Fire Emblem Heroes General Discussion and Links

[daisy jane]

1 minute ago, Anacybele said:

Cavalry beasts: Ranulf, Lethe, Kaden, Selkie, Panne, Yarne

Non cav beasts: The four birds, the two wolfskin, Nailah, Mordecai, Caineghis

six cavalry beasts and nine non-cavalry beasts. So the majority of beasts are other movement types.

Six. cavs
4 birds
4 infantry
1 armour
 

and only TWO of those majority have enough res to MAYBE withstand a blast from Micaiah. 
so yeah. my point still stands. 

Micaiah is much better than Eliwood dealing with beasts - than Eliwood with his beast eff 

[Venmi]

7 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Cavalry beasts: Ranulf, Lethe, Kaden, Selkie, Panne, Yarne

Non cav beasts: The four birds, the two wolfskin, Nailah, Mordecai, Caineghis

six cavalry beasts and nine non-cavalry beasts. So the majority of beasts are other movement types.

 

14 minutes ago, daisy jane said:

Micaiah was the winner imply because amours still run the meta. not beasts. (and the majority of the beasts - are classified as Cavs).

For what it's worth, Micaiah is also effective against Caineghis, who is an armor.  So that makes 7 she's effective against versus 8 that she isn't, which is pretty close to even.  And there are more beasts with high defense than high res (I think), and since they're all melee and only two come with DC (Nailah and Caineghis), Micaiah can hit more in PvE without taking a hit in return.

Also, I'm pretty sure my Caineghis could beat Micaiah or Eliwood...  (which isn't strictly relevant, but fun XD)

Edited August 23, 2019 by Venmi

[daisy jane]

1 minute ago, Venmi said:

 

For what it's worth, Micaiah is also effective against Caineghis, who is an armor.  So that makes 7 she's effective against versus 8 that she isn't, which is pretty close to even.  And there are more beasts with high defense than high res (I think), and since they're all melee and only two come with DC (Nailah and Caineghis), Micaiah can hit more in PvE without taking a hit in return.

Also, I'm pretty sure my Caineghis could beat Micaiah or Eliwood...

yeah i think it would depend on how Mufasa is built - vs. how Micaiah is built. 
My red and Blue Micaiahs can take on some Mufasas (but not all) but  - Flycaiah has the benefit of flier emblem buffs (hone/goad/ward/fortify) so it will VERY much be interesting). Mufasa does have the colourless advantage. however (but mufasa would have that against eliwood too)

[Venmi]

Just now, daisy jane said:

yeah i think it would depend on how Mufasa is built - vs. how Micaiah is built. 
My red and Blue Micaiahs can take on some Mufasas (but not all) but  - Flycaiah has the benefit of flier emblem buffs (hone/goad/ward/fortify) so it will VERY much be interesting). Mufasa does have the colourless advantage. however (but mufasa would have that against eliwood too)

Yeah, I run double DD on my Caineghis, and he's tanked red Micaiah multiple times.  Now, with flier buffs, B!Micaiah will likely be a different story...  We'll see!  And I'll also think about how I'll deal with B!Eliwood.

I used Caineghis in AR, which is why I love him so much!  I'll likely start using B!Micaiah in a flier team though...

[daisy jane]

1 minute ago, Venmi said:

Yeah, I run double DD on my Caineghis, and he's tanked red Micaiah multiple times.  Now, with flier buffs, B!Micaiah will likely be a different story...  We'll see!  And I'll also think about how I'll deal with B!Eliwood.

I used Caineghis in AR, which is why I love him so much!  I'll likely start using B!Micaiah in a flier team though...

 

i had hoped to snag one last month (but game gave me another Eir - which - a benefit i will admit). 
my plan is to +10 micaiah (both blue and green). the green is the priority because for the most part - all i run in the game is fliers 😉 so she'll be a great offensive magic thread. and the beautiful thing is - she needs like zero investment.

