Aether Raids General Thread

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Rinco said:

He's also running Sudden Panic in his B slot, so Panic happens in all turns

Ah, okay. Sudden Panic still does not work against super tanks in a loose formation though, so some super tanks can abuse that to their advantage to help them tank Ophelia, so it is something to keep in mind.

[XRay]

Woops. Wrong thread.

Edited April 24, 2020 by XRay

[Rinco]

Put the team for a trial run for the rest of this season. Got matched 1 time over the night and things went well. I changed the setup based on one I saw in a video by Akariss.

I could use Lif instead of Duma as second mythic, but mine has bad IVs. If I can get a merge, maybe that will be better. 

So, here's the replay for the first defense:

 

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Rinco said:

Put the team for a trial run for the rest of this season. Got matched 1 time over the night and things went well. I changed the setup based on one I saw in a video by Akariss.

I could use Lif instead of Duma as second mythic, but mine has bad IVs. If I can get a merge, maybe that will be better. 

So, here's the replay for the first defense:

 

I would switch the spots of Ophelia and Iago. Ophelia is too easy to snipe. And without another Hardy Bearing unit or Firesweep archer, it is very easy for Counter-Vantage units to snipe Ophelia and sweep the rest of the team.

I also recommend switching the positions of Panic Manor (D) and Dark Shrine (D), so the Panic Manor can better take advantage of the real Bolt Trap.

[Rinco]

24 minutes ago, XRay said:

I would switch the spots of Ophelia and Iago. Ophelia is too easy to snipe. And without another Hardy Bearing unit or Firesweep archer, it is very easy for Counter-Vantage units to snipe Ophelia and sweep the rest of the team.

I also recommend switching the positions of Panic Manor (D) and Dark Shrine (D), so the Panic Manor can better take advantage of the real Bolt Trap.

Done!
I thought Ophelia was kinda protected because of the Trap and the range of my units. It would take a Reposition+Smite to kill her while activating the Trap. But this way is kinda safer

[Hilda]

2 hours ago, XRay said:

I would switch the spots of Ophelia and Iago. Ophelia is too easy to snipe. And without another Hardy Bearing unit or Firesweep archer, it is very easy for Counter-Vantage units to snipe Ophelia and sweep the rest of the team.

I also recommend switching the positions of Panic Manor (D) and Dark Shrine (D), so the Panic Manor can better take advantage of the real Bolt Trap.

Actually she is easy snipable on both positions the one you are suggesting would be worse in Light season, but for Astra its okeish.

[XRay]

3 minutes ago, Hilda said:

Actually she is easy snipable on both positions the one you are suggesting would be worse in Light season, but for Astra its okeish.

How so? She is protected by Catapult (D) in the middle, and the Catapult (D) in turn is protected by Heavy Trap. To Snipe Ophelia, the player will have to guess correctly which is the real Heavy Trap. And if they are using Counter-Vantage, they still have the issue of getting into HP range, since Duma's 7 damage is too low, and even if they guess the one to the right is the real Bolt Trap, they would not be able to snipe Ophelia since she is just out of the way.

[Hilda]

4 hours ago, XRay said:

How so? She is protected by Catapult (D) in the middle, and the Catapult (D) in turn is protected by Heavy Trap. To Snipe Ophelia, the player will have to guess correctly which is the real Heavy Trap. And if they are using Counter-Vantage, they still have the issue of getting into HP range, since Duma's 7 damage is too low, and even if they guess the one to the right is the real Bolt Trap, they would not be able to snipe Ophelia since she is just out of the way.

Flying units hence why i said that position is worse during Light season, but since its Astra its okeish

[XRay]

1 minute ago, Hilda said:

Flying units hence why i said that position is worse during Light season, but since its Astra its okeish

That is true, but if the unit is a Counter-Vantage unit, they still need to step on a Bolt Trap though, or else they will get one shotted by Kagero. With how far back the Bolt Trap is placed, it will be difficult to step on a Bolt Trap (and that is assuming they guessed correctly), snipe Catapult (D), and snipe Ophelia.

