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

[Humanoid]

5 minutes ago, Rinco said:

I think you can get at least 200 without much trouble. It should be pretty early in the rewards list.

Yeah, I'm reading up a bit and it seems possible to force bot matches but I'm not fully across the details yet. Alas it seems you can't use the password feature on real matches so I can't exploit point scoring by just using a second dummy account.

[XRay]

7 hours ago, MagicCanonBalls said:

Personally I don't see +Atk can do much here. +Spd +Def is better for her because of her weapon and her stat spread. If you are doubling with most buffs active it's not hard to kill, especially since near save red is not common, but max Arden will probably wall her completely. B skill is tough because all are useful for wall breaking and surviving counterattack, but I lean towards flow flight personally because follow up is essential for killing near save armor like Gustav. Even Seiros can be problematic if you do not pack NFU unit or Naga effectiveness.

+Atk/Def helps break through walls, as +Spd is not necessary to kill slow tanks, and Flow Guard would be best since it mitigates instant Specials (Flow Flight does not do anything against bulky tanks beyond Null Follow-Up, since she is unlikely to win that Def check with any consistency).

If you are going to use her as a general purpose nuke, then +Atk/Spd would be better, but many other options exist for that role, so this is least ideal role for her in my opinion.

+Spd/Def is better for more general purpose dual phase and enemy phase builds.

[Rinco]

16 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Yeah, I'm reading up a bit and it seems possible to force bot matches but I'm not fully across the details yet. Alas it seems you can't use the password feature on real matches so I can't exploit point scoring by just using a second dummy account.

If I'm not mistaken, your first three matches are against AI bots. That's exactly 60 points for the 200 codes

[Humanoid]

6 minutes ago, Rinco said:

If I'm not mistaken, your first three matches are against AI bots. That's exactly 60 points for the 200 codes

Hearing that surrendering to the bot could force the next match to also be a bot so I wonder if that can be chained infinitely surrendering in the tutorial matches. Hmm.

[Flying Shogi]

Need a second opinion on assets. I now have a +Atk and neutral copy of CYL Marianne and I'm debating between the two. She'll most likely be used in Abyssal clears as an offensive support and not much else. I'm personally leaning towards +Atk because her entire kit very likely grants her enough Spd to double most enemies that she'll be attacking. I say that because I have a Caeda that maxes out at 49 Spd with max merges, dragonflowers(not max but enough to get the last Spd point) and L & D (only A slot) and she rarely needs the Spd boost. Even then, SD!Caeda's harmonic skill is usually enough to get her over the threshold on Abyssal maps so I'm not really that worried about Spd in Marianne's case but I'm open to opinions.

Second question is who to pick for the CYL free summon? I did not expect to get 2 copies each of CYL Marianne and Eirika from the remix banner so I'm a little lost as to who to redeem. I don't have an attachment to any of the characters so I'm mainly basing my pick on unit performance/role. Marth is another sword infantry and Gatekeeper's kit seems a bit niche but I already have Marianne and Eirika. If I had to rank them, the order is probably Marianne -> Eirika -> Gatekeeper -> Marth but I'm open to opinions. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Flying Shogi

[Othin]

46 minutes ago, Flying Shogi said:

Need a second opinion on assets. I now have a +Atk and neutral copy of CYL Marianne and I'm debating between the two. She'll most likely be used in Abyssal clears as an offensive support and not much else. I'm personally leaning towards +Atk because her entire kit very likely grants enough her Spd to double most enemies that she'll be attacking. I say that because I have a Caeda that maxes out at 49 Spd with max merges, dragonflowers(not max but enough to get the last Spd point) and L & D (only A slot) and she rarely needs the Spd boost. Even then, SD!Caeda's harmonic skill is usually enough to get her over the threshold on Abyssal maps so I'm not really that worried about Spd in Marianne's case but I'm open to opinions.

Second question is who to pick for the CYL free summon? I did not expect to get 2 copies each of CYL Marianne and Eirika from the remix banner so I'm a little lost as to who to redeem. I don't have an attachment to any of the characters so I'm mainly basing my pick on unit performance/role. Marth is another sword infantry and Gatekeeper's kit seems a bit niche but I already have Marianne and Eirika. If I had to rank them, the order is probably Marianne -> Eirika -> Gatekeeper -> Marth but I'm open to opinions. 

Personally, I haven't used my CYL free summon yet. It'll still be active for a while and I'm not in a hurry, so I want to wait until I have all but one of the units to pick the last one. I got Gatekeeper and Marianne during the initial run, so once I get Marth or Eirika (good odds of it between the next two months), I can grab the other.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Flying Shogi said:

Need a second opinion on assets. I now have a +Atk and neutral copy of CYL Marianne and I'm debating between the two. She'll most likely be used in Abyssal clears as an offensive support and not much else. I'm personally leaning towards +Atk because her entire kit very likely grants enough her Spd to double most enemies that she'll be attacking. I say that because I have a Caeda that maxes out at 49 Spd with max merges, dragonflowers(not max but enough to get the last Spd point) and L & D (only A slot) and she rarely needs the Spd boost. Even then, SD!Caeda's harmonic skill is usually enough to get her over the threshold on Abyssal maps so I'm not really that worried about Spd in Marianne's case but I'm open to opinions.

