Create a Skill

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, MilodicMellodi said:

Swordbreaker 4
Effect: If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against a sword user, unit makes an additional follow-up attack and foe cannot, and if unit attacks or is attacked first this turn, calculates damage from foe's weapon like a staff during combat.
Pretty much normal Swordbreaker, but also severely weakens the sword user's damage output if the first combat that turn (Player OR Enemy Phase) has the unit in it. Mainly an Enemy Phase skill, but works plenty well as a Player Phase skill with proper positioning and/or high movement (like from Tibarn and the like, cavalry units, or infantry mages).
This would also apply to the other Breaker skills, just...against those weapon types.

Anchored Boots 3
C Passive
Armored only
Effect: Neutralizes skills that would move unit and/or foe into another space after combat. If foe has a skill that would move unit and/or foe into another space after combat, unit takes 7 less damage before and during combat until the end of the turn. [Tier 1 is 100% HP before combat, Tier 2 is ≥ 50% HP before combat, Tier 3 requires no HP condition.]
Prevents the unit and its foe from being able to make use of effects that move themselves or their opponent, and makes the unit tankier for the rest of the turn if the foe does indeed have a skill like that on them. It's balanced in the way that it takes up the C slot, making Armored Stride or Armored March impossible to equip at the same time.

You can still get armoured march from adjacent units. Pleas the Armouted boots seal. And would this negate the entirety of Repel's effect or only the movement aspect?

[XRay]

5 hours ago, Clear World said:

I would agree, except for one key thing. B.Ike doesn't get the full benefit of the % damage reduction.

% Damage reduction stack multiplicatively, so at the best case situation with him having 10 Spd higher than foe, the skill's actual benefit is only an additional 24% damage reduction, while for the second strike reduction provides an additional 8% damage reduction. But repeat, this is at its best case situation. 

But let's be real, you're literally arguing for the case in which B.Ike gets doubled, then its safe for me to assume the B.Ike player intends to have at least 5 less Spd then his foe. I bring this up because, now you're arguing to sacrifice a Seal for Phantom Spd, which is not high enough to get him to receive the max Damage reduction benefit. 

BH!Ike does not need maximum benefit from Phantom Spd for it to be better than Spd/Res Solo in certain situations.

If BH!Ike has 60 Spd not factoring in the Sacred Seal, BH!Ike will have 70 comparison Spd with Phantom Spd and 66 Spd with Spd/Res Solo.

Against an enemy with 65 Spd, BH!Ike with Phantom Spd will reduce the first hit by 52% and the second hit by 84%, and BH!Ike will retaliate with Aether.
If BH!Ike would have taken 40 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit for 19.2 and the second hit for 6.4, for a total of 25.6 damage, but Aether will heal quite a bit of it back. If BH!Ike kills someone with 50 HP, BH!Ike essentially has a net loss of 0.6 HP.

BH!Ike with Spd Res Solo will reduce the first hit by 57.6% and will not be doubled, but also would not activate Aether to heal.
If BH!Ike would have taken 34 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit 14.416. BH!Ike is taking 11.184 less damage, but since he did not trigger Aether, he is not healing any damage and the enemy might still be alive.
 

[Clear World]

7 hours ago, XRay said:

BH!Ike does not need maximum benefit from Phantom Spd for it to be better than Spd/Res Solo in certain situations.

If BH!Ike has 60 Spd not factoring in the Sacred Seal, BH!Ike will have 70 comparison Spd with Phantom Spd and 66 Spd with Spd/Res Solo.

Against an enemy with 65 Spd, BH!Ike with Phantom Spd will reduce the first hit by 52% and the second hit by 84%, and BH!Ike will retaliate with Aether.
If BH!Ike would have taken 40 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit for 19.2 and the second hit for 6.4, for a total of 25.6 damage, but Aether will heal quite a bit of it back. If BH!Ike kills someone with 50 HP, BH!Ike essentially has a net loss of 0.6 HP.

BH!Ike with Spd Res Solo will reduce the first hit by 57.6% and will not be doubled, but also would not activate Aether to heal.
If BH!Ike would have taken 34 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit 14.416. BH!Ike is taking 11.184 less damage, but since he did not trigger Aether, he is not healing any damage and the enemy might still be alive.
 

Wait, are you arguing that there are small pockets of situations of which this is close in being optimal skill set, or that there are just small pockets of situations in which it would be useful? Because I'm trying to state that there are generally more practical Seals (not just Solo Spd/Res) to run besides Phantom Spd. Even your example should illustrate some of the issue connecting to your argument. For example, if you already have a 60 Spd B.Ike, why would anyone be assuming he's going to get doubled in a match-up to begin with? Also, how are you pointing to the +6 SPD/RES from the solo skill when your example somehow assumes a +30ish Spd  already being granted to B.Ike? That 40 magical damage: the 12% & 4% that Phantom skill adds, nets 5ish & 2ish damage being removed. You know you could run an actual defensive skill, to easily grant like +4 Def/Res per hit. That would be far more consistent and ideally open the B-slot for something more useful, since you're not running both a B and Seal skill hoping to hit a small magical sweet spot to net at best 12%+4% extra damage reduction.

But the actual main point is, you do realize that a player doesn't control what their foe's Spd is, right? There's only a 5 point Spd spread your opponent must fall into in order for your claim of Phantom Spd to be useful. What if they had a +1 or +9 Spd advantage over B.Ike, is it still worth it then compared to running some other Seal? Any thought experiment should also attempt to factor the circumstance and cost of those circumstance.

For an outside example, Sorcery Blade. Yeah, it is potentially strong, able to net up to +30 extra damage for the user in the right situation. But due to it's strict requirements and damage variance due to the foe's stat line, it's not a skill used in a serious build. It can be still fun to use, but it isn't really practical.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Clear World

[XRay]

52 minutes ago, Clear World said:

Wait, are you arguing that there are small pockets of situations of which this is close in being optimal skill set, or that there are just small pockets of situations in which it would be useful?

