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Fire Emblem generally has a reputation that may make it appear daunting to newcomers and The Binding Blade is one of the more difficult entries in the series. While the game is jam-packed with tons of playable characters a player can use in their army, some characters serve little to no use while others can help to carry a player through most difficult sections of the game. So today, let’s look at the ten characters players wouldn’t want to miss out on using in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
10 Astore
Thieves in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade have the unfortunate distinction of being able to promote. This greatly hinders their long term viability as units, especially in combat. However, they provide an excellent utility that no other unit types can provide, being able to see in fog and unlock chests and doors without a key.
While thieves like Chad and Cath come with little to no combat ability and low health, Astore is a thief that players gain access to in Chapter Eight who has much higher survivability than fellow thieves. While he is incapable of promoting like other thieves, if a player were to bring him along in chapters full of chests, they’d run much less of a risk of having a dead thief on their hands. While we don’t suggest bringing Astore in every chapter, in chapters full of locked doors and chests, he’s an optimal pick.
9 Lance And Alen
Lance and Alen are by in large some of the strongest units in the entirety of The Binding Blade. Cavaliers that players have from the very first chapter, there are little to no problems with these units. Possessing well-rounded stats and high mobility, these characters can easily navigate the large maps found within the game.
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As if their solid stats, mobility, and availability weren’t enough, upon promoting into paladins, they gain access to axes. This allows these units to adapt on the fly and control the “weapon triangle” as they see fit.
8 Clarine
Having access to a healer to keep one’s units alive is integral in any Fire Emblem game. While clerics are often the first healers that players have access to, they are often completely overshadowed by their mounted counterparts, troubadours.
Available as early as Chapter Four, Clarine is a healer who upon entering the player’s ranks, invalidates the majority of other healers in the game. Possessing unparalleled mobility for a healer, Clarine can easily navigate maps and even rescue units when a player is in a pinch.
7 Shanna
While Shanna joins one’s army as a frail, level one, pegasus knight, this unit provides excellent non-combat utility to a player. As a pegasus knight, Shanna is capable of moving great distances, unhindered by terrain.
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As each map of The Binding Blade is a “seize” map that requires the protagonist, Roy to reach a certain point, players can use Shanna to their advantage, rescuing Roy and quickly bring him across the map.
6 Rutger
Though myrmidons and swordmasters are often less than stellar units in Fire Emblem, Rutger is perhaps the strongest unit of these classes that the series has to offer.
Often lauded as a boss-killer, Rutger has excellent base stats and growth rates and tends to land critical hits at an uncanny rate. This is due to the fact that upon promoting, Rutger gains a permanent 30% bonus to his critical rate. When paired with weapons such as Killing Edges, Rutger can put an end to most bosses in single combat.
5 Marcus
The “Jagen” of The Binding Blade, Marcus is a paladin that players have access to from the very first chapter. While Marcus starts with higher stats than other starting units, his long term viability is stunted by mediocre growth rates.
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Despite this, Marcus is an integral unit to use, especially if a player is playing through Hard Mode. In hard mode, the majority of a player’s starting units, save for Marcus, struggle against any and all enemies. This allows Marcus to be used to deal damage to enemy units, setting up kills for other characters like Lance and Alan, and allowing them to safely gain experience.
4 Melady
While Shanna is a useful unit sheerly through her mobility and rescue potential, Melady is a Wyvern Rider with these strengths and more. Recruited in Chapter Thirteen, immediately upon joining one’s ranks, Melady is in the running of most useful units in the game.
Capable of flexibly navigating any kind of terrain and moving less mobile units, Melady has excellent combat potential, toting excellent base stats and solid growth rates.
3 Perceval
A pre-promoted Paladin, Perceval shares some similarities to Marcus, being a power mounted unit with great combative abilities and mobility. However, while Marcus is available from the beginning of the game and eventually falls off in regards to usefulness, Percival joins in Chapter Fifteen and can proceed to decimate any and all enemies that stand in his way for the remainder of the game.
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Coming alongside impressive base stats and an A rank in swords and lances, there is no feasible reason for a player to not use Percival.
2 Niime
While Niime may join a player’s army late into the game, she is more than worth deploying. A level eighteen Druid, Niime comes alongside an A rank and staves and dark magic, and an incredibly useful Physic stave.
This means that for no investment of effort on a player’s part, they are given access to a healer capable of patching up wounded units from across the map, whilst contributing in combat when needed.
1 Larum And Elffin
A dancer and bard respectively, A player gains access to Larum or Elffin depending on which route they chose to take when playing The Binding Blade, based on which village a player visited in Chapter Nine.
Whichever route was selected, Larum and Elffin are some of the most integral units to a successful playthrough of the game, allowing units to move a second time each turn. This effectively can double a unit’s move for a turn, or double their effectiveness in combat for a turn.
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