[Humanoid]

I surrendered a couple matches before realising I never reinstalled the Escape Ladder after I exhausted it last week. I am a tactical genius.

[Vicious Sal]

I took a break this week and am coasting in T21. 

Will reply about some maps i saw here tomorrow because holy crap did I see some dubious advice in her. =[

 

Good to be back next week. I needed the break.

[Diovani Bressan]

I gave Smol Marth the Null Follow-Up skill. This will help him against Bramimonds. I am also using Iago this next Light season. He is actually pretty good. I kept his Atk Openng, and gave him Def/Res Link.

I am using him with OG Marth as well. I considered Brave Lucina, but OG Marth has Ruse, which is pretty useful to inflicy Guard more easily than depending on Iago's tome. Marth has Infantry Breath as well, so Smol Marth will get some pretty good buffs when adjacent to him (except against Bramimond... that cheater...)

The others teams consist of Nowi or Valentine Alm.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Diovani Bressan

[Rinco]

My IP defense team got matched 5 times since I've put it to use.

1st match: 3 enemy kills (replay posted)
2nd match: 1 enemy kill -19 lift
3rd match: 5 enemy kills
4th match: 5 enemy kills
5th match: 4 enemy kills

Seems to be working.

[Landmaster]

Another week of 0 Lift Loss, all Successes this time~ Didn't expect that after Lysithea Bonus ended but I guess we just got lucky~

Last map of the Season was someone who really likes Alfonse

Pony and Duo Alfonse were +10 so I obviously lost (to Duo more so than Ponyfonse), but it was a fun team~ Not even mad about it~

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Landmaster said:

Pony and Duo Alfonse were +10 so I obviously lost (to Duo more so than Ponyfonse), but it was a fun team~ Not even mad about it~

Oof. Was he Infantry Pulse'd? I do not think I can safely attempt that map with Kronya if I tried. I am assuming the left Bolt Trap is real to better protect Healing Tower (D). If he is not Infantry Pulse'd, I think Kronya can do it pretty safely.

[Landmaster]

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Oof. Was he Infantry Pulse'd? I do not think I can safely attempt that map with Kronya if I tried. I am assuming the left Bolt Trap is real to better protect Healing Tower (D). If he is not Infantry Pulse'd, I think Kronya can do it pretty safely.

Yep, getting the Pulse from his OG self and he had the QP~ There was no real way to Smite in and stop it so I just decided to tank it~ Which didn't go poorly but, we just got backed up too far in the corner and L!Eliwood ended up getting sniped by the Duo after he killed the Pony and we couldn't get him out. Without BD, we really couldn't handle it~

W!Sothis may have worked but I don't know if she can take 2 Lifs~ One, maybe, but I think she goes down to 2 and Open the Future

Edited April 27, 2020 by Landmaster

[Rinco]

On 4/26/2020 at 7:13 PM, Vicious Sal said:

Will reply about some maps i saw here tomorrow because holy crap did I see some dubious advice in her. =[

Curious about what you say 

[Vicious Sal]

On 4/22/2020 at 6:27 PM, Anacybele said:

Meanwhile, I still lose almost every battle in Astra weeks. I lose a few on occasion during Light weeks too, but not nearly as many. I will never understand how players score high consistently no matter what week it is, especially without spending a lot of money to build completely decked out +10 units or something. I've tried building units specifically for AR in Astra weeks, but they don't work well enough. There is no answer for me. I would just like one silver throne and one gold one, I don't need to keep getting them. But it somehow isn't possible, even on Light weeks. I can sometimes sit in the range of getting a silver throne, only for my rank to drop too low on the last day. I have no idea what I could do to prevent that.

