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

[Alastor15243]

21 hours ago, XRay said:

In my opinion, full pony teams are less powerful than semi pony teams since there are currently no pony Dancers/Singers. Player Phase units really need that Dance/Sing support as a defense mechanism to get out of enemy range.

Since you have BH!Lyn, I would replace NYOFAI!Laevatein with her. BH!Lyn is better in my opinion since she offers physical damage to take out Res tanks/walls who may give your mage cavalry trouble. She also has access to Reposition which NYOFAI!Laevatein lacks, which means BH!Lyn can go a little deeper into enemy range while still being able to back out and Reposition her Dance/Sing ally out of enemy range.

You can try VL!Ike, Fjorm, Dorcas, and Loki to emulate your armor team. The team is far more mobile, but they do lag quite behind in bulk compared to armor units, and VL!Ike and Dorcas are particularly vulnerable to mages. The higher mobility might not always be useful either since Enemy Phase teams might not need that much mobility in the first place, but the mobility is useful on some maps to get to defensive tiles before the enemy. Loki is there to provide sustainability as well as providing a source of magic damage in case you encounter a Def wall and need a magical unit to punch through; she also somewhat helps reduce the mobility of ranged foes with Thökk so you have more time to prepare.

If you have access to Special Spiral, you can give that to Ophelia and give her Hardy Bearing Sacred Seal; I would also swap out Blazing Light for Blazing Wind for more efficient area coverage, but I do not think that matters too much and it is more down to personal preference. You can then pair her with Tharja and A!Azura to get Ophelia's Blazing Light/Wind ready at the start of turn 1. For physical damage coverage, I recommend using an offensive archer, so you can try Jeorge or BH!Lyn. In the 3*/4* pool, you also have Klein and Leon as additional options.

This wound up working excellently, thanks! Now I'm working on improving them with some skill inheritance.

I'm in the process of giving buff C skills to my mage team so that Tharja can use her prf blade tome (and also because literally none of them have C skills inherently, so might as well). The issue is that whoever gets the skill is the one who won't get to benefit from it, so I'm trying to decide which buffs to give to who based on who on my team needs that stat the least.

I gave Ophelia Hone Atk 3 Because I reasoned that her insta-charging AOE nuke has her pretty damned covered in terms of offensive contributions to the team, and if there's anyone who'd be least impacted by an attack buff, It'd probably be her. But I'm debating who to give the remaining ones to. I have plenty of 4 star units with which to pass down the level 3 hone and fortify skills for Atk, Def, Res and Spd, so it's just a question of deciding which to put where. As a reminder, I've got Tharja, Ophelia, Young Azura and Jeorge on this team.

Oh, speaking of archers, I've heard good things about the firesweep bow, but not about Faye herself. Is it a good idea to fodder off her bow to another archer? I was thinking Lyn since her team doesn't have a healer and minimizing unavoidable damage is probably a good idea, but I'm not sure.

[Rhubarb]

Hey SF, back for another quick question:

I have pulled two Kadens: a + spd  / - hp and a + atk / - res. I figured I'd merge them to get rid of the flaw, but I can't decide between atk or speed. His prf requires visible buffs to really shine, which means his speed would be buffed often as well, but situations between have me worried about doubles. On the other hand, I'd like him to have some amount of bite.

Thanks!

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

I'm in the process of giving buff C skills to my mage team so that Tharja can use her prf blade tome (and also because literally none of them have C skills inherently, so might as well). The issue is that whoever gets the skill is the one who won't get to benefit from it, so I'm trying to decide which buffs to give to who based on who on my team needs that stat the least.

I gave Ophelia Hone Atk 3 Because I reasoned that her insta-charging AOE nuke has her pretty damned covered in terms of offensive contributions to the team, and if there's anyone who'd be least impacted by an attack buff, It'd probably be her. But I'm debating who to give the remaining ones to. I have plenty of 4 star units with which to pass down the level 3 hone and fortify skills for Atk, Def, Res and Spd, so it's just a question of deciding which to put where. As a reminder, I've got Tharja, Ophelia, Young Azura and Jeorge on this team.

You want Hone Atk and Hone Spd on A!Azura's C slot and Sacred Seal Slot. As a Singer, she does not need that much buffs since she would not be seeing much combat. The buffs on Ophelia does not matter too much, but you can give Ophelia Fortify Def or Fortify Res, and have the archer give the other Fortify so Tharja can receive 4/4/4/4.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh, speaking of archers, I've heard good things about the firesweep bow, but not about Faye herself. Is it a good idea to fodder off her bow to another archer? I was thinking Lyn since her team doesn't have a healer and minimizing unavoidable damage is probably a good idea, but I'm not sure.