BH!Ike with Spurn is the most optimal skill set. Practically anyone who is playing Aether Raids and has the resources to do so is running Spurn/Close Call/Repel on BH!Ike on Light Season. Between Phantom Spd and Spd/Res Solo, both are good options. I lean towards Spd/Res Solo if BH!Ike is not dealing with Blazing nukes, but Phantom Spd is not bad either and Phantom Spd has an edge when dealing with Blazing nukes, and Blazing nukes are not uncommon.

1 minute ago, Clear World said:

For example, if you already have a 60 Spd B.Ike, why would anyone be assuming he's going to get doubled in a match-up to begin with?

Double (or triple or quadruple) Yunes on Aether Raids defense is a thing. Even without Yune, units like Mareeta who are pimped out can hit 60+ Spd without factoring in buffs nor Mythic stats.

5 minutes ago, Clear World said:

Also, how are you pointing to the +6 SPD/RES from the solo skill when your example somehow assumes a +30ish Spd  already being granted to B.Ike?

Not sure what you are trying to say as the question is not very clear, but I have factored in Spd/Res Solo.

7 hours ago, XRay said:

If BH!Ike has 60 Spd not factoring in the Sacred Seal, BH!Ike will have 70 comparison Spd with Phantom Spd and 66 Spd with Spd/Res Solo.

Against an enemy with 65 Spd, BH!Ike with Phantom Spd will reduce the first hit by 52% and the second hit by 84%, and BH!Ike will retaliate with Aether.
If BH!Ike would have taken 40 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit for 19.2 and the second hit for 6.4, for a total of 25.6 damage, but Aether will heal quite a bit of it back. If BH!Ike kills someone with 50 HP, BH!Ike essentially has a net loss of 0.6 HP.

BH!Ike with Spd Res Solo will reduce the first hit by 57.6% and will not be doubled, but also would not activate Aether to heal.
If BH!Ike would have taken 34 magical damage before factoring damage reduction, after factoring damage reduction, the first hit would hit 14.416. BH!Ike is taking 11.184 less damage, but since he did not trigger Aether, he is not healing any damage and the enemy might still be alive.

-

10 minutes ago, Clear World said:

That 40 magical damage: the 12% & 4% that Phantom skill adds, nets 5ish & 2ish damage being removed. You know you could run an actual defensive skill, to easily grant like +4 Def/Res per hit. That would be far more consistent and ideally open the B-slot for something more useful, since you're not running both a B and Seal skill hoping to hit a small magical sweet spot to net at best 12%+4% extra damage reduction.

Running Bracing Stance makes BH!Ike a lot more vulnerable to fast nukes and extra vulnerable to Blazing nukes, as he is losing the effectiveness of Spurn.

The best B slot would still be Spurn in my opinion, and Null Follow-Up would be second. Spurn provides much needed protection against Blazing nukes which is common in Aether Raids. Null Follow-Up provides protection against enemies with guaranteed follow ups (e.g.: Bold Fighter) or follow up denials (e.g.: Impacts).

15 minutes ago, Clear World said:

But the actual main point is, you do realize that a player can't really control what their foe's Spd is, right? There's only a 5 point Spd spread your opponent must fall into in order for your claim of Phantom Spd to be useful. What if they had a +1 or +9 Spd advantage over B.Ike, is it still worth it then? Any thought experiment should also attempt to factor the circumstance and cost of those circumstance.

If the enemy has 61 Spd, then Spd/Res Solo would win out due to doubling back with Aether and killing the enemy, but the healing would be more limited since the enemy would not be at full HP.

If the enemy has 69 Spd, I would still go with Phantom Spd since BH!Ike would heal back most of his damage.

If the enemy is a Blazing nuke, then Phantom Spd is the better option.

While a player cannot control what Spd their enemy is, a player does have control over their resources. A veteran player like me can invest in Defiant Sacred Seals because we have nothing better to spend our Sacred Coins on. For a newer player who has already invested into a Spurn BH!Ike and Phantom Spd, they might not have loads of Sacred Coins to spend and they should not drop 150 Sacred Coins on Spd/Res Solo unless they have use for it on another unit. Spd/Res Solo is a really good skill on BH!Ike, but if the player already has Phantom Spd, the marginal benefit is not worth 150 Sacred Coins in my opinion as there are still situations where Phantom Spd can perform just as well as or better than Spd/Res Solo.

17 minutes ago, Clear World said:

For an outside example, Sorcery Blade. Yeah, it is potentially strong, able to net up to +30 extra damage for the user in the right situation. But due to it's strict requirements and damage variance due to the foe's stat line, it's not a skill used in a serious build. It can be still fun to use, but it isn't really practical.

Anything outside of a Spd boosting Sacred Seal is crap in comparison because Spurn and Null Follow-Up are so good on BH!Ike.

[MilodicMellodi]

21 hours ago, Jotari said:

You can still get armoured march from adjacent units. Pleas the Armouted boots seal. And would this negate the entirety of Repel's effect or only the movement aspect?

Just the movement, the damage reduction effect will still be able to trigger.
EDIT: Ah, I see where I went wrong. I should've copied Null C-Disrupt and said "effects" rather than "skills".

Edited August 14, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, MilodicMellodi said:

Just the movement, the damage reduction effect will still be able to trigger.
EDIT: Ah, I see where I went wrong. I should've copied Null C-Disrupt and said "effects" rather than "skills".

That really nerfs it's usability. Enemies repositioning you is not that big a deal you have to contend with. Only in some niche maps where drag back is a pain.

[MilodicMellodi]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

That really nerfs it's usability. Enemies repositioning you is not that big a deal you have to contend with. Only in some niche maps where drag back is a pain.