For PvE content, +Spd generally is not necessary since Spd creep is so low. You generally want more Atk to kill high bulk enemies.

For PvP in general though, you will want +Spd, although you can probably go +Atk too in Aether Raids if you have enough Spd Mythics.

With all that being said, I recommend keeping the neutral copy unmerged and unFlowered, in case you need to follow guides or something. If you do not ever need guides, then merge her up.

1 hour ago, Flying Shogi said:

Second question is who to pick for the CYL free summon? I did not expect to get 2 copies each of CYL Marianne and Eirika from the remix banner so I'm a little lost as to who to redeem. I don't have an attachment to any of the characters so I'm mainly basing my pick on unit performance/role. Marth is another sword infantry and Gatekeeper's kit seems a bit niche but I already have Marianne and Eirika. If I had to rank them, the order is probably Marianne -> Eirika -> Gatekeeper -> Marth but I'm open to opinions. 

Since you already have Marianne: Serene Adherent and Eirika: Pledged Restorer, I would go with Gatekeeper: Nothing to Report.

While merges are nice, the girls do not need merges to do their jobs. Unmerged Marianne: Serene Adherent got an insane amount of bulk to survive most counter attacks even in PvP and Spd is more of a limiting factor there, but since you are using her in PvE, then Spd does not matter. Unmerged Eirika: Pledged Restorer can kill most bulky tanks too, although she will need some help and support if she is unmerged against maxed out Edelgard: Hegemon Husk.

While Gatekeeper: Nothing to Report is super niche and I do not see him being all that relevant either in the foreseeable future, I think it is good idea to have at least one copy around. Having a large and varied toolbox in your Barracks gives you the flexibility to respond to any shifts in the meta and any new modes that might pop up.

Edited March 15, 2022 by XRay

[Humanoid]

This may be a case of counting my chickens before they hatch, but I finally got around to reading up on the AHR units and the notion of Thorr powering up a team of Brave Galeforcers with no opposed Atk check sounds right up my alley. However, after looking up available cooldown reduction skills, it doesn't seem that many have been added. Is there still no option to power up fliers and cavalry to get guaranteed first-turn Galeforce besides the Quickened Pulse seal and Ostia's Pulse (which would mean doubling up on axe units)? Was thinking something like Thorr, neo-Palla, a TBA brave lancer (Finn maybe?) and ideally a dancer, but with only one QP seal, that doesn't seem possible.

Who even is a good recent brave lancer? As fun as the trio is to use in the right conditions, the setup is a little inconvenient but before that my brain can only think Cordelia.

 

EDIT: This isn't for any game mode in particular, just thinking of building a fun general-purpose team.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Humanoid

[Ice Dragon]

6 hours ago, Flying Shogi said:

Need a second opinion on assets. I now have a +Atk and neutral copy of CYL Marianne and I'm debating between the two. She'll most likely be used in Abyssal clears as an offensive support and not much else. I'm personally leaning towards +Atk because her entire kit very likely grants enough her Spd to double most enemies that she'll be attacking. I say that because I have a Caeda that maxes out at 49 Spd with max merges, dragonflowers(not max but enough to get the last Spd point) and L & D (only A slot) and she rarely needs the Spd boost. Even then, SD!Caeda's harmonic skill is usually enough to get her over the threshold on Abyssal maps so I'm not really that worried about Spd in Marianne's case but I'm open to opinions.

In general, I think the +3 Atk from an Atk Asset is better than the +1 Spd from neutral.

If you're going to be stuck on +1 merge for a while, there is a small argument for running neutral as the base instead because the Atk Asset changes the order of the merge bonus stats. Neutral gains Spd as its second stat, whereas an Atk Asset changes that to Atk, so at +1 merge having a +Atk base will cost you 2 points of Spd (but in exchange for 4 points of Atk). However, this is only relevant at +1 merge (and +6 merge), so I don't think you should worry too much about it.

 

6 hours ago, Flying Shogi said:

Second question is who to pick for the CYL free summon? I did not expect to get 2 copies each of CYL Marianne and Eirika from the remix banner so I'm a little lost as to who to redeem. I don't have an attachment to any of the characters so I'm mainly basing my pick on unit performance/role. Marth is another sword infantry and Gatekeeper's kit seems a bit niche but I already have Marianne and Eirika. If I had to rank them, the order is probably Marianne -> Eirika -> Gatekeeper -> Marth but I'm open to opinions. 

My personal preference is Eirika because even if you don't need another merge, she comes with really good skill fodder. You can inherit both Surge Sparrow and Atk/Spd Menace from a single copy of Eirika by first grabbing Swift Sparrow 2 from Luthier and Threaten Atk 1 or Threaten Spd 1 from any of the units that have it.

If you're aiming for a brand new unit, I'd go with Gatekeeper over Marth. Gatekeeper's gimmick is unique, so no other there's no other unit that can function as a substitute, whereas Marth is simply a ball of stats with Vantage (mind, a huge ball of stats, but still just a ball of stats).

