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

[Holla99]

Should a +1 Jill be +Atk or +Spd? I got the +Atk on her debut banner and a second +Spd one just pity broke me on the Halloween banner. I’m going to merge one into the other but I’m unsure which is the better option. Thanks!

[DefyingFates]

Thank you @Kaden and @XRay for the in-depth answers! The truth is I hit the feather cap so want something to burn them on (I just +10'd my OG!Eliwood and Reinhardt, which put a sizable dent in them for now).

I just have two more questions (for now):

- What are everyone's thoughts on Itsuki and Astram? The community seems to be split on both, though Itsuki seems to have carved out a niche as a bulky, budget dragonslayer.

- Speaking of budgets, does anyone have any advice on F2P friendly units worth +10'ing for Arena Cores? I've made do so far with a +10 Nino, Tailtiu and Eirika, but I use them every week. I want to try dipping my toe in changing teams based on seasons. This includes Grail units. I should have enough Grails saved up to +10 at least one.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

[Othin]

43 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

Thank you @Kaden and @XRay for the in-depth answers! The truth is I hit the feather cap so want something to burn them on (I just +10'd my OG!Eliwood and Reinhardt, which put a sizable dent in them for now).

I just have two more questions (for now):

- What are everyone's thoughts on Itsuki and Astram? The community seems to be split on both, though Itsuki seems to have carved out a niche as a bulky, budget dragonslayer.

- Speaking of budgets, does anyone have any advice on F2P friendly units worth +10'ing for Arena Cores? I've made do so far with a +10 Nino, Tailtiu and Eirika, but I use them every week. I want to try dipping my toe in changing teams based on seasons. This includes Grail units. I should have enough Grails saved up to +10 at least one.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Keep in mind that Itsuki costs 2700 grails to +10, while Astram currently only costs 1700 and will drop to 1350 if he gets another rerun. 

I've gotten a lot of success in Arena with BK, Gwendolyn, and Winter Jaffar. Recent grail units can outscore them, though, like Astram/Itsuki, Jorge, Flame Emperor, and soon Ena. Any of them should be effective with decent investment, but unless you have a lot of resources, I'd recommend focusing on building up one high-scoring team rather than multiple. Seasons aren't relevant unless you're fielding a legendary, and if you are, you could change out their blessings if it really seems necessary to hit T21. That shouldn't happen often, and legendary blessings aren't in much demand anymore. 

[XRay]

3 hours ago, Holla99 said:

Should a +1 Jill be +Atk or +Spd? I got the +Atk on her debut banner and a second +Spd one just pity broke me on the Halloween banner. I’m going to merge one into the other but I’m unsure which is the better option. Thanks!

+Atk for tank busting. +Spd for general purpose/everything else.

If you are going Galeforce, either is fine. +Atk is good for winning the Heavy Blade check. +Spd is good for doubling.

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

- What are everyone's thoughts on Itsuki and Astram? The community seems to be split on both, though Itsuki seems to have carved out a niche as a bulky, budget dragonslayer.

I am not a huge fan of most melee combat units, and I cannot really say I like either one. Itsuki got dragon effectiveness, but that is basically it. He is a decent bulky unit, but Astram is decently bulky too and is much less likely to get doubled. Astram got buffing, but it is not that great in my opinion since the C slot is relatively empty for most units and teams, so running Tactics and tier 4 Hones and Fortifies is not that difficult to get even better buffs.

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

- Speaking of budgets, does anyone have any advice on F2P friendly units worth +10'ing for Arena Cores? I've made do so far with a +10 Nino, Tailtiu and Eirika, but I use them every week. I want to try dipping my toe in changing teams based on seasons. This includes Grail units. I should have enough Grails saved up to +10 at least one.

I personally lean towards Jorge. He scores the same as Itsuki and Astram, but also has a good with a performance skill set via Special spam, and a Special spam's key components score really high by itself too (exclusive Slaying Bow, Ruptured Sky/Deadeye/Blue Flame, tier 4 A skill, and Special Spiral). The key difference between Itsuki/Astram and Jorge is that Jorge is a ranged unit, and all else being the same, there is no reason to go melee if you can go ranged. Being able to hit stuff at a distance is safer and easier in my opinion.

If you do not mind dropping 2 points in scoring, then you can also run Blazing Specials for even better performance.

