Rate the Unit, Day 92: Brave Ephraim & Brave Veronica

[XRay]

Here is how my criteria are rated:

Spoiler

Mobility:
Armor units are 0/10. Infantry units are 5/10. Cavalry units are 8/10. Flying units are 9/10. Units with unique mobility skills will bump up their score.
Range:
Melee units are 0/10. Distant Counter Weapon melee units are 5/10. Ranged units are 10/10.
Player Phase Raw Performance:
This is based on the W:L:I ratio. Enemies will have a set up of +5, +Spd, Moonbow, and Fury. The unit will be +0, may not use Breakers, and will not have Chills or Ploys activate. Units may have access to buffs (usually, +4 to any two stats for infantry and armors, and 6/6/0/0 or 0/0/6/6 for cavalry and fliers). I would also list the build used to achieve that ratio. I think the following formula is pretty reasonable:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Raw Performance
Player Phase Weighted Performance:
Since most units can get a raw performance score of at least 5, setting 5 as 0 for the weighted performance makes more sense in judging how good a unit is.
(Raw Performance - 5) * 2 = Weighted Performance
Player Phase Independence:
This just means how reliant the unit is on buffs. If I take off the buffs and the unit still performs pretty well, they will get a good score. The formula is that same as the raw performance:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Independence
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Independence:
See Above.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Performance:
This consolidates the weighted performance and independence scores into one score, and uses the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase. This also means that the build used in weighted performance may not necessarily be their best build, since there may be an alternative build with a slightly worse performance but have much higher independence.
(Weighted Performance * 0.8) + (Independence * 0.2) = Performance
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Dagger units start from 1/10. Healers start from 2/10. Buffers start from 3/10. Fliers start from 4/10. Dancers/Singers start from 5/10. Other unique support skills may further boost their score.
Other:
If the unit has some unique application or fun build, it will be noted here. For example, since Raven mages have a performance penalty, they will get some extra points here for being relevant and viable in certain team compositions.

Familiarity/Experience:
This just means how familiar I am with this particular unit or type of unit in Arena. If it is a low number, that means you should take the following rating number with a grain of salt since I do not have much experience with this particular unit and/or type of unit.
Rating:
The rating is how good I think a unit is. Here is how I weigh each criterion:
Ease of Use 4/10
Performance: 5/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
1. A unit's build in raw performance will not take into account a unit's support build, Raven build, or any other builds. Likewise, a unit's ease of use, support, and other criteria will not take into account the unit's raw performance build.
2. Since healers' Firesweep build [+Atk, Pain [Dazzling Staff], Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Attack +3] requires the user to do two rounds of combat to measure how good it is, that overwhelmingly skews the combat results for healers, so I decided to tone down their performance by using Brazen Atk/Spd-Desperation and taking away 10 HP or 25% of max HP, which ever is greater.
3. The build used in raw/weighted performance may not be the best build. If there is an alternative build with a slightly less performance but much higher independence, that build will be used instead.
4. Axe and dagger versions of Wo Dao are not available in the regular summoning pool yet, but I think they will be added in the future, so I am using Giant Spoon and Lethal Carrot.

Disclosures:
I have a strong bias for non-armor Player Phase ranged units. My experience with melee and armor units in Arena is pretty minimal, so my rating for them is mostly based on theory. My Arena core consists of BH!Lyn, Reinhardt, and Olivia. I am usually in Tier 20, but I may drop to Tier 19 if I do not fish for points.

Other:

Spoiler

Template

— — — — — — — ◆Red◆ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ◾Blue◾ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ⬟Green⬟ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ●Colorless● — — — — — — —

Mobility: /10
Range: /10
Player Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Player Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Enemy Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

 

— — — — — — — ◾Blue◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 0/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Performance: 9.16/10 — 231:12:6
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 8.31/10
Player Phase Independence: 8.66/10 — 221:21:7
[+Atk, -Spd, Brave Lance, Ignis, Death Blow, Bold Fighter, Attack +3, 4/0/4/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 7.84/10 — 202:27:20
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 5.68/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 7.08/10 — 186:39:34
[+Def, -Spd, Harmonic Lance [Def], Ignis, Distant Counter, Vengeful Fighter, Close Def, 0/0/4/4]

Ease of Use: 0/10
Performance: 8.38/10
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 3/10
Rating: 4/10

Summary:

Gwendolyn got insane combat performance like any armor unit. However, she does not have much else going for her.

— — — — — — — ◾Shanna◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 9/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Performance: 8.05/10 — 206:22:21
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 6.1/10
Player Phase Independence: 3.86/10 — 102:24:123
[+Spd, -Res, Harmonic Lance [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 6/6/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 7.89/10 — 200:14:35
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 5.78/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 4.98/10 — 138:56:55
[+Atk, -Res, Harmonic Lance [Spd], Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Iote's Shield, 6/6/0/0]

Ease of Use: 4.5/10
Performance: 5.65/10
Support: 4/10
Other: 10/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 6/10

Summary:

Shanna got very good combat performance, although she is quite dependent on buffs.

Like any flier, she got great mobility support potential, as they are the best Repositioners and got access to Guidance.

As a flier, Shanna can also run a Firesweep-Hit and Run set which is quite potent.

[Shiki]

Gwendolyn: 7.07
Shanna: 5.94

And even with the new time I am still late. This is now officially a running gag.

