"Ask Fire Emblem Heroes Questions and Get Them Answered Here" Thread

[Ice Dragon]

20 minutes ago, Reddazrael said:

Hi, there! It's been a while since I was here, but I was wondering if anyone would mind offering some feedback on this potential BK!Chrom build. For the record, he's +10.

The biggest problem I can see with that build is that Chrom still doesn't have the Spd to actually double much with only 37 Spd before buffs, and his first round of combat is going to be abysmal unless you can do something like stand next to an enemy Surtr or attack something really slow.

If you have a spare Brazen Atk/Spd (Winter Robin or Linus), I'd prefer that instead of Brazen Atk/Def, especially because Def will be less useful to him after Desperation kicks in since he won't get counterattacked. It'll bring him up to a much more threatening 44 Spd before buffs (and 50 Spd after buffs).

If you don't have Brazen Atk/Spd, it might even be worth looking into Life and Death, which will make it easier to take damage, though it will cripple his Res.

I'm not terribly fond of Threaten skills on most units because it's a bit difficult to actually get an enemy to end their turn in range of the skill (unless you're fighting armors). Smoke skills require you to be able to follow up on them before the enemy's next move, which generally means running Galeforce. It might be better to simply let an ally run debuffing skills like Chill Spd or Spd Ploy rather than have Chrom do it himself.

I'd personally switch out his Sacred Seal for Quick Riposte, which helps to patch up his weaker first round of combat. It may be possible to use Darting Stance, but it's less reliable with his Spd.

 

On the other hand, if you're intending to use him in Tempest Trials or other chain modes, Quick Riposte won't be necessary since your first round of combat is much less important in those modes.

[Reddazrael]

9 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The biggest problem I can see with that build is that Chrom still doesn't have the Spd to actually double much with only 37 Spd before buffs, and his first round of combat is going to be abysmal unless you can do something like stand next to an enemy Surtr or attack something really slow.

[etc]

Thank you so much for all your input! I don't have W!Robin, although Linus is certainly obtainable (albeit expensive to raise up just to fodder). I am very fond of Life and Death, although I wonder how badly that would impact Bonfire on Chrom. I'll probably take your suggestion of Brazen Atk/Spd, as I would like to start using Chrom more than I have been. I'll run any debuffing skills on another unit, as suggested. Again, thank you!

[Ice Dragon]

6 minutes ago, Reddazrael said:

Thank you so much for all your input! I don't have W!Robin, although Linus is certainly obtainable (albeit expensive to raise up just to fodder). I am very fond of Life and Death, although I wonder how badly that would impact Bonfire on Chrom. I'll probably take your suggestion of Brazen Atk/Spd, as I would like to start using Chrom more than I have been. I'll run any debuffing skills on another unit, as suggested. Again, thank you!

If you have a few copies of Sothe lying around, it might be worth trying out Life and Death before committing to Brazen Atk/Spd since Life and Death is easier to come by. The penalty to Def will only cost you 2 damage on Bonfire (compared to Brazen Atk/Spd, 6 damage compared to Brazen Atk/Def), so it's probably not too much of a loss.

I also just noticed Reciprocal Aid, which would solve the first round of combat issue and get you out of needing Quick Riposte, though you do still need someone else to take the damage to take advantage of it.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Ice Dragon

[Reddazrael]

18 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

If you have a few copies of Sothe lying around, it might be worth trying out Life and Death before committing to Brazen Atk/Spd since Life and Death is easier to come by. The penalty to Def will only cost you 2 damage on Bonfire (compared to Brazen Atk/Spd, 6 damage compared to Brazen Atk/Def), so it's probably not too much of a loss.

I also just noticed Reciprocal Aid, which would solve the first round of combat issue and get you out of needing Quick Riposte, though you do still need someone else to take the damage to take advantage of it.

All right, I'll try that. I've got a few spare Sothes that I won't mind scrapping. Additionally, with LnD3 + SPD+3 Seal, I can get Chrom's base Spd up to 40, which makes Desperation more viable, especially once buffs start stacking.