Edited October 8, 2020 by XRay

[DefyingFates]

44 minutes ago, Othin said:

I've gotten a lot of success in Arena with BK, Gwendolyn, and Winter Jaffar. Recent grail units can outscore them, though, like Astram/Itsuki, Jorge, Flame Emperor, and soon Ena.

I have an invested Flame Emperor actually, I'm just waiting for a rerun before I merge him up. Thanks!

30 minutes ago, XRay said:

If you do not mind dropping 2 points in scoring, then you can also run Blazing Specials for even better performance.

Are AOE specials really that good? I always thought they were quite niche outside of Ophelia.

[Othin]

1 minute ago, DefyingFates said:

I have an invested Flame Emperor actually, I'm just waiting for a rerun before I merge him up. Thanks!

Are AOE specials really that good? I always thought they were quite niche outside of Ophelia.

Flame Emperor should get another rerun at the end of the year, you could merge them to +9 in the meantime to increase your score until then. In that case, you should be set for green. 

With his prf bow and Special Spiral, Jorge can run an Igrene-like set. He starts with 3 cooldown, and after he can fire it off the first time, he can use it every combat unless something disrupts him. It takes a bit of work, but he can pull it off. 

[XRay]

1 minute ago, DefyingFates said:

I have an invested Flame Emperor actually, I'm just waiting for a rerun before I merge him up. Thanks!

Are AOE specials really that good? I always thought they were quite niche outside of Ophelia.

Blazing builds only require high Atk. Compared to Ophelia, Jorge needs some a bit more set up or support before hand to get his Blazing working right from the start.

If you do not want to devote a lot of support from other units to set it up, Ruptured Sky work just as well with Time's Pulse, and if you use Ruptured Sky, Pulse Smoke cannot stop the Special spamming.

[Hilda]

Just as an information:

Xane benefits from visible Buffs if they are on his allies, but he himself wont benefit from visible buffs if they are on himself.
Tested this with Raven. Xane got +28 Attack from Raven, after buffing Xane with +5 Atk, he only benefited from +23 Attack (Raven had +5 Atk on visible buffs allready).

In other words: just focus on in combat buffs and debuffs for him and focus on visible buffs for his allies (if you can avoid Panic on them).

[Ice Dragon]

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

- What are everyone's thoughts on Itsuki and Astram? The community seems to be split on both, though Itsuki seems to have carved out a niche as a bulky, budget dragonslayer.

Itsuki is Chrom with all of his extra stats put into Res or Helbindi with an actual Spd stat and a Falchion. If you need a red traditional mixed tank, he's actually one of the best choices due to his minimum 41/39/32 bulk with his weapon.

Astram is a bulkier Soleil that buffs himself or a budget Shannan.

For what it's worth, I actually see both of them with some frequency on Arena defense, often with completely jacked out kits.

 

2 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Are AOE specials really that good? I always thought they were quite niche outside of Ophelia.

AoE Specials are easily the strongest nuke build in the game as long as you can keep them activated. It's roughly equivalent to activating Astra once every round of combat while also splashing a huge amount of that damage onto nearby enemies.

The reason why Ophelia is the most popular is because she has the easiest time getting her Special charged on the first turn due to not needing any skills other than her weapon to do so. This means you don't need to get any premium skills other than Special Spiral, and it also keeps her Sacred Seal slot open to run either Hardy Bearing to counter Vantage or Flashing Blade to counter Guard.

However, any other infantry unit with access to a Slaying weapon is able to run the build as long as you have the means of charging their Special on the first turn (Infantry Pulse, Ostia's Pulse, Time's Pulse, Quickened Pulse). Pirate Geese actually came with Infantry Pulse as his 4-star skill, meaning it's a lot easier to get the team support needed to pull the build off, and even if you didn't get a bunch of copies of him, Marisa still has it as a Grail unit, and it has decent distribution across 5-star units with both Gerik and Nils getting it recently, both of whom have high enough HP to use the skill without needing to pass it to someone else.

[DefyingFates]

4 hours ago, XRay said:

Blazing builds only require high Atk. Compared to Ophelia, Jorge needs some a bit more set up or support before hand to get his Blazing working right from the start.

Thank you for the explanation!

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Itsuki is Chrom with all of his extra stats put into Res or Helbindi with an actual Spd stat and a Falchion. If you need a red traditional mixed tank, he's actually one of the best choices due to his minimum 41/39/32 bulk with his weapon.

Astram is a bulkier Soleil that buffs himself or a budget Shannan.