[XRay]

47 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

No they can't. They can't hit beasts and dragons for effective damage.

Having consistent high damage output is a big deal. BE!Eliwood's damage output fluctuates wildly depending on the enemy type; Blade mages do not have such a problem because they deal consistently high damage to everyone regardless of the enemies' Weapon class. A nuke that can only take out some units but not others is inconsistent and not desirable. Reinhardt is basically BE!Eliwood but better. Dire Thunder means Reinhardt always "doubles" and is not bogged down with Wary Fighter or high Spd enemies.

Blade mages and Reinhardt are also ranged. Dance/Sing-Reposition is the bread and butter of Player Phase tactics, and ranged nukes are easier to extract from enemy range and they can hit over obstacles. The fact that BE!Eliwood is melee easily disqualifies him from being picked even if his damage output is consistent. The only reason to go for Player Phase melee nukes is for Galeforcing, and we already have that in Peri and Oscar.

[Venmi]

12 minutes ago, daisy jane said:

 

i had hoped to snag one last month (but game gave me another Eir - which - a benefit i will admit). 
my plan is to +10 micaiah (both blue and green). the green is the priority because for the most part - all i run in the game is fliers 😉 so she'll be a great offensive magic thread. and the beautiful thing is - she needs like zero investment.

Yeah, I went for Caineghis merges on that banner (or a L!Alm)...  Got two Eirs and only one merge XD

+10 Micaiah sounds like a good plan!  I'm loving B!Micaiah so far, and I have a +10 regular Micaiah.  She's great!  Good luck!

[Anacybele]

42 minutes ago, XRay said:

The fact that BE!Eliwood is melee easily disqualifies him from being picked

I didn't know melee units were considered bad. 😕

[XRay]

3 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

I didn't know melee units were considered bad. 😕

Outside of Galeforcing enemy teams, there is no reason to pick a Player Phase melee unit when you can nuke from afar with mages and archers.

[Anacybele]

29 minutes ago, XRay said:

Outside of Galeforcing enemy teams, there is no reason to pick a Player Phase melee unit when you can nuke from afar with mages and archers.

Lolwut. I'm seriously confused by this. So players should just build teams of only ranged units and never use melee units. That doesn't make sense to me. Some melee units have DC or DC weapons, or are just plain really damn good. And ranged nukes aren't going to easily KO mixed tanks that have high Def and Res. Melee units wouldn't either, but many have better defenses so they can take a hit from those tanks.

But whatever the case, I don't care for mages, personally, because they tend to be squishy and I'm no good with low Def units. The only ones I use a lot are Reinhardt, female Robin, and male Morgan. The rest of my main units are melee or archers. Reinhardt and Robin also have decent Def stats anyway.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Anacybele

[Ice Dragon]

22 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Lolwut. I'm seriously confused by this. So players should just build teams of only ranged units and never use melee units. That doesn't make sense to me. Some melee units have DC or DC weapons, or are just plain really damn good. And ranged nukes aren't going to easily KO mixed tanks that have high Def and Res. Melee units wouldn't either, but many have better defenses so they can take a hit from those tanks.

But whatever the case, I don't care for mages, personally, because they tend to be squishy and I'm no good with low Def units. The only ones I use a lot are Reinhardt, female Robin, and male Morgan. The rest of my main units are melee or archers. Reinhardt and Robin also have decent Def stats anyway.

Player phase is the keyword here. Ranged units have a huge advantage over melee units on player phase because of their reach, which lets them hit over obstacles and makes them easier to pull out of enemy range afterwards. There are obviously a lot of player-phase melee units that are "good enough", but very few that stand at the top of the pack alongside the best player-phase ranged units.

Enemy phase is a completely different matter, and that's where melee units shine with their higher overall stats. However, that's irrelevant to the discussion because Eliwood's stats are clearly oriented towards a player-phase role.

