I’ve been playing a lot of FE Awakening lately. I’m pretty far in, I’m at the final chapter and I’m dicking around in side missions grinding out skill loadouts. Which prompted me to notice: about half the game’s class skills kinda fucking suck, huh? And I don’t even necessarily mean in terms of utility! You could certainly build something useful by stacking Rallies, or all the various “+15 to Avoid if it’s the enemy’s turn and you’re surreptitiously trying to hide a boner” floating around. But none of those are exciting, to me. They feel like filler.
So! I’m gonna rip them out, and see if we can’t redo things so that every skill is interesting. I’m also eliminating the [WEAPON] Breaker skills, which aren’t strictly boring (+50% hit, +50% avoid is a huge enough swing to be felt, and you can even use them to cover a class’s inherent weaknesses, such as giving a flying unit Bowbreaker) but still rarely excite me. I am keeping [WEAPON]faire, though. So if you wanted an exact definition of where my personal “boring/interesting” line is, there you go. Squeeze theorem those two and you’re set.[footnote]16 years later this is the only calculus I remember. 16-year-old me would be disappointed as soon as he got over the shock of us having tits now[/footnote]
Without further header:
Lord
Lv 1: Dual Strike+
Adds 10% to the Dual Strike rate
Lv 10: Inspiration
Allies within 3 tiles gain +2 to damage dealt and -2 to damage taken
We’re keeping the level 1 skill the same here. It’s not much of a build-around or anything, but I like the game’s main character having a skill that shows off one of Awakening’s new features and encourages you to use it. Classic design choice, I love it. We’re changing out the level 10 though, Charm boosting Hit and Avoid by 5 is just, what is that. Will you ever even notice that? Humans are naturally bad at parsing fine details of probability, it’s why Fire Emblem lies about the odds in the first place.[footnote]It’s true! In most FE games, when doing a hit check the game generates two random numbers from 0-99, averages them, and then checks if that average is below the stated hit chance. The upshot is that if your stated accuracy is above 50 your true accuracy is higher than what’s displayed, and the amount by which it’s higher increases the closer to 100 you get. But, stated accuracies below 50 are worse than they claim, and get more worse the lower they go. It’s why you basically never see 10% chances land, or 90% chances miss, even though with any given FE campaign having a thousands of accuracy checks you should see both happen dozens of times.[/footnote] So we’re swapping to a more concrete buff to damage dealt and damage received. Players notice that, players can plan around that. You can position Chrom or Lucina in such a way that they save an overextended unit’s bacon, or give them that extra bit of reach to finish a boss off.
Great Lord
Lv 5: Aether
[Skill / 2]% chance to attack twice in succession. First attack has Sol, second attack has Luna.
Lv 15: Rightful King
+10% to skill activation rates
No changes, I like them both. Aether is iconic, of course, and Rightful King is neat for a few different reasons. Encouraging more Aether procs means encouraging more survivability on the one character you cannot let die no matter what your difficulty is, AND it lets you get fun with Lucina specifically, trying to have her inherit as many fun activated skills as possible. Has use on offense (Aether, Astra, Sol, Luna, etc) and defense (Aegis, Pavise, Miracle, etc).
(also, I’m keeping it “Rightful King” instead of Engage’s “Rightful Ruler” because Lucina can learn it too, and I’m not yanking out one of the only bits of queerness in this straight-ass game even if it’s a glorified translation error)
Tactician
Lv 1: Veteran
Experience +50% when paired up
Lv 10: Camaraderie
Support growth doubled within 3 tiles
Again, keeping the level 1 the same because it encourages a new player to use pair up. Plus Robin can use every class in the game, so she’s gonna need a lot of exp compared to anyone else in the army. Changing the level 10 because while a +10% to crit and crit avoid is better than Chrom’s nonsense, it’s still kinda ticky tack. Especially since the range was just 1 tile. So instead I’m giving a boost to support growth. It encourages players to engage with a core system, AND helps out Robin since she can support with every single character in the fucking game so she’s gonna need it.
