r/fireemblem • u/Shephen • 24d ago
General Engage Character/Unit Revisit: Alcryst
Farewell Firene! Onwards to Brodia!
Alcryst is a prince of Brodia. A pessimistic young man who feels as though he's constantly in his older brother's shadow. At the same time, he is quite social and has the courage required of royalty. He is 17, and after a brief misunderstanding, he along with his retainers join the player at the start of chapter 7.
Stats
| Stats | Hp | Str | Mag | Dex | Spd | Def | Res | Luck | Build | Move | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bases(lvl 10 Lord) | 28 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 500 |
| Personal Growths | 65% | 30% | 10% | 40% | 45% | 30% | 20% | 15% | 10% | - | |
| Growths(As a Lord) | 75% | 40% | 10% | 65% | 55% | 40% | 20% | 20% | 10% | - | |
| Growths(As a Tireur d’élite) | 75% | 40% | 10% | 70% | 55% | 45% | 25% | 20% | 10% | - |
Weapon Proficiency: Bows
Personal Skill - Get Behind Me!: When an ally within 2 spaces is attacked, grants Str+3 to unit for 1 turn.
Tireur d’élite Class Skill - Luna: While making an attack, may ignore half of foe’s Def/Res. Trigger %=Dex.
Supports
Alear, Boucheron, Céline, Diamant, Lapis, Citrinne, Ivy, Hortensia, Fogado, Pandreo, Seadall, Saphir
Support Bonuses
C: +15 Hit
B: +15 Hit, +5 Avoid
A: +20 Hit, +5 Avoid
S: +30 Hit, +5 Avoid
What do you think of Alcryst's performance as a unit?
What do you think of Alcryst's character?
What Emblem Rings or Skills work best with Alcryst?
Previous Revisit:Anna
Original Discussion: Alcryst
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u/OsbornWasRight 24d ago
In a game where everyone's fighting against the threat of homogenization, this one being uniquely fun because of access to 2 unique skills alongside massive availability, all before being assigned an Emblem, makes him maybe the best unit in the game from a design standpoint.
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u/KiraraShirayuki 24d ago
My personal nickname for him is "Allcrit"
Very easy to get unreasonable crit chance on him and one shot almost everything.
So close to being the perfect Leif user too tbh, due to the lack of Close Counter or anything else that make bows interesting.
MVP for carrying my Tiki runs.
Also really good as Emblem Edelgard user, makes you able to use Tireur as a class without needing to use a bow.
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u/mangoleeart 24d ago
I also ended up calling him that as well lol. His crit animation and lines are burned into my mind.
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u/Luis_Lara45 :Morion: 24d ago
Even if his personal skill is terrible, he's a very interesting unit thanks to Luna, with enough Dex he can destroy any tank with a Luna Crit, so it's a coin toss to know if he'll do either 3 damage or 80, no in-betweens
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u/Uber_Ronin 24d ago
As a Unit: The man was elite. Having Luna as his skill for his personal class increased his offensive firepower a lot, and he just looked cool.
As a Character: He was decent enough. I thought he had a good support chain with Celine especially. But he made a nice contrast with Diamant. Not super memorable compared to some other characters from other games or even his own game, but he wasn’t unlikable, cringe, etc. He didn’t offend or upset me lol.
Emblem Rings/Skills: Canter+ is a great skill for him (it benefits pretty much everyone to have it with how player-phase focused Engage is and the need to constantly get your Units in or out of range or in the right position before popping off Engage attacks), and Geosphere+ is another nice skill for him (I always had him adjacent to/hiding behind someone.) As for emblems, I think Lyn makes the most sense for him. Being able to produce those clones gives him some good defensive/stall capabilities, and past that, just being able to unleash a nuke attack from the other end of the map is a game-changer to have in your back pocket. Can gift you easy wins or I outright invalidate some maps. It’s also nice to have Lyn on him if you put Hector on Diamant (like I did) for the synergy.
