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

[Endriu]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:47 PM, lightcosmo said:

This is both pretty cool and impressive at the same time, just saying.

Thanks! I do make an exception for the askr trio. Cant get rid of them and weeks without an arena bonus could be off-putting.

My current progress

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by Super Endriu

[Johann]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

Not factoring C and Sacred Seal:
Peony:
HP +5, Atk +3, Spd +7
Total 15
M!Corrin:
Atk/Spd/Def/Res +4
Total 16

I guess that is comparable to M!Corrin. If Peony runs Goad Flier or Ward Flier, that is some additional extra stat points over M!Corrin's Distant Guard/Close Guard/Drives, so she is superior with a flier super tank.

2 Peonys, 2 Ward, 1 Drive Def, 1 Drive Res:
HP +10, Atk +7, Spd +8+7, Def +12, Res +12
Total: 56

2 M!Corrins, Drive Spectrum:
Atk/Spd/Def/Res+12
Total: 48

2 M!Corrins, Distant Guard, Close Guard, Drive Atk, Drive Spd:
Atk/Spd +12, Def/Res+13
Total: 50

2 Peonys gives more buffs, but is more awkward to use since her buffs do not work diagonally, and I think it scores worse. The math seems pretty promising. I think I will look into my flyers a little more and check out some additional super tank options. I might be even be able to make a Player Phasey super tank, which sounds pretty exciting.

I guess my main thing is looking at the least investment option; Peony is free and comes with nearly anything you'd need right out of the gate. Plus, if you ended up with extra copies, you might as well get the score boost from merging her. There are also too many maps where it's not safe to bring a single unit into Drive range due to dancers or WoM. 

Flying supertank is pretty doable, I've long had great success with Legendary Robin, despite being only available for scoring some of the time. Dunno who else would work though, I can't imagine anyone with an ideal stat spread being readily available. Incidentally, fliers have always been the movement type I've developed the least, but there are so many who are great for AR that nearly all of my Raiding Parties would have at least 3 on them. Units like Aversa and Bridal Fjorm have more value in my book than someone like regular M Corrin, since their abilities are on a wholly different level.

[XRay]

20 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

@XRay

That reminds me. One of these days, I need to make a meme build with Mystic Boost and Carrot Lance.

Lance/Axe/B Tome/G Tome Infantry
Spring Festival Weapon
(Any Refinement)
Reciprocal Aid
Noontime — Sol — Aether
(Any A) — Steady Breath — Warding Breath
Mystic Boost
Time's Pulse
Renewal

After scrolling through all the skills, this is the most healy build I can think of. Renewal can heal the unit without combat, and if that is not enough, Reciprocal Aid turns all allies into HP batteries, allowing the unit to suck the life out of its allies.

9 minutes ago, Johann said:

I guess my main thing is looking at the least investment option; Peony is free and comes with nearly anything you'd need right out of the gate. Plus, if you ended up with extra copies, you might as well get the score boost from merging her. There are also too many maps where it's not safe to bring a single unit into Drive range due to dancers or WoM. 

Flying supertank is pretty doable, I've long had great success with Legendary Robin, despite being only available for scoring some of the time. Dunno who else would work though, I can't imagine anyone with an ideal stat spread being readily available. Incidentally, fliers have always been the movement type I've developed the least, but there are so many who are great for AR that nearly all of my Raiding Parties would have at least 3 on them. Units like Aversa and Bridal Fjorm have more value in my book than someone like regular M Corrin, since their abilities are on a wholly different level.

I think Drive range is pretty safe, as most defense maps have plenty of chokepoints for super tanks to take advantage of. As long as the super tank can hold a choke point, M!Corrin does not really have to worry.

I do not see a lot of maps that are super open, with cav line and some flier balls being the most open.

[Johann]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

I think Drive range is pretty safe, as most defense maps have plenty of chokepoints for super tanks to take advantage of. As long as the super tank can hold a choke point, M!Corrin does not really have to worry.

I do not see a lot of maps that are super open, with cav line and some flier balls being the most open.

This might be my own strategy backing up that preference then, because I often send a super tank all the way in to kill or block a troublesome unit like a dancer, and then Atk Smoke everybody else. My own maps are very open (Wintry), with the aim of jumping unsuspecting players with Fujin Yumi of all things.