 

4 hours ago, Humanoid said:

This may be a case of counting my chickens before they hatch, but I finally got around to reading up on the AHR units and the notion of Thorr powering up a team of Brave Galeforcers with no opposed Atk check sounds right up my alley. However, after looking up available cooldown reduction skills, it doesn't seem that many have been added. Is there still no option to power up fliers and cavalry to get guaranteed first-turn Galeforce besides the Quickened Pulse seal and Ostia's Pulse (which would mean doubling up on axe units)? Was thinking something like Thorr, neo-Palla, a TBA brave lancer (Finn maybe?) and ideally a dancer, but with only one QP seal, that doesn't seem possible.

Duo Sothis's Duo Skill charges the Special of all allies within 2 spaces by 1 point, but only if it's currently at maximum.

Harmonized Sonya's Harmonized Skill charges the Special of all allies from Echoes or Awakening by 2 points.

There have been no passive skills added that grant a Pulse effect for fliers or cavalry.

 

4 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Who even is a good recent brave lancer? As fun as the trio is to use in the right conditions, the setup is a little inconvenient but before that my brain can only think Cordelia.

Not Brave, but Legendary Ephraim's remix and refine made him rather reliable as a Galeforce unit. The refine gives him Heavy/Flashing Blade with no condition, and his remix decoupled his healing effect from his Special activation, allowing him to run Galeforce without losing the effect, and also blocks the effect of Guard against him. He also got Canto (2) on his remix, which lets him move back to your army to get danced if he fails to activate Galeforce (or if he does activate Galeforce, it lets him return to safety afterwards). Also has the convenience of not needing Quickened Pulse to activate Galeforce as long as the opponent can counterattack.

Duo Palla is less recent, but is still a solid Brave Galeforcer on a team of fliers. Her rerun will be coming up next month if you missed her previously.

Ferry is a good Brave unit, but her Brave effect relies on having her support partner nearby. Her English name is some E[r/n][y/i][n/y][i/y]s or another but I can't be bothered to remember the spelling or look it up. She looks a lot like Palla in case there weren't enough Pallas in this recommendation.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Ice Dragon

[Humanoid]

@Ice Dragon Thanks. I had a look through my current units and yeah, assuming QP goes to Valentian Palla, looks like I'll have to settle for some sort of Slaying lance instead of a Brave one unless I opt for an Infantry. Somehow I don't see a world where I give Donnel Time's Pulse. For the Slaying candidates, Ingrid looks interesting but at neutral unmerged I have some doubts on her being able to reliably make her Spd check for the Firesweep effect. Legendary Dimitri is probably the other one, he's even more reliant on his base Spd to double unless I overhaul his passives. Of units I don't have, the best option looks to be CYL Eirika even if it partially wastes Surge Sparrow, and she'd be by far the easiest one to get since many alternatives are seasonal.

Legendary Ephraim is definitely a unit I'm interested in using as a Galeforcer and despite never intentionally pulling for him, have at +4 (though unfortunately with a Spd asset). However that's outside the context of the Thorr squad since he can't benefit from Worldbreaker. He used to be a mainstay of my horse emblem team until replaced by Oscar, but Oscar is feeling increasingly obsolete so Ephraim is a reasonable candidate to have his spot back.

Erinys (my mnemonic is that it's just the regular name Erin) is a unit I frequently forget exists but who I'd like to have, and it's not even because of the Palla thing but because the Brave condition looks fairly easy to fulfil. Will be a lesser priority unless some other method of cooldown reduction is added though, and her base kit needs some work.

[Ice Dragon]

8 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

@Ice Dragon Thanks. I had a look through my current units and yeah, assuming QP goes to Valentian Palla, looks like I'll have to settle for some sort of Slaying lance instead of a Brave one unless I opt for an Infantry. Somehow I don't see a world where I give Donnel Time's Pulse. For the Slaying candidates, Ingrid looks interesting but at neutral unmerged I have some doubts on her being able to reliably make her Spd check for the Firesweep effect. Legendary Dimitri is probably the other one, he's even more reliant on his base Spd to double unless I overhaul his passives. Of units I don't have, the best option looks to be CYL Eirika even if it partially wastes Surge Sparrow, and she'd be by far the easiest one to get since many alternatives are seasonal.

Legendary Ephraim is definitely a unit I'm interested in using as a Galeforcer and despite never intentionally pulling for him, have at +4 (though unfortunately with a Spd asset). However that's outside the context of the Thorr squad since he can't benefit from Worldbreaker. He used to be a mainstay of my horse emblem team until replaced by Oscar, but Oscar is feeling increasingly obsolete so Ephraim is a reasonable candidate to have his spot back.

Erinys (my mnemonic is that it's just the regular name Erin) is a unit I frequently forget exists but who I'd like to have, and it's not even because of the Palla thing but because the Brave condition looks fairly easy to fulfil. Will be a lesser priority unless some other method of cooldown reduction is added though, and her base kit needs some work.

If you're going with a full flier team (since you already have Echoes Palla and Thorr), there's also the original Catria and Est.

Legendary Dimitri is definitely usable, but you'll want to switch his A skill out for something that boosts Atk.

I personally think you should still consider Legendary Ephraim for the team. Even if you do want to make use of Worldbreaker, having the entire team completely reliant on it seems too restrictive, especially since Galeforce benefits from being able to be mobile.

