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

[Ice Dragon]

On 5/20/2022 at 12:29 AM, Faellin said:

Going to be planning out my orb budgeting for june shortly.

I already have plans to go for the spark on the mythic banner that month since Ullr is someone I really want. And on the lineup the odd one out for me is Freyja. So my plans for the banner will probably come down to if shes worth pulling for.

Since if I recall, the june new heroes banner is mid point, so were getting an OC tie in (Probably Letizia, with the 3rd green slot going to her as well)

So is Freyja any good as a unit? Probably going to be a tough sell for me regardless since I tend to not like using beast units that much anyways. But atleast her fodder is good with pulse smoke.

Freyja is decent. She's a fast Distant Counter cavalry unit with Dodge on her weapon, which is great for PvE content, especially when noting that she's currently the only green cavalry unit with Distant Counter on a weapon. The cavalry beast transform effect is only active on player phase, so you don't really have to worry about keeping her transformed when using her in PvE

In PvP content, she's more of a player-phase unit since Dodge is inconsistent due to the increasing prevalence of effects that nullify it on ranged units. Despite her decent base Atk and extremely high base Spd, she's still behind the head of the pack in both stats due to the fact that her weapon lacks the usual in-combat stat boost in order to make room for Distant Counter. However, she somewhat makes up for it by offloading the extra stats onto her exclusive B skill, which effectively grants +4 to all stats and steals the opponent's Bonuses (same effect as Legendary Caeda), basically being a stronger version of Lull Spectrum, though the latter effect is really only reliable in the Arena.

Freyja's biggest weakness is the fact that she doesn't really have access to Null Follow-Up or Canto due to her B slot being occupied by her exclusive skill and doesn't have access to stronger Special skills due to her class.

She's definitely worth using, but she isn't a must-have.

[Xenomata]

On 5/4/2022 at 1:52 AM, Ice Dragon said:

I'd personally fodder Rennac.

You're more likely to randomly get another copy of Rennac than Ethlin, and Ethlin at least has a unique niche in being a flying dancer with actual combat performance.

If you're going to fodder Ethlin, it would be better to spend the Divine Codes to fodder the manual instead of foddering a usable unit.

So with Ethlyn being in this months Hall of Forms, does this answer change any, in regards to if I should fodder Rennac or Dancer Ethlyn to Cath for Vicious Dagger/Courtly Fan? Assuming I choose to build and claim her with a Forma Soul, which I am currently planning to (along with Fallen Julia, but not the point)

I can't really say I was anticipating Dancer Ethlyn to be the Colorless rep for this HoF, but I've not been able to act on the answer to this question regardless, so I still have Rennac/extra Dancer Ethlyn/unspent Divine Codes.

[Ice Dragon]

12 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

So with Ethlyn being in this months Hall of Forms, does this answer change any, in regards to if I should fodder Rennac or Dancer Ethlyn to Cath for Vicious Dagger/Courtly Fan? Assuming I choose to build and claim her with a Forma Soul, which I am currently planning to (along with Fallen Julia, but not the point)

I can't really say I was anticipating Dancer Ethlyn to be the Colorless rep for this HoF, but I've not been able to act on the answer to this question regardless, so I still have Rennac/extra Dancer Ethlyn/unspent Divine Codes.

I'd still fodder Rennac over Ethlin when building Cath. Unless you absolutely need Rennac for maps with a Sacred Stones restriction, Cath is literally just a better Rennac, so you aren't really losing anything by foddering your only Rennac.

A potential merge on Ethlin is worth more than a "duplicate" Cath that's harder to merge. The only advantage to using Ethlin as fodder is the fact that you can grab Joint Drive Spd at the same time (since you can't grab all of Windsweep at once), but there are better options for that skill slot now.

However, if you are set on foddering Ethlin, I no longer think it's worth using Divine Codes for the manual unless there are other units you want on that track, and you should just use your spare copy now that you have access to the Forma version.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Ice Dragon

[Xenomata]

36 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'd still fodder Rennac over Ethlin when building Cath. Unless you absolutely need Rennac for maps with a Sacred Stones restriction, Cath is literally just a better Rennac, so you aren't really losing anything by foddering your only Rennac.

A potential merge on Ethlin is worth more than a "duplicate" Cath that's harder to merge. The only advantage to using Ethlin as fodder is the fact that you can grab Joint Drive Spd at the same time (since you can't grab all of Windsweep at once), but there are better options for that skill slot now.

