Sage

The Sage (賢者 Kenja) is a combat magical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem Gaiden. The original promoted form of the Mage class in several titles, the Sage class wields Anima Magic as its primary weapon of choice, alongside staves for support purposes.

History in the Series
In its original inception in Gaiden, the Sage class is introduced as a replacement for the Bishop class, acting as the promoted form of the Mage class.

The Sage class is then rendered absent until the onset of Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776. The Sage class acts as the promoted form of Shamans and Bards, and is, apart from wielding all types of Anima Magic, also able to arm Light Magic and Staves. In Thracia 776, the Sage class is also the promoted form of Asbel, a character who starts out as a Mage.

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, the Sage class acts as the promoted form of the Mage class, as is the case in Gaiden. Like its Jugdral predecessor, the Sage class in this title is able to wield Anima Magic, Light Magic and Staves.

The Sage class is not instituted as the staple promoted form of the Mage class until The Binding Blade. This iteration of the class is locked to employing only Anima Magic and Staves.

In The Sacred Stones, the Sage class is one of the promoted forms of both Monks and Priests. This iteration of the class is, like its Jugdral incarnation, able to wield Light Magic alongside Anima Magic and Staves.

In Radiant Dawn, the Sage class specialises in specific types of Anima Magic, and is thence split into Fire, Thunder and Wind Sages. Other non-Anima variations of the Sage class also exist, taking the form of the Light and Dark Sage classes, specialising in Light and Dark Magic respectively.

In Fates, the Sage class is known as Onmyoji (陰陽師 Onmyōji) and is treated as a Hoshidan class.

Combat
Sages tend to possess the highest Magic growth and caps of any non-exclusive class in most titles, although there have been exceptions to this rule; Sorcerers in Fates, for one, have slightly higher Magic.

Path of Radiance
Interestingly, Mages in Path of Radiance have the choice of gaining the ability to wield either Knives or Staves upon promotion, with all Pre-Promoted sages having the former chosen for them by default. This marks the second occurrence of a magic-wielding class gaining a non-magical weapon upon promotion (the first being the Mage Knight of FE4, using Swords). The latter option is, however, ostensibly more useful, in that it adds healing powers that draw upon the unit's Magic, whereas the former option is not especially useful in the hands of Sages, who will most often have low Strength, although it does offer a chance for them to physically attack units with high Resistance.

Awakening
Due to the astronomical Magic cap boasted by Sages in this title, their Tome strength and healing potency is unparalleled. If they have high enough Magic, their range with the Rescue or Fortify staves can possibly cover entire maps, making them excellent support units. The two skills Sages can learn are Rally Magic and Tomefaire.

Rally Magic boosts Magic by 4 to all units within three spaces. In addition to powering up the combat magical capabilities of allies, this skill also makes the healing power of other staff users stronger, emphasizing Sages' supportive role and enhancing their strategic use. Tomefaire grants the user +5 to their Magic when they are equipped with a Tome; an outstanding boon under consideration of the fact Sages cannot wield any weapons besides tomes, and thus would never misuse the skill's benefits.

Fates
Onmyoji are parallel to Awakening 's Sages in almost every aspect. Their physical defensive qualities remain lackluster, although this is compensated for by their reliable Skill, Speed and Resistance. In addition to this, Onmyoji wield Tomes and Staves as their primary equipment, alongside preserving Rally Magic and Tomefaire as their skills.

However, unlike their Awakening incarnation, Onmyoji do not boast superlative Magic in this game, the title now having been conferred to the Witch, who possess a hefty 36 Magic (three points above the Onmyoji class' 33), as well as an S Rank in Tomes (compared to the Onmyoji's maximum of A). Their Luck has also been noticeably downgraded, and in accordance to Fates ' HP adjustments, their maximum HP is now 45, further dampening the little defensive use that they have.

However, none of this deter the player from employing the Onmyoji class. The Magic that they possess still remains among the best in the game, and their good Skill and Speed guarantee that they can consistently perform double attacks, as well as dodge sometimes and land critical hits reliably enough. Though they may be severely lacking in Defense, their Resistance remains steadfastly reliable, and it is thus very likely that they will be able to survive and even tank magical attacks aimed at them.

Onmyoji's B Rank in Staves further expands their usefulness by granting them access to a bounty of healing options and debuffs, making them not just powerful offensive casters, but more than outstanding supporters as well. While they may fill either role wonderfully, an Onmyoji's true versatility lies in how they can perform both simultaneously in the heat of battle, making them a valuable unit with many different uses.

Game differences
Though the general theme of the class is the same, the stats and how the class is used depends on the game. For example, in the GBA Series, the Sage was more used as an all around magic wielder, able to use offensive, defensive, and supportive properties quite well, while not getting too great in any category. This of course remains the same within the Tellius series as well, acting as a middle ground mage. However, in Awakening and Fates,  the class has taken on a much higher focus on offense and support, lacking in defense. While they still heal quite a bit of HP, they go down a lot easier then the Sages of previous fire emblem games. On harder difficulties, this will become a problem because almost every hit will be a 1-hit kill. Despite this, the raw power this class has is to not be taken lightly, regardless of class.