Grandmaster
Lv 5: Ignis
[Skill]% chance to add [Magic]/2 to physical attacks, or [Strength]/2 to magic attacks
Lv 15: Rally Spectrum
All stats +4 to allies within a 3 tile radius for one turn.
Unchanged, even though an unsightly Rally is here. But Rally Spectrum is so powerful that it escapes the circumstances of its birth, imo. I like it, it’s impactful, and it’s thematically appropriate for a tactician to direct her allies to perform better. Ignis is also here because Ignis fucking rules. Robin can be built in any direction the player wishes, I as the designer have no idea if you Robin’s gonna be physical or magical or mixed. But I do know that she has decent growths in both stats, and with Ignis I can make that matter no matter what you do with her. Mwah, love it, 10/10 design.
Cavalier
Lv 1: Canto
Lets you use unspent movement after performing your turn’s action
Lv 10: Rescue
Gives Rescue command, letting you pair up an adjacent ally under yourself
Okay now we’re cooking. I didn’t really like either of the Cavalier’s default skills. Discipline is fine, I guess, but I think it’s much better served on another class we’ll see later. And Outdoor Fighter is one of those “sometimes your hit and avoid are slightly higher” nonsense skills that don’t mean anything. So instead we’re adding some classic mounted unit flavor here. Canto is iconic, and maybe too good, we’d need to playtest if we can allow Cantoing after an attack or not. But I love being able to take it with you to other classes, that’s a fun twist. Rescue is a skill I often wish was just in the base game, especially if I’m not pairing up for whatever reason. It’s such a useful way to bail someone out, and also a classic mounted unit thing.
Paladin
Lv 5: Defender
All stats +1 when paired up
Lv 15: Aegis
[Skill]% chance to halve damage from Bows, Tomes, and Dragonstones
Unchanged, great skills. Aegis is classic, Defender encourages pairing AND synergizes with Rescue from the base class, perfect, moving on.
Great Knight
Lv 5: Luna
[Skill]% chance to ignore half the enemy’s Defense or Resistance
Lv 15: Dual Guard+
Adds 10% to the Dual Guard rate
Also great, also unchanged. Dual Guard+ maybe needs a buff to activation chance, but I really like it as a way to emphasize a new feature and a way to build into more of a support role, should you choose to do so. Luna is of course a true classic, always welcome to see.
Knight
Lv 1: Defense +2
Lv 10: Provoke
Enemies will target this unit, if able
Defense +2 is great, a lot of the [Stat]+2 level 1 abilities are staying, they’re a great way to tell you what a class is about and have a noticeable but not overwhelming impact, perfect for an early game skill. Indoor Fighter is gone, though, replaced with a skill that never really got its due imo. In the Radiant games Provoke is unreliable, with enemies frequently targeting other units when they could reach a Provoker instead. If I’m gonna have this, it’s going to scan. Enemies will always attack a unit with Provoke if they can, no matter what. Maybe that’s OP, we’d have to see. But I like the idea of it, of your Knights becoming dedicated tanks.
General
Lv 5: Wary Fighter
Neither this unit nor its enemy may follow-up attack
Lv 15: Pavise
[Skill]% chance to halve damage from Swords, Lances, Axes, or Beaststones.
We’re replacing a Rally[footnote]Even though Rally Defense is honestly kinda useful too. Price of progress I suppose.[/footnote] with a neat looking skill from Fates. Generals are hulking tanks, even better at that role thanks to Provoke, and Wary Fighter is the perfect compliment. Reducing your damage output potential in exchange for doing the same to your enemies, really helps your General gunk things up on the enemy turn while setting you up to clean house on your next turn. Pavise helps with that too, another classic staple.
Myrmidon
Lv 1: Avoid +10
Lv 10: Vantage
If HP<50%, unit attacks first when enemy initiates combat
Unchanged, even though I thought about Avoid +10. Ultimately I think being a dodge tank is still key to the Myrmidon lifestyle, and with most other Avoid skills gone this one feels special enough to keep. Maybe I’d buff it to a +15 though. Hard to say how much we need when Myrmidon class growths already naturally lead to increased avoid. Vantage is completely unchanged, another classic staple.
