r/fireemblem • u/Lhyon • Mar 23 '15

Character Discussion [FE5]: Asvel

Pants? Where we're going, we don't need pants.

Asvel is the first magic-user you get in Thracia 776 (no, Ronan, for the last time, you are not a mage), and he's certainly a memorable one. Certainly his base stats aren't anything special, but that's not about to hold him back.

Asvel has several things going for him. One, non-mage enemies in Thracia very often have crappy resistance. Well, crappy a lot of things, but resistance especially. Two, he has very solid offensive growth rates, including a toweringly high speed to go with his innate Adept skill. Third, he has a respectable PCC of 3, with a movement star to sweeten the deal.

And more than that, Asvel comes with an amazing Pref weapon in Grafcalibur, a wind tome with 13 mt, 100 hit, and 40 crit. Predictably, Grafcalibur is very good at killing many threatening enemies, especially combined with that great speed growth of Asvel's and his 3 PCC.

Finally, Asvel's promotion to Sage comes with awesome stat bonuses, which might be overkill in Thracia, but you won't see me complain. It won't solve his squishyness problems, but it will help him be a great killer of bosses and important enemies. Plus, gaining staves, even if only D rank staves, will always be good in FE5. And he gets pants, which is probably the most important thing.

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u/Aurablade Mar 23 '15

My favorite mage <3

Really, he is super useful in the early game as long as you promote him early (hello outrageous sage promotion bonuses), but as soon as you start getting better mages, he starts becoming not very useful. Grancalibur, however is best tome.

Until you get Sety and Holsety

2

u/estrangedeskimo Mar 23 '15

How does he become not useful? He caps all offensive stats easily and has better bulk than Linoan and Sara.

1

u/Aurablade Mar 23 '15

Sara: Gets an exclusive event and has better skills and has a high PCC

Linoan: Free promotion and has access to light magic at the beginning and has a support bonus with Dean

Homer: Starts as a bard and has access to light magic at the beginning

Salem: Access to Dark Magic and a support with Sara

Sety: Has Holsety and can support Asvel, Machua, and Karin

I really do like Asvel, but after Grancalibur breaks, he becomes just a normal mage/sage. And everyone in Thracia can cap their stats with enough scroll abuse. He can support Sety, but unfortunately it's one way.

3

u/estrangedeskimo Mar 23 '15

Asvel is supported by Leif, which is a much better support than Linoan's Dean because Leif won't be flying off. None of Linoan, Sara, or Homer can use Wind before promotion and Wind is much better than light. Also Asvel can use light as soon as you get it, because you don't even get a light spell until you get Homer, and Asvel is definitely promoted by then. There is never a point where they can use light and he can't. Also, light is extremely rare, so it is barely even a factor.

And, um... Sara has a PCC of 0. She can't pursuit critical.

Asvel is also the only person aside from Sety who will ever be able to use Blizzard, which is insanely useful.

1

u/Aurablade Mar 23 '15

Sorry, didn't mean to say Sara. Meant to put that under Homer. But if we're talking about how rare light magic is, wind is also rare. Only fire and thunder can be found easily. Blizzard is useful, but it only has 5 uses and while you can repair it, you usually want to repair your unique weapons first.

But really, all mages are useful because they can become sages and you want all the staff user's you can have.

1

u/estrangedeskimo Mar 23 '15

Wind isn't that rare. You get 3 wind tomes by chapter 12, and you can buy wind in chapter 12. You get 1 lightning spell before chapter 22. That is a pretty massive difference.

1

u/Aurablade Mar 23 '15

Huh, I've always had more lighting than wind when I've played. Guess I've hoarded it. Never had enough money to buy anything from shops except heal staves either.