Baros (Drums of War)
Jagens are a tricky archetype to balance in Fire Emblem. That early-game prepromote tagging along with your scrub squad is essential for smoothing over the early-game training montage, setting up kills while also retaining the ability to selectively nuke a particularly dangerous enemy to keep your lord safe. Eventually, most Jagens fall by the wayside once promotions roll in, making way for the higher potential units that they’ve shepherded into the midgame.
Personally, I’m not usually a fan of using Jagens (or other prepromotes, for that matter) longer than I have to: I’m here to train a death squad from scratch, not be coddled by some old fart with the growth rates of a slightly uppity turnip.
In comes Drums of War’s Baros, a dutiful and patriotic magister who we’re introduced to as he’s lamenting the state of Rijesca’s rebelliousness to Captain Roxelana. After rounding up a levy of motley recruits to bring to bear in the Confederation’s grand campaign in Aulestra, we ride out to destroy the rebel cell festering in Leijia, and Baros joins our company in earnest. Surely, this seasoned commander of the Guard strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies with his devastating power, right?
Eh…
Well, he’s got enough Strength and Skill to chip enemies reliably enough, and his defenses are good enough to tank a decent amount of punishment. But that 10 Speed is the real sticking point here: he’s not exactly looking like a combat carry past the first few maps, and often has to rely on his Silver Sword to one-shot mages when he fails to reach the doubling threshold. He’s certainly no slouch, but compared to our relatively seasoned recruits, he doesn’t make that great of a first impression. He’s clearly not going to be sticking around very long once we start promoting.
And as we sail into Aulestra and the company discovers how woefully out of their depth they are, so too do many players grow increasingly… disillusioned with Baros. You have early access to two other Cavaliers whose base stats are only a few good levels away from exceeding Baros, and already have the 8 movement that Jagen Paladins are usually prized for. In addition, the ransom system means that you’re easily finding units with bases who rival Baros in combat, such as Helje and Etienne. Heck, at a certain point, Roxelana begins to feel more like the early-game carry than Baros, with her impressive bulk and capacity to delete armor/cavalry units.
And as if the narrative reads my mind:
(You tell him, Radu!)
With faith in the Confederation and our Jagen floundering after a desperate last stand in chapter 4, Baros ends up leaving the party completely, riding off to look for imaginary Confederation reinforcements while Roxelana and her crew quietly slip away into the arms of the Exiles. And with that comes the end of Act 1.
Drums of War is quite a fast-paced level curve in comparison to other Fire Emblem games. Most units in the Prologue start at around level 5-7, and most of your army by the end of Chapter 5 is ready to promote, including Roxelana herself. And these aren’t early promotions either: Here’s a sample 20/1 Petras promoted right after Baros leaves the party:
As you can see, the player isn’t exactly hurting for powerful units at this stage of the game. And I say all this because you don’t see Baros again until Chapter 8. Where he’s… not exactly happy about being left behind:
(Do you need a Snickers bar, man?)
He’s the main boss of the chapter, and he rejoins you once you beat him and have a heartfelt conversation about abandoning the Confederation. And after this great reunion is finally resolved, what do you receive?
A Paladin who’s fallen so far off the bench he might as well have stayed gone. His bases stay the exact same as before he left. Those impressive stat boosts you saw when he was on the throne? Apparently, that was a one-and-done type deal.
To add insult to injury, take a look at the ransom unit you have the option of recruiting in literally the previous cutscene:
It’s not even close. Evander is leagues tankier, stronger, even faster than Baros. So by the time he’s welcomed back into the fold, most players won’t think twice as they bench him completely. I know I did on my first playthrough! And the second… and the third… and however many more times I’ve replayed Drums of War, leaving Baros behind past maybe the first couple of maps.
And then I had a funny idea.
Now, when I made this declaration, I was fully prepared to endure a lot of tedium in training him to a usable state. I expected he’d need a lot of favoritism to compete with the other Cavalry/Fliers on my squad, and that it would basically be a funny but ultimately impractical meme.
Boy, was I wrong.
(And all he needed was some brilliance and a Speedwing…)
As it turns out, I’ve not given you the full story on the role that Baros plays. Because, despite his first impression as a pre-promote Paladin wielding a Silver weapon, Baros isn’t really a Jagen in this hack at all. In fact…
He’s actually the Shinon.
(I apologize sir, I was not familiar with your game.)
If we peel back the curtain and look at Baros’s growth rates, he’s absolutely cracked. 65% Strength and 80% Skill means an easy cap on his offensive reliability, while his 60% Defense (a ridiculous stat considering Petras, the premier tanky armor knight, has a 65% growth) and his 40% Res makes him an 8-move tank able to shrug off damage from both magic and physical attacks. Even his lacking Speed is still nearly a coinflip at 45%. He can easily turn into one of your best enemy-phasers by late game with a bit of investment, especially if you give him the Strange Brew to reset his level.
Additionally, Baros’s incredible weapon ranks give him another leg up over his competition. He can easily reach S-rank in both Lances and Swords, a feat that can be pretty challenging for many of your other units, considering Drums of War’s short length. In my own playthrough, despite using 4 lance users, none of them managed to achieve S rank before the end of the game aside from Baros, giving him near exclusive access to all three S-rank Lances (sorry Luthor, but that spear is mine)
In a sense, you really have to be a true believer to stick with Baros. His incredible growths are hidden from the player, and the impression he gives when he rejoins you feels almost crafted to repel you from using him in favor of Evander or any other trained unit you have. Yet, if you stick by the Magistrate as I did, you’ll find yourself holding the same respect for his abilities as the people of Rijesca in the end.