XeKr

doublepostoops

You should indeed get 1000 feathers from Lucina's team. Some people reported getting their victory 500 already, and I got 1500 from ranking. Nothing happens if you enter the Gauntlet?

Went ahead and burned all my flags (-100 as a test round 1) for Eirika this round. Probably easier to get a higher rank here, and plus this gives 10% more cumulative since I don’t have the matching bonus for the finals. Funnily, Ephraim joined the party many times in a row as the randomly selected (not friendlist) teammate. Helped against all the reds, oneshotting many with Eirika’s buff. Truly a supportive brother. Feathers so far… Round 1: 500 (victory) + 800 (rank 30k+ with 11k+ score) Round 2: 1500 (managed rank 995 with 112k+ score. It seems a few no-flag 110s added up in the end.) Cumulative (for now): 2200 (rank 6.9k with 124k+ score at last update). Prob drop below 10k rank next round? For the finals, Lucina is obviously heavily favored by conventional wisdom, but Ephraim may have more dedicated voters that saved flags. They clearly have (had?) a significant amount in reserve given the large immediate response whenever Chrom took a lead, and for the most part were purposely trying to avoid overkill to conserve them. Lucina also spent a lot of flags already, given her total is so high, and casual players that make up the bulk of both armies are less likely to strategically save them. Maybe her side is so big it doesn’t matter though, and it’s worth noting her more hardcore supporters were free to save flags upon seeing the blowouts. I can just join the winning team tho. Planned. No fun below

Should work, something similar has been done with Subaki instead of Stahl. All 3* and not even all 40. The map has been done with tons of team combinations, including these units raised from the special maps, so the precise design here really is impressive. The AI, varied movement/skills of the enemies, and the particular wall patterns/breakability also make it more complex than just a simple aggro (for most teams). Hope they keep it up.

Lost to forgetting teleport skills on initial attempts, but things worked out. On Lunatic. Used 5* Eirika, 5* +Spd/-Res (maybe mattered?) Robin(M), 4* Robin(F) (not max level but onerounds Ursula. I had her trained for Arena already), 4* Wrys (just needs Rehabilitate in theory, though not too much healing was needed in all actuality so others probably work). I think (though didn’t confirm) my +Def/-Atk Linde can do similarly as Robin(M) with Rehabilitate support, as she has the bulk to take a Ninja hit, doesn’t put enemies below half to allow their teleports, and has raw Atk to match Bonfire damage. Other mages may work as well. Eirika's (Spd) buff helped but I don't actually think it was that crucial for benchmarks in the end (but things would need to change for skill timings). Robin(F)/Wrys/Lissa are from special maps. -Rearrange so both Robins get Eirika’s buff -Robin(M) in bottom Ninja’s range. +Spd with Eirika’s buff is not doubled. A different Boon might still work, but would have to mix things up a bit. But more about Bonfire timing than damage though, due to Rehabilitate. Didn’t explore that path much tho. Robin(F) in Ursula’s range. Eirika to top left corner. Leave room for Robins to move back. - Ninja is chipped and Draw Backed by Red Cav. Ursula dies. - Robin(F) retreats out of range. Robin(M) chips Green Armor. Wrys heals Robin(M) - Top Ninja hits Eirika. A non-infantry unit is better but just needed her to take 1 hit which she easily does with 35 Spd to avoid the double. Bottom enemies break wall. - Robin(F) finishes Green armor with Ignis charged from Ursula fight. Robin(M) attacks Red Cav. Eirika moves out of range - Red Cav chips Robin(M). bottom Ninja attacks Robin(M), who finishes with Bonfire. Top Ninja moves down. - Heal Robin(M), finish Cav. Keep others out of range. - Finish last Ninja in next turns.

https://www.reddit.com/user/barthen seems to have hacked most of the Grand Heroes, including Ursula. Check link for their stats and dialogue.

There was a ban-round on cheaters/hackers recently, though I didn't expect it to have this kind of impact on the ranks. As for my team, had to replace lvl 40 4* Chrom with (lvl 30+ due to laziness) 4* Robin(F) so score is a bit lower but eh.

