As you make your way through Act III of Fire Emblem Echoes, you come face to face with one of the toughest choices of the game. If you want to take down the thief-king Grieth, you’re going to have to make your way to his fortress in the east. But, there’s two paths you can take to reach this area. Whichever path you take, will determine which of two very powerful characters you can recruit. In this article we’ll take a look at whether you should recruit Deen and Sonya in Fire Emblem Echoes, discussing which character is the best, and who you’ll be better off with.
Deen Vs. Sonya
There are a number of metrics that could be used to determine which of these characters is better. But, what it really comes down to, is which character will work best for your current setup for Celica’s army. To get a grip on both units, let’s take a look at their base stats and what type of units they are.
Deen’s Stats: LVL 5 / 32 HP / 13 ATK / 17 SKL / 17 SPD / 6 LCK / 9 DEF / 4 RES / 5 MOV
Sonya’s Stats: LVL 5 / 24 HP / 13 ATK / 11 SKL / 12 SPD / 4 LCK / 5 DEF / 12 RES / 4 MOV
Right off the bat you can see that Sonya’s attack isn’t nearly as high as Deen’s starting off, which means that even with growth in the future, she’s never going to be as strong a character as Deen. But, Sonya has something that Deen doesn’t have—range. See, Sonya is a Mage, while Deen is a Myrmidon, which is the second tier of the Mercenary class tree. So, while Deen has a stronger attack than Sonya, he’s only going to be useful when he’s directly next to enemy units.
Now that we’ve taken a look at their starting class and their base stats, let’s go over their potential growth as you level them up.
Deen’s Potential Growth: HP 60 / ATK 45 / SKL 35 / 40 SPD / 15 LCK / 40 DEF / 0 RES
Sonya’s Potential Growth: HP 40 / ATK 45 / SKL 50 / 35 SPD / 30 LCK / 40 DEF / 4 RES
As expected, Deen continues to hold a higher health pool, and even comes in with around 5 points of additional speed when compared to Sonya. So, while they’re both excellent options for your party, Deen will offer a higher amount of speed, which is important for defense and offense. He also has more HP, meaning he can take more hits.
Before you make a decision, though, remember this—Celica already has a ton of melee-based units in her party. She has Saber, Kamui, and Jesse, all of which are part of the Mercenary class tree. You also have the potential of turning Atlas (who begins as a Villager) into a Mercenary, in which case you might have four melee-based units in your party. So, while he is a more attractive unit based solely on stats, Sonya could prove worthwhile, as she would give you that extra ranged unit that could be missing from your line-up.
Now, the decision is purely up to you, and both classes offer plenty of potential to help make your party even stronger. Personally, we decided to go with Sonya, simply because Mages are excellent in Fire Emblem Echoes, and the additional ranged attacks that she provides are definitely worth the lower HP pool and slower speed.
Now that you know more about Deen and Sonya, be sure to head back over to our Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia guide, or take a look at our guide on how to recruit all characters.