[XRay]

7 hours ago, Reddazrael said:

◉ Sealed Falchion
☗ Reciprocal Aid [OR] Ardent Sacrifice
▶ Bonfire
A: Brazen Atk/Def 3
B: Desperation 3
C: Threaten Spd 3 [OR] Spd Smoke 3
S: Atk/Def 2

I would replace Bonfire with a lower cool down Special like Moonbow. Bonfire and other high cool down Specials are great on Enemy Phase units since they can rely on enemy attacks to help charge their Special, but Player Phase units do not have that luxury since they want to avoid enemy counter attacks. In my opinion, having a consistently high damage output is better than having a huge spike in damage once in a while.

Sealed Falchion
(Any Assist)
Moonbow
Life and Death — Brazen Atk/Spd
Desperation
(Any C)
Brazen Atk/Res — Heavy Blade

For his Sacred Seal, Brazen Atk/Res is best since it gives him Atk+7 per hit. If Brazen Atk/Res is not available, then Heavy Blade is the next best thing as it allows him to activate Moonbow during every round of combat.

7 hours ago, Reddazrael said:

         [ Alternate B: Vantage 3 → Wondering if this is a better option, even without Distant Counter on him. ]

Vantage is a niche skill and does nothing for most units. I only recommend Vantage for units with insanely high Atk (Laevatein, Blade mages) or can simulate that in some way (Pain healers, WOT!Reinhardt, Ares, etc.). If a unit cannot easily reach 75+ Atk (against non armor enemies that are at merge+0), a unit has no business using Vantage since they cannot kill the enemy in one hit. If you frequently fight against +10 enemies, the unit will need an additional 8 Atk; against armor enemies, the unit will need another 10 to 15 Atk; you will need 100+ Atk towards towards the top of PvP modes.

For comparison, Laevatein [+Atk, Laevatein, Distant Counter, Vantage, Brazen Atk/Res] at merge +0 can reach 96/101 Atk with VS!Azura (Atk Tactic/Hone Atk 4) support.
On the other side, Surtr [+Def, Sinmara, Steady Stance, Surtr's Menace, Close Def] at merge +0 can reach 111/115 physical bulk (Surtr's Menace inactive/active).
Laevatein's 115 Atk (96*1.2) will just barely kill Surtr.

Edited January 19, 2019 by XRay

[HK Motendra]

Regarding Null C Disrupt, does that also include debuffs? Or just status effects?

[DehNutCase]

32 minutes ago, Motendra said:

Regarding Null C Disrupt, does that also include debuffs? Or just status effects?

Null C Disrupt's wording is terrible.

 

Its actual effect should be:

Negate status effects (Flash\Candlelight) that disable counter attack & Negate skills that disable counter attack.

 

I'm pretty sure it doesn't do jack to things like Panic, Gravity, etc.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Motendra said:

Regarding Null C Disrupt, does that also include debuffs? Or just status effects?

26 minutes ago, DehNutCase said:

I'm pretty sure it doesn't do jack to things like Panic, Gravity, etc.

Yep. I tested both Garon and Julius against Nailah in Chapter 3: Part 3, and both can inflict Panic and Atk Ploy debuff on Nailah. Null C-Disrupt only affects stuff that deals with cannot counterattack.

More specifically, it removes the unit's inability to counter attack, so you can basically run a Spd tank with a Firesweep Weapon to reap the benefits of Firesweep on Player Phase while still being able to counter attack on Enemy Phase. Keep in mind Null C-Disrupt does NOT remove the Flash status effect, it simply makes the unit ignore the effect (my BB!Lyn inflicted Flash on Nailah, but Nailah counterattacks anyways against my units).

The skill should basically say something like: "Unit can always counterattack, regardless of skills and status effects, against enemies of the same Weapon range."

Edited January 19, 2019 by XRay

[HK Motendra]

Welp that checks out. Thanks for the heads up

[LuxSpes]

I got a couple of questions with regards to the Laguz units.

