Why is Vander not leveling up in Fire Emblem Engage?

As you start your journey with Fire Emblem Engage, you’re introduced to all sorts of characters with different stats, classes, and abilities. One of the first characters to join your army is Vander, the Paladin. Vander has much better stats than the rest of your party members and will be a huge asset in the first half of the game. He’s strong, has great movement, and uses axes, the most powerful physical weapons in the game. But why does he level up so incredibly slowly?

Why isn’t Vander leveling up in Fire Emblem Engage?

Vander is what the Fire Emblem community calls a Jagen archetype. This archetype is Fire Emblem is a pre-promoted/advanced class unit you get at the start of the game that has much higher stats than the rest of your army. They’re almost always a Paladin/Great Knight class and don’t get much experience. These characters’ usefulness varies depending on which game in the franchise you play.

Vander is a Paladin, an advanced class that units can promote to once they hit level ten in their base class. Advanced classes are much stronger than base classes, which means Vander is at a much higher level than everyone in your army at the start of the game. Vander is getting almost no experience because he is fighting enemies that are a much lower level than he is. He will get more experience once you get into the later half of Fire Emblem Engage.

Jagen is a character from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and advises and battles alongside Marth during his journey. He’s a Paladin with great base stats but absolutely terrible growth rates, just like Vander in Engage.

A lot of players don’t like Jagen characters because they soak up experience points when grinding levels, that could go to other party members. Since your other characters will get much more experience from killing enemies, they will quickly outshine Vander once you get a few chapters into the game.