Yes, you want to want to fodder Faye to another archer. I recommend waiting until March to fodder her so you can get grab more skills from her. You want to get Firesweep Bow and Wings of Mercy from her.

You can use two Fredericks to give the archer Luna, Fortify Def 3, and Wings of Mercy 2, and have Faye give Firesweep Bow, Wings of Mercy 3, and whatever else you want from Faye.

As for which archer you want to give it to, I would go with BH!Lyn since she seems like the best archer you have at the moment. This is how I would personally prioritize Firesweep Bow if you have every archer:
ASS!Takumi > WOF!Hinoka > TOD!Jakob > BH!Lyn > BB!Cordelia > NYOFAI!Fjorm > Nina > SA!Noire > Innes > YS!Gaius > GA!Lucina > TLB!Niles > Takumi > Klein/Jeorge > Clarisse > LOTW!Lyn

1 hour ago, Rhubarb said:

Hey SF, back for another quick question:

I have pulled two Kadens: a + spd  / - hp and a + atk / - res. I figured I'd merge them to get rid of the flaw, but I can't decide between atk or speed. His prf requires visible buffs to really shine, which means his speed would be buffed often as well, but situations between have me worried about doubles. On the other hand, I'd like him to have some amount of bite.

Thanks!

I would go with +Spd so he can more reliably double. His Weapon's non-transformation effect does not give himself any buffs, the effect buffs his allies.

Edited February 21, 2019 by XRay

[Mau]

So I got a -Spd, +Def Hostile Spring Hinoka and was wondering if anyone has a good/fun build for her that isn't the usual Fury/Desperation? Not only cause it's a bit boring to have that build on almost all my fliers, but Desperation fodder is also extremely rare for me so I simply don't have it.

Planning to put her on a flier team, and I would prefer to keep her own dagger, cause dragon killing seems very useful. I know Ouch Pouch+ is recommended for her but I'd rather use those HS!Camillas for Hone Fliers. Other dagger weapons I have available are The Cleaner+, Goodie Boot+, and all the ones from 4* units.

So any ideas?

Edited February 22, 2019 by Mau

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Mau said:

So I got a -Spd, +Def Hostile Spring Hinoka and was wondering if anyone has a good/fun build for her that isn't the usual Fury/Desperation? Not only cause it's a bit boring to have that build on almost all my fliers, but Desperation fodder is also extremely rare for me so I simply don't have it.

Planning to put her on a flier team, and I would prefer to keep her own dagger, cause dragon killing seems very useful. I know Ouch Pouch+ is recommended for her but I'd rather use those HS!Camillas for Hone Fliers. Other dagger weapons I have available are The Cleaner+, Goodie Boot+, and all the ones from 4* units.

So any ideas?

Barb Shuriken [Spd]
Reposition
Moonbow
(Any A that boosts Atk/Spd)
Desperation
(Any C)
Atk/Spd - Darting Blow
That is the standard build for optimal performance. Unless you know what your are doing, I do not recommend Ouch Pouch; it is good for first round combat, but it loses a lot of steam and pretty much sucks after that.

If you want to keep Splashy Bucket and are on a budget, you can turn her into a one shot dragon counter, but she will have crap performance against everyone else.
Splashy Bucket [Atk]
(Any Assist)
Glimmer
Death Blow — Life and Death
(Any B)
(Any C)
Attack +3

There is also the Triangle Adept build for Arena Assault.
(Any Weapon)
(Any Assist)
Glimmer
Triangle Adept
Quick Riposte
(Any C)
(Any Sacred Seal)

Edited February 22, 2019 by XRay

[Xenomata]

Okay odd question, but hear me out.

How do others generally go about picking their units and battling in Arena Assault? And do you try to remember to use items, or remember at all?

For instance, even if you have 4-5 TA3 units, or 2 or 3 Armor killers from each color, or 4 Dragon killers (colors optional), or whatever other counters one would need, do you actively try to use them in addition to your strongest units, or do you wind up not using them all because "I might need them later"? Do you try to pick units based on the map, so maybe avoiding too many cavs on maps with lots of Trenches or Forests, or does brute forcing through map conditions work better for you? And do you try to keep team comps in mind, such as Ally Supports or Flier Emblem and all that, or do you simply field units by who is needed and when? Bonus, do you try to keep a Dancer/Healer on every team?

