Fire Emblem: Path and Dawn on hard with no deaths

[scottie]

Average Stats at max level according to http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii/932999-fire-emblem-radiant-dawn/faqs/50649

Zihark
Hp Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res
53.8 31.6 13.6 40 40 25.4 24 24

Meg
Hp Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res
60 34.25 13.25 32 32 30 34.25 32

Barely significant advantage in str is very much overcome by the fact that Zihark will strike twice, meg probably wont, meaning Zihark does a lot more damage. Also, his skills will activate more often so he does even more damage

Decent advantage in Hp, Def, Res is more than overcome by Zihark's lower chance of being hit, and if he is given Vantage and adept then he has a pretty good chance of killing the enemy before they get to attack, even on the enemy's turn, thus Zihark is actually harder to kill than Meg, assuming you give both of them good skills.

Meg's stat total is alright, but the stats are badly distributed. She has too much luck - Zihark has enough that the crit chance against him from a none killer weapon should be 0, and Meg has either too much speed or not enough. If she's going to do damage she would want more so that she gets 2 hits, if she is just going to soak up damage then she doesn't need as much as she has, it could be lower and enemies still wouldn't get 2 hits against her.

And I find if you want the character to absorb attacks, it's better to have really high defense OR really high speed. Having decent of both leads to more damage due to how the hit chance and damage scale.