True enough, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Completely neutralizing skills because they happen to have a secondary effect that moves themselves or their foe just seems too powerful.

Anywho, another random idea 🙂

Ardent Sacrifice+
Effect: Restores 15 HP to target ally. Unit loses 15 HP but cannot go below 1.
With units having higher and higher BSTs, and with older units getting access to higher BSTs thanks to getting even more dragonflower boosts, Ardent Sacrifice is losing a lot of the usability it used to have. With allies having higher HP, the 10 HP restoration means a lot less, and with most units' HPs reaching a lot higher than 40 due to their weapons, merges/dfs, etc, it's not even a great skill for getting the unit within Desperation range.
WIth 15 HP, though, the new amount would be increased to 60. This is both more risky AND more rewarding. But it would notably be at its most rewarding when it very easily puts the unit into Desperation range.

[Jotari]

25 minutes ago, MilodicMellodi said:

True enough, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Completely neutralizing skills because they happen to have a secondary effect that moves themselves or their foe just seems too powerful.

 

Not really. Given there's a grand total of one skill I can think of which has a movement as a secondary effect that influences the enemy. And that one skill is a pretty decent one we could do with a counter for.

[Vicious Sal]

On 8/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, XRay said:

BH!Ike with Spurn is the most optimal skill set. Practically anyone who is playing Aether Raids and has the resources to do so is running Spurn/Close Call/Repel on BH!Ike on Light Season. Between Phantom Spd and Spd/Res Solo, both are good options. I lean towards Spd/Res Solo if BH!Ike is not dealing with Blazing nukes, but Phantom Spd is not bad either and Phantom Spd has an edge when dealing with Blazing nukes, and Blazing nukes are not uncommon.

No they are not, please stop claiming to be knowledgable about stuff like this when in actuality you're not even playing in the highest tiers of AR. Multiple Discord servers and other AR hotspots have taken count to get a grasp on the most popular vs the most effective meta. By far the highest amount of playmate is DC+Null C Disrupt, and it is by a long shot, a really long shot. This also has the lowest win rate out of all B!Ike's. the highest win rate is by far Null Follow Up, since you can Spd stack just as well, and shut down major parts of every defence team that has Impact skills, Blazing Durandal, Void tome, Chaos Named and all other guaranteed follow up attacks/follow up denials. Spurn/Repel Ike does not have this luxury and will get hit twice regardless of how fast he is. This allows for specials like Galeforce to trigger and damaging specials to trigger even after pulse smoke. High Spd is used to mitigate damage, correct, but not by using a damage reaction skill, it is by denying a follow up and being too fast to double.

Spurn Ike gets doubled by a lot of units and cannot counter attack a lot of units. The follow ups mean he also generally takes more damage than Null follow up Ike since 40% reduction + whatever damage is done the second attack will pretty much always be more than a flat 40% reduction without any additional follow up attacks. 

 

Close call etc are lumped together and make a small portion of the B!Ike's and the win rate is not that much better than Null C Disrupt. 

For defense Lull Atk Spd is currently seeing the most succes.

Blazing nukes are also pretty much nonexistent in higher tiers. 

On 8/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, XRay said:

Double (or triple or quadruple) Yunes on Aether Raids defense is a thing. Even without Yune, units like Mareeta who are pimped out can hit 60+ Spd without factoring in buffs nor Mythic stats.

It's not, and this is just grasping at straws. A defense team holding 4 tunes may exist, but it will absolutely not be anywhere above T24. Sacrificing 3 unit slots just to pump 1 unit's speed. If this is what you fear in AR... It says more about you as a player.

On 8/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, XRay said:

 

While a player cannot control what Spd their enemy is, a player does have control over their resources. A veteran player like me can invest in Defiant Sacred Seals because we have nothing better to spend our Sacred Coins on. For a newer player who has already invested into a Spurn BH!Ike and Phantom Spd, they might not have loads of Sacred Coins to spend and they should not drop 150 Sacred Coins on Spd/Res Solo unless they have use for it on another unit. Spd/Res Solo is a really good skill on BH!Ike, but if the player already has Phantom Spd, the marginal benefit is not worth 150 Sacred Coins in my opinion as there are still situations where Phantom Spd can perform just as well as or better than Spd/Res Solo.

If a new player is looking at guides and trying to improve, they wouldn't be spending coins on Phantom Spd before Spd Res Solo. 

On 8/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, XRay said:

Anything outside of a Spd boosting Sacred Seal is crap in comparison because Spurn and Null Follow-Up are so good on BH!Ike.

Well, you're almost there, just drop the spurn part and you've pretty much got it down. 

[MilodicMellodi]

Hoarfrost
Special, 3 Cooldown
Exclusive (Default!Rhea)
Effect: Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 30% during combat. After combat, if Special was triggered, restores HP to allies within 2 spaces = 30% of damage dealt.
Pretty much a weak but supportive version of Aether, boosting the same as Moonbow and Noontime but restoring the HP of Drive-distance allies rather than the unit itself. References the Staggering Blow of the same name in Three Houses, which had a very long range and completely ignored the defenses of all foes damaged by it, before then restoring HP to its allies after combat.