And then the actual battle comes round. How do you go about engaging the enemy? Do you dance around the map waiting for the AI to make that one dumb move that costs them an essential unit (such as a Dancer going in for an attack)? Do you try to AI manipulate through battles, or do you not bother/don't know how to? Do you try to use Field and Combat buffs as well as other stat bonuses in gaining an advantage, or does it all come from the units own stats and skills? And lastly, do you try to engage in combat strategically (funneling units or using Defensive terrain, strictly using a defensive unit for defense and vice versa, etc.), or is it all raw and true combat as it happens? Another bonus, generally speaking do all of your fielded units wind up having a role in battle, so out of 3 fighters and 1 healer do each of the fighters experience combat and the healer keeps them each healed properly, or perhaps the healer nukes the world while the 3 fighters wind up just Repositioning the healing nuke around?

And one last bonus: in a general Arena Assault week, do you manage to get through on the first run, or do slight hiccups happen that cost you the entire run?

...well that has to be the weirdest question I ever asked.

[tapwater]

Not sure if this was asked before but I'm not bothered to go through all of the 603 pages.

Mixed tactics teams?

I know what emblem teams are and the such, but I'm still rather confused with what mixed teams are? What's the structure like? One unit with tactics and only two infantry and what's the fourth unit? Tactics is good for bladetomes, right? I also hear something about guidance? Anyways, what's a good example of a mixed team? Thanks!

[Mau]

@XRay Thanks for the multiple suggestions, helps me out a lot! :D

[Landmaster]

Got this build for Keaton going so far~ Any suggestions, maybe for the Seal, Special, etc? I know Heavy Blade's not the most optimal synergy with Draconic Aura and Special Spiral, but it does kind of have a place on EP so he can take a hit to recharge the Special Spiral infinitely, as long as he's not tanking too many magic hits.

And I do have Vantage on him, in case anyone wants to bring up the Swordhardt strats~

41 minutes ago, leocanta said:

Not sure if this was asked before but I'm not bothered to go through all of the 603 pages.

Mixed tactics teams?

I know what emblem teams are and the such, but I'm still rather confused with what mixed teams are? What's the structure like? One unit with tactics and only two infantry and what's the fourth unit? Tactics is good for bladetomes, right? I also hear something about guidance? Anyways, what's a good example of a mixed team? Thanks!

Mixed teams are teams that combine Movement types. So two or less of any particular Movement type because Tactics don't work if you have 3 units of the same Mov type.

EX: Two Fliers, one Horse, one Armor~ Or one Infantry, two Horses, and one Flier. Or one of each (armor, horse, flier, infantry). But you can't do, 3 Horses and an Infantry or 3 Armors and a Flier. Must be two at the maximum of a Movement type.

Because of this set up, they can all run Tactics and give each other buffs and they're guaranteed to work and you can spread them accordingly on your units.

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

3 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Got this build for Keaton going so far~ Any suggestions, maybe for the Seal, Special, etc? I know Heavy Blade's not the most optimal synergy with Draconic Aura and Special Spiral, but it does kind of have a place on EP so he can take a hit to recharge the Special Spiral infinitely, as long as he's not tanking too many magic hits.

Bonfire might be better in this set, since it deals more damage than Draconic Aura with those stats. Also, you may as well put Heavy Blade on the priority list on upgrading seals, even with Atk Smoke.

A fun idea is to get someone to shove or smite Keaton into the fray (this seems like a set ideal for that) with a Link skill (Atk/Res might be best).

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

How do others generally go about picking their units and battling in Arena Assault?

I run Blessed teams that consists of Blessed Firesweep nuke, Blessed Dancer/Singer, and 2 other Blessed units/Legendary Heroes that varies.

Most of my Blessed units are ranged Player Phase nukes and Dancers/Singers with a handful of Enemy Phase units. I have all 20 Dancers/Singers and I invested a lot in Firesweep nukes since that is my preferred play style, so I do not have to worry about picking hard counters.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

And do you try to remember to use items, or remember at all?

I try to remember to use them, but I do not think I remember to ever use them except maybe once or twice.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

For instance, even if you have 4-5 TA3 units, or 2 or 3 Armor killers from each color, or 4 Dragon killers (colors optional), or whatever other counters one would need, do you actively try to use them in addition to your strongest units, or do you wind up not using them all because "I might need them later"?

Before the scoring update, I tried to use use my counters as soon as possible since I built so many of them, and there is no point in saving them since I already had preset Player Phase teams for Teams 5-7. A lot of my dragon counters are also just high Res units with Glimmer-Gem Weapons-Quick Riposte rather than Falchion and Naga users, and they can still generally function against non-dragon foes similar to my regular Triangle Adept units.

Ever since they implemented the Blessed unit scoring update, I slowly phased out my Triangle Adept units and now I do not use them anymore.

I use my Firesweep healers first before I use my Firesweep archers since Firesweep archers have Reposition and are easier to use, so I try to save them for more difficult teams.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Do you try to pick units based on the map, so maybe avoiding too many cavs on maps with lots of Trenches or Forests, or does brute forcing through map conditions work better for you?

