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

[SoulWeaver]

22 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Cynthia's main gimmick is her Wings of Mercy-style teleportation, and she gets extra stats with a Clash effect and a Unity effect.

Cynthia [+Spd (+Atk)]
Lance of Heroics [unique]
[Assist]
Ruptured Sky
Atk/Spd Catch 4 / Surge Sparrow / Atk/Spd Unity
Flow Guard 3 / Flow N Trace 3 / S/D Near Trace 3 / [Guard 4] / [Dive-Bomb 3] / [Escape Route 4]
S/D Rein Snap / Spd/Def Hold / Atk/Spd Menace
[any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd]

Despite Cynthia having teleportation, Atk/Spd Clash doesn't actually work well with her because it nullifies the bonus to Atk/Spd from her weapon's Unity effect, so it's better to run Atk/Spd Catch instead when going for pure stats. Surge Sparrow sacrifices a few points of stats for passive healing. Atk/Spd Unity grants the highest stat boost in game modes where debuffs are common, but is worse everywhere else.

Of the B skills, pick whichever one suits your play style and the role you need her to play most.

The two tier-4 skills in the Rein tree are the best choices for the C slot if you have another unit on the team providing buffing and debuffing support or in game modes where Grand Strategy is common. Menace is always a good general-use option otherwise.

Thanks! I did get Flow N Trace and Escape Route 4 during Seer's Snare so I've seen how helpful those ones are. I got ATK/DEF Clash as well and that seemed to work but her PRF was unrefined at the time so I suppose it's better to check other options now. Unfortunately I think I've merged up all my sources of ATK/SPD Catch at the moment, but I'll keep that in mind for now. I think right now my only source of fodderable Rein is the Farina manual we got last Limited Codes, which is ATK/DEF that I'd been planning to use elsewhere, but I'll see how things shape up. Ruptured Sky is such a pain to get but I'll keep it in mind, I finally got a Female Byleth so I have it on hand, but she's my only one and I was also considering using her to finish up my Roy(he's been running Aether for a long time and I've been waiting for a higher quality option like RS).

[Xenomata]

Getting the skill on LegAlm during the HoF reminded me of something I haven't thought about since LegYuri's release: how is Atk/Spd Hexblade as an A passive compared to other offensive A passives?

The condition of having a bonus is pretty laughably easy to achieve especially on most modern units, but the big seller of it is the ability to get the Hexblade bonus when near a Tome unit at the start of the turn. I guess that's the part I'm most curious about, since it's pretty common these days for a unit to not have that huge a difference between their Def and Res stats, either having really high of both or not that great of both but having damage reduction to make up the difference.

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Getting the skill on LegAlm during the HoF reminded me of something I haven't thought about since LegYuri's release: how is Atk/Spd Hexblade as an A passive compared to other offensive A passives?

The condition of having a bonus is pretty laughably easy to achieve especially on most modern units, but the big seller of it is the ability to get the Hexblade bonus when near a Tome unit at the start of the turn. I guess that's the part I'm most curious about, since it's pretty common these days for a unit to not have that huge a difference between their Def and Res stats, either having really high of both or not that great of both but having damage reduction to make up the difference.

Here is me overanalyzing the Atk/Spd A skills (stats in the pro/con section are relative to the basic +7 Atk/Spd):

 

Atk/Spd Ideal grants a reliable +7 Atk/Spd, which is boosted to +9 Atk/Spd if the unit can keep its HP topped off. The main benefit to this skill is the fact that it grants +2 Spd over all of the other options other than Clash; however, unless the unit has a means of avoiding counterattacks or healing itself, you only reliably get this boost for the first round of combat.

• Pros:
  • +2 Atk/Spd when at full HP
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • No additional effect after taking damage
  • Vulnerable to bonus nullification after taking damage
• Usable by: All infantry and armors

Atk/Spd Catch grants a mostly reliable +7 Atk/Spd, which is boosted to +9 Atk/Spd if the opponent has a Penalty. Similar to Ideal, the main benefit to this skill is the fact that it grants +2 Spd over all of the other options other than Clash. The downside is that it requires you to have at least one debuffer on the team to get the bonus stats and it requires you to always one-round kill opposing units (or use a different unit to finish off weakened opponents), as you lose one stack of the stat bonus if the opponent has already taken damage.

• Pros:
  • +2 Atk/Spd when the opponent is at full HP and has a Penalty
  • Combos well with Smoke skills on Galeforce units or when using dancers
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • -7 Atk/Spd when the opponent is not at full HP and has no Penalty
  • Vulnerable to penalty nullification when opponent is not at full HP
• Usable by: All cavalry and fliers

Atk/Spd Clash grants +7 Atk/Spd if the unit initiating combat moved in order to attack plus an additional +1 Atk/Spd for each space moved after the first and nullifies the unit's Atk/Spd penalties if the unit initiating combat moved at least 2 spaces. The obvious downside to this skill is that it grants absolutely nothing if the unit initiating combat didn't move at all. Additionally, if the unit doesn't have a penalty on it to nullify, this skill only breaks even with the maximum boost from Ideal or Catch if the unit initiating combat moved 3 spaces. This skill is best used on cavalry in game modes where penalties are common or on units that can teleport and only if you're confident enough in your skills that you won't accidentally be in a position where the unit initiating combat doesn't move to attack.

