The main reason this game is so good(and replayable) is that it gives the player all sorts of interesting choices to make. You picked a very solid team scottie and its very important to know who you want to bring in endgame right from the start so you can plan ahead on which characters get the kills. I suggest to hold off using bonus XP as much as you can so you get more stat ups(bonus XP gives always 3 ) so you can save the bonus XP when you see that your characters are capping their stats and you will be able to get stats in those areas where the characters have slow growth(example; ike resistance to magic). That of course is if your not doing it already ;) Good luck with those random criticals hehe...
The team i always use is this(no royals i prefare beorc)
The forced characters;
IKE (a beast with aether earth affinity, pair with titania, keeps all his skills plus gets miracle from his cute sister)
MICAIAH ( save the purge scroll and bomb from distance after yune blessing multiple physic rods, pairs with sanaki, skills usually paragons as she has to catch up)
SOTHE (pretty much useless just give him paragon to catch up and level up as much as you can before forced promotion (paragon) that or just ignore him, he usually gets stillness from volke and his weapons.
SANAKI ( save and give her all blizzard and meteor scrolls for endgame save one shot for yune blessing,pairs with micaiah, paragon skill to catch up)
KURTHNAGA ( very usefull and powerful if leveled up with BXP to level 30 then give him IRE with satori sign, earth affinity pair with ena, gets paragon if one is available)
ENA (useless even if leveled up so just pair with kurth strip her of useful skills and put on him and hope she doesn't die too quickly(very likey)
My choice characters;
NOLAN (powerful with fast gains earth element, pair with zihark both earth nothing will hit them, automatically gets nihil doesn't need much else apart from paragon to catch up later and he gets there very quickly)
ZIHARK (best dawn brigade character imho, pair with nolan earth affinity, give him vantage and wrath after leveling him with paragon and watch in delight as him and nolan rip through enemies without getting hit,ever)
TITANIA ( great from start to end lacks a bit of power but oh well, front row character pairs with front row main man ike, give her imbue and with sol almost never needs healing)
MIA ( Quick deadly much easier to level up then edward, pairs with shinon , gets wrath and adept, awesome)
SHINON ( Simply godly and much easier to level then rolf, pairs with mia , gets nihil and daunt , he can also hit from 4 spaces when promoted which means he does't get countered , what more do you need? )
HAAR ( fantastic fliying tank from start through most of the game in the end lacks speed gains so use speedwings, gets adept to counter this weekness which he activates quite often, pairs with nephenee)
NEPHENEE ( Death with a lance, needs a bit of nurturing at first but once promoted hmmm yummy, pairs with haar, gets vantage and the other imbue, very likely to cap most stats but worth giving her extras if shes doesn't get quite there)
GATRIE ( A tank nuff said, pairs with boyd , doesn't need much help with skills but i do give him boots for extra movement, usually save the brave axe for him so he can double in the end, activates luna regularly so no probs)
BOYD ( Power tons of HP , pairs with above tank, usually gets renewal skill for replenishment when he gets hit and whatever useful left over skills i have)
ELINCIA ( The best healer in the game that can handle herself in combat very well with amiti, pairs with rafiel , remove mercy immidiately and stick pavise on her with a miracle just for compliment, gets fortify, restore and physic staffs for endgame)
Heron;
RAFIEL ( he is weak with only 5 movement and no canto? yes so what, he can vigor 4 characters right from the start, repeat 4! In endgame that means twice healing for elincia twice long distance bombing for sanaki micaiah plus twice whatever other character you want! The movement problem can be solved by sticking celerty on him and he will be far off the front line for canto to matter, you can do the same thing with reyson (laguz gem) you might argue but i'll take the extra couple of turns of damage and healing and save gems for kurth )
Sorry for the long post but i just had to do it :p