[XRay]

38 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Lolwut. I'm seriously confused by this. So players should just build teams of only ranged units and never use melee units. That doesn't make sense to me. Some melee units have DC or DC weapons, or are just plain really damn good. And ranged nukes aren't going to easily KO mixed tanks that have high Def and Res. Melee units wouldn't either, but many have better defenses so they can take a hit from those tanks.

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Blade mages and Reinhardt are also ranged. Dance/Sing-Reposition is the bread and butter of Player Phase tactics, and ranged nukes are easier to extract from enemy range and they can hit over obstacles. The fact that BE!Eliwood is melee easily disqualifies him from being picked even if his damage output is consistent. The only reason to go for Player Phase melee nukes is for Galeforcing, and we already have that in Peri and Oscar.

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Outside of Galeforcing enemy teams, there is no reason to pick a Player Phase melee unit when you can nuke from afar with mages and archers.

Please read things carefully.

Player Phase melee nukes are inferior to Player Phase ranged nukes because they are more difficult to extract, and by definition of being a melee unit, they have lower reach and cannot hit over obstacles. Being difficult to extract and having lower reach means Dance/Sing-Reposition is less effective. Not being able to hit over obstacles means the unit is less effective at clearing the map. BE!Eliwood is a Player Phase melee unit.

Distant Counter units are not Player Phase nukes, they are Enemy Phase tanks. Player Phase units are not meant to take hits. 

38 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

But whatever the case, I don't care for mages, personally, because they tend to be squishy and I'm no good with low Def units. The only ones I use a lot are Reinhardt, female Robin, and male Morgan. The rest of my main units are melee or archers. Reinhardt and Robin also have decent Def stats anyway.

You do not have to be good with ranged units. You do not even have to learn. We are all just copying strategy videos, and BE!Micaiah makes Pheonixmaster1's job easier. I think BE!Camilla's map control is more important to make things easier, but if he and everyone else thinks BE!Micaiah is easier to use, then I will do the same and pick BE!Micaiah. I am not the one solving Abyssal maps, he is.

If you really think BE!Eliwood is such a good unit and make things easier, then summon him in the regular Focus so he can get a +Atk/Spd nature and solve Abyssal. Even if Pheonixmaster1 picks BE!Eliwood, you need to keep BE!Eliwood at neutral +0 anyways to follow his guides, so if you want to use BE!Eliwood yourself, you will have to create a seperate one.

Edited August 23, 2019 by XRay

[Anacybele]

4 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Player phase is the keyword here. Ranged units have a huge advantage over melee units on player phase because of their reach, which lets them hit over obstacles and makes them easier to pull out of enemy range afterwards. There are obviously a lot of player-phase melee units that are "good enough", but very few that stand at the top of the pack alongside the best player-phase ranged units.

Enemy phase is a completely different matter, and that's where melee units shine with their higher overall stats. However, that's irrelevant to the discussion because Eliwood's stats are clearly oriented towards a player-phase role.

I suppose that makes some sense.

[Sunwoo]

PM1 doesn't even normally use the Brave Hero unless they're the absolute only way to beat a map anyway, so this is bellyaching about an issue that's not very likely to come up.

[daisy jane]

2 hours ago, Venmi said:

Yeah, I went for Caineghis merges on that banner (or a L!Alm)...  Got two Eirs and only one merge XD

+10 Micaiah sounds like a good plan!  I'm loving B!Micaiah so far, and I have a +10 regular Micaiah.  She's great!  Good luck!

 

oh so jealous!!
i tried for months on every Micaiah banner to get one/some, but never did. I finally got one off focus on my birthday +res - so i think that's the base i wanna build into). 
I am thinking if the gen 2 units go poof like the gen 1s did, it might just behoove me to save my orbs and hope to +10 her out that way

[Anacybele]

1 hour ago, Sunwoo said:

PM1 doesn't even normally use the Brave Hero unless they're the absolute only way to beat a map anyway, so this is bellyaching about an issue that's not very likely to come up.

