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

[Humanoid]

@Zeo I'm generally partial to hit and run tactics, so Gravity is right up my alley, though I admit I've never built a healer past +1 and have no experience with most staves. Bonus in that it's probably the build with the most synergy with Matt, delaying enemies that can't be taken out immediately.

For support partners, I'd lean towards a good ranged tank here, because unlike with regular units, healers can't do the standard dance-reposition trick to kite units. Melee enemies aren't a concern since you only have to back away one tile, but if you dance a her after using Gravity on a ranged, she herself can get to safety, but the dancer will be left hanging in enemy range. If you use a ranged tank to reposition her instead, the tank will be the one receiving the hit, hopefully finishing off the weakened attacker while also benefiting from the support bonus. By contrast, Serra herself would rarely benefit from any support bonus because I imagine in most turns, offensive healers will be the first to move and will more often than not stride out of support range - another reason I don't feel a dancer support is particularly beneficial for her.

[silverserpent]

@Zeo That HELPLESS build looks fun and very annoying. Serra holds a special spot in my nostalgia senses as well, and seeing this sort of potential really brings a tear to the eye. For support, I'd go with either Marth to boost her trolling "Can't kill me!" set, or Soren for Chilling shenanigans. 

[Alexmender]

@Zeo Out of all of the builds I like the Helpless one the most. It is extremely unique and it works in favor of Serra's balanced spread, being at +10 with a +Spd nature and +10 flowers puts her at 40 Spd before buffs which should be enough to take on everything but those super fast reds. I think you could trade Witchy Wand for Fear+ if a Guard seal gets released one day to make Serra all the more annoying to face. If you don't plan on putting her against the mega annoying swords I think Serra would be able to get away with a +Def nature. 39/36/45 bulk before buffs is very respectable and a Spd of 37 is more than good enough to not get doubled by anything but the 40+ base Spd club.

The CC builds don't convince me this time around because Serra's spread means she wants single stat she can get her hands on and CC denies her from getting access to them. 

And taking that into account I'd say her best partner would be a bruiser type that would appreciate the support and ,if things get messy, can swap with her to form an invincible wall-type of formation. Serra's Res is serviceable so a high Def unit would do wonders. Oswin doesn't exist in FEH yet, so the second best option I can think of is Mordecai or Lukas. The former is a great debuffer and his high Atk/Res lets him be a good tank while the latter is the ultimate physical tank in Heroes, period. 

L!Marth only works if Serra has either Joyous Lantern or Grandscratcher alongside Tactics/Opening skills to give him the stats he needs to nuke the world. 

[Landmaster]

1 hour ago, Zeo said:

Hey guys. Give me your ear for a bit cause we're doing the unit building thing again. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've done something like this but once again I'm working on a mega unit project. You've seen Matthew, Nino and Lukas. Chrom needs 2 more merges and Morgan needs 3 but the latter is pretty much done as far as the build goes. Today I'm revisiting an old unit that I planned to +10 quite some time ago.

My favorite healer. A big mouth, super annoying and yet somehow lovable. The first healer I ever met in FE and funnily enough the first healer I ever pulled in FEH. Since the beginning her (and Matthew) were the colorless units I wanted to invest in but after seeing how underwhelming they both were (and my lack of resources) I put them on the backburner. As you know I went back and completed Matthew but Serra was left in the dust. I hope to rectify that soon. With my just pulling Dazzling Staff fodder, this feels like the perfect time.

Now... Serra's greatest boon has also been her greatest weakness: she's a jack of all trades. A trait she shares with Sakura. Lachesis hits harder, Maria is faster, Lucius and Wrys have superior RES (and ATK in Lucius' case) and Azama destroys her in bulk. Because of this she can fill any role but in most cases there's a unit or two who can do it better, even in the normal pool. That didn't stop me with Matthew however and it won't stop me here. Only thing is that unlike Matt who I always had a clear Idea for in terms of build, Serra's future is a lot more ambiguous, which is why you guys are here: help me build her.

1. Which nature?

+SPD is what I'm planning on for her nature. However if she runs Ploys then her RES doesn't cut it anymore in today's meta and +RES is the better option. In some cases if she wants to run Close Counter then +DEF could be a better option. Should I stick to +SPD or consider alternatives. Ploys are kind of outdated at this point but I may not have a +RES copy once I give her the last few merges. I have +ATK but +SPD is far more valuable for her so it's not even an option, really.

2. Which Build/What kind of build?

Here I've got a list of builds, most of which I have all the fodder for so I'm doing some theorycrafting but most of it is realistic, so I'd like you guy's input on some stuff. You can tell me what you think of these builds or you can tell me what you think is a good build for her also. For these builds she's going to be +10 and +5 DF since that's the most realistic DF amount for her for the near future.

She will get a PRF in the future when healers start getting them, probably in a big version update. But for now she's using normal staffs and I've always enjoyed the idea of using her Absorb staff so that's my primary interest even in units like Lachesis/Azama may use them better. You'll see all manner of builds though, I know it's hard to make a unit like Serra a frontline unit, but I'm really interested in trying. Ok let's go.

