Aether Raids General Thread

[Zeo]

@mampfoid My God that's a nightmare. He wouldn't be able to be effected by Aversa's tome and he would double Matt if he wasn't chilled. On top of that Matt would have to double him with all -7 debuffs in order to kill him. Definitely a Chad I'd hate to face. It's funny though because I've been thinking about how I'd like a high res dagger unit to give CC/Broadleaf Fan (or someone's Prf) to kinda do a reverse Matt thing and Chad game to mind.

But yeah from a defense team point of view dealing with that would be a nightmare. Even Ophelia would struggle to ORKO that.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Zeo

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

1 hour ago, XRay said:

I personally do not recommend mixing Counter-Vantage units with supertanks. Super tanks need a lot of supports, so running Counter-Vantage units takes that support away; additionally, the supports that work with supertanks is not always applicable for Counter-Vantage units.

I don't think that was a list for specific teams for the season. At least, I read it as a roster to build the teams from.

I second that super tanking IP teams can be difficult (I used to prefer Vantaging them until I get Fjorm and B!Ike fully set up), with the caveat that the game does have tools for dealing with the (Pent's on a current banner and got Pulse Smoke, for instance). Pulse Smoke and Witchy Wand/Melancholy can make it quite doable for tanks that would otherwise have no chance of surviving. My Fjorm ends up not caring too much about IP teams anymore so long as she can get full buffs (Bonus Doubler) and initiate on them (to spread both Pulse and Atk Smoke). Back when I still used to tank Astra with F!Berkut, I'd also initiate with H!Mia and then Reposition her away (and if I was worried about a ranged sniping her, have Naga also move her further away). These are obviously not the easiest or least expensive options to acquire, but they're seriously game changers and I encourage anyone planning to spend a long time with AR to put some effort into acquiring one or the other. Note that Pulse Smoke tends to be way more versatile, with one amazing thing it can do that doesn't necessarily have to do with full IP teams being to deny Galeforce. No matter what that Galeforcer does (short of killing the Pulse Smoker), that Galeforce is being reset to 1 charge.

[XRay]

56 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

I don't think that was a list for specific teams for the season. At least, I read it as a roster to build the teams from.

I see. My bad.

57 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

I second that super tanking IP teams can be difficult (I used to prefer Vantaging them until I get Fjorm and B!Ike fully set up), with the caveat that the game does have tools for dealing with the (Pent's on a current banner and got Pulse Smoke, for instance). Pulse Smoke and Witchy Wand/Melancholy can make it quite doable for tanks that would otherwise have no chance of surviving. My Fjorm ends up not caring too much about IP teams anymore so long as she can get full buffs (Bonus Doubler) and initiate on them (to spread both Pulse and Atk Smoke). Back when I still used to tank Astra with F!Berkut, I'd also initiate with H!Mia and then Reposition her away (and if I was worried about a ranged sniping her, have Naga also move her further away). These are obviously not the easiest or least expensive options to acquire, but they're seriously game changers and I encourage anyone planning to spend a long time with AR to put some effort into acquiring one or the other. Note that Pulse Smoke tends to be way more versatile, with one amazing thing it can do that doesn't necessarily have to do with full IP teams being to deny Galeforce. No matter what that Galeforcer does (short of killing the Pulse Smoker), that Galeforce is being reset to 1 charge.

The most troublesome Infantry Pulse teams I face have 2 Hardy Bearing units and at least 1 Firesweeper, usually a staff unit with Panic, so I cannot Counter-Vantage against them. Most of the time, I just settle with sending Cordelia to her death and have her Galeforce her way past the front line and hit a Dancer/Singer in the back. Once the team evens down to 4 on both sides, it usually becomes easier.

[TEKWRX]

I want to refine Cecilia's weapon. Which is better, DEF or RES?

[Landmaster]

13 minutes ago, TEKWRX said:

I want to refine Cecilia's weapon. Which is better, DEF or RES?

IMO Res, but go with whatever you think she needs more. If you have Naga, she is already getting a Defense boost so she will appreciate more Res since she should be tanking Mages more often than not.

[TEKWRX]

1 minute ago, Landmaster said:

IMO Res, but go with whatever you think she needs more. If you have Naga, she is already getting a Defense boost so she will appreciate more Res since she should be tanking Mages more often than not.

If I don't have Naga, still go with Res?

[XRay]

1 minute ago, TEKWRX said:

If I don't have Naga, still go with Res?