Really? I thought I recalled a lot of his videos in the past using Veronica and there were also several that used Lyn. Though I don't see them as often these days now. So you might be right.

[Xenomata]

Now that I think about it, it's been a while since I last relied on a video guide to get me through Abyssal content... the +10 team of Ophelia, LegAzura, Celica, and then someone else carries me through most every map.
I should probably feel bad, but I do like Ophelia and Celica a fair bit enough that I'm alright having them at +10 (Azura is chill enough that I'm okay with accidentally +10ing her inevitably. For now, she sits at +9...)
Hm, I sure do make a lot of decisions based on how much I like the character... when was the last time I used Reinhardt...?

[DLNarshen]

It occurred to me the other day while thinking of GHB clear solutions just how rare and inaccessible Res Ploy and Res Smoke still are for some reason.  All the other stat Ploys have been available on free 4* units for well over a year, and the Smokes are nearly as accessible.  Hell, Res Smoke is still only carried by one unit in the whole game, a legendary at that.  What gives?    

[Parrhesia]

Lowkey, part of me kind of regrets using the PM1 guides at all. I used them as kind of a 'break in case of emergency' button, before I'd built Marisa / Mathilda / Jamke tall enough to take on anything, if I needed orbs. And now there's... well, just not that much PvE content left for me to go through, pretty much just the Legendary Abyssals when they show up.

But then I think about the fact that the 33-turn unarmed Taurcas clear on Eirika a) broke a 12.5% pity and b) was hilarious, and I reconsider.

I still don't think consciously building around them is the best idea. These are orbs you'll get anyway, eventually.

Still, wish there was a refreshment of more high-end HB content. Another cycle, another series of 'clear with X blessing' challenges, and I'd be happy as a clam. But that's probably not likely in the short-term now that they've just revived a shitload of them.

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

Hm, I sure do make a lot of decisions based on how much I like the character...

This is the correct way to make decisions.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, DLNarshen said:

It occurred to me the other day while thinking of GHB clear solutions just how rare and inaccessible Res Ploy and Res Smoke still are for some reason.  All the other stat Ploys have been available on free 4* units for well over a year, and the Smokes are nearly as accessible.  Hell, Res Smoke is still only carried by one unit in the whole game, a legendary at that.  What gives?    

I do not think it is that bad.

FV!F!Robin showed up like almost every month last year since her debut. Players had like 9 months to nab that Res Smoke if they really wanted it. She appears less frequently now since she has to share with Eir and SK!Alm, but she still showed up twice this year so far, which is not too bad. Player can still expect to get Res Smoke every few months.

Res Ploy is about the same. Gunnthrá has to share with three other green units so it is less accessible from Legendary/Mythic Foci, but it is balanced by the fact that Res Ploy is also on FIH!Micaiah, so players can be sure Res Ploy is always available around this time of year.

[Parrhesia]

Sure, but the availability's still weird considering neither Ploys nor especially Smokes are really a marquee skill. Attack Smoke being available off a 3-4* nobody while the generally inferior Res Smoke is available off... uhm... a legendary, and that's it? Is strange. It's not so much that there's a high demand for either skill, which would make it more realistic for it to only be on marquee units, but that they're the only ones of the skill family that aren't widely available.

[Kaden]

9 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Beruka's double lunge when she procs her special in Rokkr Sieges looks hilarious. I've also learned to never autobattle against Rokkr Nowi. Bit of my own medicine there given how often mine soloes TTs.

I don't remember how Barst's Knockback interacted, but Clair's Hit and Run was interesting. Now we just need a Drag Back unit in a future Rokkr Sieges.

On the topic of CYL F2P picks or when it happens, voted units for everyone, @Anacybele, I think you need to look at the free units that everyone has or had access to and the respective time frames. Granted, there are a lot of units and not everyone needs or wants to use free units. Before reading further, keep in mind this is what I think. You are free to think however you want, but do consider different viewpoints.

