At what point is it optimal to just leave a character a class? Should I change them everytime they master a class or just leave them as one?
For instance Dorothea mastered the Dancer class (probably shouldn't have made her one, but it felt right) so I switched her to Gremory.
Similarly I demoted Hubert to Dark Mage from Warlock cause he couldn't quite upgrade yet and he'd already mastered Warlock.
Just trying to figure out whats optimal for curiosity sake. Ultimately it doesn't seem to matter too much as I'm finding the game pretty easy. Should have picked Maddening, but there is always next time.
Posted Feb 15, 2020, 4:09 AM UTC
54
tl;dr Mastering classes unlocks special mastery abilities that can carry over so that's a reason to change, and the class you have equipped for a character will affect their stat growths so that's a reason to stay.
On abilities, its good to master classes if you can because the abilities can be pretty great and it gives you more tools to build a character with. For example you've changed hubert to a dark mage; if he masters that class then you'll unlock the Poison Strike ability which he can equip later no matter what class he plays as.
Dancer as a class is a great utility and I'd consider it a class that a character can finish the game on with no need to progress further. The Mastery ability for Dancer is "Special Dance" which means that when you dance for someone and give them an extra move, they also get +4 bonus to Dex, Spd and Luck.
The reason to switch classes IMO, especially to ones in a tier below (the lower tiers usually have less stat bonuses) would be useful if you want/need a specific mastery ability. The lower tier classes generally have less impactful stat growth boosts and also less impactful stat buffs too.
In the case of Hubert, I would actually recommend now unlocking Dark Bishop (which is an intermediate class, same as warlock) because that class has a very good mastery (Lifetaker; he gets 50% of the damage he deals back as health). Dark Bishop requires a character to have unlocked Dark Mage (which you have now done) and it'll show up next time you can try an exam, don't worry about Dark Mage with Hubert at this stage.
Lastly, the reasons to stay in a class depends on its stat growths and its built-in abilities. For example, usually I get Petra to Assassin and leave her there. Assassin is an awesome class for her because of its very good stat buffs and pretty decent abilities + the Assassinate combat art. Assassin gives a 20%+ growth boost to HP, Dexterity and Speed. Petra's growths include +45% HP, +40% Dex and +50% Spd which means those go up to +65%, +60% and +70% respectively which is quite insane.
This site here tells you the growth increases/decreases per class. If you're trying to determine whether to leave a character as a class for a while, I'd consider this first. Also here is the page for every character's base stat growths. Lastly, a page with all of the classes in the game that'll tell you what each classes Mastery ability is.
If you want me to explain how the stat system works in more depth I can (I don't want to make this too much longer :D)
I also just left Petra as an Assassin. Mostly because I didn't realize how many of the Master classes required a good riding skill. On my second play through I'm definitely going to make this a priority for some characters.
Thanks for the links. I'm hoping Maddening difficulty can make use of these optimizations. I kind of thought Hard would be more challenging. I think I've lost a character once, and because the game gives you save states essentially there really isn't much to worry about in terms of lost time.
Still, its the best fire emblem game I've played so far, but I've only played Awakening, Path of Radiance, and some of Radiant Dawn.