Aether Raids General Thread

[XRay]

Just now, Landmaster said:

Can't you just change her Blessing weekly? I know people do it with B!Fjorm~

I can, but I see it as a waste of Blessings. I much rather have 2 Kronyas. That also allows me to try dual Kronyas; sometimes my back line is open on one of the flanks, so having Kronyas pincer the enemy and guard both flanks at the same time sounds pretty cool. I still have 2 more Close Counter fodder and I can afford additional fodder so I do not mind building redundancies for the sake of convenience.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

1 hour ago, Anacybele said:

What buffs would I need? Tbh, the descriptions of AoE skills kind of confuse me on how exactly the damage is calculated.

And yeah, as Usana said, pretty much all Res. Atk debuffs on the enemy can also work (and Chill Atk will frequently hit Ophelia), but that can easily be derailed by rally traps. Res Tactic and Eir buffs are kind of the big, easy ones. I also have the Fortress Res 3 Seal on my Surtr. As I mentioned above, stacking enough in-combat buffs can help compensate for how limited visible Res increases (and visible enemy Atk decreases) can be. 20-30 AoE damage looks scary upfront, but if the rest of the enemy team then plinks for single-digit damage against a massive in-combat Res, then the enemy defense isn't going to get far.

I support my Surtr with an M!Corrin who has Res Drive 2 and Res Drive 2 Seal, which results in +11 in-combat Res when M!Corrin is standing 2 tiles away. Even without Eir help, my Surtr hits 45 Res with Res Tactic (he does have enough flowers for +1 Res). Corrin pushes that up to 56 in combat, which means Ophelia needs 70 Atk to even do 1 damage through WTD after the AoE lands. I know you don't like M!Corrin, but consider that his presence would make your Surtr insanely tanky. Alternatively, you can run double Marths (single Marth might even be enough against some teams) or Marth + Kaden. Fjorm can hit similar numbers, but will have a bit more difficulty due to not having WTA on Ophelia (but she does have Ice Mirror + Shield Pulse to make up some of that distance) unless she's as invested as mine. That said, she's still going to be pretty competent if she's fully buffed out. I ran Steady Stance 3 on her before I finally got Bonus Doubler fodder (it's probably also worth considering stealing Bracing Stance 2 from a Conrad).

Fjorm does have other major advantages going for her that actually make me prefer her to Surtr: no armour weakness and people hate getting attacked by Surtr enough that Lilina and dancing Micaiah still show up on defense teams rather often. Fjorm mostly defuses them, though Lilina's Chill Res can be nasty. In general, it's worth building up the tank on one of the support units to draw defensive Chills away from your real tank. It also doesn't hurt to have a very tanky Corrin or Marth in case the opposition also brings a tanky green (usually L!Hector these days, but sometimes I still see defense Surtr).

[Rinco]

Just checked out, when my M!Corrin gets to max investment (+10/+10), he'll be able to soak every Chill but Res from Cecilia. Even at +Res he wouldn't be able to get that far. But that's ok.

[Vicious Sal]

2 hours ago, Anacybele said:

What buffs would I need? Tbh, the descriptions of AoE skills kind of confuse me on how exactly the damage is calculated.

How is having a whole bunch of units to use a pitfall when it only increases my options?

...Change? What do you mean by change? I'm just trying to improve my win rate, that has nothing to do with changing anything about myself.

I never said to use the seal on five units. I meant use it on one unit and give the other units inheritance or some other skill.

Except as I've said more than once, I do NOT have the resources.

lol that's not similar at all. A skill and a character are two different things. I don't have to stop disliking a character just because that character might be good in battle. A skill is just a skill. It's either helpful or it isn't. A character has writing, design, backstory, stats, etc. All there is for a skill is its usefulness on a unit. Nothing more. It's not a good comparison.

Also, I don't even have Brave Micaiah or dancing Micaiah, so it doesn't matter anyway.

My only built Corrins are Summer Corrin and Adrift female Corrin.

And I see your long post about offensive teams, I'll gradually go through it. It's too long to quote at present.

Having a whole bunch of units does nothing for you AR team if you don’t invest in skills that they need to win. 

Again, if you are in a contest and you need to present a cake, you can’t just say: ‘look, i have all my ingredients over there’ That won’t work. You cannot expect to use base kit units and win matches straight of the bat. You need to invest into your offense team, and you have most of the skills needed in your barracks, I can see them right there. So this ‘not having the resources’ is not true. If you are not willing to use them, don’t expect to win.

