Why is the Dawn Brigade bad?

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Well, I already knew this before I played FE10 but now that I’m playing FE10, the difference between playing with Greil Mercenaries and Dawn Brigade is simply absurd.

There could be many reasons for that which I’m sure many people have figured out. Its best described in this comment :

“The Dawn Brigade is a rag-tag group of freedom fighters, not a highly trained mercenary group. The only one with actual combat experience I believe is Nolan, and he also happens to be the best unit of the DB before the stronger units arrive.”

While people can debate about Nolan, the core idea of that comment is true. Gameplaywise, Dawn Brigade is handicapped. Maybe that’s why they had to give so many “I win” buttons just to make it fair for average players.

Now let’s get to Micaiah (the symbol of Dawn Brigade). When we talk about FE9 and FE10 most of us will only remember Ike as the protagonist even though Maciah exists. As a forced unit, she’s so freaking bad, I cannot explain. (Although, there are people who don’t like Ike because they didn’t notice anything significant in him.)

Micaiah isn’t wearing armour like Black Knight or some general. Even Generals are fast in this game, so why Micaiah, as a mage, is slow ? I get it, people will try to tell me that she’s not a fighter, just a symbol of hope, but look at Sephiran. That man is a beast. Altina was the same, so why their descendants suck ? If Micaiah had the potential to grow as strong as Ike, by the end of the game, then that would’ve been truly glorious because it isn’t surprising to see the true apostle as a strong mage.. Micaiah had a lot of potential.

But maybe, writers really wanted us to feel for Greil Mercenaries after putting us through Dawn brigade. They literally “sacrificed” Micaiah so that Ike can become the best FE protagonist. But I don’t hate Ike.

And people might say, Meg and Fiona aren’t trash, they just require effort. This ISN’T FE8. You don’t have a tower of valni. Most people will choose Titania and Gatrie because they’re the best choice and will be consistent even in the Endgame.

But let’s look for more perspectives. Please don’t fight over “which character is the best fighter” in Dawn Brigade.

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The game design is crap

The split parties that go to war with each other is a great concept, but in practice the GMs have more availability than most DB units before part 4 while starting at a higher level. The problem with DB is they just dont scale well relative to how the game progresses.

DB just needed more focus tbh, this is supposed to be their game, but somehow Ike is now the main character again halfway through the game lmao

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Micaiah has the skill “sacrifice”. So she must have sacrificed her position as protagonist to salvage Radiant hero, Ike.

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I don’t remember who said it here, but the big problem both narratively and in gameplay for FE10 (even if I love the game) is that there is a contradiction between how they are trying to portray a “grey” situation, like with the whole 1st Act being the direct consequences of the actions Ike and his army in the previous game, and the fact that they want to make Ike into a kinda mythical hero

When Ike appears on the scene every critical aspects of his actions disappears to make him a More-than-Man Figure, and Micaiah become more and more relegated to the background. Same goes for the balance in Act 3 where switching from his invincible army to the few chapters where you play the dawn brigade make Micaiah groups looks even worse. And it’s not helped by the Blood Pact to justify Daein entering the war

So yeah, the Dawn Brigade being bad (or at an harder start) is both something the devs initially wanted to do, and mainly the result of the contradictions that arrived while making the game

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I honestly would say the Dawn Brigade serves its purpose quite well, actually. By being bad and insufferable (I hate all those characters, save Nolan), it makes everything surrounding the returning characters that much better.

What’s better than finally recruiting the characters you loved from the previous game after a timeskip? Having them be head and shoulders better than the new, strange units you’ve been saddled with so far. Gameplay balance-wise, not the best thing, but it makes part 2 & early part 3 very fun/satisfying.

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I never played FE9 and I forever have a grudge against Ike for being the devs’ favorite little baby and ruining the sequel game

I genuinely enjoyed the Dawn Brigade segments. You really felt like freedom fighters on the back foot and unit placement was very crucial. And then they were just turned into feral dogs to kick. And Micaiah’s character arc was never given a proper resolution she just gets possessed and then doesn’t have to deal with anything. What the hell. People hate Micaiah and call her a Mary Sue but she would have been a genuinely engaging character if she had to be conscious throughout part 4

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What’s so wrong with Blood pact ? I’ve seen people criticize it but I would like to see their reasoning.

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the dawn brigade being weak is what makes them so awesome. If the dawn brigade were all kickass and cool then they wouldn’t feel nearly as cool to play as. It’s not a mistake that most of their chapters are very desperate, backs-against-the-wall type situations whereas the greil mercs are constantly on the offensive making big decisive save the day plays; the idea that the dawn brigade is weaker than the greil mercs “by accident” is missing the point.

Getting to train up some of those units in part 4 with all the big, low-time-pressure maps also means that, if you want to, your favourite dawn brigade units can still reach greil merc tier eventually. Is it optima? nah, but it’s cute to see your dumpy ass units capping their t3 stats and styling on the bosses after watching them go through the part 3 meat grinder.

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Greil mercenaries are supposed to have the experience of mad king’s war, that’s why they’re OP. But Dawn Brigade could’ve still been good. Yes, we could babysit them with bonus experience and some favouritism but that’s all there is. I still think the pacing is abysmal and the gameplay scaling could’ve been altered to make it better. Dawn Brigade is also held back by a weak protagonist, that is Micaiah. She’s a forced unit and God she sucks. If someone is attacking her then you better pray to God that the guy doesn’t double her because she’s definitely dying. That’s something that could’ve been changed for better.

I mean, Ike isn’t an absolute unit in PoR’s beginning either but he’s leagues ahead of Micaiah. Their comparison is an insult to Ike.

I’m of the belief that a unit which is forced in every chapter should be able to carry their weight unless they want to be a liability. And things exasperate even further if that liability is a protagonist.

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I think the Blood Pact is cool in concept but bad in execution. I’m plenty sure others can explain the age-old problems players had with the Blood Pact. But I do actually like the concept in general of a binding contract used to trap the unwise. It’s finally a way to justify characters doing evil things they normally wouldn’t without resorting to the series’s ye olde minde controle. And it has been done better than in FE10 before, such as in the Little Mermaid.

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