Swordmaster
Lv 5: Astra
[Skill / 2]% chance to attack 5 times consecutively at half damage
Lv 15: Swordfaire
Strength (or Magic) +5 when equipped with a sword
Classic, love them. Might buff Astra to just be a Skill% chance, unsure. It’s less likely to proc than a critical hit right now, despite technically being just a little worse.
Assassin
Lv 5: Lethality
[Skill / 4]% chance to instantly kill enemy
Lv 15: Pass
Can move through enemy-occupied spaces
Again, no changes here. Lethality almost never seems to proc, I may want to change it to the more classic “critical hits have a 50% chance to be one-hit kills” instead. Obviously you don’t want to buff a skill like this too much though.
Thief
Lv 1: Locktouch
Can open doors and chests without a key
Lv 10: Movement +1
Great, no notes.
Trickster
Lv 5: Lucky 7
Every 7th attack deals +7 damage
Lv 15: Acrobat
Ignores terrain movement penalties
Okay I’m gonna be real, I had replaced Lucky 7 with Adept before realizing last-second that I also gave that to Falcoknights. Oops. So Lucky 7 is back, but I don’t like it being another conditional Hit/Avoid buff, even if it’s the most impactful of the bunch. So we’re getting a bit weird here. I don’t know how easy it would be to keep track of when your 7th hit is coming up, but I like getting lucky at an irregular tempo, feels very Tricky. Acrobat remains, even though terrain is kinda minor in this game. I just like it.
Barbarian
Lv 1: Despoil
[Luck]% chance to obtain Small Bullion when defeating an enemy
Lv 10: Zeal
Crit+10%
Shifting things around slightly. Gamble is out, the Fighter’s Zeal is shifted over, and also it’s buffed, +10% instead of +5%. Unrelated, but I wish you had a Barbarian join your party at any point. You can reclass into it but I always forget it’s there, borderline enemy-only class.
Berserker
Lv 5: Wrath
Crit+20% when HP<50%
Lv 15: Axefaire
Strength (or Magic) +5 when equipped with an Axe
Unchanged, though I wonder if Wrath needs to boost crit by more. I like Berserkers being a crit-focused class, all about getting in there and wrecking shop no matter how much punishment you take in return.
Warrior
Lv 5: Disarm
[Skill / 2]% chance to unequip target’s weapon
Lv 15: Counter
Adjacent enemies take equal damage when dealing non-lethal damage to unit
Replacing a Rally with another fun guy from the past. Helps fit the theme of “big, imposing warrior”, hitting so hard the enemy drops their weapon. Counter is honestly OP, especially on enemies. Future games make it unable to kill, and probably I should port that over here too. But meh.
Fighter
Lv 1: HP+5
Lv 10: Colossus
If Max HP is at least 5 higher than target’s, adds [Strength / 4] to attack damage
Since I nixed Gamble and took Zeal, Fighters needed something new. I like Colossus, reworked since Constitution isn’t a stat in Awakening. I enjoy the synergy with HP+5, and I think HP works as a reasonable proxy for size.
Mercenary
Lv 1: Armsthrift
[Luck * 2]% chance to not spend weapon durability per hit
Lv 10: Iron Rune
Enemy’s cannot land critical hits against unit
Well damn, that’s a buff. Out with a hit/avoid nothing, in with a very useful defensive skill. Enemy critical users are infrequent enough that I think it’s an appropriate power level for a base class level 10 skill, though. Armsthrift is wonderful and remains unchanged.
Hero
Lv 5: Sol
[Skill]% chance to heal equal to half the damage dealt
Lv 15: Resolve
When HP<50%, +5 to all stats[footnote]Won’t proc in the middle of combat, only activates at the beginning of an attack[/footnote]
Sol is classic. Resolve is here instead of Axebreaker, and it’s just so perfect for a Hero. When everything seems hopeless, that’s when a Hero’s just getting warmed up.
