Azura, Celebratory Spirit

[XRay]

Azura, Celebratory Spirit

Flying Singer! What more can I say? Unlike her regular counterpart and PA!Azura, her stats are more well rounded. And obviously, as a flying Singer, she is best on a flier team to provide buffs as well and use Flier Formation.

Dancers/Singers are the ultimate support units in my opinion. They can give buffs with their C slot and Sacred Seal slot; counter any color their team has trouble with (besides PA!Olivia since she is colorless); and most importantly, Dance and Sing their teammates to massacre the rest of the enemy team, to retreat, or to undo a minor mistake.

As support units, a bad nature will not impact Dancers/Singers as negatively as it will affect combat units since their primary job is to Assist their allies rather than fight. Unless a specific nature is absolutely needed to counter a specific threat, natures are not too important.

 

Level 40 stats:
HP: 33/37/40
Atk: 27/30/33
Spd: 32/35/38
Def: 19/22/25
Res: 22/26/29
Total: 149~150

Default skills:
Weapon: Hagoita+
Assist: Sing
Special: [none]
Passive A: [none]
Passive B: Earth Dance 3
Passive C: Hone Fliers

 

Emerald Axe:
General use, Arena offense, Arena Assault

Spoiler

Nature: [+Atk/Spd, -HP]

Emerald Axe+
Sing
Moonbow
Distant Counter / Fury 3 / Close Def 3 / Steady Stance 3
Quick Riposte 3 / Guard 3 / Lancebreaker 3 / Geyser Dance 2 / Flier Formation 3 / [flexible passive B]
Hone Fliers / Guidance 3 / [flexible passive C]
[flexible Sacred Seal] / Guidance 3 / Hardy Bearing 3

With Emerald Axe, HNY!Azura can take on the most dangerous blue units that her non-green teammates cannot.

Moonbow — Close Def 3/Steady Stance 3 — Guard 3: This allows her to shut down multiple blue armor units.

Distant Counter — Quick Riposte 3: This allows her to shut down any blue unit regardless of distance.

Distant Counter — Guard 3: This shuts down even the notorious Moonbow-Quickened Pulse Reinhardt.

Geyser Dance 2: On a mixed team, running Hone Attack and Hone Speed Sacred Seal allows her to give full +4 buffs to any unit. On a flier team, it is not as powerful as Fortify Fliers, but it is more lenient on positioning since she is not required to be next to an ally at the start of a turn.

Flier Formation 3: This has a weaker teleporting effect than Wings of Mercy and Escape Route, but it does not have the HP requirement.

Budget/Other:

Distant Def 3/Fortress Def 3/Fortress Res 3: Fortress Def bulks up her Defense while the other two helps her tank mages better. In my opinion, these are not as good as the others, as Fortress Def and Fortress Res reduces her Attack while Distant Counter is better than Distant Def, as counter attacking is generally better than just walling.

Wings of Mercy 3/Escape Route 3: These skills allows her to teleport around to Assist her allies.

Triangle Adept:
General use, Arena offense, Arena Assault

Spoiler

Nature: [+Atk/Spd, -HP]

Slaying Axe+ [Defense] / Slaying Axe+ [Speed] / Hagoita+ [Defense] / Hagoita+ [Speed] / Slaying Hammer+ [Defense] / Ardent Service+ [Spd] / Ardent Service+ [Def]
Sing
Luna / Moonbow
Triangle Adept 3
Quick Riposte 3 / Lancebreaker 3 / B Tomebreaker 3 / Geyser Dance 2 / Flier Formation 3 / [flexible passive B]
Hone Fliers / Fortify Fliers / Ward Fliers / Goad Fliers / Guidance 3 / [flexible passive C]
[flexible Sacred Seal] / Guidance 3 / Hardy Bearing 3

This operates on similar principle as the Emerald Axe build, but is a bit more offensive. Instead of an A slot to give her stat boosts, HNY!Azura will get her stat boosts from Weapon Refinement. She will also be locked to combat against melee units as Distant Counter is not available on inheritable Weapons. As she will be primarily facing against melee units, Defense Refinement is the most preferable.