Bartre, Fearless Warrior

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
46/49/52
33/36/39
22/25/29
30/33/36
10/13/17

Base Skills:

Hammer+
Smite
( - )

Fury
Brash Assault
( - )

Fae, Divine Dragon

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
43/46/50
30/33/36
25/28/31
22/25/29
26/30/33

Base Skills:

Light Breath+
Draw Back
( - )

( - )
Renewal
Threaten Atk

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by The Priest

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Pfft, most of you rate Shanna way too low!

Bartre: Bartre is a pretty good axe infantry, honestly. His attack, defense, and health are all good, with his only real weakness being his resistance. But that's kinda common for his unti type. Even so, he does struggle a little when competing with units with better mobility, and there's just so many red units! Still, I'd definitely rank him higher than Barst and Arthur. 7/10

Fae: Aside from the recent additions of Grima and Myrrh, Fae is your only option for a green dragon. And she's much easier to invest in since she isn't locked at 5-star. She serves her role pretty well, just beware of Falchion users. 7/10

[Alexmender]

Bartre the huge and burly meme. Despite his meme status Bartre is a pretty decent unit, with high Atk/Def and huge Hp he is a pretty powerful EP unit that can cause a lot of damage if you don't take him seriously. Despite his wonderful physical bulk his Res is pathetic so he'll have to rely on his Hp to survive mages/dragons with the latter being extremely common. His low Spd doesn't help either as it is plainly bad (it was mediocre at the start of the game but it has gone downhill from there). He faces competition from B!Ike and Dorcas that sport Prf weapons to give them an advantage but Bartre is top tier for those that don't have said benefits. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Fae. The best and worst green dragon for a long time. She has been dethroned by M!Grima and Myrrh but she has the perk of availability and thanks to her trainee status she's still competitive when it comes to BST and also sports a pretty good Res so tanking mages is easier for her than the other two (although Myrrh's Great Flame makes her tankier in the great scheme of things). She might not be the best green dragon anymore but she'll put a lot of work still.

Rating: 8/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Bartre - An excellent axe infantry. Among launch units, I think Bartre has seen the greatest turnaround from mediocre to great - excluding those units that have earned a personal weapon. Bartre ties with Dorcas for highest physical bulk before he refines a weapon, and doesn't waste any of his not-powercreeped BST on that useless Res stat. Take note of his 49 HP, that is still the highest of any non armor unit, and higher than most armors that exist anyway, giving him excellent potential for Panic Ploy utility. Bartre won't have Dorcas or Brave Ike's excellent personal weapons at his disposal, but with a refined Slaying Axe he will surpass both in bulk while still keeping up in attacking power. Tier 20 play can also let him use his native armorsmasher to great effectiveness. Bartre is also one of the best brave axe users out there but lol caring about brave builds in 2018. 7 out of 10. I know many won't agree with me, but I think people are sleeping on this guy big time. I'm looking at the Gamepedia tier list and Cherche and Bartre are separated by two whole tiers despite near identical stat spreads. Being a flier has more perks than being an infantry, yes, but not two tiers better. 

Fa - guh...I never got an optimal version of her to promote. I really want to use her. Highest magic bulk among all manaketes, and it gets higher since she'll be using a refineable weapon. Second lowest physical bulk after Ninian, but you can bring it up to speed with a defense superboon and/or +Def refinement. Attack stat is average while speed is quite low. Fa faces stiff competition with Myrrh who has great mixed bulk, a unique weapon, and can benefit from flier passives and buffs as readily as dragon buffs which is all Fa has access to. But I think she ranks up pretty well against Kana. Both Kana and Fa are a notable step below Grima and Myrrh, but still very meta relevant like any dragon. 7.5 out of 10. Not a Fell Dragon, but a Swell Dragon.

Past ratings

Spoiler

1. Aflonse - 3
2. Marth - 7
3. Sharena - 3
4. Jagen - 1
5. Anna - 4.5
6. Barst - 3
7. Cain - 4
8. Draug - 7.5
9. Gordin - 5
10. Jeorge - 5.5
11. Abel - 5.5
12. Linde - 9
13. Minerva - Abstain
14. Merric - 3.5
15. Maria - 6
16. Wrys - 3.5
17. Ceada - Abstain
18. Ogma - 4
19. Catria - 4
20. Est - 6
21. Sheena - 6.5
22. Cecilia - 4
23. Clarine - 6.5
24. Matthew - 4
25. Palla - 2.5
26. Roy -7
27. Gwendolyn - 7.5
28. Shanna - 4.5
29. Bartre - 7
30. Fae - 7.5

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Glennstavos

[LordFrigid]

Bartre

• Physically powerful and bulky stat line featuring high Atk and HP, good Def, poor Spd, and abysmal Res.
  • Runs a Brave Axe/-breaker set well on offense, granting him solid blue and decent green matchups. He has trouble with bulkier green foes, especially dragons.
  • Has a decent 1-range defense performance against blue and green foes with Steady Breath, though he still has trouble with dragons.
• He cannot much support beyond the standard C passive field or combat buff.

Overall, I give him 7 for combat (strong blue, decent green matchups with a Brave Axe set on offense), and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 6.5/10.