1. Mystic Marksman

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I have 3 Elincias so plenty of ATK/SPD Push 3 fodder and the idea of running it on a build like this interests me quite a bit. Her SPD and ATK boost up to 44/47 and with Mystic Boost she will recover 5 HP instead of losing 1 HP each round of combat as well as locking down dragons from killing her. Even ATK Wave gives her a nice boost to take her up to 50 for improved damage/healing and Chill ATK 3 doubles as support and self sustain (Chill SPD 3 could be an alternative also). And of course Miracle because lolyourenotkillingher.

 

2. Old Fashioned Pain

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The CC Vantage set bores me, it would likely be something I ran on a cav healer instead. For Serra it's just the usual Pain+ set. Super potent, though it's done better on a cav healer obviously because of the mobility. She'll likely get this eventually anyway, but I put it here since she has a higher damage potential than Genny or Priscilla, even more so with ATK/SPD Bond 3.

 

3. Genny's Successor

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You should remember a similar build to this in Genny from my old Matthew clears, except Genny ran Hone ATK/SPD in her slots. For Serra she's more defense-focused. It's a general support build with a lot of versatility. But Razzle/Dazzle is a must for it.

 

4. The Statbot

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This build focuses purely on support. She buffs one of her strongest allies and debuffs the enemy team. This build utilizes both a Chill and Ploys. She could run double chills and a ploy as an alternative but the issue with this build is that I'm sacking my only seasonal Genny and also that 41 RES isn't all that great for Ploys anymore. Even less if she runs with a likely +SPD asset. It's possible to just run a chill in the S slot and some form of support in the C slot, but I'm not married to the idea.

 

5. Assassin

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This build is less about self sustain and more about damage. The name of this build's game is to attack, take a hit, get a massive buff to damage, then heal up and do it all over again. Once in miracle range it's just free damage until it procs and she heals up to do it all again. The ATK/SPD 2 seal is there to bolster her overall attack power rather than relying on situational stat increases. Chill RES could be replaced with Razzle Dazzle but it hinders her damage ceiling. 

 

6. Matthew's Protege

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A very expensive build that would require either sacking my only Takumi and one of my 3 Eirs on my AR team or pulling both a Takumi and an Eir in the current and upcoming banners. This is the BnB neverdie set. She takes damage, she heals it back and heals after combat. She laughs at dragons and if you hurt her you make her angry and she gets a massive boost to her attack power and a much needed speed boost. Her C skill holds limitless potential in boosting her attack power or bulk with a wave skill or something like Joint Hone SPD (should fodder arrive). It's an extremely expensive build but one with quite a bit of payoff.

 

7. Who me? I'm HELPLESS!!

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This is the "good luck killing her" build. A complete theory craft as I don't have either Witchy Want or Fort. DEF/RES. Her bulk is nonsense for a healer, she's difficult to double. She seals your specials with no fear of retaliation and she Chills your ATK just to be a jerk. She could run Swift Stance too just to reliably shut down doubles. Infantry Breath is just there, she could run anything in her seal slot, it doesn't even matter but it could be something like Even/Odd DEF wave just to irritate physical attackers trying to kill her.

 

8. Vampire Priest

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Initially this build had Mysitic Boost which was just overkill, instead Dazzling Shuts down counterattacks, Push gives her an offensive boost and Renewal covers any healing inbetween turns. Even DEF wave gives her 32/38 bulk to make her just a bit more tanky. This build is another one of those "staying alive" builds.

 

9. Lachesis 0.5

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One of Lachesis old builds. QR removes the need for speed and she ploys more reliably while still being able to retaliate up close. Somewhat boring honestly. 

 

3. Support partner?

I rarely use the Ally Support feature as it turns out. But most of my invested units have partners. Generally, my main units have dancer partners. I could go the same route as Serra, or perhaps not. Just going to touch on a few potential ones. I really need some help though.
 

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 - She dances, she contributes to both SPD and DEF with her B-Skill, she shuts down dragons, one of Serra's weaknesses without Mystic Boost, and she comes with Drive RES by default. Further boosting Serra's tankiness. She's a solid choice honestly.

 - Completely obliterates dragons, special buffs up Serra and infantry Flash enables Serra to activate 1 turn Miracle which cannot be understated in value. It's utter nonsense what Serra is capable of with Infantry Flash and Marth brings that while bolstering team durability and doubling as a frontline unit and dragon slayer.

 - One could present the question why you would pick such a prestigious unit to support Serra. That reason being she's not supporting anyone and likely never will because I don't really use designated teams outside of my main 2. In Serra's case, she brings ATK Tactic to the table, freeing up Serra's C slot and buffs all 4 stats after dancing (nevermind the 3 mov) turning Serra into an effective fortress. Nevermind her overall team utility and WoM and all that good stuff.

 - New kid on the block. Her only real utility would be the Infantry Breath effect, but her utility cannot be understated.

 - Remember this guy? He can Chill 3 stats. A fantastic partner for anyone, including Serra. He also gets stronger when he's close to her which is a bonus.

 - Similar to Soren, but she can debuff the most important stat without SI. She can also double as a WoM savior or Special Spiral nuclear bomb unit with the SI.

 - She provides +7 HP each turn. Outside of that, hard to justify considering they share a color and Leanne is better spent with beast units, especially Naesala. They just look nice together as a pair which is why she's here.

 - The same as Leanne, though a bit better because he doesn't share a color.

 

I appreciate any input you guys can give.