[Lightcosmo]

2 hours ago, Super Endriu said:

Thanks! I do make an exception for the askr trio. Cant get rid of them and weeks without an arena bonus could be off-putting.

My current progress

Wow, I see what you mean now. That's pretty amazing, though!

[Icelerate]

Does panic smoke activate if the user dies in combat? I'm getting conflicting responses so does anyone have proof of what happens? 

 

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Icelerate said:

Does panic smoke activate if the user dies in combat? I'm getting conflicting responses so does anyone have proof of what happens? 

The wiki says the unit needs to survive. The stat debuff Smoke skills require the user to survive combat, so I assume that applies to Panic Smoke too.

[Icelerate]

14 minutes ago, XRay said:

The wiki says the unit needs to survive. The stat debuff Smoke skills require the user to survive combat, so I assume that applies to Panic Smoke too.

Okay people have tested it and came to the same conclusion. So any omega tank that can kill Thrasirs on enemy phase in one round of combat is ideal. I'm thinking of making a speedy Surtr considering I have two Peony's. They can increase his speed by 8 points from blessings and another 6 through their weapons if they are on the same column or row. Then add Corrin giving 1 from ally support, 4 from weapon and than two drive speeds. Then refine Surtr's weapon for an additional 3 speed and give him darting stance 3. My Surtr has 21 base speed so if you add all this (8+6+5+6+3+6+21 = 55) without visible buffs. With visible buffs, he can get 61. I have special fighter and DC on him. 

Is speedy Surtr still a meme or can he become reality? 

What are the best units for panic smoke IYO? I'm thinking Brave Micaiah is the best one but I might be biased so I want more objective takes. 

[XRay]

19 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

Is speedy Surtr still a meme or can he become reality? 

All super tanks should ideally be Spd tanks. Whether or not they are slow pre buffed does not matter, as buffs can turn even the slowest slowpokes into Spd demons who can draw or even win a Spd check against Alm: Saint King.

19 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

What are the best units for panic smoke IYO? I'm thinking Brave Micaiah is the best one but I might be biased so I want more objective takes. 

For nukes, Def Smoke, Res Smoke and Savage Blow are better in my opinion. Panic Smoke does nothing if enemies do not run visible buffs.

For super tanks, Atk Smoke is better and maybe Pulse Smoke too.

For Panic Smoke, I would go with somebody who can already apply one of the above Smoke debuffs on their Weapon, such as dagger units or M!Morgan.

Edited December 11, 2019 by XRay

[Icelerate]

6 minutes ago, XRay said:

For nukes, Def Smoke, Res Smoke and Savage Blow are better in my opinion. Panic Smoke does nothing if enemies do not run visible buffs.

For super tanks, Atk Smoke is better and maybe Pulse Smoke too.

For Panic Smoke, I would go with somebody who can already apply one of the above Smoke debuffs on their Weapon, such as dagger units or M!Morgan.

On a team that doesn't use buffs, just don't use the team that uses panic smoke. 

Should I add speed smoke on my Brave Micaiah's seal so that she debuffs attack and speed by 7 thus gaining 7 attack and 7 speed making it hard to get doubled or get damaged? 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Icelerate

[XRay]

26 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

On a team that doesn't use buffs, just don't use the team that uses panic smoke. 

Unlike in Arena Assault, we have a limited number of teams. Every player should have a Player Phase team and a super tank team, and those two teams would cover about 50% to 75% of the defensive teams out there. That leaves 3 other teams to counter more specific and dangerous defense teams like Infantry Pulse and cav line, and even against those teams, I think Atk Smoke or Savage Blow would be better.

The cost to running Panic Smoke is that the unit is not running a better and more consistent Smoke. It is nice if you have nothing else better to run, but the best nukes generally want Def Smoke/Res Smoke/Savage Blow since those will consistently increase their damage no matter what enemy they are facing. As for super tanks, the only one that comes to mind so far is M!Morgan and Smoke Dagger users.

26 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

Should I add speed smoke on my Brave Micaiah's seal so that she debuffs attack and speed by 7 thus gaining 7 attack and 7 speed making it hard to get doubled or get damaged? 

I think that is good.