Fae

• Magically bulky stat line with high HP, decent Atk and Res, mediocre Def, and low Spd.
  • Mediocre player phase matchups, hampered by her low Spd.
  • Very strong blue and decent green matchups on the enemy phase with a Lightning Breath+/QR set utilizing Steady or Warding Breath.
• As a dragon unit, she can use dragon field or combat buffs to support her team. Her Res and HP stats allow her to land stat and/or Panic Ploys.

Overall, I give her 8 for combat (very strong blue, decent green matchups), and 1.5 for support (dragon field/combat buffs, ploys), for a total rating of 7.5/10.

~

Scoring method:

Spoiler

Units are evaluated based on both their combat performance and their team support capabilities (i.e. their whole contribution to a team).

• Combat performance is judged by matchups, especially against enemies that are at triangle disadvantage or neutral to the unit. Performance against more relevant meta threats is more valuable than performance against units that are rarely seen. Scale of 0 to 10.
  • Sustainability and filling a useful niche are given small bonuses, when applicable.
  • I will look at least one PP-focused and one EP-focused skill set for each unit, but only evaluate based on performance for whichever phase I deem the unit to be stronger on.
• Support capabilities are decided by how much support a unit can provide (without horribly compromising their combat capabilities), and how valuable I feel that support is. Scale of 0 to 3.
• At the end, the combat and support scores will be weighted (with a heavy focus on combat performance), combined, and rounded to the nearest .5 to obtain the total rating. Dancers and Singers will get +1 point to their total rating (not to exceed 10), because I value Dance/Sing utility highly.

This method of evaluation essentially compares each unit to a hypothetical "god unit" who is stellar at everything, instead of each unit to each other.

All my ratings.

Edited May 15, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Korath88]

Spoiler

10: Extremely strong, shapes the meta around themselves. Requires using niche units to counter. Very few units will fall into this tier.

9: Not quite meta defining but still very strong units with great combat performance against common arena threats and no glaring flaws.

8: Solid units that provide good coverage against their own colour and the one they are strong against, but can be countered by some units of the colour they are weak against.

7: Units that provide a unique form of utility be it buffs, debuffs or being anti meta while also being a decent combatant that can hold their own in a fight.

6: Units that provide similar utility as a tier 7, but are outclassed in combat and will require support or heavy investment to contribute outside of their niche role.

5: Middling units that are outclassed but can still perform decently with investment. Not excellent but not horrible either. Can sometimes serve a niche role.

4: Borderline units that serve as a poor man's version of another unit (basically completely outclassed). Can achieve similar performance as a tier 5 but requires significantly more investment.

3: Units that have poor performance against their own colour and are countered by pretty much anyone with triangle advantage. Can only really achieve anything against units they have an advantage over.

2: Units who often fail to kill even enemies they have triangle advantage over even with investment. Generally not worth using.

1: Bottom of the barrel units that not only perform poorly but are a handicap to the player's team. No amount of investment can save them.

Bartre

Axe infantry really aren't common in arena are they? Either way, Bartre has the typical bulky unit spread with high HP, Atk and Def with poor Spd and Res. Unfortunately, he lacks a prf while his main competitors, B!Ike and Dorcas have great unique weapons and higher BST, making him outclassed by both of them. That being said, he can still be salvaged through investment better than other axes like Arthur or Barst. 5/10, outclassed but not unsalvageable.

Fae

The OG green dragon, but most definitely not the best anymore. Her main competition here is F!Kana due to Grima and Myrrh being on another level entirely.

She has high HP, good Atk and Res with middling Spd and Def. This gives her a niche as a mage counter with the warding breath lightning breath set, which she uses better than Kana. Giving her Aether helps her sustainability against physical units as well, just keep her far away from falchions. Unfortunately, she isn't very versatile and you can pretty much expect most Faes to be running this set (DC light breath is a meme, don't do it), making her role fairly rigid. Still, a dragon is a dragon so she gets 8/10

@Fire Emblem Fan I think it's the individual's rating criteria and not harsh rating. With my current criteria, any unit with an outclassed statline and no unique weapon won't usually score any higher than 5, unless they have a tier 8 combat potential which admittedly makes it harder to rank in categories with really stiff competition like infantry swords. 

Edited May 16, 2018 by Korath88

[Silverly]

@Fire Emblem Fan Can’t help but agree most people rated Shanna harshly, especially compared to Bartre (who I’ll get to in a minute), though she did come close to what I rather her which was 6.

Bartre: I’m not seeing what most you are, because to me Bartre isn’t even average. Sure, he’s got good HP, defense, and attack, but his speed and resistance is a joke. He’s not very versatile as a unit as he’s only workable in the enemy phase. A lot of green tanks can do that but better due to either a personal weapon or slightly better spreads. 4/10

Fae: While she’s no longer no longer unique as a unit with three green dragons being released in the span of four months, she’s still good. With her solid mixed bulk, she can take tank and even wall a large amount of blue and green units, while charging up a special with steady/warding breath and hit hard in retaliation. However, many reds will give her trouble, especially Falchion wielders and speedy sword units. While Myrrh might be a step above her, she’s still nothing to sneeze at. 8/10

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by SilvertheShadow

[XRay]

Here is how my criteria are rated:

