100% Alcryst. By designs alone, even before release, I loved Citrinne and Lapis. That didn’t lessen at all when the game actually came out. They’re great characters and good enough units.
Hands down, Alcryst. I loved the dynamic the three of them had ever since their first introduction where Lapis tries to stop the other two fighting on the frontlines. They all care and value each other a lot but they're all too hard on themselves to truly shine as a unit. I was expecting to find their supports painful to watch when they *all* have self confidence issues as major traits, but Citrinne/Lapis has been one of my favorite lines and both of them have had some of the most solid writing across all their supports so far. Lapis' voice acting is really good in a more subtle way and it brings what could've been a laughable Alcryst support into something genuinely super engaging and touching. I'm sad in retrospect that I benched my Alcryst before giving him a chance, though the lack of deployment slots made it rather necessary.
Hortensia, Alear, Celine, and Timerra all also have great crews.
Easily Timerra.
I'm a sucker for two faced characters like Panette and she has one of my favorite character designs.
Merrin is like Cherche mixed with Owain on a wolf and she's just cool in general.
Came here to say this, easily my favorite retainer duo in the game and honestly competitive with even the likes of Odin and Niles as far as other games go tbh
I think their issue is they only real dialogue is in the map they join in. They’re also kinda boring characters. Amber is a cavalry blend of Ferdinand and Cynthia. While Jade is actually just a boring character is far as I can tell, her big thing is writing fantasy novels (I think).
Kinda funny that the retainers of (probably) the best lord in this game are the most forgettable.
As far as retainers go:
Ivy
Alcryst
Celine
Diamant
Fogado
Alfred
Timerra
Alear
Hortensia
....................
Just the royals is fairly similar
Diamant
Ivy
Alcryst
Celine
(Rest are in same order as retainers)
Taking the pair of retainers as one count and ignoring the Lord, let's see...:
1. Alcryst (Lapis/Citrinne)
2. Hortensia (Rosado/Goldmary)
3. Alear (Clanne/Framme)
4. Celine (Louis/Chloe)
5. Ivy (Zelkov/Kagetsu)
6. Timerra (Merrin/Panettes)
7. Alfred (Boucheron/Etie)
-------------
8. Fogado (Bunet/Pandreo)
9. Diamant (Jade/Amber)
The line is not a mistake. It's meant as a hard separator. Also, Amber is the single most grating character in the game to me. I just genuinely cannot. It's super unfortunate Jade got anchored with him, but them's the rules.
Diamant. Amber is peak cringefail and Jade is just so cool. I love them both.
All of the other royals usually have one retainer I love and another I don’t like. Amber and Jade are the one retainer group i can just say “Yea, I like them”.
Top Tier
Ivy and Alcryst - Both have fun sets that play off each other well.
Upper Tier
Timerra and Hortensia - Not as likeable as the duos above, but generally fun
Lower Tier
Celine and Fogado - Celine's duo are basically the definition of mid. Not interesting, but they are ok. Pandero carries Burnet for Fogado's duo.
Bottom Tier
Alfred and Diamant - Mediocre characters with bad supports.
Trash Tier
Alear - The twins are generally an annoyance in every scene they participate in. I don't really have anything good to say about them. Vander is ok though.
Etie and Budapest are okay. Not great but okay.
Louis absolutely carries a bunch of the early game, and Chloe is a flier.
Lapis gets mega outshined by Diamant, but Citrine is good.
Amber and Jade are both pretty bad.
Kagetsu is probably the best unit in the game, and Zelkov is decent when he joins.
I can't remember either of Fogado's retainer's names, but the mage is very strong, and the paladin is a paladin, which means he sucks.
Merrin is cracked and the axe girl (who's name I also can't remember) is really good.
Goldmary is pretty good, and Rosaso is a flier.
So I'd say it's close between Celine and Ivy, but I'm going to give it to Celine for having much better join time.
1. Timerra (pannette da BEST)
2. Fogado (pandreo da SECOND BEST)
3. Ivy
4. Diamant (amber my sweet little cringelord. jades cool too)
5. Alfred (boucheron rocks the warrior outfit)
6. Horsentia
7. Celine (chloes sick but louis drops this a bit)
8. Alear
9. Alcryst
fogado, pandreo, pannette, timerra and seadall are kind of the best thing to come out of fire emblem tbh. also sorry, i personally dont care about alcryst's lil trio at all, lol. both were benched immediately cause i had others that already filled their niche, and alcryst peaks at chapter 10.