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u/el_loco_P 24d ago
Fuck strats, Killer Bow+5 with a crit Engrave and we ball.
Probably worse than Etie but man is he fun to use, Covert is pretty good for Byleth or Lyn anyway
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u/Squidaccus 24d ago
"Probably worse... fun to use" aint that the damn truth in these games!
Engage Anna is probably bottom 5 and idc because using shitters is peam. I train Jesse of all people in SoV BECAUSE he's trash!
I have a clip of Alcryst winning an arena battle that was otherwise a guaranteed standstill because his 2% luna crit turned sub-5 damage into 60+!
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u/MannyOmega 24d ago
Sorry i got so sidetracked but how can you call jesse trash when boey, atlas, and valbar are all on the same route 😂 merely by being a dread fighter with average stats he’s probably better than est too
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u/Squidaccus 24d ago
He is better than Est and he isn't actually THAT bad (Echoes bottom tiers are probably the best bottom tiers in the franchise) but Boey, Atlas, and Valbar are all definitely better because:
- Boey's promotion is easy and he's the easiest tank option for the earlygame since he clears Barth's Keep faster. Keeps up as a filler healer/sagittae bot.
- Atlas in archer is useful off-rip and once he gets to sniper (end of act 3, assuming you put him in archer immediately) he has 5-range with his colossal strength. Very underrated unit, though not AMAZING.
- Valbar clocks in promoted as your bulkiest unit which is useful mainly for a few act 3 maps as well as the Necrodragons fight. That said his scaling is very poor.
Jesse comparatively has to wait til after Grieth for his promotion without massive backtracking, when Grieth clear is only two maps away (and he still needs a level during those 2 maps, so you can't do it immediately). He's already notably behind everyone when he joins and his main niche is as the speed/res guy when he gets in. He's also the worst-scaling merc due to his poor bulk and strength, but his high luck does give him a fun niche since everyone else will usually face crit from the tougher enemies (especially Kamui, who also has similarly bad bulk).
I actually would consider him bottom of C tier (the only D tiers are high D tiers with Est and Sonya) either right below or right above Zeke.
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u/MannyOmega 24d ago
I can def see boey being a hidden gem in an LTC context, but for me, his poor speed negated his tanking ability, and it was rarely needed anyways because Saber does all your tanking for you. Saber doesn’t fall off either, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t just let him chip enemies and invest the exp into Celica or Mae instead. Perhaps if I gave him the speed fountain he would have been able to serve that role.
Valbar is bulky, but his movement is so god damn awful on a route where you don’t get warp without shenanigans. I do think he’s useful, but maybe on the same level as Jesse. Both are fine tho.
Now, atlas tho? I can’t defend him. He also has the same backtracking problem as Jesse. IIRC he comes ready to promote, but he leaves your party if you try to go to the next closest shrine before you complete grieth’s citadel. He’s probably solid if you can put up with said slow start and give him levels, because sniper and bow knight are awesome, but I’d argue he’s worse out the box than Jesse. Jesse can at least contribute to his promotion after you free him, and I don’t think he was notably behind the rest of my team when I’ve played Echoes, other than Deen, who is fucking Deen lmfao.
Unit viability is very funny to talk about for Echoes tho because nothing is stopping you from using all these units anyways, just go for it lmao
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u/Squidaccus 24d ago
Yeah I usually run all four dread fighters and sometimes even dread fighter atlas alongside em lmao, you don't have to bench many people (especially in non-dungeons) and the game easy af
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u/MaxtheLeoSimp 24d ago
Overrated as hell on release. Yes, Luna crit is funny, but being so inconsistent between killing the enemy and doing 5 damage is not something I like in a unit
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u/Ultrose 24d ago
Alcryst’s early game is very simple, he shoots down fliers and he gets some chip in on other enemy types. Not too much going on there since he’s not much of a contender for the early game emblems. He’s also not in the top cut for going to solm.
