's still an excellent unit that didn't get killed a single time on the front despite taking part in virtually every single battle since the beginning of my run — a distinction very few units in my force can brag about. His tongue-in-cheek demeanour and motherly personality are also quite hilarious and really grew on me as time went on — although once again, he's been forced into the background by newer units and got very little screen time in the second half of the game.

Gregor: The faux-Russian of Awakening gained entry to my force pretty much as soon as he appeared. He's sturdy, he hits like a beast, and he has this hilarious comedic Russian accent: what's not to love, seriously? Since that fateful first encounter, he's been getting even more awesome by acquiring incredibly useful Skills, such as Sol, which absorbs HP equal to half of the damage dealt, or Armthrift, which allows him to attack without wasting his weapons. He was delivered with Nowi as a package of sorts, and I just couldn't help but make them tie the knot; and given the lovely chemistry between the two of them, I have to assume that this was what the game wanted all along. And despite appearances, he's the younger one there by far, which creates a funny misunderstanding when the pair meets Chrom&co for the first time. Way to go and avoid accusations of lolicon, Intelligent System.
 

Libra: I just couldn't help but recruit the multi-tasking monk right away. One can always use a healer that also happens to be a capable attacker, especially when said healer has a really good move range. Libra cannot change class, and that's a bit of a shame; but he compensates that little flaw by his innate knack for multitasking and his great stats. Since he joined my force, he's gotten even more awesome by acquiring the skill Renewal, which restores 30% of his HP at the beginning of each turn; and even though his healing talents are required less often now that all my units have maxed out their levels, he's still pretty much an unmissable asset on the battlefield. His kind and unassuming personality is also quite refreshing, and it was great fun to pair him with brooding Tharja. For some silly reason, I'm quite glad Noire got his hair shade rather than Tharja's; there are so many dark-haired people in my force that a bit of blonde shine is much welcome.

Maribelle: Let's face it: Maribelle is overall a lousy unit, even after Master Sealing. She's frail, she doesn't hit hard, she misses her aim on a regular basis; so why has she been in my force pretty much since the beginning? Well, simply because I adore her. This is a typical case of hanging onto a character regardless of their abilities — or lack thereof — because of intense feelings, and that's not something that often happens to me in RPGs. I love Maribelle's exuberant and sarcastic personality, her adorable character design, her flowery language — I'm just madly in love with her, period. I lavished a lot of time, attention and stat-raising items on her to mold her into a good fighter, and I'm glad to say that my efforts paid off. Although she's by no means one of my force's top dogs, she's able to endure hits much better now and to deal decent amounts of damage; and while one-shooting foes is but a distant dream for her, at least I can have her on the front row now instead of keeping her in the back to protect her. And my, her romance with Ricken is just too sweet for words. In a nutshell, Maribelle is not going anywhere and will be prancing on the battlefield until the credits roll.

Miriel: I was initially not too fond of Miriel, to be honest. Her square, straight-A student personality really didn't click with me, and her drab garb didn't help her case. However, I quickly changed my mind when I saw her stellar performances on the battlefield, and she's been one of my top offensive units ever since, consistently wreaking havoc on the front row. She has a good array of really efficient passive buff and debuff Skills and she's sturdy as a horse when it comes to magic attacks, boasting the highest Resistance of all my units — along with Libra. Cherry on the cake, I adore her Sorcerer sprite; her outfit gained lovely azure and purple hues when she changed class, and she's now easier than ever to spot on the battlefield on top of looking really gorgeous. I'm really miffed I didn't manage to recruit her son; I'm sure the kid would have rocked just as much as his mother on the battlefield. Oh, well; I'll repair that oversight next time I play the game if Miriel still makes the cut — which will probably be the case, because she's just too awesome.

Morgan: The avatar's child, which also happens to be Chrom's child in my run. Two children for one couple is a bit too much in a Fire Emblem playthrough, and I was initially planning to ditch Morgan without a second though and have him join my vast graveyard of unused units. So how did he ended up in my force after all, you may ask? Well, for the ficklest of reasons: I wanted another happily married couple in my roster, and he was my favourite available male unit as far as fighting performances were concerned. And I certainly don't regret what was essentially a whim on my part: to my surprise, Morgan quickly grew into a formidable fighter and a great asset on the battlefield. The Master Sealing treatment made him even more awesome, and he's now comfortably nested at the very top of my roster along the rest of the big shots. Sure, his personality is painfully transparent, he doesn't get any screen time in cutscenes, and he looks just utterly plain; but who cares about that when he can decimate lines upon lines of foes? He's pretty much the polar opposite of Maribelle, i.e. a unit I don't really fancy yet integrated into my force just by sheer virtue of his brilliant fighting performances.