• Pros:
  • +1 Atk/Spd and nullifies stat penalties to Atk/Spd when the unit initiating combat moves 2 spaces
  • Maximum total +3 Atk/Spd when the unit initiating combat moves 4 spaces
  • Combos well with teleportation skills
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • Does not play nice with Unity effects, like Grand Strategy
  • -7 Atk/Spd when the unit initiating combat doesn't move to attack
  • Very dependent on positioning
• Usable by: Melee infantry, cavalry, and fliers

Atk/Spd Hexblade grants a reliable +7 Atk/Spd and functionally deals additional damage if the opponent's Res is lower than their Def (never the other way around because the only units that can learn this skill target Def by default). Having low Res with very lopsided defenses is still rather common on physical infantry and cavalry units with high or middling Spd (I'm looking at you, Brave Dimitri), so you're going to get mileage out of this skill often enough to matter; however, the bonus damage isn't quite as consistent as Ideal, Catch, or Finish.

• Pros:
  • Targets the opponent's Res if it is lower than its Def
  • Hexblade effect affects AoE Specials
  • Hexblade effect cannot be nullified by bonus nullification
  • Hexblade effect can be copied by Brave Chrom
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • Relies on having at least one ally with a tome to gain the Hexblade effect (staves don't count)
  • Vulnerable to False Start, which will prevent the Hexblade status effect from being applied
  • Vulnerable to bonus nullification when the Hexblade status effect is not active
  • Hexblade effect has no effect on units with lower Def than Res
• Usable by: Infantry swords, lances, axes, bows, and daggers (i.e. human physical infantry)

Atk/Spd Finish grants a reliable +7 Atk/Spd plus an additional functional +5 Atk and 7 HP regeneration on all attacks until the end of combat after the unit fully charges its Special (regardless of if it is subsequently used). If the unit fully charges its Special before its first attack, the unit effectively receives +12 Atk and +7 Spd and heals up to 14 HP. If the unit charges its Special before its follow-up attack, the unit effectively receives +9.5 Atk and +7 Spd and heals 7 HP. As long as the unit fully charges its Special at some point during or before the round of combat, this skill is better than Ideal as long as the unit is expected to be unable to maintain full HP, as it grants damage and sustain at the cost of 2 Spd that would only be active during the first round of combat.

• Pros:
  • +5 damage on all attacks until the end of combat after the unit fully charges its Special
  • 7 HP regeneration on all unit's attacks until the end of combat after the unit fully charges its Special, granting a sustain effect
  • Does not require unit's Special to activate to gain the bonus and is therefore compatible with Galeforce (to an extent) and defensive Specials
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • Vulnerable to Guard, but only for the additional effects (and not the base stats)
• Usable by: All infantry

Surge Sparrow grants a reliable +7 Atk/Spd plus heals the unit a reliable amount (usually 30% of max HP) if it activates an offensive Special during combat, but the skill is only active on player phase. This is currently the best sustain option for units that are exclusively used on player phase and aren't running Galeforce, an AoE Special (e.g. Blazing Wind), or a defensive Special (e.g. Godlike Reflexes). Its obvious disadvantages are the fact that it isn't active on enemy phase and doesn't grant any additional offensive effects beyond the base +7 Atk/Spd.

• Pros:
  • Adds healing effect to Special activations (sizable 30% of max HP when Special has 2 cooldown), granting a sustain effect
• Cons:
  • Only active on player phase
  • Vulnerable to Guard, but only for the additional effect (and not the base stats)
  • Not compatible with AoE Specials, Galeforce, or defensive Specials
• Usable by: All melee units

Remote Sparrow grants a reliable +7 Atk/Spd plus reduces the damage from the opponent's first attack, but the skill is only active on player phase. This is currently the best option for frail ranged units that don't have a means of avoiding the opponent's counterattack.

• Pros:
  • Grants 30% damage reduction against the opponent's first attack, which gains value the lower a unit's Def/Res is
• Cons:
  • Only active on player phase
  • Vulnerable to percentage damage reduction nullification
  • Additional effect does nothing if the opponent cannot counterattack
• Usable by: All ranged units except staves

Life and Death grants a visible +7 Atk/Spd at the cost of a visible -5 Def/Res. This is only worth using with an AoE Special or if the unit needs to win a start-of-combat stat comparison.

• Pros:
  • Visible stats affect AoE Special damage and grant the largest boost to AoE Special damage (outside of Hexblade when the opponent's Def is more than 7 higher than its Res)
  • Visible stats affect start-of-combat stat comparisons
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • Significant penalty to defensive stats, which is also active on both phases
  • No additional effects
• Usable by: All units except staves

Atk/Spd Unity only grants +5 Atk/Spd and only when remaining within 2 spaces of an ally, but reverses penalties to Atk/Spd. This is typically only used on enemy-phase units due to its positioning requirement and only in game modes where penalties are common due to its lower stat boost when the unit is not afflicted with penalties.

• Pros:
  • +5 Atk/Spd when afflicted with -7 Atk/Spd Penalties
  • Combos extremely well with Grand Strategy (and other stacks of Unity effects)
  • Active on both phases
• Cons:
  • -2 Atk/Spd when not afflicted with Penalties, making this skill less effective than any other skill when the unit cannot be reliably afflicted with stat penalties
  • Penalties are cleared after the unit's action (unless Grand Strategy is active), making it not play well with Galeforce and dancers
  • The entire skill has no effect if the unit is not within 2 spaces of an ally, making it difficult to use on player phase
• Usable by: All units

Kestrel Stance grants +6 Atk/Spd and the Guard effect, but only on enemy phase. The only time you'd use this skill is on a strictly enemy-phase unit that absolutely needs to get Guard from its A slot.