Bow Knight
Lv 5: Close Counter
Can counter attack at melee range using a bow
Lv 15: Bow Range +1
Bow Knight loses a Rally and Bowbreaker and instead gets some Three Houses flavor. I like both of these skills, and now Archers have an actual choice over which class to promote to.
Archer
Lv 1: Skill+2
Lv 10: Focus
Crit+15% if unit hasn’t moved this turn
Yeah I know there’s a skill called “Focus” already in the game and it doesn’t do what mine does. Fuck it, it’s a good name. Skill+2 may also need a buff, unclear. Skill is a good stat, but +2 means only +3% to accuracy, and at most +2% for most skill activation chances. Idk, I think Skill+4 or even more may be warranted.
Sniper
Lv 5: Deadeye
+40 Hit Rate when attacking
Lv 15: Bowfaire
Strength (or Magic) +5 when equipped with a Bow
You could just keep Hit Rate +20 if you really wanted, but I felt like getting a little frisky. Snipers are glass cannons, they’re great at attacking but need protecting on the enemy turn. Deadeye leans into that.
Troubadour
Lv 1: Resistance +2
Lv 10: Demoiselle
+1 to all stats for paired ally
Demoiselle is in name only here. Instead of a crit adjustment radius (and instead of only applying to male allies, we are yanking as much gender shit as we can out of this game) it makes Torubadours more useful as a support class, giving them a reason to be paired up.
Valkyrie
Lv 5: Lifesaver
If paired ally would take lethal damage, this unit takes that damage instead
Lv 15: Dual Support+
Boosts Support Bonus effect
Lifesaver is going out on a limb, I feel. I can’t decide if it’s too good or actually trash. Would need playtesting for sure, but I really like how it builds into being the ultimate support class. Gives Valkyries split purpose, they can be in front and do some healing or be in back and provide great support. That’s why I kept Dual Support+ as well, even though I kinda hate how opaque it is. There’s no way to describe what it actually does without a wiki page and a table, but it fits the unit’s kit, it encourages engagement with the game’s unique mechanic, so fine, it can stay. Support Bonus system may need a rework but that’s outside the scope of this project.
War Cleric
Lv 5: Slayer
Grants Type Bonus against Monsters
Lv 15: Renewal
Recover 30% HP at start of your turn
I like the idea of War Clerics but in practice they suck ass. Worst of both worlds, they never deal enough damage to make them worth it. Slayer is here to try and even that up a little. If needed I can even buff it to apply against all Risen. We gotta give our battle nuns something.
(Also, “War Monk” and “Priest” don’t exist. Those classes are still unisex, but the name isn’t. I do what I can)
Cleric
Lv 1: Miracle
If HP>1, [Luck]% chance to survive a lethal attack with 1 HP remaining
Lv 10: Healtouch
Heals an extra 5HP
The same for now, but both are suspects for a buff. Miracle is obnoxious on enemies, but I genuinely think it would be less so if it just always procced, no Luck% farting around. Makes you plan around it rather than encouraging the lazy thinking of “well maybe I just get lucky”. Plus clerics are so damn squishy they could use the help. Healtouch is also maybe a little underwhelming, I could add a Diffuse Healing effect too if we wanted. Or increased range, or you heal yourself as well, or or or. Lots of fun things we could do.
Sage
Lv 5: Flare
[Skill]% chance to add half enemy Defense to a magical attack
Lv 15: Tomefaire
Magic +5 when equipped with a tome
I go back and forth on if Flare should be magic-locked or not. I certainly enjoy the idea of a skill that lets physical attacks gain power against high Res enemies, and letting it proc on both sides is great for mixed classes (which, if you can access Sage then by definition you have at least one of War Cleric or Dark Knight available). But I just wasn’t sure about the flavor, which, man who the fuck am I. Screw it, Flare works both ways now. Adds half the opposite defensive stat to any attack when it activates.