Starting off, CYL1 is easy with CYL Lyn being the first cavalry archer. The other units were good, but they didn't stand out as the first unit of a movement type and one that everyone could pick if they wanted to. For instance, if CYL Lucina for whatever reason was a flying mage, then it might have been a tougher choice between her and Lyn, but no, it was one cavalry archer, one sword cavalry who arguably was the best offensive option, and two melee infantry.

From CYL1 to before CYL2, the standout free units would be the Black Knight, Fjorm, vanguard Ike who was voted over other units in the A Hero Rises event, CYL Lyn, and Olivia. Also, Arden, Arvis, Aversa, Barst who tended to be the Reposition man in strategies, Camus, Clarisse, Donnel, LA Eliwood, Linus, Michalis, Narcian, Subaki, Ursula, fallen Takumi, Xander, and Zephiel among others, but they were less common or became less common as some needed to be promoted to 5* to get the most out of them like Arvis for Valflame or they weren't as flexible or as overall useful like Fjorm who more or less covers what Camus and Subaki can do as a Distant Counter lance unit and tank who was more of a mixed bulk tank than T-Adept and physical tank like Subaki. And then there's masked Marth who doesn't even have passives even though masked Marth is a free Falchion. That said, they still had their niche or continue to be useful like Ursula still continues to be used for a lot for F2P strategies compared to her other, older GHB colleagues. By this time, however, most F2P strategies for the harder difficulties have become use Olivia as a dancer with Fjorm, vanguard Ike, and/or Lyn and maybe another unit if needed for the current map like maybe the strategy required Lissa, Serra, or Wrys as a healer or needed Ursula's Blarwolf for enemy cavalry units. This is also the point where Reinhardt was considered common enough that he was used in F2P strategies; he's so powerful and useful that everyone would have him kind of thought.

I guess for a list of this time frame...

Spoiler

Red: the Black Knight, vanguard Ike, and Olivia

Blue: Fjorm

Green: None

Colorless: CYL Lyn

Honorable mentions: Camus, Donnel, Narcian, Ursula, Xander, and Zephiel among others

Summoned: Reinhardt

By CYL2, things were a bit tougher, but CYL Veronica still edged out as the first cavalry healer with a personal staff. In her case, we did have cavalry healers unlike with CYL Lyn where there were no cavalry archers until her. Yet she still had something the other cavalry healers didn't and it was a personal staff where at this point, only two healers had personal staves, her and Loki. Offensively, CYL Celica is good, but managing her HP might be difficult, she wouldn't have the sustain or ability to counter at range like vanguard Ike, and we did end up with several player phase sword infantry as free units who may or may not be as good as her. Basically, until something crazy happens, vanguard Ike more or less has sword infantry if not sword unit locked down for F2P strategies. CYL Ephraim would have fulfilled a color that wasn't really covered, but as an armor without Distant Counter and one that relies on field buffs to follow up, he could be too much of a hassle to manage despite his high potential like with CYL Celica. This is why I feel like the CYL Hector was CYL Veronica's competition, but he overlaps with Fjorm as a Distant Counter lance unit who would be a 5* unit from the get-go unlike Camus and kind of the Black Knight as a Distant Counter armor. CYL Hector's offensive and defensive capabilities are better than Fjorm's, especially offensively, but he's still an armor which makes positioning him more difficult than with Fjorm. CYL Veronica on the other hand offers healing, buffing, debuffing, doing actual damage with her default Wrathful Staff, and being able to damage enemies safely if she initiates given her Hlidskjalf's Dazzling Staff.