• Pros:
  • Guard effect on enemy phase
• Cons:
  • -1 Atk/Spd compared to other skills
  • Only active on enemy phase
• Usable by: All units except staves

Distant A/S Solo grants +5 Atk/Spd and only when there are no adjacent allies, but grants Distant Counter with no condition. This is currently the best Distant Counter skill as long as you can keep the Solo condition active. If you cannot keep the Solo condition active, the next best options are Distant Pressure on dual-phase units and Distant Dart on purely enemy-phase units (as long as Spd is more important to the unit than Atk).

• Pros:
  • Distant Counter effect
• Cons:
  • -2 Atk/Spd compared to other skills
  • Stats depend on a Solo condition
• Usable by: All melee units

Edited June 3, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Xenomata]

@Ice Dragon That is... 10x or 11x more info than I was expecting to get.
There are a few you didn't mention, but I assume that's just because they're not desired compared to those mentioned (Solo 4 only giving the +7 boost, for instance)

I suppose in the context of Hexblade in HoF it'd be perfectly fine to get it as long as there is a Tome ally to actually reap its main benefit from (in 42 HoF events there's only been 3 that have not had a single Tome unit so that probably won't be an issue moving forward) but then the units who actually want to carry it out of HoF will depend on if they want the adaptive damage effect or if they need one of the other effects available (which may or may not matter once DasS is put into the pool since most units like DC, and Hexblade already competes with Remote Sparrow for ranged units)

In the context of general skill inheritance... case-by-case basis.

[Ice Dragon]

9 hours ago, Xenomata said:

There are a few you didn't mention, but I assume that's just because they're not desired compared to those mentioned (Solo 4 only giving the +7 boost, for instance)

Yeah.

Atk/Spd Solo is mostly only useful as a cheaper alternative to the above skills because it's pretty much always outperformed by a different skill due to it having no effect other than its stat boost. Finish is strictly better on infantry, and Catch is almost strictly better on cavalry and fliers.

Atk/Spd Bond has too strict of a condition unless you're using it on a unit that moves exclusively by teleporting, and it doesn't play nice with Grand Strategy.

Brazen Atk/Spd granted huge stat boosts when it was released, but Ideal and Catch have since caught up. The most obvious issue with Brazen was the fact that it loses its entire effect when the unit is above the HP threshold, which required setup if you wanted it to be active on the first round of combat, whereas Ideal and Catch have two stages to its stat boost, so it isn't all or nothing.

 

9 hours ago, Xenomata said:

I suppose in the context of Hexblade in HoF it'd be perfectly fine to get it as long as there is a Tome ally to actually reap its main benefit from (in 42 HoF events there's only been 3 that have not had a single Tome unit so that probably won't be an issue moving forward) but then the units who actually want to carry it out of HoF will depend on if they want the adaptive damage effect or if they need one of the other effects available (which may or may not matter once DasS is put into the pool since most units like DC, and Hexblade already competes with Remote Sparrow for ranged units)

As far as taking skills out of Hall of Forms, if the unit doesn't have a skill that specifically synergizes with their weapon, melee units will typically prefer Atk/Spd Finish or Distant A/S Solo over Atk/Spd Hexblade, and ranged units will typically prefer Remote Sparrow as long as they are vulnerable to counterattacks. Ranged units that aren't vulnerable to counterattacks can actually take Atk/Spd Hexblade over Atk/Spd Ideal if you so choose. (For example, I have an okay-sized stock of Ideal fodder, so I'm probably more likely to pick Hexblade instead since I don't have the fodder.)

 

9 hours ago, Xenomata said:

In the context of general skill inheritance... case-by-case basis.

Hexblade is the one weird skill where it's (almost) never going to be the best option for general use, but will always be able to compete with other skills as a viable option. The other weird part of the skill is that it's the only one that's necessarily reliant on your team composition.

The "(almost)" is there because there are two situations where it could be an (almost strictly) best option. The first is if the unit requires a Bonus to be active for another effect and you really can't risk losing the effect due to your stat bonuses being nullified. The second is that it's a viable alternative to Life and Death on units using AoE Specials since there are enough units with high Def and low Res (I'm still looking at you, Brave Dimitri) that it can be worth running over Life and Death.

[DefyingFates]

Are there any good Arcane Sword merge project candidates out of the Infantry or Cavalier rosters? I have a R Duel Cav 4 ready to go if needed, but I also have an OG!Eirika in my arena core I'm considering updating to be more useful in combat.

Speaking of Eirika, I'm currently using her as an old-school buffbot (as in I didn't bother updating her skills since they were Tier 4s):

Quote

Sieglinde +Eff
Rally Def/Res+
Aether
R Duel Infantry 4
Swordbreaker 4
Joint Hone Spd

I think Devourer is a better choice for an Arcane Sword, I assume I'd need to give her Vital Astra or Godlike Reflexes as a Special and I'd keep the Duel skill for her to stay relevant, but I'd like to know what skills would be nice to complete a Speedster kit. Alternatively, I could give her Florid Cane+ to double down on the buffing, only now she'd be able to get out of the way once doing so. Is that better?

