FE9 Astrid was kinda in the best class in the game and had an item that made her class even better. She was pretty acceptable.
Leo is actually pretty okay if you train him. Beastfoe+Leo is really strong. He'll carry you later. But yea. His stat growth early prebonus EXP is just ugh. Skill, Luck and Res heavy. He'll always hit I guess.
Aran is great IMO. For Geoffrey's crew. Dandev is likely the best unit of that bunch. Makalov has some funny quirks to him like having the highest speed growth in the game. Keiran doesn't need babysitting but ends up the 2nd worst of that crew. Astrid is super awful. Geoffrey rejoins super late and is a horseback unit anyway.
I'd use Dandev if you don't normally use him.
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Whatever...