Was curious, so found out 100 Flags + some misc rounds for 11kish points gets you to rank 30kish in Eirika's army. The amount of feathers doesn't seem to scale that well with rank anyways, so it seems the fun is mainly just in the waifu/husbando wars. Will probably use the saved flags to try for the 500 win bonus if Eirika looks to have a chance. Otherwise will save for the final. Ephraim's team should probably take care not to overlook Chrom in their anticipation for the final. Chrom won comfortably round 1, so his team might still have a lot of flags to spare. And there's probably some support coming from the Fates characters losing already, given the 3ds overlap. btw Lucina haters should recognize how much her team contributed to your 20 free orbs. ;)

I suppose I see Corrin going Dragon Talent and marrying Jakob as similar to giving Haar/Xander a Speedwing. It enables efficient clears, so you do it. I hedged earlier regarding reclasses but I don’t see why we wouldn’t maximize a character’s potential if we’re using and tiering them. I already addressed most of the opportunity cost too. Corrin could reclass first, but there’s certain tradeoffs depending on the boon. imo it’s less clear what’s optimal here, though I tend to think it’s +Mag. Corrin could use other classes, but Malig is probably her best one. Corrin could marry others, but an early Trample Wyvern (that has flying+shelter. And double Trample kids) is one of most unique/useful things we can get out of the marriage. There’s other possibilities where Corrin nabs Malig off Scarlet (and goes what, Ninja/Cav/Diviner? Takes around 5 chapters without Private Quarters tho), but I’m not too sure how things shake out. imo a more niche option for Jakob would be S Kagero so that he contributes in the later routs with Shurikenfaire/Replicate. Paladin earlygame plus that is still pretty nice. The Butler point is mainly showing that Jakob has a Saizo-like earlygame (which I think is pretty good), even if he doesn't reclass. Subaki gets some hype as Hinoka with C7 availability, but I’ve never been that convinced the stat discrepancy is that irrelevant. Beyond the bases/growths, Hinoka can also get +4 Magic from S Silas, Elbow Room/Defender. Currently, I don’t think Subaki is that good mid/late outside the few contributions mentioned earlier. It’s just Birthright outside those few cases is largely a lot of bosskills, as noted, many of which rely on Rescue/ferrying to do efficiently. So I don’t see him in Low. He seems pretty useless in C22 sure, though perhaps Caeldori can do something there because of Prodigy. C23 he’s not very good though he can pick some lingering Horse kills. Re: chapter objectives, iirc C17 is basically a bosskill if you Shove to avoid the reinforcements around Flora. C22 is a rout and it can be tough to do efficiently since the enemies are all spread out, and some like to stick to the ballistas. Berserkers/Sorcs also hit hard. C23 is a rout, which mostly depends on how fast you can aggro Camilla and trigger her Wyvern reinforcements. 1-2 range is important here as a slower pace results in various reinforcements around the map which drags on. The rest of the mid/lategame is pretty fast, which I find is what makes Ryoma actually valuable. If using dance/Rescue/etc to maximum potential, other units are mostly underleveled and don’t have the stats to fight very reliably. Child paralogues, if we going to them, can help this a bit. Though enemies there are less trash and Ryoma probably fights the few really high level ones the best, which might also be relevant.

Need Focus Nino to do her best and save my team from growing numbers of Blue/Green characters. >_>

4452 has dropped to 10,317. I know ~4480 is possible with this team with selectively battling high point teams, but I don't find it worth the crests. Re: matchmaking. The opponents still scale based on your team’s stat total so you generally won’t see +10s unless using armors or merges of your own. Sometimes you might see some merged mages/cavs/fliers since their stat total is inherently lower (so those classes merged is comparable to unmerged infantry/armor).

Malig is probably Corrin's best class mid/lategame though and it's possible to wait on the reclass since +Mag doesn't have the Str for early Hand Axe ohkos (and hit would suck on mages anyways). And re: who reclasses first, it's not like Butler is that bad early. Shurikens, unrestricted mobility in the desert. 1 more move, 1 more Str base, 2 more Def base, same Spd compared to Ninjas.

Jakob can get D rank by the time it matters since C7/Mozu’s paralogue are steamrolls for him. Brass/Iron is usually enough due to his Str and Elbow Room and D is enough for effective weaponry. By the time enemies start to threaten him he’ll have C for the option of the Guard Naginata (in Paladin/Wyvern Lord). Silas also doesn’t have as good 1-2 range since he can’t go the early Trample route. Ryoma’s offense is overkill for most of the game and he can’t probably won’t have 8 move until chapter 19 or so. Jakob’s 1-2 range remains solid with 9 from skills + 14 Bolt Axe mt + 5 Onmyogi C Orochi Pair Up + 2 Tonic (+ 6 Malig base). The biggest problem he has is durability lategame and accuracy vs. mages (he can go Wyvern Lord/Paladin to Bolt Nagi but loses the Malig base). Corrin doesn’t really have this problem as she can have an actual Mag stat, Horse Spirit and use Jakob/Felicia as a pair up. The mobility gap is also actually bigger than one might first think, since Lunge is potentially 2 more (and goes through walls). Up to 10/11 move vs. 6/7 move is a big difference if both are onerounding pretty consistently. I’m pretty sure strict LTCers consider Ryoma even worse, as you can have Saizo or whoever mostly replicate his contributions, and rig lethalities on the lategame bosskills. I actually hold reliability to a very (very) high standard, so I wouldn’t go that far. I could see Ryoma > Jakob if lategame is valued more than earlygame. There are interesting arguments there wrt to units that are good when others are meh vs good when others are good, or utility when having few deployment choices vs. many deployment choices, blahblah. Corrin seems solidly better though. I actually think her earlygame is a bit overrated (to be comparable to Jakob early, you have to forgo +Mag for +Str), but it’s hard to say she isn’t still one of the best units then. She then has the potential for Horse Spirit and high raw durability+mobility, in either Dark Knight or Malig, by the time Ryoma joins. How do you see Corrin vs. Ryoma and Corrin vs. Jakob? Most units can't ohko with the Javelin like Jakob can. Those in the Pegasus line don't have the durability Jakob does and later their Mag is offset by Trample. iirc Kaze fares decently in the C22 rout since he can dodge Axes/Bows with the Dual Shuriken while tanking magic with his Res. If he really can't oneround consistently like Kagero though, then yeah they're not too far. Especially if you discount his C4/5 contributions for a Birthright list. I still think the Ninjas are most valuable early, especially the C10 rout. Enemy Ninjas are fairly hard to oneround on enemy phase, especially once they start debuffing.