EDIT: I forgot about Lumera. Once she has her rerun I assume she's the best F2P-mergeable Red unit fot Arena now, right?

Final question for anyone who knows Japanese, does F!F!Byleth's sword here have the same name as the Knight-Captain Sword in Hopes?

Thanks everyone!

Edited June 5, 2023 by DefyingFates

[Xenomata]

@DefyingFates Considering Eirika's prf weapon gives at most 4-7 in each stat if her ally has sufficient stat bonuses, whereas the Arcane Devourer just gives +5 for being alive, yes Arcane Devourer is the better option. Even Eljudnir is technically better since it does more than be a flat statball. But Eirika would prefer Devourer.

Vital Astra or Godlike Reflexes plus a Dodge B passive would keep her damage intake very low (obviously the Tier 4 variants of Dodge skills would be better, but I'd at least consider the one with the Tempo effect). Spd Smoke 4 can also help if she's able to trigger the Dodge effect before being attacked, though with Vital Astra she may prefer Time's Pulse 4.

[Ice Dragon]

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Are there any good Arcane Sword merge project candidates out of the Infantry or Cavalier rosters? I have a R Duel Cav 4 ready to go if needed, but I also have an OG!Eirika in my arena core I'm considering updating to be more useful in combat.

The only cavalry worth giving Arcane Devourer to is Valentine Flavia because her stats are just so much better than all of the other options. The best option from the standard pool is Kent, but his stats at +10 are worse than Flavia's at +0.

Infantry have a few more options, with Resplendent Mia, Guy, regular Mia, and Ninja Zihark (assuming you're using Dragonflowers to keep up, so maximum minus 10, then enough to get the next point of Spd). Echoes Kamui and Resplendent Leaf are okay. Lon'qu (both regular and Resplendent) and Athena have the Spd stat to work with, but have low Atk.

Fliers have Thief Rickard as the only real option. Armors have Valentine Hana as an overwhelming favorite, followed by Winter Manuela.

 

There aren't really any good cavalry options for Arcane Eljudnir. Valentine Flavia is the best by a huge margin, but she's better off with Arcane Devourer. The only other realistic option is Legendary Seliph if you're really impatient about him getting his remix.

The best infantry options are Galzus, Skasaher, Summer Lyon, Spring Bartre, and Resplendent Chrom.

Fliers have Ninja Haar as their best option. The best option for armors is Winter Zephiel, but his Atk is lower than Haar's.

 

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

I think Devourer is a better choice for an Arcane Sword, I assume I'd need to give her Vital Astra or Godlike Reflexes as a Special and I'd keep the Duel skill for her to stay relevant, but I'd like to know what skills would be nice to complete a Speedster kit. Alternatively, I could give her Florid Cane+ to double down on the buffing, only now she'd be able to get out of the way once doing so. Is that better?

If you're running a Duel skill, she might have trouble actually matching Spd with many of the more recent units since you're giving up a minimum of 3 points of Spd from the A slot (compared to the Spd-boosting Distant Counter variants, which grant the lowest Spd boost of the typical A skills) in exchange for 3 more points of Spd from the weapon slot, but even Resplendent Eirika is already more than a full Spd tier below the current leaders.

If you're still going for a Spd build with Duel that's actually viable against the newer fast units, you're looking at

Eirika [+Spd]
Arcane Devourer [Spd]
[Assist]
Godlike Reflexes
R Duel Infantry 4
[Tier-4 Dodge skill]
Atk/Spd Oath 4
[Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd]

Godlike Reflexes is better than Vital Astra because it has a more lenient activation condition for its damage reduction and allows you to run Atk/Spd Oath 4 for the extra stats instead of being forced to run Time's Pulse 4.

A tier-4 Dodge skill is also required for its Phantom Spd effect.

 

4 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

EDIT: I forgot about Lumera. Once she has her rerun I assume she's the best F2P-mergeable Red unit fot Arena now, right?

It depends.

If you aren't giving Arcane Devourer to Lumera, she's only able to run Ruptured Sky as a viable Special (Vital Astra is also fine if you're using it for damage and not for its Dodge effect), but she'll have the highest score among free-to-play red infantry (tied with Holst).

If you're willing to give up one and a half score buckets, Guy with Arcane Devourer has the same Spd as Lumera, but less Atk, but he can run Godlike Reflexes.

If you also include 4-star Special Heroes and non-infantry units, Valentine Flavia is two and a half score buckets lower than Lumera, but has higher Atk and higher Spd, and Valentine Hana is half a score bucket higher than Lumera with higher Spd (or one and a half score buckets higher if you run a Def Asset with a Spd Ascended Asset due to her Def superboon bumping her up past another score threshold).

 

4 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Final question for anyone who knows Japanese, does F!F!Byleth's sword here have the same name as the Knight-Captain Sword in Hopes?

Yes.

[DefyingFates]

43 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Yes.

Interesting! You said the Japanese name was 'Sword of Silver Snow' or something, right? It's neat to think of that name in the context of Hopes and could confirm that Byleth is indeed who Silver Snow refers to. But considering the sword was gifted by Rhea...

45 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

If you aren't giving Arcane Devourer to Lumera, she's only able to run Ruptured Sky as a viable Special (Vital Astra is also fine if you're using it for damage and not for its Dodge effect), but she'll have the highest score among free-to-play red infantry (tied with Holst).