Now, between CYL2 and CYL3, Adrift Azura, TLB Dorcas, Eir, and bride Louise. Adrift Azura is a free 5* refresh unit and a ranged one at that who can be deceptively bulky, but the main thing is that she's another refresh unit that can be used other than 4* Olivia. TLB Dorcas is more or less the axe armor guy and having Hack-o'-Lantern, Swap, and Wary Fighter lets him tank things safely. Eir is an offensive powerhouse and her default Mystic Boost means she can engage enemy dragons who can with Distant Counter or Lightning Breath much more safely than CYL. Finally, bride Louise has slowly been substituting CYL Lyn since she is actually free provided players played when she was a TT reward unit or have the grails to get her. Bride Louise isn't as a strong offensively compared to CYL Lyn, but with the CYL1 free pick banner ending soon at the end of this month, she might be more prominent as newer players would not be able to pick CYL Lyn in the first place.

Also, spring Camilla, winter Cecilia, Ethlyn, summer Flora, picnic Leo, spring Loki, Greil's Devoted Titania, and summer Ylgr who do offer something new like spring Loki is a free flying archer and GD Titania is the only red cavalry mage who isn't a 5*-only summon, but they aren't as outstanding. Some others that I feel like could have been used more are fallen Delthea, Kronya, and Naesala, but I think the issue is that you need to promote them. Fallen Delthea was basically a +Spd Mae before Book of Orchids and her Death tome makes her similar to Celica with unique refined Ragnarok, but not as destructive, Kronya's Athame could make her useful with its enemy's HP not being full granting her Vantage and Atk/Spd+5 during combat and her bulk given her gen 3 ranged infantry BST is pretty good, and Naesala is a flier beast who'd have unparalleled movement when transformed. There's also Rutger who in the stats department is like CYL Celica and Mia, but without their personal weapons, skills, or CYL Celica's Double Lion.

Like what happened before, most F2P strategies for harder difficulties here became use Adrift Azura or Olivia as a refresh unit with Eir, Fjorm, vanguard Ike, CYL Lyn or bride Louise, and/or CYL Veronica. Some other units would be used depending on the needs like TLB Dorcas is occasionally used when an axe armor tank was needed.

So, a list for this time frame would be like and some units might have shifted down or not used as much

Spoiler

Red: vanguard Ike and Olivia

Blue: Fjorm

Green: Adrift Azura and TLB Dorcas

Colorless: Eir, bride Louise, CYL Lyn, and CYL Veronica

Honorable mentions: the Black Knight, spring Loki, GD Titania, and Ursula among others

Summoned: Reinhardt

Now we're up to CYL3 and we have four outstanding units. CYL Alm would probably offer the least utility of the four that wouldn't be made up by his high offensive capabilities. CYL Camilla would be the only F2P healer and would be in a way, a free 5* flying mage since Aversa while a good unit, needs to be promoted and Aversa's Night wouldn't work well with how high HP can be on PvE maps which CYL Camilla would not need to worry about. That said, while CYL Camilla wouldn't have issues with terrain like CYL Veronica, people are able to work around that and the other thing is that CYL Camilla would not offer the buffing and debuffing CYL Veronica does. She also has the issue of not having a healing special unlike CYL Veronica. CYL Eliwood and CYL Micaiah both offer effective damage to two types of units: beasts and dragons for Eliwood and armors and cavalry for Micaiah. CYL Eliwood's advantages including his effective damage would be that he'd add to blue group as a standout lance cavalry with very good offenses and support capabilities. His disadvantages are that he'd be a melee unit without the ability to counter at range, his effective damage covers two unit types instead of movement types, and defensively, he's not that amazing unlike Fjorm who has good mixed bulk and can reduce damage from ranged units with Ice Mirror or compared to CYL Micaiah who has high resistance. CYL Micaiah's advantage is she'd cover two movement types which would allow her to cover beasts and dragons if they are of armor or cavalry movement type, she'd be a free 5* flying mage, and she'd offer good support with Sacrifice, Yune's Whispers for debuffing, and Ground Orders for helping positioning armor, cavalry, and infantry allies. Her disadvantages would be that she is reliant on one-shotting with effective damage or speed debuffs to follow up as her speed isn't that good and her support is mainly through debuffs and positioning whereas CYL Eliwood offers buffs and debuffs.

