Descended from dragons? Check. Mysterious dark past with convenient amnesia? Check. Sword fighter? Check. High SPD with a preference for STR and DEF over MAG and RES? Check. Yep, it’s a Fire Emblem protagonist, alright. Alear begins the game as a Dragon Child Lvl 1, and regardless of what her stats or abilities are, you don’t really have an option whether to bring her along or not. She’s a mandatory include in pretty much every story battle in the game, and more than that, her defeat is a fail condition. You’ll need to make the best of it and instead of trying to hide your commander, make her as hard as possible for enemies to kill. This page will cover Alear’s strengths and weaknesses, including her starting stats, stat maximums and stat growths, and suggest the best classes and Emblem Rings for Alear.

Alear’s Stats and Stat Growths¶

If you’ve heard the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”, well… Alear is more of a “Jack of some trades, master of none. Her HP, STR, DEX, SPD and DEF growths are all good, but none are top-tier, while her MAG, RES and LCK are all middling. Even though Alear’s not the strongest in any category, having the second or third best growths in most relevant categories means Alear has no real glaring weaknesses as a warrior, and even her poor stats aren’t glaringly bad. Since her SPD is high, she’ll be a competent AVO tank. With a high DEF and decent HP and RES, even if she takes a few rare hits, it shouldn’t matter much. A good STR score and high DEX means she’ll also hit relatively hard, and if equipped correctly, should inflict critical hits regularly. Give her a sword and send her to the front lines - it’s hard to go wrong, here.

Best Classes for Alear¶

There are several defining traits that will help us narrow down classes for Alear. First, her STR growth outstrips her MAG growth by 15%, so she’ll very likely end up looking to deal physical damage instead of magic damage. Second, her SPD is too high to squander, being just 5% lower than the fastest characters in the game. Putting her in a low SPD class just doesn’t make a lot of sense, as you’ll be leaving a lot of AVO on the table doing that. Third, her high DEF is worth considering, but in light of her SPD, not a dealbreaker. She also has a unique sword that only she can use, which is similar to a Steel Sword, stat-wise, but charges her Engage meter when she defeats enemies, making us sentimentally predisposed towards keeping her using swords. Unfortunately there are quite a few classes which fall into these parameters, so let’s take a closer look at some of the contenders:

As you can see, there are a lot of viable options, on paper, which is to say, the Divine Dragon class really doesn’t blow more common classes out of the water, statistically. That said, DEX gives +2 HIT and +0.5 CRIT per point while SPD gives +2 AVO and a chance to perform follow-up attacks. SPD is going to win over DEX in a point-for-point matchup; even a five point drop in DEX will only have a 2.5% drop on CRIT rate, as compared to a 10% loss of AVO.

Divine Dragon¶

Sometimes the obvious choice is the best choice… and sometimes your protagonist’s unique class is Divine Dragon. Alear starts out a Dragon Child, and can promote to a Divine Dragon, which is very similar, but possesses higher stat growths, access to arts (B grade) and faster MOV. The class also compliment’s Alear’s stats, giving her access to decent HP (68), good max STR (42), DEF (35) and SPD (44). The only real odd feature of this class is its pedestrian DEX cap (37). Its class ability, Divine Spirit, further enhances Alear’s ability to spam Engage states (especially if farming kills with Liberation), but it’s not perhaps so great as to keep our eyes from straying…

Swordmaster¶

Compared to the Divine Dragon, the Swordmaster will have comparable HP, STR, MAG and RES, while gaining eight points of DEX cap (45 to 37) and six points of SPD cap (50 to 44), meaning Swordmaster Alear will have a higher AVO, a greater chance of performing followup attacks and a higher CRIT rate. This comes at the expense of eight points lower max DEF (27 vs 35), which is offset somewhat by the higher AVO and a slightly inhibited ability to spam Engage states. It’s really hard to find a good argument against potentially having a 4% higher CRIT rate and +12 AVO as a Swordmaster.

Hero¶

The Hero has more HP (75) than both the Divine Dragon and the Swordmaster and boasts a higher max STR (46) and lower SPD (42)… but not so low that it greatly inhibits Alear’s AVO. As a Hero, Alear will have comparable DEX and DEF, making this something of a lateral change that favors brute strength while giving Alear the option of taking a second weapon (either an axe or lance - your choice). The Hero’s class skill, “Brave Assist”, doubles down on chain attacks, which perhaps isn’t the worst thing, considering Alear’s personal skill buffs her allies while she’s nearby.

Paladin¶

Why have Paladins when you can be a Paladin? The Paladin compares well to the Divine Dragon in numerous categories; the Paladin has higher HP (77), STR (46), DEX (46) and RES (29) at the expense of SPD (38). Still, that’s a whole lot of gains for 4 points of SPD, and you’ll get an S rank in Swords.

Best Emblem Rings for Alear¶

Alear is in an odd place stat-wise, which makes her selection of classes unusually open to debate. This, in turn, influences her battlefield role and hence what Emblem Rings she should have.

Sigurd¶

If you go with Swordmaster or Divine Dragon, Alear can rival Yunaka as a potential AVO tank. If you settle for a more damage-heavy build, like Hero or Paladin, that could put Alear on the fringes of AVO tank candidacy. Sigurd is a pretty solid choice for any character who will end up with 40+ SPD, hence Alear deserves a mention in most cases, although whether you want to play hero with the one character you can’t afford to lose is another matter.

Lyn¶

Whenever Sigurd is a good pick, Lyn probably is, too. Her Speedtaker ability will give Alear more SPD the more times she initiates combat and kills enemies, while Alacrity will allow Alear to follow-up before an enemy can attack if Alear has a 9+ SPD advantage over the enemy, something Speedtaker will make more likely as the battle goes on. Lyn’s Astra Storm allows Alear to make use of a very long-ranged option, which they otherwise lack.

Leif¶

Mostly a consideration if you go with a Hero Alear, Leif will allow Alear to swap between her weapons on the fly (as long as she’s not initiating combat), preventing breaks and potentially reducing damage when Alear has advantage.

Lucina¶

Alear’s personal skill, Divinely Inspiring, grants adjacent allies +3 damage and reduces incoming damage by 1. She wants to be in the thick of combat, and Lucina will complement this positioning via “Dual Assist” which allows Alear to make chain attacks even when out of range, “Dual Strike” which grants Alear the ability to make chain attacks despite potentially not being a backup unit, “Bonded Shield” which blocks attacks directed at adjacent allies, and “All for One”, which provokes nearby allies to perform chain attacks against an adjacent foe you strike. Alear + Lucina and Lapis + Lyn traveling around the map are quite a fearsome duo

Edelgard¶

Generally a powerful Emblem, Emblem Edelgard is best used with a Divine Dragon Alear, who can spam Engage State. While engaged, Alear can benefit from Weapon Sync, which is a flat damage bonus, and make use of a variety of weapons, as the situation demands. Houses United is an absurdly strong finisher, as well.

Best Skills for Alear¶

As for skills, Alear should learn and inherit the standard leveling skills: Lineage from Edelgard (substitute with Mentorship from Byleth if you don’t have access to it) and Starsphere from Tiki. Like most fighters, Alear will benefit from Marth’s AVO+ skills, especially if she’s a Paladin or Hero. Tiki’s Lifesphere is also wonderful for a passive AVO tank, as it’ll heal Alear for up to 40HP (and remove status effects!) while she waits. You could also go out of your way to learn Lyn’s Alacrity and Speedtaker abilities if you wanted to benefit from those without having Lyn equipped.