Before the Blessed scoring update, I just brute force it since my counters have a huge stat advantage over the enemy due to Triangle Adept, so I am not too worried about maps too much. Since I run mostly Firesweep nukes now, most maps allow me to take my time and Firesweep the foes if they did not already die to my other units.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

And do you try to keep team comps in mind, such as Ally Supports or Flier Emblem and all that, or do you simply field units by who is needed and when?

I just field whatever is needed. I think the only except is my VS!Azura-NYOFAI!Fjorm pair since their teammates cannot be fliers in order for VS!Azura to buff NYOFAI!Fjorm.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Bonus, do you try to keep a Dancer/Healer on every team?

Yeah, half my teams now are just Firesweep healer with Dancers/Singers.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

And then the actual battle comes round. How do you go about engaging the enemy? Do you dance around the map waiting for the AI to make that one dumb move that costs them an essential unit (such as a Dancer going in for an attack)? Do you try to AI manipulate through battles, or do you not bother/don't know how to?

Before the Blessed scoring update, I generally use my Triangle Adept units as Enemy Phase units, but I use them as Player Phase units against Bold Fighter armor units. Team 7 was my Arena team and Teams 5 and 6 are modeled after my Arena team, so I generally wait for the enemy to make a mistake before nuking them but I can also nuke them first if they do not move much.

Now, all my teams have Firesweep nukes and Dancers/Singers, so they still play pretty similarly to my Arena team. I play them a lot less aggressively though since I do not have enough regular nukes built up, so the teammates sometimes are Blessed melee units so I play more cautiously and initiate a lot less.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Do you try to use Field and Combat buffs as well as other stat bonuses in gaining an advantage, or does it all come from the units own stats and skills?

Before the Blessed scoring update, I generally do not bother buffing my counters. My preset teams did use bonus buffs though.

Now, all my Dancers/Singers provide at least Hone Atk buffs to my Firesweep nukes.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

And lastly, do you try to engage in combat strategically (funneling units or using Defensive terrain, strictly using a defensive unit for defense and vice versa, etc.), or is it all raw and true combat as it happens?

It is generally just combat as it happens. My counters and nukes do not care whether the enemy is sitting on a defensive tile or not.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Another bonus, generally speaking do all of your fielded units wind up having a role in battle, so out of 3 fighters and 1 healer do each of the fighters experience combat and the healer keeps them each healed properly, or perhaps the healer nukes the world while the 3 fighters wind up just Repositioning the healing nuke around?

Yes. All my teams have at least one Dancer/Singer and one nuke, with the other two varying depending on the enemy, but if they are not counters, then they are strictly Player Phase or Enemy Phase units.

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

And one last bonus: in a general Arena Assault week, do you manage to get through on the first run, or do slight hiccups happen that cost you the entire run?

Before the Blessed scoring update, it is mostly just fishing for an easy enemy team for my Team 1 armor team; I am not a great Enemy Phase player so I spam surrender a lot. But once I beat my first battle, Teams 2-7 generally had no hiccups.

Now, there are some occasional hiccups for Teams 2-7 since I do not have enough Blessed regular nukes to be aggressive when I need to.

55 minutes ago, leocanta said:

Not sure if this was asked before but I'm not bothered to go through all of the 603 pages.

Mixed tactics teams?

I know what emblem teams are and the such, but I'm still rather confused with what mixed teams are? What's the structure like? One unit with tactics and only two infantry and what's the fourth unit? Tactics is good for bladetomes, right? I also hear something about guidance? Anyways, what's a good example of a mixed team? Thanks!

Mixed teams are basically any teams that are not emblem teams. Mixed teams have no set structure beyond not being emblem teams. Mixed team is just a term that describes a team's movement type composition.

Tactics teams are a type of mixed teams where the intended buff recipients do not share their movement type with more than one unit. For example, I would still consider a team that consists of two Player Phase ranged ponies and four infantry Dancers/Singers a Tactics team since the intended recipients (the two ponies) do not share their movement type with more than one unit. Likewise, there is no set structure beyond the intended recipients not numbering more than 2 of the same movement type.

Mixed teams that run Guidance have a flier with that skill to increase the team's mobility.

Tactics teams are good for infantry Blade mages. Flying Blade mages prefer full flier teams. Pony Blade mages want flying Dancers/Singers but infantry ones work fine too, but it does not have to be a Tactics team since Hone Cavalry is much easier to use.

My favorite mixed team consists of:
TOD!Jakob (Firesweep Bow, Bold Fighter, Armor Boots)
Flying Dancer/Singer
Flying Blade mage or flying Firesweep archer
Infantry/cavalry Blade mage or infantry/cavalry Firesweep archer

Edited February 22, 2019 by XRay

[Landmaster]

1 minute ago, Azure in a Roundabout said:

Bonfire might be better in this set, since it deals more damage than Draconic Aura with those stats. Also, you may as well put Heavy Blade on the priority list on upgrading seals, even with Atk Smoke.