If you are going to use her more as a nuke, I lean towards Res Smoke, but Spd Smoke should still be good for letting her double more consistently.

Edited December 11, 2019 by XRay

[Icelerate]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

Unlike in Arena Assault, we have a limited number of teams. Every player should have a Player Phase team and a super tank team, and those two teams would cover about 50% to 75% of the defensive teams out there. That leaves 3 other teams to counter more specific and dangerous defense teams like Infantry Pulse and cav line, and even against those teams, I think Atk Smoke or Savage Blow would be better.

The cost to running Panic Smoke is that the unit is not running a better and more consistent Smoke. It is nice if you have nothing else better to run, but the best nukes generally want Def Smoke/Res Smoke/Savage Blow since those will consistently increase their damage no matter what enemy they are facing. As for super tanks, the only one that comes to mind so far is M!Morgan and Smoke Dagger users.

How would you improve this build then?

Brave Micaiah

Weapon: Light of Dawn

Special: Glimmer

Assist: Reposition

A slot: Close counter

B slot: Vantage 3

C slot: panic smoke 3

S slot: Attack smoke 3

[Benice]

4 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

How would you improve this build then?

Brave Micaiah

Weapon: Light of Dawn

Special: Glimmer

Assist: Reposition

A slot: Close counter

B slot: Vantage 3

C slot: panic smoke 3

S slot: Attack smoke 3

I Don't know what your team is built around, but from my experiences, Micaiah dies if you poke her with a stick. Thusly, I'm not sure close counter or Vantage are the best choices. Maybe Fury in A and Desperation B? I know a lot of peopls hate fury, (like me.) But it may be effective for an offensive build. Swift sparrow might also be helpful, combined with chill SPD or RES Then again, I am super trashy at FEH, my ideas are probably bad.

[XRay]

52 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

How would you improve this build then?

Brave Micaiah

Weapon: Light of Dawn

Special: Glimmer

Assist: Reposition

A slot: Close counter

B slot: Vantage 3

C slot: panic smoke 3

S slot: Attack smoke 3

Super tanking and Counter-Vantage are very different builds and they do not mix too well in my opinion.

— — — — — — —

Counter-Vantage

I do not recommend Vantage on any unit that does not reach sky high Atk. BE!Micaiah can reach pretty decent Atk, but I do not think her Atk is high enough to be a consistent Vantage user if she is not running Gronnblade.

Ares and Laevatein can reach a guaranteed 95+ Atk at merge +0, while the best Blade mages can reach a guaranteed 90+ Atk at +0.

BE!Micaiah with the following build can reach a guaranteed 91 Atk, and up to 98 Atk if Res Smoke hits:
+Atk (41)
Gronnblade (13+24)
Reposition
Glimmer
Close Counter
Vantage
Res Smoke ("7")
Brazen Atk/Spd (7)
6/6/6/6 bonus buffs (6)

In contrast, BE!Micaiah's power will be much lower at 82 Atk with Light of Dawn, and this is under an ideal scenario. Sometimes you cannot send BE!Micaiah into the middle of an enemy formation and you need her to sit at the edge of Enemy Range. If BE!Micaiah's enemy does not have any debuffs, then all she has to rely on is her guaranteed Atk, which is pretty low at 61.
+Atk (41)
Light of Dawn (14+"14")
Reposition
Glimmer
Close Counter
Vantage
Panic Smoke ("7")
Atk Smoke
6/6/6/6 bonus buffs (6)

— — — — — — —

Super Tanking

This part is easier in terms of the build itself, the tricky part is landing the debuffs. Unlike Counter-Vantage where all you need is a just VS!Azura Singing to the unit, you will need Aversa or Mordecai for support. Aversa allows you to sit at the edge of enemy range and take advantage of Drive buffs from Aversa and M!Corrin, while Mordecai lets BE!Micaiah debuff more consistently at the cost of not having Drive support.
+HP (This is a super asset, but you can go with any nature.)
Light and Dark
Reposition
Moonbow
Close Counter
Dull Ranged
Atk Smoke
Distant Def — Close Def — Steady Stance

Aversa's Night will give 6/6/6/6 buffs (all stat -3 on enemies with all stat +3 from Light of Dawn). Sabertooth Fang will give a higher 8/8/8/8 buff, but you will unlikely be getting any Drive support.

