Every unit in the game belongs to a certain class. Though every character is unique in terms of their stats and how they develop, their class determines the areas they excel in, the weapons they can use, and various other abilities. Each class fills a particular role on the battlefield, be it tanking, hurting or support.
At level 10 and above, some classes can be promoted. This is done by giving them certain special items (one for each class). Promoted classes are superior in almost every respect. They can move further and reach higher stat totals than their unpromoted counterparts. They also look cooler.
Left: Punk. Right: Motherfucker.
The highest level that any class can reach is 20. However, when promoted, units revert to level 1, retaining all their current stats. Therefore, a unit's potential is maximised when they are raised to level 20 in their basic class before being promoted. Sadly, this isn't always practical, especially for units that join late or have trouble getting kills on their own. Choosing the best time to promote is a Fire Emblem staple, making it quite unappealing to obsessive loons like me who must make everything perfect.
Here is what the classes are!
Archers, like all bow users, have the ability to attack enemies that are two tiles away. The defending unit will be unable to counterattack unless they also have a ranged weapon equipped. Likewise, archers can't attack enemies in melee. They're none too sturdy either, so it's a good idea to keep them behind your bulkier units.
There are other weapons that can attack at range, like javelins and hand axes, but (magic aside) bows do it better. They're stronger, more accurate, and they do additional damage to flying units. They can also be used more times before breaking.
Archers promote into Snipers. Nothing special here. Just an all-around better Archer.
Tough as nails. Slow as poo poo. Such is the way of the Armour Knight.
Because of their low speed, they'll usually get attacked twice in combat. This often doesn't matter because two times zero is still zero. Just make sure to check your enemies' equipment! There are two weapons in the game (the Armour Killer and the Hammer) designed to do extra damage to Armour Knights. If they have to take two hits from either of those, they're dead. Also, their defences only protect them from physical attacks. Keep them away from magic users.
Their low movement isn't as big a problem as you might think, because you'll mostly be using these units as barricades anyway. And there's no reason why an Armour Knight can't lead a charge; it's just going to be a rather leisurely charge. Thankfully, this isn't one of those games with the gall to rate you poorly for using sound tactics. Leisurely is fine. Take your time.
Armour Knights cannot promote. There is a "General" class in the game, and Generals are buffed-up Armour Knights, but Armour Knights do not promote into Generals. I don't know why.
Poor, defenceless healers. This class can only use staves, none of which have any attack power. Since they can't fight, they will almost always be targeted by any enemy that can reach them, unless Marth is also in the vicinity. Since they have low HP and defence, this is A Problem.
The primary function of staves is, of course, restoring HP. However, some special staves have other uses, like teleporting units around the map or repairing items. Unfortunately, no staff can be used on the person holding it. If you want to heal your Cleric, you'd better have two Clerics.
These units are tricky to take care of. You don't want them in combat because they'll get murdered, but at the same time, you do want them in combat because it's the only way to level them up. More modern FE games have the courtesy to give them experience just for doing their staff thing, but not this one!
At least they don't actually have to take the hit. They'll still get the XP even if they manage to dodge.
That counts for something.
Right?
Magicians and Clerics both promote into Priests, who can use both tomes and staves. This upgrade is significantly more important to Clerics, since it means going from "doing no damage" to "doing mad damage".
This class has the unique ability to transform into anyone else in your army. Everything from stats to weapon proficiencies is copied over, so it's exactly like having two of the same unit. Very nice if you have a really good unit. The downside is that the transformation only lasts for five turns, after which they revert to their normal state. In which they are not very good at all.
I say "they". There's only one Commando in the game, but, you know. Spoilers.
The Commando cannot promote.
Fighters hit harder than almost anyone else. When they hit. Axes aren't the most accurate weapons to begin with, and this combined with their poor skill means that you'll find them swinging at a whole lot of air. They're best used to deal with slow, tough units. In other words, Armour Knights. Particularly since they're one of only two classes that can use the Hammer.
They have a lot of HP, but this is offset by their poor defence. Beware of critical hits! Even a relatively weak blow can do these guys in when it's multiplied by three.
Fighters cannot promote.
Mounted bow users. They can move much further than both Archers and Hunters, with the trade-off of having generally poorer stats.
I don't think I'd bother, personally. If you want ranged units that can cover ground quickly, you could probably give some javelins to your Social/Pegasus Knights and get much the same thing, with the added bonus that they won't be helpless in melee.
Horsemen cannot promote.
Hunters are Archers that sacrifice defence for additional speed, skill and attack power. This actually makes them better archers than Archers, which seems a bit odd. Why bother with Archers at all, then?
The key is that Archers can be promoted, whereas Hunters cannot. Archers are okay, Hunters are good, Snipers are great. So do you want a unit that's pretty good throughout, or do you want a unit that's bad now but excellent later?
The latter makes more sense to me. Battles are easy now. They won't be later.
Hunters cannot promote. yeah i'll say it twice what are you gonna do about it
I might as well say "Marth", since he's the only one in the game.
Marth isn't that great to start out with. He's certainly not bad, but he's going to need two turns to kill most things unless he lands a critical. It's also risky to send him out without some kind of retinue. If he dies at any point, you lose. The CPU knows this, and will take every opportunity it can to attack Marth, no matter how suicidal it may seem.
That said, he can definitely hold his own once he gets a few levels under his belt. If luck is on your side, he should turn out to be one of your stronger units. Which is just as well, since you're stuck with him.
One other thing to note is that Marth is the only unit that can use the Rapier, which deals additional damage to Social Knights, Paladins, Armour Knights and Generals. It's extremely useful, but you only get one. Use it sparingly.