However, if you are set on foddering Ethlin, I no longer think it's worth using Divine Codes for the manual unless there are other units you want on that track, and you should just use your spare copy now that you have access to the Forma version.

I don't think Rennac specifically will do me any good that can't be offered by other SS units, so... Rennac can be foddered safely.

I'm not exactly set on foddering Ethlyn, as stated I couldn't really act on the answer immediately (primarily due to waiting for a Cath with +atk or +spd to appear), but Ethlyn appearing in the HoF kind of put a wrench in my rough plans for Cath...

With Ethlyn appearing though, I'm willing to giver her a chance if I can get good skills on her. Even if I stick to her default Courtly Fan (no reason not to, Atk/Spd +5 and player-NFU are good) I can get her some more premium skills I'd be shyer giving her directly via SI (Lethality, Swift Sparrow 3/Life and Death 4, and Spd/Def Rein come to mind immediately), and if she works out well I'd even be willing to put merges on her.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Xenomata

[Ice Dragon]

Now that I actually have options, thoughts on the Asset for Legendary Caeda?

An Atk Asset is, of course, preferred for a Vantage build, but I'm not entirely convinced that she should be building specifically for Vantage due to how bulky even regular units now are. Caeda running an Atk build hits 97 effective Atk against an opponent with +6 to all stats and 140 effective Atk if the opponent is armor or cavalry. 90 to 100 bulk is pretty typical for melee infantry these days, so that's cutting it really close. Duo Chrom already has 90 physical bulk with only merges and Dragonflowers and no skills equipped, and he easily gets another 5 from his weapon and 3 from Lull Atk/Def 3. Additionally, Windsweep is moderately common, and Legendary Lilina has Hardy Bearing built into her weapon, both of which are hard counters to her Vantage.

The alternative is to run a Spd Asset and use her as a typical Canto unit. Vantage would just be there to finish off an enemy that doesn't die in one round of combat, though I'm a bit skeptical such things exist that don't kill her though her 93 physical bulk on the counterattack.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Ice Dragon

[XRay]

3 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Now that I actually have options, thoughts on the Asset for Legendary Caeda?

An Atk Asset is, of course, preferred for a Vantage build, but I'm not entirely convinced that she should be building specifically for Vantage due to how bulky even regular units now are. Caeda running an Atk build hits 97 effective Atk against an opponent with +6 to all stats and 140 effective Atk if the opponent is armor or cavalry. 90 to 100 bulk is pretty typical for melee infantry these days, so that's cutting it really close. Duo Chrom already has 90 physical bulk with only merges and Dragonflowers and no skills equipped, and he easily gets another 5 from his weapon and 3 from Lull Atk/Def 3. Additionally, Windsweep is moderately common, and Legendary Lilina has Hardy Bearing built into her weapon, both of which are hard counters to her Vantage.

The alternative is to run a Spd Asset and use her as a typical Canto unit. Vantage would just be there to finish off an enemy that doesn't die in one round of combat, though I'm a bit skeptical such things exist that don't kill her though her 93 physical bulk on the counterattack.

You can use her to fight fast foes I guess? That is the only scenario I can think of where she fights a foe but cannot finish them off because both sides cannot double, and then she relies on her Vantage to finish them off during enemy phase. I lean towards +Spd in this scenario.

I do not see her surviving a bulky foe that she could not finish off that she could then rely on her Vantage to finish off, as they tend to run some form of guaranteed follow up on enemy phase, she does not have follow-up denial to cancel it out, and I do not think her bulk can handle being hit twice.

I cannot really think of a good reason to use +Atk since she cannot break walls too well, and Vantage against cavalry is not that helpful if a lot of them can Sweep and she cannot fight back.

Edited May 31, 2022 by XRay

[Rinco]

Planning on picking up Eldigan from HoF. I currently have him with Spirited Spear, is there a better option?

[Ice Dragon]

43 minutes ago, Rinco said:

Planning on picking up Eldigan from HoF. I currently have him with Spirited Spear, is there a better option?

Carrot-Tip Spear for damage. Candy Cane for bulk. Personally, I'd go for Carrot-Tip Spear simply because I'd rather not spend Grails getting it.

If you're being weird and stacking Spd for whatever reason, go for Piercing Tribute.

