Weekly Unit Spotlight: Ramona

A youth who lives with her brother on the streets, she only knows that her parents left them there, and that she tried her best to make Simon another her. However, her younger brother has anemia, which limits the amount of physical activity he can do. She leaves him to his own devices, and is convinced that they have nothing in common anymore. Her personality is like sandpaper at first, mean and stubborn, but she takes a liking to those who are persistent at being kind to her.

A YOUTH WHO LIVES WITH HER BROTHER ON THE STREETS, SHE ONLY KNOWS THAT HER PARENTS LEFT THEM THERE, AND THAT SHE TRIED HER BEST TO MAKE SIMON ANOTHER HER. HOWEVER, HER YOUNGER BROTHER HAS ANEMIA, WHICH LIMITS THE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HE CAN DO. SHE LEAVES HIM TO HIS OWN DEVICES, AND IS CONVINCED THAT THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON ANYMORE. HER PERSONALITY IS LIKE SANDPAPER AT FIRST, MEAN AND STUBBORN, BUT SHE TAKES A LIKING TO THOSE WHO ARE PERSISTENT AT BEING KIND TO HER.

Ramona is the project's only mercenary, giving her access to an accurate weapon, the sword, and a nice and even stat spread that works in her favor. The good parts about keeping Ramona in action:

• Her bases: Ramona comes to your party at a respectable level 7, meaning her starting stats are a little higher than the rest of your army. Her strength rests at a comfortable 13, her skill at 12, her speed at 14, and her HP at 22. Her defense, 6,  is lower than Taren's high base, but is definitely usable, and her resistance at 3 is passable at that point in the game, considering how few magic enemies there are in those chapters.
• Her bulk: Ramona's bases are nice, but her defensive growths are lackluster. 45% defense and 30% resistance certainly aren't going to win you any medals, but luckily, unlike the other early sword-fighting ally Tenn, Ramona has a good HP growth at 60% instead of Tenn's mediocre 35%, meaning that with her good speed, decent defenses, and strong HP stat, she will not be doubled often and will absorb hits well.
• Competitive: At first, Ramona's personal skill is not of much use to you, due to it requiring the enemy to have a higher attack stat than her. Ramona is recruited very early, and because of her good bases, she will have a higher strength than most enemies for a while. However, units that surpass her in power may be bested by Ramona's +4 attack boost that she receives when her strength is lower than her opponent.
• Sword usage: Ramona may appear to be surpassed by Taren quite quickly because of Taren's superior strength, but Ramona has a far better skill growth, and because of her strong bases and the high accuracy of her weapon choice, swords, she will be a front-line mainstay due to her great hit chance, as well as the skills listed above.
• Reclass: Ramona can reclass into Cavalier, another class that only has one unit starting in it. With high movement and the ability to use lances as well as swords, Ramona has no issue maintaining control of the weapon triangle with her excellent accuracy.

Ramona's faults:

• Inferiority: To be frank, Ramona's stats are akin to a messy blend of Taren and Tenn's stats. She is missing an obvious niche that would give her security in your ranks. While Taren delivers high damage and Tenn has incredible evasion, Ramona does both at a lesser magnitude. She is a sort of jack of all trades, master of none character, and when a lot of units have clear strengths and weaknesses, Ramona becomes fairly replaceable.
• Her luck: Ramona's luck starts at 6, which is fine. Know, however, that that 6 isn't going anywhere any time soon. With a luck growth of 25%, Ramona's hit rates are nice until she won't improve in luck. With a goddess icon or two, this can be remedied, but otherwise, she will tend to get critted often in comparison to other units and cannot promise the evasion or accuracy a unit like Tenn can.
• Her resistance: Ramona's resistance lies at 30%. This is better than both Taren and Tenn, but her HP is lower than Taren's and her avoid is worse than Tenn's. This makes taking a magic hit more common for Ramona, and the lower HP causes Ramona to fall quicker.
• Level: Ramona's level only further troubles her. Both her and Simon have to prove that they can compete with the three protagonists, even though their high level makes it harder for them to gain experience and level up. While Simon's high magic, resistance, speed, and use of dark magic makes him a quick asset, Ramona has nothing that makes her stick out, which makes the competition for a slot in your party against her favor.

Ramona is a character that can't really shine as well as others, but due to her being the only mercenary, as well as being one of the few units in the beginning of the game that uses swords, Ramona can support your group for quite a while before she is considered for benching. Because of her generally good growths, she can surprise you with a bit of RNG blessing, and may remain in your favorites because of her all-around steady stats.