Master of Warfare
B Passive
Exclusive (Kiran)
Effect: Inflicts Spd -10 and slows Special trigger (cooldown count +1). Unit can activate Specials that trigger before combat if foe initiates combat. (If foe's Special activates before combat, unit's Special activates after.)
Idk, just thought I'd make this random skill. Slows the unit down by a lot and has the same special-slowing effect as Lightning Breath, but grants the unit the ability to use AoEs even if the foe initiates combat. It also activates after the foe's AoE if they're using said Special. And since it's a B Passive, it can't really be used alongside Vantage.
Obviously this skill is more of a meme than anything, but I thought I'd make it anyhow lol

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

No they are not, please stop claiming to be knowledgable about stuff like this when in actuality you're not even playing in the highest tiers of AR. Multiple Discord servers and other AR hotspots have taken count to get a grasp on the most popular vs the most effective meta. By far the highest amount of playmate is DC+Null C Disrupt, and it is by a long shot, a really long shot. This also has the lowest win rate out of all B!Ike's. the highest win rate is by far Null Follow Up, since you can Spd stack just as well, and shut down major parts of every defence team that has Impact skills, Blazing Durandal, Void tome, Chaos Named and all other guaranteed follow up attacks/follow up denials. Spurn/Repel Ike does not have this luxury and will get hit twice regardless of how fast he is. This allows for specials like Galeforce to trigger and damaging specials to trigger even after pulse smoke. High Spd is used to mitigate damage, correct, but not by using a damage reaction skill, it is by denying a follow up and being too fast to double.

Spurn Ike gets doubled by a lot of units and cannot counter attack a lot of units. The follow ups mean he also generally takes more damage than Null follow up Ike since 40% reduction + whatever damage is done the second attack will pretty much always be more than a flat 40% reduction without any additional follow up attacks. 

Close call etc are lumped together and make a small portion of the B!Ike's and the win rate is not that much better than Null C Disrupt. 

For defense Lull Atk Spd is currently seeing the most succes.

Blazing nukes are also pretty much nonexistent in higher tiers. 

Due to Aether and the way Urvan works, being doubled is not a problem for BH!Ike. In the off chance that BH!Ike gets doubled due to a Spd check, BH!Ike will retaliate with Aether and heal back a lot of HP. Being doubled by guaranteed follow-up is not even an issue to begin with since those units are so slow and Spurn will reduce damage even further, and BH!Ike will also trigger Aether against a full HP enemy and heal back a ton of damage.

Against Eliwood, he has 40 visible Spd factoring in Resplendent+Spd+10+5. Blazing Durandal, Swift Sparrow/Darting Blow, and Darting Blow provides another 20+ Spd. Even if BH!Ike is completely pimped out, got double Peonys and a BH!Lucina, is positioned right, and got Spd/Res Solo, he will reach 68 Spd at most. If the defense player runs a single Yune or some kind of Rally trap/bonus buff to boost Spd, BH!Ike is never going to win that Spd check, so canceling out Blazing Durandal's Impact would not even do anything.

Blazing nukes still appear often, at least anywhere around Tier 21 to Tier 25, and Null Follow-Up does not provide protection against that.

2 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

No they are not, please stop claiming to be knowledgable about stuff like this when in actuality you're not even playing in the highest tiers of AR. Multiple Discord servers and other AR hotspots have taken count to get a grasp on the most popular vs the most effective meta. By far the highest amount of playmate is DC+Null C Disrupt, and it is by a long shot, a really long shot. This also has the lowest win rate out of all B!Ike's. the highest win rate is by far Null Follow Up, since you can Spd stack just as well, and shut down major parts of every defence team that has Impact skills, Blazing Durandal, Void tome, Chaos Named and all other guaranteed follow up attacks/follow up denials. Spurn/Repel Ike does not have this luxury and will get hit twice regardless of how fast he is. This allows for specials like Galeforce to trigger and damaging specials to trigger even after pulse smoke. High Spd is used to mitigate damage, correct, but not by using a damage reaction skill, it is by denying a follow up and being too fast to double.

Spurn Ike gets doubled by a lot of units and cannot counter attack a lot of units. The follow ups mean he also generally takes more damage than Null follow up Ike since 40% reduction + whatever damage is done the second attack will pretty much always be more than a flat 40% reduction without any additional follow up attacks. 

Close call etc are lumped together and make a small portion of the B!Ike's and the win rate is not that much better than Null C Disrupt. 

For defense Lull Atk Spd is currently seeing the most succes.

Blazing nukes are also pretty much nonexistent in higher tiers. 

All a defense player needs is just 2 Yunes to match the player's 2 Peonys, and that would greatly erode BH!Ike's edge in Spd against fast nukes.

A whale can also just invest in 4 Yunes and 2 Spurn units, making the Spurn units extremely hard to kill.

Edited August 16, 2020 by XRay

[MilodicMellodi]

All of you arguing, please stop talking about this and just come up with new skills. This is "Create a Skill", not "Argue With Each Other About Existing Skills".
You wanna argue about that, go to a relevant thread and do so. I'm actually starting to get angry from seeing you bicker when I'm trying to come up with different skill ideas.
Speaking of:

Defender's Aura
B Passive
Melee only
Effect: If unit's Special reduces damage from foe's attack by X%, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack during combat, and when unit's Special triggers, restores HP to unit during combat = damage reduced.
Turns Aegis/Pavise (but not Miracle) into sustain tools for tanks. Also acts as a free Quick Riposte for those units so they don't have to devote their seal slot to it. It might not be useful for dealing more damage, but it is useful for sustaining more of it.
EDIT: Added "during combat" on the Noontime effect for clarity. Thanks Clear World 🙂

Edited August 16, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[Clear World]

2 hours ago, MilodicMellodi said:

All of you arguing, please stop talking about this and just come up with new skills. This is "Create a Skill", not "Argue With Each Other About Existing Skills".
You wanna argue about that, go to a relevant thread and do so. I'm actually starting to get angry from seeing you bicker when I'm trying to come up with different skill ideas.

This is definitely not supposed to be like an insult or anything, but I actually had a good laugh when I read this comment. I felt like what you wrote came out of nowhere., but I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were bothering you this much. It's fine, it's that not big of a deal for me. Anyways...

I'll just comment on your Defender's Aura, and none of yours prf skills because I don't have much to say about any of those other than they do things and Ardent Sacrifice+ is still too weak:

3 hours ago, MilodicMellodi said:

Defender's Aura
B Passive
Melee only
Effect: If unit's Special reduces damage from foe's attack by X%, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack during combat, and if unit's Special triggers, restores HP to unit = damage reduced.
Turns Aegis/Pavise (but not Miracle) into sustain tools for tanks. Also acts as a free Quick Riposte for those units so they don't have to devote their seal slot to it. It might not be useful for dealing more damage, but it is useful for sustaining more of it.