I think I'll stick with Lumera with Monarch Blade then. Is her best kit still just copying Alear's (+ Ruptured Sky)? Also, is there a pattern to when GHBs rerun (e.g. "always X months after their debut")?

47 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

If you're running a Duel skill, she might have trouble actually matching Spd with many of the more recent units since you're giving up a minimum of 3 points of Spd from the A slot (compared to the Spd-boosting Distant Counter variants, which grant the lowest Spd boost of the typical A skills) in exchange for 3 more points of Spd from the weapon slot, but even Resplendent Eirika is already more than a full Spd tier below the current leaders.

I asked about Eirika because I've noticed I don't get many Speedy units as opponents and the ones that do *usually* get taken out by my B!Eirika or N!Shamir, so I figured I could afford to have her not be THE fastest on the team.

Trading a Prf weapon for a Tier 4 B Skill would give her the same Arena score, right? (She's not Resplendent by the way, I hope that doesn't change yours and @Xenomata  's calculations much).

Thank you both again!

[Humanoid]

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

Trading a Prf weapon for a Tier 4 B Skill would give her the same Arena score, right? (She's not Resplendent by the way, I hope that doesn't change yours and @Xenomata  's calculations much).

Yeah, the weapon drops from 400 to 350 SP, but the B-skill goes from 240 (or 200, depending on the skill) to 300.

 

For GHB scheduling, the answer is "sort of". There's the regular re-run schedule, where we just got done with Muarim, who was originally the May 2022 GHB, so 13 months ago. Between him and Lumera we've still got to go through Limstella, Brigand Boss, Jeralt, Holst, Cervantes, Matthis and Hans.

However, some lucky units get an effective extra re-run due to being put in Grand Hero Party quests which results in an earlier extra copy (and at 5-star to boot). For example, in August last year for the 5.5th anniversary event, we had quests for copies of everyone from Yen'fay (9 months old) through to Limstella (absurdly just two months old at the time). If they do the same this year, then Lumera would fall within the window of eligible units as she occupies the same January slot as Riev.

On the other hand, that was sort of a one-off, the most recent Grand Hero Party back in February re-ran much older units, originally released in 2020.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Humanoid

[Ice Dragon]

5 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Interesting! You said the Japanese name was 'Sword of Silver Snow' or something, right? It's neat to think of that name in the context of Hopes and could confirm that Byleth is indeed who Silver Snow refers to. But considering the sword was gifted by Rhea...

Yeah, weapon name literally (as literally as possible) translates as "White-Silver Sword", but the word here that means "white silver" is one that can be used poetically to refer to snow. The coincidence is a bit too uncanny to ignore.

 

5 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

I think I'll stick with Lumera with Monarch Blade then. Is her best kit still just copying Alear's (+ Ruptured Sky)?

If you aren't restricted by resources, you want something like this:

Lumera [+Spd]
Monarch Blade
[Assist]
Ruptured Sky / Vital Astra
Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Surge Sparrow / Distant A/S Solo / Atk/Spd Hexblade
[Tier-4 Dodge skill] / Velocity 3 / Spd/Def Tempo 3
Atk/Spd Oath 4
[Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd]

If you're prioritizing score, you should run a tier-4 Dodge skill in the B slot. If you're running Reposition instead of a 400-SP Assist skill, you can run a 240-SP B skill without any additional penalty to your score if you can afford losing the Phantom Spd effect to match opponents with the tier-4 Dodge skills.

Alear's Spd Smoke 4 is okay for the C slot for general use, but because it doesn't affect the first round of combat on each turn, it's generally less useful in the Arena where usually either you're baiting out one unit at a time or the AI will Rally up one unit and send them at you solo. Atk Smoke and Spd Smoke are more useful in game modes where you can park your unit in front of the opponent and tank multiple rounds of combat in a single turn. On the other hand, Def/Res Smoke is potentially optimal in the Arena if you're running a hyper-offensive team since Pathfinder benefits your teammates' mobility.

 

6 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Trading a Prf weapon for a Tier 4 B Skill would give her the same Arena score, right? (She's not Resplendent by the way, I hope that doesn't change yours and @Xenomata  's calculations much).

Not being Resplendent won't change the build at all. Eirika didn't really have the option of cutting corners on Spd with her Resplendent boost, so she's still in the same boat without them.

Arcane Devourer + 300-SP B skill is 10 more SP than Sieglinde + 240-SP B skill, which won't make a difference if you're already running 300-SP skills in the A and C slots. Running Sieglinde + 300-SP B skill is one bucket higher than either of the above options if you're running a 400-SP Assist skill, but is in the same bucket if you're running Reposition.

[Xenomata]

I have a single copy of Arcane Eclipse right now, and before I use it on a unit who has been left behind by the meta so to speak (still deciding between Anamnesis Eirika, Sanaki, or Leo) I wanted to ask, what is the general consensus on Arcane Eclipse as an Arcane weapon? It honestly seems like one of the "worser" Arcane weapons given it only provides a few in-combat bonuses and one effect that's more situational, but the Quickened Pulse effect looks nice to have on any unit, it's the only inheritable tome with the Slaying effect, and there's plenty of red tome units with useless Prf weapons that Arc.Eclipse improves (Anamnesis Eirika, Leo, and Sanaki for instance...)