Spoiler

Mobility:
Armor units are 0/10. Infantry units are 5/10. Cavalry units are 8/10. Flying units are 9/10. Units with unique mobility skills will bump up their score.
Range:
Melee units are 0/10. Distant Counter Weapon melee units are 5/10. Ranged units are 10/10.
Player Phase Raw Performance:
This is based on the W:L:I ratio. Enemies will have a set up of +5, +Spd, Moonbow, and Fury. The unit will be +0, may not use Breakers, and will not have Chills or Ploys activate. Units may have access to buffs (usually, +4 to any two stats for infantry and armors, and 6/6/0/0 or 0/0/6/6 for cavalry and fliers). I would also list the build used to achieve that ratio. I think the following formula is pretty reasonable:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Raw Performance
Player Phase Weighted Performance:
Since most units can get a raw performance score of at least 5, setting 5 as 0 for the weighted performance makes more sense in judging how good a unit is.
(Raw Performance - 5) * 2 = Weighted Performance
Player Phase Independence:
This just means how reliant the unit is on buffs. If I take off the buffs and the unit still performs pretty well, they will get a good score. The formula is that same as the raw performance:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Independence
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Independence:
See Above.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Performance:
This consolidates the weighted performance and independence scores into one score, and uses the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase. This also means that the build used in weighted performance may not necessarily be their best build, since there may be an alternative build with a slightly worse performance but have much higher independence.
(Weighted Performance * 0.8) + (Independence * 0.2) = Performance
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Dagger units start from 1/10. Healers start from 2/10. Buffers start from 3/10. Fliers start from 4/10. Dancers/Singers start from 5/10. Other unique support skills may further boost their score.
Other:
If the unit has some unique application or fun build, it will be noted here. For example, since Raven mages have a performance penalty, they will get some extra points here for being relevant and viable in certain team compositions.

Familiarity/Experience:
This just means how familiar I am with this particular unit or type of unit in Arena. If it is a low number, that means you should take the following rating number with a grain of salt since I do not have much experience with this particular unit and/or type of unit.
Rating:
The rating is how good I think a unit is. Here is how I weigh each criterion:
Ease of Use 4/10
Performance: 5/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
1. A unit's build in raw performance will not take into account a unit's support build, Raven build, or any other builds. Likewise, a unit's ease of use, support, and other criteria will not take into account the unit's raw performance build.
2. Since healers' Firesweep build [+Atk, Pain [Dazzling Staff], Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Attack +3] requires the user to do two rounds of combat to measure how good it is, that overwhelmingly skews the combat results for healers, so I decided to tone down their performance by using Brazen Atk/Spd-Desperation and taking away 10 HP or 25% of max HP, which ever is greater.
3. The build used in raw/weighted performance may not be the best build. If there is an alternative build with a slightly less performance but much higher independence, that build will be used instead.
4. Axe and dagger versions of Wo Dao are not available in the regular summoning pool yet, but I think they will be added in the future, so I am using Giant Spoon and Lethal Carrot.

Disclosures:
I have a strong bias for non-armor Player Phase ranged units. My experience with melee and armor units in Arena is pretty minimal, so my rating for them is mostly based on theory. My Arena core consists of BH!Lyn, Reinhardt, and Olivia. I am usually in Tier 20, but I may drop to Tier 19 if I do not fish for points.

Other:

Spoiler

Template

— — — — — — — ◆Red◆ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ◾Blue◾ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ⬟Green⬟ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ●Colorless● — — — — — — —

Mobility: /10
Range: /10
Player Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Player Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Enemy Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

 

— — — — — — — ⬟Bartre⬟ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Performance: 6.79/10 — 178:36:35
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 3.57/10
Player Phase Independence: 5.75/10 — 155:47:47
[+Atk, -Res, Brave Axe, Moonbow, Death Blow, Guard, Quickened Pulse, 4/0/4/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 6.49/10 — 174:50:25
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 2.97/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 5.41/10 — 153:73:23
[+Def, -Spd, Slaying Axe [Def], Ignis, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Close Def, 4/0/4/0]

Ease of Use: 2.5/10
Performance: 4.01/10
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 3/10

Summary:

Bartre got okay combat performance, but not much else is going for him.

— — — — — — — ⬟Fae⬟ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 5/10
Player Phase Performance: 5.95/10 — 151:11:87
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 1.91/10
Player Phase Independence: 3.23/10 — 84:14:151
[+Spd, -Res, Flametongue [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 6.63/10 — 177:48:24
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 3.25/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 5.47/10 — 151:59:39
[+Def, -Spd, Water Breath [Def], Bonfire, Steady Breath, Quick Riposte, Close Def, 4/0/4/0]

Ease of Use: 5/10
Performance: 3.7/10
Support: 2/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 4/10

Summary:

Fae got okay combat performance. She can also run Ploys and Dark Breath and Light Breath to support her team

[Shiki]

Bartre: 5.71
Fae: 7.14

Surprisingly Colorless is going to bring us to Awakening first, huh.

Serra, Outspoken Cleric

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
30/33/36
27/30/33
27/31/34
18/21/24
30/33/36

Base Skills:

Absorb+
Recover+
Swift-Winds Balm

( - )
( - )
Hone Atk

Lissa, Sprightly Cleric

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
35/39/42
23/26/30
22/25/29
24/28/31
26/30/33

Base Skills:

Gravity+
Rehabilitate+
Kindled-Fire Balm

( - )
Renewal
( - )

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by The Priest

[Alexmender]

Serra. She has decent stats to be an offensive healer which lets her use the Dazzling/Wrathful combo pretty effectively. Despite that her statline is pretty average making her an inferior choice to nukes like Genny or speed demons like Bride Lyn, Maria, etc. She'll work fine but she's in the middle of the pack. 

