A decently big gap between the two, but I want to illustrate a point.
So Athena joins in 6x, and probably won't get a chance to see too much action due to the positioning of her village. She probably won't have gained a level, so lets see how she looks in Chapter 7:
Athena 10/0: 25 HP, 17 Atk (+1) (Steel Sword), 13 AS, 7 Def
Anything with 20+ Attack is going to 2RKO her. Unfortunately not Athena, WTD gives lance users +1 might, leaving only Archers and the thief that don't 2RKO her. Archers are also conveniently the only enemy that she can double, although she will still only be able to 2RKO. Against anybody else? She 7RKOs the Wyvern, 3RKOs Mercs and Pegs, and will 4RKO those Cav reinforcements (no enemy stats for Chapter 7 Cavs, but even Chapter 2 Cavs would be 4RKO'd). What makes things worse for her is that she is locked to 1 range. When she's 2RKO'd by almost everybody on the map, her offence is going to be severely, severely limited.
So Athena is definitely lacking in her beginning stages. Does she stack up when Jake joins? Lets find out by looking at them in Chapter 12...
Jake 1/0: 20 HP, 19 Atk (Arrowspate, +2 mt), 14 Def
Athena 14/0: 28 HP, 22 Atk (+3) (Silver Sword), 15 AS, 7 Def
Lets take a look at Chapter 12. 21 Atk is now the magic number to 2RKO Athena. There is one thief on the entire map that has 20 Attack. Everything else will 2RKO her. Unfortunately for Athena, she's still limited to 1 range as well. Her durability holds her otherwise decent offense. She is able to double unpromoted enemies like Cavs for a 2RKO. Taking a counter every round makes her too much of a high maintenance unit to be effective.
Jake on the other hand is a no-maintenance unit. He can just sit back and chip enemies without a care in the world. But why is he getting +2 might? +2 might on Arrowspate costs $2000, or the price of a Silver Sword. You'll have to buy that weapon for Athena, so you might as well even out the funds. Keep in mind also that Athena will constantly lose 1 might for attacking lance users. This brings their attack within two points of each other. Admittedly Jake isn't doubling, but he doesn't have to worry about being shielded, being healed, being screwed if one of his attacks misses, he's fine and dandy in the backlines. I'd rather have a unit who does nothing but contribute positively to the team then somebody who does what everyone else on the team can (2RKO, or in some of the high/top tier character's cases: ORKO) but is much higher maintenance.
Chapter 16 might be a bit early for Athena to hit Level 20 due to her limited combat abilities. We'll say she's 18/0 and promote her. Jake gets increased experience thanks to his class, and comes severely underlevelled. B2BD had him at Level 16 by Chapter 16. This seems a bit too high, so I'll knock him down 3 levels to Level 13.
Athena 18/1: 37 HP, 25 Atk (+3) (Silver Sword), 19 AS, 10 Def
Jake 13: 25 HP, 24 Atk (Stonehoist), 16 Def
Athena's AS unfortunately doesn't allow her to double anything except for Cavs/Paladins (and Armors I suppose). Whats even more embarrassing is that she is still 2RKOing these guys, while the rest of the team can likely either Ridersbane them, or outright ORKO them (like Cord/Barst). So apart from the Cavs/Paladins, she's doing exactly the same offensively as Jake, unless she doesn't have WTD. Whats even more embarrassing is that she's still locked to 1 range (unless she wants to use lol Thunder Sword), and anything with 29 attack can ORKO her. This means that some Wyverns, Cav 8/10s, the Paladin and General STILL 2RKO her. Athena really isn't improving at all, as she's still high maintenance. Jake is still doing his job perfectly, able to snipe away at enemies to his hearts content. Take Wyverns for example. If he switches to Arrowspate, he leaves Wyverns with less then 10 HP left. Wyverns are arguably the biggest threats on the map, made much easier thanks to Jake.
Jake is still as low maintenance as they come, and does nothing but contribute positively to the team. Athena is still not doing anything offensively that the rest of the team can't already do, and she's still among the worst units defensively. I think that Jake's pure positive utility should mean that Athena drops below him.
