Astrid

"Wh-what did you just say!? There are no gentlemen in this land half as fine as Sir Makalov!"

- Astrid, putting in a good word for Makalov.

Astrid (ステラ Sutera, Stella in the Japanese and German versions) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. She is a member of the Crimean Royal Knights, and a former member of Begnion's noble House Damiel. Astrid was engaged to Duke Lekain of Gaddos, a sinister man and the main antagonist of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, against her wishes. In order to avoid being put through such misery, she left home to seek her fortunes elsewhere.

Biography
Astrid was born into House Damiell, a prominent house of nobles in Begnion. Her family was very strict and controlling, with several of her siblings being married off to people they neither loved nor grew to love, as can be seen from the sorrowful letters they sent to Astrid.

Astrid was later arranged to marry Vice Minister Lekain, who is at least thirty years older than she is. She then decided to resist accepting her fate, whereupon she enlisted with the Begnion knights. However, being somewhat timid and hesitant while wielding her bow in battle, Astrid decided to overcome this weakness by assigning Gatrie as her bodyguard.

Path of Radiance
Astrid makes her first appearance in Chapter 13 of Path of Radiance. The ship she travels on in this chapter is incidentally the carrier of the Apostle Sanaki, causing it to be targeted by Daein soldiers and a few hired Kilvas Ravens. This leads to Astrid being dragged into the ensuing conflict, where she fights alongside Gatrie in order to protect the hapless civilians below-deck.

Prior to the start of Chapter 13, Astrid is observed to converse with Gatrie, with the latter expressing concern over the idea of her directly participating in it. She responds by displaying confidence in her skill with the bow, assuring Gatrie of her ability to protect herself.

After the chapter ends, Astrid will enlist into Ike's group, deciding that she will eventually be able to follow them away from Begnion. Astrid will stay on with the group until the game ends.

Through her Support Conversations, Astrid is observed to be an individual with a sweet temperament, and is often shy and meek when speaking to others. During her Support Conversations with Makalov, Astrid hands over a family heirloom to him, who makes plans to sell it for money to gamble. He later returns the heirloom, claiming that Marcia has forced him into doing so. (If Marcia has been slain prior to the activation of this conversation, Ike will tell Makalov off in her stead). This act of returning the pendant to Astrid causes her to deeply respect Makalov, in spite of his roguish and dishonest ways.

After the events of Path of Radiance, Astrid will be invited to join the Crimean Royal Knights.

Radiant Dawn
Astrid appears in Part 2 of Radiant Dawn, alongside Makalov, Kieran and the other Royal Knights, where she is shown to adamantly defend Makalov's drinking, gambling and poor work etiquette in Largo and Calill's inn.

Alongside the other Crimean Royal Knights, Astrid will launch an attack on Felirae Castle in Chapter 2-3. However, this proves to be a trap set by Ludveck, who has proceeded to lay siege on Fort Alpea at the time. The Royal Knights will later reinforce Elincia's forces in Castle Crimea at the end of Part 2.

Astrid will join the Laguz Alliance in Part 3 and become involved in the march towards the Tower of Guidance. During this time, she is described to constantly follow Makalov around, "cleaning up his messes", as quoted from Marcia.

She can speak to Levail at the Tower of Guidance if she's brought inside. Their dialogue suggests that they know each other from the past, but it's never stated how they came to be acquaintances.

Astrid will marry Makalov if they share an A support at the end of Radiant Dawn, and never succeeds in taming him.

Recruitment

 * Chapter 13: Starts as an Other Unit; Have Ike speak to her in order to recruit her.

Growth Rates

 * 45%
 * 40%
 * 20%
 * 55%
 * 50%
 * 40%
 * 30%
 * 25%
 * }

Support Conversations

 * Gatrie
 * Sothe
 * Makalov

Promotional Gains
Promotion to Paladin * Depends on the choice made by the player.
 * HP: +5
 * Strength: +2
 * Magic: +2
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +1
 * Defense: +3
 * Resistance: +2
 * Con: +1
 * Move: +1
 * Cap: +5
 * E FE9 Sword.png / FE9 Lance.png / FE9 Axe.png Rank*

Overall
Although she is initially very difficult to train, Astrid can very quickly grow to hold her own, and easily become one of the best units available. This is largely due to her Paragon skill, which doubles the amount of EXP she gets. However, this could be removed at a later level for battle-oriented skills like Sol or Adept.