A fun idea is to get someone to shove or smite Keaton into the fray (this seems like a set ideal for that) with a Link skill (Atk/Res might be best).

Oh sorry, I did upgrade the Seal, just took the screenshot before I did, haha~ I did think Bonfire might be a better option so I did inherit it on him~

Link Skill set-up is an interesting idea, too~ I may have to consider that~ Thanks for the suggestions!

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

3 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Oh sorry, I did upgrade the Seal, just took the screenshot before I did, haha~ I did think Bonfire might be a better option so I did inherit it on him~

Link Skill set-up is an interesting idea, too~ I may have to consider that~ Thanks for the suggestions!

No prob.

[XRay]

17 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Got this build for Keaton going so far~ Any suggestions, maybe for the Seal, Special, etc? I know Heavy Blade's not the most optimal synergy with Draconic Aura and Special Spiral, but it does kind of have a place on EP so he can take a hit to recharge the Special Spiral infinitely, as long as he's not tanking too many magic hits.

Keaton cannot take magic hits well, so I would not bother with Distant Counter unless you put Vantage on him. If he got Res buffs, he can withstand Nino buffed with 6/6/6/6 and counter kill her. Lewyn unbuffed can still blow buffed Keaton away since Lewyn got instant Desperation.

Flora is not too common, but she can kill buffed Keaton without buffs herself if she runs Bonfire-Sturdy Impact.

Distant Counter without Vantage means he is only effective against Brave Bow archers and green mages. Even against green mages, his low Res means that he will be crippled afterwards.

50 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

And I do have Vantage on him, in case anyone wants to bring up the Swordhardt strats~

I will just quote myself from another thread. The build is in the Challenger List. You can plug the whole list into the calculator too if you curious about how well it performs compared to others. It outperformed Laevatein by 1 kill if I remember corrrectly, so that is pretty impressive. I set Vantage units to 1 HP when I test them.

7 hours ago, XRay said:

Counter-Vantage units at 5*+0 needs a unit to constantly reach at least 75+ Atk in some way, shape, or form against non-armor, non-merged enemies. Effie can hit 78 Atk, but her damage output is pretty much capped; she can go up to 82 with merges, but that is not really enough against armor units and other merged units.

Here are other high Atk Counter Vantage units for comparison:
Effie 82
Laevatein 100
Keaton 73*2
WOT!Reinhardt 66*2
Ares 97 (97=72Atk+25Bonfire)
A!Camilla 94
Ophelia 95
NS!Elise 93
NYOFAI!Laevatein 83+ (83=59Atk+24PainSavageBlowSavageBlow)
While Pain-Counter-Vantage units do not have super high Atk, their Atk is also the only one that keeps "increasing" over time via additional Pain damage.
Except for NYOFAI!Laevatein, you can squeeze an additional 7 damage out of them against the second initiating foe and beyond if you run Smoke skills.

Challenger List: (Both sides are +10 and have 6/6/6/6 bonus buffs, with Laevatein getting an additional 24/0/0/0 combat buffs to reflect Pain-Savage Blow-Savage Blow damage.)

  Hide contents

CHALLENGER LIST  
Effie (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Reprisal Lance+  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Distant Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
S: Brazen Atk Def 3  
Upgrade Path: 1  
 
Laevatein (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Laevatein  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Distant Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: Odd Spd Wave 3  
S: Brazen Atk Def 3  
 
Keaton (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Wolfskin Fang  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Distant Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: Beast Valor 3  
S: Brazen Atk Def 3  
 
Reinhardt (WT) (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Meisterschwert  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Distant Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: Spur Atk Def 2  
S: Brazen Atk Def 3  
 
Ares (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Dark Mystletainn  
Special: Bonfire  
A: Distant Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
S: Brazen Atk Def 3  
 
Camilla (A) (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Raudrblade+  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Close Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: Goad Fliers  
S: Brazen Atk Res 3  
 
Ophelia (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Blarblade+  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Close Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
S: Brazen Atk Res 3  
 
Elise (Summer) (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Gronnblade+  
Special: Moonbow  
A: Close Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: G Tome Valor 3  
S: Brazen Atk Res 3  
 
Laevatein (NYW) (5*+10 +atk)  
Weapon: Pain+  
Special: Miracle  
A: Close Counter  
B: Vantage 3  
C: Savage Blow 3  
S: Savage Blow 3  
Upgrade Path: 6 

 

13 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Mixed teams are teams that combine Movement types. So two or less of any particular Movement type because Tactics don't work if you have 3 units of the same Mov type.