Noire: Libra and Tharja's offspring didn't impress me much at first. Despite the fact that I really wanted to integrate an archer into my force to be able to easily wipe out those pesky flying units, Noire's habit of dying early into battle made me dismiss her as yet another character that looked great at first glance yet couldn't hold their own on the battlefield. Just like Morgan, the only reason she was rehabilitated and joined my force at all is my fickle desire to play matchmaker; and just like Morgan, she proved to be an asset to be reckoned with once the right amount of level-grinding had been lavished on her. I can't say I'm fond of her switching personality and shrinking violet looks and gait; but once again, just like Morgan, her performances on the battlefield amply make up for her lack of attractiveness. I just resent the fact that because of her shooting range, she can easily get cornered by foes and find herself basically unable to move at all; as a result, it's really not a good idea to separate her from the rest of the crew and have her attack a bunch of foes on her own, lest you find yourself forced to dispatch another unit to rescue her. Tried and (de)tested, folks.

Nowi: I had an instant crush on lovely Nowi as soon as she appeared and knew right away that I wanted her in my force. She never disappointed me: she's pretty strong overall, with excellent offensive abilities and stellar defense, and she's one of these units that can be sent on solo rampages without having to worry about her fainting and scurrying away. Sure, she lost a bit of her bite as the game went on, going from being able to one-shoot every living thing when she joined the fray to needing two blows to dispose of foes in late chapters; but that's the destiny of all old units, and that really didn't deter me from using her — all the less so as she remained sturdy and perfectly able to waltz and wreak havoc on the front lines. Her kid, on the other hand, failed to impress me and make the cut: poor Nah is a bit of a wallflower, really, and I don't fancy dragon units nearly enough to justify having more than one of them in my party anyway.

Ricken: My little darling! The pint-sized mage can claim the honour of being my absolute favourite unit this time around. His absurd sturdiness and stellar offensive abilities make him an unmissable asset on the battlefield, and I've been using him in every single battle to great effect. And unlike many early units, he didn't lose his bite over time; on the contrary, he grew steadily more overpowered and unstoppable as the game went on. Master Sealing him into a Dark Knight made him a powerhouse that basically eats foes for breakfast and leaves no one alive in his wake. He's become a ferocious slaughterer that can be dispatched on his own on massive killing sprees rife with one-shooting; and with his awesome Lifetaker skill, which heals 50% of the user's HP after they defeat a foe, he can even take care of his own health perfectly. Why, it's like this skill has been designed especially for him! As a Dark Knight, he's supposed to be weak to mounted units; but honestly, that weakness is hardly noticeable, if at all. Frederick does take heavy damage from horsemen on a regular basis, but Ricken is pretty much unfazed by everything. He's a boss-slayer, a one-shooter and the absolute top unit of my roster, period.

Say'ri: The Swordmaster made it into my force in a nearly stealthy way, and her inclusion into the roster kinda took me by surprise. What happened is that I was experimenting with new potential recrues at some point after her arrival, and she was one of the units I put to the test. She kept dying on a regular basis, and I really thought she wouldn't make the cut. But as I had a bit of room in my force at the time, I kept taking her into battle anyway; and to my surprise, she slowly but surely grew into a very competent fighter that could hold her own on the battlefield and deal good amounts of damage. The Vantage and Astra skills, which respectively allow her to strike first at all times if her HP is 50% or less and to pull off five consecutive strikes, make her even more dangerous; and it wasn't long before she joined the coveted club of units that can pretty much one-shoot their way to the objective. I'm a bit miffed that she cannot tie the knot nor build up support with anybody expect for Tiki and my avatar, but her stellar performances on the battlefield amply make up for that tiny flaw.

Tharja: The game's resident Dark Mage was a pain to recruit: I had to restart her side story three times because she kept dying by recklessly throwing herself at my units and getting stupidly killed in return. That should definitely have deterred me from recruiting her; but for some reason, I had an inkling that she would be a valuable addition to my roster, and I was right. She was more than worth the hassle, as she quickly grew into a formidable assailant that could take down even the strongest armoured unit with insolent ease. She can take care of her own health just fine with Nosferatus, and Master Sealing her into a Dark Mage made her shoot straight to the top of my roster. She became virtually unstoppable after that, and she hadn't bit the dust a single time since her promotion. Her personality, on the other hand... Eh, I don't know. I think I'm just too old for all that cliché emo anime stuff; and her weird and awkward interactions with my avatar only made matters worse. I quickly grew tired of her brooding act, and I'm kinda glad that she consistently got less screen time as the game went on.

There you have it, dear fellow gamers: the thirteen harbingers of doom that follow my avatar virtually everywhere, to the hell and beyond. Because indeed, my avatar is also part of my deadly roster; but as she's mostly a placeholder with a very predictable evolution, I didn't bother mentioning her in that list. Then you have all the units that interested me at first yet didn't make the cut because I got bored of them or because they bit the dust way too much for my taste: Sumia, Panne, Cordelia, Owain and Henry. Sorry, guys — maybe next time? And you have Lucina, which is a bit of a special case: despite her ridiculous strength and huge potential for growth, I just never liked her and thus didn't want to fully integrate her into my force. Since she appeared, I've been taking her along in battle when room was available, because I could always use her fighting abilities despite not being fond of her; but in my mind, she's not part of my force and never will be. Well, weirder things have happened in RPGs, I guess. And with that, dear fellow gamers, this post is coming to an end. I'll see you soon with my final Awakening report — because let's be honest, completion is near as I'm writing this. Until then, thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!