First question is that I managed to get 3 copies of Nailah from the banner, 1 +Spd/-Res, 1 +Res/-Spd and one +HP/-Res, and I'm wondering what to do with them. The current options I'm considering are :

1. Merge all the copies in the +Spd one and use an offensive Galeforce build. 
2. Merge all the copies in the +Res one and use her more as an hybrid unit.
3. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and merge up the +Spd one.
4. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and merge up the +Res one.
5. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and do two different builds on the remaining ones. 

I'm teetering on the nature since with the upcoming merge changes, the bane will be meaningless. +Spd would give her 43 speed, but the Res boon gives her more bulk to take hits from Razzle-Dazzle units, especially with a DD seal and Fority buff from Reyson and the missing points of Spd can be kind of made up when using her to bait with her weapon's effect. Also unsure if Micaiah, who I use as my dedicated Horse and Armor counter in AR, really needs Null C-Disrupt. It would finally let her bait Veronica and Firesweep Lyn, but it would come at the price of Guard, that sometime helps against Quickened Pulse Reinhardt.

Second question is shorter. I got two Tibarns, one +Atk and the other +Spd. I'm currently using the +Spd, but I'm wondering if his weapon effect and Sturdy Impact make the +Atk nature better since Spd is less of an issue and 34 Spd with a boon is still not amazing. 

[XRay]

1 hour ago, LuxSpes said:

First question is that I managed to get 3 copies of Nailah from the banner, 1 +Spd/-Res, 1 +Res/-Spd and one +HP/-Res, and I'm wondering what to do with them. The current options I'm considering are :

1. Merge all the copies in the +Spd one and use an offensive Galeforce build. 
2. Merge all the copies in the +Res one and use her more as an hybrid unit.
3. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and merge up the +Spd one.
4. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and merge up the +Res one.
5. Sacrifice the +HP one to give Micaiah Null C-Disrupt and do two different builds on the remaining ones. 

I'm teetering on the nature since with the upcoming merge changes, the bane will be meaningless. +Spd would give her 43 speed, but the Res boon gives her more bulk to take hits from Razzle-Dazzle units, especially with a DD seal and Fority buff from Reyson and the missing points of Spd can be kind of made up when using her to bait with her weapon's effect. Also unsure if Micaiah, who I use as my dedicated Horse and Armor counter in AR, really needs Null C-Disrupt. It would finally let her bait Veronica and Firesweep Lyn, but it would come at the price of Guard, that sometime helps against Quickened Pulse Reinhardt.

I personally lean towards +Spd for both Enemy Phase and Player Phase usage.

As an Enemy Phase unit, assuming you are sticking with Null C-Disrupt on the B slot, Nailah is basically forced to run Quick Riposte on her Sacred Seal slot if you want to her to double reliably on Enemy Phase, so that means she would not be running Darting Stance. In my opinion, running anything other than Quick Riposte on the Sacred Seal slot is not ideal, since that means Nailah would not be able to finish off her opponents reliably, meaning the opponent can simply attack her again with Dancer/Singer support, especially with VS!Azura being so common and deadly in Aether Raids

In terms of reducing damage, it is more important for Nailah to prevent doubles than to mitigate 4 points of magic damage. Without the +Spd, she can be easily doubled to death by units like Celica and Nina, and that is already assuming Nailah is near 2 allies. If going with +Res, Nailah becomes super dependent on allies and Drive Spd support, and I do not think mitigating 4 points of damage is worth the heavy dependency. I think it is pretty reasonable to always have 2 allies near Nailah, but 3 allies is pushing it since it is not always possible due to map layout.

I would only go with +Res if you are having her Ally Support M!Corrin (or any unit with a Weapon that can buff Spd) and you are packing him with Drive Spd.

1 hour ago, LuxSpes said:

Second question is shorter. I got two Tibarns, one +Atk and the other +Spd. I'm currently using the +Spd, but I'm wondering if his weapon effect and Sturdy Impact make the +Atk nature better since Spd is less of an issue and 34 Spd with a boon is still not amazing. 

