Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Guide - Recruiting Deen or Sonya in Chapter 3

by Adam Vitale on 21 May, 2017

The Fire Emblem series has always at its core been about building an impressive squad of characters you send into battle, and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is ultimately no different. As the game progresses you'll have the opportunity to recruit a variety of characters who can fill a variety of roles in the game's many classes. RPG progression is here, too - so you're able to upgrade and promote characters to get access to new moves and all that excellent, addictive stuff. (We really liked the game in our review, in case it isn't obvious.)

One of the major recruitment moments in Shadows of Valentia comes in chapter 3. You'll meet two new characters and in a very classic Fire Emblem move be able to recruit one of them - but not both. This is a life-or death decision for the characters, too - and so we'd totally understand if you end up feeling a little paralysed by the choice. That's what we're here for.

Below, we're going to go into the characters, the choice, and help you to make a decision. This, obviously, will contain minor spoilers for the scenario and the outcomes of the scenario presented in chapter 3 when you get a chance to recruit one of the pair. Scroll past the screenshots at your own spoiler peril.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Deen or Sonya - who to choose for your team

Okay, so - here you are. As part of Celica's story chapter 3 of Fire Emblem Echoes faces you down with a difficult one or the other choice, and once you make it there's no going back. So - who to choose? Aside from that wishy-washy, soft which character's personality you like more question, let's get into the raw, hard facts of the matter. Let's get into the nitty gritty of stats. Yum. Or Snooze. One or the other...

Deen vs Sonya - who is the better party member?

There are a number of metrics we can use to look at Deen and Sonya to help determine who is better. First of all, let's look at the classes:

Deen is a Myrmidon, the second step in the three-part Mercenary class tree. They use sword-type weapons and can become the Dread Fighter class when promoted.
Sonya is a Mage - and given that they have gender variants of this class it's also worth pointing out that she's a woman. Mages are powerful magic users and can promote into even more powerful magic users.

Next up is even more stat-based look - the base stats of the pair. Here's how they stack up:

Deen's Base Stats: LVL 5 / 32 HP / 13 ATK / 17 SKL / 17 SPD / 6 LCK / 9 DEF / 4 RES / 5 MOV
Sonya's Base Stats: LVL 5 / 24 HP / 13 ATK / 11 SKL / 12 SPD / 4 LCK / 5 DEF / 12 RES / 4 MOV

So, those are the base stats. Far more important in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is how a character can grow, though. Here's a measurement of the growth potential for each of the two characters:

Deen's Growth Potential: HP 60 / ATK 45 / SKL 35 / 40 SPD / 15 LCK / 40 DEF / 0 RES
Sonya's Growth Potential: HP 40 / ATK 45 / SKL 50 / 35 SPD / 30 LCK / 40 DEF / 4 RES

We've broken it down in detail. Look at those stats and draw your own conclusion or... look below for what we think. Or both. We won't judge either way, honestly.

Sonya or Dean - our verdict on who to recruit

Both units are fine units for their class when it comes to the stats and growth rates, but at this point in the game, Celica's team will already have several other Mercenaries in Saber, Kamui, Jesse, and potentially Atlas. Adding another swordsman will probably not be as useful as adding another Mage to your ranks. As Mages tend to be one of the more versatile classes in the game, we recommend Sonya as the smarter pick overall.

As a Mage she's able to pick off enemies from the rear of the team with long-range spells - which becomes especially useful later on when she's really powered up. Like other mages in the game, when you promote her and change her class, she'll also be able to work as another healer for your team, so bear that in mind if you pick her.

Don't get us wrong: Deen is a bad ass, he's just not quite useful as Sonya for our money. Neither of the pair are bad, it has to be noted. Keep in mind the character you don't pick won't have the happiest ending... but sometimes you have to accept not everything can be rosey. Alas.