Worth mentioning as well, I know Groom Robin would technically be the "better" choice because of his high Atk compared to many other Red Tome units and being easy to merge up in a few months... but that's the boring option, and I honestly have no strong desire to merge him up anyway.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Xenomata

[XRay]

5 hours ago, Xenomata said:

I have a single copy of Arcane Eclipse right now, and before I use it on a unit who has been left behind by the meta so to speak (still deciding between Anamnesis Eirika, Sanaki, or Leo) I wanted to ask, what is the general consensus on Arcane Eclipse as an Arcane weapon? It honestly seems like one of the "worser" Arcane weapons given it only provides a few in-combat bonuses and one effect that's more situational, but the Quickened Pulse effect looks nice to have on any unit, it's the only inheritable tome with the Slaying effect, and there's plenty of red tome units with useless Prf weapons that Arc.Eclipse improves (Anamnesis Eirika, Leo, and Sanaki for instance...)

Worth mentioning as well, I know Groom Robin would technically be the "better" choice because of his high Atk compared to many other Red Tome units and being easy to merge up in a few months... but that's the boring option, and I honestly have no strong desire to merge him up anyway.

I think it is pretty decent, since you can turn any unit into a Blazing nuke with Time's Pulse and Quickend Pulse. I lean towards Sanaki since she can run Special Spiral and she got the highest Atk out of those three.

Hopefully really old units get a second Refine. Arcane Weapons can only do so much, and it certainly does not fix poor stat distribution. Even if Leo gets unconditional omnibreaker, first hit damage reduction, and true damage, he would just be barely usable. To make him standout, he should regain his Weapon's original effect and upgrade it to Gravity staff, and give him Firesweep too.

Edited June 7, 2023 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

11 hours ago, Xenomata said:

I have a single copy of Arcane Eclipse right now, and before I use it on a unit who has been left behind by the meta so to speak (still deciding between Anamnesis Eirika, Sanaki, or Leo) I wanted to ask, what is the general consensus on Arcane Eclipse as an Arcane weapon? It honestly seems like one of the "worser" Arcane weapons given it only provides a few in-combat bonuses and one effect that's more situational, but the Quickened Pulse effect looks nice to have on any unit, it's the only inheritable tome with the Slaying effect, and there's plenty of red tome units with useless Prf weapons that Arc.Eclipse improves (Anamnesis Eirika, Leo, and Sanaki for instance...)

Worth mentioning as well, I know Groom Robin would technically be the "better" choice because of his high Atk compared to many other Red Tome units and being easy to merge up in a few months... but that's the boring option, and I honestly have no strong desire to merge him up anyway.

Arcane Eclipse is really good on infantry since it enables you to run any of Blazing Wind (or any other AoE Special), Astra, or Dragon Fang on any red tome infantry unit, and you don't even need the Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal if you have a teammate with Infantry Pulse. Lilina and Sanaki are currently the two best infantry units for it, even if you don't have their Resplendent outfits.

Henriette is also a good pick because even if she doesn't really get that much value out of the Quickened Pulse effect, getting a guaranteed follow-up on her weapon opens up her B slot to run Special Fighter 4, which is a massive upgrade over the other available options. Special Fighter 4's healing effect makes up for losing healing from her default weapon, and combining it with the Slaying effect from Arcane Eclipse, it allows her to land Armored Floe (or Armored Beacon) on every counterattack if the opponent doesn't have Guard or Tempo.

Cavalry and fliers don't really have any real synergies with Arcane Eclipse, but the fact that it's the only inheritable red tome with the Slaying effect and that it grants +5 to all stats and a guaranteed follow-up is already more than enough to make it worth running over other inheritable options. Groom Robin is by far the best pick of the cavalry options due to his gigantic Atk stat. There's really no reason to give it to any other cavalry unit right now outside of favoritism (or if you have twice as many copies of Ophelia as units that want her weapon, like me). Fluffy Hat Julia is the best option out of the fliers, but she's probably the least impactful option on this list.

 

The biggest downside of giving Arcane Eclipse to non-infantry units is the fact that you have fewer options for other skills to inherit with it, or at least the good options are harder to get a copy of for duplication. Cavalry and fliers generally want Remote Mirror (possibly Remote Sparrow later if we ever get any faster units without exclusive weapons, but for the time being, all of the options want Remote Mirror) and Def/Res Smoke, which at the very least are possible to get on Ophelia. Armors don't really have any good options that can be put on Ophelia other than Distant Def, which Henriette already has and is low in demand enough and not so rare that it needs duplication, so you're basically using Ophelia for just her weapon.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Flying Shogi]

Is Silque currently the best unit to reset the enemy's cooldown and inflict Guard outside of Mia that debuted with the staff? I only use her in RS but a part of me wants a faster unit(basically her but faster) so they can quad attack after the team is granted the Triangle Attack/Dual Strike status. I did free pull a Hei∂r and could probably try out double Breath of Life on her.   

[DefyingFates]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:20 AM, Ice Dragon said:

If you aren't restricted by resources, you want something like this:

Lumera [+Spd]
Monarch Blade
[Assist]
Ruptured Sky / Vital Astra
Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Surge Sparrow / Distant A/S Solo / Atk/Spd Hexblade
[Tier-4 Dodge skill] / Velocity 3 / Spd/Def Tempo 3
Atk/Spd Oath 4
[Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd]

If you're prioritizing score, you should run a tier-4 Dodge skill in the B slot. If you're running Reposition instead of a 400-SP Assist skill, you can run a 240-SP B skill without any additional penalty to your score if you can afford losing the Phantom Spd effect to match opponents with the tier-4 Dodge skills.

