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Subaki
Sky Knight (HS: Samurai)
A+ Support Partners: Saizo (Ninja), Azama (Monk), Hinata (Samurai)
Personal Skill: Perfectionist (+15 hit and avoid when unit is at full HP)
Pair-Up Stats (C B A S): Def Skl Def Skl+Res
Growths (With Default Class):
HP: 55% (55)
STR: 30% (40)
MAG: 20% (20)
SKL: 50% (60)
SPD: 20% (35)
LCK: 25% (45)
DEF: 45% (45)
RES: 5% (25)

Ah, (T)Subaki. When somebody claims to be perfect, spite often draws others to find all the ways in which they are flawed. There are quite a few ways in which Subaki is flawed, so that's probably why so many people don't like him!

Subaki is weird. His stat growth total is one of the lowest in the game, and they're kind of all over the place. Fitting for his over-compensating perfectionist nature, Subaki's highest natural growths are in stats Sky Knights are normally bad at, and his lowest ones are in stats his class are good at, resulting in a unit with underwhelming but consistent growths across the board. Just like Rinkah, he does somewhat make up for his bad stats by having a lot of them invested into his physical bulk, something that most Birthright exclusive units are lacking in.

It's hard for fliers to be bad in Fire Emblem games, especially ones with a rescue or pair-up mechanic that allows them to pick up other, better units and get them to the frontlines faaster. Subaki's always going to be better than the likes of Setsuna or Hayato so long as there's good allies for him to pick up and carry. Otherwise Subaki's not got much going for him over other fliers besides his availability and his bulk, and even then Hinoka joins in the chapter immediately after he does with equal or better bases and a Guard Naginata that she can wield at base and he can't. A trained Subaki will be bulkier than all your other flies, but not by a large amount. Being outclassed as a flier by at least 3 other units doesn't make him bad or not worth using in addition to them, but it does hurt him somewhat.

If you're keeping Subaki as a Sky Knight he'll need good weapons to make the most of himself. Mediocre offenses matter a lot less with the large amount of effective weaponry available in Birthright, and once he's able to use the Guard Naginata he'll be a lot tankier than Hinoka. A Bolt Naginata build is entirely possible if he's got a magic-boosting support partner like Orochi, and that is in fact what I'm planning to do with him. Falcon Knight gives him the speed and magic to make the most use of it, and his 20% magic growth isn't awful, although it's not really worth much coming off of his 0 magic base either. Kinshi Knight isn't a bad promotion choice for Subaki if he's marrying Setsuna, allowing him to get Quick Draw for free which combined with Darting Blow will fix his mediocre offenses on player phase. Otherwise if you want Subaki to actually tank things you're probably better off reclassing him. As a Master of Arms he'll keep his lance rank while also having higher bulk and no weakness to effective weaponry, although it will make him even slower and rob him of his flying utility.

Subaki's got some decent A+ support options. Ninja lets him be a 1-2 range tank while still bolstering his bad speed and resistance, although his offenses will be worse than all of your other ninjas. As a Great Master he can be a tanky grounded unit while also still getting to use his weapon rank in lances, although if he doesn't need the extra bulk he should just stay a Falcon Knight. Hinata just gives him Samurai which he already has.

Perfectionist might be good on other units, but it's really not suited to Subaki. As a slow and already accurate tank he's not going to make much use of the bonuses it gives him, and his HP growth is high enough that he'll most likely have to be healed up after each level anyway. At least Camraderie can fix that if he's near allies? If reclassed to Samurai it might go well combined with Duellist's Blow, but Subaki's not really the kind of unit to be cutting down enemies on player phase.

Pros
Cons

My Thoughts: Did you know his growth total is the exact same as Selena's?