 

When I am talking about change, I mean changing your team, using skills that benefit your units, using different units to begin with. Change your mentality towards the game and accept that to advance, or at least easily stay T20, you will need to invest into your units.

 

As I have said, for a flier ball you need every flier to have Flier formation, so that is 80k investment worth or feathers. There is no other skill that can do what FF does the way it does. Half-assing these kinda of team comps just creates bad defense teams because the skills allow the team to function the way it needs to. Without the skills needed, the team won’t work.

 

A skill and a unit are a completely fair comparison. When using units in battle, their design, personality and art do not matter. Micaiah isn’t good because she is Micaiah, she is good because she has a weapon(which is a skill) that only she can use. I also did not say you have to start liking her, but you cannot deny that she is good and worth using, because only she can do this one niche in the game, which makes her valuable. So in al actuality I am not comparing Fury and Micaiah, I am comparing Fury and Thani. So yes, it is exactly the same.

 

[Rinco]

@Vicious Sal, @Anacybele, in the same way that Sal is saying about using Micaiah, M!Corrin is one of the best supporters in the game right now with easy access. He can easily buff his support partner by +6 to all stats jus by being close to them. If you add other skills like tactics and Links (like I use in mine), you have +12 to all stats on your tank.

If you don't want to use him but still need a tank, OG Marth can buff by +4 all stats by being supported with the unit and close to it, if you add Links and Tactics, +10 all. Aside from these two, no other unit is easily avaliable for merges and has this same performance. B!Lucina is even better, but is 5* locked, but IMO she's the best support unit right now. You don't want to use units that are very good, you don't want to fodder 5* that probably sit in your barracks having low use instead of giving their good skills to other heroes that you would use every other week.

You can't just expect that we would look at the units you have and with 0 or minimal SI just point a treasure map for you to start winning, because this mode is not for units with base kits or budget builds. If you want to win, you have to build stronger units and that heavy SI for at least 2 units on each season.

And don't claim that as a P2W because I'm a F2P and I've been on tier 21 for a long time, every season I get to tier 25 or so. Even if your goal isn't tier 21 and above, if you're struggling to keep your tier means you need better units and more investment. If you simply shrug every advice that says that you need to sac some units to strengthen others and just wants an easy path with what you have, you would probably need to screenshot every unit with what skills they already have and all the fodder you're willing o to part with, and even then it could be hard

Playing this game on F2P mode means you need to make sacrificies and focus on building units that are easily accessible, like Mythics/Legends that are often rerun on the monthly banners, 3/4* units and grail units. Building 5* exclusives and giving them rare skills is a waste of resources.

[Anacybele]

28 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Having a whole bunch of units does nothing for you AR team if you don’t invest in skills that they need to win. 

Again, if you are in a contest and you need to present a cake, you can’t just say: ‘look, i have all my ingredients over there’ That won’t work. You cannot expect to use base kit units and win matches straight of the bat. You need to invest into your offense team, and you have most of the skills needed in your barracks, I can see them right there. So this ‘not having the resources’ is not true. If you are not willing to use them, don’t expect to win.

 

When I am talking about change, I mean changing your team, using skills that benefit your units, using different units to begin with. Change your mentality towards the game and accept that to advance, or at least easily stay T20, you will need to invest into your units.

 

As I have said, for a flier ball you need every flier to have Flier formation, so that is 80k investment worth or feathers. There is no other skill that can do what FF does the way it does. Half-assing these kinda of team comps just creates bad defense teams because the skills allow the team to function the way it needs to. Without the skills needed, the team won’t work.

 

A skill and a unit are a completely fair comparison. When using units in battle, their design, personality and art do not matter. Micaiah isn’t good because she is Micaiah, she is good because she has a weapon(which is a skill) that only she can use. I also did not say you have to start liking her, but you cannot deny that she is good and worth using, because only she can do this one niche in the game, which makes her valuable. So in al actuality I am not comparing Fury and Micaiah, I am comparing Fury and Thani. So yes, it is exactly the same.

 

Except what you're failing to see is that the only sources I have of those skills are single copies of very good units that are not worth foddering (like GD Ike and legendary Hector for instance. Not to mention GD Ike is one of my favorite units in this game). It is true that I don't have the resources.

I've tried those things. That's why I have a lot of units in my barracks, so I have a lot of options.