I would still go with Res. You need that visible Res for tanking Blazing mages for worst case scenario. You can always make up the lack of visible Def with Drive Def buffs.

[Vicious Sal]

8 hours ago, XRay said:

I personally do not recommend mixing Counter-Vantage units with supertanks. Super tanks need a lot of supports, so running Counter-Vantage units takes that support away; additionally, the supports that work with supertanks is not always applicable for Counter-Vantage units.

Tharja simply is not strong enough to warrant a spot on this team in my opinion. She is missing 15 points in Atk due to running Peony over Azura: Vallite Songstress which means she cannot Counter-Vantage reliably, and she is taking up a valuable support spot that could be filled with either Aversa or M!Corrin.

If you do not care about winning, I would not worry about using Legendary Heroes on your defense teams. If you are using Legendary Heroes, you have to switch them out frequently, and that could be a hassle. I would just Bless crappy units that you are not going to use and put them on your defense team.

Dark and Anima Blessings are generally in much lower demand since you really only need one or two defense teams, so you can afford to throw a few on crappy units now as a temporary solution before you invest in defense later.

When to field a certain strategy mostly comes down to practice, but there here are some quick generalizations that I have.

- Defense stall teams are weak to offensive Player Phase teams, especially to Player Phase teams that run a combination of Firesweep and Blade nukes.
- Infantry Pulse teams are very, very, very difficult to tank, even with super tanks. If you want to use a super tank against them, you want to bring along debuffers like Aversa, Mordecai, or Brave Echoes Micaiah. It is probably easier to just Galeforce them. Loki and Bridal Belonging Fjorm might also be helpful since those two can severely restrict the defense team's mobility.
- Flier balls can often be super tanked, just be mindful of the ones on maps with lots of open spaces, as it might be difficult to establish choke points to protect your buffers in the back line.
- Cav line is a pain in the ass if you are not used to playing without Structures (O). The best and easiest solution I have seen so far against cav line is to run an armor Galeforcer, but that is not exactly cheap. You can also try to Galeforce them if you have beast fliers.

When you are using Counter-Vantage you want to mostly watch out for Firesweep and Hardy Bearing (this includes Festival in Hoshido Micaiah and others like her), but also watch out for really bulky Player Phase units running Impact-Dull/Lull combo as there are a few of those. You also need to pay attention to debuffs like Panic Manor (D) and Shrines (D).

For super tank teams, I advise against using them to handle Infantry Pulse teams unless you know what you are doing. Blazing mages hit super hard on their Blazing hit while Glacies mages easily reach over 100 Atk. You also want to watch out for teams that run Impact-Drag Back that can take your tank out of Drive support.

The question was which units needed which blessing, no mention was made about who should be in a team together. The units i listed were the ones I recommended as being light/astra blessed. I don’t know how you got the idea that that would be a team comp, it lacks a bonus unit anyway.

[XRay]

3 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

The question was which units needed which blessing, no mention was made about who should be in a team together. The units i listed were the ones I recommended as being light/astra blessed.

Yeah. I just realized it earlier.

3 hours ago, Vicious Sal said:

I don’t know how you got the idea that that would be a team comp, it lacks a bonus unit anyway.

Bonus unit is not really necessary unless you need to climb from Tier 20 to Tier 21 or if you are going after Gold Thrones. Sacrificing 20 Lift for more consistent wins is better in my opinion if you just want to rank relatively high for decent rewards.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

12 hours ago, XRay said:

The most troublesome Infantry Pulse teams I face have 2 Hardy Bearing units and at least 1 Firesweeper, usually a staff unit with Panic, so I cannot Counter-Vantage against them. Most of the time, I just settle with sending Cordelia to her death and have her Galeforce her way past the front line and hit a Dancer/Singer in the back. Once the team evens down to 4 on both sides, it usually becomes easier.

Yeah, I've kinda noticed a number of teams trending toward that, probably because everyone trying to dump on super tanks led to Vantage vulnerabilities, so now they're trying to dump really hard on Vantage teams. Pulse Smoke was a pretty timely acquisition for me, though I did have H!Mia before that.

11 hours ago, TEKWRX said:

I want to refine Cecilia's weapon. Which is better, DEF or RES?

Seconding Res. Teams built for Astra tend to target Res more because they expect a lot of attackers they face to have +10 Def from double Naga. Get that Res up to a comfortable level first.

