Pegasus Knights

[camus the dark knight]

On maniac mode Marcia is better then Haar, although Jill vs. Marcia is still is still up for debate.

[Neofox]

For FE9 or FE10?

Then again, Marcia vs Jill has always been a debate that has come down to whether a person prefers pegasus knights or wyvern knights...

[Superbus]

Well, Thany and Tate (or however they are spelled) weren't shining examples of Pegasus Knights either.

I will kill you where you stand! 

Anyway, as my fetish likeness for them - primarily Tate - has shown, I'm a huge fan of Pegasus Knights, and not necessarily because I a fetish an affinity for scantly clad young anime women. I find them great units as long as you can get one with a passable strength statistic, and being in games where horse units can move after attacking is a BIG help, as well.

Really though, come FE8 and later, there really haven't been any weak flying characters that I've seen. Marcia was pretty good, Tana was incredible, and even Syrene was really good for a pre-promote. The biggest case for a "poor" Pegasus user has been Vanessa, and she's not too bad, especially in a game where it's nearly impossible to have a "bad" character.

Even in earlier games, it was easy to find kick-ass Pegasus Knights. Farina was a great unit, Tate had good all-around growths (though she lost effectiveness in Hard Mode, and could get RNG nailed easily), Karin was very good in Thracia, and my best overall unit in Seisen was Fee and her Hero Spear. So people that don't like them probably just have a slower playing style.

[quanta]

The biggest case for a "poor" Pegasus user has been Vanessa

Liez. She's more arguably the best pegasus you get in that game. FE7 and FE8 Pegasi also arguably crushed their wyvern competitors in overall usefulness, so they are pretty good in those games.

I'd say it's not that the pegasus in FE10 are bad so much as they end up being compared to Haar (badass), Jill (pretty damn good), and Elincia (like a pegasus but with staves, awesome bases, and an incredible personal weapon). Well, Sigrun sucks, but she's forced for like... 3 or 4 chapters.

And FE9 pegasus were pretty damn solid. Marcia was awesome, and Tanith had earth affinity, decent bases, and reinforce (which can be an incredible skill if used in the right way).

[camus the dark knight]

The biggest case of poor pegasus knight knight stat wise is either Fury or Juno. Fury is probably better though since the FE4 pegasus knight class basses and weapons save her from being garbage (her growths are only 10%-30% in everything save HP which is 50% and her bases are not so hot either, the class bases boost them to a decent level though). Juno is just, meh basses, poor growth.

Even in earlier games, it was easy to find kick-ass Pegasus Knights.

Play FE3 and watch as they max every stat accept resistance and maybe HP (nobody maxes RES, everybody has 3% growth, even magic users). Or FE2 and watch them pwn due to having the "slayer" skill, when like 70% of your enemies are monsters. FE1 is like FE3 accept no star orb abusing (makes all growths +30%, can be traded...).

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

Or FE2 and watch them pwn due to having the "slayer" skill, when like 70% of your enemies are monsters.

Don't forget the fact the pegasus sister trio have the best growths in the game and one of them comes with the item which gives you two stats per level up instead of one

[theshim is the shimiest shim of all the shims that ever shim]

Liez. She's more arguably the best pegasus you get in that game. FE7 and FE8 Pegasi also arguably crushed their wyvern competitors in overall usefulness, so they are pretty good in those games.

Vanessa wasn't as good as Tana.  She was a great unit in her own right, but Tana was the same thing with higher stats.  And agreed, Tate was far too easily RNG screwed.   (Of course, at the same time Tate was RNG screwed, Sophia ended up with 21 speed at 20/1.  )

But for RNG screwage, Fury is still queen.  TWO stats in six level-ups.

[Redguard]

Vanessa wasn't as good as Tana.  She was a great unit in her own right, but Tana was the same thing with higher stats. 

On the same level, Tana has a slight stat lead, however, Vanessa has a big level advantage over her, and Vanessa has better support bonuses (Anima > Wind).  Vanessa can also can also get at least a B support level by the time you get Tana.  Her bonuses pretty much neglects Tana's slight better stats, not to mention Vanessa still has the huge level advantage.  She certainly outclassing Tana throughout the game.

[hyde]

How is Tanith mediocre? She has the most potential out of all three PK's, and she comes in easier to train.