Jakob 1 being worse in Birthright than Conquest doesn’t mean he can’t be better than most of the cast in Birthright. Jakob is still one of the best earlygame units, as he has promoted bases+Elbow Room+Defender and 8 move. Lvl 3ish Jakob with Corrin Pair Up is already probably the best unit in C7 (mounted, solid Hp/Def, nearly onerounds the entire map), and it snowballs as he catches up in levels, gets skills, and builds weapon rank (see below). Durability is pretty good throughout the earlygame, and he onerounds basically everything unpromoted at 1 range, and can reach some ohko benchmarks for mages/ninjas at 1-2. His raw stats make him one of the better units to fight the few promoted enemies and bosses early on. If he is passed Wyvern, he continues to oneround at 1-2 range for most of the game. And he has Shelter/flying. It’s hard to ask for much more of a unit. (C7) Level 3 Paladin!Jakob w/ C +Mag Corrin, Brass Naginata, tonics: 22.9 atk, 13 AS. 28 Hp, 14.6 Def Level 3 GK!Jakob w/ Hana, Brass Club, tonics: 21.9 atk, 14 AS, 30 hp, 14.6 Def (only do this if you really care about the Spd benchmark early in C7. Paladin quickly gets enough Spd between levels and Defender, and is better in the future because of 1 more move and using +Str/Def Pair Ups) (After Mozu paralogue?) Level 10 Paladin!Jakob w/ C Rinkah, Iron Naginata, Elbow Room, Defender, Res+2, tonics: 32.4 atk, 15.15 AS. 32.2 Hp, 17.05 Def, 16.15 Res tbh right now I consider the top tier Corrin, Jakob 1, Azura, Ryoma, (maybe Felicia 1 depending on her Def works out), probably in that order. C8-10 are the best chapters for Ninjas because they’re all routs with enemy mages/ninjas, so efficiency is improved immensely with units that can counterattack at 1-2 range. Characters like +Str Corrin, Jakob, and maybe Silas with his personal active may ohko some squishy enemies, but won’t oneround the 1 range ones on the same enemy phase. The Ninjas have good offense against the other enemies too between Steel Shuriken+Pair Up+Tonics. Dark Mage/Diviner Corrin can also work against mages, but not too well against Ninjas. Ninja Corrin works but she’s not mounted/flying later, and she’s better than these characters anyways due to Nobility/Yato bonuses/Servant personals. You don’t have magic weapons and the mages are bad at this time. Kagero is slightly underleveled at join time compared to Kaze/Saizo (especially since they were useful in the previous chapters) and her Str lead, when it kicks in, is mostly overkill. There are tons of unpromoted enemies up until Chapter 23. Kagero could be better than Kaze in the C22/C23 routs (not sure, I don’t have the enemy stats atm) but she doesn’t really have the durability to take heavy enemy phases for those chapters anyways. There’s also more 1-2 range options like Ryoma (lol), Bolt Nagi/Axe (on mounted units, more mt, attacks Res), Horse Spirit (gives durability, on mounted/flying units, attacks Res, better triangle vs Berserker/Sorc mix) so the ninjas are less relatively impressive then (though still fairly good). Maybe in cases where Ryoma/Corrin are steamrolling everything, all the other units are underleveled and the Str lead might matter more, but at that pace the C8-10 contributions are more valuable anyways.

