A cult-classic game within the Fire Emblem franchise, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was the third and final entry released on the Gameboy Advance. Possessing numerous routes and branching promotion trees for each character in the game, The Sacred Stones provides players with the freedom to customize their experience.
While the game provides a player with numerous units they can utilize in their army, not all of these characters are equally useful. So today, we're going dive into the worst units in the eighth entry of the Fire Emblem series and see which characters players should avoid using.
10 Eirika
One of the two protagonists of The Sacred Stones, Eirika is unfortunately not a very strong unit. A sword user, Eirika tends to fall short in nearly every category. While possessing high speed and skill, Eirika tends to be rather frail and lacking in the strength department. This tends to lead her to have difficulties in both offensive and defense situations, and they are made even more troublesome by her inability to easily wield long ranged weapons such as javelins or hand axes.
9 Colm
While thieves in Fire Emblem are generally not judged for their combative abilities and are usually judged based upon their unique utility, Colm is a notably subpar unit. Possessing abysmal base stats across the board save for his high speed, no matter what class Colm is promoted into, he will only be able to wield swords.
This means that without the aid of a rare sword such as the Runesword, he will be incapable of fighting from afar.
8 Knoll
While Knoll is one of the only units in The Sacred Stones capable of wielding dark magic, he's hindered by simply not being around long enough to make a significant impact in one's playthrough. Recruited in either Chapter Fourteen or Chapter Fifteen depending on which route a player selected, Knoll joins a player's army as a level ten shaman with average base stats and average growth rates. Had he appeared earlier in the game, he could have been a nice additional magic unit for players to utilize, but by the time he is usable, he is simply outclassed by other units a player had been using, not providing any real incentives to be deployed.
7 L'Arachel
While troubadours are often considered to be the ideal healers in a Fire Emblem game due to their mobility, L'Arachel is one of the few members of this class who is less useful than her cleric counterparts.
This is due in part to her combination of late recruitment and low staff rank. Joining a player's army during Chapter Eleven, L'Arachel starts off with a staff rank of D. This means that she will be incapable of wielding integral staves such as Physic and Warp, heavily reducing her usefulness.
6 Orson
A pre-promoted paladin with excellent base stats, at first glance, Orson appears to be a member of Fire Emblem's "Jagen" archetype. While "Jagen" characters tend to be useful units that can help set up kills for less experienced characters, Orson has a glaring problem that makes him one of the worst units in the game: his availability. While he is useful while he's around, players only have access to Orson for a single chapter in the main story, meaning he retains absolutely no longevity as the game progresses.
5 Ewan
One of the three "trainee units" found within The Sacred Stones, Ewan is a pupil who can end up promoting into a wide range of magical classes. While Ewan's class flexibility provides him with the ability to slot into numerous roles a player may seek, he is hampered by pitiful base stats and a starting level of one.
This means that if a player seeks to use Ewan, they must bring their momentum to a screeching halt as they endeavor to bring him up to par with one's other units, all whilst making sure he is not killed in the process.
4 Neimi
Neimi is a traditional Fire Emblem archer through and through. It's no secret that until the most recent entries of the Fire Emblem series, archers tended to be the runts of the litter when it came to available units. Traditionally toting unimpressive base stats and growth rates, archers are additionally hindered by their inability to fight foes up close. This greatly hinders their ability to contribute to combat and gain experience during the enemy phase, essentially cutting their viability in half.
3 Myrrh
A manakete capable of turning into a dragon, Myrrh is a unit who looks good on paper but is tragically undercut by a significant drawback.
As is the case with many manaketes across the series, Myrrh possesses subpar stats that are provided with major boosts thanks to her dragonstone. However, this dragonstone is ultimately Myrrh's downfall. As the only weapon she is capable of using, once the dragonstone runs out of uses, Myrrh is rendered useless and incapable of fighting for the remainder of the game.
2 Marissa
Marissa is a unit who possesses numerous traits that are found within the Fire Emblem series. Possessing a late join time (not being recruited until well into the game), Marissa joins a player's army as an unpromoted level five myrmidon.
Any redeeming factors of Marissa are made void by the mere existence of her fellow Myrmidon Joshua. Joshua joins significantly earlier into the game, starting at the very same level and with higher base stats and growth rates.
1 Amelia
Amelia has gained a reputation as one of the worst units in the Fire Emblem series for good reason. A "trainee unit" like the previously mentioned Ewan, Amelia is recruited with notably subpar base stats that make her struggle against any and all enemies one may encounter. While she has access to numerous classes that she can potentially be promoted into, due to her mediocre base stats she'll most often wind up with lesser or equal stats to those of the same class. This tends to make using Amelia a risky time sink with results that are far less than worth it.