Slaying Axe+ — Luna: This allows her to run Luna instead of Moonbow.

Slaying Hammer+ — Quick Riposte 3/Lancebreaker 3/B Tomebreaker 3: Quick Riposte and Lancebreaker should shut all lance armor down. B Tomebreaker usually is not necessary unless LA!Lyn Def stacks and got Ward Armor buffs on top of that.

Hagoita+ — Ward Fliers/Goad Fliers: With Hagoita, Azura's Ward Flier becomes just as powerful as Fortify Flier, buffing allies within two squares without worrying about Panic in exchange for not buffing Blade tomes. With the release of Iote's Shield Sacred Seal, tanking with fliers is also a lot more viable. Goad Fliers gives Azura's flier allies a more well rounded buff that offensive fliers would appreciate more.

Ardent Service+ — Fortify Fliers: She can buff fliers and Sing at the same time.

Geyser Dance 2: On a mixed team, running Hone Attack and Hone Speed Sacred Seal allows her to give full +4 buffs to any unit. On a flier team, it is not as powerful as Fortify Fliers, but it is more lenient on positioning since she is not required to be next to an ally at the start of a turn.

Flier Formation 3: This has a weaker teleporting effect than Wings of Mercy and Escape Route, but it does not have the HP requirement.

Budget/Other:

Wings of Mercy 3/Escape Route 3: These skills allows her to teleport around to Assist her allies.

Player Phase Offense:
General use

Spoiler

Nature: [+Atk, -Res]

Slaying Axe+ [Speed] / Brave Axe+ / Hagoita [Speed] / Ardent Service+ [Spd] / Ardent Service+ [Def]
Sing
Luna / Moonbow
Life and Death 3 / Swift Sparrow 2 / Fury 3 / Death Blow 3 / Triangle Adept 3
Desperation 3 / Axebreaker 3 / Lancebreaker 3 / Geyser Dance 2 / Flier Formation 3 / [flexible passive B]
Hone Fliers / Fortify Fliers / Guidance 3 / [flexible passive C]
[flexible Sacred Seal] / Guidance 3 / Hardy Bearing 3

HNY!Azura can be an offensive Dancer, but it is still generally better for her to let her allies do the fighting in most cases. Here are her most optimal skill sets for that purpose.

Slaying Axe+ — Luna: This allows her to run Luna instead of Moonbow.

Hagoita+ — Moonbow — Ward Fliers/Goad Fliers: She sacrifices some of her offensive capability in exchange for better buffing her allies. With Hagoita, Azura's Ward Flier becomes just as powerful as Fortify Flier, buffing allies within two squares without worrying about Panic in exchange for not buffing Blade tomes. With the release of Iote's Shield Sacred Seal, tanking with fliers is also a lot more viable. Goad Fliers gives Azura's flier allies a more well rounded buff that offensive fliers would appreciate more.

Ardent Service+ — Fortify Fliers: She can buff fliers and Sing at the same time.

Brave Axe+ — Luna — Death Blow 3 — Axebreaker 3/Lancebreaker 3: This allows her to maximize damage against a specific type of enemy.

Geyser Dance 2: On a mixed team, running Hone Attack and Hone Speed Sacred Seal allows her to give full +4 buffs to any unit. On a flier team, it is not as powerful as Fortify Fliers, but it is more lenient on positioning since she is not required to be next to an ally at the start of a turn.

Flier Formation 3: This has a weaker teleporting effect than Wings of Mercy and Escape Route, but it does not have the HP requirement.

Budget/Other:

Wings of Mercy 3/Escape Route 3: These skills allows her to teleport around to Assist her allies.

 

Edited May 29, 2018 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

I'd include a build with Hagoita+, too. Drive Def/Res is a good support skill on a weapon (and goes great with Goad Fliers or Ward Fliers), particularly on enemy-phase and mixed-phase teams (especially now that Distant Counter can be run with Iote's Shield) and for units that intend to take a counterattack when attacking (such as when attacking Brave Ike).