Mage
Lv 1: Magic+2
Lv 10: Blaze
+2 Damage for Fire magic
Unsure if Blaze will need buffed or not, didn’t want to get too crazy with a base class lv 10. But I really like the idea of buffing fire specifically. Thunder spells are the strongest and have high crit (but kinda mid accuracy), Wind are weak but accurate and have type bonus against fliers. But what does Fire have? Enlightened Centrism? +2 damage is the minimum needed to make Fire better than Thunder for any given weapon level. If we want more we can do more.
Dark Knight
Lv 5: Stun
[Skill * 2]% chance to immobilize target until the start of your next turn
Lv 15: Lifetaker
Recovers 50% HP after killing an enemy on your turn
Stun having such a high activation chance I’m sure turned some heads. But I feel good about it. Being stunned isn’t a death sentence as a player, you have rescue staves, you can rush in allies, you can even swap to a paired unit (even though that paired unit still can’t move [unless they have Canto! ooh, that’s fun]). It’s challenging without being too much. And on the player’s side, it’s a neat tool to have but honestly I’m not even sure how much it will come up. If you’re attacking a unit on your turn I kinda feel like you should be killing them that phase, yeah? So Stun needs a high proc chance to matter.
(I thought about doing Chaos Style as the level 5 instead, that’s +3 (or whatever) when you’re using physical against magic or vice-versa. Flare kinda serves that role now, but Chaos Style can be on the table for our next revision)
Dark Mage
Lv 1: Hex
-15 Avoid for all enemies in a 3 tile radius
Lv 10: Poison Strike
Deals 20% of enemy’s max HP as damage after combat
Hex isn’t what it is in the real game, I’ve buffed it a good deal. I like the flavor of it, though, which is why I kept it. (Plus dark magic is inaccurate, so it synergizes well) Poison Strike is a good future sight addition here, maintaining the flavor of evil magic without being too good.
Sorcerer
Lv 5: Vengeance
[Skill * 2]% chance to add lost HP as damage to next attack
Lv 15: Curse
-5 to all enemy stats on attack, until the end of the next turn[footnote]Does not stack[/footnote]
Vengeance I almost lowered the proc chance because it can be obnoxious, going off all the damn time when you’re at full HP and it doesn’t do anything. Maybe I just code in an exception to bypass that check if we’re at full HP already. Curse, I think it’s fun but for sure would want playtesting. I’m not really sure when a curse should end, and I’m thinking both how it feels to curse enemies and how it feels to get cursed. Basically I think if you’re cursing on offense, if your target survives they should be hobbled during their next turn as well, and if you’re cursing on defense you should be allowed to follow up on your turn to take advantage. But maybe that’s too much! Dunno. I do know that it’s a crime we don’t have curse representation in-game, given how curses are Tharja’s whole deal. Ludonarrative synergy, folks!
Pegasus Knight
Lv 1: Speed +2
Lv 10: Alacrity
Performs all follow-up attacks before enemy counter attacks
Pegasus Knights are super fast and very frightening on offense, but squish as hell on defense. Alacrity helps both compensate and lean into that, giving a universal brave effect BUT leaving you open on the backswing if you don’t get the kill.
Falcon Knight
Lv 5: Adept
[Skill / 2]% chance to trigger an extra follow-up attack
Lv 15: Lancefaire
Strength (or Magic) +5 when equipped with a Lance
Even more hyper offense here. Adept and Alacrity can get hella mean if you get lucky, especially when paired with a naturally brave weapon. But again, squish as hell, falls to a single arrow. Use wisely.
Dark Flier
Lv 5: Shadowgift
Can equip dark magic[footnote]Only if unit could already equip tomes[/footnote]
Lv 15: Galeforce
When killing an enemy, gain an extra move. (Can only activate once per turn)
It always bothered me that Dark Fliers couldn’t use Dark magic. Bothers me about Dark Knights too, but Aversa means we can at least justify Shadowgift here. Plus it’s a nice buff for your physical Pegasus Knights as they potentially reclass into magic. Dark Flier is already a super good class, and already does kinda fucky things to game balance since it’s female-only and none of the male-only classes are anywhere near as good. But obviously I’m removing that too, I refuse to deny my fellow gaydies female Barbarians.
