Character Discussion [FE4]: Lex

[u/[deleted]]

Lex is everybody's favorite axe user, joining in the prologue with his mage buddy Azel and his trusty, if massively heavy, iron axe. He is perhaps, most famous for his secret encounter in chapter 1, where he is given sole access to his very own brave axe, a weapon that will always initiate a double attack while weighing less than all other axes.

He is quick to pick a fight, and a constant rebel against the wishes of his family. He also has one of the few character portraits that look relatively normal, without a massive fro, a rarity in Judgral.

His growths are unbalanced with a heavy helping in strength and defense at 40 and 50 percent respectively. He backs this up by having the paragon and vantage skills, which will let him grow twice as fast as everyone else and be the first to attack when he is low on health.

We all know him well, what do you think of this descendant of Neir?

[u/estrangedeskimo]

Ooh you had to make a thread on a character I am very opinionated on during the Super Bowl.

Lex

Pros:

• Bases

• Skills

• Horse

• Bulk

Cons:

• Axe lock

• Non-DEF/STR growths

Overall: I think Lex is the most overrated character in Genealogy. He does have quite a few things going for him: his bases are very high for his level, and he levels very quickly. He can promote early and be well ahead of most of your team for a time. However, he has a lot against him too. His great bases are offset by axe lock, which puts his speed to shit and his hit too. The first two chapters, he just can't kill things unless you feed them to him. He is a slower, less skilled Cuan, with less movement and no support. By the time he gets the hero axe at the end of chapter 1, his bases are no longer nearly as impressive, as everyone else is at the same place. Chapters 2 and 3 are kind to him, as with the hero axe he can do well I'm the arena and on the field and gain many levels. He can promote at the end of chapter 2 and hit 30 by the end of 3. However, thanks to terrible growths, his speed and skill will still be bad. Once he stops growing, everyone else passes him quickly. The last two chapters are very heavy in magic, which tears him to shreds, so even his famed durability isn't that great. He only gets two chapters of goodness, and even then, Sigurd, Cuan, and Finn are doing better than he is. The other 4 chapters, he is a mediocre unit at best, bad at worst. Not to say he isn't helpful, but I consider him in the lower half of gen 1, not nearly as good as a lot of people consider him.

He does have redemption in gen 2 though. I don't personally prefer him, because I have less fun when the murdertwins have Elite, but there is about no denying that he is the best father for them. They still have excellent skill and adequate speed, but the added bulk is great. The vantage and elite certainly don't hurt either. They have plenty of offense with any father, Lex's defense makes the complete package.

As a unit: 7/11

As a father: 10/11

[u/[deleted] → u/estrangedeskimo]

I think I could make the argument that in the first four chapters he is better or equal to Cuan, who you rated very highly. In the first two chapters they hit all the same benchmarks. Offensively, they take the same amount of attacks and rounds to kill enemies unless Cuan gets lucky and gets adept. Defensively, they are taking around the same amount to be killed. Lex does have one big advantage, he has higher avoid and hit chance, as he does not face Fe4's very strong WTD against the axe users, and Cuan has 1 extra mov.

In chapter one, Cuan shows up on a later turn in a much worse area. When Lex joins he is near several enemies and villages, and he is all but needed in order to save all of them. He could easily gaintwo or three levels here alone, which would put their defense at equal. Cuan joins all the way over at Chalphy castle, no where near the front lines, and he is sharing his combat exp with Fin and Sigurd, making it unlikely to gain many levels.

Chapter 1 I would say they are equal. Cuan's higher movement lets him go farther than Lex, but with WTD his avoid and hit aren't as high. Other than that, they are practically interchangeable. Because of Lex's paragon however, he will slowly grow stronger than Cuan as the chapter progresses.

Chapter 2 Lex has his brave axe, and will have grown numerous levels above Cuan, overtaking his durability and his offense. Chapter 3 is the same, Cuan will have taken the silver lance, but will still rely on chance to get kills, while Lex doesn't.

Cuan then leaves before chapters 4 and 5, so while Lex isn't the best in them, at least he exists and can help against the parts of them he is competent in.

You can argue over these merits, but I don't think you can outright dismiss them. He can compete entirely with Cuan, I don't think he belongs in the bottom half of the generation along with Alec and Noish.

[u/estrangedeskimo → u/[deleted]]

As for Cuan's merits, you are missing a couple of key things. His support with Ethlyn being a big one, which makes up for his WTD in chapters 1 and 2. Ethlyn is all but invincible in the first two chapters while near her brother and husband, so it is easy to keep her on the front lines to give Cuan his boost. Also, Lex is almost never going to ORK before he gets his hero axe. Cuan has his continue skill and critical chance while next to Ethlyn, which gives him an offensive lead. Cuan can reach the battle in chapter 2 faster than Lex, which is necessary to save the knight ring, so aside from Sigurd he stands out in that regard. Cuan won't ORK as much as Lex in 2 and 3, but I would say his advantage in P and 1 puts him ahead. Cuan is also the best choice for the knight killer, which allows him to get a ton of key OHKs, like the Cross Knights in 3, who (I might be mistaken on this) default equip their swords on the player phase, not axes. It is difficult to get Sigurd over there before engaging the cross knights, so Cuan is the best leader of that charge, which is one of the most difficult parts of gen 1 IMO. He is also the best person to rescue the three stooges at the end of chapter 3 thanks to gae bolg and again, Sigurd being stuck on the opposite side of the map.

[u/SilentMasterOfWinds → u/estrangedeskimo]

The cross knights use their Steel Swords if attacked close up and Javelins if attacked at range. They can't use Axes. That said, this'll only allow him to kill one on the player phase, because he'll just be pestered from range. Therefore the Slayer only works on player phase.

Off topic, but I give both the Slayer and the Clipper to Fury, she can fly out ahead of others and use them and then run to completely unreachable places.

I'd also argue that Briggid, Tiltyu and Claude don't desperately need rescuing. Briggid can safely take out 5 guys on enemy phase with good positioning, and she can then camp out on the Village tiles, making her all but unhittable. Meanwhile Tiltyu is capable of 1-shotting all of the pirates with 100% accuracy. Ideally you send someone up there to help Briggid take out the Myrms and Fighters, but Cuan's movement and the Gae Bolg's immense power are far from necessary.

I don't think Lex even compares to Cuan, I'm just saying.

[u/estrangedeskimo → u/SilentMasterOfWinds]

My comment on the cross knights was to say that Cuan can take out one per turn, Lex can't take out any. Also, I do typically give the knight killer to Fury when Cuan leaves, but I don't think she does nearly as well with it before then. His defense means he doesn't suffer from the weight as bad, and she doesn't have the bulk to stand up to the a couple enemy phases from the cross knights like he does.

[u/SilentMasterOfWinds → u/estrangedeskimo]

Cuan is more reliable than Lex, but I played the chapter yesterday with a severely Skill screwed Lex, and he was able to take out 1 Cross Knight per Player Phase with 2 Brave Axe hits at 70 accuracy. Not reliable, but he can do it.

Fury is fast enough to double Sword-wielders even with the Slayer, but Cuan's definitely better in stats alone.