What? The most potential? Funny, as she comes an entire part later than Marcia with average stats. Her speed is anything but spectacular, which sort of is a must for pegasus knights. Her survival rate isn't anything to write home to about either. You have Marcia for a longer time, thus having more time to train her. Tanith may be a whole lot of levels higher, but Marcia only needs to gain a little amount of stats to be able to compete with her. Her value is also much higher, being a great help in Part 2, where Tanith joins you at a point where she is outclassed by just about everyone. The fact that she lost reinforce, the only thing that made her as useful as it is in PoR, makes matters even worse for her.

[Redguard]

What? The most potential? Funny, as she comes an entire part later than Marcia with average stats.

Eh, Tanith is a lot closer than Marcia if than you think.  Marcia stats aren't that much better by the time you get Tanith.  Marcia should be at least level 20/15 by the time you get Tanith (provided you didn't boss abuse her or anything), and the only thing she has over her is better attack speed and hp. 

Tanith Level 16 HP 35 STR 20 MAG 10 SKL 21 SPD 23  LUC 22  DEF 19.0 RES 20
Marcia Level 15 HP 39.8 STR 19 MAG 8.0 SKL 21 SPD  26.1  LUC 17.0 DEF 19.5 RES 18.5

Marcia should had at least a C support, so we can assume her strength would be higher than the average (since she has fire affinity).  Of course, after this period, Tanith starts to end up better since she gains better avoid for her supports, decent attack speed, and higher strength to balance off Marcia fire support bonuses.  Earth affinity alone pretty much seals the deal here (+45 dodge with another Earth character is certainly useful in this game).

Basically, Marcia is "slightly" better at first (due to higher attack speed), but Tanith ends up better close to endgame.  Of course, Marcia attack speed advantages still has some usefulness (like doubling spirits endgame).

[Neofox]

Marcia benefits more from Transfer bonuses, though. Tanith might cap her speed, but Marcia will also probably cap her speed and has a decent chance of capping her strength, as well (latter of which significantly helps with her only real shortcoming).

[quanta]

Marcia benefits more from Transfer bonuses, though. Tanith might cap her speed, but Marcia will also probably cap her speed and has a decent chance of capping her strength, as well (latter of which significantly helps with her only real shortcoming).

For simplicity's sake, I'm pretty sure we consider transfer bonuses to be mostly irrelevant.

Also, transfer bonuses actually help Tanith more because Marcia ends up capping before third tier anyways, whereas Tanith doesn't. And the STR boost Marcia might get is no big deal. They're still tied by ??/20/1. Then it's just earth affinity > fire affinity pretty much FTW.

Anyways, if we're talking about no transfer bonuses, then I'd say it's about even as it is earlier join time, more HP, and SPD, vs. more STR and earth affinity.

[Neofox]

For simplicity's sake, I'm pretty sure we consider transfer bonuses to be mostly irrelevant.

Why? They can make significant differences for some characters when it comes to usability...

Also, transfer bonuses actually help Tanith more because Marcia ends up capping before third tier anyways, whereas Tanith doesn't.

Capping speed at level 15 tier-2 is better than capping speed at level 18 or 19 tier-2, especially with the way FE10 uses BEXP, not to mention Marcia still has superior availability to her.

And the STR boost Marcia might get is no big deal. They're still tied by ??/20/1.

Better for her than losing to Tanith at the same level.

Then it's just earth affinity > fire affinity pretty much FTW.

Is Earth affinity really that broken? And what stops Marcia from supporting someone with Earth affinity since she'll then get strength and dodge? Those are the two things she really wants most.

[arashisama without the decorative symbols. RANDOM ENOUGH?!]

In mainly FE7-9, are the Pegasus Knights worth training up?
But are they worth training up, though?

So, I'll go back to the original question, since I haven't had the chance. Starting with the games he asked about...