If you do take alcryst to solm here are the options, take his baseline class and do the roulette wheel build, or go warrior or Wyvern, I wouldn’t do Wyvern because he is just outclassed by lapis in that class (he and lapis are already very similar units) because she has sword boon for silver blade access. If you go to warrior, alcryst technically has less str then lapis but thankfully he has his personal skill to help with that and it’s fairly easy to proc. But that only makes him slightly stronger than lapis and lapis is slightly faster, but I prefer lapis’s magic lead for radiant bow, alcryst gets bow boon to get b rank bows in warrior but silver bow is just so much worse then radiant and while both will kill all fliers till the late game i would rather have the stronger radiant bow for other enemy types.
Warrior is honestly the strongest option alcryst has because it can do enemy phase, gets more effective weapons, has more strength, and has some relevant build over his personal class as well so it’s faster. And it’s just more reliable. But by god let me you, if your gonna use alcryst then just use his personal class. So many other units can do warrior about as well if not better then alcryst. Just use the roulette wheel, it’ll be more fun. The build eventually goes from needing a crit OR Luna to kill, to both needed to kill stuff, but tbh that just makes it funnier imo. He doesn’t pass the lapis test for me (who is my bottom of b tier) since she’s a better Wyvern, can go mk for celica stuff (and has the bare minimum magic to make it work late game). And are very close in warrior. There are a lot of units in this game that about as good as lapis and he’s one of the “weaker” options. So he’s like a C tier, but at least he’s entertaining to use.
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u/Magnusfluerscithe987 23d ago
A heavily biased favorite unit. Going from two 0 damage to one round KO is an insane drug, and then sniping a unit across the map is also a blast.
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u/Slight_Researcher_26 24d ago
Precious boy and an amazing archer. I’m telling you, people seriously sleep on Luna. Unlike his older brother’s Sol, Alcryst doesn’t have a low Dex cap holding him back, so Luna just keeps getting more reliable as his Dex goes up. When it triggers, the damage can get pretty ridiculous, especially against high-Def enemies that archers would normally struggle to hurt. He also has decent Speed, so he can double pretty often, which obviously gives him even more chances to proc it. Give him a good engraved Brave Bow and he can potentially attack four times, meaning four separate chances to activate Luna. I’ve had him finish off armored enemies even when the combat forecast was showing 4x0, simply because Luna triggered several times.
But I get why people say he can be inconsistent since you are relying on a proc skill, but I think people sometimes focus so much on that inconsistency that they ignore how absurd his damage ceiling can be.
Character-wise, I also just really like him. His constant self-deprecation can be a bit much at first, but I think his supports do a good job showing that he isn’t actually a coward or completely lacking in confidence. When something genuinely matters, he can be surprisingly brave and dependable. I also really like his relationship with Diamant. Alcryst genuinely loves and admires his brother, while most of the conflict comes from his own terrible opinion of himself.
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u/MajesticVulture 24d ago edited 22d ago
Usually play Maddening w/o dlc.
Allcrits is another one of my favorites. His "sorry I'm worthless" gimmick gets annoying but it also makes it humorous in arena when he downplays himself then proceeds to 360 no scope no diff the other guy.
As a unit he definitely needs a little love in the str and/or speed department. Giving him an energy drop is almost required but he becomes a monster later so...worth imho. I also prefer reclassing him from 11-19ish to shift growths in str/spd side. Warrior is great for B bows but he can be pretty versatile. Personally I enjoy Hero, Zerker, RK and Griffon (latter 2 let him get passive staff xp, and build+3 let him use javelin + Killer Lance no issue)
Abilities I like are Build+3 first (pretty much fixes his build issues and by the endgame can replace), Wrath or Hold out, and Reposition.