I would go with +Atk. Tibarn is guaranteed to double with Hawk King Claw, so there is not much point in giving him more Spd.

[Ice Dragon]

21 hours ago, XRay said:

For comparison, Laevatein [+Atk, Laevatein, Distant Counter, Vantage, Brazen Atk/Res] at merge +0 can reach 96/101 Atk with VS!Azura (Atk Tactic/Hone Atk 4) support.
On the other side, Surtr [+Def, Sinmara, Steady Stance, Surtr's Menace, Close Def] at merge +0 can reach 111/115 physical bulk (Surtr's Menace inactive/active).
Laevatein's 115 Atk (96*1.2) will just barely kill Surtr.

Surtr's Steady Stance and Close Def cannot be active if he is running into Laevatein's Vantage because Surtr is the one initiating combat.

[XRay]

19 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Surtr's Steady Stance and Close Def cannot be active if he is running into Laevatein's Vantage because Surtr is the one initiating combat.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I was thinking of using Laevatein to initiate on Surtr since I generally do not want Laevatein to get debuffed.

[Xenomata]

Does Julia (+Atk -Def) have an objectively better refined Naga to aim to use?

Her base Naga I understand is best for enemy-phase tanking Dragons, but refined Divine Naga I feel has better all-around player-phase potency, not just against Dragons (all stats +3 and ignore both adeptive damage and field buffs), but then letting her simply do her developer-designated job of nuking dragons may simply be the best role for her (especially if she has the Atk to do so). The refine to Divine Naga is probably also a better fit for Deirdre, who has much higher Res potential than Julia's base 32.

Normal Naga is also just easier to use overall, only requiring a Dragon for to activate Close Counter as opposed to needing higher Res, and providing a small defensive boost/negating adeptive damage to help survive a dragon attack. I imagine slapping Vantage and Fierce Stance 6 on her would rend most dragon teams dead simply by raw power alone...

Edited January 20, 2019 by Xenomata

[mcsilas]

So I pulled a +HP/-Res Julia to maybe replace my current +Def/-Res one.

I take it HP is better for overall mage-tanking and bulk? Maybe +Def doesn't for the anti-dragon CC anymore?

Also which refine should I lean towards to then for the chosen boon? She currently has Divine Naga (don't have Deirdre here and the anti-buff was useful against blade cav mages) but I haven't refined yet, although even with the bane neutralisation maybe her Res isn't high enough for the stat boost? She runs Fury though if that counts for something.

[XRay]

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

but refined Divine Naga I feel has better all-around player-phase potency

Julia is really slow, so unless you can secure a +Spd copy or are willing to run lots of Spd buffs on your team, I think Julia is better off just being an Enemy Phase unit.

4 hours ago, mcsilas said:

So I pulled a +HP/-Res Julia to maybe replace my current +Def/-Res one.

I take it HP is better for overall mage-tanking and bulk? Maybe +Def doesn't for the anti-dragon CC anymore?

Yeah, +HP is better since +Def does not do anything anymore once you Refine her Weapon.

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Does Julia (+Atk -Def) have an objectively better refined Naga to aim to use?

Her base Naga I understand is best for enemy-phase tanking Dragons, but refined Divine Naga I feel has better all-around player-phase potency, not just against Dragons (all stats +3 and ignore both adeptive damage and field buffs), but then letting her simply do her developer-designated job of nuking dragons may simply be the best role for her (especially if she has the Atk to do so). The refine to Divine Naga is probably also a better fit for Deirdre, who has much higher Res potential than Julia's base 32.

Normal Naga is also just easier to use overall, only requiring a Dragon for to activate Close Counter as opposed to needing higher Res, and providing a small defensive boost/negating adeptive damage to help survive a dragon attack. I imagine slapping Vantage and Fierce Stance 6 on her would rend most dragon teams dead simply by raw power alone...

