Aether Raids General Thread

[Landmaster]

Two Defensive Successes despite the nerf so that's pretty nice~

First match of the day: 2 L!Alms, Ophelia, Aversa, Yune, and Ninian~ Whelp, we didn't get totally wiped but only so much one can do against 2 L!Alms on his bonus week~

[Anacybele]

The mode changes didn't do anything to make it better. I still can't win many matches in tier 19 because it's way too hard. I've already used up all my ladders which should not be happening so fast. We still need to be able to have a sixth unit on offense at least and more turns to win. More often than not, I lose because I run out of fucking turns.

[Hilda]

23 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

The mode changes didn't do anything to make it better. I still can't win many matches in tier 19 because it's way too hard. I've already used up all my ladders which should not be happening so fast. We still need to be able to have a sixth unit on offense at least and more turns to win. More often than not, I lose because I run out of fucking turns.

who is we? what about the people that reached Tier 21? What we need is a way to not get demoted below Tier 21

[Anacybele]

1 minute ago, Hilda said:

who is we? what about the people that reached Tier 21? What we need is a way to not get demoted below Tier 21

I've never gotten that high because it's way too difficult, so I don't know. That's why I'd like to be able to have a sixth unit on offense and all. And others had agreed with me the last time I brought this up, that's where the "we" comes from.

[Johann]

8 hours ago, Hilda said:

I cant, call it OCD. I just like to poor the best in when i start playing (doesnt matter what). It just keeps iching, but i guess i'll try this week with just maintainging Tier 21. No more wasting Time!

I can relate to that. I don't even have a grail project right now but I still feel compelled to try my best. It does feel pretty nice when I can figure out a solution fast and blast through my runs without having to think too hard about them.

[Rezzy]

I had a great start today until the very last match.  I had 5 (I think) flawless matches with no deaths  and smashing both pots.  Fjorm being a bonus unit on water week is very nice.  I accidentally overextended on my last, 6th match and lost two units, but I'm sitting at 11,898 lift now and rank 100 with no ladders used yet.  I lost full (or as full as it can be with the bonus) Lift from Defense loss, but that's just 40, and I haven't put any effort into my defense team other than minimizing the score loss.

 

I'm too tired to do AA or ABs today, but getting a good start here makes me feel a lot better about the week.  It looks like water will still be in season, and I hope so, because after putting the effort into building Fjorm, I want to use her as much as I can.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Rezzy

[Vicious Sal]

Another two perfect runs today. 

I am very glad I decided to invest into my first 5 star ever pulled: Jeorge. At +7, +3 he is sitting at 56/36 offenses and with his Parthia that goes up to 62 attack. His CcVantage was very useful today to get a flierball on the desert map. 

What I like most is that if he’s at 75%, he is still able to use his Parthia well. One unit was able to withstand a vantage hit, but the 30% damage reduction saved Jeorge, allowing the double to finish it.

I just feels satisfying that the first MVP of my account managed to find new purpose and be a core member after falling behind due to powercreep.

 

Now just some seliph merges, since he was the second 5 star i got ever(rerolled until I got two 5 stars)

 

@Ice Dragon, what skills did that Seliph comp have? I am curious!

[Usana]

Fjorm is really carrying this week. Not every match has been flawless, but close enough and I am getting far more pots than usual. And yes this means I have decided to actually make a push this week rather than my usual whatever until the weekend and then get screwed because I had been lazy earlier in the week.

My big problem is likely going to be in defense losses. No Yune and the map changes seem to have hit me. Used to be I would almost always cause a 1 unit lose(so -60 instead of -80) and get a few successes here and there. This week has been one long string failures, with pretty much all of them being clean runs on my attacker's part. Good thing we have that 20hr grace period. Usually I assume about 300-400 lift loss in a week. But I think I'll have to assume the worst here and expect 500-560 lost lift this week.

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

what skills did that Seliph comp have? I am curious!