Flier Formation is another hard to get skill. Should I get more fodder for it, I'll use it.

No, they are not. Then compare Fury and Thani, not Fury and Micaiah. You used Micaiah specifically in your comparison, not her weapon.

5 minutes ago, Rinco said:

@Vicious Sal, @Anacybele, in the same way that Sal is saying about using Micaiah, M!Corrin is one of the best supporters in the game right now with easy access. He can easily buff his support partner by +6 to all stats jus by being close to them. If you add other skills like tactics and Links (like I use in mine), you have +12 to all stats on your tank.

If you don't want to use him but still need a tank, OG Marth can buff by +4 all stats by being supported with the unit and close to it, if you add Links and Tactics, +10 all. Aside from these two, no other unit is easily avaliable for merges and has this same performance. B!Lucina is even better, but is 5* locked, but IMO she's the best support unit right now. You don't want to use units that are very good, you don't want to fodder 5* that probably sit in your barracks having low use instead of giving their good skills to other heroes that you would use every other week.

You can't just expect that we would look at the units you have and with 0 or minimal SI just point a treasure map for you to start winning, because this mode is not for units with base kits or budget builds. If you want to win, you have to build stronger units and that heavy SI for at least 2 units on each season.

And don't claim that as a P2W because I'm a F2P and I've been on tier 21 for a long time, every season I get to tier 25 or so. Even if your goal isn't tier 21 and above, if you're struggling to keep your tier means you need better units and more investment. If you simply shrug every advice that says that you need to sac some units to strengthen others and just wants an easy path with what you have, you would probably need to screenshot every unit with what skills they already have and all the fodder you're willing o to part with, and even then it could be hard

Playing this game on F2P mode means you need to make sacrificies and focus on building units that are easily accessible, like Mythics/Legends that are often rerun on the monthly banners, 3/4* units and grail units. Building 5* exclusives and giving them rare skills is a waste of resources.

Oh, I get what he's saying. I'm just saying there should be other options if I don't like Corrin or Micaiah. Heroes should be about using your favorite units/units you like together. You shouldn't be forced to use a certain unit for something when there are many more in the game. Surely some of them can serve similar purposes or there can be different strats entirely formed with other units.

Building 5 star units with good skills is a waste? How does that make any sense at all? Many 5 star exclusive units are really good. And if you happen upon one with free orbs and no spent money, why would you just ignore it?

[Rinco]

@Anacybele, the point of prf weapons and special refine is exactly to make units have their specialized niches. You don't have other unit that has M!Corrin's weapon and refine, so you don't have anyone that does what he do on the same level. You have worse options, alright, but they may not be good enough in some matches. Even the OG Marth suggestion you ignored, and he is the next best after Corrin and Lucina, IMO.

And, as a F2P, it is not great idea to give rare skills such as DC, CC and the likes to units you won't be able to merge to higher levels, because they won't have the same performance as units you could do that. You're better fully building a +10 unit than you are a +0 unit.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Using your favourites is possible, but requires more work and investment and, unfortunately, as you've said yourself, you don't even have the resources for a lot of the investment suggested. Forcing your favourites to work in situations that they're not good at is going to require an absurd amount of tuning. Like, my Florina can fare well enough in most fights and could maybe even take on some of AR if I swapped her blessing over, but the investment I needed to make to get her to this point is a little absurd (no money involved, though).

I also disagree that investing in 5* exclusives is a waste. One needs to be very judicious about it, since not all of them are worth it, but some are very safe. B!Ike is a prime example of that.

Also, also, I'd like to point out that Surtr is almost good to go for omega tanking with his base kit. Just add Pivot/Swap, the Fort Res 3 Seal and maybe a sprinkling of flowers (he really wants up to +Res, but even just the +1 HP can help). Like, mine's done well enough that I actually never felt the need to inherit Aether to him (probably should at some point, though). He'll need support, of course, but that's any omega tank, so I'm not going to place that cost on his head when we're comparing omega tanks. Fjorm's base kit also works pretty well on its own, though she wants to ditch that Atk/Def Bond for something that doesn't put the supports in danger (and hog the QR3 Seal). She'll also need more support than Surtr if she's not highly invested.

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Rinco said:

@Anacybele, the point of prf weapons and special refine is exactly to make units have their specialized niches. You don't have other unit that has M!Corrin's weapon and refine, so you don't have anyone that does what he do on the same level. You have worse options, alright, but they may not be good enough in some matches. Even the OG Marth suggestion you ignored, and he is the next best after Corrin and Lucina, IMO.