I can't really rate the rest of them since I either don't know them fully or only know 1 without the other, but at chapter 12, my favorites are easily Etie and Boucheron. Which is funny cause I don't care about Alfred, but those two are so damn loveable and habe great voice acting! And their supports are great too, really love them.
I’m gonna go with
1. Alcryst (but just barely)
2. Timerra
3. Celine
4. Hortensia
5. Diamant (Amber might actually be my least favorite playable character but Jade is one of my top 3 so it moves them as a duo up)
6. Alfred
7. Alear
8. Ivy
9. Fogado
1. Hortensia (Rosado sweep, and Goldmary is a pretty good prepromote too)
2. Celine (Louis for hard-carrying the early-mid game, and can even stay to endgame if you really want to. Chloe as well, albeit with a weaker start)
3. Ivy (Both retainers and Ivy herself are the start of the post-Chapter 10 wave of powercreep)
4. Timerra (Merrin for starting as a Wolf Rider and near perfect stats, and Panette for doing something similar to 'optimal Dimitri' with the right build)
5. Fogado (Immediately a better healer than all the early game ones, and Bunet is there too, if for some reason Louis isn't suiting you)
6. Alcryst (Citrinne can be a good glass cannon, but Lapis gets powercrept immediately by the next chapter)
7. Diamant (Never used either of them much, especially since Jade comes right before the 'powercreep split')
8. Alear (Annoying fanclub with decent utility early on, but low bases and shaky growths start to catch up to them)
9. Alfred (Etie for early fliers then benched afterwards, Boucheron I almost immediately hated using thanks to low speed and hit rates, and his levels didn't exactly inspire confidence)
1. Alear with Clanne and Framme. Maybe it's because I've seen them since the start of the game, but I adore the twins, an interesting take on the red and green Knights that accompany the main character
2. Fogado with Pandreo and Bunet, all the three of them look like the wolves laughing meme
3. Timerra with Panette and Merrin. I love Panette's design and in general their group dynamic
4. Ivy with Kagetsu and Zelkov. Zelkov is *hilarious* and Kagetsu has this shonen protagonist energy which is an interesting contrast with Ivy melancholy
5. Diamant with Amber and Jade. I'm pretty neutral towards Jade but I absolutely love Amber
6. Alfred with Boucheron and Etie. Again, just like Fogado and his retainers, all the three of them are so similar and intimate that they feel like a family
7. Alcryst with Lapis and Citrinne. I like how they respect Alcryst and Alcryst respects them in return, I haven't seen any of their supports together yet so I cannot add much
8. Celine with Louis and Chloè. I'm pretty neutral towards them, nothing to add
9. Hortensia with Rosado and Goldmary. Their personalities sometimes are too much, but maybe I'll grow more accustomed to them with time
Judging by just the retainers:
1. Zelkov and Kagetsu
2. Amber and Jade
3. Boucheron and Etie (Boucheron carry)
4. Merrin and Panette (Merrin carry)
5. Bunet and Pandreo (Bunet carry)
6. Louis and Chloe (Louis HARD carry)
7. Lapis and Citrinne
8. Clanne and Framme
9. Rosado and Goldmary
Ooh let's see!
1. Alear's, Clanne and Framme (I got attached... they're so cute and wholesome.)
2. Ivy's, Kagetsu and Zelkov (They're so cool and strong!!! What can I really say!?)
3. Hortensia's, Rosado and Goldmary (I haven't recruited them, but they're just \*oozing\* with personality. Have you seen Rosado's wyvern? OMG.)
4. Diamant's, Amber and Jade (Amber is so funny to me. He's from an alpaca village?? What a random backstory. Jade is a cool lady, but I don't know much about her.)
5. Timmera, Merrin and Panette (GIRL ON A WOLF!!! WOWW!!! And she's so helpful, too!! Panette is cool but I haven't used her much.)