FE7: Yes, all three.
FE7 FalcoKnight caps:
Generic: HP Str  Skl Spd Def Res Luck / Con
Generic: 60  23   25 28   23  26   30 / ??
And stats without steroids.
Farina: 49.2 22.8 23.3 25.8 18.7 22.0  22.1 / 6
Fiora:   48.4 20.8 25.0 27.2 14.4 24.3 15.6 / 6
Florina: 44.8 21.4 24.2 27.5 11.7 19.3 25.9 / 5  
Growths and Affinity:
Farina (Anima): 75% 50% 40% 45% 25% 30% 45%
Fiora (Wind): 70% 35% 60% 50% 20% 50% 30%
Florina (Light): 60% 40% 50% 55% 15% 35% 50%

Florina seems to have noticeably lower hp than her sisters -- lower but not poor growth and lower base. Farina is superior in HP, Str, and Def growth compared to her sisters. Farina has the lowest skill, but she'll still hit almost everything, and lower speed, but she'll still dodge well. Fiora has only slightly lower HP than Farina, the lowest strength, the highest Skl and Res, and also the lowest luck. Her speed is good, just a little weaker than Florina's, but the luck means she has lower avoid. In the avoid respect, Florina leads by having the highest Spd and Luck. I often give her a Killing Sword and have her take out Swordmasters. All of them should grow out into stable characters, but Florina and Farina are easiest to train, Florina because of her early arrival and easier enemies, Farina because you'll have her two sisters possibly promoted by then with whom she can Triangle to get fast experience.

Farina has slow supports, and her affinity isn't great. She does have a good support with Dart. A support with Fiora will be significantly faster, but still slow for a sibling support; it will still give Fiora Crt Evade and Evade that Fiora is losing from low Luck. Florina has a quick support with Lyn and a slower but relatively quick support with Fiora (both Lyn and Fiora are Wind), but barring the critical boost, I don't think it's all that useful for her. For Florina, a support with Farina gives the most power and defense boost, but I'd rather support her with Ninian who gives overall similar boosts to Florina just not the power and is faster or with Nino since neither actually need more Crit Evade, though Nino is even slower than Farina. Fiora needs Str, Luck. Consider Sain who is slow, but gives the power, crit to magnify the power, and Crit evade.


From here on out, pegasi pale in comparison, but are still good...

FE8 Growths:
Vanessa: 50%  35%  55%  60%  20%  30%  55%
Tana:     65%  45%  40%  65%  20%  25%  60%
Syrene:  70%  40%  50%  60%  20%  50%  30%
FE8 FalcoKnight Caps (assuming NA version since FEA only has NA averages):
Generic: HP Str  Skl  Spd  Def  Res  Luck / Con
Generic: 60  23   25   28   23   26    30  / ??
Vanessa: 41.0  20.0  24.7  28.0  15.6  18.4  24.8  (Maxes Speed at 20/17)
Tana:     47.7  22.5  22.6  28.0  15.0  17.7  28.3  (Maxes Speed at 20/15)
Syrene:  40.3  19.5  22.4  26.1  13.8  21.5  17.7
FE8 Wyvern Knight Caps
Generic: HP Str  Skl  Spd  Def  Res  Luck / Con
Generic: 60  24  27   29    23   23    30  / ??
Vanessa: 39.0  20.1  26.5  29.0  14.6  17.4  24.8  (Maxes Speed at 20/19)
Tana:     45.7  23.2  23.8  29.0  14.0  16.7  28.3  (Maxes Speed at 20/17)

FalcoKnight:
Well Tana owns the other two in HP, which is about average for a pegasus. It seems a bit low for a wyvern knight though, considering wyvern knight in the spirit of Dragon Masters and Dragon Knights. Tana has higher strength, although all three fall similar. Vanessa has notably higher skill, but again, same ballpark for all three. Both Vanessa and Tana max Speed, and Syrene comes close. Vanessa averages the most defense, but it's still close, and they should all be dodgy anyway. Syrene has notably higher Res, but it only beats out Florina of the previous game. Vanessa has great Luck, and Tana even better, though it's only a little more avoid and crit evade. Syrene will average the lowest avoid, and even that is nearly 70 without supports. And enemies are crap.

Wyvern Knight:
Urgh, lower HP? Slightly lower hp for slightly more str, skl, spd, and a little less Res. Vanessa can make use the higher Skl and Spd caps, though it's a tiny margin, and only 2 HP less. Tana would like Wyvern Knight promotions bonuses better; with Spd and Luck, who cares about 1 point of Def and 1 point of Res? The +1 strength cap is really not useful since she averages closest to 23.