And, as a F2P, it is not great idea to give rare skills such as DC, CC and the likes to units you won't be able to merge to higher levels, because they won't have the same performance as units you could do that. You're better fully building a +10 unit than you are a +0 unit.

Well, these points are indeed true. I do have some +10s of my own. Even some that aren't big favorites. I +10'd Reinhardt and Klein because they're really good. And in the case of Klein, he was the first 5 star archer I ever got, so he really helped me out back then too.

Surtr is really good, that's why I kept the second one I pulled. He happened to have good IVs. The first one I ended up foddering to Silas for Steady Stance 4.

[Rinco]

17 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

Using your favourites is possible, but requires more work and investment and, unfortunately, as you've said yourself, you don't even have the resources for a lot of the investment suggested. Forcing your favourites to work in situations that they're not good at is going to require an absurd amount of tuning. Like, my Florina can fare well enough in most fights and could maybe even take on some of AR if I swapped her blessing over, but the investment I needed to make to get her to this point is a little absurd (no money involved, though).

I also disagree that investing in 5* exclusives is a waste. One needs to be very judicious about it, since not all of them are worth it, but some are very safe. B!Ike is a prime example of that.

Also, also, I'd like to point out that Surtr is almost good to go for omega tanking with his base kit. Just add Pivot/Swap, the Fort Res 3 Seal and maybe a sprinkling of flowers (he really wants up to +Res, but even just the +1 HP can help). Like, mine's done well enough that I actually never felt the need to inherit Aether to him (probably should at some point, though). He'll need support, of course, but that's any omega tank, so I'm not going to place that cost on his head when we're comparing omega tanks. Fjorm's base kit also works pretty well on its own, though she wants to ditch that Atk/Def Bond for something that doesn't put the supports in danger (and hog the QR3 Seal). She'll also need more support than Surtr if she's not highly invested.

Yeah, I'm taking B!Ike as a long term project, because at his first banner I had hoarded a lot of orbs and got 3 or 4 copies. Then I got pity broken by him a couple more times down the road. When he appears again, if I have the orbs, I'll probably commit on more merges (+4 right now).

I'll use myself from early last year as an exemple. I didn't had all the knowlege about the game I have today, so I ended up foddering my 2 Takumis to H!Jakob and LA!Lyn. Then I never got any other CC fodder. When I decided to go all in on Cecilia, Jakob went bye bye. Now I need another CC for Kronya and, if I can't get a Takumi in his weekly revival, Lyn is getting the boot even I liking her a lot. Neither Jakob nor Lyn would be really playable the way the are/were and I wouldn't get merges for them, while for Cecilia and Kronya I can get merges and I will use them a lot. So, why should I give those kind of skills to units that won't have a great use instead on focusing on building the units that will? Having 200 unique 5* won't help you much if you only use 20-30 of them and you could make those 20-30 even better for tackling every mode in the game.

[Diovani Bressan]

3 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Oh, I get what he's saying. I'm just saying there should be other options if I don't like Corrin or Micaiah. Heroes should be about using your favorite units/units you like together. You shouldn't be forced to use a certain unit for something when there are many more in the game. Surely some of them can serve similar purposes or there can be different strats entirely formed with other units.

Building 5 star units with good skills is a waste? How does that make any sense at all? Many 5 star exclusive units are really good. And if you happen upon one with free orbs and no spent money, why would you just ignore it?

Heroes is about using your favorite units... but not in a competitive mode like AR (it's no impossible, but it's very hard and requires a lot of investment). If a player doesn't have resources to go for 5* Heroes, then the the 3-4* pool is where this player will find what he needs. For a supportive role in the 3-4* Pool, Male Corrin is the best one, because his sword grants +6 to all stats to a single unit, then you can increase this potential with others slots, like Spd/Def Link in the B Slot, Atk Tactic for C Slot, and Res Tactic for Seal, so he can not only grant +6 in combat buffs, but also +6 visible buffs, or Spur Def/Res C Skill and Spur Atk/Spd Seal, for +9 to all stats. If you don't like Corrin, that's ok... Marth is the next option. His Falchion grants +2 to all stats... it's less than Corrin's, but Marth can grant these buffs to more than only one unit. Not only that, but Marth also is effective against Dragons, which is very helpful especially in Astra Seasons for dealing with Dumas and helping Naga to get buffs, and he has Renewal, so he can work as a "healer" by having Reciprocal Aid or Ardent Sacrifice. Not a fan of Marth... well... that's bad, because Corrin and Marth are the best option in the 3-4* pool for this role.