4 hours ago, mcsilas said:

Also which refine should I lean towards to then for the chosen boon? She currently has Divine Naga (don't have Deirdre here and the anti-buff was useful against blade cav mages) but I haven't refined yet, although even with the bane neutralisation maybe her Res isn't high enough for the stat boost? She runs Fury though if that counts for something.

Either Weapon is fine. Naga is better against dragons, while Divine Naga is better against blade mages, so it depends on what you need to counter more.

Against regular mages, it sort of depends on how often you see VS!Azura or insane buffs in general. Outside of Aether Raids, I prefer Naga due to having a guaranteed Res +4, and even if you activate Divine Naga's effect, Naga is still better by 1 Res. Divine Naga's extra Atk is not necessary in my opinion since Julia will be activating Iceberg in retaliation, and the extra Spd is detrimental since it could prevent enemy doubles. In Aether Raids though, I see quite a few VS!Azuras, so I think buff nullification is pretty much necessary there.

[Xenomata]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

Julia is really slow, so unless you can secure a +Spd copy or are willing to run lots of Spd buffs on your team, I think Julia is better off just being an Enemy Phase unit.

I'm fairly certain I never summoned a +Spd Julia, and even if she were +Spd she'd probably need a combo of both high Speed buffs and Speed debuffs on the enemy to be able to achieve doubles on anyone who she'd want to double, so... yeah think I'll stick with the raw power on her.

I checked the simulator to see just what exactly Julia is able to kill on counterattack with the build I had in mind (Special Refine Naga, Iceberg, Fierce Stance 3, Vantage 3, and Fierce Stance 3 SS), and all she is unable to kill is Garon (even if she had QR3 she'd still be unable to secure the kill on him) and dies to Halloween Myrrh. This is all +10 merge on everyone plus Fury 3/Moonbow overrides on the enemy and +Atk (since that's generally what I assume enemy-phase dragons will carry on average). Within Vantage range, everyone but Garon and SpookyMyrrh dies before they get to attack.

I know Vantage isn't a widely great skill, but since Julia's main targets are Dragon teams I think in this case Vantage is an acceptable B skill to take.

...also I don't really remember the last time I encountered a Bladetome team, but then I might not be high enough to be encountering them...

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

I know Vantage isn't a widely great skill, but since Julia's main targets are Dragon teams I think in this case Vantage is an acceptable B skill to take.

Yeah. Vantage is fine in this case since Julia has like 90+ Atk once you factor in the effective damage.

[daisy jane]

here is a question. 

I have a +atk/-spd Soleil i am training up. with the merges thing kicking in just +atk. 
i also have on stand by +Spd/-res Soleil. She is my +10 Project of note, and i basically want to make her my swiss army knife of death - but what makes more sense. 
the Atk or the Spd? (and as i do intend to make her run anything, this means I do intend to run firesweep on her but also slaying sword). I have an extra owain (for wrath) and when i get more DC fodder (and Nailah's B skill) those will more than likely go into her as well. 

with fire sweep she gets to 60 (but the weapon isn't refined)
she nearly touches 60 with any other sword. 
if i pick spd (and refine spd) she'll hit 45 spd. 

any suggestions, thoughts?
 

[XRay]

3 minutes ago, daisy jane said:

here is a question. 

I have a +atk/-spd Soleil i am training up. with the merges thing kicking in just +atk. 
i also have on stand by +Spd/-res Soleil. She is my +10 Project of note, and i basically want to make her my swiss army knife of death - but what makes more sense. 
the Atk or the Spd? (and as i do intend to make her run anything, this means I do intend to run firesweep on her but also slaying sword). I have an extra owain (for wrath) and when i get more DC fodder (and Nailah's B skill) those will more than likely go into her as well. 

with fire sweep she gets to 60 (but the weapon isn't refined)
she nearly touches 60 with any other sword. 
if i pick spd (and refine spd) she'll hit 45 spd. 

any suggestions, thoughts?
 