[Rinco]

5 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Carrot-Tip Spear for damage. Candy Cane for bulk. Personally, I'd go for Carrot-Tip Spear simply because I'd rather not spend Grails getting it.

If you're being weird and stacking Spd for whatever reason, go for Piercing Tribute.

Forgot to add, but I'll be using him mostly for AR-D

[Ice Dragon]

38 minutes ago, Rinco said:

Forgot to add, but I'll be using him mostly for AR-D

Same recommendations.

Also his default weapon, but there's no reason to grab it from Hall of Forms.

[XRay]

This is my Eldigan: Strutting Lion's skill set:
Ninja Naginata
Harsh Command
Ruptured Sky
Surge Sparrow
Flow Guard
Atk/Def Rein (trying to fish for Spd/Def Rein)

Ninja Yari showed up (Spd+4 versus maybe +4 damage), but I am thinking I should stick with Ninja Naginata. He is not going to compete against any unit with any sort of reasonable Spd, so it is not like he is going to quad attack any of them. Against super slow units, they have higher bulk, and I do not see the point of having more Spd against them; while he is not going to outright kill any of them either, he can finish them off using true damage if necessary.

I guess I just want to feel validated for choosing Ninja Naginata instead of Ninja Yari. Is there a reason I should choose Ninja Yari? I have not choosen for sure yet, since I think I will sleep on it and leave my phone on over night, and then choose for sure when morning comes.

I have also thought about using Atk/Spd Bond or Atk/Spd Unity since he is probably sticking with Wings of Mercy most of the time anyways, but I went with Surge Sparrow since it feels more flexible.

Edited June 2, 2022 by XRay

[Xenomata]

1 hour ago, XRay said:

I guess I just want to feel validated for choosing Ninja Naginata instead of Ninja Yari. Is there a reason I should choose Ninja Yari? I have not choosen for sure yet, since I think I will sleep on it and leave my phone on over night, and then choose for sure when morning comes.

The highest I can simulate his Spd getting with max investment, +Spd asset, and without his B slot (where WoM goes) is 53-55 with AScatch 4, SDrein, and either ASbond or ASform in the SS slot, all skills giving their maximum Spd bonuses possible. That's not bad per say, with Naginata it'll guarantee the maximum damage output on enemies with 45-47 Spd.
With Yari his Spd would be bumped up to 57-59, which may be more ideal for landing double attacks on some units. Blatantly fast units will not be doubled, but it's not like those units were going to be affected by Naginata's damage bonus anyway.

Honestly I'd prefer Naginata on him as well, since slower-bulkier units won't care if he has 4 more points of Spd (they already dumped most of their Spd to have that boosted bulk), the extra damage mattering more in those instances.

[XRay]

3 hours ago, Xenomata said:

The highest I can simulate his Spd getting with max investment, +Spd asset, and without his B slot (where WoM goes) is 53-55 with AScatch 4, SDrein, and either ASbond or ASform in the SS slot, all skills giving their maximum Spd bonuses possible. That's not bad per say, with Naginata it'll guarantee the maximum damage output on enemies with 45-47 Spd.
With Yari his Spd would be bumped up to 57-59, which may be more ideal for landing double attacks on some units. Blatantly fast units will not be doubled, but it's not like those units were going to be affected by Naginata's damage bonus anyway.

Honestly I'd prefer Naginata on him as well, since slower-bulkier units won't care if he has 4 more points of Spd (they already dumped most of their Spd to have that boosted bulk), the extra damage mattering more in those instances.

I do not think I will give him max investment. I just want to give him enough Spd so he can deal some damage to super slow pokes.

[Rukina]

How do you get the armor symbol next to a hero’s stars and what does it do?

[XRay]

40 minutes ago, Rukina said:

How do you get the armor symbol next to a hero’s stars and what does it do?

That is just the letting you know the unit has a Resplendent artwork/outfit. You get them for being FEH Pass subscriber, and if you missed any old ones, you can purchase them too if you are a subscriber. Getting the Resplendent artwork also comes with a permanent stat boost for the unit (so if you have Nino with a Resplendent artwork, all copies of Nino will also have a permanent +2 to all stats).

[Xenomata]

5 hours ago, XRay said:

I do not think I will give him max investment. I just want to give him enough Spd so he can deal some damage to super slow pokes.