Want to buff all stats easily? Odin and Mae are great buffers, because they have Atk/Spd Link in their weapons, and you just need to fodder a Sigrun for Def/Res Link. Robin can do the buffer job, but need to plan the units you will use since he/she has a tactic Skill in his/her tome... Astram as well, but like Robin there are some planning about what units to use.

Want to debuff? Aversa, Soren or Klein are good options, because Aversa has her amazing tome, and Soren and Klein can use 3 Chill Skills at the same time. Even Virion can be useful, because of his Sudden Panic effect (mine is +1 and can reach 60 HP without the blessing effect) and he can also be a Infantry Pulse/Panic Ploy unit.

Mordecai can work as both buffer and debuffer, because he has a Link Skill and by using a movement skill, like Smite, he can debuff foes.

Mix bulk heroes? Nowi, Fae, Libra, Hawkeye, Garon... Dancer? Reyson is amazing, especially in Anima Seasons, when you use Healing Tower for offensive and Duma destroys it, so you still can heal with Reyson.

About "building 5* units with good skills is a waste"... Sometimes is better to pass some great skills to a unit that will be easier to +10 than use that 5* unit at +0. Nah is a great unit... but for me she would not be that useful at a +0 unit, because I would not go for more merges, and I would not use her in competitive modes... I don't need another unit in the  bench. So I foddered her to Marth, so now he has Infantry Breath and can help Nowi to be better in AR and also help Infantry Bonus units in Arena (last season I used Sharena, and she was amazing with Marth's help).

Edited November 6, 2019 by Diovani Bressan

[Vicious Sal]

2 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Except what you're failing to see is that the only sources I have of those skills are single copies of very good units that are not worth foddering (like GD Ike and legendary Hector for instance. Not to mention GD Ike is one of my favorite units in this game). It is true that I don't have the resources.

I've tried those things. That's why I have a lot of units in my barracks, so I have a lot of options.

Flier Formation is another hard to get skill. Should I get more fodder for it, I'll use it.

No, they are not. Then compare Fury and Thani, not Fury and Micaiah. You used Micaiah specifically in your comparison, not her weapon.

Oh, I get what he's saying. I'm just saying there should be other options if I don't like Corrin or Micaiah. Heroes should be about using your favorite units/units you like together. You shouldn't be forced to use a certain unit for something when there are many more in the game. Surely some of them can serve similar purposes or there can be different strats entirely formed with other units.

Building 5 star units with good skills is a waste? How does that make any sense at all? Many 5 star exclusive units are really good. And if you happen upon one with free orbs and no spent money, why would you just ignore it?

 

For starters, I never mentioned GD!Ike or L!Hector. The defense team I drew up had way different skills for example. For offense you'll need other kinds of fodder. Yes, DC is very valuable, and for a Tank on offense, it is needed, but there is a banner coming up with Hector. I know you prefer EP strats, so Tanking should be the first and foremost strat that you should try to master. Once again, i have seen your barracks, you have the resources, not being willing to use them will hurt your performance in AR. That's fine, but don;t treat the world and the game as if it is out to get you, acknowledge that you have the means to make your AR experience easier but are unwilling to invest.

 

Having many units in your barracks is a good things for having fodder for building a team. Having many units is bad for AR, since you can only use a team of 5, and have only 5 teams. So Max 20 units, since you need one spot on every team for eir. If these units are not built to tackle AR, they will not win. using your units, aka resources to build your core units is part of this game and how you advance.

Flier formation is available for free on S!Loki, as I have said before.

""Micaiah"is just a bunch of pixels and quotes, the unit has their Niche because of their weapon. No unit can perform the same role as Micaiah, so there are no alternatives. I could have used M!corrin as an example as well, as stated by others above. They stand out for a reason, they have a unique skill and performance that makes them stand out. For most there are no alternatives, and if there is an alternative, such as Marth for M!Corrin, it's an inferior performance. You can use Marth instead, and he will help you a lot, but using M!Corrin is way more effective and a lot easier.

As for different strats, please read my post about AR offense.

