As the firstFire Emblemgame released outside of Japan,Fire Emblem: The Blazing Bladewas the first entry inthe seriesthat many players experienced. Though the game back in 2003, many consider it to be one of the strongest entries in the series.
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While the game may be well designed, not every element of the game is balanced, with some recruitable characters being far worse than others. So today, let’s examine the ten worst characters inFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladethat players should avoid using.
10Nino
A member ofFire Emblem’s “Est” archetype, Nino is a character who joins the player’s army late into the game at a low level but has high potential if a player seeks to train the unit with the little time they’re around. The usefulness of “Est” characters has long been debated within theFire Emblemcommunity, as quickly training a character from zero to hero can be quite rewarding.
However, on a practical level, if a player opts to dedicate their time and resources, she will often end up no better than Pent, an exemplary unity who joins the player’s army with impressive capabilities that require little to no investment.
9Renault
One of the last units recruited inThe Blazing Blade, Renault joins the player’s army as a level sixteen bishop with an A rank in both light magic and staves. While he may appear to be a solid addition to one’s ranks at first glance, his mediocre offensive abilities prevent him from making any meaningful contributions in combat. This means that Renault’s role relegates him to serve as a healer.
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Unfortunately, at the time that he’s recruited, a player likely already has their healing bases covered through units such as Pent, Pricilla, Lucius, or even Canas, making the deployment of Renault rather redundant.
8Guy
Two of the most integral traits that tend to be found in usefulFire Emblemunits are mobility and range. Unfortunately, myrmidons such as Guy lack a mount and are only capable of wielding swords, heavily reducing their ability to fight foes from afar.
While Guy comes equipped with a Killing Edge that allows him to easily land critical hits, one weapon does not make a unit. Once this sword is unequipped or it breaks, Guy’s glaring weaknesses such as low defense and inability to consistently kill enemies become more apparent.
7Serra
Though Serra is the first healer players have access to inFire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, her time in a player’s army is usually quite limited.
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This is because shortly after being recruited in Eliwood and Hector’s stories, they can recruit thetroubadour, Pricilla. Pricilla can effectively do everything Serra can, but better and with more mobility, quickly making her obsolete.
6Bartre
Axe-wielding units in theFire Emblemseries tend to get a bad rap due to a lack of speed and accuracy. WhileThe Blazing Bladedoes contain numerous strong axe-users such as Hawkeye, Hector, and Geitz, Bartre, unfortunately, got the short end of the stick when it comes to viability.
Though Bartre joins quite early, he has a glaring weakness when compared to fellow axe units: his speed. Starting with only three speeds, that are often further hindered by the heavy weight of axes, Bartre will struggle to double any enemy, and will often be hit in concession himself.
5Rath
The only mounted archer inFire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Rath is a unit that often looks good on paper. As a nomad, Rath possesses great movement and gains access to weapon flexibility upon promoting.
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However, by the time that Rath joins a player’s army in Eliwood and Hector’s stories, Rath is under-leveled compared to a player’s other units. As a character who is initially bow-locked, it is rather difficult to quickly pour experience into Rath, and by the time he’s finally promoted, the distance between his level and the levels of other units in one’s ranks has only grown.
4Lyn
Lyn has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the weakestlordsin the entireFire Emblemfranchise. Lacking mobility and a means of safely attacking from afar, Lyn is a frail unit who relies on speed and her ability to dodge potential attacks. While her personal weapon the “Mani Katti” helps her contribute in combat, she is far too inconsistent to be considered useful.
Additionally, while some units such as Eliwood can receive major benefits such as a mount upon promoting, Lyn only gains access to bows, which are by far the weakest weapon type inThe Blazing Blade.
3Wil and Rebecca
Providing Wil and Rebecca with their own separate entries on this list felt quite redundant as they are each here for the exact same reason. Two archers that are recruited early intoThe Blazing Blade, it’s hard to justify using Wil and Rebecca over nearly any other unit in the game. Each starting at very low levels, they each possess terrible base stats and mediocre growth rates.
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As if this weren’t enough, they are only capable of wielding bows, which harshly reduces their ability to defend themselves, contribute to combat during the enemy phase, and gain experience.
2Wallace
Wallace is a unit who struggles in nearly every category. A general with subpar base stats and terrible growth rates, Wallace will have great difficulties in maneuvering around any map and is most often not worth the trouble.
Furthermore, Wallace is a unit that is involved in a route split, in which depending on the levels a player’s lords have reached, they will have the chance to either recruit Wallace or the Warrior, Geitz. While Wallace is below average on his best day, Geitz is one of the strongest bow users in the entire game, giving the player little reason to recruit Wallace in the first place.
1Karla
Karla is a unit who is frankly insulting to the player. One of the most difficult characters to obtain inThe Blazing Blade, Karla can only be recruited in one of the last chapters of Hector’s story under the circumstances that a player had promoted Bartre. If a player manages to meet these requirements and recruit Karla, the reward is far from worth it.
A level five swordmaster, Karla is the definition of a mediocre unit, having little to no specialties to write home about, and possessing more shortcomings than boons. Frail, immobile, and likely weaker than the majority of a player’s army at the time of her recruitment, Karla is theFire Emblemequivalency of a consolation prize.