IMO, Serra wants the Spd. 99% of the time, I’m always about going for Atk, but Serra’s a unit who doesn’t want to give up her high Spd. Helps her double, avoid doubles, and that can be critical when using a Miracle build, and with how much true damage based on Spd is appearing these days or those Foresti Weapons, she can also use that to save herself~

I’m a fan of the first build, Mystic Boost synergies with the Push Skills, though I’d personally find it better with another Staff. 

Savage Pain is something you can’t go wrong with in my book~

For Toasty Skewer, I’m boring and fine just being a support bot with Drive Res and Drive Def (or double up on one) more efficient than Ploys, since they’re difficult to set up.

I like that Matthew’s Protege set, but again, Absorb is just so weak and with as much Atk as you’re trying to give her, a stronger Staff makes more sense, IMO. Give her something like Pain for this one.

Problem with Witchy Wand set is that healer can’t get Stance Skills, but she could run Chill Spd Seal instead of Atk with Fear Staff or Slow Staff with Chill Atk instead if you want to assuredly avoid doubles. Otherwise, build looks fine as is.

Now the Renewal Absorb build, I like. Pretty annoying to deal with in all the right ways.

For the partner, I’d say Reyson, Leanne, Soren, or Lilina are great options. I like the Chilling Potential Serra and Soren or Lilina can pull off and Reyson and Leanne would work amazingly with those Absorb builds to truly make her a vampire~

[Xenomata]

@Zeo If you had gotten Picnic Genny while she was available, as well as an extra Nah, you could have given her both Toasty Skewer+ and Infantry Breath. Alongside the Spur Def/Res 2 seal, this would bring about a sizable +8 boost to both Defense and Resistance in addition to +1 Special Charge to anyone standing next to Serra. Between those and Matthew's Spy Dagger, Serra would be able to keep just about anyone alive between facetanking and then Recover+ing all the blood away. Heavenly Light optional, though would help getting health back to everyone at once.
It's something that only Infantry Staff units can do, although anyone with one of the New Year 2017 weapons (which have Drive Def/Res on them) could pull it off as well, at the cost of lackluster healing.
As it is though, if you wanna go for it, you'll have to wait for Picnic Genny to be made available again if you don't have her already, and I guess it is mostly limited to just Infantry allies, though I feel most of your favorite/most used units are infantry anyway...

Edited July 25, 2019 by Xenomata

[XRay]

4 hours ago, Zeo said:

1. Which nature?

 +SPD is what I'm planning on for her nature. However if she runs Ploys then her RES doesn't cut it anymore in today's meta and +RES is the better option. In some cases if she wants to run Close Counter then +DEF could be a better option. Should I stick to +SPD or consider alternatives. Ploys are kind of outdated at this point but I may not have a +RES copy once I give her the last few merges. I have +ATK but +SPD is far more valuable for her so it's not even an option, really.

 

As a nuke, if you are willing to invest a "strong" A skill, then +Atk/Spd are both fine, but I lean towards +Spd. If you are just planning to use Attack +3 or Speed +3, then I recommend going with +Atk with Attack +3 on the A slot; without a strong A skill, healers are at a significant stat disadvantage compared to other units, especially in terms of Spd, so I do not think it is worth it to try to contest Spd. Units with decent Spd will be too fast to double with their stat boosting Refinements and a strong A skill, and Serra should have no trouble doubling slow units with her base Spd.

In players' hands, I am a little iffy on using healers as regular nukes because they lack access to Reposition. Dance/Sing-Reposition is the heart of Player Phase combat, and healers feels clunky without it. Gravity can help make the clunkiness more manageable by slowing down enemies, but I rather just use Firesweep archers instead at that point. In AI's hands, lack of Reposition does not matter since the AI cannot use Dance/Singer-Reposition.

I think Close Counter is fine in PvE, but I do not think Close Counter on a non-armor ranged unit is viable due to how hard and fast PvP enemies can hit.

For support, I recommend +Res. Sabotage skills are a new type of Ploy skills, but it is on the B slot and its effect is global instead of just cardinal directions.

1 hour ago, Zeo said:

1. Mystic Marksman

   Reveal hidden contents

 

I have 3 Elincias so plenty of ATK/SPD Push 3 fodder and the idea of running it on a build like this interests me quite a bit. Her SPD and ATK boost up to 44/47 and with Mystic Boost she will recover 5 HP instead of losing 1 HP each round of combat as well as locking down dragons from killing her. Even ATK Wave gives her a nice boost to take her up to 50 for improved damage/healing and Chill ATK 3 doubles as support and self sustain (Chill SPD 3 could be an alternative also). And of course Miracle because lolyourenotkillingher.

 

 

4 hours ago, Zeo said:

5. Assassin

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This build is less about self sustain and more about damage. The name of this build's game is to attack, take a hit, get a massive buff to damage, then heal up and do it all over again. Once in miracle range it's just free damage until it procs and she heals up to do it all again. The ATK/SPD 2 seal is there to bolster her overall attack power rather than relying on situational stat increases. Chill RES could be replaced with Razzle Dazzle but it hinders her damage ceiling. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Zeo said:

8. Vampire Priest

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Initially this build had Mysitic Boost which was just overkill, instead Dazzling Shuts down counterattacks, Push gives her an offensive boost and Renewal covers any healing inbetween turns. Even DEF wave gives her 32/38 bulk to make her just a bit more tanky. This build is another one of those "staying alive" builds.