[Humanoid]

35 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I personally think you should still consider Legendary Ephraim for the team. Even if you do want to make use of Worldbreaker, having the entire team completely reliant on it seems too restrictive, especially since Galeforce benefits from being able to be mobile.

The Canto aspect is definitely appealing and something that's missing from the lance alternatives (bar hypothetically getting Eirika next month). I've been having fun playing with what few units I have with it in the few weeks I've been around, even in relatively easy content like Story maps or Forging Bonds, giving some incentive to actually play instead of auto-battling everything. Might not last of course but it's kept me around for longer than I may have otherwise.

But yeah, he's getting Galeforce regardless so I'll try him in a few teams. I suspect he'll find his home in a pure cavalry Galeforce team though, alongside Eliwood and Legendary Leif (and Harmonic Azura probably). Besides, my Thorr is still theoretical at the moment, I'm just assuming that I'll get a copy from AHR where my minimum goal from my 200+ orbs and spark is one each of Azura and Thorr.

[Xenomata]

@Flying Shogi Hi. I run Brave Marth, and I think he is underloved. Let me tell you about how powerful Brave Marth can be.

• Shining Emblem is a powerful 2-charge Special (lowered to 1 thanks to Genesis Falchion's Slaying effect), and IMO it pairs amazingly with the Vantage effect and Special Spiral, letting Marth's already high Atk get supercharged with a Special trigger. (which at the current moment can't really be countered all that well) He is fast enough that Dodge effects generally don't work on him, and he has effective damage against Dragons so he can break through Dragon Wall pretty well.
• All he needs to function at his absolute best is a nearby ally (within 2 spaces), and he needs 3 of his teammates to have a sum total of 60 bonus stats. Yes technically he can achieve that via one use of his Special... except Fae exists. Her prf weapon, Eternal Breath, grants all stats +5 to all nearby allies, which (5*4)*3=60, letting Marth be ready with Vantage from the getgo. Give her Infantry Pulse and she can also immediately charge Shining Emblem, letting Marth begin sweeping almost immediately. She's just the perfect partner for Marth, even if she's not actually directly supporting Marth. It also frees Marth's C slot for a skill other than Time's Pulse/SS slot for a skill other than Quickened Pulse.
  Yes Panic exists, but it is easily avoided if you keep unit spacing in mind (or use Ashera, who can grant Null Panic to nearby allies)
• His greatest weakness is Hardy Bearing, as that removes his Vantage effect. By itself it wouldn't be that worrisome since he does have a good level of bulk, but Hardy Bearing is commonly found on AoE Special units, who can generally take Marth out because of such. I even started using Even Pulse Tie on Fae just to try and shut off such effects before they can become a problem.

So tl;dr, Marth can be a one-hit Vantage superunit with the right support. I personally have him near Muspell at all times, since Domain of Flame pairs so well with Marth only needing one hit to slay the enemy. And yes mine is +10 merge, +5 dragonflowers, and S summoner support, but I think it's still very possible to pull off the superunit thing.

Whether I swayed you to picking Marth or not does not matter to me. I just feel like he shouldn't be generalized as "another Sword Infantry" when his best playstyle does not at all match what a Sword Infantry usually does. I'm also not sure about "a statball with Vantage" as Ice Dragon puts it, since he only gets +5 all stats from his weapon and +6 all stats from Shining Emblem. Legendary Marth is more of a statball if you ask me.
Then again I have already hinted that I am exceedingly biased toward him, so... maybe I'm just looking at him through sparkly goggles. The kind that make him look like a pretty anime boy with cherry blossom petals falling around him as the wind blows gently.

...you know while I'm here, I feel I should mention Gatekeeper's very undermentioned support effect: he grants +5 Atk/Spd to allies in a very large area centered on him (the same area that allies need to be in to trigger his weapon effects), and while it's not exceedingly amazing it is still a nice boost for how easy it is to grant.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Xenomata

[TheSilentChloey]

On 3/16/2022 at 11:36 AM, Xenomata said:

@Flying Shogi Hi. I run Brave Marth, and I think he is underloved. Let me tell you about how powerful Brave Marth can be.

• Shining Emblem is a powerful 2-charge Special (lowered to 1 thanks to Genesis Falchion's Slaying effect), and IMO it pairs amazingly with the Vantage effect and Special Spiral, letting Marth's already high Atk get supercharged with a Special trigger. (which at the current moment can't really be countered all that well) He is fast enough that Dodge effects generally don't work on him, and he has effective damage against Dragons so he can break through Dragon Wall pretty well.
• All he needs to function at his absolute best is a nearby ally (within 2 spaces), and he needs 3 of his teammates to have a sum total of 60 bonus stats. Yes technically he can achieve that via one use of his Special... except Fae exists. Her prf weapon, Eternal Breath, grants all stats +5 to all nearby allies, which (5*4)*3=60, letting Marth be ready with Vantage from the getgo. Give her Infantry Pulse and she can also immediately charge Shining Emblem, letting Marth begin sweeping almost immediately. She's just the perfect partner for Marth, even if she's not actually directly supporting Marth. It also frees Marth's C slot for a skill other than Time's Pulse/SS slot for a skill other than Quickened Pulse.
  Yes Panic exists, but it is easily avoided if you keep unit spacing in mind (or use Ashera, who can grant Null Panic to nearby allies)
• His greatest weakness is Hardy Bearing, as that removes his Vantage effect. By itself it wouldn't be that worrisome since he does have a good level of bulk, but Hardy Bearing is commonly found on AoE Special units, who can generally take Marth out because of such. I even started using Even Pulse Tie on Fae just to try and shut off such effects before they can become a problem.

