Fire Emblem: Awakening Starter Classes Guide: Archer, Wyvern Rider

With the possibility to truly switch classes for the first time ever in the series, Fire Emblem: Awakening has a lot of starter classes to choose from, allowing players to have a lot of freedom in customizing their army to their liking. While it’s true that characters won’t be able to switch to all starter classes, the choice is so broad that you will soon be forgetting about the limitations of the system. At the end of day, it will be up to you to create a really effective team with the right combination of classes and skills and we’re here to help you making these choices but going over all the starter and advanced classes of the game, with some general features and skills coming as default for the class.

• Archer

The archer is a staple of any tactical role playing game. The archer can be a very useful unit for wearing down enemies from afar without being counter attacked in the process and allow melee fighters to close in an finish enemies without getting damaged. Other than this, the archer gets a decent HP growth and great skill growth with all other stats not being too good. This hardly is a problem since the archer is not a front line unit. Another good thing about the archer is that it can promote to the deadly Sniper unit which can truly decimate enemies: with the early initiative skill they can attack before the enemies during a counter attack phase, making them even more dangerous against mages and other ranged units. The archer is also incredibly effective against winged units, with bows dealing extra damage against pegasus knights. The archer learns the Skill + 2 skill at level 1 and the Early Initiative skill at level 10. They can promote to Sniper or Bow Knight depending on your choice.

• Wyvern Knight

The wyvern knight is pretty much the male version of the Pegasus Knight, with a few stats improvements. Just like the Pegasus Knights, the Wyvern Knights have a great movement range, making them great at covering most of the battle field with a few turns. They’re also very strong with great strength growth and decent HP. However the Defense growth is really low and they easily get outclassed by other units: for this reason alone they shouldn’t be staying at the front line too much and hit and run tactics are best suited to this unit type. Also keep them away from ranged units like mages and archers: while mages can inflict good damage but they’re not lethal, bows earn a damage bonus when used against winged units, so beware. The Wyvern Knight can only equip axes and learn the Strength +2 skill at level 1 and the Ride Fast skill at level 10. They can promote to Wyvern Lord or Griffon Rider depending on your choice.