Unless you were also building one or two of the other HoF units, none of the "max investment" skills are unavailable in the HoF skill pool.
Can't say I know your plans for the HoF of course...

[XRay]

7 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

Unless you were also building one or two of the other HoF units, none of the "max investment" skills are unavailable in the HoF skill pool.
Can't say I know your plans for the HoF of course...

I meant in terms of merges and Flowers. I already got all the skills I want besides Spd/Def Rein. I do not think I will get any other Forma units. I think I have more than enough Dancers/Singers for Arena Assault.

[MagicCanonBalls]

I got an extra blue flying duel skill 4. Who would be the ideal candidate? Naesala, Seteth, or Altena? I don't have trace skill fodder but I do have Dive bomb so Naesala could be a good candidate for arena team.  

 

EDIT: I was saving it for when Cynthia got her refine but then I got another copy of that blue flier with this skill. Feels like I am never gonna use that much so might as well spend one now.

Edited June 7, 2022 by MagicCanonBalls

[Ice Dragon]

2 hours ago, MagicCanonBalls said:

I got an extra blue flying duel skill 4. Who would be the ideal candidate? Naesala, Seteth, or Altena? I don't have trace skill fodder but I do have Dive bomb so Naesala could be a good candidate for arena team.  

Of the options you give, Naesala is easily the best option. Seteth and Altenna are not recent enough to compete and are not close enough to their refines to be worth waiting for, especially since Cynthia will get hers before them.

However, if you expand the options to all 4-star blue fliers, Thea is also an option.

[Faellin]

How is fallen Gustav as a unit? Anything groundbreaking, or is he just trace + atk smoke 4 fodder?

Also got an off focus ascended Idunn off this banner as well, she came up +def -attack. Should I use the free trait boost to fix that attack bane, or just boost her res for better tanking?

[Humanoid]

Heh, I was just dropping in to ask whether I should use the free Ascend to fix my Florina's Spd flaw or give her an Atk asset. Had started levelling her before I even remembered that feature, since she's my first Ascended hero.

As for Gustav, there are so few axe cavaliers that are suitable for Galeforce use that I would just automatically build him that way. It's not without its limitations though since his auto follow-up requires the foe to be able to counter, so he can't one-turn Galeforce ranged units. However, it means that unlike typical squishy Galeforce units, his bulk and default Atk Smoke 4 preventing doubles means you can apply it and then just sit in a cluster of enemy melee units without needing support or running away. Run in, squash a melee enemy, Galeforce and squash any nearby magical threat, then Canto into a position to counter-kill any remaining foes on enemy phase.

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Faellin said:

How is fallen Gustav as a unit? Anything groundbreaking, or is he just trace + atk smoke 4 fodder?

He is far from groundbreaking, but he is pretty solid. I would at least keep a copy.

That being said, he is not super necessary either if you already got Save tanks for Heroes in Limited Hero Battles, and you got other Galeforcers and dual phase units built up for other modes.

2 hours ago, Faellin said:

Also got an off focus ascended Idunn off this banner as well, she came up +def -attack. Should I use the free trait boost to fix that attack bane, or just boost her res for better tanking?

I personally lean towards Res for more all round bulk, since a merge will patch her Atk, but going Atk is fine too for more damage output later.

Honestly anything besides +HP will work. Even +Spd is fine since she can be decently fast especially at higher merges, so I would not worry too much about not getting the right Asset at low merges.

2 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Heh, I was just dropping in to ask whether I should use the free Ascend to fix my Florina's Spd flaw or give her an Atk asset. Had started levelling her before I even remembered that feature, since she's my first Ascended hero.

If you do not plan to give her merges, I would use Fruits and Florets to give her [+Atk/Spd, -HP]. Makes it easier to trigger all the warping with low HP. She is not bad, but her combat mechanics are extremely outdated in my opinion, so I personally would not bother merging her and I would just use all future copies as SD Far Trace fodder. While I think it is a good idea to keep a copy of her, I would not invest too much into her.

Edited June 8, 2022 by XRay

[Humanoid]

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

If you do not plan to give her merges, I would use Fruits and Florets to give her [+Atk/Spd, -HP]. Makes it easier to trigger all the warping with low HP. She is not bad, but her combat mechanics are extremely outdated in my opinion, so I personally would not bother merging her and I would just use all future copies as SD Far Trace fodder. While I think it is a good idea to keep a copy of her, I would not invest too much into her.