I, uh...accidentally foddered one of my Itsukis for Atk/ Def Link fodder instead of a spare Laevatein so...oops. It's a shame too, because Itsuki was the more appealing to me of the two, especially after reading here that he's a powercrept Chrom.*

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

AoE Specials are easily the strongest nuke build in the game as long as you can keep them activated. It's roughly equivalent to activating Astra once every round of combat while also splashing a huge amount of that damage onto nearby enemies.

Thank you for the extended explanation too; I'll have to look into AOE stuff now!

* Loki pitybroke me recently, so I'm considering foddering her C Duel Infantry to Temari!Tethys. Would you consider that a good idea or are there better candidates for it? (I have a Klein I barely use, but obviously Death Blow is the better Skill for him, right?)

While I'm here though, what are everyone's thoughts on Mininerva? Like Itsuki and Mercurius I also hear a lot of mixed opinions on her, but a F2P unit with both a Prf weapon and Skill sounds promising.

Edited October 8, 2020 by DefyingFates

[Rinco]

@DefyingFates well, you could wait a little to see what we get from the next couple GHBs/TTs, since we're now in Gen5 BST territory. Ena is a good indication of where things are going and maybe we'll get something really good as a freebie soonish.

[DefyingFates]

1 minute ago, Rinco said:

@DefyingFates well, you could wait a little to see what we get from the next couple GHBs/TTs, since we're now in Gen5 BST territory. Ena is a good indication of where things are going and maybe we'll get something really good as a freebie soonish.

Yeah, that's what I'm planning on doing, especially with the last few GHBs having Prf weapons. I know that alone doesn't guarantee they'll be good, but it at least shows IS is paying more attention to them (looks at Travant). Thanks!

[TheSilentChloey]

I'm having a tough call.

 

HoF gave me a male Grima with Atk/Res solo 4, Mystic Boost, Joint Drive Atk and Rally Atk/Def +.

 

Knowing my luck those are skills I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, so my question is, is he worth the trait fruit investment should I go for him to finish my male Grima? (He's my arena core unit and used a LOT)

Edited October 8, 2020 by TheSilentChloey

[XRay]

1 hour ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I'm having a tough call.

 

HoF gave me a male Grima with Atk/Res solo 4, Mystic Boost, Joint Drive Atk and Rally Atk/Def +.

 

Knowing my luck those are skills I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, so my question is, is he worth the trait fruit investment should I go for him to finish my male Grima? (He's my arena core unit and used a LOT)

Atk/Res Solo is the only noteworthy skill in my opinion. Rally Atk/Def is good if you are looking for scoring, otherwise it is not very good. Mystic Boost is not great. Joint Drive Atk is dependent on the unit's role, team composition, and play style.

If you are only going to be using him as an enemy phase unit, then no, I would not waste Forma Souls on him. I would only use a Forma Soul on him if you plan to turn him into a dual phase unit, and as a dual phase unit, he ideally also want Armor Stride so he can actually move around at a reasonable pace.

For a dual phase build, you want something like the following:
+Atk
Expiration
(Any Assist) — Reposition
Moonbow — Bonfire
Atk/Res Solo — Mirror Stance
Bold Fighter
Armor Stride
Quick Riposte

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

While I'm here though, what are everyone's thoughts on Mininerva? Like Itsuki and Mercurius I also hear a lot of mixed opinions on her, but a F2P unit with both a Prf weapon and Skill sounds promising.

She is decent, but I would not call her super amazing. I lean towards turning her into a player phase Galeforcer. Dragoon Shield is not great since she cannot fight back against archers with it, so it is kind of pointless in my opinion in most cases. However, Dragoon Shield does have a small but relevant niche to allow her to face against units like CE!Chrom who would have otherwise killed her in one shot on the counter. If you have trouble with CE!Chrom and other Close Counter archers, I think it is pretty reasonable to keep Dragoon Shield. However, if you already have the means to deal with Close Counter archers using other units, I would get rid Dragoon Shield and run Life and Death or Fury.

Edited October 9, 2020 by XRay

[TheSilentChloey]

11 minutes ago, XRay said:

Atk/Res Solo is the only noteworthy skill in my opinion. Rally Atk/Def is good if you are looking for scoring, otherwise it is not very good. Mystic Boost is not great. Joint Drive Atk is dependent on the unit's role, team composition, and play style.