 

 

Atk/Spd Push is too inconsistent since Atk/Spd Push needs 100% HP for it to work, and when it does work, it reduces your HP after combat. Mystic Boost is not a sufficient option for Atk/Spd Push because Mystic Boost's healing is too low to offset counterattack damage and it does not heal you if you do not enter combat. On the other hand, Renewal can heal you back to 100% HP whether or not you enter combat, but its healing is too slow and too little. In my opinion, Atk/Spd Push-Mystic is only viable on Lewyn and SR!Laegjarn since they have reverse Desperation built into their Weapon, so they do not have worry about Atk/Spd Push not meshing with Desperation like regular nukes. For regular nukes, if the player really wants them to use Atk/Spd Push, then the nuke ideally should have a Heron Dancer/Singer and/or run Renewal on the B slot. For staff users, Dazzling Staff-Wrathful Staff combo is too good to give up in my opinion, so to offset the recoil damage from Atk/Spd Push, staff users can run Ovoid Staff as their Weapon as it heals 5 HP at the start of every turn. Ovoid Staff is very expensive though and it is limited to RR!Bruno, a Special Hero.

+Spd
Ovoid Staff [Dazzling Staff] — Ovoid Staff [Wrathful Staff]
(Any Assist)
Miracle
Atk/Spd Push — Atk/Spd Solo
Wrathful Staff — Dazzling Staff
(Any C) — Rouse Atk/Spd (Not yet released.)
Atk/Spd — (Any Sacred Seal)

Brazen Atk/Spd is too risky in my opinion, so I would not recommend it unless you are running Desperation or something, which kind of defeats the purpose of running a healer as a nuke since they can bypass setup by being a Firesweep nuke.

4 hours ago, Zeo said:

4. The Statbot

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This build focuses purely on support. She buffs one of her strongest allies and debuffs the enemy team. This build utilizes both a Chill and Ploys. She could run double chills and a ploy as an alternative but the issue with this build is that I'm sacking my only seasonal Genny and also that 41 RES isn't all that great for Ploys anymore. Even less if she runs with a likely +SPD asset. It's possible to just run a chill in the S slot and some form of support in the C slot, but I'm not married to the idea.

 

 

4 hours ago, Zeo said:

7. Who me? I'm HELPLESS!!

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This is the "good luck killing her" build. A complete theory craft as I don't have either Witchy Want or Fort. DEF/RES. Her bulk is nonsense for a healer, she's difficult to double. She seals your specials with no fear of retaliation and she Chills your ATK just to be a jerk. She could run Swift Stance too just to reliably shut down doubles. Infantry Breath is just there, she could run anything in her seal slot, it doesn't even matter but it could be something like Even/Odd DEF wave just to irritate physical attackers trying to kill her.

 

 

I would do a combination of these two builds to maximize her support role.

+Res
Witchy Wand [Dazzling Staff] — Toasty Skewer [Dazzling Staff]
Restore — (Any Assist)
(Any Balm)
Fort. Def/Res
(Any Sabotage) — (Any Chill)
(Any Ploy) — (Any Tactic) — Rouse Spd/Res (Not yet released.)
(Any Ploy) — (Any Chill) — (Any Tactic) — Fortress Res

5 hours ago, Zeo said:

3. Support partner?

I rarely use the Ally Support feature as it turns out. But most of my invested units have partners. Generally, my main units have dancer partners. I could go the same route as Serra, or perhaps not. Just going to touch on a few potential ones. I really need some help though.
  

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 - She dances, she contributes to both SPD and DEF with her B-Skill, she shuts down dragons, one of Serra's weaknesses without Mystic Boost, and she comes with Drive RES by default. Further boosting Serra's tankiness. She's a solid choice honestly.

 - Completely obliterates dragons, special buffs up Serra and infantry Flash enables Serra to activate 1 turn Miracle which cannot be understated in value. It's utter nonsense what Serra is capable of with Infantry Flash and Marth brings that while bolstering team durability and doubling as a frontline unit and dragon slayer.

 - One could present the question why you would pick such a prestigious unit to support Serra. That reason being she's not supporting anyone and likely never will because I don't really use designated teams outside of my main 2. In Serra's case, she brings ATK Tactic to the table, freeing up Serra's C slot and buffs all 4 stats after dancing (nevermind the 3 mov) turning Serra into an effective fortress. Nevermind her overall team utility and WoM and all that good stuff.

 - New kid on the block. Her only real utility would be the Infantry Breath effect, but her utility cannot be understated.

 - Remember this guy? He can Chill 3 stats. A fantastic partner for anyone, including Serra. He also gets stronger when he's close to her which is a bonus.

 - Similar to Soren, but she can debuff the most important stat without SI. She can also double as a WoM savior or Special Spiral nuclear bomb unit with the SI.

 - She provides +7 HP each turn. Outside of that, hard to justify considering they share a color and Leanne is better spent with beast units, especially Naesala. They just look nice together as a pair which is why she's here.

 - The same as Leanne, though a bit better because he doesn't share a color.