So tl;dr, Marth can be a one-hit Vantage superunit with the right support. I personally have him near Muspell at all times, since Domain of Flame pairs so well with Marth only needing one hit to slay the enemy. And yes mine is +10 merge, +5 dragonflowers, and S summoner support, but I think it's still very possible to pull off the superunit thing.

Whether I swayed you to picking Marth or not does not matter to me. I just feel like he shouldn't be generalized as "another Sword Infantry" when his best playstyle does not at all match what a Sword Infantry usually does. I'm also not sure about "a statball with Vantage" as Ice Dragon puts it, since he only gets +5 all stats from his weapon and +6 all stats from Shining Emblem. Legendary Marth is more of a statball if you ask me.
Then again I have already hinted that I am exceedingly biased toward him, so... maybe I'm just looking at him through sparkly goggles. The kind that make him look like a pretty anime boy with cherry blossom petals falling around him as the wind blows gently.

...you know while I'm here, I feel I should mention Gatekeeper's very undermentioned support effect: he grants +5 Atk/Spd to allies in a very large area centered on him (the same area that allies need to be in to trigger his weapon effects), and while it's not exceedingly amazing it is still a nice boost for how easy it is to grant.

Oh hey, fellow Brave Marth user!

 

I can second this, he's pretty good and has managed to work very well for me at pure +10 no flowers or summoner Support, so there's that too.  He's probably the best out of the CYL batch ahead of Marianne and Gatekeeper imo because I have been using him in my main PvE clearing content and he's held up very well with the three Azuras for support.

[Faellin]

As one of the few Kris fans in the entire fanbase. Seeing female Kris be on the hall of forms definitely has me wanting to use a forma soul.

So recomendations for a more primarily player phase setup for her? Since I already have male Kris for the usual spurn tanking setup which is the most common from what i've seen on them. So I thought i'd go for something more player phase orriented instead to differentiate the 2, since their stats are completely identical, and their pref weapons are the same outside of weapon type

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Faellin said:

As one of the few Kris fans in the entire fanbase. Seeing female Kris be on the hall of forms definitely has me wanting to use a forma soul.

So recomendations for a more primarily player phase setup for her? Since I already have male Kris for the usual spurn tanking setup which is the most common from what i've seen on them. So I thought i'd go for something more player phase orriented instead to differentiate the 2, since their stats are completely identical, and their pref weapons are the same outside of weapon type

For a Forma Soul unit, I'd aim for something like this for player phase:

Female Kris
Ninja Naginata+ / Ninja Yari+ / Spear of Shadow
Rally Atk/Spd+ / Harsh Command+
Ruptured Sky
Atk/Spd Ideal 4 / Surge Sparrow
Frenzy 3
Atk/Spd Menace / Time's Pulse 3

Ninja Naginata or Ninja Yari is there because I always like to grab a brand new skill in each slot, even if I'll never use it. And it still might even get some use since Spear of Shadow is starting to show its age (and its refine is still a long ways off). Ninja Naginata is probably generally better due to its damage output against slower opponents, but you are trading away a non-negligible amount of Spd for the damage.

As long as you have a reliable source of Bonuses, Ideal grants +9 Atk/Spd on the first round of combat, still grants +7 Atk/Spd after that, and is functional on both phases. Surge Sparrow gives her better sustain at the cost of 2 Atk/Spd on her first round of combat, which is a good trade-off for a pure player-phase build, and isn't reliant on Bonuses.

Since she already has Spurn, I'd grab Frenzy in the B slot so that you can switch between them as needed. You could also use Null Follow-Up in that slot instead, but Null Follow-Up is easier to get, so I don't personally think it's worth it.

Time's Pulse is a must if you're planning on giving her Vital Astra in the future, but it's also widely available, so it's your pick depending on your resources. Atk/Spd Menace is a good all-round skill. You could also grab Atk/Spd Rouse for the Null Panic effect, Fatal Pulse to counter Fallen Edelgard's healing and for Aether Raids defense, or C Feud for Aether Raids defense to nullify Flayn and Elimine, but those skills are more situational.

[XRay]

4 hours ago, Faellin said:

As one of the few Kris fans in the entire fanbase. Seeing female Kris be on the hall of forms definitely has me wanting to use a forma soul.

So recomendations for a more primarily player phase setup for her? Since I already have male Kris for the usual spurn tanking setup which is the most common from what i've seen on them. So I thought i'd go for something more player phase orriented instead to differentiate the 2, since their stats are completely identical, and their pref weapons are the same outside of weapon type

I lean towards Galeforce set up:
Ninja Naginata — Ninja Yari
Reposition
Galeforce
Flashing Blade
Wings of Mercy
Time's Pulse
Blade Session
Ninja Naginata is better in Aether Raids due to having higher damage output to deal with higher bulk, and winning the Spd check is not an issue since you can run multiple Spd Mythics; by the same token, I also lean towards Flashing Blade on A rather than a stat boost for more damage. In Summoner Duels though, you may want Ninja Yari for the Spd boost instead to win against fast dual phase and enemy phase foes.

