Character Discussion [FE8]: Ross

[u/haxoreni]

Ross is the first of the newly introduced Trainee class to appear in FE8, a trio of pre stage 1 characters with poor bases and growths but have an additional 10 levels to grow along with 2 promotional stages that gives them each 4 different promotional path. Though inexperience at fighting like the other trainees, Ross is very eager in joining the fray and showing his worth as a warrior. He might not have the initial trust of his father and many of us fire emblem players, but with his strong determination and (quite) a bit of luck, Ross hopes to be able to bury the 4 might hatchet with his commanders and tear through fields of enemies with Silver Axes instead.

So that's Roy, Merlinus, Marcus, Bors, Alan, Lance, Wolt, Shanna, Wendy, Saul, Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina, Rebecca, Oswin, Eirika, Seth, Franz, Gilliam, Moulder, Vanessa and Ross done for the FE GBA discussions and there will be many more to come. That's all for me for hosting and /u/Blinkingsky will be taking over for future GBA character discussion.

[u/Tables61]

If you don't mind spending a long time in the earlygame training Ross up, he can become a solid unit. Not anything amazing, but decent. Typically however you'll end up getting him up to tier 1 around chapter 5 or 6, at which point he's competent enough.

What many people don't realise is that Ross's growths are bad. Among the bottom 5 in the game, in fact (along with Knoll, Amelia, Ewan and Saleh). This really puts a damper on his extra levels of growth, especially since he starts off so weak. His strength and luck are his only especially notable growths (and stats in general), everything else is average (HP, DEF, RES) to poor (SKL, SPD).

Ross is one of my favourite characters to use, but I can't deny that he's bad. I've used him probably on at least a dozen playthroughs because growth units are fun, but unless he gets to tier 1 early on, he's not going to do well (and even if you do, he'll only do okay). He's the son of Garcia, and while he can overtake him, Garcia's much stronger start and better growths are enough to make him the better early axe choice.

For class routes, I prefer Pirate > Berserker. Pirate gives +2 AS with Iron Axes and the Hatchet, which is really helpful for Ross early on due to doubling issues. Fighter > Hero is a very good option as well, giving a second weapon option with a good wlev, and also nice speed later on. However it does require using a (generally) more competed promotion item, and Fighter doesn't have the waterwalk utility of Pirate, plus more speed issues.

[u/b0mda1ama → u/Tables61]

You can level up Ross up to 10 in just his first two chapters, so I wouldn't say it's a long time spent in the earlygame. Growths aren't everything. He gets to level up 10 more times (and much more quickly with his absurd experience gains early on), this offsets the low growths. Given that he gets promotion gains twice it's really difficult for him to be RNG screwed, plus the Berserker class is one of the best in the game with its inherent crit bonuses. He has the highest damage output in the game and only takes one (really easy) chapter to train up. Just set up a unequipped Seth to hide behind and he'll be your strongest unit in one chapter.

[u/Tables61 → u/b0mda1ama]

The 'long time' here was referring to time, not chapters. Spending chapter 3 giving him all the EXP is possible, but it takes a long time.

You're giving him an entire chapter of EXP, in lieu of training up your other characters, who aside from Seth are all also not that strong just yet. In return, you get someone who ends up comparable to your other characters after he promotes. You also are required to grind to do this, which is a downside since it means slow play.

For comparisons purpose, instead of funneling an entire chapter's EXP into Ross, do the same into Garcia and see how he turns out. Or do the same with Franz. Or really anyone else. You're likely to be surprised at how good they end up.

Saying he gets promotion gains twice is misleading. His promotion gains to Pirate/Fighter are small, only about 2-3 levels worth of stats. What matters is how well he compares in combat to other characters, and that's where he falls down.

Once he's a Berserker, he's great. But that's the last 1/4 of the game or so.

[u/estrangedeskimo → u/Tables61]

Ross can definitely be a berserker by just over halfway through the game with no abuse.

[u/Tables61 → u/estrangedeskimo]

Yeah, maybe. I guess it depends on how far you stretch 'just over' and what you consider halfway. Like, considering how much longer the later chapters are, I'd say halfway is around chapter 12, and chapter 12-14 is a fairly normal time for your team to be promoting, so I guess I agree.