 

 

I lean towards FIH!Elincia and VS!Azura if you are using Serra as a nuke. I lean towards Soren if you are using Serra more as support.

[Rezzy]

6 hours ago, Zeo said:

@mcsilas @mampfoid @Hawk King @Astellius @NegativeExponents- @SatsumaFSoysoy @Alexmender @Ice Dragon @XRay @LordFrigid @Landmaster @Nanima @Rezzy @silverserpent @Infinite Dreams @Humanoid @Xenomata @Kaden @Hilda @eclipse @Ginko @Tybrosion

Hey guys. Give me your ear for a bit cause we're doing the unit building thing again. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've done something like this but once again I'm working on a mega unit project. You've seen Matthew, Nino and Lukas. Chrom needs 2 more merges and Morgan needs 3 but the latter is pretty much done as far as the build goes. Today I'm revisiting an old unit that I planned to +10 quite some time ago.

My favorite healer. A big mouth, super annoying and yet somehow lovable. The first healer I ever met in FE and funnily enough the first healer I ever pulled in FEH. Since the beginning her (and Matthew) were the colorless units I wanted to invest in but after seeing how underwhelming they both were (and my lack of resources) I put them on the backburner. As you know I went back and completed Matthew but Serra was left in the dust. I hope to rectify that soon. With my just pulling Dazzling Staff fodder, this feels like the perfect time.

Now... Serra's greatest boon has also been her greatest weakness: she's a jack of all trades. A trait she shares with Sakura. Lachesis hits harder, Maria is faster, Lucius and Wrys have superior RES (and ATK in Lucius' case) and Azama destroys her in bulk. Because of this she can fill any role but in most cases there's a unit or two who can do it better, even in the normal pool. That didn't stop me with Matthew however and it won't stop me here. Only thing is that unlike Matt who I always had a clear Idea for in terms of build, Serra's future is a lot more ambiguous, which is why you guys are here: help me build her.

1. Which nature?

+SPD is what I'm planning on for her nature. However if she runs Ploys then her RES doesn't cut it anymore in today's meta and +RES is the better option. In some cases if she wants to run Close Counter then +DEF could be a better option. Should I stick to +SPD or consider alternatives. Ploys are kind of outdated at this point but I may not have a +RES copy once I give her the last few merges. I have +ATK but +SPD is far more valuable for her so it's not even an option, really.

2. Which Build/What kind of build?

Here I've got a list of builds, most of which I have all the fodder for so I'm doing some theorycrafting but most of it is realistic, so I'd like you guy's input on some stuff. You can tell me what you think of these builds or you can tell me what you think is a good build for her also. For these builds she's going to be +10 and +5 DF since that's the most realistic DF amount for her for the near future.

She will get a PRF in the future when healers start getting them, probably in a big version update. But for now she's using normal staffs and I've always enjoyed the idea of using her Absorb staff so that's my primary interest even in units like Lachesis/Azama may use them better. You'll see all manner of builds though, I know it's hard to make a unit like Serra a frontline unit, but I'm really interested in trying. Ok let's go.

1. Mystic Marksman

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I have 3 Elincias so plenty of ATK/SPD Push 3 fodder and the idea of running it on a build like this interests me quite a bit. Her SPD and ATK boost up to 44/47 and with Mystic Boost she will recover 5 HP instead of losing 1 HP each round of combat as well as locking down dragons from killing her. Even ATK Wave gives her a nice boost to take her up to 50 for improved damage/healing and Chill ATK 3 doubles as support and self sustain (Chill SPD 3 could be an alternative also). And of course Miracle because lolyourenotkillingher.

 

2. Old Fashioned Pain

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The CC Vantage set bores me, it would likely be something I ran on a cav healer instead. For Serra it's just the usual Pain+ set. Super potent, though it's done better on a cav healer obviously because of the mobility. She'll likely get this eventually anyway, but I put it here since she has a higher damage potential than Genny or Priscilla, even more so with ATK/SPD Bond 3.

 

3. Genny's Successor

  Reveal hidden contents

 

You should remember a similar build to this in Genny from my old Matthew clears, except Genny ran Hone ATK/SPD in her slots. For Serra she's more defense-focused. It's a general support build with a lot of versatility. But Razzle/Dazzle is a must for it.

 

4. The Statbot

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This build focuses purely on support. She buffs one of her strongest allies and debuffs the enemy team. This build utilizes both a Chill and Ploys. She could run double chills and a ploy as an alternative but the issue with this build is that I'm sacking my only seasonal Genny and also that 41 RES isn't all that great for Ploys anymore. Even less if she runs with a likely +SPD asset. It's possible to just run a chill in the S slot and some form of support in the C slot, but I'm not married to the idea.

 

5. Assassin

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This build is less about self sustain and more about damage. The name of this build's game is to attack, take a hit, get a massive buff to damage, then heal up and do it all over again. Once in miracle range it's just free damage until it procs and she heals up to do it all again. The ATK/SPD 2 seal is there to bolster her overall attack power rather than relying on situational stat increases. Chill RES could be replaced with Razzle Dazzle but it hinders her damage ceiling. 