3 hours ago, XRay said:

Bonus unit is not really necessary unless you need to climb from Tier 20 to Tier 21 or if you are going after Gold Thrones. Sacrificing 20 Lift for more consistent wins is better in my opinion if you just want to rank relatively high for decent rewards.

The right bonus unit can still make things easier overall, though. Between the bonus stats and my double Eir, Fjorm is getting a monstrous +20 HP, +4 Atk/Spd/Def and +14 Res. That laughs off a numbers of attacks and with a +6 Res buff,  can face tank Ophelia's AoE without much issue.

[Hilda]

Kempf could be a very decent Defense unit during Anima season. He just needs to attack and could be every supertanks nigghtmare. Weaken the Enemy and put them in a state of not being able to counter

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Not quite every super tank's nightmare. Anyone with Null C-Disrupt will simply shrug and carry on.

[Landmaster]

11 hours ago, TEKWRX said:

If I don't have Naga, still go with Res?

Yep~ You'll likely get Naga eventually. Res is still the most coveted stat on an AR tank~

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

The right bonus unit can still make things easier overall, though. Between the bonus stats and my double Eir, Fjorm is getting a monstrous +20 HP, +4 Atk/Spd/Def and +14 Res. That laughs off a numbers of attacks and with a +6 Res buff,  can face tank Ophelia's AoE without much issue.

Not everyone invests in the four rotating bonus unit, so it does not make sense to bring them in if you have to babysit them.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

The bonus stats generally make it so they don't really have to be babysat, though. Brunnya is a fantastic unit and the bonus stats only make her even better. Panne's also pretty good and I know a number of people have her built. New banner units are also typically quite capable of holding their own. Oh, and while the rotation is longer, Legendaries, Mythics and the free units also fall under the recurring bonus unit category. Even my barely invested H!Rolf did well getting tossed in there with Fury 2, Reposition and a blessing (getting picks on enemy squishies was pretty easy for him and he was also able to soak chills off of my core units). Sure, there's some duds here and there, but I think it's pretty hard to not be useful when you're picking up 10 merges in stats, plus the Mythic bonuses (even discounting his merges, that Chad posted a bit back is a great example of how dumb bonus unit stats can get).

[TEKWRX]

I want to add a merge to my M!Corrin who is ally supported with W!Cecilia and was wondering if I should change his IV while I'm at it. So what would the best IV be? Right now he is +Spd, and I do have a +Atk I can switch to. If neither of those are ideal, what should I be looking for if/when I pull another one?

[Landmaster]

8 minutes ago, TEKWRX said:

I want to add a merge to my M!Corrin who is ally supported with W!Cecilia and was wondering if I should change his IV while I'm at it. So what would the best IV be? Right now he is +Spd, and I do have a +Atk I can switch to. If neither of those are ideal, what should I be looking for if/when I pull another one?

Akariss recommends +Res if you're going to fully invest in him to +10 so he can soak Chills, which I agree with. I don't really recommend +Atk on Corrin because a lot of Skills and Support units that are really good in AR affect the unit with the highest ATK and you wouldn't want your Corrin stealing those buffs from your tank. That's just my opinion~ Spd is a fine IV on him so he doesn't get doubled if you need him to take a hit~

[TEKWRX]

36 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Akariss recommends +Res if you're going to fully invest in him to +10 so he can soak Chills, which I agree with. I don't really recommend +Atk on Corrin because a lot of Skills and Support units that are really good in AR affect the unit with the highest ATK and you wouldn't want your Corrin stealing those buffs from your tank. That's just my opinion~ Spd is a fine IV on him so he doesn't get doubled if you need him to take a hit~

That's what I figured. I'll stick with +Spd for now and hope I pull a +Res one day. It's a long road to +10 with so many units wanting feathers....

[Landmaster]

2 minutes ago, TEKWRX said:

That's what I figured. I'll stick with +Spd for now and hope I pull a +Res one day. It's a long road to +10 with so many units wanting feathers....

You can always artificially raise his Res to be higher than Cecilia's without +10ing him with Dragonflowers, Fortress Res, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about those kind of intricacies right now. +Spd is more than fine and an unmerged M!Corrin is still perfectly fine

[TEKWRX]

5 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

You can always artificially raise his Res to be higher than Cecilia's without +10ing him with Dragonflowers, Fortress Res, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about those kind of intricacies right now. +Spd is more than fine and an unmerged M!Corrin is still perfectly fine

Yeah, I know. I just really like to +1 units that I use often to at least remove the bane. That red in the stat screen really bugs me, lol 😉 Guess I have a bit of OCD.