WiFi Battles
(Please note that due to the discontinuation of the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi servers, the following information is arguably obsolete)

Sages are used mainly for their utility value. No sage is able to kill a combat unit one-on-one, and they are therefore mostly used for their staves. In particular, Staves like Fortify and Warp provide a team with a large tactical advantage.

The actual value of having a Sage on a squad is debatable. Sages can be easily killed in one-on-one encounters, and are also usually unable to take down foes in one-on-one combat. Despite this, the predominant reason Sages are deployed is because they do not drain stat-increasing items needed to make a squad of five powerful units. Normally, a team of five combat units will need to spread the boosts thinner and have little need for Magic boosts. However, a team of four combat units and a Sage will be able to distribute their limited boosts to the combat units by especially focusing Magic-based items on the Sage character. However, Strategist and specially Falcon Knight fit better this role because of they're superb mobility.

Gaiden

 * Nomah - The elderly magic user who watched over Celica at the Novis Monastery, and trained Boey, Mae and Genny.
 * Possible promotion for: Boey, Luthier, Tobin, Kliff, Gray and Atlas.

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Arvis - Duke of Velthomer and later emperor of Grannvale.
 * Ced - Lewyn and Erinys's son.
 * Hawk - Ced's substitute character.
 * Ishtar - Princess of Freege and lover of Julius
 * Promotion for: Lewyn and Julia.

Thracia 776

 * Ced - Lewyn's and Erinys's son and the prince of Silesse.
 * Promotion for: Asbel, Homer, Linoan and Sara.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

 * Alfred - The Flash of Leda and one of the Twelve Heroes.
 * Promotion for: Maruju, Meriah, Alicia, and Rishel.

The Binding Blade

 * Ohtz - A lieutenant of Bern who leads the attack on Arcadia.
 * Brunnya - One of Bern's three Dragon Generals.
 * Guinivere - Zephiel's younger, illegitimate sister.
 * Promotion for: Lugh, Lilina and Hugh.

The Blazing Blade

 * Aion - A member of the Black Fang who is known as the "Owl". Guards the entrance to the Dragon's Gate alongside Kishuna.
 * Ephidel - One of Nergal's morphs.
 * Pent - Count Reglay, a nobleman from Etruria, husband of Louise and father to Clarine and Klein.
 * Sonia - One of Nergal's morphs who is the wife of Brendan Reed. Married Brendan in order to gain control of the Black Fang.
 * Limstella - Allegedly Nergal's best morph.
 * Promotion for: Erk and Nino.

The Sacred Stones

 * Pablo - The leader of the revolt in Carcino and one of the two bosses of Chapter 10 in Eirika's route.
 * Saleh - Ewan's magic tutor from Caer Pelyn.
 * Possible promotion of: Lute, Ewan, Moulder and Artur.

Path of Radiance

 * Calill - A self-proclaimed world class sage.
 * Bastian - A nobleman from Crimea and one of Elincia's advisors.
 * Balmer - One of General Petrine's men.
 * Kayachey - A Daein officer under Petrine who commands the Daein border fortress Tor Garen.
 * Heddwyn - A general of Daein and the chief guard of Gritnea Tower.
 * Promotion for: Soren, Ilyana and Tormod.

Shadow Dragon
Note: All Sages were Bishops in the original game
 * Wendell - A sage from Khadein and the teacher of Merric and Arlen.
 * Gotoh - A Divine Dragon known as the White Sage and the teacher of Miloah and Gharnef.
 * Promotion for: Merric and Linde.

New Mystery of the Emblem

 * Katarina- One of Eremiya's assassins.
 * Promotion for: Jubelo and Arlen.

Awakening

 * Emmeryn - The Exalt of Ylisse and the older sister of Chrom and Lissa.
 * Excellus - Walhart's tactician.
 * Ovis - One of the Deadlords.
 * Possible promotion for: Lissa, Miriel, Ricken, Brady and Laurent.

Fates

 * Izana - Ruler of the Principality of Izumo.
 * Possible promotion for: Orochi, Hayato, Sakura, Azama, Mitama and Rhajat.

Etymology
Onmyoji (陰陽師), the Fates name of the class in the Japanese version, were Japanese scientists during the Heian Period who conducted research on astronomy, geology and atmospheric science to improve farming techniques or military strategies. In Japanese popular culture, they are often portrayed as spellcasters who expel demons.

Trivia

 * In The Blazing Blade, the morphs Sonia and Limstella, while formally classed as Sages, have higher stat caps with respect to Defense and Resistance, both of which can reach a maximum of 30, compared with the usual 21 and 25 respectively that can be attained by normal female Sages.
 * The Sacred Stones incarnation of the Sage class has the highest number of classes promoting into it (Mage, Priest, Monk and Pupil (2)), sharing the number with the Paladin class from Path of Radiance and Archsage class from Radiant Dawn.
 * In Fates, Onmyojis use different attack animations when given a tome.
 * In Fates, Onmyojis are the only class to learn a -faire skill but are not capable of reaching S rank in their weapon.

Gallery
Sabio