This considering that players often don't use dancers for combat ever anyways.

 

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Atk: 27/30/33

Either the color or the number is wrong here.

[XRay]

Just now, Ice Dragon said:

I'd include a build with Hagoita+, too. Drive Def/Res is a good support skill on a weapon (and goes great with Goad Fliers or Ward Fliers), particularly on enemy-phase and mixed-phase teams (especially now that Distant Counter can be run with Iote's Shield) and for units that intend to take a counterattack when attacking (such as when attacking Brave Ike).

This considering that players often don't use dancers for combat ever anyways.

 

Either the color or the number is wrong here.

I will add that in.

My math is horrible. Something did not look right but my mind kept saying 30-27=4 so I did not catch it.

[GinRei]

I agree with adding a Hagoita build.  I'd also question -HP (or -RES) on a build marked for Arena Offense.  That drops her BST a tier, which wouldn't be optimal for arena.

[LordFrigid]

A couple things I noticed as I was flicking through for ideas on how to build my Celebratory Spirit Azura:

On 12/29/2017 at 12:48 AM, XRay said:

Steady Breath

That shouldn't be there.

On 12/29/2017 at 12:48 AM, XRay said:

Emerald Aze+

Minor typo on the first line of the skill descriptions for the Emerald Axe build.

~

Thanks for the write-up! It was useful.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, GinRei said:

I agree with adding a Hagoita build.  I'd also question -HP (or -RES) on a build marked for Arena Offense.  That drops her BST a tier, which wouldn't be optimal for arena.

I think it is better to put Hagoita into either the Triangle Adept section or Player Phase offense section unless you can think of a build/role/niche that Hagoita fulfill. In my opinion, Hagoita itself is not as role defining compared to Emerald Axe/Triangle Adept or Life and Death/Swift Sparrow.

In Arena, combat performance is more important than BST in my opinion. Dropping one point is not going to affect your scoring that much, and if you are going for a BST build, you will probably be using skills for BST rather than combat like Aether and Distant Counter.

12 minutes ago, LordFrigid said:

A couple things I noticed as I was flicking through for ideas on how to build my Celebratory Spirit Azura:

That shouldn't be there.

Minor typo on the first line of the skill descriptions for the Emerald Axe build.

~

Thanks for the write-up! It was useful.

Alright. I will check for those mistakes too in PA!Azura since I copied it from there.

 

[LordFrigid]

Just now, XRay said:

Alright. I will check for those mistakes too in PA!Azura since I copied it from there.

Oh, the Steady Breath thing is specific to Celebratory Spirit Azura (for now), since Fliers can't inherit it.

[XRay]

Just now, LordFrigid said:

Oh, the Steady Breath thing is specific to Celebratory Spirit Azura (for now), since Fliers can't inherit it.

Yeah, I meant "aze" thing.

Her skills should also say Sing instead of Dance now.

[Ice Dragon]

On 12/29/2017 at 2:48 AM, XRay said:

Luna-Steady Breath-Guard 3: This operates on the same principle as the previous set, but more expensive.

You still have Steady Breath here.

 

On 12/29/2017 at 2:48 AM, XRay said:

Brave Lance+-Luna-Death Blow 3-Axebreaker 3/Lancebreaker 3: This allows her to maximize damage against a specific type of enemy.

You have Brave Lance mentioned here.

 

In general, I'm finding this write-up extremely hard to read because you have too many different combinations of skills in each section. I would suggest either splitting out additional sections for specific combinations of skills (like how my Michalis write-up has Moonbow and Bonfire/Ignis as separate sections) and/or putting less optimal (i.e. more budget-conscious) skills in a separate subsection (like my "other options" sections) to lessen the clutter.

Also, while I'm on the subject of other options, I feel like Geyser Dance deserves at least a mention. It's not as effective at powering Litrblade as Fortify Fliers, but it gives you more freedom with your positioning because you can then run a team with only Hone Fliers on it.

[XRay]

5 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

You still have Steady Breath here.