Supports:
Vanessa (Anima) ~ Her fastest supports are with Syrene and Hineas, respectively Thunder and Ice. She also supports Moulder (Anima), Lute (Anima), and Ford (Wind).
Tana (Wind) ~ Her fastest supports are with Ephraim (Fire), Hineas (Ice), and Syrene (Thunder). She also supports Eirique (Light), Marica (Ice), and Cougar (Fire), all of which are significantly slower, but if you've completed all the really, really slow supports in FE7, you'll do fine here.
Syrene (Thunder) ~ Her fastest supports are with Gilliam (Thunder), Vanessa (Anima), and Kyle (Ice). She also supports Tana (Wind) and Moulder (Anima).

All of them want more power; Syrene might like some more avoid and Crit Evade. Syrene's own affinity gives Avoid, Crit Evade, Crit, and Defense. However, a lot are +7.5 bonus at A level, which becomes 7. A support with Gilliam guarantees +15 so that last point is not wasted, but... they have huge movement differences. It is beneficial from Gilliam in particular though. Syrene is looking for Fire, Wind, Light, and Anima types to give power. That would be Vanessa, Tana, and Moulder. I'd go with Vanessa or Moulder for Power, Defense, Evade, and Crit Evade, since Syrene doesn't need any more Hit, and Crit is just a bonus. With Triangle attack if all are FalcoKnights, none need critical, really, against difficult enemies. Which don't exist anyway. Vanessa wants Power and some Crit Evade to catch up to Tana. Her affinity gives Attack, Defense, Avoid, Crit Evade. A support with Syrene will likely more than make up the difference in Luck, but is Luck really critical? As we want the most Power, we should look for Fire, Wind, Light, Anima. For Vanessa, that means her slow supports: Moulder, Lute, and Ford. Ford might keep up with Vanessa the best, except in the desert chapter. For the same reasons as Syrene, Vanessa should go with the Anima, Lute and Moulder. For Tana, her lowest stats that matter that can be helped with supports are Str and Skl. Tana ought to support Eirique for the (at A level) total of 7 crit evade, 15 crit, 15 hit, 3 def, and 1 attack. She doesn't need the extra Avoid and Crit evade from Fire and Ice.

Yeah, the FE8 pegasus knights are good. But worth leveling? The way I play, I always use pegasi. However, in a game where enemies suck, and Syrene could probably solo every map... well. You could always play those random challenge runs and make it through easy. There's really no "MUST" in this game.

FE9 Growths
Marcia  55%  40%  20%  50%  55%  25%  30%  40%
Tanis    60%  40%  35%  70%  40%  25%  30%  30%
FE9 FalcoKnight Caps
Generic: HP  Str  Mag  Skl  Spd  Def  Res  Lck
Generic: 60   23   20    26   28   24    27  40  
Marcia: 42.7  22.1  8.8  24.8  27.7  18.5  19.2  17.6
Tanis: 38.0  20.0  13.5  24.8  27.4  17.5  16.0  21.0  
FE9 Crimean Princess
Generic: 60   20    25      26     28    24     27    40  
Elincia: 60%  30%  80%  45%  40%  25%  35%  60%
Elincia: 38.4  14.7  24.9  24.2  25.5  15.7  21.6  26.4

Skills: Marcia needs Guard. Tanis has that awesome Reinforce, but Miracle also works with her. Elincia's Renewal should be kept, but as with Tanis, Miracle works.

Elincia is Heaven affinity and supports Geoffray (Fire) and Ike (Earth).
Tanis is Earth affinity and supports Oscar (Earth), Marcia (Fire), and Rieusion (Fire).
Marcia is Fire affinity and supports Gatrie (Light), Kieran (Wind), Lofa (Wind), and Tanis (Earth).
Marcia needs power, but she doesn't support anyone who gives it, only her own Fire affinity. She has poor defense and strength so we'd be wanting to supplement that, or just maximize her skill and criticals. In fact, Marcia should just support Gatrie, because at A level, that's the only support that's going to give both 1 single point of Attk and 1 point of Def. No better offer, sorry. At this rate, you almost might as well take up Tanis which only gives 7 hit and 0 def, but still has 1 attack, and 15 avoid. Tanis has great luck and avoid, just winds up frailer than Marcia at level 20. Tanis is still a bit weak defensively, so you could go for Oscar and have double Earth, which results in a whopping 30 avoid for both, instead of minor gains elsewhere. As for Elincia, she's really more of a healer, but that's going to take forever to level, especially since she comes in so late. Give her strength (and tons of bonus exp)! Well, since Geoffray only gives her 1.5 strength and 22.5 hit... just take Ike up and get the 15 hit and 15 avoid.