If you do not care about Light of Dawn, it will be much easier to just use Gronnserpent for consistency and just focus on Drive buffs and tanking at the edge of enemy range.

Edited December 11, 2019 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

2 hours ago, Icelerate said:

Does panic smoke activate if the user dies in combat? I'm getting conflicting responses so does anyone have proof of what happens? 

A bit late, but after-combat effects fall into only 2 categories:

• If the effect says "if unit attacked", then the user only needs to have attacked during combat and does not need to survive.
• If the effect does not say "if unit attacked", then the user needs to survive combat and does not need to have attacked during combat.

Obviously, any additional conditions on the effect (like "if unit initiates combat") also need to be fulfilled.

 

1 minute ago, XRay said:

In contrast, BE!Micaiah's power will be much lower at 82 Atk with Light of Dawn, and this is under an ideal scenario.

The ideal scenario is the case where the opponent is cavalry or armored.

[XRay]

1 minute ago, Ice Dragon said:

The ideal scenario is the case where the opponent is cavalry or armored.

If that is the case, then regular Gronnblade is more versatile since it can cover those units and non-cavalry and non-armor units.

[Ice Dragon]

20 minutes ago, XRay said:

If that is the case, then regular Gronnblade is more versatile since it can cover those units and non-cavalry and non-armor units.

Versatility is a reasonable price to pay for better performance against a common enemy type in a game mode where you can preview your opponent's team.

With an Atk Asset, +9 merges, +3 Dragonflowers, and the Fierce Stance Sacred Seal, Micaiah hits 66 Atk. Two stacks of Goad Fliers gives her 74 Atk, which gets her to 111 Atk against cavalry and armors. That's much higher than what she'd be getting with Gronnblade even before enemy debuffs.

 

EDIT: If this is for Astra season, then you can also get 3 (4 against cavalry and armors) more Atk from Altina or 6 (9 against cavalry and armors) more Atk from double Altina. Micaiah is also okay for dealing with Ophelia (48 visible Res and weapon triangle advantage with the same setup from the previous paragraph), and Altina covers Micaiah for Legendary Alm.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ice Dragon

[XRay]

13 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Versatility is a reasonable price to pay for better performance against a common enemy type in a game mode where you can preview your opponent's team.

With an Atk Asset, +9 merges, +3 Dragonflowers, and the Fierce Stance Sacred Seal, Micaiah hits 66 Atk. Two stacks of Goad Fliers gives her 74 Atk, which gets her to 111 Atk against cavalry and armors. That's much higher than what she'd be getting with Gronnblade even before enemy debuffs.

You do not need a super high Atk to take care of cavalry units. Against armor stall teams, you just chip them with Firesweep and have a Blade mage finish the job, which the player's Player Phase team should already be able to cover.

[Ice Dragon]

18 minutes ago, XRay said:

You do not need a super high Atk to take care of cavalry units. Against armor stall teams, you just chip them with Firesweep and have a Blade mage finish the job, which the player's Player Phase team should already be able to cover.

Armor stall teams are not the only teams with large numbers of armors. I've been seeing dancer-supported Cecilia and Flora more often recently as bulky nukes, often on Astra-Anima season for their synergy with Duma.

High Atk is not necessary for cavalry units, but high Res and a guaranteed one-hit kill is extremely helpful for dealing with the cavalry line team archetype.

[TheSilentChloey]

I got a +Def/-Res Tanith and would like to know since she's not likely to see any use are her skills worth foddering and if so, who would like them?

[XRay]

1 hour ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I got a +Def/-Res Tanith and would like to know since she's not likely to see any use are her skills worth foddering and if so, who would like them?

Lofty Blossoms and Swift Sparrow.

Any Player Phase lance unit would be good with that. I would give it to someone you do not plan to give Galeforce to.

Personally, I would just keep Bridal Belonging Tanith. In my opinion, if you want to deal raw damage via blue, it is better to just bring a Blade mage rather than a lance unit. I would differentiate lance units to do other types of nuking, such as Slaying-Galeforce or Firesweep-Hit and Run, something that blue mages do not have access to.

[Ice Dragon]

8 hours ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I got a +Def/-Res Tanith and would like to know since she's not likely to see any use are her skills worth foddering and if so, who would like them?