 

Now, about the debate of investing in 5 star units: it depends, there is no clear rule for this. However, there are some things to take into account. 

If the 5* locked unit is a unit you want to use, then investing is a great idea. It will take a lot of time to merge them up, but if they will see constant use, then by all means invest in them. 

A 5* locked unit with a prf weapon is worth investing over more than a 5* locked unit with an inheritable weapon. Prf weapons most of the time have a clear niche, and they fulfill a certain role. A unit like B!Ike is worth investing in because he does things no other unit does. 

5* units that have a higher BST  and came out later are most often worse than units that came out in the first year nowadays. Let me give you an example:

- Gerik, the newest 5* axe user, has a great BST. He has no prf weapon however. 

- S!Ylgr is a TT unit with an inheritable weapon, she has good stats, but no clear defined niche.

- Hawkeye has gotten a refine, this gives him a prf weapon, and prf weapons have higher Mt than inheritable weapons. this closes the gap with Gerik in damage output. Hawkeye however has an insane refine, is easily merged and even if not merged yet, you most likely have 10 manuals or so lying inyour barracks. here are the comparisons: Hawkeye is +10, since he can easily be merged. S!ylgr is +5, since she has two free copies and 3 from the grail shop by now is not an unreasonable assumption. Gerik is +1, assuming you got two off this banner.

As you can see, Hawkeye surpasses or matches in every stat except spd. Which quick riposte can fix. Older units are cheaper, better and easier to make work.

So what is best to invest in? Your favourites, whether they are 5* locked or not. Easier to merge units are very important to build. AR wants stats, especially for tanks. 

Giving premium fodder willy nilly to 5 star units that you might get one copy of every three years is a bad idea.

 

2 hours ago, Rinco said:

@Anacybele, the point of prf weapons and special refine is exactly to make units have their specialized niches. You don't have other unit that has M!Corrin's weapon and refine, so you don't have anyone that does what he do on the same level. You have worse options, alright, but they may not be good enough in some matches. Even the OG Marth suggestion you ignored, and he is the next best after Corrin and Lucina, IMO.

And, as a F2P, it is not great idea to give rare skills such as DC, CC and the likes to units you won't be able to merge to higher levels, because they won't have the same performance as units you could do that. You're better fully building a +10 unit than you are a +0 unit.

Pretty much this, well said.

 

1 hour ago, Rinco said:

Yeah, I'm taking B!Ike as a long term project, because at his first banner I had hoarded a lot of orbs and got 3 or 4 copies. Then I got pity broken by him a couple more times down the road. When he appears again, if I have the orbs, I'll probably commit on more merges (+4 right now).

I'll use myself from early last year as an exemple. I didn't had all the knowlege about the game I have today, so I ended up foddering my 2 Takumis to H!Jakob and LA!Lyn. Then I never got any other CC fodder. When I decided to go all in on Cecilia, Jakob went bye bye. Now I need another CC for Kronya and, if I can't get a Takumi in his weekly revival, Lyn is getting the boot even I liking her a lot. Neither Jakob nor Lyn would be really playable the way the are/were and I wouldn't get merges for them, while for Cecilia and Kronya I can get merges and I will use them a lot. So, why should I give those kind of skills to units that won't have a great use instead on focusing on building the units that will? Having 200 unique 5* won't help you much if you only use 20-30 of them and you could make those 20-30 even better for tackling every mode in the game.

Well spoken! I have plenty of units that I don't have anymore, I really liked leagjarn, but I did fodder her R Duel for Aversa. 

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

For starters, I never mentioned GD!Ike or L!Hector. The defense team I drew up had way different skills for example. For offense you'll need other kinds of fodder. Yes, DC is very valuable, and for a Tank on offense, it is needed, but there is a banner coming up with Hector. I know you prefer EP strats, so Tanking should be the first and foremost strat that you should try to master. Once again, i have seen your barracks, you have the resources, not being willing to use them will hurt your performance in AR. That's fine, but don;t treat the world and the game as if it is out to get you, acknowledge that you have the means to make your AR experience easier but are unwilling to invest.

Okay then, what other skills were you referring to?

4 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Now, about the debate of investing in 5 star units: it depends, there is no clear rule for this. However, there are some things to take into account. 

If the 5* locked unit is a unit you want to use, then investing is a great idea. It will take a lot of time to merge them up, but if they will see constant use, then by all means invest in them. 