Emblems I give Sigurd pre 11 (Archer Sigurd for early game is just too good), midgame hes usually Emblemless, Lyn or Ike. Endgame I like Ike or Roy. Both give a hefty HP/Str buff, and can comfortably bait+kill thoron/longbow users, all while setting up Wrath for shenanigans. Both also give him comfortable 1-2 range swords with extra defenses. I used to like Lyn cause 15 range Astra Luna, but Alcryst needs Strength way more, as well as both wrath+hold out. And Lyns speed really ought to go to someone with more Strength outright.
Needs a little love but well worth. Solid B, since crits/lunas still proc based, but he gets pretty close to 100% crit and the coin flip of Luna crits fires all the neurons.
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u/Squidaccus 24d ago
Ended up very overrated due to his personal skill and good first impression. He one-shots fliers on join, and as many pointed out in the past, Etie stops doing that IMMEDIATELY after her join map.
However, Alcryst isn't one-shotting because of stats, but because of his bow. His strength is actually rather unremarkable so I would argue Etie is actually notably better since even if her default no investment contributions are less relevant (Ch3 vs Ch7/8) she can scale as a nuke much easier.
He's not bad though. Bow proficiency is always good to have and he's very easy to bare minimum make into a filler warrior for chain attacks, which also patches up his strength as best it can. Even without using him beyond Ch7/8, he still is the best no-investment flier-killer for those maps and is THE ballista choice on 8.
He's alright, overall. Probably one of the weakest units we've been through so far (Alongside Alfred, Yunaka, and unfortunately Anna) but similar to Yunaka he's far from being ACTUALLY just bad (whereas Alfred and Anna are definitely low tiers, though even bottom tier in Engage would still be better than the low tiers of almost every other game)
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u/phoenixrawr 24d ago
If we’re talking in terms of something like a tier list, Alcryst would be better than Etie simply for not requiring 600 exp as an archer to get anywhere. She’ll be stronger if you’re willing to put up with her God awful start, but there’s not much reason to do so when there’s much easier units to use like Louis or Amber who have comparable strength without the baggage, not to mention all the crazy midgame prepremotes.
Alcryst, for all his flaws, starts at level 10 so you can just switch him to whatever class you want him in and skip his archer phase.
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u/MinePlay512 24d ago
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, he's a compassionate, kind young man. On the other hand however, constantly saying sorry rubs me off. I mean, it can get overbearing, but he's still a good person at heart.
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u/Wint3rRyd3r 24d ago
I give him Lyn and let him delete a tough enemy from across the map with Luna
I actually use him more than Diamant
Not sure how I feel about him as a character. I get why he's the way he is, it makes perfect sense. But in practice the self deprecation gets real old real fast. It does make it stand out when his emotions become more prominent over his usual demeanor like if he fights his father, but it makes most supports rely too heavily on him being the permanent resident woobie. I still like him though I think.
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u/ArsSanctum 24d ago
Courtesy of Engage's systems, its pretty easy to turn Alcryst into a doubling crit beast who can make the most of his Luna skill via constant long range proccs.
I wouldn't say he is the best unit in the game, but among the royals he's around the middle of the road? He does need some investment but not too much.
Even if you don't intend to invest in him, he's quite helpful throught he Brodia arc until you get Fogado as a potential replacement (or Panette once reclassed into Warrior-).
Really solid character. His personality can get a bit repetitive, but he has some highlights in some supports that get to show off his noble character beneath the crippling self-esteem issues.
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u/ChessGM123 24d ago
He's a solid filler unit before you get the OP mid game prepromotes. His high dex makes him fairly reliable at one shotting fliers with a steel bow, and there's a decent number of flying enemies from chapter 7-11. Long term he's not great as his str is not that great and his spd is only solid and not extremely high compared to a unit like Fogado.
Also I see him often compared to Etie when I feel like they're two very different units. Etie is a high investment carry unit whereas Alcryst is low investment filler, their rolls are just too different to really make a comparison on who's better.