Lofty Blossoms is good, but so is its competition. Slaying Lance and Harmonic Lance are both better than it at dealing damage, so the only advantage of Lofty Blossoms is the bonus Spd.

Harsh Command+ is rare (otherwise only found on Echoes Catria), but is extremely situational. In general, it is simply easier to just dance off penalties.

Swift Sparrow is the most useful skill she has for Skill Inheritance, but she doesn't have Swift Sparrow 3, so that usefulness is somewhat limited now.

Chill Atk is not worth using a 5-star-exclusive unit for. Eyvel is expected to demote from the current banner and has the full skill tree available at 4-star rarity. Even if for some reason she doesn't demote, Gharnef and Conrad both have the skill, but need a promotion to 5-star rarity to unlock the full tree. It's also already a Sacred Seal, and you don't ever need more than one of the skill on a team at a time.

Fortify Fliers is on vanilla Caeda and is unlocked at 4-star rarity.

 

So Swift Sparrow if you need it and have a good reason to run the skill without its fourth tier over something cheaper like Life and Death. Otherwise Lofty Blossoms if you need the 4 Spd it gives over its competition at the cost of lower damage.

Or just keep her around for Hero Merit if she's your only one.

[TheSilentChloey]

16 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Lofty Blossoms is good, but so is its competition. Slaying Lance and Harmonic Lance are both better than it at dealing damage, so the only advantage of Lofty Blossoms is the bonus Spd.

Harsh Command+ is rare (otherwise only found on Echoes Catria), but is extremely situational. In general, it is simply easier to just dance off penalties.

Swift Sparrow is the most useful skill she has for Skill Inheritance, but she doesn't have Swift Sparrow 3, so that usefulness is somewhat limited now.

Chill Atk is not worth using a 5-star-exclusive unit for. Eyvel is expected to demote from the current banner and has the full skill tree available at 4-star rarity. Even if for some reason she doesn't demote, Gharnef and Conrad both have the skill, but need a promotion to 5-star rarity to unlock the full tree. It's also already a Sacred Seal, and you don't ever need more than one of the skill on a team at a time.

Fortify Fliers is on vanilla Caeda and is unlocked at 4-star rarity.

 

So Swift Sparrow if you need it and have a good reason to run the skill without its fourth tier over something cheaper like Life and Death. Otherwise Lofty Blossoms if you need the 4 Spd it gives over its competition at the cost of lower damage.

Or just keep her around for Hero Merit if she's your only one.

I got a second one which I gave to Cynthia because she desperately needs something other than her native lance (I'm planing on using her in a mixed team with Grima and Lucina) so what refine would Cynthia want if she's also running SS2 as well as the lance?

[XRay]

1 hour ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I got a second one which I gave to Cynthia because she desperately needs something other than her native lance (I'm planing on using her in a mixed team with Grima and Lucina) so what refine would Cynthia want if she's also running SS2 as well as the lance?

Cynthia is perfectly fine with her native Weapon, especially with her average stat line, since she is so-so at best for Galeforce and below average in damage output. She is a flier and she comes with Firesweep Lance, so she is perfect with Firesweep-Hit and Run. With Dancer/Singer support, she can soften up tough targets, run circles around enemies, and conduct ambushes over mountains, forests, and other obstacles.
Firesweep L
Reposition
Moonbow — Luna
Life and Death
Hit and Run
(Any C) — Savage Blow
Poison Strike

But since you already gave her Lofty Blossoms, might as well give her that damage output option. Player Phase units with at least decent Spd always want Spd Refine on inheritable Weapons, with practically no exceptions.
Lofty Blossoms [Spd]
Reposition
Moonbow
(Any A that boosts Atk/Spd)
Desperation
(Any C)
(Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk, Spd, or Atk/Spd)

[Ice Dragon]

14 hours ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I got a second one which I gave to Cynthia because she desperately needs something other than her native lance (I'm planing on using her in a mixed team with Grima and Lucina) so what refine would Cynthia want if she's also running SS2 as well as the lance?

The only refine that Lofty Blossoms has that is better than just getting rid of the weapon and using something else is Spd. If you think Cynthia will have too much Spd with that setup, then you're better off switching to Slaying Lance or Harmonic Lance.