EX: Two Fliers, one Horse, one Armor~ Or one Infantry, two Horses, and one Flier. Or one of each (armor, horse, flier, infantry). But you can't do, 3 Horses and an Infantry or 3 Armors and a Flier. Must be two at the maximum of a Movement type.

Because of this set up, they can all run Tactics and give each other buffs and they're guaranteed to work and you can spread them accordingly on your units.

Tactics teams do not necessarily have to have two or less movement types on a team. I would still consider a defense team with 2 ponies and 4 infantry Dancers/Singers a Tactics team since the intended recipients are the two ponies, not the Dancers/Singers.

[Landmaster]

3 minutes ago, XRay said:

Keaton cannot take magic hits well, so I would not bother with Distant Counter unless you put Vantage on him. If he got Res buffs, he can withstand Nino buffed with 6/6/6/6 and counter kill her. Lewyn unbuffed can still blow buffed Keaton away since Lewyn got instant Desperation.

Flora is not too common, but she can kill buffed Keaton without buffs herself if she runs Bonfire-Sturdy Impact.

Distant Counter without Vantage means he is only effective against Brave Bow archers and green mages. Even against green mages, his low Res means that he will be crippled afterwards.

I will just quote myself from another thread. The build is in the Challenger List. You can plug the whole list into the calculator too if you curious about how well it performs compared to others. It outperformed Laevatein by 1 kill if I remember corrrectly, so that is pretty impressive. I set Vantage units to 1 HP when I test them.

 

Tactics teams do not necessarily have to have two or less movement types on a team. I would still consider a defense team with 2 ponies and 4 infantry Dancers/Singers a Tactics team since the intended recipients are the two ponies, not the Dancers/Singers.

Thanks for the Suggestions and Calculator, I'll have to be testing that out~ 

And you're right, if you don't intend for the Dancers to be buffed, that's a perfectly valid Tactics Team. I was answering without taking dancers into account (just full blown offense team for the sake of answering the question easier)~

[Ice Dragon]

3 hours ago, Xenomata said:

How do others generally go about picking their units and battling in Arena Assault? And do you try to remember to use items, or remember at all?

I currently have about 8 preset teams that are designed to be solid performance-based Arena offense teams, in other words, each team has few enough weaknesses that they could each function as a fully fledged Arena offense team.

I try to have a mix of different strategies so that the weaknesses of each team are typically covered by most of the other teams. For example, I have 2 pure melee teams and 2 pure ranged teams, 1 pure enemy-phase team and 2 pure player-phase teams. A bit under half of my teams are mixed on both fronts. This way, I have a decent selection where my mixed teams can be used against most opponents, but if I find an opponent with a particular exploitable weakness, I have an answer to it.

One of my teams is my "anchor" team, a team with strong enough match-ups across the board that using the team is an almost guaranteed victory so that I can always count on the team to win the last match of the run. The team in particular is

Eldigan [+Atk] (Mystletainn [unique], Reposition, Ignis, Fury 3, Quick Riposte 3, Hone Cavalry, Heavy Blade 3)
Legendary Ephraim [+Atk] (Flame Siegmund, Reposition, Moonbow, Sturdy Blow 2, Solar Brace, Hone Cavalry)
Titania [+Spd] (Draconic Poleax, Reposition, Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte 3, Hone Cavalry)
Elise [+Atk] (Gravity+ [Dazzling Staff], Recover+, Miracle, Attack +3, Wrathful Staff 3, Hone Cavalry)

As for items, I'm not very good at remembering to use them, so I made sure that all three of my item choices are purely reactive in that they can be used in situations after I realize I had made a player-phase mistake: Special Blade (fully charges all units' Special skills), Dancer's Veil (refreshes one random unit that has already moved), and Fear Charm (inflicts all enemies with Flash).

 

My general strategy for going about Arena Assault is to first try to match one of my preset teams to the enemy team and map. I occasionally have to make substitutions, but it's not that common. The particular map consideration is for maps that heavily favor a specific movement type or strategy, such as the parallel bridges map, which favors fliers.

The only real exception is if I see a team that heavily stacks a single color. In those cases, I'll build an ad hoc team to specifically counter it.