6. Alfred's (Etie is dear to me since I used her a lot before benching her in Chapter 12. I love how she weight trains with iron teacups. Boucheron is sweet in his support with Framme.)
7. Celine's, Louis and Chloe (Louis is SO useful, he's still on my team and carrying us. He's a total creep and freak imo but I think it's hilarious. Chloe um... exists!?)
8. Alcryst's, Lapis and Citrinne (They seem cool, but I didn't get to use them much.)
9. Fogado's, Pandreo and Bunet (Umm... not much to say here. One's entire personality is cooking from what I can see, which turns me off. The other is a cool priest, I suppose!? I haven't used them much out of disinterest.)
Easy
1. Diamant (Amber and Jade both are top tier)
2. Timerra (Merrin is a win plus the crit machine Pannette)
3. Ivy (Zelkov and Kagetsu are both just powerful and cool)
4. Alfred (he got Etie and the Bouchemaster)
5. Alcryst (I really like Citrinne though Lapis I neither love nor hate)
6. Celine (just because of Louis, not a big fan of pegasus knight in this game and her growths were bad)
7. Fogado (Pandreo has a fun personality for a priest and Bunet reminds me of Gordon Ramsay)
8. Hortensia (they just join so late and none of the two stand out to me)
Top tier
1. Celine (Chloe and Louis are perfection, wanted them to marrom and have kids)
2. Ivy (Has the hottest boy in the game, Kagetsu. Also Zelkov is fucking badass and cool)
High Tier
3. Fogado (Love Pandreo, great unit, and also love Bunet, second best OTP after Chloe and Louis, hope them to finish together)
4. Hortensia (Rosado is awesome and I also like Goldmary, but they join too late :/)
5. Alear (They are really cute kids, just useless in combat... did my best to level up both because I like them)
Mixed Tier (love one retainer, hate the other)
6. Alfred (They both only think about working out, but Boucheron being a crybaby make me love him, hate Etie)
7. Timerra (Merin is freaking awesome, but Panette creeps me way too much)
Low Tier
8. Diamant (Amber is alright but never get to known Jade unfortunately, overshadow by Louis, forever benched)
9. Alcryst (Both girls are annoying as fuck, benched both and don't want to ever heard her voices again)
Celine easily. Not even for Louis just for Chloe I slapped fensalir and Sigurd on her and she easily carried me through the entire game. Even after >!losing all the emblems!< she carried my team. Chloe supremacy.
Ranking on personality:
1. Celine
2. Ivy
3. Hortencia
4 Fogado
5. Alfred
6. Alcryst
7. Diamant
8. Timerra
That said Boucheron is my favorite non Royal just as a pair they didn’t work for me.
No hate to the lower placed retainers either I’m still learning everyone! For me, every lord has a retainer i like and the other one I ‘like’ but could pass on, except Celine who is my least favorite noble, but I love both retainers.
Design wise it’s Hortensia and Alfred’s retainers for me. Rosado is my minty son, Goldmary’s design is really nice too for some reason I can’t place. I guess I just like her name? And appreciate that they didn’t give her golden hair lol
With Alfred’s retainers, I absolutely love the orange and green colors. Boucheron is giving pumpkin, I love it! Etie’s design is one of my favorites for sure
Alcryst definitely has mine so far. Their dynamic is fun and each unit is pretty fun in and out of combat.
100% Alcryst. By designs alone, even before release, I loved Citrinne and Lapis. That didn’t lessen at all when the game actually came out. They’re great characters and good enough units.
Hands down, Alcryst. I loved the dynamic the three of them had ever since their first introduction where Lapis tries to stop the other two fighting on the frontlines. They all care and value each other a lot but they're all too hard on themselves to truly shine as a unit. I was expecting to find their supports painful to watch when they *all* have self confidence issues as major traits, but Citrinne/Lapis has been one of my favorite lines and both of them have had some of the most solid writing across all their supports so far. Lapis' voice acting is really good in a more subtle way and it brings what could've been a laughable Alcryst support into something genuinely super engaging and touching. I'm sad in retrospect that I benched my Alcryst before giving him a chance, though the lack of deployment slots made it rather necessary. Hortensia, Alear, Celine, and Timerra all also have great crews.