If you are only going to be using him as an enemy phase unit, then no, I would not waste Forma Souls on him. I would only use a Forma Soul on him if you plan to turn him into a dual phase unit, and as a dual phase unit, he ideally also want Armor Stride so he can actually move around at a reasonable pace.

For a dual phase build, you want something like the following:
+Atk
Expiration
(Any Assist) — Reposition
Moonbow — Bonfire
Atk/Res Solo — Mirror Stance
Bold Fighter
Armor Stride
Quick Riposte

Grima can't get armoured stride.

[XRay]

Just now, TheSilentChloey said:

Grima can't get armoured stride.

Oof! That is true. I would aim for Armor March then if you plan to turn him into a dual phase unit. He may still have difficulty retreating if his Armor March buddy cannot be on the front lines with him, but at least he can reach the front lines in a timely manner.

[TheSilentChloey]

Just now, XRay said:

Oof! That is true. I would aim for Armor March then if you plan to turn him into a dual phase unit. He may still have difficulty retreating if his Armor March buddy cannot be on the front lines with him, but at least he can reach the front lines in a timely manner.

That's why he carries armoured boots and has a flying ally (Aqua) to get him places.  Plus his team has reposition and To Change Fate respectively.

[XRay]

Just now, TheSilentChloey said:

That's why he carries armoured boots and has a flying ally (Aqua) to get him places.  Plus his team has reposition and To Change Fate respectively.

The problem with Armor Boots is that it stops functioning if he takes any kind of damage, and dedicating a Sacred Seal slot for mobility is not worth it on a unit that is expected to take constant damage.

In my opinion, Armor Boots is better on ranged units who can rely on builds that can circumvent damage (Firesweep, Blazing, slow Brave, one shot, etc.) since they can keep Armor Boots up forever.

[TheSilentChloey]

26 minutes ago, XRay said:

The problem with Armor Boots is that it stops functioning if he takes any kind of damage, and dedicating a Sacred Seal slot for mobility is not worth it on a unit that is expected to take constant damage.

In my opinion, Armor Boots is better on ranged units who can rely on builds that can circumvent damage (Firesweep, Blazing, slow Brave, one shot, etc.) since they can keep Armor Boots up forever.

I know, and I know how to circumvent the problem.  It's not that difficult to do.

[Othin]

On an AR-D Infantry Pulse team, how well could regular Merric work as a nuke with Dark Excalibur + Ignis?

I don't have a ton of rare fodder for him, but I could give him merges, and Steady Impact from an extra Tibarn I haven't found a use for.

[MilodicMellodi]

I know this is a random question, and that it's not strictly related to FEH, but I thought I'd ask.

Could IS be saving Old Hubba and references to the Dragon Gates as an excuse to link FEH to a new FE game? If so, could this new game possibly be a FEH sequel?

Just the thought of having a sequel to FEH makes me hopeful that our units might be able to outlast FEH, like how Pokemon can migrate to a newer game.

Edited October 10, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[XRay]

34 minutes ago, Othin said:

On an AR-D Infantry Pulse team, how well could regular Merric work as a nuke with Dark Excalibur + Ignis?

I don't have a ton of rare fodder for him, but I could give him merges, and Steady Impact from an extra Tibarn I haven't found a use for.

I am assuming the following build:
+Atk+10+5 (35 Atk; 33 Def)
Dark Excalibur [Special] (14 Atk + 10 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Ignis
Sturdy Impact (6 Atk; 10 Def)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Sturdy Blow (4 Atk; 4 Def)

Total Atk = 35 + 14 + 10 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 37 = 109
Total Def = 33 + 10 + 4 = 47
Ignis = 47 * 0.8 = 37

While dealing 109 damage is generally sufficient, it feels a bit lacking in my opinion. The average super tank has around 70 HP and 50 Res, so while Merric will not outright kill something on his own, he should be able to put a pretty big dent into something. However, not killing something outright becomes an issue when an offensive player is able to isolate your nukes so that only one nuke can attack their super tank at a time.

Sonya in contrast can hit 118, although she is also a lot more expensive as a 5* exclusive and she needs Mirror Impact instead. Lilina and Mae should also hit similar numbers to Sonya.