Marth cannot promote. BOOOOO.
If I told you that these guys are powerful but frail units that bombard enemies with long-range fireballs and whatnot, would you be the least bit surprised?
Of course you wouldn't.
Tomes are handy in that they also work on adjacent enemies, so your Magicians will not stand idly while enemies carve them up. That still doesn't mean it's safe to have them up front, though.
There is no "Magic" stat in this game, so the damage of magic is based entirely on how strong the tome is versus the foe's magic resistance. This might make magic seem a bit crap, until you realise that nothing in this game has any resistance. Seriously. Go to Serene's Forest. Look at the base stats for the characters, specifically the "Res" column. Zeroes all the way down. Now look at the growth rates for it. All zeroes. Now check out the boss data! "All bosses have 0 resistance."
Why even include it as a stat, then?
In summary, the only defence against magic is to not get hit at all, so it's hella good. Treat your Magicians with care.
Magicians and Clerics both promote into Priests, who can use both tomes and staves. This upgrade is significantly more important to Clerics, since it means going from "doing no damage" to "doing mad damage".
Balls-out ridiculous.
Mamkutes use special items called Dragonstones, which allows them to transform into dragons to attack. In this state, they are nigh-impervious to physical harm and can dish out obscene amounts of damage.
In every other FE game, the problem with these units is that Dragonstones, like all items, can only be used a certain number of times before they break. There's no way to get additional stones except by cheating, so once they're spent, your Mamkute is useless.
In this game, Dragonstones have unlimited uses.
Mamkutes cannot promote. Not that they need to. God drat.
Probably the best fighting units overall. They only have moderate power, but this is made up for by their high skill (which increases their chances of landing a critical hit) and speed (which means they'll usually get to attack twice.) Their HP and defence aren't great, but they're enough that you shouldn't need to coddle them too much.
If they have a downside, it's that they can only use swords. This isn't a huge problem since FE1 lacks the now-ubiquitous "Weapon Triangle" (swords are rock, lances are paper, axes are scissors), but it does make it hard for them to damage high-defence units like Armour Knights. Chopping up enemy Fighters/Pirates is where they're happiest.
Mercenaries promote to Heroes. Again, nothing new here. Just Mercenaries, but better.
One of two units that can fly, the other being the promotion of the Pegasus Knight. So one of one units, if you want to look at it that way.
In gameplay terms, this means that they will always be able to move full distance. The only things that can block them are walls and enemy units. All other terrain is simply ignored.
This is both a blessing and a curse. While it affords them additional mobility, it also means that they don't benefit from the increased evasion that certain terrain types (such as forests) provide. This is something they could really use, because by and large they do not take hits well. It's tempting to let your Pegasus Knights swoop into the fray and pick on a weak target, but this is just asking to have them surrounded and pummelled to death. Be careful.
They don't hit hard, but their high speed and skill ensures that they'll at least hit often.
Pegasus Knights promote to Dragon Knights. Remember when I said you should be careful about letting your Pegasus Knights get swarmed in case the poor babies get hurt? As soon as they hit Dragon Knight, gently caress that. They'll be as tough as your Armour Knights, if not more so, and with even more mobility than before. Death from above indeed.
They're still weak to bows, though, so watch out for those.
Combat-wise, Pirates are more or less the same thing as Fighters. Same weapon, same high HP and power, same low skill and defence. What sets them apart is that they can cross sea tiles, an ability shared only by flying units and the Commando. Attacking from sea gives them a huge boost to their evasion.
Otherwise, same old.
Pirates cannot promote.
Another ranged unit, but quite unlike your basic Archer. Shooters are quite similar to Armour Knights in that they have high defence, but low speed and movement.
They make use of ballistae, which, like magic, can be used to attack up close or two tiles away. These weapons are much more powerful than bows and, for the most part, more accurate.
They're not perfect, though. When I say "low speed", I mean it. They will never, ever get a double-attack. Ever. Except possibly against other shooters. Also, difficult terrain slows them down significantly, so they'll have an even more miserable time getting around than Armour Knights. A ranged unit's only good when it's in a position to shoot people!
Incidentally, this is a very different situation from modern FE games, where ballistae are standalone vehicles that any Archer can jump into and use, and have a much longer range. Here they are units in and of themselves.
Shooters cannot promote.
In terms of combat, Social Knights have no real strengths or weaknesses. They're average, but versatile. You've got swords for fast but weak enemies, lances for tougher, slower enemies, and javelins for ranged attacks. Also, being mounted units, they have high movement, so you can almost always count on getting them where they need to be by the end of a turn.
There are few situations in which you won't want to field one of these. Or two. Hint hint.
I'm not sure why they're called Social Knights, though. Putting lances in people's faces doesn't seem all that social to me! Perhaps I'm just moving in the wrong circles.
Social Knights promote to Paladins. Better Social Knights. Yawn. Good units, but YAWN.
Fast and lucky as all hell, which makes them difficult to hit. Just don't expect them to do much damage.
As you might expect, Thieves steal poo poo. They can pilfer miscellaneous items (but not weapons, sadly) from enemies, and they're the only class that can make use of lockpicks, allowing them to open doors and treasure chests. Still, the only way to level them up is through fighting, so be sure to feed them a few kills every now and then.
If there are villages on the map, they will be destroyed should an enemy thief be allowed to reach them. This will deprive you of whatever reward you would have received for visiting them. Thieves will prioritise ransacking villages above all else, so you should prioritise enemy thieves if you want to keep your goodies.
Thieves cannot promote.
Original here, by Didja Redo | Index | Chapter 1: Marth's Quest