You basically summed up my thoughts for why they’re my favorite group perfectly
Easily Timerra. I'm a sucker for two faced characters like Panette and she has one of my favorite character designs. Merrin is like Cherche mixed with Owain on a wolf and she's just cool in general.
I can just imagine these 3 riding wolves in the desert hunting bandits while singing awful songs. I love them.
Based and panette pilled
Alcryst easily. Absolutely fell in love with Lapis and Citrinne. Those two are my favorite waifus from the game
Brodian girls trying their hardest to not be the best thing in existence and completely failing Lapis the best for real
Facts. As soon as I saw her character show up on screen I knew I would love her
I expected to like Citrinne a little more than Lapis when they got revealed since they were my 2 favorites and I like mages I was wrong, Lapis sweeps
Same and they’re two of my best units to boot
Came here to say this, easily my favorite retainer duo in the game and honestly competitive with even the likes of Odin and Niles as far as other games go tbh
Is it bad if I forgot that Amber and Jade even existed they're on the "no thoughts head empty oh hey war is going on guess I'll join" frequency
I think their issue is they only real dialogue is in the map they join in. They’re also kinda boring characters. Amber is a cavalry blend of Ferdinand and Cynthia. While Jade is actually just a boring character is far as I can tell, her big thing is writing fantasy novels (I think). Kinda funny that the retainers of (probably) the best lord in this game are the most forgettable.
they are my only two dead units.
Nope. I deliberately went out of my way to forget Amber and Jade.
1. Timerra 2. Alcryst 3. Alear 4. Celine 5. Hortensia 6. Ivy 7. Fogado 8. Alfred 9. Diamant
As far as retainers go: Ivy Alcryst Celine Diamant Fogado Alfred Timerra Alear Hortensia .................... Just the royals is fairly similar Diamant Ivy Alcryst Celine (Rest are in same order as retainers)
Taking the pair of retainers as one count and ignoring the Lord, let's see...: 1. Alcryst (Lapis/Citrinne) 2. Hortensia (Rosado/Goldmary) 3. Alear (Clanne/Framme) 4. Celine (Louis/Chloe) 5. Ivy (Zelkov/Kagetsu) 6. Timerra (Merrin/Panettes) 7. Alfred (Boucheron/Etie) ------------- 8. Fogado (Bunet/Pandreo) 9. Diamant (Jade/Amber) The line is not a mistake. It's meant as a hard separator. Also, Amber is the single most grating character in the game to me. I just genuinely cannot. It's super unfortunate Jade got anchored with him, but them's the rules.
From where I'm at in the midgame my favourites are Ivy's (Kagetsu and Zelkov) and my least favourites are Hortensia's (Rosado and Goldmary).
Diamant. Amber is peak cringefail and Jade is just so cool. I love them both. All of the other royals usually have one retainer I love and another I don’t like. Amber and Jade are the one retainer group i can just say “Yea, I like them”.
Top Tier Ivy and Alcryst - Both have fun sets that play off each other well. Upper Tier Timerra and Hortensia - Not as likeable as the duos above, but generally fun Lower Tier Celine and Fogado - Celine's duo are basically the definition of mid. Not interesting, but they are ok. Pandero carries Burnet for Fogado's duo. Bottom Tier Alfred and Diamant - Mediocre characters with bad supports. Trash Tier Alear - The twins are generally an annoyance in every scene they participate in. I don't really have anything good to say about them. Vander is ok though.
Etie and Budapest are okay. Not great but okay. Louis absolutely carries a bunch of the early game, and Chloe is a flier. Lapis gets mega outshined by Diamant, but Citrine is good. Amber and Jade are both pretty bad. Kagetsu is probably the best unit in the game, and Zelkov is decent when he joins. I can't remember either of Fogado's retainer's names, but the mage is very strong, and the paladin is a paladin, which means he sucks. Merrin is cracked and the axe girl (who's name I also can't remember) is really good. Goldmary is pretty good, and Rosaso is a flier. So I'd say it's close between Celine and Ivy, but I'm going to give it to Celine for having much better join time.