For a tank busting setup, I will go with the following:
Ninja Naginata — Ninja Yari
Reposition
Ruptured Sky — Vital Astra
Flashing Blade — Surge Sparrow
Windsweep — Spurn
Time's Pulse — Fatal Smoke
(Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd)
Spurn gives you more damage output, but you will want to run Surge Sparrow to get HP back if she is going to fight more than one tank.

For actual skill acquisition, I would go with something like the following:
Ninja Naginata — Ninja Yari
(Any high scoring Assist)
Ruptured Sky
Flashing Blade — Surge Sparrow — Atk/Spd Ideal — Fury
Frenzy — Lull Spd/Def 
Time's Pulse — Fatal Smoke
(Any Sacred Seal)
Atk/Spd Ideal is useful for dual phasing. Frenzy is good for a more traditional player phase build since it works great with Wings of Mercy. Lull Spd/Def helps her combat modern high Spd foes.

[Flying Shogi]

On 3/15/2022 at 10:20 AM, XRay said:

For PvP in general though, you will want +Spd, although you can probably go +Atk too in Aether Raids if you have enough Spd Mythics.

With all that being said, I recommend keeping the neutral copy unmerged and unFlowered, in case you need to follow guides or something. If you do not ever need guides, then merge her up.

 

On 3/15/2022 at 3:05 PM, Ice Dragon said:

In general, I think the +3 Atk from an Atk Asset is better than the +1 Spd from neutral.

If you're going to be stuck on +1 merge for a while, there is a small argument for running neutral as the base instead because the Atk Asset changes the order of the merge bonus stats. Neutral gains Spd as its second stat, whereas an Atk Asset changes that to Atk, so at +1 merge having a +Atk base will cost you 2 points of Spd (but in exchange for 4 points of Atk). However, this is only relevant at +1 merge (and +6 merge), so I don't think you should worry too much about it.

I was worried that picking +Atk as the base might screw me out of hitting a Spd threshold for PvE content but it seems pretty safe to merge into the +Atk but I'll keep both copies for the time being just in case. 

On 3/15/2022 at 10:20 AM, XRay said:

While Gatekeeper: Nothing to Report is super niche and I do not see him being all that relevant either in the foreseeable future, I think it is good idea to have at least one copy around. Having a large and varied toolbox in your Barracks gives you the flexibility to respond to any shifts in the meta and any new modes that might pop up.

 

On 3/15/2022 at 3:05 PM, Ice Dragon said:

If you're aiming for a brand new unit, I'd go with Gatekeeper over Marth. Gatekeeper's gimmick is unique, so no other there's no other unit that can function as a substitute, whereas Marth is simply a ball of stats with Vantage (mind, a huge ball of stats, but still just a ball of stats).

 

On 3/15/2022 at 7:36 PM, Xenomata said:

...you know while I'm here, I feel I should mention Gatekeeper's very undermentioned support effect: he grants +5 Atk/Spd to allies in a very large area centered on him (the same area that allies need to be in to trigger his weapon effects), and while it's not exceedingly amazing it is still a nice boost for how easy it is to grant.

While I can't say I'm swayed to pick Gatekeeper over Marianne/Eirika, his support is unique so I'll have to reevaluate him.

On 3/15/2022 at 7:36 PM, Xenomata said:

I just feel like he shouldn't be generalized as "another Sword Infantry" when his best playstyle does not at all match what a Sword Infantry usually does. I'm also not sure about "a statball with Vantage" as Ice Dragon puts it, since he only gets +5 all stats from his weapon and +6 all stats from Shining Emblem. Legendary Marth is more of a statball if you ask me.

When I say "another sword infantry", I'm focusing less on their commonly associated play styles(player phase powerhouse, Galeforcer, Dodge tank etc.) but more the classification of a sword infantry. The sword infantry classification simply does not interest me enough to evaluate any unit unless the character is a favorite. They can give a character I don't have an attachment to an extremely good kit and that'Il probably just make me consider them at most. I'm at the point where unless a new unit brings something new/interesting to the table, they get skipped in favor of saving for a favorite. I'm simply not convinced that Marth's kit will hold water long enough for him to not be dethroned by the next super unit, which is a role that I personally don't think is worth investing into as it just seems like a resource sink unless it's a favorite. As someone who doesn't even spoil my favorites and is content with giving them tools from the F2P pool, Marth's kit hasn't convinced me he's worth the pick. 

On 3/15/2022 at 6:02 PM, Humanoid said:

Legendary Ephraim is definitely a unit I'm interested in using as a Galeforcer and despite never intentionally pulling for him, have at +4 (though unfortunately with a Spd asset).

I'd argue Spd is his next best stat after Atk. Mine is +Def at +1 and the only notable annoyance that can't be easily fixed when using him as a Galeforcer is having his auto follow-up canceled by NFU to deny the second hit needed to charge Galeforce. I can get around physically weak defensive units by downgrading his buffs or giving him QP to lower Galeforce's cooldown against an enemy that can't counterattack but NFU is a hurdle that can only be overcome by winning that Spd check.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Flying Shogi

[XRay]

@Ice Dragon and anyone else who got Maria: Sunny Smile, what is your set up for her?