Rating: 4.5/10

Lissa. Her statline screams tank and she's able to pull it off pretty well. While she'll be forced to use Rehabilitate+ for healing due to her low Atk she can be pretty annoying with a Dazzling Pain+ and using Fortress Def/Fortress Res and dual Savage Blow. Azama tends to pull this off better thanks to his higher Def but Lissa can pull it off pretty effectively too. 

Rating: 5.5/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Serra - 31 speed is finely average among healers while her attack stat is above average. 33 Res is also pretty good for ploys, though it should be noted that all infantry healers besides Azama and Bride Lyn have at least 30 so it's an implied avenue for versatility for this class. Serra has trouble standing out. I find Lucius to be outright better than her stat spread with only the cost of worse matchups against Dragons. And dragons are what dazzling refinements are for. Furthermore, the problem with infantry healers is that if you are running a mixed emblem team, your healer ought to be a cav since there are so many more competitive options for your one or two infantry units. So while I will say Serra is finely "average" for her class, she gets knocked down due to being infantry at all. They really need to make some skill that only infantry healers can wield so that they can be competitive against cavs and future flying healers. 4 out of 10

Lissa - has the second highest physical bulk. Far behind that of Azama, but also far ahead of any other healers. Lissa's low speed ensures doubles from a variety of units which hurts her potential mixed bulk considerably. 30 Res is also not especially high for ploying among other infantry healers. There really isn't anything Lissa brings to the table over other healers and she very well could be the worst. 2 out of 10. She won't surprise you.

Past ratings 

Spoiler

1. Aflonse - 3
2. Marth - 7
3. Sharena - 3
4. Jagen - 1
5. Anna - 4.5
6. Barst - 3
7. Cain - 4
8. Draug - 7.5
9. Gordin - 5
10. Jeorge - 5.5
11. Abel - 5.5
12. Linde - 9
13. Minerva - Abstain
14. Merric - 3.5
15. Maria - 6
16. Wrys - 3.5
17. Ceada - Abstain
18. Ogma - 4
19. Catria - 4
20. Est - 6
21. Sheena - 6.5
22. Cecilia - 4
23. Clarine - 6.5
24. Matthew - 4
25. Palla - 2.5
26. Roy -7
27. Gwendolyn - 7.5
28. Shanna - 4.5
29. Bartre - 7
30. Fae - 7.5
31. Serra - 4
32. Lissa - 2

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by Glennstavos

[TadpoleSuperHero]

Serra: I love her. She's great! I see people talk a lot about healers based on their ability to fight, I've never used Serra as a fighter, and have her set up so enemies can't counterattack if she does attack them which is nice. But she's a healer. At least the way I have her built, she can warp around to any injured unit anywhere and her healing skills heal tons of HP. Now that Nanna's been added, her utility of removing status ailments makes her very likely for me to use her as much as Serra, but before Nanna, Serra was my go-to healer (the only one I actively used, actually), and I still use her heavily. As a healer, she's top-notch in my book, though the fact that I don't use healers often means she isn't overall totally incredible, when I need a healer, she is the first one I turn to, and she never lets me down. 7.5/10

Haven't used Lissa so can't comment on her. 

[LordFrigid]

Serra

• Magically bulky stat line, with good Res, low Atk and Spd, and poor Def.
  • Unremarkable combat capability on both phases, but can handle low Spd & Res foes. Cannot be counterattacked on the player phase.
• Strong support options through healing and status infliction. Also has decent ploy capability.

Overall, I give her a 3.5 for combat (some combat capability against slower, low-Res foes; cannot be counterattacked on the player phase), and a 3 for support (healing, status, ploys), for a total rating of 4/10.

Lissa

• Defensive stat line, with decent Def and Res, and poor Atk and Spd.
  • Poor KO capability on offense, but cannot be counterattacked with her weapon’s Dazzling refinement (or actual Dazzling Staff).
  • Poor defensive matchups, where her higher-than-your-average-healer’s defensive stats are not enough to tank anything noteworthy.
• Strong support options through healing and status infliction.

Overall, I give her 1 for combat (negligible KO power, but cannot be counterattacked on the player phase), and 3 for support (healing, status), for a total rating of 2/10.

~

Scoring method:

Spoiler

Units are evaluated based on both their combat performance and their team support capabilities (i.e. their whole contribution to a team).

• Combat performance is judged by matchups, especially against enemies that are at triangle disadvantage or neutral to the unit. Performance against more relevant meta threats is more valuable than performance against units that are rarely seen. Scale of 0 to 10.
  • Sustainability and filling a useful niche are given small bonuses, when applicable.
  • I will look at least one PP-focused and one EP-focused skill set for each unit, but only evaluate based on performance for whichever phase I deem the unit to be stronger on.
• Support capabilities are decided by how much support a unit can provide (without horribly compromising their combat capabilities), and how valuable I feel that support is. Scale of 0 to 3.
• At the end, the combat and support scores will be weighted (with a heavy focus on combat performance), combined, and rounded to the nearest .5 to obtain the total rating. Dancers and Singers will get +1 point to their total rating (not to exceed 10), because I value Dance/Sing utility highly.