I would go with +Spd. It allows her to double and deal more damage consistently, as well as making it harder for enemies to double her.

I would only go with +Atk if she is consistently glued to a buffer that can boost her Spd and/or you plan to give her Summoner Support. For example, if you plan to have her carry the team in Aether Raids with something like 2 M!Corrins Ally Supporting her, then +Spd nature is not really necessary since 2 M!Corrins will giver her 9/9/9/9 (or 10/10/10/10) combat buffs, and that is not factoring in Drives.

[daisy jane]

6 minutes ago, XRay said:

I would go with +Spd. It allows her to double and deal more damage consistently, as well as making it harder for enemies to double her.

I would only go with +Atk if she is consistently glued to a buffer that can boost her Spd and/or you plan to give her Summoner Support. For example, if you plan to have her carry the team in Aether Raids with something like 2 M!Corrins Ally Supporting her, then +Spd nature is not really necessary since 2 M!Corrins will giver her 9/9/9/9 (or 10/10/10/10) combat buffs, and that is not factoring in Drives.

thanks :)

I'm not sure if that's going to be the case (though an idea for AR!!), and i'm probably going to be switching back and forth my SS, so +spd it is.
(honestly i was seriously struggling with this LOL). time to build Soleil!

[Xenomata]

Should I try to get a Splashy Bucket+ for at least one of my daggers (maybe [+Atk -Res +1] Kagero)? Or if I really want such a dagger on them, should I hold out for Dancing Elincia to appear on a banner again?

As far as I can tell, the difference between Splashy Bucket and Cloud Maiougi is purely the secondary effect, part of Mystic Boost vs Hardy Bearing. Splashy Bucket lets the user trigger Desperation and Vantage if they so wish, but Cloud Maiougi hard counters the somewhat rare Vantage triggers and opens the B slot to,. for instance, Chill Def. I never got a chance to get any Cloud Maiougi fodder (mostly because I skipped that banner out of being unimpressed with it), but I've gone this long without it so if I really want Dagger Dragon killers, I'm sure I could wait longer... I'd just like a second+ opinion about it.

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

May I see the equation for damage on AoE specials, please?

[XRay]

4 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Should I try to get a Splashy Bucket+ for at least one of my daggers (maybe [+Atk -Res +1] Kagero)? Or if I really want such a dagger on them, should I hold out for Dancing Elincia to appear on a banner again?

As far as I can tell, the difference between Splashy Bucket and Cloud Maiougi is purely the secondary effect, part of Mystic Boost vs Hardy Bearing. Splashy Bucket lets the user trigger Desperation and Vantage if they so wish, but Cloud Maiougi hard counters the somewhat rare Vantage triggers and opens the B slot to,. for instance, Chill Def. I never got a chance to get any Cloud Maiougi fodder (mostly because I skipped that banner out of being unimpressed with it), but I've gone this long without it so if I really want Dagger Dragon killers, I'm sure I could wait longer... I'd just like a second+ opinion about it.

I prefer Splashy Bucket. With Mystic Boost built in, daggers users should be able to take a Vantage hit and survive. Being able to run Desperation is also important for taking on non dragon enemies.

2 hours ago, Azure the Scale Tipper said:

May I see the equation for damage on AoE specials, please?

It is in the skill description itself.

Damage = Unit's Atk - Foe's Def/Res
Rising Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).
Growing Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in a wide area around target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Damage = 1.5 * (Unit's Atk - Foe's Def/Res)
Blazing Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to 1.5 x (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

4 minutes ago, XRay said:

I prefer Splashy Bucket. With Mystic Boost built in, daggers users should be able to take a Vantage hit and survive. Being able to run Desperation is also important for taking on non dragon enemies.

It is in the skill description itself.

Damage = Unit's Atk - Foe's Def/Res
Rising Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).
Growing Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in a wide area around target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Damage = 1.5 * (Unit's Atk - Foe's Def/Res)
Blazing Wind:
Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to 1.5 x (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Unit’s attack includes visible buffs and not in-combat buffs, correct?