A 5* locked unit with a prf weapon is worth investing over more than a 5* locked unit with an inheritable weapon. Prf weapons most of the time have a clear niche, and they fulfill a certain role. A unit like B!Ike is worth investing in because he does things no other unit does. 

5* units that have a higher BST  and came out later are most often worse than units that came out in the first year nowadays. Let me give you an example:

- Gerik, the newest 5* axe user, has a great BST. He has no prf weapon however. 

- S!Ylgr is a TT unit with an inheritable weapon, she has good stats, but no clear defined niche.

- Hawkeye has gotten a refine, this gives him a prf weapon, and prf weapons have higher Mt than inheritable weapons. this closes the gap with Gerik in damage output. Hawkeye however has an insane refine, is easily merged and even if not merged yet, you most likely have 10 manuals or so lying inyour barracks. here are the comparisons: Hawkeye is +10, since he can easily be merged. S!ylgr is +5, since she has two free copies and 3 from the grail shop by now is not an unreasonable assumption. Gerik is +1, assuming you got two off this banner.

As you can see, Hawkeye surpasses or matches in every stat except spd. Which quick riposte can fix. Older units are cheaper, better and easier to make work.

So what is best to invest in? Your favourites, whether they are 5* locked or not. Easier to merge units are very important to build. AR wants stats, especially for tanks. 

Giving premium fodder willy nilly to 5 star units that you might get one copy of every three years is a bad idea.

I don't have the feathers to upgrade so many manuals though. In the future I can consider this, of course. Also, the new banner hasn't started yet, that's tomorrow. But I do get what you're saying here.

 

[Vicious Sal]

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Okay then, what other skills were you referring to?

I don't have the feathers to upgrade so many manuals though. In the future I can consider this, of course. Also, the new banner hasn't started yet, that's tomorrow. But I do get what you're saying here.

 

Before I answer that, Have you read my AR post and watched the video's? If I know what kind of strategy works best for you, I know whta to look for. I am guessing Tanking, but better to know for sure.

[Rinco]

@Vicious Sal did the same with Laegjarn, didn't even blink. (Ok, I'm lying. I waited to get the 6000HM for the feathers and then sac'd her for Aversa). Hrid is another one that was only useful for the 6k feathers and died so that Ares could get his DC.

I'm almost using my CC LA!Lyn right now for Kronya so I can save orbs for Mythic banners instead of trying for Takumi

Here are the units I have built for Astra Season. I'm not using Ares yet since I need a +Atk copy for better results. Both Nagas have Chill Spd, I'll take care of it later.

I hate using on mobile to post screenshots.

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Rinco

[Diovani Bressan]

8 minutes ago, Rinco said:

I did the same with Laegjarn, didn't even blink. (Ok, I'm lying. I waited to get the 6000HM for the feathers and then sac'd her for Aversa). Hrid is another one that was only useful for the 6k feathers and died so that Ares could get his DC.

I'm almost using my CC LA!Lyn right now for Kronya so I can save orbs for Mythic banners instead of trying for Takumi

That's the right thing to do. Get the unit, get the Hero Merit Feathers, get the Dragonflowers, and then fodder! I am preparing some units to be HM farmed right now.

My Laegjarn, that I got in September, also died after beign farmed. Aversa really likes R Duel Flying. And I had a CC LA!Roy, that died so Saizo would have CC.

[Vicious Sal]

9 minutes ago, Rinco said:

@Vicious Sal did the same with Laegjarn, didn't even blink. (Ok, I'm lying. I waited to get the 6000HM for the feathers and then sac'd her for Aversa). Hrid is another one that was only useful for the 6k feathers and died so that Ares could get his DC.

I'm almost using my CC LA!Lyn right now for Kronya so I can save orbs for Mythic banners instead of trying for Takumi

Here are the units I have built for Astra Season. I'm not using Ares yet since I need a +Atk copy for better results. Both Nagas have Chill Spd, I'll take care of it later.

https://imgur.com/caHPRyz

Same here, i am almost done:

300 different units. That’s quite somce feathers. ^^

[Rinco]

7 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Same here, i am almost done:

300 different units. That’s quite somce feathers. ^^

295 units, those 3 with 0 are waiting for a couple more units so I save time. Sheena is almost there. Arthur and Fred I'm only with manuals because I'm dumb, have to pull them again. Takumi and Lucina I foddered before maxing because I'm really dumb.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Rinco

[Anacybele]

30 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Before I answer that, Have you read my AR post and watched the video's? If I know what kind of strategy works best for you, I know whta to look for. I am guessing Tanking, but better to know for sure.