This method of evaluation essentially compares each unit to a hypothetical "god unit" who is stellar at everything, instead of each unit to each other.

All my ratings.

Edited May 17, 2018 by LordFrigid
One of these days I'll get the formatting and post-write-up pieces on the first try.

[eclipse]

Serra - She's frail, with her only notable stat being Res.  She can be okay as mage bait for slower mages (even if Wrys beats her in Res, she's less likely to eat two attacks).  She's on the upper end of Atk for staffbots, so combined with her half-decent speed, she might be able to do some decent non-Pain poke damage.  But otherwise, there isn't much to say about her.  5.5/10

Lissa - Take Azama, and make him a bit more well-rounded, and that's what Lissa is.  She can safely run some of the stranger combos like +Def/-Atk and be happy about it.  Her Speed's somewhat of a lost cause, though.  The lack of specialization means that she can't reliably tank everything, but she'll fare batter against dragons than most of her competition.  Lowish Atk means that she won't heal as much.  Works best with Azama's equipment.  4.5/10

[kirauza343]

Personally I think Fae was underscored but I digress.

Lissa: Fantastic mixed bulk for a healer, even if her speed hurts. Lissa is a great candidate for the fortress skills since her attack isn't great to begin with and combine them with guard or renewal and she's pretty hard to kill. She'll never be an offensive powerhouse, but she can certainly be a nuisance for her enemies with your staff of choice and a boon for her allies all while being surprisingly durable. I do think she's better suited for jobs outside of the arena (like helping level up units), but she can be useful. Rating: 5/10

[XRay]

Here is how my criteria are rated:

Spoiler

Mobility:
Armor units are 0/10. Infantry units are 5/10. Cavalry units are 8/10. Flying units are 9/10. Units with unique mobility skills will bump up their score.
Range:
Melee units are 0/10. Distant Counter Weapon melee units are 5/10. Ranged units are 10/10.
Player Phase Raw Performance:
This is based on the W:L:I ratio. Enemies will have a set up of +5, +Spd, Moonbow, and Fury. The unit will be +0, may not use Breakers, and will not have Chills or Ploys activate. Units may have access to buffs (usually, +4 to any two stats for infantry and armors, and 6/6/0/0 or 0/0/6/6 for cavalry and fliers). I would also list the build used to achieve that ratio. I think the following formula is pretty reasonable:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Raw Performance
Player Phase Weighted Performance:
Since most units can get a raw performance score of at least 5, setting 5 as 0 for the weighted performance makes more sense in judging how good a unit is.
(Raw Performance - 5) * 2 = Weighted Performance
Player Phase Independence:
This just means how reliant the unit is on buffs. If I take off the buffs and the unit still performs pretty well, they will get a good score. The formula is that same as the raw performance:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Independence
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Independence:
See Above.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Performance:
This consolidates the weighted performance and independence scores into one score, and uses the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase. This also means that the build used in weighted performance may not necessarily be their best build, since there may be an alternative build with a slightly worse performance but have much higher independence.
(Weighted Performance * 0.8) + (Independence * 0.2) = Performance
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Dagger units start from 1/10. Healers start from 2/10. Buffers start from 3/10. Fliers start from 4/10. Dancers/Singers start from 5/10. Other unique support skills may further boost their score.
Other:
If the unit has some unique application or fun build, it will be noted here. For example, since Raven mages have a performance penalty, they will get some extra points here for being relevant and viable in certain team compositions.

Familiarity/Experience:
This just means how familiar I am with this particular unit or type of unit in Arena. If it is a low number, that means you should take the following rating number with a grain of salt since I do not have much experience with this particular unit and/or type of unit.
Rating:
The rating is how good I think a unit is. Here is how I weigh each criterion:
Ease of Use 4/10
Performance: 5/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
1. A unit's build in raw performance will not take into account a unit's support build, Raven build, or any other builds. Likewise, a unit's ease of use, support, and other criteria will not take into account the unit's raw performance build.
2. Since healers' Firesweep build [+Atk, Pain [Dazzling Staff], Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Attack +3] requires the user to do two rounds of combat to measure how good it is, that overwhelmingly skews the combat results for healers, so I decided to tone down their performance by using Brazen Atk/Spd-Desperation and taking away 10 HP or 25% of max HP, which ever is greater.
3. The build used in raw/weighted performance may not be the best build. If there is an alternative build with a slightly less performance but much higher independence, that build will be used instead.
4. Axe and dagger versions of Wo Dao are not available in the regular summoning pool yet, but I think they will be added in the future, so I am using Giant Spoon and Lethal Carrot.

Disclosures:
I have a strong bias for non-armor Player Phase ranged units. My experience with melee and armor units in Arena is pretty minimal, so my rating for them is mostly based on theory. My Arena core consists of BH!Lyn, Reinhardt, and Olivia. I am usually in Tier 20, but I may drop to Tier 19 if I do not fish for points.