They're not bad, but next to Haar and Jill, they just pale. With poor supports...

Verdict
FE7 definitely
FE8 and FE9 is your choice. They're good, but they're not must-haves.

Urgh, I'm tired. I'll do FE6 if you want later. My FE10 is still collecting dust, so... >< I swear I'll get some time to play it, but...

[Neofox]

How does Marcia have poor stength and defence? 22.1 isn't too bad for a strength average, nor is 18.5 for defense...

[quanta]

Why? They can make significant differences for some characters when it comes to usability...

Quite frankly, because it's a bitch, since now we'd have to factor in FE9 averages (actually screw that, we'd use fixed mode for more consistency although averages can still vary by 4 or so points on some units) and assume a unit hits 20/20. So not only must the unit be used, it must be used rather heavily. On top of that, not all of us want to or can play with transfer bonuses. And seriously, who does it make that much difference too? All I'm seeing is Jill and maybe Astrid. But Astrid is still one of the worse Paladins with it (FE10 wise) and although it helps Jill early on, it's not to big of a deal in the end.

Capping speed at level 15 tier-2 is better than capping speed at level 18 or 19 tier-2

Tanith starts so high and is plenty fast with the speed cap anyways. Then Marcia basically loses one of her biggest selling points as Tanith catches up by a lot in speed.

Is Earth affinity really that broken? And what stops Marcia from supporting someone with Earth affinity since she'll then get strength and dodge? Those are the two things she really wants most.

Yeah, Earth affinity is that Broken. Fire affinity might close the gap on their strength differences and give Marcia a slight leg up at some points but Earth affinity is 22 more avoid FTW. Not to mention it's also about who wants an Earth partner, not just what Marcia wants.

[Neofox]

Quite frankly, because it's a bitch, since now we'd have to factor in FE9 averages (actually screw that, we'd use fixed mode for more consistency although averages can still vary by 4 or so points on some units) and assume a unit hits 20/20. So not only must the unit be used, it must be used rather heavily.

It's not that hard to do as long as you set up what your final team is going to be in the first place and don't experiment with other units.

On top of that, not all of us want to or can play with transfer bonuses.

Most members of the FE fandom (and thus, most people here) are going to have both games, and with FE9 being one of the better games in the series, its not so rediculous to think one could do one playthrough of it for the sake of making characters in FE10 better (or for the sake of playing them in chronological order), especially if the unit(s) in question are also good options in FE9 (such as Zihark, Jill, Nephenee, Soren, and Marcia)

And seriously, who does it make that much difference too?

Many. +2 bases means units can either fix problems they do have in FE10 that they don't in FE9 (such as Zihark and strength), and/or help them cap stats that they're already good in (such as Rhys with magic, skill, and resistance) to make it easier to have them gain stats that they aren't too good in via BEXP. Heck, with a speed bonus, Ike only needs 2 points of speed to not get doubled by the BK in the Part 3 chapter where you can fight him. The bonuses can easily be worth a single FE9 playthrough due to the fact you can start a new FE10 game without having to make a new file, retaining the stat boosts for the units that could make use of them the most.

Tanith starts so high and is plenty fast with the speed cap anyways. Then Marcia basically loses one of her biggest selling points as Tanith catches up by a lot in speed.

As I said, capping speed at level 15 is much better than capping it at level 19. Marcia also has far more availability, something that Tanith simply cannot make up for.

Yeah, Earth affinity is that Broken. Fire affinity might close the gap on their strength differences and give Marcia a slight leg up at some points but Earth affinity is 22 more avoid FTW. Not to mention it's also about who wants an Earth partner, not just what Marcia wants.

The Earth partner is already going to be getting a strong amont of dodge from their affinity regardless of their partner, so they can live with supporting someone with a different affinity for the sake of additional bonuses.