Marth: Altean Prince

[BANRYU]

Marth: Altean Prince
The mascot of the Fire Emblem series, Marth himself, is frankly one of the best support and utility units in the entirety of Heroes. In terms of healing capabilities as a non-staff unit, sheer quantity of passive boosts (or field buffs, as they're known), and availability/ease of use, the Archanean Hero-King of Legend is second to none, providing all of this in a single package on top of dragon-effective damage to boot. He's also notable for being the best healer unit in the upper eschelons of Arena scores, since staff units inherently possess a lower BST than a melee infantry, making Marth the best and highest-scoring healing and support unit when merged to completion. While he may not pack Alm or Chrom's raw power or Lucina's powerful sweeping capabilities, Marth can safely lay claim to a niche all his own thanks to the numerous boons he can grant his allies, being both common and extremely easy to build with no exceptionally rare skills required, and the ease of use with which he can provide assistance for any team composition. 

5* Level 40 Stats: 
HP: 37 / 41 / 44
Atk: 28 / 31 / 34
Spd: 31 / 34 / 37
Def: 25 / 29 / 32
Res: 20 / 23 / 26
BST: 157~158

Default Skills: 
Weapon: Falchion 
Assist: Pivot
Special: --
A-Skill: --
B-Skill: Escape Route 3
C-Skill: Spur Speed 3

---

The Lodestar (utility support)
**Optimal Build** General use, Arena modes, Chain modes, Assault modes

Spoiler

Suggested IV: any (+Atk, +HP, and +Res are the most favorable boons, but any IV can perform all the needed roles)

Weapon: Falchion [Special]
Assist: Reciprocal Aid
Special: Moonbow / Luna / Aether
A-Skill: Triangle Adept 3 / Death Blow 3 / Fury 3 / HP+5 / flexible
B-Skill: Renewal 3
C-Skill: Drive skills / Spur skills / flexible
Sacred Seal: Drive Def 2 / Drive Atk 2 / Spur skills / flexible

This is he, the wielder of the best cumulative support arsenal in the game. Falchion's Renewal effect combined with the same B-skill allow Marth to serve as a competent HP battery via Reciprocal Aid (just like any other Falchion-wielder) while Marth's unique weapon refinement provides a Drive buff of +2 to all stats, which can be further supplemented with Drives or Spurs in the C and Seal slots, granting up to +14 in cumulative passive stat boosts with Drive skills or even up to +16-18 with Spurs. The real value of this build is not only in the breadth of the utility that Marth can provide, but also in how low its cost is, with the 200 Divine Dew for his refine (and 20-22k feathers if he is obtained at 4* or 3* rarity) being the most contestable resources needed to build him; all other skills needed for the build, save for a few rare spurs or ambitious A-slot skills, can be inherited at 4* rarity or below. 

The buffs used can vary depending on the team Marth is run with; of course Drive Speed + Drive Attack work well for offensive units, while Drive Res + Drive Def are a bit more general in use, in addition to helping tanky or enemy phase units the most. If the smaller proximity is less of a hangup, Spurs can also be used to great effect, especially when using a dual-stat spur in the C-slot such as Spur Def+Res or Spur Atk+Spd, with anything else desired in the Seal slot (Spur Atk 3 works well for both aforementioned spurs). Skills like Guidance or Escape Route on his allies can also make it easier for them to take advantage of the buffs Marth provides by letting him warp to allies' side, or they to his. 

The final, and admittedly least significant aspect of the build relates to combat performance in the form of A-skills and Specials. Though as a buff bot and HP battery Marth will always be useful in some capacity, his combat utility should not be overlooked, and any of the strong budget options available at 4* (Fury and Death Blow in particular) can be of use to him in some capacity or other. If Marth is likely to see less combat, then HP+5 can boost his maximum healing threshold, and Triangle Adept can grant more consistent offense and defense against greens (though it's worth noting that this trivializes his damage against blue dragons, arguably decreasing his utility). Given his focus on support, there are many more acceptable options for A-skills found at a higher rarity, such as Close Defense, Fierce Stance (to capitalize on enemy AI and the fact that most dragons are built for enemy phase), Swift Sparrow, and more. For Specials, Moonbow is useful and consistent if he doesn't see combat often, but this option is as flexible as his A-skill, with Luna, Sol, Aether, Bonfire, and Miracle also available as useful options depending on Marth's IVs, A-skill, and player preference. 

Other Options: 

• Marth's competent defenses and balanced stats make him a decent unit when built for dedicated combat, though there are other sword units available who can outcompete him in this field with little substantial effort. He can still definitely be good when built for combat, though his sole and primary claim to fame is his support utility via Falchion's unique refine. 
• (if folks deem it necessary, I can run calcs for some combat builds for him too, but for now was planning to just stick with this)

Edited July 28, 2018 by BANRYU

[BANRYU]

Done for now, at least with the main attraction. 
(I did your mar-mar! Are you proud of me, Tiki?!?)

Edited July 28, 2018 by BANRYU

[Shiki]

I would at least mention alternative options for his Assist and B passive. A HP battery is not that useful in Arena.
e.g. Marth can run Reposition + Chill Spd to emphasize a more general-use role. Chill Spd with Marth's Falchion + Drive Spd will generate a 12 Spd gap which will allow your units to double the targeted unit or at least avoid doubles.

[BANRYU]

On 8/13/2018 at 5:33 PM, The Priest said:

I would at least mention alternative options for his Assist and B passive. A HP battery is not that useful in Arena.
e.g. Marth can run Reposition + Chill Spd to emphasize a more general-use role. Chill Spd with Marth's Falchion + Drive Spd will generate a 12 Spd gap which will allow your units to double the targeted unit or at least avoid doubles.

Sounds like a good plan to me, TBH I been waiting for people to weigh in on more combat options for Marth... Hadn't even considered Chill support, s'not a bad idea at all. 

I'll edit it into the OP when I get a chance, and I suppose the Renewal build is better labeled as budget support or something given its relatively f2p-friendly nature.