Other:

Spoiler

Template

— — — — — — — ◆Red◆ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ◾Blue◾ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ⬟Green⬟ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ●Colorless● — — — — — — —

Mobility: /10
Range: /10
Player Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Player Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Enemy Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

 

— — — — — — — ●Serra● — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 5/10
Player Phase Performance: 5.06/10 — 137:44:68
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 0.12/10
Player Phase Independence: 0.85/10 — 37:63:149
[+Spd, -Res, Slow [Wrathful Staff], Brazen Atk/Spd, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0, -10 HP]
Enemy Phase Performance: 0.37/10 — 38:115:96
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 0/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 0/10 — 7:175:67
[+Atk, -Res, Slow [Wrathful Staff], Close Counter, Quick Riposte, Spd, 4/4/0/0]

Ease of Use: 5/10
Performance: 0.26/10
Support: 4/10
Other: 10/10

Familiarity/Experience: 1/10
Rating: 3.5/10

Summary:

Serra got poor combat performance. However, her Firesweep build can patch that up a bit. She also got enough Res to reliably Ploy enemies.

— — — — — — — ●Lissa● — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 5/10
Player Phase Performance: 0.99/10 — 32:29:188
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 0/10
Player Phase Independence: 0/10 — 6:37:206
[+Spd, -Res, Slow [Wrathful Staff], Brazen Atk/Spd, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0, -10HP]
Enemy Phase Performance: 0/10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 0/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 0/10 — #:#:#
[+Atk, -Spd, Slow [Wrathful Staff], Close Counter, Quick Riposte, Attack +3, 4/0/4/0]

Ease of Use: 5/10
Performance: 0/10
Support: 3/10
Other: 10/10

Familiarity/Experience: 1/10
Rating: 3.5/10

Summary:

Lissa's combat performance is abysmal. However, her Firesweep build can patch that up a bit.

[Korath88]

Abstain. I have no experience with infantry healers whatsoever. I don't even know what builds they usually run.

[TheWill]

Serra: Serra has very... middle-ground stats. She was arguably the best infantry healer at launch... Sadly, that was still very unimpressive. Regardless, for a healer she has a competent attack and speed stat which is more than most of the other healers. But hey, at least she requires almost no investment. She starts with one of the best staffs (competing with Psychic). She's most comparable to Lucius, so I'm going to give her a final rating of... Rating: 4.5/10

Lissa: Unfortunately with Rehabilitate being usurped by essentially every other staff in the game, Lissa's support ability has dropped off dramatically. This could be mitigated by skill inheritance, but in the end... she's just not worth it. She has decent mixed bulk (good even, for a healer), but with her astronomically low speed stat, she's going to get doubled by everything in the game making her bulk essentially useless. I've seen some close counter-esque builds with her which may be promising but as of right now are nothing more than a gimmick. Rating: 1/10

[Shiki]

Serra: 4.79
Lissa: 3.36

To make up my mistake from last time.

Tiki, Dragon Scion

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
38/41/44
28/31/34
27/30/33
29/32/35
25/29/32

Base Skills:

Flametongue+
( - )
Growing Flame

Armored Blow
( - )
Breath of Life

Lilina, Delightful Noble

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
32/35/39
34/37/40
22/25/29
16/19/22
27/31/34

Base Skills:

Forblaze (At start of turn, inflict Res-7 on foe on the enemy team with the highest Res through its next action.)
( - )
Growing Flame

Attack+
( - )
Spur Atk

 

Edited May 28, 2018 by The Priest

[Alexmender]

Y!Tiki. She has a balanced spread and the trainee bonus lets her compete against the newer units in terms of BST. As a dragon she has access to the ever popular Lightning Breath+ and thanks to the weapon refinery she's able to deal with every ranged unit thanks to it's ability to target the lower of the enemy's Def or Res if they're ranged. While her adult counterpart is more specialized Y!Tiki all-rounder stats allow her to be a better mixed tank, although the lower Atk hurts her she makes up for this with powerful specials like Bonfire/Ignis and Aether. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Lilina. She can be said to be the second or third best red mage in the game depending on how much you value Celica's Ragnarok burst. Before the refinery she was able to use a powerful OHKO build with Raðrblade with the downside that she was heavily reliant on buffs. Now with the Prf tome Forblaze she's able to deal similar damage without the need for having buff bots, reaching 66 Atk with only Death Blow 3 and her special refine puts her at a monstrous level and if the target is hit by her tome's Chill Res then it'll be very hard to survive a hit if you're not a blue Res tank. The meta has been leaning towards green units lately so her red color gives her an easier time. Despite her absurdly high Atk all her other stats range from average to terribad so it's better to treat her as the nuke she is. 

Rating: 9/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Tiki - I prefer the more min-maxed adult version. I notice the added speed lets her avoid doubles from the Naga users, but she takes harsher trades against melee attackers and is still slow enough to get doubled and killed by many mages. Not a bad dragon, but I think when they finally add another red dragon, that one is going to blow both Tikis out of the water. 8 out of 10. 

Lilina - She was good at one shotting people before she shut the door on Athos coming into the game. But now she can do it without a team having to be built around her. The personal weapon also helps her arena score since you're already taking a hit by fielding an infantry mage. Decent magical bulk too, but any mage worth her salt will double Lilina. I'm annoyed by Forblaze debuffing the enemy with the highest Res, as they will have the highest likelihood of surviving to retaliate and said retaliation is deadly. I think Lilina still faces competition from Sanaki who has even higher res and can Ploy opponents on her own terms. Her weapon may be more support oriented, but a ploy debuff and Atk/Res Bond from Flying ally can help get her up to speed in raw damage. Lilina gets a 7 out of 10 from me. Tired of debuffing the guy in the back I can't reach.

