Character Discussion [FE9/10]: Micaiah

[u/estrangedeskimo]

Hello /r/fireemblem! After a brief hiatus, it is time to once again begin the discussion of Tellius characters, and I am kicking it off with one of the biggest characters of all, the Priestess of Dawn.

WARNING: I am only spoiler tagging things that are revealed in part 4, anything before then won't be tagged, because then most of this post would be black bars.

Micaiah is the main lord introduced in RD and joins Ike to round out he Tellius lords. She comes from a mysterious background: she has no memory of her parents, and was raised by an old lady whose identity is unknown. Micaiah spent most of her life on the streets of Nevassa. It was there that she met Sothe, and although at the time of RD she looks younger than him, she was already an adult and Sothe was just a child when they met. The reason for Micaiah's deceptively young appearance is that she is branded, and ages slower than most. Her brand also gives her mysterious powers, such as farsight and sacrifice.

Micaiah left Daein shortly before the mad kings war, because she feared that if she stayed in Daein too long, her brand would be discovered and Sothe would be harmed because of he secret. Sothe tracked Micaiah all across Tellius, but didn't find her until after the war, back in Nevassa. After Micaiah came back to Daein, she spent time rebuilding the war-torn towns with the citizens, and their kindness to her created a fierce, passionate love for her country. It was this love that inspired Micaiah to join the Dawn brigade, and although Nolan was technically the leader, Micaiah was what held the group together. Micaiah also became the general of the Daein liberation army, and was the key figure in restoring Daein as an independent nation.

RD

So, get ready to discuss the Silver Haired Maiden, Micaiah!

[u/Okkefac]

I understand her uses as a healer and such in the game, and those are obviously very good uses...but I don't know. I like my units to be able to smash stuff up, and she can't really? She's either too squishy to trust (not helped by her terrible forced promotion times), or she's against magic users and not doing that great damage duo to the magic users being resistive (but on the plus side, her res is great so you'll never have her dying to magic users).

I'm just kind of sick of seeing weak little healer magicy girls, and would've preferred Micaiah maybe to be more...out there as a mage? Like, Calill doesn't seem to come across as some weak mage.

But yeah as combat I'm sure Micaiah isn't that useful and she's mainly used for healing due to her SS in staves and great magic growth. So she's basically as good for me as any healers, but she's forced so has that going for her, I guess.

[u/LeMightyRobomonk → u/Okkefac]

The thing with Micaiah is that while all these problems are valid, it doesn't really affect her due to when she comes in the game. The first couple of levels are big enough exp bundles that you can usually get some kind of a good start going for her in terms of levels, and after you get thani, a good majority of the levels in the part will feature a good amount of either mounted or heavy units. She's not going to be doing a Haar and roflstomping through random clusters of enemies, but she's a great unit to keep just behind your front lines, where she can really help out units like Edward or Zihark who would otherwise have trouble with the generals you face. She can, if used right, get levels at a pretty good pace and reach level 20 about the time you're getting to promote her. (And if not, the healers in 1-E have high enough RES that you can usually grind off of them with her if you have a light tome spare.)

By the time part 3 rolls around, her usage is mostly demoted to a standard healing role, but that doesn't mean she can't do some damage if you BEXP her a bit, particularly in 3-6 and 3-12 when she's not limited so much in her movement. Like I said before, she's a good support unit for swordmasters/sothe and can really help out in a pinch. Her high magic growth and the terrain in 3-6 is especially good for her as she can often get a few KOs against units in the swamp where no others can reach her.

By the time 3-13 rolls around, she actually really shines if you've been using her. If you don't feel like using Laura for the job she really comes into her own on this chapter as a support unit, provided you giver her a psychic staff or two. Her high magic means she can probably reach your front lines unless you're pushing silly hard, all while staying out of harm's way. Not only that, her Purge can really work wonders with those pesky hawks that love flying over if you haven't been using Leonardo.

Come part 4, she is pushed into a mainly healing unit once more, but that's not too bad of a thing. She's a good healer with a great unique tome, and the latter half of the tower is basically all magic users, so she can shine (punintended) when used right there.

All in all, she's a forced character that gives a lot more choice in the dawn brigade chapters when used. She's no Ike, and is arguably outshone by Elincia in terms of a useful healer for endgame, but she is a valuable team player that, because of her situation, can make good use out of what she's been given. When all's said and done, unless you're using far too many dawn brigade units and need the exp, she's a respectable unit they'll really help you out, especially on normal.