 

My other 6 preset teams look like this, though I'm planning on adding more and updating the existing ones:

Ranged cavalry (pure player phase, pure ranged)

Tome Eirika [+Atk] (Gleipnir, Reposition, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow 2, Axebreaker 3, Hone Cavalry)
Larchel [+Spd] (Ivaldi, Reposition, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow 2, Desperation 3, Hone Cavalry)
Gunnthra [+Spd] (Blizzard, Reposition, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow 2, Chilling Seal, Hone Cavalry, Res Ploy 3)
Brave Lyn [+Atk] (Mulagir, Reposition, Draconic Aura, Swift Sparrow 2, Sacae's Blessing, Hone Cavalry)

Ranged fliers (pure player phase, pure ranged)

Halloween Nowi [+Spd] (Grimoire, Reposition, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow 2, Desperation 3, Hone Fliers)
Summer Corrin (F) [+Spd] (Blarblade+, Reposition, Draconic Aura, Swift Sparrow 2, Desperation 3, Ward Fliers)
Spring Camilla [+Spd] (Gronnblade+, Reposition, Draconic Aura, Fury 3, G Tomebreaker 3, Hone Fliers)
Halloween Mia [+Spd] (Witchy Wand+ [Dazzling Staff], Recover+, Heavenly Light, Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Hone Fliers)

Melee fliers

Laegjarn [+Spd] (Niu, Reposition, Bonfire, R Duel Flying 3, Chill Atk 3, Distant Guard 3)
Cordelia [+Spd] (Firesweep Lance+, Reposition, Luna, Life and Death 3, Hit and Run, Hone Fliers)
Minerva [+Spd] (Hauteclere [unique], Reposition, Bonfire, Life and Death 3, Drag Back, Hone Fliers)
New Year Azura [+Spd] (Hagoita+ [Spd], Sing, Wings of Mercy 3, Hone Fliers)

Dragons

Tiki [+Spd] (Breath of Fog [unique], Reposition, Aether, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte 3, Fortify Dragons)
Nowi [+Atk] (Lightning Breath+ [Def], Reposition, Aether, Triangle Adept 3, Quick Riposte 3, Fortify Dragons)
Fae [+Atk] (Lightning Breath+ [Def], Reposition, Aether, Triangle Adept 3, Quick Riposte 3, Fortify Dragons)
Legendary Robin (F) [+Spd] (Expiration, Reposition, Aether, Dragonskin, Quick Riposte 3, Fortify Dragons)

Armors B team

Zelgius [+Atk] (Alondite, Reposition, Black Luna, Steady Breath, Bold Fighter 3, Armor March 3)
Dark Hardin [+Atk] (Gradivus, Reposition, Aether, Steady Breath, Bold Fighter 3, Armor March 3)
Legendary Hector [+Atk] (Thunder Armads, Reposition, Bonfire, Distant Counter, Vengeful Fighter 3, Ostia's Pulse)
Halloween Jakob [+Atk] (Brave Bow+, Swap, Aether, Death Blow 3, Bold Fighter 3, Ward Armor, Armored Boots)

Lucina-Lyn team

Lucina [+Spd] (Falchion, Reposition, Moonbow, Fury 3, Desperation 3, Spur Atk 3)
Legendary Lucina [+Atk] (Thogn, Future Vision, Luna, Swift Sparrow 2, Guard 3, Distant Guard 3, Flashing Blade 3)
Legendary Lyn [+Spd] (Swift Mulagir, Reposition, Moonbow, Laws of Sacae, Dull Ranged 3, Spd Tactic 3, Distant Def 3)
Bride Lyn [+Spd] (Candlelight+ [Dazzling Staff], Recover+, Heavenly Light, Speed +3, Wrathful Staff 3, Drive Res 2, Drive Def 2)

 

17 minutes ago, XRay said:

Distant Counter without Vantage means he is only effective against Brave Bow archers and green mages. Even against green mages, his low Res means that he will be crippled afterwards.

@Landmaster

Lyn with Mulagir gets increasingly common as you go higher in the Arena before you reach the score range of pure armors and Duel units, and Sacae's Blessing doesn't affect beast units.

[Landmaster]

27 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

@Landmaster

Lyn with Mulagir gets increasingly common as you go higher in the Arena before you reach the score range of pure armors and Duel units, and Sacae's Blessing doesn't affect beast units.

Ah, good to know~ Thanks~

[kirauza343]

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Okay odd question, but hear me out.

How do others generally go about picking their units and battling in Arena Assault? And do you try to remember to use items, or remember at all?

I use a preset group of teams, because I have enough solid units to make a full set of teams capable of handling most things. Currently I lead with a mixed tactics team (Charlotte, F!Olivia, Fae, and S!Tana), then my secondary horse team (Titania, Mathilda, L’Arachel, and Mage!Eirika), dragons (Adult Tiki, Ninian, F!Corrin, and Myrrh), fliers (Summer!Camila, Airzura, Elincia, and F!Grima), Ophelia and her entourage (Green!Olwen, Summer!Micaiah, and Caeda), my primary horse team (Reinhardt, Lyn, Maribelle, and Sigurd), and finally my main team (Celica, Micaiah, Cherche, and Marisa). I need to adjust the order at some point (my flier team should really be later and my starting team needs to be replaced but I’m still working on building the replacement). The idea is starting with my weaker teams so that if I do end up with a lost unit it’s toward the beginning.