Definitely can't spare any fruits, but I think I would take my usual approach of allowing one merge maximum if I happen to pull her again. So the Def asset will have to stay regardless, it's a matter of whether I ascend Atk or Spd. Hopefully my understanding of the mechanic is correct, never used it before: At no merges she's either going to be +Atk/+Def/-Spd, or just +Def/nothing. But if/when she gets a merge, they'd becomes +Atk/+Def or +Spd/+Def respectively? In the latter case she'd pick up a super-boon I guess.

The merge would only happen if I pull her as a pity-breaker though, since if I am going to pull for a merge on a flying archer, it'll be for Duo Hinoka. Maybe Legendary Claude too, not sure about him since I pulled him last week and I haven't actually used him yet. Neither of them have any merges, and both neutral. Don't have Duo Dagr.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Humanoid

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Faellin said:

How is fallen Gustav as a unit? Anything groundbreaking, or is he just trace + atk smoke 4 fodder?

Gustav is basically Legendary Ephraim with an axe and a workable Res stat. He's a Galeforcer that also doesn't mind enemy-phase combat. Nothing groundbreaking, but he's quite solid as a unit. Even if you want to use him for fodder, I'd still keep at least one copy of him to use.

 

7 hours ago, Faellin said:

Also got an off focus ascended Idunn off this banner as well, she came up +def -attack. Should I use the free trait boost to fix that attack bane, or just boost her res for better tanking?

I personally don't find Res to be particularly useful on her unless you're switching her B still to Dragon Wall or you're switching her C skill to Far Save.

If you aren't doing either, I'd personally go with either Atk or Spd on her Ascended Asset.

Atk fixes the Flaw and is better for general use. Spd is an option for competitive modes because Idunn has a weapon that boosts her Spd, and her Spd ends up being extremely convenient with that boost and an Asset. There's a gap in armor Spd tiers between 30 and 36 (with Dragonflowers and weapon stats) that is very sparsely populated, so being able to jump the gap lets you break follow-up prevention on everything below the gap.

 

7 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Heh, I was just dropping in to ask whether I should use the free Ascend to fix my Florina's Spd flaw or give her an Atk asset. Had started levelling her before I even remembered that feature, since she's my first Ascended hero.

Fix the Spd Flaw. Spd is almost always more important than Atk for fast units. The only exceptions are units with Brave weapons and units that have reliable one-hit-kill mechanics (also units that have an Atk comparison, but I don't think any of those actually exist).

 

4 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Hopefully my understanding of the mechanic is correct, never used it before: At no merges she's either going to be +Atk/+Def/-Spd, or just +Def/nothing. But if/when she gets a merge, they'd becomes +Atk/+Def or +Spd/+Def respectively? In the latter case she'd pick up a super-boon I guess.

Yes.

 

4 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Maybe Legendary Claude too, not sure about him since I pulled him last week and I haven't actually used him yet.

I consider Legendary Claude to be the most reliable bow flier right now. His Atk isn't as high as some of the newer bow fliers, but he has Null Follow-Up on his weapon, and Fallen Star is still incredibly busted under player control. Not only does Fallen Star give him a huge 80% damage reduction, but it also lets you use him for classic Gravity shenanigans.

He doesn't have Canto, but he doesn't really need it because of Gravity.

[TheSilentChloey]

9 hours ago, XRay said:

He is far from groundbreaking, but he is pretty solid. I would at least keep a copy.

That being said, he is not super necessary either if you already got Save tanks for Heroes in Limited Hero Battles, and you got other Galeforcers and dual phase units built up for other modes.

I personally lean towards Res for more all round bulk, since a merge will patch her Atk, but going Atk is fine too for more damage output later.

Honestly anything besides +HP will work. Even +Spd is fine since she can be decently fast especially at higher merges, so I would not worry too much about not getting the right Asset at low merges.

If you do not plan to give her merges, I would use Fruits and Florets to give her [+Atk/Spd, -HP]. Makes it easier to trigger all the warping with low HP. She is not bad, but her combat mechanics are extremely outdated in my opinion, so I personally would not bother merging her and I would just use all future copies as SD Far Trace fodder. While I think it is a good idea to keep a copy of her, I would not invest too much into her.

She doesn't cost a floret at all.

 

Ascended units get their Ascended stats for free.