In my opinion, I feel like it's between CYL Micaiah and CYL Camilla as the F2P pick followed by CYL Eliwood and then CYL Alm. CYL Micaiah edges out CYL Camilla since CYL Veronica does enough that having CYL Camilla might not be worth it over CYL Micaiah's effective damage against armors and cavalry and being a 5* green flying mage who can tank magic well. If a sudden A Hero Rises event were to happen and if miraculously everyone could agree on things, I think going for CYL Micaiah as the CYL3 free pick and either CYL Camilla or CYL Eliwood would be good options if we're focusing only on CYL3 units. Otherwise, legendary Alm, legendary Azura, Caineghis, fallen F!Corrin, Edelgard, legendary Eliwood, legendary or CYL Hector, Hilda, kinshi Hinoka, summer Lyn, summer Micaiah, green Olwen, Sothis, Surtr, Tibarn, legendary or fallen Tiki might be better options, especially legendary Azura for obvious reasons and legendary Eliwood because of his dumb buffing capabilities.

Lastly, the poll was from Pheonixmaster1. It leaves out other FEH strategy makers like さるGames, sukwindallinrush, Ventus, etc.. They could choose any of the other CYL3 units or not even use them like さるGames has been phasing out CYL Lyn for bride Louise in stuff like Lunatic Chain Challenges strategies.

[Xenomata]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

FV!F!Robin showed up like almost every month last year since her debut. Players had like 9 months to nab that Res Smoke if they really wanted it.

And yet somehow she was one of the last of the first batch of Legendary Heroes I was able to get my hands on...

[XRay]

14 minutes ago, Parrhesia said:

Sure, but the availability's still weird considering neither Ploys nor especially Smokes are really a marquee skill. Attack Smoke being available off a 3-4* nobody while the generally inferior Res Smoke is available off... uhm... a legendary, and that's it? Is strange. It's not so much that there's a high demand for either skill, which would make it more realistic for it to only be on marquee units, but that they're the only ones of the skill family that aren't widely available.

Res Smoke and Def Smoke are valuable for Counter-Vantage units and nukes; it is basically Atk+7 for them. On Counter-Vantage units, it is not necessary, but it helps increase their damage output on either phase. The only downside is that it is not stackable like Savage Blow, but Savage Blow works on Player Phase only, so it balances out. For regular nukes, it is better than Savage Blow in Aether Raids in my opinion to avoid tripping Wings of Mercy traps.

Ploys are... not that great in my opinion. I think it is fine for low intensity modes like Arena or Arena Assault, but I do not think it is that great in Aether Raids and Abyssal.

12 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

And yet somehow she was one of the last of the first batch of Legendary Heroes I was able to get my hands on...

Yeah, shit luck happens. I never got YT!Olivia on her debut Focus despite spended a lot. Thankfully she pitybroke me a few months later though.

[Lewyn]

Brave Eliwood is great when their beasts and dragons, a superb galeforce user n general and wants to be best friends with Legendary Eliwood.  I am very impressed with his performance and dominance.  Still as others have said, including myself before the units even released, though is that Micaiah is the winner hands down.  It should surprise no one she is the most picked by far.  She is the most unique, the most useful, the most powerful, the most immune to aging.  

Then specifically about PM, effective damage ranged mage against armors and cavalry is much much more useful than Eliwood in the Abyssal maps.  There is almost always horses cause of their high range, and armors cause of their high def/and or res.  Can't say the same for dragons or beasts.  Picking someone for guides to use in these maps, Micaiah again is the obvious choice.  Most people picked Veronica and PM uses her for guides already so that rules out the similar Camilla.  Besides which Veronica is likely much more useful for those maps anyways as the buff/debuff of her staff makes a world of difference in such maps.