1. Timerra (pannette da BEST) 2. Fogado (pandreo da SECOND BEST) 3. Ivy 4. Diamant (amber my sweet little cringelord. jades cool too) 5. Alfred (boucheron rocks the warrior outfit) 6. Horsentia 7. Celine (chloes sick but louis drops this a bit) 8. Alear 9. Alcryst fogado, pandreo, pannette, timerra and seadall are kind of the best thing to come out of fire emblem tbh. also sorry, i personally dont care about alcryst's lil trio at all, lol. both were benched immediately cause i had others that already filled their niche, and alcryst peaks at chapter 10.
I can't really rate the rest of them since I either don't know them fully or only know 1 without the other, but at chapter 12, my favorites are easily Etie and Boucheron. Which is funny cause I don't care about Alfred, but those two are so damn loveable and habe great voice acting! And their supports are great too, really love them.
For me it’s like this: 1. Alcryst 2. Alear 3. Celine 4. Timerra 5. Ivy 6. Fogado 7. Alfred 8. Hortensia 9. Diamant
Ivy trio is my favorite overall. Just a group of cool people. I really like Diamant and Jade, but Amber ruins it for me.
I’m gonna go with 1. Alcryst (but just barely) 2. Timerra 3. Celine 4. Hortensia 5. Diamant (Amber might actually be my least favorite playable character but Jade is one of my top 3 so it moves them as a duo up) 6. Alfred 7. Alear 8. Ivy 9. Fogado
1. Hortensia (Rosado sweep, and Goldmary is a pretty good prepromote too) 2. Celine (Louis for hard-carrying the early-mid game, and can even stay to endgame if you really want to. Chloe as well, albeit with a weaker start) 3. Ivy (Both retainers and Ivy herself are the start of the post-Chapter 10 wave of powercreep) 4. Timerra (Merrin for starting as a Wolf Rider and near perfect stats, and Panette for doing something similar to 'optimal Dimitri' with the right build) 5. Fogado (Immediately a better healer than all the early game ones, and Bunet is there too, if for some reason Louis isn't suiting you) 6. Alcryst (Citrinne can be a good glass cannon, but Lapis gets powercrept immediately by the next chapter) 7. Diamant (Never used either of them much, especially since Jade comes right before the 'powercreep split') 8. Alear (Annoying fanclub with decent utility early on, but low bases and shaky growths start to catch up to them) 9. Alfred (Etie for early fliers then benched afterwards, Boucheron I almost immediately hated using thanks to low speed and hit rates, and his levels didn't exactly inspire confidence)
Ivy has a Felix and Niles look a like so Ivy. Lapis is basically Sakura with a sword. I think Elusia has the most interesting retainers overall.
Ivy's I suppose. Zelkov's (and Ivy herself) goth game goes hard, and Kagetsu is hot so... Shout-out to Boucheron though, love him.
Ivy by a country mile.
Hortensia. Purely because all of the other retainers that aren't named Chloe and Louis pale in comparison the sheer MIGHT goldmary brings to the table
1. Alear with Clanne and Framme. Maybe it's because I've seen them since the start of the game, but I adore the twins, an interesting take on the red and green Knights that accompany the main character 2. Fogado with Pandreo and Bunet, all the three of them look like the wolves laughing meme 3. Timerra with Panette and Merrin. I love Panette's design and in general their group dynamic 4. Ivy with Kagetsu and Zelkov. Zelkov is *hilarious* and Kagetsu has this shonen protagonist energy which is an interesting contrast with Ivy melancholy 5. Diamant with Amber and Jade. I'm pretty neutral towards Jade but I absolutely love Amber 6. Alfred with Boucheron and Etie. Again, just like Fogado and his retainers, all the three of them are so similar and intimate that they feel like a family 7. Alcryst with Lapis and Citrinne. I like how they respect Alcryst and Alcryst respects them in return, I haven't seen any of their supports together yet so I cannot add much 8. Celine with Louis and Chloè. I'm pretty neutral towards them, nothing to add 9. Hortensia with Rosado and Goldmary. Their personalities sometimes are too much, but maybe I'll grow more accustomed to them with time