 

6. Matthew's Protege

  Reveal hidden contents

 

A very expensive build that would require either sacking my only Takumi and one of my 3 Eirs on my AR team or pulling both a Takumi and an Eir in the current and upcoming banners. This is the BnB neverdie set. She takes damage, she heals it back and heals after combat. She laughs at dragons and if you hurt her you make her angry and she gets a massive boost to her attack power and a much needed speed boost. Her C skill holds limitless potential in boosting her attack power or bulk with a wave skill or something like Joint Hone SPD (should fodder arrive). It's an extremely expensive build but one with quite a bit of payoff.

 

7. Who me? I'm HELPLESS!!

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This is the "good luck killing her" build. A complete theory craft as I don't have either Witchy Want or Fort. DEF/RES. Her bulk is nonsense for a healer, she's difficult to double. She seals your specials with no fear of retaliation and she Chills your ATK just to be a jerk. She could run Swift Stance too just to reliably shut down doubles. Infantry Breath is just there, she could run anything in her seal slot, it doesn't even matter but it could be something like Even/Odd DEF wave just to irritate physical attackers trying to kill her.

 

8. Vampire Priest

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Initially this build had Mysitic Boost which was just overkill, instead Dazzling Shuts down counterattacks, Push gives her an offensive boost and Renewal covers any healing inbetween turns. Even DEF wave gives her 32/38 bulk to make her just a bit more tanky. This build is another one of those "staying alive" builds.

 

9. Lachesis 0.5

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One of Lachesis old builds. QR removes the need for speed and she ploys more reliably while still being able to retaliate up close. Somewhat boring honestly. 

 

3. Support partner?

I rarely use the Ally Support feature as it turns out. But most of my invested units have partners. Generally, my main units have dancer partners. I could go the same route as Serra, or perhaps not. Just going to touch on a few potential ones. I really need some help though.
 

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 - She dances, she contributes to both SPD and DEF with her B-Skill, she shuts down dragons, one of Serra's weaknesses without Mystic Boost, and she comes with Drive RES by default. Further boosting Serra's tankiness. She's a solid choice honestly.

 - Completely obliterates dragons, special buffs up Serra and infantry Flash enables Serra to activate 1 turn Miracle which cannot be understated in value. It's utter nonsense what Serra is capable of with Infantry Flash and Marth brings that while bolstering team durability and doubling as a frontline unit and dragon slayer.

 - One could present the question why you would pick such a prestigious unit to support Serra. That reason being she's not supporting anyone and likely never will because I don't really use designated teams outside of my main 2. In Serra's case, she brings ATK Tactic to the table, freeing up Serra's C slot and buffs all 4 stats after dancing (nevermind the 3 mov) turning Serra into an effective fortress. Nevermind her overall team utility and WoM and all that good stuff.

 - New kid on the block. Her only real utility would be the Infantry Breath effect, but her utility cannot be understated.

 - Remember this guy? He can Chill 3 stats. A fantastic partner for anyone, including Serra. He also gets stronger when he's close to her which is a bonus.

 - Similar to Soren, but she can debuff the most important stat without SI. She can also double as a WoM savior or Special Spiral nuclear bomb unit with the SI.

 - She provides +7 HP each turn. Outside of that, hard to justify considering they share a color and Leanne is better spent with beast units, especially Naesala. They just look nice together as a pair which is why she's here.

 - The same as Leanne, though a bit better because he doesn't share a color.

 

I appreciate any input you guys can give.

I'll try to give that a look when I'm done with work. 

[mcsilas]

@Zeo Hmm maybe take my opinion as a grain of salt but I think if you really want to try her native Absorb, then go with Vampire Priest. The Helpless set looks like a pain to deal with, but the fodder for it is pretty expensive/limited if you don't have units.

Mystic Marksman has potential if you change her staff (don't think Absorb is the best staff for this), maybe you can even go with the higher Mt staffs like Fear+ to help her survivability (and she might appreciate the extra Mt). Gravity is also a good all-around staff but then it might be better to just go Dazzling for the B slot.

But yeah I'm pretty partial to the Gravity set. That way you're really slowing things down from afar- I'm sort of trying out different staffs with Brady and Gravity still comes out on top for now, the utility to slow things down really helps- especially since infantry healers have less range than cav healers, any help from Gravity debuffs is appreciated whenever you need to make a tactical retreat.

If you do go with Gravity, a dancer is especially needed for her support- L!Azura has the best potential for hit and run tactics since suddenly Serra can run away like a cav healer while the enemy is still stuck to 1 space.

---

So I have a question with the Male Byleth- it's only one unit for each game, even if I link two different accounts/users on the Switch, I can only claim one?

[Ice Dragon]

1 minute ago, mcsilas said:

So I have a question with the Male Byleth- it's only one unit for each game, even if I link two different accounts/users on the Switch, I can only claim one?

Yes, you can only claim one Byleth per copy of the game, regardless of how many accounts you have. It prevents people from getting all of their friends together to put their accounts on a single Switch to get a bunch of copies of Byleth with a single copy of the game.

[mcsilas]

1 minute ago, Ice Dragon said:

Yes, you can only claim one Byleth per copy of the game, regardless of how many accounts you have. It prevents people from getting all of their friends together to put their accounts on a single Switch to get a bunch of copies of Byleth with a single copy of the game.

Yeah makes sense, just wanted to make sure, it's my first time playing on the Switch tomorrow.