On the whole, Astrid will have relatively balanced stats, with her low HP being offset by her high defense and the Knight Ward. If the player has any spare Arms Scrolls lying around, he/she may consider giving one to Astrid to boost her proficiency in wielding Bows right away, as she tends to hit a B ranking in bows once she becomes a Paladin, rather than a Bow Knight. Her Strength and Luck growths are average, and may either end up being rather high or rather low. These issues may be easily fixed with the usage of bands from the player's second play-through onwards.

Availability

 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }

◎=Forced　○=Available　□=Available for selected　△=Reinforcement

Growth Rates

 * 55%
 * 40%
 * 20%
 * 45%
 * 40%
 * 70%
 * 30%
 * 50%
 * }

Promotional Gains
Promotion to Silver Knight * Only if Bow mastery rank is at B.
 * HP: +4
 * Strength: +3
 * Magic: +4
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +2
 * Defense: +3
 * Resistance: +4
 * Con: +0
 * Move: +0
 * A FE10 Bow.gif Rank*
 * C FE10 Lance.gif Rank

Overview
Despite her stellar performance in the Mad King's War, Astrid is one of the hardest characters to train in Radiant Dawn, owing to her low availability and starting level. However, if the player puts in the effort into training her, Astrid's sky-high resistance will shine against the Endgame's magical enemies.

When Astrid first joins in Chapter 2-3, she should be used to weaken the opponent or finish him off, as she is not going to be one-rounding opponents with a low HP and speed stat. Training her often means grinding enemies until she can reach at least level 10 by the end of Part 2, but it is by no means a waste of one's time, as once she catches up, she can still be a decent archer.

Once Astrid re-joins in part 3, assuming she has gained a couple of levels beforehand, she can still catch up to the player's other units. Any spare stat boosters may be used to fix any stats that are falling behind; giving her the Blossom skill can also help with this instead and thanks to her innate Paragon skill she will still be able to gain levels at a normal rate. Despite not being like Rolf or Shinon in being able to wear down opponents down to low health, or even kill them in one-round, Astrid's HP, Skill and Resistance will start to shine, allowing her to effectively snipe magic users without sustaining much damage herself. Astrid can also be used to wear down opponents, as most of your units still cannot effectively one-round fast or durable units like Swordmasters or Generals. The fact that she joins when more powerful bows become available in the armory complements this, allowing her to clear the path for the frontlines to finish off the opponent.

In Part 4, Astrid should already or be close to promoting to a Silver Knight. Once she promotes, she will acquire the Sol skill and the ability to use lances, further increasing her capabilities as a unit. At this point, she does not need to be coddled by the player any further, although it is still risky for her to rush headlong into battles. Skills like Imbue, Adept, and Wrath help a lot in increasing her capabilities as a unit.

In Endgame, Astrid's high Resistance may prove to be extremely useful, provided that the player has taken the pains to train her. In spite of the presence of a couple excellent Marksmen in the game, Astrid will be an excellent candidate to wield the immensely powerful Double Bow nonetheless. Assigning the Nihil skill to her is not a bad idea, as she can negate some of the last few bosses' most dangerous skills, including that of Aurora and Ire.

Recruit Conversation (Path of Radiance)
Ike: Are you all right? Astrid: Who are you? Ike: My name's Ike. I'm with the Greil Mercenaries. I came to defend this ship-- and the apostle, if I can. Astrid: Is that so? I am Astrid, of House Damiell. Ike: A blueblood, huh? Well, unless you're good with a sword, you'd better hide yourself in a cabin. Astrid: I'll do no such thing. I once trained with knight and cavaliers. I may be of noble birth... but I know something of battle. I can fight. Ike: Well, if you can fight, we can use you. Let's work together. You going to be all right with that? Astrid: More so than I would be with hiding belowdecks, certainly.

Death Quotes
"I...wanted... to live...more freely... Grandmother..."

- Death Quote in Path of Radiance

Path of Radiance
"Good-bye, General Ike. This war has given me the confidence to enter the service of the Begnion knights. Thank you so much!"

- Astrid's epilogue quote to Ike

Radiant Dawn
As a Royal Knight renowned through the land, Astrid's beauty and prowess were known to allies and enemies alike. Astrid disregarded opposition and married the worst idler in three countries, but never tamed him.
 * Unassuming Knight (つつましき弓騎士 Tsutsumashiki Yumi Kishi)
 * (A support with Makalov)

Etymology
Astrid comes from Ástríðr, a Scandinavian name whose roots mean "god" and "beautiful, beloved."

Gallery
Stella