I got her to +5+5 a while ago, but I am kind of stuck on how to actually build her. I would have gotten her to +10+5, but I decided to try to build and try her out first before committing the rest of the way. I plan to use her as a super tank since her flat damage reduction got me excited, but now that I am actually trying to build her, her status as a flier really sucks because her access to enemy phase skills is abysmal.

+Spd (I will Ascend Def later, if I can figure her build out)
Pastel Poleaxe
Reposition
(any defensive Special) — Ruptured Sky
Distant Counter (waiting for Def version)
(any Dull) — Quick Riposte
Pulse Smoke — Atk/Spd Rein
Spd/Def Solo

Her main issue is her B slot. It fucking sucks. I am not sure what to put there. AS Near Trace is not out yet, and I am kind of iffy on it since it does not provide any relevant effects outside of stat boosts. I have given her Quick Riposte and Guard, but the former feels kind of redundant, and the latter is even more redundant once I realize I could just offload it to Elimine. Mystic Boost is also an option, but I do not think it is necessary. So yeah, none of the existing B skills is satisfactory to me, and I am not really sure what to do.

The only other thing I can think of is to pair her with a Save tank, and she can run a defensive Special and maybe Dull depending on the Save tank. Near Save would stop Lunge and she has an easier time winning the Def check, while Far Save allows her to run Guard on A and she does not have to worry about Blazing as much.

[Ice Dragon]

49 minutes ago, XRay said:

@Ice Dragon and anyone else who got Maria: Sunny Smile, what is your set up for her?

I haven't bothered to actually build her yet due to the optimal A skills for the build I'm intending to use not yet existing.

I personally don't find any use in super tanks. Save tanks simply do the job better.

If I were to run a pure enemy-phase build for her, it would probably look something like this:

Spring Maria [+Spd, +Def]
Pastel Axe
Reposition
Ruptured Sky
Steady Posture 3
Guard Bearing 3 / Wyvern Flight 3
Atk/Spd Rein 3 / Spd/Def Rein 3
Spd/Def Form 3

and would mostly be geared towards Summoner Duels where you can only have one Save tank.

This is probably the one time where I think Guard Bearing is actually good. You typically don't see more than one round of enemy-phase combat per turn in Summoner Duels due to the fact that actions are interleaved, so the 50% damage reduction for the first attack each turn is huge in combination with her flat damage reduction and the difficulty of fitting other sources of percentage damage reduction in Summoner Duels.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

I haven't bothered to actually build her yet due to the optimal A skills for the build I'm intending to use not yet existing.

I personally don't find any use in super tanks. Save tanks simply do the job better.

If I were to run a pure enemy-phase build for her, it would probably look something like this:

Spring Maria [+Spd, +Def]
Pastel Axe
Reposition
Ruptured Sky
Steady Posture 3
Guard Bearing 3 / Wyvern Flight 3
Atk/Spd Rein 3 / Spd/Def Rein 3
Spd/Def Form 3

I have given her Wyvern Flight too, but then I realized it does not do much against bulky enemies, and it is not super reliable against fast enemies either since they could still win the start of combat Spd check even if they lose the in combat Spd check.

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

and would mostly be geared towards Summoner Duels where you can only have one Save tank.

This is probably the one time where I think Guard Bearing is actually good. You typically don't see more than one round of enemy-phase combat per turn in Summoner Duels due to the fact that actions are interleaved, so the 50% damage reduction for the first attack each turn is huge in combination with her flat damage reduction and the difficulty of fitting other sources of percentage damage reduction in Summoner Duels.

I thought Guard Bearing only works once per big turn, since mini turns are just a result of having both player's turns smooshed together and are not actually treated as full turns by the game?

[Ice Dragon]

7 minutes ago, XRay said:

I thought Guard Bearing only works once per big turn, since mini turns are just a result of having both player's turns smooshed together and are not actually treated as full turns by the game?

Yes, it works once per big turn.

The reason the interleaved actions matter is because opponents probably can't kill her in one round of combat and will either avoid attacking her altogether (especially if she just kills on the counterattack), or will have to leave a unit in range to be picked off on your next action (if they don't have Canto or can't retreat far enough with Canto), or will give you a chance to move Maria out of range of a second round of combat afterwards.

You're not fighting an AI, so they won't throw multiple units at her per turn.

[Humanoid]

Nature selection time, feels like ages since I've done one of these round-ups. All just picking the base for a +1.

Thorr - Def or Neutral? Def is a superboon to get to an absurd 46 Def after the merge. On the other hand, Neutral would give her +2 Atk for a total of 46. So it's a question of 44/46 vs 46/42 in those two stats I believe.

Harmonic Azura - HP or Def? I guess this one is a silly question - I mean, she's made of cheese anyway and really it doesn't seem like this matters much. But maybe having the lower HP would actually be preferable in some HP manipulation strategies? I should probably focus more on who will be her BFF for her Harmonic skill (and Ally Support I guess). Doubling up on the OP green mage cavs alongside Ninja Corrin might be a little degenerate. In a world where they're less powercreeped, my +10 Oscar or Bladetome Valentine's Titania might appreciate it. Looks like I chucked all my Fates cavalry into the reserves, hah. Even if I extend my filter to fliers and infantry, my options for player-phase PoR/Fates units is looking pretty tragic.