Sonya

Spoiler

 

+Atk+10+5 (41 Atk; 37 Res)
Dark Excalibur [Special] (14 Atk + 10 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 41 + 14 + 10 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 40 = 118
Total Def = 37 + 10 + 4 = 51
Glacies = 51 * 0.8 = 40

 

Lilina

Spoiler

+Atk+10+5 (45 Atk; 36 Res)
Forblaze [Special] (14 Atk + 6 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 45 + 14 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 40 = 118
Total Def = 36 + 10 + 4 = 50
Glacies = 50 * 0.8 = 40

Mae

Spoiler

+Atk+10+5 (44 Atk; 35 Res)
Book of Orchids [Atk] (14 Atk + 6 Atk + 1 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 44 + 14 + 6 + 1 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 39 = 117
Total Def = 35 + 10 + 4 = 49
Glacies = 49 * 0.8 = 39

 

[Othin]

8 hours ago, XRay said:

I am assuming the following build:
+Atk+10+5 (35 Atk; 33 Def)
Dark Excalibur [Special] (14 Atk + 10 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Ignis
Sturdy Impact (6 Atk; 10 Def)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Sturdy Blow (4 Atk; 4 Def)

Total Atk = 35 + 14 + 10 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 37 = 109
Total Def = 33 + 10 + 4 = 47
Ignis = 47 * 0.8 = 37

While dealing 109 damage is generally sufficient, it feels a bit lacking in my opinion. The average super tank has around 70 HP and 50 Res, so while Merric will not outright kill something on his own, he should be able to put a pretty big dent into something. However, not killing something outright becomes an issue when an offensive player is able to isolate your nukes so that only one nuke can attack their super tank at a time.

Sonya in contrast can hit 118, although she is also a lot more expensive as a 5* exclusive and she needs Mirror Impact instead. Lilina and Mae should also hit similar numbers to Sonya.

Sonya

  Hide contents

 

+Atk+10+5 (41 Atk; 37 Res)
Dark Excalibur [Special] (14 Atk + 10 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 41 + 14 + 10 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 40 = 118
Total Def = 37 + 10 + 4 = 51
Glacies = 51 * 0.8 = 40

 

Lilina

  Hide contents

+Atk+10+5 (45 Atk; 36 Res)
Forblaze [Special] (14 Atk + 6 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 45 + 14 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 40 = 118
Total Def = 36 + 10 + 4 = 50
Glacies = 50 * 0.8 = 40

Mae

  Hide contents

+Atk+10+5 (44 Atk; 35 Res)
Book of Orchids [Atk] (14 Atk + 6 Atk + 1 Atk)
(Any Assist)
Glacies
Mirror Impact (6 Atk; 10 Res)
Lull Spd/Res (3 Atk)
(Any C)
Mirror Strike (4 Atk; 4 Res)

Total Atk = 44 + 14 + 6 + 1 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 39 = 117
Total Def = 35 + 10 + 4 = 49
Glacies = 49 * 0.8 = 39

 

"Generally sufficient" is probably worthwhile for my purposes, considering my limited resources and how much weaker my current Dark team is.

Like I said, I don't have relevant premium skills other than Sturdy Impact, so like usual, Lull skills are off the table. I also don't have merges available for Sonya, or enough Infantry Pulse access to have Mae or Lilina instantly charge Glacies.

What I do have is enough Dragonflowers to get Merric to +15, as well as Hel. So that would get him up to 61 Atk and 54 Def, for a total of 114 damage. Now that the Atk/Def Solo seal is out, I could use that to get him to 63 Atk and 56 Def for a total of 119 damage, which could be a bit riskier but if it's inactive, it also means it's more likely that his allies will be able to finish the job.

[Kaden]

On 10/8/2020 at 3:25 PM, DefyingFates said:

While I'm here though, what are everyone's thoughts on Mininerva? Like Itsuki and Mercurius I also hear a lot of mixed opinions on her, but a F2P unit with both a Prf weapon and Skill sounds promising.

Mininerva is frequently used in guides, so if you do use them, then keeping an unmerged, 5* Mininerva with her default skills would be useful. As for whether or not she is good, I would say yes, but also not really, on account of the options we have with axe fliers.

If you had all the resources in the world, spring Fir, Hel, and Jill would be better investments.

Spoiler

Incidentally, spring Fir, Hell, Jill, and Mininerva all have a Killer effect on their weapons. Hel functions differently with her Reaper's Miracle effect against foes who are not healers or mages, but her stat spread is similar to Mininerva's and a +10 Hel or maybe two would be good for lift loss reduction in Aether Raids during dark season and scoring in Mjolnir's Strike.