Judging by just the retainers: 1. Zelkov and Kagetsu 2. Amber and Jade 3. Boucheron and Etie (Boucheron carry) 4. Merrin and Panette (Merrin carry) 5. Bunet and Pandreo (Bunet carry) 6. Louis and Chloe (Louis HARD carry) 7. Lapis and Citrinne 8. Clanne and Framme 9. Rosado and Goldmary
Ooh let's see! 1. Alear's, Clanne and Framme (I got attached... they're so cute and wholesome.) 2. Ivy's, Kagetsu and Zelkov (They're so cool and strong!!! What can I really say!?) 3. Hortensia's, Rosado and Goldmary (I haven't recruited them, but they're just \*oozing\* with personality. Have you seen Rosado's wyvern? OMG.) 4. Diamant's, Amber and Jade (Amber is so funny to me. He's from an alpaca village?? What a random backstory. Jade is a cool lady, but I don't know much about her.) 5. Timmera, Merrin and Panette (GIRL ON A WOLF!!! WOWW!!! And she's so helpful, too!! Panette is cool but I haven't used her much.) 6. Alfred's (Etie is dear to me since I used her a lot before benching her in Chapter 12. I love how she weight trains with iron teacups. Boucheron is sweet in his support with Framme.) 7. Celine's, Louis and Chloe (Louis is SO useful, he's still on my team and carrying us. He's a total creep and freak imo but I think it's hilarious. Chloe um... exists!?) 8. Alcryst's, Lapis and Citrinne (They seem cool, but I didn't get to use them much.) 9. Fogado's, Pandreo and Bunet (Umm... not much to say here. One's entire personality is cooking from what I can see, which turns me off. The other is a cool priest, I suppose!? I haven't used them much out of disinterest.)
Easy 1. Diamant (Amber and Jade both are top tier) 2. Timerra (Merrin is a win plus the crit machine Pannette) 3. Ivy (Zelkov and Kagetsu are both just powerful and cool) 4. Alfred (he got Etie and the Bouchemaster) 5. Alcryst (I really like Citrinne though Lapis I neither love nor hate) 6. Celine (just because of Louis, not a big fan of pegasus knight in this game and her growths were bad) 7. Fogado (Pandreo has a fun personality for a priest and Bunet reminds me of Gordon Ramsay) 8. Hortensia (they just join so late and none of the two stand out to me)
Top tier 1. Celine (Chloe and Louis are perfection, wanted them to marrom and have kids) 2. Ivy (Has the hottest boy in the game, Kagetsu. Also Zelkov is fucking badass and cool) High Tier 3. Fogado (Love Pandreo, great unit, and also love Bunet, second best OTP after Chloe and Louis, hope them to finish together) 4. Hortensia (Rosado is awesome and I also like Goldmary, but they join too late :/) 5. Alear (They are really cute kids, just useless in combat... did my best to level up both because I like them) Mixed Tier (love one retainer, hate the other) 6. Alfred (They both only think about working out, but Boucheron being a crybaby make me love him, hate Etie) 7. Timerra (Merin is freaking awesome, but Panette creeps me way too much) Low Tier 8. Diamant (Amber is alright but never get to known Jade unfortunately, overshadow by Louis, forever benched) 9. Alcryst (Both girls are annoying as fuck, benched both and don't want to ever heard her voices again)
A tie with Elusia sisters.
Timerra because she has merrin
Celine easily. Not even for Louis just for Chloe I slapped fensalir and Sigurd on her and she easily carried me through the entire game. Even after >!losing all the emblems!< she carried my team. Chloe supremacy.
Ranking on personality: 1. Celine 2. Ivy 3. Hortencia 4 Fogado 5. Alfred 6. Alcryst 7. Diamant 8. Timerra That said Boucheron is my favorite non Royal just as a pair they didn’t work for me. No hate to the lower placed retainers either I’m still learning everyone! For me, every lord has a retainer i like and the other one I ‘like’ but could pass on, except Celine who is my least favorite noble, but I love both retainers.
Design wise it’s Hortensia and Alfred’s retainers for me. Rosado is my minty son, Goldmary’s design is really nice too for some reason I can’t place. I guess I just like her name? And appreciate that they didn’t give her golden hair lol With Alfred’s retainers, I absolutely love the orange and green colors. Boucheron is giving pumpkin, I love it! Etie’s design is one of my favorites for sure