Fire Emblem Engage, the newest Fire Emblem game for the Nintendo Switch since the spin-off game Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, was released on January 20, 2023, and has been a success so far. This game takes place in the land of Elyos, a continent threatened by the liberation of an old evil entity, the Fell Dragon, also known as Sombron. With stopping this evil as their mission, Alear embarks on a journey to collect all 12 Emblem Rings.
While Fire Emblem Engage brought back countless characters from older titles, these were mostly made into the Emblem rings rather than stand-alone units. This leaves room for many new units to shine in the game as the players explore the new gameplay mechanics. While there are arguably no bad units, some stand out more. They are the ones that the players should be looking to make use of more and while the game can absolutely be enjoyed while using any units, these offer a slight edge over the others.
7 Kagetsu
Kagetsu is one of Ivy’s retainers – being loyal to the Kingdom of Elusia. He is, however, from another foreign land, the Pale Sands. Due to this, he has a peculiar way of speech and a weapon reflective of his hometown.
As a unit, Kagetsu is a master of the sword – starting off immediately as a swordmaster. He wields a Wo Dao, a sword that grants its user a very high critical rate, similar to a Killing Edge. His growth rates are geared towards high speed and dexterity making him hit twice and accurately, often.
6 Celine
Céline is the Princess of the Firene Kingdom and Alfred’s younger sister. She first joins the team during chapter 4, where she is equipped with the ring of the Caring Princess, which is the ring of Celica, a perfect match for Céline.
Starting off her journey as a Noble just like her brother Alfred, she later promotes to the class of Vidame. She specializes in magic and swords, making her a perfect fit for a sword such as Levin. While her magic stat growth is not that incredible, she makes up for it with her high speed, resistance, and Luck growth.
5 Merrin
Merrin is a knight from the Solm Kingdom. As a retainer to the Crown Princess of Solm Timerra, she has an energetic personality, but also a curious appearance, having a wolf tail.
Her starting class in chapter 13 is as a Wolf Knight, using knives as her main weapon, but being also decently proficient in swords. Her stats growth focus mainly on speed and dexterity, however, she is a very balanced unit. Her main issue could be low strength growth.
4 Chloé
Chloé is a knight from the Firene Kingdom and acts as the retainer to Princess Céline, alongside Louis. Being from a noble lineage, she is gentle and has a great relationship with Céline.
Her starting class in chapter 4 is the Lance Flier, but after she levels up to level 10 she can change classes with a master seal into a Griffin Knight, boosting most of her stats. Chloé’s stats are geared towards Speed, Dexterity, but also HP.
3 Ivy
Ivy is the Crown Princess of the Elusia Kingdom – a kingdom known for its cold and harsh weather as well as their worship of the Fell Dragon. Starting off as an enemy unit, she becomes available to the player during chapter 11.
Her starting class is that of a Wing Tamer, which grants her high movement while being able to use tomes and staves. She can later be promoted to the Lindwurm class. Ivy excels in Magic and Resistance, making her great at both attacking with magic and resisting magic attacks from enemies.
2 Alfred
Alfred is the Crown Prince of the Firene Kingdom and one of, if not, its very strongest fighters. He is Céline's older brother. He can be seen as lacking self-awareness by his friends.
Alfred’s starting class in chapter 3 is the Noble Class but after reaching Level 10 he can unlock the Avenir class which allows him to use not only lances but swords too. His growth stats have a focus on HP, Strength, Defense, and Luck. He also has a great Speed growth and only lacks in Magic and Resistance. His personal skill grants him strength +2 if he chooses to wait, adding to his already high might.
1 Alear
Alear is the game’s main character and is, without a doubt, one of its best units. Awakening after a thousand years and being a part of the Divine Dragon race, Alear prepares themselves to fight the Fell Dragon Sombron.
Starting their journey as the Dragon Child class, Alear has good growth rates all over the board, except for magic mainly. After Alear is promoted to Divine Dragon, they’re able to use arts in addition to their sword. The personal skill Divinely Aspiring assists adjacent allies by granting +3 damage dealt and -1 damage received from enemy units.