Thoughts?
So Athena joins in 6x, and probably won't get a chance to see too much action due to the positioning of her village. She probably won't have gained a level, so lets see how she looks in Chapter 7:
Athena 10/0: 25 HP, 17 Atk (+1) (Steel Sword), 13 AS, 7 Def
Anything with 20+ Attack is going to 2RKO her. Unfortunately not Athena, WTD gives lance users +1 might, leaving only Archers and the thief that don't 2RKO her. Archers are also conveniently the only enemy that she can double, although she will still only be able to 2RKO. Against anybody else? She 7RKOs the Wyvern, 3RKOs Mercs and Pegs, and will 4RKO those Cav reinforcements (no enemy stats for Chapter 7 Cavs, but even Chapter 2 Cavs would be 4RKO'd). What makes things worse for her is that she is locked to 1 range. When she's 2RKO'd by almost everybody on the map, her offence is going to be severely, severely limited.
So Athena is definitely lacking in her beginning stages. Does she stack up when Jake joins? Lets find out by looking at them in Chapter 12...
Jake 1/0: 20 HP, 19 Atk (Arrowspate, +2 mt), 14 Def
Athena 14/0: 28 HP, 22 Atk (+3) (Silver Sword), 15 AS, 7 Def
Lets take a look at Chapter 12. 21 Atk is now the magic number to 2RKO Athena. There is one thief on the entire map that has 20 Attack. Everything else will 2RKO her. Unfortunately for Athena, she's still limited to 1 range as well. Her durability holds her otherwise decent offense. She is able to double unpromoted enemies like Cavs for a 2RKO. Taking a counter every round makes her too much of a high maintenance unit to be effective.
Jake on the other hand is a no-maintenance unit. He can just sit back and chip enemies without a care in the world. But why is he getting +2 might? +2 might on Arrowspate costs $2000, or the price of a Silver Sword. You'll have to buy that weapon for Athena, so you might as well even out the funds. Keep in mind also that Athena will constantly lose 1 might for attacking lance users. This brings their attack within two points of each other. Admittedly Jake isn't doubling, but he doesn't have to worry about being shielded, being healed, being screwed if one of his attacks misses, he's fine and dandy in the backlines. I'd rather have a unit who does nothing but contribute positively to the team then somebody who does what everyone else on the team can (2RKO, or in some of the high/top tier character's cases: ORKO) but is much higher maintenance.
Chapter 16 might be a bit early for Athena to hit Level 20 due to her limited combat abilities. We'll say she's 18/0 and promote her. Jake gets increased experience thanks to his class, and comes severely underlevelled. B2BD had him at Level 16 by Chapter 16. This seems a bit too high, so I'll knock him down 3 levels to Level 13.
Athena 18/1: 37 HP, 25 Atk (+3) (Silver Sword), 19 AS, 10 Def
Jake 13: 25 HP, 24 Atk (Stonehoist), 16 Def
Athena's AS unfortunately doesn't allow her to double anything except for Cavs/Paladins (and Armors I suppose). Whats even more embarrassing is that she is still 2RKOing these guys, while the rest of the team can likely either Ridersbane them, or outright ORKO them (like Cord/Barst). So apart from the Cavs/Paladins, she's doing exactly the same offensively as Jake, unless she doesn't have WTD. Whats even more embarrassing is that she's still locked to 1 range (unless she wants to use lol Thunder Sword), and anything with 29 attack can ORKO her. This means that some Wyverns, Cav 8/10s, the Paladin and General STILL 2RKO her. Athena really isn't improving at all, as she's still high maintenance. Jake is still doing his job perfectly, able to snipe away at enemies to his hearts content. Take Wyverns for example. If he switches to Arrowspate, he leaves Wyverns with less then 10 HP left. Wyverns are arguably the biggest threats on the map, made much easier thanks to Jake.
Jake is still as low maintenance as they come, and does nothing but contribute positively to the team. Athena is still not doing anything offensively that the rest of the team can't already do, and she's still among the worst units defensively. I think that Jake's pure positive utility should mean that Athena drops below him.
Thoughts?