Healing as much you reduce damage basically equates to just doubling the damage reduction. Do you have any 'mechanical' reason why you choose healing over, just simply increasing the damage reduction? Also, when does the healing occur? Is the restore applied before the damage or after the damage. What happens if the foe does enough damage to kill the unit, even after the reduction. Anyways, it's probably overpowered.

[MilodicMellodi]

21 minutes ago, Clear World said:

This is definitely not supposed to be like an insult or anything, but I actually had a good laugh when I read this comment. I felt like what you wrote came out of nowhere., but I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were bothering you this much. It's fine, it's that not big of a deal for me. Anyways...

Sorry...I was just tired of looking at the bickering. It's also been around 110°F (somewhere above 40°C for those who use that measurement) for the past few days where I live and it's not done very well for me. So um...sorry about that.

21 minutes ago, Clear World said:

I'll just comment on your Defender's Aura, and none of yours prf skills because I don't have much to say about any of those other than they do things and Ardent Sacrifice+ is still too weak:

Healing as much you reduce damage basically equates to just doubling the damage reduction. Do you have any 'mechanical' reason why you choose healing over, just simply increasing the damage reduction? Also, when does the healing occur? Is the restore applied before the damage or after the damage. What happens if the foe does enough damage to kill the unit, even after the reduction. Anyways, it's probably overpowered.

Fair enough, both on AS+ being too weak and on DA effectively being double damage reduction.
The damage reduction occurs during combat, when the damage is reduced by the Special...lol I forgot to put "during combat" in there, I had it in my mind that everyone would know it occurred then. Of course, the damage wouldn't be healed if the unit's HP reaches 0, so that answers that question. Anyhow, I'll edit that.
I agree that it might be a bit overpowered. I've been trying to think of ways to make the Shield Specials viable, but it's a difficult process. I thought I had something going with Spiked Shield/Ward and Infernal/Glacial Aegis/Pavise (near the top of page 15), but the ideas are still a major work in progress.

Edited August 16, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[Ice Dragon]

On 8/14/2020 at 2:04 AM, MilodicMellodi said:

True enough, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Completely neutralizing skills because they happen to have a secondary effect that moves themselves or their foe just seems too powerful.

On 8/14/2020 at 2:50 AM, Jotari said:

Not really. Given there's a grand total of one skill I can think of which has a movement as a secondary effect that influences the enemy. And that one skill is a pretty decent one we could do with a counter for.

The reason why there is no skill effect in the game that completely neutralizes a skill instead of just a skill effect is because weapons are skills, and neutralizing an entire weapon skill makes zero sense. Does it get rid of the weapon's Mt and other permanent stat boosts? Does it get rid of effective damage? Does it prevent the unit from attacking altogether?

For skills that result in movement, what about Special skills? While the Rokkr Specials are excluded by all of the new Evade skills, it wouldn't be surprising if a new Special is released that results in a similar movement effect.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Ice Dragon

[Clear World]

Def Opening 4: At the start of the turn, grants Def+9 for 1 turn then neutralizes Def penalty to ally with the highest Def. (Excludes unit)

Odd Atk Wave 4: At the start of odd numbered turns, grants Atk+9 for 1 turn to unit and adjacent allies. At the start of even number turns, grants Atk+6 to unit for 1 turn.

Spd Tactic 4: At the start of the turn, grants Spd+9 and [Tactic] for 1 turn to allies within 2 spaces if ally's movement type ≤ 50% of team. (Minimum of 2).

• [Tactic] - When a skill compares unit's stat (Atk, Spd, Def, or Res) to foe's, unit's bonuses are counted +100% above actual value.

Res Poly 4: At the start of the turn, inflict Res-9 and [Ploy] on foes in cardinal directions with Res < unit's Res through their next action.

• [Ploy] - When a skill compares unit's stat (Atk, Spd, Def, or Res) to foe's, unit's base stats are counted - 50% below actual value.

Threaten Def 4: At the start of the turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of a foe, grant unit Def+9 for 1 turn, and inflict foes within 2 spaces Def-9 and [Panic] through their next action.

• [Panic] - Converts bonuses on unit into penalties.

A few theoretical tier 4 C-passive centered around field buffs & field penalties. Skills within the same skill line follow the same structure & values. These skills are generally balanced around the assumptions that the tier 4 versions of Rouse/Gap/Oath are +7 buffs, Smoke 4 to inflict -9, and also balance around  Joint Drive skills & Rein skills. Hone 4 & Joint Hone are too weak, imo.

Some additional notes: For Opening skills, if the unit has [Panic] on them, the end result will be the unit having no buff or penalty on them due to the order of events: buff -> panic -> neutralize penalty. For Ploy skills, the reason why the negative status effects reduces base stats instead of adding the penalties like tactic is because ploys (and penalties in general) take more effort to apply/stack on enemies, so I want the effect to be more consistently useful.

[MilodicMellodi]

Note, I'm not going to berate you on the high stat bonuses. FEH will likely one day get to the point where +9 bonuses become commonplace...even if I can never see these skills getting that high as Tier 4 skills. So I'm going to try to ignore the high bonuses and just give my criticisms on the overall effects. If I talk about the bonuses, it's because it's too unbalanced.

2 hours ago, Clear World said:

Def Opening 4: At the start of the turn, grants Def+9 for 1 turn then neutralizes Def penalty to ally with the highest Def. (Excludes unit)

Why have it say "excludes unit" if you can just say "At start of turn, grants Def +9 to ally with the highest Def and neutralizes penalties to ally's Def for 1 turn." That's...not really hard.
Other than that, it's still too powerful. A very high bonus and penalty nullification? So you're making Chill Def completely useless with no effort, and that's not even getting into how those with the same Def get the effect...way too powerful.