 

You have Brave Lance mentioned here.

 

In general, I'm finding this write-up extremely hard to read because you have too many different combinations of skills in each section. I would suggest either splitting out additional sections for specific combinations of skills (like how my Michalis write-up has Moonbow and Bonfire/Ignis as separate sections) and/or putting less optimal (i.e. more budget-conscious) skills in a separate subsection (like my "other options" sections) to lessen the clutter.

Also, while I'm on the subject of other options, I feel like Geyser Dance deserves at least a mention. It's not as effective at powering Litrblade as Fortify Fliers, but it gives you more freedom with your positioning because you can then run a team with only Hone Fliers on it.

Sorry. I will try to look it over again and fix anything else I see.

I will put that in as well.

For skills like Lancebreaker and Quick Riposte, should I remove explanations for them? They seem kind of self explanatory. I think that may help reduce the clutter too.

Edited January 3, 2018 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, XRay said:

For skills like Lancebreaker and Quick Riposte, should I remove explanations for them? They seem kind of self explanatory. I think that may help reduce the clutter too.

Yeah, that would probably help. Maybe lump them into a single line at most.

[Frosty]

I can't help but to notice that Azura's stat spread as a flier is almost similar to Shanna.

Similar offenses but -2 HP, -3 DEF and -3 RES at neutral nature.

[Shoblongoo]

This is the build I've been running:

Nature = +spd / -attck (nature is suboptimal--I know. Its what I pulled from the banner. This set still works.)

+Hagoita [Speed]
Sing
Moonbow
Fury 3 
Desperation 3
Hone Fliers 
[Iote's Shield]

The primary goal of this set is to function as dance support and buffs for flier emblem, while not being completely incompetent in combat and being able to actually do some fighting herself should the need arise.

Sacred Forge, Fury, and Speed boosting nature put her at 44 speed unbuffed and 50 speed after a hone fliers boost, allowing her to comfortably double most of the meta. Everyone knows how the fury + desperation combo works at this point--burn yourself down to activation range with recoil damage from fury and then double away against enemies that should otherwise be able to kill you on-the-counter.

I don't feel like ~breakers or quick riposte are right for a hero with this much speed. But I guess that works if you're using slower builds. (i still feel like shes a bit to fast to really justify that though)

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Shoblongoo said:

Nature = +spd / -attck (nature is suboptimal--I know. Its what I pulled from the banner. This set still works.)

I think that is a pretty good nature. As a Dancer/Singer, she would not be facing enemies often; -Atk generally does not hamper support units much.

Most of those skills are covered under Player Phase Offense. I just realized I did not put Desperation in there so I will add that in there too.

 

[BANRYU]

Just wanna toss a mention of Marth's Ardent Service+ (or whatever it's actually called if I'm remembering the name wrong) as a good option for her; with Fort Fliers, that weapon, and a Hone Spd 3 seal she can singlehandedly provide +4 Atk/Spd and +6 Def/Res in field buffs to her team, leaving the others all free to run Goads or something and that feels like it's worth a mention to me. Consolidating buffbot duty AND dancing altogether seems like a pretty substantial benefit that merits mentioning IMO. 

Similarly, I feel like the passive buffstack combo of Hagoita + Ward Fliers is probably worth a mention too? Maybe? shrug

Edited May 28, 2018 by BANRYU

[XRay]

1 hour ago, BANRYU said:

Just wanna toss a mention of Marth's Ardent Service+ (or whatever it's actually called if I'm remembering the name wrong) as a good option for her; with Fort Fliers, that weapon, and a Hone Spd 3 seal she can singlehandedly provide +4 Atk/Spd and +6 Def/Res in field buffs to her team, leaving the others all free to run Goads or something and that feels like it's worth a mention to me. Consolidating buffbot duty AND dancing altogether seems like a pretty substantial benefit that merits mentioning IMO. 

Similarly, I feel like the passive buffstack combo of Hagoita + Ward Fliers is probably worth a mention too? Maybe? shrug

Yeah, I will put them down.