Past ratings 

Spoiler

1. Aflonse - 3
2. Marth - 7
3. Sharena - 3
4. Jagen - 1
5. Anna - 4.5
6. Barst - 3
7. Cain - 4
8. Draug - 7.5
9. Gordin - 5
10. Jeorge - 5.5
11. Abel - 5.5
12. Linde - 9
13. Minerva - Abstain
14. Merric - 3.5
15. Maria - 6
16. Wrys - 3.5
17. Ceada - Abstain
18. Ogma - 4
19. Catria - 4
20. Est - 6
21. Sheena - 6.5
22. Cecilia - 4
23. Clarine - 6.5
24. Matthew - 4
25. Palla - 2.5
26. Roy -7
27. Gwendolyn - 7.5
28. Shanna - 4.5
29. Bartre - 7
30. Fae - 7.5
31. Serra - 4
32. Lissa - 2
33. Tiki - 8
34. Lilina - 7

 

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Sorry for skipping Serra and Lissa. I've summoned them both but haven't used them, so I abstained. 

Tiki: Ah, my very first 5-star unit. She's got a good stat spread and can make good use of the weapons available to her. She can tank some hits and her speed prevents her from being doubled too much. She's not easy to invest in, though, due to being 5-star locked. 8/10

Lilina: Lilina is a freaking nuke, and my personal pick for one of the best red mages in the entire game. Her defense is bad, but mages aren't likely to stand up to hits anyway so it doesn't bug me. She's also easy to invest in since you can get her at lower star rarities. 9/10

[LordFrigid]

Tiki

• Balanced statline with decent Def and Res and middling Atk and Spd.
  • Can run a Spd-stacking Flametongue offense set using Swordbreaker for solid green and red matchups with Dragon buffs. Runs into some trouble against Falchion.
  • Solid green and good red matchups with a defensive set with Lightning Breath and Steady/Warding Breath for one-round Bonfire activations with Fortify Dragons active. Runs into trouble against dragon-effective weapons and fast, one-round special swords.
• As a dragon unit, she can use dragon field or combat buffs to support her team.

Overall, I give her 8 for combat (strong green and good red matchups on the EP), 1 for support (dragon field/combat buff capability), for a total rating of 7.5/10.

Lilina

• Atk and Res heavy stat line with poor Def and Spd.
  • Forblaze (built-in Chill Res 3) has good debuff utility, and becomes significantly stronger after being given the Effect refinement (built-in Death Blow 3).
  • Strong OHKO potential against green units with Atk stacking Forblaze. Decent OHKO potential against red units, that significantly improves if the red unit in question is the recipient of the -7 Res debuff. She can pull off the same (and better) OHKO feats with Rauðrblade and enough buff-stack. Sustainable as long as she OHKOs her foes.
• Poor defensive matchups, where she is hurt by her low Def and Spd.
• Forblaze, if used, provides built-in debuff support. She also has the Res to use a ploy in her C slot, though ideally her Seal slot is occupied by Attack +3.

Overall, I give her 8.5 for combat (strong OHKO potential against greens, decent OHKO potential against reds, small sustainability bonus), and 1 for support (field/combat buff and/or debuff potential, depending on Weapon and C Passive choices), for a total rating of 8/10.

~

Scoring method:

Spoiler

Units are evaluated based on both their combat performance and their team support capabilities (i.e. their whole contribution to a team).

• Combat performance is judged by matchups, especially against enemies that are at triangle disadvantage or neutral to the unit. Performance against more relevant meta threats is more valuable than performance against units that are rarely seen. Scale of 0 to 10.
  • Sustainability and filling a useful niche are given small bonuses, when applicable.
  • I will look at least one PP-focused and one EP-focused skill set for each unit, but only evaluate based on performance for whichever phase I deem the unit to be stronger on.
• Support capabilities are decided by how much support a unit can provide (without horribly compromising their combat capabilities), and how valuable I feel that support is. Scale of 0 to 3.
• At the end, the combat and support scores will be weighted (with a heavy focus on combat performance), combined, and rounded to the nearest .5 to obtain the total rating. Dancers and Singers will get +1 point to their total rating (not to exceed 10), because I value Dance/Sing utility highly.

This method of evaluation essentially compares each unit to a hypothetical "god unit" who is stellar at everything, instead of each unit to each other.

All my ratings.

[Korath88]

Oh hey, units I actually use!

Tiki (Y)

Balanced stat spread, and one of the two red dragons in the game. Her mixed bulk is great for lighting breath builds, and gives her more versatility than her adult version. Good Spd lets her avoid doubles to reduce damage taken. Mediocre Atk is her main drawback but adaptive damage and steady breath easily remedy that. She can also receive dragon emblem buffs, which bump up her performance even more. Lack of competition means that she won't be totally outclassed by any unit. Falchion weakness will prove to be a little problematic sometimes but not every team has one. 

9/10, honestly a really good unit overall.

Lilina

OHKO nuke post refinery update with DB3 and chill res built into a single weapon. Her full potential is not as high as a bladetome but is more self sufficient and doesn't restrict allies' C slot choices. However she is frail and slow and will probably die if she fails to OHKO. Red mages aren't exactly meta but she's definitely one of the better ones. She does lack versatility and will usually always be seen with the standard Atk stacking DB6 build, which pulls down her rank a little, but still, she fills that one role very well. 7/10

Edited May 18, 2018 by Korath88