I've watched the videos and read some of the post. It's a long post, so yeah. And yeah, I like tanking, that's my favorite play style.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

42 minutes ago, Rinco said:

Here are the units I have built for Astra Season. I'm not using Ares yet since I need a +Atk copy for better results. Both Nagas have Chill Spd, I'll take care of it later.

I used a +1 +Def Ares for quite a long time, which is pretty close to the stats you have and he performed just fine (sometimes needed F!Takumi or the Bolt Tower to nudge things into his killing range, though).

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention for boosting visible Res that I myself am I bit bad about neglecting: swap your Summoner Support. Even if it only stays at C, +3 HP and +2 Res is just the kind of thing an omega tank wants (the stats I gave above for my Surtr and Fjorm are both without Summoner Support).

[Rinco]

3 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

I used a +1 +Def Ares for quite a long time, which is pretty close to the stats you have and he performed just fine (sometimes needed F!Takumi or the Bolt Tower to nudge things into his killing range, though).

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention for boosting visible Res that I myself am I bit bad about neglecting: swap your Summoner Support. Even if it only stays at C, +3 HP and +2 Res is just the kind of thing an omega tank wants (the stats I gave above for my Surtr and Fjorm are both without Summoner Support).

Yeah, I guess he would work out on some teams, but Corrin+Cecilia pair usually get the job done. I'll build a Naga for support with Link+Smite since she is the support partner of Ares and maybe I'll give it a try at the end of this season if I'm on a confortable Lift margin, just to get the feel of it.
I think I'll have to do a little more math than I do with Corrin+Cecilia (which is 0 math usually. I just Shove her and see what happens lol)

[Usana]

8 hours ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

That's only half how it actually works. Yes, the AoE ignores weapon triangle and combat buffs, but Blazing is 1.5*(Atk - Res), not 1.5*Atk - Res. This means that the more you can shorten that gap, the faster Ophelia's damage falls. My Fjorm had 56 Res after Res Tactic and their Ophelia had 60 Atk, which led to 1.5*(60 - 56) = 6 damage.

Blegfh. Don't know why but this isn't the first time I have forgotten that it is a glimmer type 1.5 x damage rather than 1.5 x atk.  @Anacybele Tagging you since I got it wrong. Required res is basically 20 lower due to brain glitch on my part.

 

9 hours ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

 One thing I want to note about these AoE Specials is that even though the AoE itself only compares visible Atk and Res, in-combat Res is still very useful if stacked very high. That's kind of the principle on what made my Surtr able to just face tank his way through, really.  Once you hit about 45 visible Res (can probably get away with 40ish if your HP is really high), if you can stack enough combat Res buffs to make you take 0 damage, then eating a 20ish-damage hit isn't so bad. My Surtr would frequently eat about that much damage, then have Ophelia poke him for 5 damage on her actual attack. Similar result from W!Fae on Astra season (though I've replaced her with B!Ike at this point since everyone and their mother is fielding some kind of anti-dragon after Thrasir's debut).

 

Yeah that is how my Kaden does it. He gets nearly obliterated by the special itself, but Ophelia can barely dent him afterwards since he runs TA and has two Eir's blessing him.

[Anacybele]

28 minutes ago, Usana said:

Blegfh. Don't know why but this isn't the first time I have forgotten that it is a glimmer type 1.5 x damage rather than 1.5 x atk.  @Anacybele Tagging you since I got it wrong. Required res is basically 20 lower due to brain glitch on my part.

I see, thanks for letting me know.

[Jave]

Okay, I want to make a Flier Ball Defense team. I haven't done the positioning yet, but I think I have the units chosen and (mostly) built.

Here's the screenshot gallery. I'd appreciate any opinions and advice.

[Landmaster]

23 minutes ago, Jave said:

Okay, I want to make a Flier Ball Defense team. I haven't done the positioning yet, but I think I have the units chosen and (mostly) built.

Here's the screenshot gallery. I'd appreciate any opinions and advice.

Are you friends in game with Sal? He's got a great Flier Ball, though his is crazy invested in. But you can try something similar~

I would recommend putting Est somewhere in here if you have one built up (maybe in Catria's place). With double Bonds, she's quite the force and can one round people stupid enough to try to tank with Surtr.