2 hours ago, Clear World said:

Odd Atk Wave 4: At the start of odd numbered turns, grants Atk+9 for 1 turn to unit and adjacent allies. At the start of even number turns, grants Atk+6 to unit for 1 turn.

Kind of defeats the purpose of it being Odd Atk Wave if it also applies a bonus during even turns. At that point it might as well just be Atk Wave.

2 hours ago, Clear World said:

Spd Tactic 4: At the start of the turn, grants Spd+9 and [Tactic] for 1 turn to allies within 2 spaces if ally's movement type ≤ 50% of team. (Minimum of 2).

• [Tactic] - When a skill compares unit's stat (Atk, Spd, Def, or Res) to foe's, unit's bonuses are counted +100% above actual value.

In this case, the bonus is too strong when combined with the status effect. You're effectively giving an ally Spd+18 when comparing their Spd to the foe's, completely outclassing anything Phantom Spd could do for that ally.
Also, the movement-based condition change didn't need to happen. You wouldn't gain much from it in Aether Raids (only 1 more unit at best), and it would be far too powerful in Rival Domains with the new change.

2 hours ago, Clear World said:

Res Poly 4: At the start of the turn, inflict Res-9 and [Ploy] on foes in cardinal directions with Res < unit's Res through their next action.

• [Ploy] - When a skill compares unit's stat (Atk, Spd, Def, or Res) to foe's, unit's base stats are counted - 50% below actual value.

Um...what? Just...no. For one...unless I'm mistaken, "base stats" is taken to mean you want the stat counted as half without taking the debuff into account. That means any unit with 18 or less in the stat has their stat completely zeroed out during the stat comparison ((18 / 2) - 9), and even units with high stats suffer horribly. For example, a unit affected by this that has 40 as the stat effectively has their stat reduced to 11 for the comparison ((40 / 2) - 9). That's just...really unfun, and way too powerful.
Just nope, nope, and nope.

2 hours ago, Clear World said:

Threaten Def 4: At the start of the turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of a foe, grant unit Def+9 for 1 turn, and inflict foes within 2 spaces Def-9 and [Panic] through their next action.

• [Panic] - Converts bonuses on unit into penalties.

This is the only relatively balanced skill I've seen here, and that's because we have the Tier 4 dual Threaten skills to work with. Panic seems like a bit much, though, and I have a bit of a problem with the fact the unit would pretty much have a net 18 higher Def than the affected foes in comparison to their original stats. But...it's not a bad idea I guess.

[XRay]

12 minutes ago, MilodicMellodi said:

Why have it say "excludes unit" if you can just say "At start of turn, grants Def +9 to ally with the highest Def and neutralizes penalties to ally's Def for 1 turn." That's...not really hard.

Because it is part of the skill description of Openings.

"At start of turn, grants Atk+6 to ally with the highest Atk for 1 turn. (Excludes unit.)"

[MilodicMellodi]

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Because it is part of the skill description of Openings.

"At start of turn, grants Atk+6 to ally with the highest Atk for 1 turn. (Excludes unit.)"

...Fair enough.

Anywho...new ideas for Flier-exclusive skills~

Gale Wings 3
C Passive
Melee Fliers only
Effect: Status effects that restrict unit's movement to 1 space increase unit's movement by 1 space instead. If unit's Special triggers after combat, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. {Tier 1 = 100%, Tier 2 ≥ 50%}
Turns the foe's Gravity-type effect into a movement booster instead, and also gives the unit Null Follow-Up if they have a Special like Galeforce that triggers after combat. The first effect is fairly conditional because it's based on the opponent having said Gravity-type effect, but it pretty much turns that unit into a Beast Flier if they are affected by an effect like that. The Null Follow-Up effect for Galeforce users maximizes the effectiveness of Brave weapons for those builds, especially Cordelia's Lance and Amiti; however, Heavy Blade users can also make great use of it without a Brave weapon.
The main weakness of this skill is the fact that it takes up the C slot, which prevents them from using Flier Guidance, Hone/Goad Fliers, or the Oath passives. It's a skill meant for hyper-offensive Galeforce Fliers. There's also the fact that the first part is useless if the opponent has no Gravity-type effects; and even with a foe that has said effect, they have to actually be affected by it. Galeforce users typically skip out on using Distant Counter, which means that the unit likely will have to absorb at least 1 attack before they can make use of it. It also doesn't give the unit the Null Follow-Up effect if they don't have Galeforce (or any post-combat Specials they have in the future) equipped, forcing the unit into that specialization.

Air Superiority 3
B Passive
Ranged Fliers only
Effect: If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against a flying foe, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. {Tier 1 ≥ 90%, Tier 2 ≥ 70%}
Flierbreaker but only usable by ranged fliers. The main drawbacks are that it's only usable against Fliers and not other movement types, and that it can only be equipped to a ranged flier (though this second drawback isn't bad at all, with how many ranged fliers we already have). Anyhow, another weakness of this skill is that it's in the B slot, which means Desperation/Dive-Bomb, Flier Formation/Aerobatics, and other notable B passives like the Chills and Wings of Mercy can't be used there. Staff Fliers also can't use both Dazzling and Wrathful effects, being forced to choose either but not both in their weapon.
Not only does this guarantee 1-round KOs against most fliers without Iote's Shield, but it also greatly improves the combat efficiency of the Staff Fliers we currently have available (except for Brave!Camilla unless you switch her weapon out for an inheritable staff).