Dieck - HP or Res? I've never really understood how to best use his default kit which seems a mixed-phase compromise. Might it depend on whether I give him DC perhaps? Might be time to sack my Effie which I gave DC to 4 years ago then proceeded to never use.

OG Marianne - Spd or Res? I've had her for over a year but never actually read the condition on her guaranteed follow-up, heh. Her Res is impressive and adding a superboon to it takes it even beyond. But then I'm mildly surprised her Res is actually just for its own sake and that her kit has no special interaction with it. With that in mind, maybe Spd to win the middling check against foes with NFU might have more use.

Triandra - Atk or Spd? I didn't even know I had a spare until I saw one in the Reserves for whatever reason. When I got her or how she got there is a mystery. Looks like she has no special combat mechanics so the Spd for a little extra survivability plus being a superboon probably wins out?

[Ice Dragon]

10 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Nature selection time, feels like ages since I've done one of these round-ups. All just picking the base for a +1.

Thorr should go neutral. Atk is her most important stat by a huge margin.

Azura should probably go +Def. Her physical bulk is paper regardless, so it's probably better to go +Def to make it easier to run Escape Route in Resonant Battles or something like that.

Dieck should probably go +Res, but it really doesn't matter much. Lower HP makes it easier to teleport to him with Wings of Mercy for what it's worth.

I lean towards +Spd on Marianne just for the occasional Null Follow-Up or follow-up prevention effect. Res is nice, but with nothing in her kit relying on it, there isn't much of a reason to use the Asset on it.

Triandra should go +Spd. She's pretty fast, but she doesn't have any effects boosting her Spd (her weapon gives her an effective +7 Atk when attacking orthogonally), so she could use the boost in Spd.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Yes, it works once per big turn.

The reason the interleaved actions matter is because opponents probably can't kill her in one round of combat and will either avoid attacking her altogether (especially if she just kills on the counterattack), or will have to leave a unit in range to be picked off on your next action (if they don't have Canto or can't retreat far enough with Canto), or will give you a chance to move Maria out of range of a second round of combat afterwards.

You're not fighting an AI, so they won't throw multiple units at her per turn.

Hmm... That makes sense. I guess I will give her Guard Bearing too.

34 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Thorr - Def or Neutral? Def is a superboon to get to an absurd 46 Def after the merge. On the other hand, Neutral would give her +2 Atk for a total of 46. So it's a question of 44/46 vs 46/42 in those two stats I believe.

As a tank buster, Atk is more important, and there are lots of ways to regain HP and maintain bulk.

34 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Harmonic Azura - HP or Def? I guess this one is a silly question - I mean, she's made of cheese anyway and really it doesn't seem like this matters much. But maybe having the lower HP would actually be preferable in some HP manipulation strategies? I should probably focus more on who will be her BFF for her Harmonic skill (and Ally Support I guess). Doubling up on the OP green mage cavs alongside Ninja Corrin might be a little degenerate. In a world where they're less powercreeped, my +10 Oscar or Bladetome Valentine's Titania might appreciate it. Looks like I chucked all my Fates cavalry into the reserves, hah. Even if I extend my filter to fliers and infantry, my options for player-phase PoR/Fates units is looking pretty tragic.

You want lower HP in case you ever want to use her as a nuke, and lower HP helps with Wings of Mercy, so +Def in this case.

34 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Dieck - HP or Res? I've never really understood how to best use his default kit which seems a mixed-phase compromise. Might it depend on whether I give him DC perhaps? Might be time to sack my Effie which I gave DC to 4 years ago then proceeded to never use.

Same as above. +Res would be better to lower his HP if you want to use him as a player phase unit. I would not use him as a dual phase unit unless you want an expensive overhaul.

34 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

OG Marianne - Spd or Res? I've had her for over a year but never actually read the condition on her guaranteed follow-up, heh. Her Res is impressive and adding a superboon to it takes it even beyond. But then I'm mildly surprised her Res is actually just for its own sake and that her kit has no special interaction with it. With that in mind, maybe Spd to win the middling check against foes with NFU might have more use.

+Spd is better in my opinion.

34 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Triandra - Atk or Spd? I didn't even know I had a spare until I saw one in the Reserves for whatever reason. When I got her or how she got there is a mystery. Looks like she has no special combat mechanics so the Spd for a little extra survivability plus being a superboon probably wins out?

I would keep both copies for sadistic fun in Aether Raids defense. I find it satisfying to see Triandra use Wings of Mercy to Dance/Sing a nuke and finish off the offensive player's super tank, and it is even funnier on the rare occasion where she warps in and kill the super tank herself. While I only use one copy right now, I have a second one in my Barracks in case I need to switch my defense set up, and I have three more copies in my Reserves in case some kind of futre mechanic pops up to allow even funnier shenanigans with five Triandras.

The main copy I use is [+Atk, -HP], and my secondary copy is [+Spd, -HP]. I prefer +Atk since she is not going to survive to any counter attack, so I might as well have her aim for one shots if she is going to attack something.

Edited March 22, 2022 by XRay