Both spring Fir and Jill are capable of bypassing counterattacks in some way that does not rely on them inheriting Desperation. spring Fir's Bun-Bun Baton has almost the same effects of the Byleths' Creator Sword where it trades the Guard effect nullification for effective damage against armors. In particular, it shares Null Follow-Up, so against physical damage foes with Windsweep or magical damage foes with Watersweep, she can retain her ability to do a follow-up attack. That said, she needs to inherit either of those skills, it only works against a type of foe, and it's not as cheap as Desperation on Mininerva.

Jill is the first instance of a unit with a Desperation effect on their weapon that has no HP range other than not being dead because you can't use her if she's dead. The only other way to have this is through summer F!Byleth and Rhea's Duo Skill. Talregan Axe's Desperation range surpasses, if ever so little, Bernadetta's Persecution Bow's and CYL Lysithea's Dark Spikes T's where their Desperation works at below full health. Persecution Bow also works if there is a penalty on Bernadetta and grants her Atk/Spd+5 on top of the Desperation effect and Dark Spikes T's Desperation effect includes a guaranteed follow-up meaning she can break through follow-up prevention effects. Still, just needing to initiate for Desperation to work is very lenient and she also gets Atk/Spd+6 if she initiates or is within 2 spaces of her allies.

Mininerva's Dragoon Axe is the same as Perceval's Prized Lance: "Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of combat, if foe's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 during combat and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)" She is forced to fight foes at full health to get those effects which on the attack and speed side of things, not as flexible as Jill's Talregan Axe granting her Atk/Spd+6 when she initiates or if she's within 2 spaces of an ally. The fighting foes at full health condition has never been good even when the effect is good like legendary Chrom's Randgridr neutralizing penalties on him and inflicting Atk/Def-6 on his foe. It's restrictive. That's all there is to say about it. With Mininerva, she does not have the advantage of Perceval much less regular Tibarn when transformed who have three movement which can make it easy to get to a foe at full health early in a battle or by avoiding stepping on Bolt Traps and causing a foe drop below full health. It still helps, it grants her bulk and inflicts Guard which the others do not have as spring Fir and Hel do not get stats from their weapon and Jill only gets Atk/Spd+6, though, from a more lenient condition of initiate or be within 2 spaces of an ally. For spring Fir and Jill, the defense and resistance boost does not really matter when they can avoid counterattacks, but in those cases where they cannot or fail to ORKO a foe, they could end up dying in return and possibly from a charged special. For Hel, the stats and especially Guard would help to maintain her HP above 1 or when fighting healers and mages, but she can get stats elsewhere which her Inevitable Death being Spectrum Rein already does and specials won't matter if she's above 1 HP against non-healer and non-mage foes. Basically, when it works, it's good, but when it doesn't work, Mininerva and Perceval just have glorified Killer weapons and Killer weapons are good on their own.

Stats is where she stands out when it comes to 3*, 4*, and grail axe fliers. The short version is that if you want a high offenses, high attack and high speed, axe flier, then Mininerva is your only choice. If you managed to get spring Fir, Hel, Jill, or even summer Innes, then you have more options.

Spoiler

Mininerva has 40 HP, 36 Atk, 37 Spd, 35 Def, and 19 Res with no superasset, especially attack or speed. With Dragoon Shield, she will have 39 Atk, 40 Spd, and 38 Def in addition to neutralizing effective damage against fliers. She is the fastest axe flier when compared to other 3*, 4*, or grail axe flier.

The second-fastest is Camilla who has 37 HP, 30 Atk, 32 Spd, 28 Def, and 31 Res. If Camilla is within spaces of a cavalry or flying ally, her axe will grant her Atk/Spd+4 which doesn't change anything since it would match Dragoon Axe's attack and speed boost, but with a different condition. Camilla with her higher resistance is a better magic tank or mixed tank, but she is much slower and has average attack. Camilla's Axe also more or less got powercrept by similar weapons that combine its base effect and unique refinement while also having a different effect like Oscar's Loyal Greatlance is essentially Camilla's Axe, but with a Killer effect or F!Morgan's unique refinement is essentially an improved version of unique refined Camilla's Axe by working with all allies in return for granting 1 less attack and speed to F!Morgan on top of its resistance check base effect.

Following Camilla is Narcian: 42 HP, 29 Atk, 29 Spd, 32 Def, and 26 Res. Slower than Camilla, but has higher base neutral defense and he can heal 7 HP per hit with his Runeaxe.