Alear's Spd Smoke 4 is okay for the C slot for general use, but because it doesn't affect the first round of combat on each turn, it's generally less useful in the Arena where usually either you're baiting out one unit at a time or the AI will Rally up one unit and send them at you solo. Atk Smoke and Spd Smoke are more useful in game modes where you can park your unit in front of the opponent and tank multiple rounds of combat in a single turn. On the other hand, Def/Res Smoke is potentially optimal in the Arena if you're running a hyper-offensive team since Pathfinder benefits your teammates' mobility.

Thanks for the build! I got a second F!F!Byleth so can get Lumera those A and B Skills, as well as Ruptured Sky from og!M!Byleth. Are there any alternative options for a C Skill she'd like to have other than those?

Also, is Vital Astra better for her than RS? I know she'll be a better Spd tank, but how does that affect her overall performance?

Thanks again, Ice and everyone!

[Humanoid]

Byleth is an absolute inheritance goldmine so you absolutely should engineer the triple inheritance of Distant A/S Solo, Close Call 4 and Time's Pulse 4. Takes both Ruptured Sky and Vital Astra down to 1 CD. Vital Astra is generally better with these new speed-crept units.

 

On review I'm kind of sad I didn't get Byleth during my run to spark Maria, I'm still procrastinating on building Hans. However, a little food for thought is that Spurn 4 apparently already exists in the games files and may appear on a unit soon. That would pair up nicely with Ascended Mareeta's fodder, as you'd then pass Vital Astra + Spurn 3 from her, and then hopefully Spurn 4 plus some other nice goodies from the new unit.

[Ice Dragon]

4 hours ago, Flying Shogi said:

Is Silque currently the best unit to reset the enemy's cooldown and inflict Guard outside of Mia that debuted with the staff? I only use her in RS but a part of me wants a faster unit(basically her but faster) so they can quad attack after the team is granted the Triangle Attack/Dual Strike status. I did free pull a Hei∂r and could probably try out double Breath of Life on her.   

Yes. Silque's weapon is kind of insane, being Melancholy, Fear, Slow, Drive Def, Drive Res, and Drive Mystic Boost all rolled into one weapon.

If you're looking for an offensive combat unit with just the Melancholy effect, you're looking for Fluffy Hat Nanna with Melancholy+ or Witchy Wand+ if you only include units without an exclusive weapon or one of Duo Elise, Ascended Elincia, or Fallen Maria with Melancholy+ or Witchy Wand+ if you don't mind replacing their default exclusive weapons.

Personally, if you're already comfortably hitting max score in Rokkr Sieges, there isn't really a reason to switch out Silque for a faster unit just so that they can hit 4 times instead of 2. Dealing damage is the job of the other units.

As far as Rokkr Siege staff support, I think the best build for the job right now is

Silque [+Atk / +Spd]
Staff of Lilies [unique]
Recover+
Holy Pressure / [Heavenly Light]
Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Ideal 4
Dazzling Shift / [Dazzling Staff 3]
Def/Res Menace
[any C skill that boosts allies' Atk and/or Spd]

Time's Pulse 4 can be run instead of Def/Res Menace (with Def/Res Menace moved to a different unit) if you're doing something like running Harmonized Catria + Thorr so that Silque can activate Holy Pressure every round of combat.

 

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Thanks for the build! I got a second F!F!Byleth so can get Lumera those A and B Skills, as well as Ruptured Sky from og!M!Byleth. Are there any alternative options for a C Skill she'd like to have other than those?

Time's Pulse 4 is the only competitive alternative, as it lowers her cooldown from 2 to 1 after each round of combat, but you're giving up +6 Atk/Spd from visible bonuses (which can be made up for with team support) and +3 Atk/Spd from in-combat bonuses (which cannot).

If you're willing to wait for Velocity 4 to be released, there's little reason to run Time's Pulse 4 unless the opponent cannot counterattack and you absolutely need the Special to go off. The main use of Time's Pulse 4 is to get a Special fully charged for the start of the next round of combat, so it loses a significant chunk of its value if the unit doesn't have the Slaying effect on their weapon.

If you're using Fallen Byleth as fodder, though, there's very little reason to not at least try to get Time's Pulse 4 at the same time as her other premium skills.

 

3 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Also, is Vital Astra better for her than RS? I know she'll be a better Spd tank, but how does that affect her overall performance?

It depends. Vital Astra deals more consistent damage and grants occasional additional damage reduction, but Ruptured Sky is usually not far behind in damage against human opponents and is quite a bit stronger against non-human opponents.

Vital Astra is only strictly better than Ruptured Sky if you can guarantee it will be fully charged at the start of combat. If you can't, then they're pretty much even, and it's up to personal preference.

[Flying Shogi]

On 6/10/2023 at 11:35 PM, Ice Dragon said:

Personally, if you're already comfortably hitting max score in Rokkr Sieges, there isn't really a reason to switch out Silque for a faster unit just so that they can hit 4 times instead of 2. Dealing damage is the job of the other units.