Edited August 16, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[MilodicMellodi]

Rally Circulation 3
A Passive
Inheritable to non-Healers
Effect: If unit uses a Rally skill, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res to allies within 3 spaces = bonuses granted by unit's Rally skill for 1 turn. {Tier 1 = bonus granted -2, Tier 2 = bonus granted -1}
A skill for Rallybot units, this increases the range of their Rally to 3 spaces. Makes it much easier to spread Rally bonuses, at the cost of much of the unit's offense due to the lack of an A skill. It's also useless if the unit's Assist is anything but a Rally skill, which prevents the unit from using movement assists and...well, everything except for Rallies.

Superior Medicine
Seal
Healers only
Effect: Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1) if unit is equipped with "Balm" Special skill.
Effectively reduces the cooldown of Balm skills to 0, making them always able to be activated no matter what. It also makes your opponent's Melancholy staff and their other cooldown-based skills against you useless, since it can't be reset to anything higher than 0.
Note, however, that this is only usable when you are equipped with a Balm skill (which includes Balm+, obviously). It's also a seal, which makes Live to Serve and Chills unusable if the unit is Wrazzle-Dazzling. Wrazzle-Dazzle or not, though, it's a skill really meant for a fully-supportive playstyle.

Edited August 20, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[Fabulously Olivier]

Pass 4

B

All units

Unit can move through foes and ignores movement penalties from forests and trenches.

 

Cavalry Charge

C

Cavalry only

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants unit and adjacent cavalry allies Pass 4 for that turn.

 

Bunker 1/2/3

B

Infantry/Armor

Increases benefits of defense tiles by 10/15/20%. At start of turn, if unit is on a defense tile, unit recovers 10 hp. All forests and trenches now constitute defense titles.

[MilodicMellodi]

Daybreak
Special, 4 cooldown
Exclusive (Legendary!Dimitri)
Effect: Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 50% and boosts unit's damage dealt by 50% during combat.
Combines Luna and Glimmer into a powerful Special that's effective against both low- and high-Def/Res targets. For example, let's say Legendary!Dimitri has 60 Atk while his opponent has 50 Def; the Luna part of it reduces the foe's Def to 25, and Glimmer's damage multiplier increases the damage to 52 (35+17 (17.5 rounded down)).

Skill/Effect ideas I put into Create-A-Hero:

Silver Wreath
Weapon (Sword)
Exclusive (Duo!Catherine/Shamir, AKA Winter!Catherine)
Might/Effect: 16 Might. If unit does not have weapon triangle advantage, grants unit Atk/Spd +5 during combat, and if unit has weapon triangle disadvantage, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.
Gives the unit an easier time against foes they don't have an advantage against. If they have neutrality, they gain Atk/Spd +5 during combat, but if they have a disadvantage, they gain that plus a guaranteed follow-up. Works with [Triangle Null], though even without it this gives the unit a fighting chance against units they'd otherwise get destroyed by.

Atk/Spd 3
A Passive
Effect: Grants Atk/Spd +3.
Just a Tier 4 version of Atk/Spd 2. Gives the Atk/Spd part of Fury 3 without the knockback, which makes it perfect for units with low defenses already that would otherwise do Fury for its stats.

Joint Drive Atk/Spd
C Passive
Effect: Grants Atk/Spd +3 to allies within 2 spaces during combat. If unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd +3 to unit during combat.
A dual version of Joint Drive skills. Perfect for Brave!Lucina.

Triangle Null
Status Effect
Effect: Weapon is treated as colorless during combat.
Removes the color of the unit's weapon during combat, making the unit capable of dealing more damage to foes they'd otherwise have a disadvantage against at the cost of also removing the advantage they'd have against the other color. Two main weaknesses of units with this Status Effect are that 1) they become weak to weapons with anti-colorless effects, and 2) if they're equipped with Triangle Adept or a weapon with its effect (except a weapon with an anti-colorless effect, which isn't affected), that effect is canceled due to them no longer having weapon triangle advantage.
Due to the unit becoming colorless during combat, a foe that had WTA no longer has it and therefore also will not deal +20% damage to the unit, which makes this status effect a useful defensive tool.

Edited August 21, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[MilodicMellodi]

Triangle Adept 4
A Passive
Effect: If unit has weapon-triangle advantage, boosts Atk by 20%.
The simplest upgrades are sometimes the best. With this upgrade, having WTD no longer puts the unit down -40%, but instead leaves them at -20% as though they were fighting without it. Other than that, nothing else is changed.
Note that if the unit has a Triangle Adept effect in play other than this (like one of the Gem weapons, or Tome of Order's +Eff refine), the -20% on WTD from that effect will still take place even though the boost from WTA doesn't change.

Poison Dagger+ (change)
Weapon (Dagger)
Inheritable
Might/Effect: 12 Might. Effective against Infantry foes. Neutralizes effects of Infantry foes that neutralize your effects (from Null skills, Hardy Bearing, etc.) or nullify your bonuses (from Dull, Lull skills, etc.) during combat.
Gives Poison Dagger+ the same Might as weapons like Sky Maiougi+, and also gives the weapon an effect that eliminates in-combat effects that would neutralize your own effects or nullify your bonuses, as long as the foe is Infantry. This allows the unit to use skills that grant them guaranteed follow-ups, or grant them field bonuses, without having to worry about them being erased during combat.
Note that this doesn't neutralize Impenetrable Dark (as it only nullifies effects that affect you, and ID only affects your allies). It also doesn't work against effects that work outside of combat, like Ploys and other such skills. It also doesn't stop the opponent from using effects during combat that don't attempt to do these things, so an opponent using Guard or Spurn will still be able to use those effects.

G Tomebreaker 4
B Passive
Effect: If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against a non-red tome foe, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack, and if foe is a green tome user, foe cannot make a follow-up attack.
My idea for upgrading the Tomebreakers, using my Silver Wreath idea above as a reference point. Against red tomes, it wouldn't do anything. Against colorless and blue tomes, it would give the unit a guaranteed follow-up attack, but nothing else. Against green tomes, it would both grant the follow-up attack to the unit AND prevent the foe from making a follow-up attack.
Essentially...it doesn't buff the user's ability to go after green tomes, but instead increases their ability to go after non-reds while still keeping green as their best foe to go against.