I don't remember all of the skills, but here's what I do remember:

Seliph (Tyrfing [unique], Vengeance, Distant Counter, Vantage 3, Infantry Pulse 3)
Nino (Iris's Tome [unique])
Ninian (Dance, Infantry Pulse 3)
Legendary Azura (Prayer Wheel, Gray Waves, Wings of Mercy 3, ??? Atk Wave 3)
Ophelia (Missiletainn, Blazing Light, Life and Death 3, Special Spiral 3)
Legendary Alm (Lunar Arc, Lunar Flash, Bonus Doubler 3, Null Follow-Up 3, Darting Blow 3)

[Johann]

WoM baiting is one of the more reliable tactics for Defense, with Seliph being one of the best choices for it since he can trigger it with dual phase and without outside support. Seen a few Pannes and Sturdy Impact users attempt it too though

[Hilda]

23 hours ago, Johann said:

I can relate to that. I don't even have a grail project right now but I still feel compelled to try my best. It does feel pretty nice when I can figure out a solution fast and blast through my runs without having to think too hard about them.

Finished my +10 Aversa tonight (Arvis was my first +10). Undecided who to tackle next, prolly Camus, I dont have a decent blue melee cav. but then again is stoped using easy mode cav Teams like shortly after Brave Lyns release. Maybe i should go for Naesala, but I am thinking of just saving them up, none of the remaining units seem compelling to me much.

[Johann]

Just now, Hilda said:

Finished my +10 Aversa tonight (Arvis was my first +10). Undecided who to tackle next, prolly Camus, I dont have a decent blue melee cav. but then again is stoped using easy mode cav Teams like shortly after Brave Lyns release. Maybe i should go for Naesala, but I am thinking of just saving them up, none of the remaining units seem compelling to me much.

Yeah, I feel ya. There are a few units I'd like at +10 but not enough to dedicate the resources towards them. Gonna hold on to what I have and see if anyone that really sparks my interest appears down the road.

[Ice Dragon]

Having Bride Fjorm run around with 70 HP is silly. The best part of Isolation is that it lets you easily bait dancers into killing themselves instead of chasing them down yourself because they can no longer forgo their attack to dance.

Other than passing out on Tuesday night before doing my runs and losing the 70 Aether from the regen, I've been doing well this week so far. I've used none of my ladders yet and have gotten at least 150 Lift per run. I've also lost only 60 Lift to defense losses because no one challenged me yesterday, which is weird, but convenient. I don't think I'll have any trouble getting back into the top 3,000 by the end of the week, but I don't think I'll make it to top 1,000 this week.

[Usana]

On 6/11/2019 at 5:54 PM, Anacybele said:

I've never gotten that high because it's way too difficult, so I don't know. That's why I'd like to be able to have a sixth unit on offense and all. And others had agreed with me the last time I brought this up, that's where the "we" comes from.

I have been thinking about this a bit. People are right that giving defense an extra body is important for balance, at the same time the requirements of having a mythic on a team can leave your team building rather limited. So the compromise my brain comes up with is this.

Allow the 'spare' offense building slot we have to hold a mythic hero as a 'support unit'. This hero would be a 'building' and wouldn't be able to participate, but would offer their blessings and their C skill(perhaps only on their season) or an effect based on their C skill. So Eir would heal each turn, Yune would chaos three columns, Duma would catapult and damage units(this would require his C-Skil to be altered since it only destroys stuff when defending in AR during his season), and Naga is the odd one out. As it is her C-Skill wouldn't be super useful if she were fixed in place at the back. Two options. 'grants ally closest to a dragon foe "effective against dragons" for 1 turn' or have her act as a 'Dragon School' that has been fully upgraded(-6 to stats within three columns).

Anyways that seems to be a bit of a compromise that would hopefully open up team building a bit. This does have the issue that folks will probably just end up running three Eir's/whatevers. So maybe cap the slot so that it only works if there are 1 or fewer of the mythic in question on the raiding team? That feels clunky to me, but I doubt they would limit it to being usable only if no mythic are on your raiding team.

Edited June 15, 2019 by Usana

[Azuni]

Personally I'm ok with most of the current AR mechanics. 5v6 feels fair since the AI is predictable if you bother to learn it at all. It only noticeably increases the difficulty if your chosen team doesn't have the firepower/bulk/support skills required to breeze through the defense, and in that case AI manipulation becomes vital.