Wyvern Rider
Lv 1: Strength +2
Lv 10: Air Raid
+5 Speed when attacking grounded units (from the air)
“From the air” just means you’re in a class with a flying weakness classification, basically. And speed is more a Pegasus thing, but I like the flavor of savage wyverns swooping down on their prey.
Wyvern Lord
Lv 5: Merciless
+50% hit, +50% avoid, +5 damage, -5 enemy damage when you have a weapon triangle advantage
Lv 15: Nullify
Negates all type weaknesses
Merciless is sort of my replacement for Breaker skills (ooh, maybe I should call it ‘Willbreaker”?). Those numbers are very first draft, but I want it to be obvious enough to be noticeable. If you’re merciless and you have an advantage to press, it should feel relentless and overwhelming. Nullify is maybe a risk, giving a flying class a way to negate their inherent weakness, but Wyverns have always been bulkier than Pegasi, so I think it can fit. They still have dogshit resistance growth, they aren’t
Gryphon Rider
Lv 5: Deliverer
+2 Movement when paired up
Lv 15: Trample
+5 damage to non-mounted enemies (while mounted)
“Mounted” is what it sounds like, you know it when you see it. Pairs nicely with this whole line’s theme of being overwhelming, and pairs nicely thematically with the extra movement from Deliverer.
Manakete
Lv 1: Nihil
Enemy skills do not activate
Lv 15: Wyrmsbane
Type advantage against Wyverns and Dragons (while in Dragon form)
“activate” is a very specific word choice, there. Nihil doesn’t stop all enemy skills, just the ones with an activation chance. It’s pretty strong, but since you don’t fight enemy Manaketes I’m fine with it. Wyrmsbane is fun and good, it stays.
Taguel
Lv 1: Survivor
+30 Avoid when HP<50%
Lv 15: Beastbane
Type advantage against Beast (while in Bunny form)
+30 I think is enough to really feel significant, but we’d have to see. Like other <50% skills it only procs when you enter combat at that threshold. I really like the flavor of it though. Beastbane is also good, it stays.
Villager
Lv 1: Aptitude
+20% to all growth rates
Lv 15: Discipline
Double all weapon exp
I don’t hate Underdog, but given that Donnell can’t promote into anything that uses lances I feel like it’s only fair he get Discipline as a parting gift from his base class. Aptitude remains great, Donnell’s kid is always so lucky to have it.
Dancer
Lv 1: Luck +8
Lv 15: Special Dance
All stats +2 for one turn for dance target
Basically what she has now, but buffed. Luck is so minor it really needs the boost to matter, and Special Dance buffs all stats instead of just Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance basically just for clarity’s sake. Honestly wish I could give her way more skills, build out a whole list of special dance commands, but that’s a bit out of scope imo.
Dread Fighter
Lv 1: Resistance +10
Lv 15: Aggressor
Damage +10 on your turn
I wanted to change Resistance +10 because it feels kinda random, but apparently Dread Fighters are from the (Super) Famicom era of the series, and their whole deal was always that they had high resistance growth, so sure, we can keep it in. Aggressor is such a fun skill idea, great design guys I don’t even have to do anything.
Bride
Lv 1: Rally Heart
Grants Rally command, all Stats +2 AND Movement +1 for allies in 3 tile radius
Lv 15: Bond
Restore 10 HP to all allies in a 3 tile radius at the start of the turn.
Also unchanged, Bride has a great support skill loadout. I almost changed them anyway out of spite, since it’s really fucked that the male-only DLC class makes you the ultimate warrior while the female-only class makes you a backlines supporter in a fucking wedding dress which, wedding dress alts will always disgust me so much honestly. Maybe it’s unfair, it just feels so palpably pathetic and objectifying, y’know? Jerking off to a pretty picture, that’s honorable, that’s the path of the warrior, but fantasizing about spending your life together, come on man. Touch grass. Have a normal fetish like feet, or incest. Leave the wedding dresses for real life, yeah?
Anyway I can compromise on my baggage by letting the boys be Brides too. No they can’t be Grooms instead, don’t be stupid.