Edited August 22, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[MilodicMellodi]

Lance Hunter 3 (回避・槍殺し, or "Avoidance / Spear killing"...I thought "hunter" was a good word to use for the act of killing while avoiding the target, that's kinda what hunters do)
B Passive
non-Green Infantry only
Effect: If unit's Spd > foe's Spd, reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Rokkr area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = difference between stats x 3 (max 30%). If foe is a lance user, reduces damage by percentage = difference between stats x5 (max 50%) instead, also unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack while the foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Edited August 23, 2020 by MilodicMellodi

[SirErrant]

On 8/16/2020 at 2:43 PM, MilodicMellodi said:

Gale Wings 3
C Passive
Melee Fliers only
Effect: Status effects that restrict unit's movement to 1 space increase unit's movement by 1 space instead. If unit's Special triggers after combat, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. {Tier 1 = 100%, Tier 2 ≥ 50%}
Turns the foe's Gravity-type effect into a movement booster instead, and also gives the unit Null Follow-Up if they have a Special like Galeforce that triggers after combat. The first effect is fairly conditional because it's based on the opponent having said Gravity-type effect, but it pretty much turns that unit into a Beast Flier if they are affected by an effect like that. The Null Follow-Up effect for Galeforce users maximizes the effectiveness of Brave weapons for those builds, especially Cordelia's Lance and Amiti; however, Heavy Blade users can also make great use of it without a Brave weapon.
The main weakness of this skill is the fact that it takes up the C slot, which prevents them from using Flier Guidance, Hone/Goad Fliers, or the Oath passives. It's a skill meant for hyper-offensive Galeforce Fliers. There's also the fact that the first part is useless if the opponent has no Gravity-type effects; and even with a foe that has said effect, they have to actually be affected by it. Galeforce users typically skip out on using Distant Counter, which means that the unit likely will have to absorb at least 1 attack before they can make use of it. It also doesn't give the unit the Null Follow-Up effect if they don't have Galeforce (or any post-combat Specials they have in the future) equipped, forcing the unit into that specialization.

...wow, this is fun. Don't have much to say other than that. Galeforce units would definitely appreciate this skill, and it doesn't seem too broken to me (except that you have a conditional NFU in a C-slot, maybe consider making it a half NFU instead without the neutralizing of foe's follow-up attacks? It actually wouldn't hurt Galeforce units that badly, since oftentimes they actually want to get attacked so that they can charge up their special for next round.)

On 8/20/2020 at 2:42 AM, MilodicMellodi said:

Superior Medicine
Seal
Healers only
Effect: Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1) if unit is equipped with "Balm" Special skill.
Effectively reduces the cooldown of Balm skills to 0, making them always able to be activated no matter what. It also makes your opponent's Melancholy staff and their other cooldown-based skills against you useless, since it can't be reset to anything higher than 0.
Note, however, that this is only usable when you are equipped with a Balm skill (which includes Balm+, obviously). It's also a seal, which makes Live to Serve and Chills unusable if the unit is Wrazzle-Dazzling. Wrazzle-Dazzle or not, though, it's a skill really meant for a fully-supportive playstyle.

Consider changing the name to something like "Caduceus Staff" or something lotion/balm-related? It seems balanced enough to me though. 

On 8/21/2020 at 1:55 AM, MilodicMellodi said:

Triangle Null
Status Effect
Effect: Weapon is treated as colorless during combat.
Removes the color of the unit's weapon during combat, making the unit capable of dealing more damage to foes they'd otherwise have a disadvantage against at the cost of also removing the advantage they'd have against the other color. Two main weaknesses of units with this Status Effect are that 1) they become weak to weapons with anti-colorless effects, and 2) if they're equipped with Triangle Adept or a weapon with its effect (except a weapon with an anti-colorless effect, which isn't affected), that effect is canceled due to them no longer having weapon triangle advantage.
Due to the unit becoming colorless during combat, a foe that had WTA no longer has it and therefore also will not deal +20% damage to the unit, which makes this status effect a useful defensive tool.

Fallen Lyon would love this effect. Have you considered putting it on a staff or something? I feel like it would be a nice counterpart to Maribelle's Trilemma. 

On 8/20/2020 at 1:11 PM, Fabulously Olivier said:

Pass 4

B

All units

Unit can move through foes and ignores movement penalties from forests and trenches.

 

Cavalry Charge

C

Cavalry only

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants unit and adjacent cavalry allies Pass 4 for that turn.

And this seems like it finally makes Pass somewhat relevant again, especially for cavalry units. I like how Cavalry Charge synergizes well with cav buffs, although I'm not sure how good it would be since it'd have to fight for the C slot, which, again, cavs really want for cav buffs.

Would Pass 5 basically make the hero a flying unit?

 

And now, before I forget what I came here for, just a quick idea I had for Marianne's relic weapon, Blutgang.

Blutgang 

Preferred weapon (sword)

16 Might. Effective against cavalry and dragon foes. Calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def and Res. If unit's HP < 100%, grants Atk/Spd +4 during combat, and after combat, ally that has been dealt the most amount of damage gains 10 HP. Unit takes 4 damage after combat. 

I basically took inspiration from Eir (who's also voiced by Xanthe Huynh, by the way) and gave her a conditional Sparkling Boost and chip damage, which in this case would help Marianne activate the Sparkling Boost effect. I took the adaptive damage from the fact that she has a magic weapon, and I got the effective damage and Atk/Spd buff from her combat art Beast Fang. This weapon would synergize really well with Fury/Desperation strats or WoM shenanigans, which both fit Marianne pretty well. 

Edit: typos.

Edited August 27, 2020 by SirErrant