As far as Rokkr Siege staff support, I think the best build for the job right now is

Silque [+Atk / +Spd]
Staff of Lilies [unique]
Recover+
Holy Pressure / [Heavenly Light]
Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Ideal 4
Dazzling Shift / [Dazzling Staff 3]
Def/Res Menace
[any C skill that boosts allies' Atk and/or Spd]

Time's Pulse 4 can be run instead of Def/Res Menace (with Def/Res Menace moved to a different unit) if you're doing something like running Harmonized Catria + Thorr so that Silque can activate Holy Pressure every round of combat.

Thinking back, I have been able to achieve max score ever since I pulled Catria. The times where I didn't were mostly due to sloppy playing/poor positioning that failed to meet Triangle Attack's condition. I do have the listed units so I can try it out the next time the game mode returns. The build definitely looks interesting. Will have to keep an eye out for her whenever it's her turn in HoF.  

Edited June 16, 2023 by Flying Shogi

[Ice Dragon]

38 minutes ago, Flying Shogi said:

Thinking back, I have been able to achieve max score ever since I've pulled Catria. The times where I didn't were mostly due to sloppy playing/poor positioning that failed to meet Triangle Attack's condition. I do have the listed units so I can try it out the next time the game mode returns. The build definitely looks interesting. Will have to keep an eye out for her whenever it's her turn in HoF.  

For some more elaboration on the build:

Recover is there because it's the best healing staff Assist, and you typically don't want the movement staff Assist skills in Rokkr Sieges since you're usually going to be stationary. For general use and skills to get from Hall of Forms, you probably want to get Return.

Holy Pressure is currently the most useful staff Special for Rokkr Sieges because it inflicts Gravity and makes it harder for cavalry bosses to run around so that you don't have to chase them every time they move somewhere weird to attack you from.

Silque already has Wrathful Staff on her weapon, so you want to get a tier-4 Dazzling Staff skill in the B slot. Dazzling Shift is currently the only one, and it will probably remain the best even after new ones are added since it grants teleportation, which is typically going to be more useful than any combat effect.

Def/Res Menace is there specifically to inflict penalties to Def/Res on the boss. Even if you swap it out for Time's Pulse 4, you probably still want Def/Res Menace on at least one unit on the team in order to have the penalties still active. If you know you're only using physical or only using magical units for damage output, though, you can pass up on the other defensive stat and instead have Atk or Spd be the second Menace stat.

[Flying Shogi]

18 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Def/Res Menace is there specifically to inflict penalties to Def/Res on the boss. Even if you swap it out for Time's Pulse 4, you probably still want Def/Res Menace on at least one unit on the team in order to have the penalties still active. If you know you're only using physical or only using magical units for damage output, though, you can pass up on the other defensive stat and instead have Atk or Spd be the second Menace stat.

Would the C skill recommendation change much if I run Savior units? The team I field for RS consists of 4 Legendary Heroes but they serve as backpacks, one for each Savior unit, one for Catria, and one for Silque. I run Savior units to draw in attacks during enemy phase so I can focus on dealing damage to the boss during player phase.

[Ice Dragon]

14 hours ago, Flying Shogi said:

Would the C skill recommendation change much if I run Savior units? The team I field for RS consists of 4 Legendary Heroes but they serve as backpacks, one for each Savior unit, one for Catria, and one for Silque. I run Savior units to draw in attacks during enemy phase so I can focus on dealing damage to the boss during player phase.

Def/Res Menace is there for the penalties that it inflicts on the boss to increase your damage output (not the defensive bonuses), and it's the best skill for the job that activates at the start of the turn. Savior won't change that.

The alternative is to run Seal Def 4 and/or Seal Res 4 depending on your team's damage types, which won't activate at the start of the turn, but is still active on the first round of combat, so you don't lose out on the extra damage. However, Silque doesn't have access to Seal skills due to being a staff unit, so this has to go on your attacker(s).

The alternatives for Def/Res Menace on Silque if you're running Seal Def 4 and/or Seal Res 4 on your attacker(s) are Joint Drive Atk and Hone Atk 4.

And as mentioned previously, any other */Def Menace or */Res Menace can be used if your damage output units only have one damage type.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Did they ever do the thing where you pull a unit, you get their star rating, but suddenly there's a flash and it was Xane in a disguise? What a prankster.

[Othin]

I'd like to use the Hall of Forms to get Atk/Res Finish on Legendary Julia, but it hasn't shown up yet. How do the other contenders compare? In particular, right now I'm at the point of having to choose between Atk/Res Ideal 4 and Atk/Spd Finish 4.

(The rest of the current build I have is Virtuous Naga +Eff, Rally Atk/Spd+, Ruptured Sky, Escape Route 4, and Atk/Res Oath 4.)

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Othin said:

I'd like to use the Hall of Forms to get Atk/Res Finish on Legendary Julia, but it hasn't shown up yet. How do the other contenders compare? In particular, right now I'm at the point of having to choose between Atk/Res Ideal 4 and Atk/Spd Finish 4.

(The rest of the current build I have is Virtuous Naga +Eff, Rally Atk/Spd+, Ruptured Sky, Escape Route 4, and Atk/Res Oath 4.)

Atk/Spd Finish is strictly better in terms of damage and general sustain. The Spd can help double units with middling Spd that have follow-up prevention.

Atk/Res Ideal gives her a better match-up against bulky dragons by making it less likely that her Dragon Wall effect is blocked while simultaneously giving her more Res to straight-up tank hits.

Atk/Spd Finish is better for general use. Atk/Res Ideal is better against bulky magic units and dragons.