Then Cherche and her son, estranged relative from another continent/universe, and possible ancestor since they share the exact same stat spreads. Cherche has 46 HP, 38 Atk, 25 Spd, 32 Def, and 16 Res, her son Gerome has 45 HP, 38 Atk, 25 Spd, 34 Def, and 19 Res, Haar has 45 HP, 37 Atk, 25 Spd, 36 Def, and 18 Res, and Michalis has 43 HP, 34 Atk, 26 Spd, 35 Der, and 19 Res.

And finally, Beruka who compared to the Cherche and goons, dumped her attack for defense and resistance which can sort of allow her to be a mixed tank with her axe's unique refinement. Beruka has 46 HP, 29 Atk, 23 Spd, 37 Def, and 22 Res.

You really do not have a choice if you want a high attack and high speed axe flier who is a 3*, 4*, or grail unit. For high attack or high defense, there are more options, but not for high speed and a little better, but still not great, decent or high resistance.

In the 5* and seasonal pool, spring Fir and Hel have the highest base neutral speed of axe fliers at 41 Spd, followed by Jill at 40, summer Innes at 37 tying with Mininerva, and New Year's Azura and resplendent Minerva at 35, and regular Minerva at 33. Spring Fir, Hel, and Jill have +Spd superassets and +Atk superasset for Jill.

Spring Fir has 39 HP, 35 Atk, 41 Spd, 28 Def, and 24 Res giving her the most balanced base defenses.

Hel has 40 HP, 38 Atk, 41 Spd, 30 Def, and 18 Res which effectively becomes 40 HP, 42 Atk, 45 Spd, 35 Def, and 22 Res with her Inevitable Death inflicting Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foes within 2 spaces of her.

Jill has 40 HP, 39 Atk, 40 Spd, 36 Def, and 17 Res. She ties with Hel for the highest total neutral offenses for axe fliers at 79. Additionally, Jill has the second-highest base defense tying with Haar and under Beruka, but has the second-lowest base resistance above Cherche's 16. This is before any Dragonflowers or stat boosts from their weapons or skills.

Summer Innes has 42 HP, 33 Atk, 37 Spd, 30 Def, and 20 Res. He's a seasonal, gen 2 version of Mininerva and lacks a prf axe compared to her.

New Year's Azura has 37 HP, 30 Atk, 35 Spd, 22 Def, and 26 Res. She's currently the only axe flier refresh unit which is not that important since Reyson can supplement her as a green beast flier refresh unit who coincidentally has similar stats and in return for not having the ability to inherit weapons since all beast weapons so far are prfs, his prf can make him an off-healer, he can have 3 movement when transformed, and he's a 3* to 4* unit to her 5* seasonal.

Regular Minerva has 40 HP, 31 Atk, 33 Spd, 32 Def, and 22 Res which becomes 42 HP, 33 Atk, 35 Spd, 34 Def, and 24 Res with her resplendent. The funny thing is that resplendent Minerva would be a pretty balanced axe flier, but that's the thing, it's through resplendent.

Mininerva is good on her own merits, but it's not like we have much of a choice for 3*, 4*, or grail axe fliers with high attack and high speed. Compared to other 5* axe fliers, spring Fir, Hel, and Jill have more flexible effects. Spring Fir has Null-Follow-Up through her Bun-Bun Baton and effective damage against armors as a bonus, Hel is a dark mythic with a Miracle effect against non-healer and non-mage foes and Spectrum Rein, and Jill has her beat for pure offense when she's basically a +Atk, +Spd Mininerva and has Swift Sparrow 2.9 and Desperation Ex on Talregan Axe.

Build her if you like her or really want a high attack and high speed axe flier, but don't have spring Fir, Hel, or Jill. Otherwise, I would keep her as she is for guides, Limited Hero Battles, and Arena Assault. Hopefully Percy, Scarlet, or whoever show up with high speed at the very least and are demotes. Another axe flier grail unit with similar stats to Mininerva or resplendent Minerva would be fine too.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Kaden

[zoologicwoo]

I pulled Xane on the Halloween banner, although he's not +Hp sadly. But I was curious about opinions of Xane, and especially whether his weapon makes him work best on player, enemy or mixed phases. I have so many PP units that I was thinking of trying to make Xane prioritize Enemy phase, but most builds I've seen seem to pursue things like Lull Atk/Spd or Desperation. 

I also wondered if he's a good candidate for Sudden Panic? Would a Hp asset be considered required to use effectively?