Limiting the team variety of higher scoring players via forcing 1-2+ Mythics fielded is nice since otherwise most players would be able to fill those slots with unit combinations that can clear more defenses. Defense Wins would be much harder to come by unless you invested heavily into it with premium skills/units (especially if your attacker has Bride Fjorm).

My main gripe lies with the Offense buildings. Most become useless if they're not in a cardinal direction from important enemy units, so I would prefer the ability to (before Turn1) either remove some entirely from the map for more back-line Smiting space (except the ladder/fort/bonus building), and/or allow their positions to be shuffled around like unit positions can be swapped.

Other than that the only problem off the top of my head is having to do 15-16 matches per week feels a bit much, but that's more of a personal stress issue than a game-play issue.

[Landmaster]

3 minutes ago, Azuni said:

My main gripe lies with the Offense buildings. Most become useless if they're not in a cardinal direction from important enemy units, so I would prefer the ability to (before Turn1) either remove some entirely from the map for more back-line Smiting space (except the ladder/fort/bonus building), and/or allow their positions to be shuffled around like unit positions can be swapped.

I personally just don't use the Offensive buildings besides the Ladder and the bonus structure of the week simply because they're useless and just take up space.

[Hilda]

On 6/12/2019 at 9:01 PM, Johann said:

WoM baiting is one of the more reliable tactics for Defense, with Seliph being one of the best choices for it since he can trigger it with dual phase and without outside support. Seen a few Pannes and Sturdy Impact users attempt it too though

Id like to note that my Brave Ike i fielded now (didnt use him since ages) is putting in good work.

Urvan + Aegis shield + steady breath + shield pulse + hardy bearing makes him near unkillable by ranged unit.

My last win was because of this. Eir Reinhardt Bride Fjorm and Lazura couldnt kill him with combined attacks lol and he managed to kill their Vantage fully buffed Leavatine. Yeah you better not step on those traps that leave you with 4 HP left

[XRay]

23 minutes ago, Azuni said:

Limiting the team variety of higher scoring players via forcing 1-2+ Mythics fielded is nice since otherwise most players would be able to fill those slots with unit combinations that can clear more defenses. Defense Wins would be much harder to come by unless you invested heavily into it with premium skills/units (especially if your attacker has Bride Fjorm).

We already have stupid scoring mechanics and other arbitrary restrictions in the Colosseum. Aether Raids too have stupid scoring mechanics in the form of bonus units and Mythic Blessings, and I do not want any more shit like that than what we already have.

I want a mode with as few arbitrary restrictions and perverse scoring mechanics as possible, where players are primarily ranked by their tactical ability and understanding of the game.

[Hilda]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

We already have stupid scoring mechanics and other arbitrary restrictions in the Colosseum. Aether Raids too have stupid scoring mechanics in the form of bonus units and Mythic Blessings, and I do not want any more shit like that than what we already have.

I want a mode with as few arbitrary restrictions and perverse scoring mechanics as possible, where players are primarily ranked by their tactical ability and understanding of the game.

I wouldnt call iseing Reinhardt Brave Lyn coupled with 1-2 Dancers or Veronica Tactical Ability zo be honest. Horse emblem is like casual mode in other FE Titles

[Tree]

2 hours ago, Landmaster said:

I personally just don't use the Offensive buildings besides the Ladder and the bonus structure of the week simply because they're useless and just take up space.

I have actually lost because I ran out of space to maneuver. Sometimes I wish I could take out my own buildings. 😀 Still, offensive buildings are very useful.

[XRay]

1 minute ago, Hilda said:

I wouldnt call iseing Reinhardt Brave Lyn coupled with 1-2 Dancers or Veronica Tactical Ability zo be honest. Horse emblem is like casual mode in other FE Titles

Reinhardt has damage output issues as Brave nukes are much more negatively affected by increased bulk than regular nukes that focus on hitting as hard as possible such as Counter-Vantage units and regular Desperation nukes, so I stopped using him in favor of Laevatein. BH!Lyn running Brave Bow has the same issue as Reinhardt, but she is still usable with Firesweep Bow as it serves a different niche. AOTB!Veronica has ease of use issues as she lacks access to Reposition.