I have items equipped but I almost never remember to use them. By the time I do it’s usually too late.

For the battles themselves I usually let them come to me, though most of my teams are player oriented. Better to let the enemy divide themselves so they’re easier to pick off.

Sometimes I get a good run on my first try, sometimes it takes a few. Since replacing one of my older teams with Ophelia’s team though I’m more successful on my first attempts.

[mcsilas]

@Xenomata I just counter each team during the preview, picking a unit with a breaker if there's a problematic unit, and also look at the map (for example if double bridges, I use my fliers for mobility).

Sometimes I do forget to use items but these days I try to remember to use them. The gravity item really helps during sticky situations.

[tapwater]

Question regarding M!Corrin's Yato refine. It says that it gives the buff to supported allies. Does this mean the ally supported with Corrin or allies that have a support with any other character (Support at what rank? Does a random C support rank count)?

[Xenomata]

Hrm... I got a lot of thinking to do on this... thanks @XRay @Ice Dragon @kirauza343 @mcsilas

4 minutes ago, leocanta said:

Question regarding M!Corrin's Yato refine. It says that it gives the buff to supported allies. Does this mean the ally supported with Corrin or allies that have a support with any other character (Support at what rank? Does a random C support rank count)?

Specifically Corrin's support ally. And yes Corrin can trigger Supportive on a C rank, though it is still limited to just the one other unit.

[tapwater]

Oh. So its rather... limited and niche. (and slightly disappointing). Oh well, any recommendations on its use? I quite like the +4!

[mcsilas]

2 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

Hrm... I got a lot of thinking to do on this... thanks @XRay @Ice Dragon @kirauza343 @mcsilas

 

Oh I forgot to mention, part of this is because of how I am is a player. I don't really do merges, so when I have to face against fully merged units in AA, I have to be more precise and exact with my counters in AA so effective-weapons and breakers really help when I do AA.

Also I just want to get it done quick because it can be time consuming when I keep failing

And my item choice is the Gravity Charm thing, the Lightning Charm if I miscalculate and don't do enough damage and the charm that prevents counterattacks because that's always useful.

[Xenomata]

@mcsilas I generally give merges as they come, and only to units I actively use. The only units I've promoted specifically for merges are Soleil and Oboro (and both are 5* +10). This kinda means I have a wild range of power balance between units that aren't 5* +10...

17 minutes ago, leocanta said:

Oh. So its rather... limited and niche. (and slightly disappointing). Oh well, any recommendations on its use? I quite like the +4!

The way I've been using M!Corrin's Supportive is rather... unique is a stretch, but it's about the best way I can describe it.

M!Corrin [+Atk +1 merge] has Special!Yato, Reposition, Dragon Fang, Fury 3, Atk/Def Link 3, Spur Def 3, and Spur Atk 3 SS.

His partner is Chrom [+Atk -Res] with Special!Falchion (Awakening), Swap, Aether, Atk/Def Bond 3, Quick Riposte 3, Spur Def 3, and Atk/Def Bond 3 SS.

Sharing an S rank ally support, Chrom gets in total +22/4/22/4 Combat buffs just from being next to Corrin, with a potential +6 Atk and Def Field Buffs from Atk/Def Link on Corrin. This makes him incredibly bulky and, importantly, STRONG. We're talking 78 Atk from the field buffs alone. QR3 is almost redundant, but there are some Lances he can't quite get the OHKO on. Now he could drop Atk/Def Bond A slot for Distant Counter (17/4/17/4 Combat Buffs), and with the update to SI allowing for 4 inherited skills means I could also use Naesala to give him Null C-Disrupt 3, but this has had amazing results as-is and I'm not about to change it anytime soon.

...but this is slightly niche, because Corrin does have to be next to Chrom at all times, or the whole thing just doesn't work anymore. I do not personally recommend others do this unless you love having a giggle fit the moment an entire team of melee-physical units appears.

...Vantage 3 would be a good fit to, but only if you can take that much damage...

Edited February 23, 2019 by Xenomata

[D4rthNoctis]

So I've been pulling for a few Velouria merges. I picked up a +Def/-Hp copy which is great for a lot of her Bonfire/Ignis builds, though I recently picked up a +Atk asset copy as well.

Running some calcs, +Def seems to operate slightly better on both phases (Buffed or not). Kind of torn which Asset to run with overall here: +Atk or +Def?

Having a similar dilemma with Reyson, though with comparing +Atk vs. +Spd.

All thoughts welcome.