Dedue: Difference between revisions

Dedue is a very straightforward and reliable unit, serving as the dedicated tank of his group. He boasts the highest [[Defense]] base, growth, and cap, is tied for the best [[HP]] base (with [[Raphael]], [[Gilbert]], and [[Jeritza]]), and has the second best HP growth and cap (behind Raphael on both counts). He also has boons in [[axe]]s, [[lance]]s, [[brawling]], and heavy armor. His personal skill, [[Staunch Shield]], grants him an additional +4 Defense if he waits on a turn, further reinforcing his ability to tank. His high defense can serve as an excellent way to safely absorb hits from fast enemies, such as [[Swordmaster]]s, [[Assassin]]s, [[Grappler]]s, and [[Falcon Knight]]s, especially on Maddening. With the right [[battalion]], such as the [[Duscur Heavy Soldiers]], his excellent physical bulk will be improved even further. For all his advantageous strengths, he does come with some weaknesses as well. His speed growth is very low, meaning he will get doubled frequently throughout the game. His bases and growths in [[magic (stat)|magic]] and [[resistance]] are also low, forcing him into physical classes while also making him vulnerable to magic attacks, which is not helped by his aforementioned low speed. In regards to [[Combat arts]], if trained in brawling, Dedue will learn [[One-Two Punch]], which will guarantee him a follow-up attack while preventing the target from performing a follow-up attack on him. Further training him in brawling will grant him [[Healing Focus]], allowing him to heal his injuries for free, rendering healing items such as [[vulnerary|vulneraries]] obsolete.  

A notable disadvantage that will become apparent later on in the game is that by the start of Part II, he will vanish from the player's party due to storyline events; if [[War for the Weak|his paralogue]] was not completed, he will die permanently. Otherwise, if his paralogue was completed, then he will return in [[The Rose-Colored River|Chapter 16]]. Even if he does return alive and well, he will have missed out on four chapters worth of instructions and may require some attention and investment to bring him back on par with your other units.

Some ideal promotion pathways for Dedue can vary depending on which role you want him to excel at. After starting off his promotion line as a [[Fighter]] for [[Strength +2]] or a [[Soldier]] for [[Defense +2]], there are different promotion paths that you can choose: his most obvious promotion pathway is one that favors tanking physical hits, which means promoting him to an [[Armored Knight]], master the class for [[Armored Blow]], then promote to a [[Fortress Knight]], potentially ending as a [[Great Knight]] if the player is willing to work through his weakness in Riding. If you want to build Dedue as a hard-hitting powerhouse, you can promote him into a [[Brigand]] for [[Death Blow]], then to a [[Warrior]] or [[Grappler]]. If you want to give Dedue more mobility and [[Canto]], you could try to push him towards the [[Wyvern Rider]] and [[Wyvern Lord]] path, though it will restrict him to using only flying battalions and adjutants; furthermore, his weakness in flying will make it more difficult and time consuming to acquire the class certification, which is not helped by his four chapter absence in Part II. One of Dedue's best final classes is the [[War Master]] class, made easily attainable with his boons in axes and brawling. If mastered, he will gain [[Quick Riposte]], effectively patching up his speed issues by guaranteeing his ability to double on the enemy phase while preventing the enemy from doing so, provided his health is above 50%. He can also make excellent use of his combat art [[Vengeance]] in mounted classes, with some investment to build his Lance and Riding ranks. Due to his high HP and strength, he is able to one shot many enemies with Vengeance even on Maddening difficulty and then canto to safely, occasionally being able to still live another hit while on low HP due to his high defenses. This would entail having him go through the [[Cavalier]] and [[Paladin]] classes, potentially ending in [[Great Knight]]. On Maddening difficulty, Dedue appreciates mastering [[Archer]] for [[Hit +20]] to improve his somewhat shaky hit rate in any of his builds.