Now I have to make a choice on which of my FEH accounts wants it more now lol. I guess I'll see if I can randomly get one from the legendary banner or something to make my decision

[Ice Dragon]

@Zeo

If you're going for a Ploy build, use Fortress Def/Res. Fortress Def/Res gives the highest possible boost to Res that counts for Ploy skills.

Personally, I'd focus on a support-oriented build instead of a combat-oriented build for most staff users. There are only a few of them that do combat well enough to focus a build on them, and Serra is extremely middling in both Atk and Spd.

The best inheritable support staves in the game right now are Gravity+, Pain+, Panic+, and Witchy Wand+, depending on what kind of situation you're in. As of some patch some time ago, reversed bonuses caused by the Panic status now count as penalties for skill effects (if there is both a reversed bonus and a proper penalty on the same stat, both count towards stat reduction, but only the stronger of the two counts towards skill effects).

If you're planning on running Infantry Breath on her, then Toasty Skewer+ is also a good option to double down on the defensive buffs if you have the fodder.

[mampfoid]

9 hours ago, Zeo said:

Hey guys. Give me your ear for a bit cause we're doing the unit building thing again. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've done something like this but once again I'm working on a mega unit project. You've seen Matthew, Nino and Lukas. Chrom needs 2 more merges and Morgan needs 3 but the latter is pretty much done as far as the build goes. Today I'm revisiting an old unit that I planned to +10 quite some time ago.

Yeah, I remember you wanted to build Serra one day. To be honest, like daggers, I'm not using healers much apart from healing and the occasional pain/gravity shenanigans. 

9 hours ago, Zeo said:

1. Which nature?

Depends on the build(s) you want to give her of course. On a highly merged unit that's an important decision. I'm personally not a big fan of ploys and I usually tend to the general utility of SPD boons. Her base RES is high enough to make her hard to kill in one shot, few points of SPD can make a difference in battle (see Matthew).

9 hours ago, Zeo said:

2. Which Build/What kind of build?

Oh, you've written done a lot of interesting things. Some of those are similar to each other, I think you can give her at least 2 builds.

Since healers are very limited in their choice of specials, at least one of them should be a "hard to kill" set with Miracle. Mythic boost goes very well with Miracle, but did you consider shield pulse to start with 3 CD? 

It sounds like you've already decided to give her the push skill, so a second set should be offensively orientated. I see many of your builds have Dazzling Staff, can't you pass Candlelight as well? Since Candlelight can be evolved to Candlelight+, you can pass Dazzling Staff 3 and Candlelight(+) from a Lyn.

Notes

• Candlelight can only be evolved if a hero knows Candlelight but not  Candlelight+, for example via inheritance.
  • The reason for the exception may be due to  Lyn: Bride of the Plains being a time exclusive special hero that came out on May 30th, 2017 and Candlelight+ being added on November 28th, 2017

In my opinion CC + absorb sounds like the most fun build, but it may be hard to play with Serra. You've never been known to always go the easy path though. ; -) 

9 hours ago, Zeo said:

3. Support partner?

I think ally support is secondary. More important is what team you will run her in. Like Serra, they should be interesting to play, but also providing support and synergy with her. 

• Blue: L!Azura is the perfect support unit, she can dance and buff like no other. She'd help Serra a lot. On the other hand, she doesn't need development herself and could make things a bit boring. 
  I would suggest Mordecai (this has nothing to do with my avatar ^^). He can provide buffs and debuffs, while being a great physical wall himself. 
• Red: From the units you suggested I think Nah might be the most interesting one (shiny new effect), but what about L!Eliwood? Apart from being a FE7 unit, he brings bonus doubler (Serras ATK might be a little low for that, same goes for Nah's C-skill though).
  There are so many interesting red units currently, my problem is usually to not have a team for them all. 
• Green: Since you listed two dancers here, green could be your dancer color (once again). If you don't have a physical wall in your team, Reyson can do that with some help. His healing ability might be more useful in a team without a healer. Elincia is the better dragon counter of course. 

So many options ... that's the fun! 

 

 

 

 

 

[mampfoid]

I can't fix my broken comment anymore (no edit possible). So here the last part again: 

 

In my opinion CC + absorb sounds like the most fun build, but it may be hard to play with Serra. You've never been known to always go the easy path though. ; -) 

10 hours ago, Zeo said:

3. Which Support partner?

  10 hours ago, Zeo said:

I think ally support is secondary. More important is what team you will run her in. Like Serra, they should be interesting to play, but also providing support and synergy with her. 

• Blue: L!Azura is the perfect support unit, she can dance and buff like no other. She'd help Serra a lot. On the other hand, she doesn't need development herself and could make things a bit boring. 
  I would suggest Mordecai (this has nothing to do with my avatar ^^). He can provide buffs and debuffs, while being a great physical wall himself. 
• Red: From the units you suggested I think Nah might be the most interesting one (shiny new effect), but what about L!Eliwood? Apart from being a FE7 unit, he brings bonus doubler (Serras ATK might be a little low for that, same goes for Nah's C-skill though).
  There are so many interesting red units currently, my problem is usually to not have a team for them all. 
• Green: Since you listed two dancers here, green could be your dancer color (once again). If you don't have a physical wall in your team, Reyson can do that with some help. His healing ability might be more useful in a team without a healer. Elincia is the better dragon counter of course. 