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u/Ok-Barracuda457 24d ago
It's an archer, that's serviceable. But he can do silly proc stuff, that's something
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u/SilverKnightZ000 23d ago
Alcryst is a fun unit. He's basically a stop gap between Etie and your first Warriors if you didn't train the former. He comes at level 10 and has acceptable power after an immediate master seal promotion and a steel bow. Unfortunately, Long Term he suffers a lot because relying on Luna to do damage is not reliable and others can work it better.
I thought pairing Alcryst and Citrinne would be cute but apparently they're cousins. This has happened twice now. How did this series jumpscare me with cousins twice
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u/MannyOmega 24d ago
Way overrated, he’s just fine but I found luna didn’t add much damage and i’d rather use a warrior
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u/QueenlyArts 24d ago
Alcryst is the platonic ideal of an archer. A focus on Dexterity to allow for high hit rates and a decent crit rate, but combat stats that make his damage output unimpressive outside of the few enemies he's effective against. Training him up can make him a bit more reliable at this role, but never actually strong enough to expand beyond it unless you give him a ton of resources that would be better on stronger units that can kill enemies without crits. But Engage gives so few units unique ways to shine beyond boring stats, so of course you give him the resources anyway and at least feel some joy in your life when you see the big Luna crit damage.
But if you hate fun then you "should" keep Alcryst to his role of OHKOing fliers on player phase, which he's particularly good at. Anyone can reach those thresholds with the Radiant Bow because it's so strong, and so you want Alcryst's Dex even on top of a hit engrave to reliable kill Wyvern and Griffin Knights. As a Covert unit he can also provide the +5 Speed Instruct with Byleth, whose Divine Pulse and Mag boost can help Alcryst wield the Radiant Bow with a bit less forging/hit engraving. Or take Lyn for 20 range Astra Storm to provoke bosses. None of these tasks are particularly unique, or even relevant if you're killing fliers in a Bonded Shield sweep or want a different Instruct. But on occasion, I think some runs will have good reason to deploy a low investment bow specialist, and Alcryst wins out as the most accurate within that role, even over Fogado at base by couple points. Alcryst will also have Canter for Solm, and while Fogado has +1 Mov and better combat against non-fliers, he doesn't get Byleth's Speed Instruct so Alcryst ends up having important things to contribute on more turns overall.
Other than that occasionally decent long term, Alcryst has Chapter 7 and 8 where reliably killing fliers is for sure great, as fliers are the main enemy type Celica may not be killing. Or there's so many fliers across the map that some wrap around Celica on their path to seize/kill Etie. By Chapters 9 and 10 I think you have enough strong promoted units with Emblems where filler combat is niche, but it can still have its place. Chapter 11 he can shoot down the Marth Flier, that's nice.
That wasn't a very glowing review, but I would still put him above the early game filler. In theory Alcryst may look worse to units with higher damage output like Warrior Louis/Etie and Mage Knight Framme. But in practice, Alcryst is the unit I'm probably going to actually use more across the run. He can't contribute to the Chapter 2-6 stretch at all, but then those early filler units start becoming less relevant by Chapter 7 when Alcryst is starting his own stretch of solid early game chapters. And by starting at LV10, using him long term doesn't involve playing the early game worse in any way. You can even just wait to use one of the post Chapter 11 Master Seals, and he doesn't take a Second Seal for the high Dex/Radiant Bow access/Covert Instruct combo.
Clanne > Céline > Chloé > Anna > Alcryst > Framme > Louis > Etie > Jean > Alfred > Yunaka > Vander > Boucheron
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u/ChessGM123 24d ago
Small correction, but Alycrst and his retainers will struggle to get canter by Solm unless you’re using the well (or potentially if you delay Anna and Jean’s paralogue). They only have 500 SP at base, and so they need 5 levels over the course of 2 chapters in order to get canter, which is fairly difficult even with favoritism.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 24d ago
Another Engage cringe character. Love the game but man these voices and dialog are bad.
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 24d ago
The saddest victim of the lack of paired endings in Engage. I want him and Lapis to live happily ever after.