Where should Merric drop?

This is not a "should he drop" topic. He's going to drop. I just don't know where.

For those not in the know, people aren't getting Merric to level 20 by Ch. 10/11. More like Level 9-10. This affects the viability of such a setup!

Level 9-10? I mean I didn't have him at 20 by Ch 11, but he was definitely higher than L10. Around L15-16 IIRC. I don't have any sort of objective evidence to offer though, so w/e.

If these are his estimated Curate levels though, then I'd think he should be considered as going Mage -> Sage instead. 20% Mag growth beats 5% Spd growth, and earlygame Excalibur is cool (though I suppose it can be duplicated by Wendell).

I had Merric heal/barrier on 95% of every turn in my current playthrough. Here are my turncounts:

Chapter 1: 16 turns
Chapter 2: 12 turns
Chapter 3: 18 turns
Chapter 4: 14 turns
Chapter 5: 11 turns
Chapter 6: 11 turns
Chapter 6x: 12 turns
Chapter 7: 9 turns
Chapter 8: 6 turns
Chapter 9: 11 turns

Levels at the end of Chapter 9:

Marth 8.94: 23 HP, 11 Str, 12 Spd, 9 Def
Shiida 12.34: 30 HP, 6 Str, 20 Spd, 9 Def
Cain 12.27: 29 HP, 11 Str, 13 Spd, 10 Def (C Swords)
Barst 15.02: 35 HP, 16 Str, 13 Spd, 11 Def
Cord 12.93: 23 HP, 13 Str, 15 Spd, 6 Def (C Bows)
Lena 11.19: 17 HP, 2 Mag, 9 Spd, 3 Def
Merric 10.54: 27 HP, 4 Mag, 13 Spd, 6 Def
Sedgar 3.54: 31 HP, 10 Str, 5 Spd, 17 Def

Mekkah has similar results, and a similar level for Merric at the end of Chapter 10.

Playing efficiently really cuts down on his level.

PS: I realize that Sedgar is a bit underlevelled.

Yes, I think it's time turn expectancy should enter into this, and thus I think this is the beginning of the list going under major changes.

I had similar results, and I have to agree that mage->sage is a much better route, especially with having 2 Excalibur users. In fact, I just wish to say I feel mage class is somewhat underrated. That's just me though, and let's stick with Maric for now.

As for where he'd drop? Certainly upper mid, but I seriously can't see him lower than that. I think he could stand to go below Wendell (times don't change, do they?), PERHAPS Ogma. Wendell's got earlygame (the harder portion), while Maric has significantly greater mid-lategame performance. However, breaking that tiebreaker is that Wendell has been using staffs early on, making him more versatile from the start, a sort of versatility Maric can only grow to match, but he has to grow in order to match it in the first place.

I would not be so bold as to say they should switch places, since Wendell is a bit garbage-y when brave weapons show up. However, with faster than usual promoted leveling speed (thanks to staffs), his time and leveling opportunity help make up for his shitty growths. He has 12 AS, he could soon be doubling reliably for most of the game. With the 3 Str base of Sage, he's doubling with higher level tomes, such as Elfire. Wendell's just a bit too good during his time, only hitting a brick wall when the braves show up.

In short, Wendell has a good amount of mileage above Maric, and I think that the student once again does not quite surpass the master.

Granted, it IS a closer race than it was in other games...

Maybe it's about time we stop hyping Wendell so much. He's a nice low resource guy, but after Ch7 or so this guy stops doubling anything except Armors, and to something like a Cavalier he has trouble doing double digit without a high level tome last time I checked. He becomes like a generic healer/mage that can use Mend and Excalibur and gets 2HKO'd instead of OHKO'd.

And I vehemently disagree with Merric in Upper Mid.

Mage is helping him gain EXP any faster how?

And I vehemently disagree with Merric in Upper Mid.

As do I.

Killing things definitely gives more EXP than healing per time it's done, especially if he's killing Dracoknights. Of course, kills can also be gotten by others, and Merric can heal more often than kill, which is why he should be a Mage only when convenient.

I agree with CATS, I've always had Curates at 15-16 by Chapter 10. I still see him as one of the best competitors for the first Seal. Maybe I just spam Barrier, Warp, and Psychic too much, but 40 Exp a Psychic and 50 a Warp is just too good to pass up. >_>;

Also, agreed with Mekkah and BB about him not going into Upper Mid. I'm even having trouble seeing him under Chainey since he's got 14 chapters of having anti-flier utility and just having awesome offense in general when he goes Mage, and then staves for when he goes Curates.

The tier list is going to assume level 9-10.

EDIT: note that this post doesn't mean I'm stubborn about him dropping, but that I had previously expected to. If he doesn't drop, then it's a testament to how useful he is.

Maybe I just spam Barrier, Warp, and Psychic too much

Personally, I used none of these on Merric much for different reasons. First off, he starts with E rank, so until he got a C it was always Lena who did Warp and Physic when I needed them. I don't know when my Merric hit C, but D was after Ch6x. I'm stingy on the uses of all of these when not necessary because they're limited (especially Physic, compared to how much I'd like to spam it), though prolly a bit too much. IOS used Barrier a lot more than me, and his Merric was about a full level ahead of mine usually. At Ch10, mine is pretty much L9.

However, we must be wary of basing too much on personal experience. I've been somewhat inefficient with Merric at some points, and I believe that for an efficiency tier list we assume he isn't. Nonetheless, I'm having trouble seeing him much higher than 12 at Ch10.

If he's 12 in Ch 10, then he's 13 in Ch 11, which is a few levels under what I and Ninji had and a few above IOS. Sounds fair to me.

He was 12.22 at the end of Chapter 10 in my playthrough, after a 14 turn completion.

EDIT: 14.73 at the end of Chapter 11. Psychic really brought his level up. That was a 12 turn completion.

Actually, level 11-12 sounds a bit more accurate to me.

Doesn't change my stance on our healer though. Wendell not doubling depends on his level. Level 5 by chapter 9, he can double the 9 AS pirates fine with his then 13 AS. He will start doubling common threats again soon enough when he hits 10.

He doesn't really stop doubling, as much as his ability to double hits speed bumps. When he stops doubling is when paladins and 12 AS cavs start becoming the norm.

But I suppose that Wendell moving up nor Maric moving down is going to happen, looking at how small the gap between Wendell and Maric is. Since everyone disagrees with me on this one, he doesn't really have anywhere to move down to, unless Chainey is able to climb over him (and why would he? As useful as he is, availability is an issue).

Now he's 17.11 thanks to psychic staff abuse at the end of a 13 turn Chapter 12 completion (well not really abuse, not he almost burned through it completely). In comparison:

Marth: 11.59
Caeda: 15.07
Cain: 15.57
Barst: 15/4.30
Cord: 16.37
Sedgar: 6.94

I say that's fine to seal since you get two in C12.

17/1's hardly much worse than 20/1 one chapter earlier, so Merric probably shouldn't drop, after all.

Guess I can't disagree in light of that.

Guess Maric stays where he is.