What are some other good non-dancer support units for AR that are easy to obtain? Seth & Titania? Anybody else worth looking at?

[Landmaster]

4 minutes ago, TEKWRX said:

Yeah, I know. I just really like to +1 units that I use often to at least remove the bane. That red in the stat screen really bugs me, lol 😉 Guess I have a bit of OCD.

What are some other good non-dancer support units for AR that are easy to obtain? Seth & Titania? Anybody else worth looking at?

Seth and Titania are pretty good~ I can't speak from personal experience, but they can be good Tactics Bots with a Link Skill~ Mordecai also works well with his Perf. Personally I would look into trying to get L!Eliwood in the future. His Bonus Doubler Support is pretty unmatched and fairly easy to activate.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Marth's also decent at the job, though his buffs are a bit lower. Astram gives +4 all stats if you're looking for blue buffs. I think you already mentioned Aversa, but if not, she's good for causing the enemy debuff issues. Fallen Takumi is also a good one. 10 damage and Panic within 3 columns centred on him can really mess up some enemy formations.

[TEKWRX]

12 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Seth and Titania are pretty good~ I can't speak from personal experience, but they can be good Tactics Bots with a Link Skill~ Mordecai also works well with his Perf. Personally I would look into trying to get L!Eliwood in the future. His Bonus Doubler Support is pretty unmatched and fairly easy to activate.

I didn't even think about Mordecai. His PRF seems pretty good with his link skill, buffing your tank while debuffing the enemy might come in handy. One bad thing about the new skill change/learn functionality being added to the unit view screen, it no longer shows you what 5* skills they have available if the unit is only 4*. I had to look up Modrecai on the Wiki to see the details of his PRF. 

I'll keep an eye out for L!Eliwood in the future and keep him in mind.

7 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

Marth's also decent at the job, though his buffs are a bit lower. Astram gives +4 all stats if you're looking for blue buffs. I think you already mentioned Aversa, but if not, she's good for causing the enemy debuff issues. Fallen Takumi is also a good one. 10 damage and Panic within 3 columns centred on him can really mess up some enemy formations.

Thanks. I'll read up on Marth. As far as the others, I want to stay away from grail units unless they're really much better than 3-4* summonable units because I already have too many grail projects vying for my meager grail supply

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Fair enough. Should be possible to have at least one copy of each other of those without spending Grails, though. If you've got a 4* of them hanging out in your barracks, keep them in the back of your mind, since they can all function as +0s (HP+5 A and Seal is usually enough for Aversa). In fact, my own Vantage teams still run F!Takumi +0.

Oh, one other one I forgot that's in the same vein as Titania and Seth: M!Robin (F!Robin as well, but she's a Grail unit). The original Robins both have personal weapons that refine to give Spectrum Tactics (+4 Atk/Spd/Def/Res).

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

The bonus stats generally make it so they don't really have to be babysat, though. Brunnya is a fantastic unit and the bonus stats only make her even better. Panne's also pretty good and I know a number of people have her built. New banner units are also typically quite capable of holding their own. Oh, and while the rotation is longer, Legendaries, Mythics and the free units also fall under the recurring bonus unit category. Even my barely invested H!Rolf did well getting tossed in there with Fury 2, Reposition and a blessing (getting picks on enemy squishies was pretty easy for him and he was also able to soak chills off of my core units). Sure, there's some duds here and there, but I think it's pretty hard to not be useful when you're picking up 10 merges in stats, plus the Mythic bonuses (even discounting his merges, that Chad posted a bit back is a great example of how dumb bonus unit stats can get).

Not everyone build ups every GHB unit, while 20,000 is not too bad, it does start to add up when you build them all up, espcially you have other units you are trying to build up. TT units do come at 5*, so I think they can be okay.

And while stats are important, synergy is more important in my opinion.

For a super tank team, I do not think it is worth it to bring any bonus unit unless your Mythics or supports also happen to be bonus units.

1 hour ago, TEKWRX said:

That's what I figured. I'll stick with +Spd for now and hope I pull a +Res one day. It's a long road to +10 with so many units wanting feathers....

I recommend building 2. I would build a separate one with +Res. I would keep the +Spd one for soaking Spd and maybe Atk Chills with Life and Death.