Jakob 1 is probably less impressive in this route, but he’s still potentially an early paladin (8 move, promoted bases, Javelins ohkos on squishes, etc), and if you pass him Wyvern he doesn’t really fall off between Elbow Room+Defender+Trample+Bolt Axe. Not exactly sure how Felicia stacks up, but she might be able to use Horse Spirit in Malig well. I think Kaze and Saizo are better than Kagero, because the best chapters for the ninjas are C8-10 and she isn’t around for that. Subaki has lower stats than Hinoka, but Hinoka is quite good so I’m not sure he should be so low. His mobility is pretty good for C7 since the cavs are stuck in a corner, and flight helps in the early maps like the desert, forest, boat, etc. Early combat is decent enough with Rinkah/Oboro pair-up. Later on he can Beastkiller wolves and horses, Bolt Nagi the 0 Res side in the Rainbow sage map, and be a flying Rescue Staff.

Got 4452 offense earlier while finishing up the arena quests. When I checked today it was rank 7974. 4442 had dropped to rank 7337 yesterday before that. I don’t think it’s going to last sub 10k but we’ll see.

Easy map for me, Linde one-rounds Green Axe (-Atk, but with Eirika's buff) while up top out of range of Robin(F) and kills Blue and Red mages on enemy phase. Blue lance and Robin(F) are baited closer. Next turn Linde kills Blue lance and Eirika is danced to reach Robin. Narcian's map was harder, but even then I think it could be done with free characters and the 10k feathers. Sharena to aggro, Wrys/Olivia from special maps for support. And some archer/Red for Narcian. I imagine there's some combination of common/free characters that can handle this map. An initial thought is Felicia+Wrys+Olivia+someone. Or take advantage of the free Cecilia's Rally Res, etc. Not too impressed with Robin(F) though. Will likely keep trying to pull a good Nino for my feathers, or any Julia. Or wait for Veronica. >_>

No deaths 7 adv streak for me gives around 4442 offense for rank 1778 The arena did feel a little harder this season, mainly because I saw more Linde (who is still ridiculous) and Julia (who hard counters blue mages). Also it seemed like more people used Spd buff combinations like Ryoma/Eirika+Takumi/Tharja/Nino. Replacing Chrom with Narcian would still have worked tho, as he did literally nothing in every match. But I suppose my 3 others, Linde, Eirika, Robin(M) have fairly strong synergy and coverage that not everyone will have. I imagine I might have to use color mage + Olivia + coverage option as a core if I didn’t have Eirika. btw I don’t think people change their defense teams much because you don’t need bonus characters on them (to my knowledge). So there’s still lots of Takumi, red swords, etc.

Barely scrapped by at rank 9911 with 4444 offense score. I have Eirika, so my score this season should be about the same. Perhaps some others in the top 10k will drop from the bonus characters being not as common as the ones from the first set of focuses. I imagine I could replace 4* Chrom with Narcian (2k feather investment) and get a similar score as well. Ranking measurably higher requires luck in pulls beyond just bonus characters anyways, as you need to pull 5* ones with high stat totals or tons of 3*/4* to turn into feathers (and technically multiples for merges for the very top ranks), which is p2w regardless. I think they should adjust the score to focus on turncount, team level, deaths, instead of stat total and deaths, but eh. There might still be a slight p2w factor to appease the whales, but the skill ceiling would be a lot higher. Depending on the characters from special maps, perhaps f2p could achieve competitive scores with lower starred units (though it would be more challenging with less stat total). At some point, no deaths alone just isn't that hard, so the only thing that matters is stat total and therefore rng (or money). Also, if it wasn't apparent, you need 1 bonus character to straight up double your score. There were some reports that more would give additional bonuses, but they did not actually seem to (last season at least, not sure about this time yet).

Azama @Carmine Sword

I think Kaden, actually. @Bandido Banderas Thanks for listening wrt to shop rule.

10 move Bow Knight will surely help. Niles. @Carmine Sword As for where I stand on the shop issue, I don't really see access to all of them as broken. Building all 4 is something that can be done in every playthrough without requiring online features or RNG, and all Rev runs without specific restrictions will use them. It's basically part of the fun of the route, having access to both Hoshido and Nohr characters and weapons/staves. It doesn't benefit any player disproportionately, as we all have the same access. It's not "overcentralizing" or boring, which is sometimes another ban condition (like traditionally for FE8's Seth, or presumably Paladin->Wyvern!Jakob in this game). It actually adds options, which is more resources to allocate and tools to use. I think that's more strategic and interesting. Like, you don't see many complaints about other rules that are somewhat arbitrary, like the Mozu or ticket ones. I think because it's arguably part of the rationale/appeal of the 3rd route Revelation, having access to otherwise (mostly) exclusive Hoshido/Nohr stuff, that there's some pushback on this rule.

my snow shoveler is gone Arthur @Bandido Banderas

Dwyer @Carmine Sword

Kagero @Bandido Banderas, your pick. Also please update us on the rule changes, if any.