So many options ... that's the fun! 

/Edit: No idea why the quote box is broken, I can't fix it. :- /

[DraceEmpressa]

If I feed my Legendary Marth Bonus Doubler, will it stack with his Exalted Falchion's built in bonus doubler?

[Ice Dragon]

6 minutes ago, DraceEmpressa said:

If I feed my Legendary Marth Bonus Doubler, will it stack with his Exalted Falchion's built in bonus doubler?

Yes. Combat bonuses stack forever.

[Jingle Jangle]

How consistent Ruptured Sky is compared to the likes of moonbow?

[Ice Dragon]

13 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

How consistent Ruptured Sky is compared to the likes of moonbow?

Ruptured Sky is better in PvP modes than in PvE modes since you'd expect to see higher Atk values and more dragons and beasts in PvP. The two skills are about the same in PvE.

Ruptured Sky hits

• 10 damage against 50 Atk, 20 damage against dragons and beasts
• 14 damage against 70 Atk, 28 damage against dragons and beasts
• 18 damage against 90 Atk, 36 damage against dragons and beasts

Moonbow hits

• 6 damage against 20 Def/Res
• 12 damage against 40 Def/Res
• 18 damage against 60 Def/Res

Edited July 25, 2019 by Ice Dragon

[TheSilentChloey]

So I pulled a spare Edelgard and don't know if I want to

A: Merge her to remove res bane

Or

B: Give her skills to someone else- namely a certain Fell Dragon whom I'm happy to give any premium skill to which would mean her atk/def C skill to help Grimmy out because he does tend to be on his own a whole lot and it could work really well with Steady Stance and help Grima’s tanking abilities to be further enhanced while helping him hit harder or give atk/spd solo to Winobin though he won't particularly need it for anything but the boost in atk or alternatively give it to Lucy, who will like it when I get my ideal +atk copy...

Decisions, decisions...

Edited July 28, 2019 by TheSilentChloey

[XRay]

38 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

So I pulled a spare Edelgard and don't know if I want to

A: Merge her to remove res bane

I would only merge if you need her to fight dragons.

39 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

B: Give her skills to someone else- namely a certain Fell Dragon whom I'm happy to give any premium skill to which would mean her atk/def C skill to help Grimmy out because he does tend to be on his own a whole lot and it could work really well with Steady Stance and help Grima’s tanking abilities to be further enhanced while helping him hit harder or give atk/spd solo to Winobin though he won't particularly need it for anything but the boost in atk or alternatively give it to Lucy, who will like it when I get my ideal +atk copy...

I personally lean towards giving Rouse Atk/Def to a unit that can dual phase since they can get the most out of it. If you gave FV!M!Robin Bold Fighter, or if you plan to in the future, then I think he is a pretty decent candidate. Otherwise, I lean more towards someone like Hríd, Dimitri, and LL!Ephraim who are slow but have good movement and can double due to their skills.

37 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

or give atk/spd solo to Winobin though he won't particularly need it for anything but the boost in atk or alternatively give it to Lucy, who will like it when I get my ideal +atk copy...

While WE!M!Robin and Lucina can appreciate Atk/Spd Solo, Edelgard has Atk/Def Solo, not Atk/Spd Solo. For Atk/Def Solo, I recommend the same people as above for Rouse Atk/Def.

[TheSilentChloey]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

I would only merge if you need her to fight dragons.

I personally lean towards giving Rouse Atk/Def to a unit that can dual phase since they can get the most out of it. If you gave FV!M!Robin Bold Fighter, or if you plan to in the future, then I think he is a pretty decent candidate. Otherwise, I lean more towards someone like Hríd, Dimitri, and LL!Ephraim who are slow but have good movement and can double due to their skills.

While WE!M!Robin and Lucina can appreciate Atk/Spd Solo, Edelgard has Atk/Def Solo, not Atk/Spd Solo. For Atk/Def Solo, I recommend the same people as above for Rouse Atk/Def.

My bad.

 

So it would suit Grimmy down to a tea then.

 

So would he then benefit from atk/def solo or rouse atk/def more?

[XRay]

2 hours ago, TheSilentChloey said:

My bad.

So it would suit Grimmy down to a tea then.

So would he then benefit from atk/def solo or rouse atk/def more?

I would go with Rouse Atk/Def. He really needs Steady Stance on his A slot to prevent enemies from activating Specials on him, although I personally lean towards Warding Stance to balance out his Def/Res since it is kind of waste of his Distant Counter if he cannot handle some mages.

[Nimrod]

How many reruns do ghb get?  Is it more than one?

[Humanoid]

45 minutes ago, Nimrod said:

How many reruns do ghb get?  Is it more than one?

These days they're rerunning GHBs at the same rate new ones are being added, so it's unlikely we'll see more than one re-run for anything recent. That is, unless they do a mass re-run event like they did for the very earliest ones. However, the fact that Grails exist now means it's less likely they're inclined to do that.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Humanoid

[AJ Okami]

Does anyone know if the Sketchy Summer and Norhian Summer banners are getting reruns this year? 

[Ice Dragon]

5 minutes ago, AJ Okami said:

Does anyone know if the Sketchy Summer and Norhian Summer banners are getting reruns this year? 

No, no one knows. But it's unlikely that they won't get reruns.