Leonardo

"What were you two thinking, taking on these bandits alone? That’s beyond reckless."

- Leonardo to Edward and Micaiah

Leonardo (レオナルド Reonarudo) is an archer of the Dawn Brigade. He is a mature and serious young man who had a noble upbringing before his family was ravaged by war. Along with Edward and Nolan, he receives a personal weapon, the bow known as Lughnasadh, as a gift from Pelleas.

History
Since detailed support conversations were removed from Radiant Dawn, not much information on Leonardo's past is available in the game. However the released designer's notes help to shed more light on the subject.

The notes reveal that Leonardo is the son of a noble. Leonardo lost his father and older brother in the Mad King's War, and became an orphan as his mother soon followed them. After Daein's defeat in the war, the military school where Leonardo studied fell into the Occupational Army's hands. While everyone is being sent to the prison camps, he flees alongside a few colleagues. However, those colleagues are captured, one after another, and Leonardo ends up being the last remaining one. When he loses his way and is cornered by the Occupation Army, he's stopped by a youth of his age, who saves him. That was his first encounter with Edward, who would later become his best friend.

Personality
Leonardo's personality is the opposite of his friend Edward, who Leonardo regularly nags in an effort to teach him self-control. His views can be best described as being down-to-earth, though he can be occasionally skeptical or bitter. Quiet by nature, Leonardo's personality rarely surfaces, though he is said to have good composure. For the most part, he is characterized by a subdued and pensive demeanor which is evident from his few Base Conversations. He has a strong sense of loyalty to his country, and dislikes the senselessness of wars. He and Edward both seem to look up to Nolan, who acts like a mentor to them.

Throughout the game, he shares a particular bond with Edward. This is supported in a base conversation they have, in which Leonardo presents Edward with a Tempest Blade, and remarks that the two of them are each other's best friend and family.

Recruitment

 * Part 1: Chapter Prologue: Automatically from Turn 4. Available in 1-P, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, and 1-E.
 * Part 3: Available in 3-6, 3-12, and 3-13.
 * Part 4: Can select to join the team with Micaiah/Ike/Tibarn, available in which team he joined and Endgame.

Classes
Leonardo starts as a Level 4 Archer. He promotes to the Sniper class at level 21, gaining the class skill Critical +10 and access to Crossbows.

At Level 21 as a Sniper he promotes a final time to the Marksman class, earning the skills: Critical +15 and Deadeye, which triples his final damage and puts the target to sleep.

Also, as a Marksman, his range raises to 2-3 while using most bows, except for Longbows or Crossbows.

Base Stats
|Archer |Water |4 |17 |8 |0 |12 |10 |6 |5 |4 |7 |7 |6 |Bow - D |Shove Cancel |Iron Bow Herb Dracoshield

Growth Rates
|60% |40% |15% |75% |35% |65% |35% |55%

Overview
Like most members of the Dawn Brigade, Leonardo joins as a first-tier unit and will ultimately require extensive training or level grinding to be viable for combat in the last stages of the game, a result of his fairly limited availability as an under-leveled unit. Leonardo is notable for having unusual stats for his class due to his abnormal growth rates. On average, he will have mediocre HP, Strength and Defense, below average Speed, and extremely high Skill, Luck, and Resistance.

As a result of his uneven stat distribution, while Leonardo will most likely cap his Skill and Resistance early on (as well as Luck in his final class), his Strength, Defense, and Speed will remain subpar as he levels up, weakening his overall offense and durability. In particular, Leonardo will be rather slow for an archer, unable to reliably Double Attack unless he uses the Brave Bow. Despite these problems, Leonardo gains a unique bow in Part 3 that only he can wield, the Lughnasadh, which grants him a 5+ to Speed, in addition to having 16 MT, improving his combat performance for the duration of Part 3 and possibly Part 4. He can be especially useful to have on the team in chapters 3-6 and 3-13 if he has already been promoted to the Sniper class, because he can rout the Laguz from afar with a combination of the Crossbow and the Beastfoe skill (thanks to the Beastfoe's effect of tripling the Crossbow's 28 MT for lethal damage).

To patch up his offensive stats, the player can give him Bonus Experience after he naturally caps his Skill, Resistance, and eventually Luck, to increase his lower growths in HP, Strength, and Speed or Defense. Nonetheless, Leonardo is often criticized as an inferior Marksman to the likes of Rolf and Shinon (both who have superior averages in Strength and Speed), though he fares decently in his final class should the player give the effort to promote him twice.

His mediocre stats notwithstanding, Leonardo still has his uses in weakening enemies from afar, easily dispatching of the Pegasus Knights and Bird Tribe Laguz that appear as enemies throughout the game, and providing an excellent support with his Water affinity.

Death quote
"How is it...that people are born... only to die so swiftly? ...If only I had lived a little longer..."

- Leonardo’s death quote

Retreat quote
"We’re totally outclassed in this battle. This is insane. Micaiah, I'm sorry. I have to turn back for now..."

- Leonardo’s retreat quote in 3-7

"We can’t hold them off... Sorry, Micaiah. I'm falling back for now."

- Leonardo’s retreat quote in 3-E

Leonardo vs Numida
"You crushed freedom in Daein for years! Do you even have a conscience?!"

- Leonardo

"Daein gutter trash! I should have had you all killed when I had the chance!"

- Numida

Ending
Freedom's Arrow (心正しき弓使い)

Leonardo toiled at rebuilding the army. With his proven skills and good looks, he was beset by women across Tellius.

Trivia

 * In the prototype of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Rolf's character model bears a resemblance to Leonardo . This may imply that his character was originally conceived at an early stage, but for whatever reason was scrapped in the previous game, and subsequently restored for the sequel.

Leonardo