You also cannot Reinhardt and BH!Lyn your way through every map either as some maps are just easier to take out with a super tank or a Galeforcer.

On defense, as long as a player has invested in a super tank team, ranged pony defense teams are honestly a non issue. During Sharena's bonus season, she has no trouble counterkilling Lancebreaker Reinhardt and walling Firesweep BH!Lyn and AOTB!Veronica. The best defense teams I have seen involve the use of Lunge on melee cavalry, Ophelia's Blazing spam, or flier balls.

[Ice Dragon]

5 hours ago, XRay said:

You also cannot Reinhardt and BH!Lyn your way through every map either as some maps are just easier to take out with a super tank or a Galeforcer.

No, but they work against enough types of teams to still be worth using a team slot.

[Lewyn]

10 hours ago, XRay said:

We already have stupid scoring mechanics and other arbitrary restrictions in the Colosseum. Aether Raids too have stupid scoring mechanics in the form of bonus units and Mythic Blessings, and I do not want any more shit like that than what we already have.

I want a mode with as few arbitrary restrictions and perverse scoring mechanics as possible, where players are primarily ranked by their tactical ability and understanding of the game.

1. Free units only, no merges allowed, stuck with base kit no SI allowed.  This removes any competitive advantage one can have from pulling, luck of IVs, expensive skill inheritance, etc etc.  There would be no other factor than the work people put.experience and in and their ability.  

2. New mode, where every unit is accessible by every player and they can freely put whatever skills that exist on any unit that meets the basic requirements (example: armor only).  This is another way to do it, but I doubt it would ever happen.

Any type of 'freemium' game where one pays in money and/or in game currency for resources that  influence the game in more than an aesthetic way will never have an 'even' playing field other than extreme measures as I mentioned above.  

[Usana]

. . . you know given just how close I had been so many times in the past without trying and even taking some full loses, I had figured a week where I was actually trying would have me climb with room to spare. But I am losing a lot more lift this season in defense losses. However, I am 40 over the cutoff with a defense loss gained just a few minutes ago. So I should stay in, but it is a lot closer than I was expecting since I was actively hunting pots and avoiding losing units(on my whatever playthroughs I don't care if I lose a single unit. It happens, meh). But no best case scenario is going to be clearing the line by like 200 lift or so. Probably less since I am likely to eat at least one more -80. Kinda stinks that my defense/offense heroes aren't lined up to min/max loss and gain on both ends.

[Hilda]

11 hours ago, Lewyn said:

1. Free units only, no merges allowed, stuck with base kit no SI allowed.  This removes any competitive advantage one can have from pulling, luck of IVs, expensive skill inheritance, etc etc.  There would be no other factor than the work people put.experience and in and their ability.  

2. New mode, where every unit is accessible by every player and they can freely put whatever skills that exist on any unit that meets the basic requirements (example: armor only).  This is another way to do it, but I doubt it would ever happen.

Any type of 'freemium' game where one pays in money and/or in game currency for resources that  influence the game in more than an aesthetic way will never have an 'even' playing field other than extreme measures as I mentioned above.  

Would change it a bit

#1 Scoreing from skills doesnt matter

#2 Your Party of 4 members is only allowed to have: 1 of each color, 1 of each movement. Of those units only 1 dancer OR 1 healer is allowed

#3 Your Party members cant occupy the same skill in the assist, special or passive slot. Meaning only 1 Reposition unit can be used, only 1 Distant counter, etc etc. This also conflicts with seals, if you run the QR seal then no other party member can run QR in their B-Slot. Weapon refines and personal weapon effects are not excluded.

All of the above also accounts for the Defense Teams

#4 you can set a rule to banish a particular weapon type of the field. What this does is, at start of Turn it auto ends that weapon type units turn and inflicts it with Isolation and no counter possibility. This also applies to your own Team if you run the same type of weapon.

Dont want to see Reinhardt and LAzura, set the rule to banish Blue Tomes.

Please note that the opposing Defense Team can have a rule of themself, and can banish a weapon type too, which means you might have a unit sitting like a duck there, that cant move, counterattack or be danced or healed and needs thus protection.

Merges are allowed.