 

We score consistently high because we have multiple teams that fulfil certain roles. i have a team that uses Tanks to just end turn, a Galeforce team that rushes the enemy turn 2 or 6, depending on bolt towers and breaking structures. I have a CC Vantage unit (Jeorge in my case) that is able to take down flier balls, tank entire mage comps and i also have my Mythics built in such a way that they provide support. I have an Eir that has a Link and double tactics with smite for buffs if I can avoid Panic status. I have another Eir with Fury and Disarm trap to reliably get into WoM range after two combats. This means I can easily Galeforce, give buffs when I need them and fury also helps soak chills from shrines and skills. Same goes for astra, all units have a role to perform, they are not just deadweights that destroy blocks here and there. And every team has a specific role so that I can combat different defense teams. Also, knowledge of the A.I. is pretty much required, but I won't bother you with that since you've refused that the last 40 pages already.

 

On 4/22/2020 at 6:57 PM, XRay said:

Light weeks are far more competitive than Astra weeks.

To get a Gold Throne on Astra, you will need to have no deaths on matches that matter (1 or 2 might be okay, but better not risk it), you can only miss up to 2 Aether Structures, you will need two Mythics, and you will need a bonus unit. You will also ideally want at least 2 defense wins (best accomplished in the first 2 or 3 days of the season with a cheap cav line or semi cav line), and have a lot of your losses be mitigated for the rest of the week (you want to switch to a loss mitigation team).

For Light weeks, I assume the requirements are much more stringent, where you cannot afford any deaths, you will need 2 or 3 Mythics, you will need a bonus unit, but you can still miss up to 2 Aether Structures. You will also need a much stronger defense as well prevent more Lift loss.

For Astra, you need to aim for Tier 27 or very high Tier 26. For Light, I assume Tier 27 is probably mandatory to have a chance at winning a Gold Throne.

 

For a Gold throne you need pretty much sub 100 defense lift loss nowadays. Easpecially in Light weeks. Also, 3 Mythics is absolutely a bad recommendation unless you want to score as a whale. The only point at where 3 mythics is better for scoring is if you have 2 +10 mythics already. At +0, 2 Mythics, 1 Bonus(With appropriate blessing) and 2 blessed units scores the same as 3 Mythics, a bonus and a blessed unit. Both score 160, when You start getting merges on your third mythic does it start making a difference. A support unit like M!Corrin, B!Lucina, Aversa, B!Fjorm, Mathilda etc is a much more valuable unit than an extra mythic. The only place where it is not is triple Peony with L!Leif or a highly merged Lysithea/Ophelia, since you can just PvE the entire map.  This is however, extremely niche, and requires specific setups on all units, including the peonys.  

 

On 4/22/2020 at 7:07 PM, Anacybele said:

I guess a gold throne is out of the question for me for awhile then. I don't have three Light or three Astra mythics and I always have several deaths. Silver throne, maybe not. I have gotten into that range, as I'd said, my rank just ends up dropping too low right before the season ends. I would just need to find out how to stop that from happening. But as I'd also said, I have no idea how.

You can't stop it from happening since it is based on all other players. People that play for score play mostly one match a day and try to keep their lift after a match at 180 or lower. This means they always receive max Aether the next day (70) and they stay as low ranked as possible. This lets them stay between people that coast around the lower echelons like T22 or T23 and thus raises the probablility that they match up with easier defense matches and get attacked by people that cant fight their well built defenses. This also lets them rematch people later in the week if they lose a match and gives them a chance of an easy match later in the week. Then, on the last day they blow all their remaining Aether and gain a huge boost in lift score.

On 4/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, XRay said:

Astra should doable with just 2 Mythics. I used 2 to get my Gold Throne. For Light, I think 2 will be okay too, although 3 would definitely help with scoring more, although I am not sure if it is necessary.

You will also need to bring a bonus unit to maximize score.

As said before, 3 mythics is 99% of the cases a bad idea. Stick with two.

On 4/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, XRay said:

— — — — — — —

If you want to improve your game play, make sure you are missing only 2 or less Aether Structures. Missing 3 Aether Structures is the equivalent of having 8 deaths. 

As for deaths, I would focus on minimizing deaths first rather than having no deaths. To achieve deathless or a low death count, you need a consistent team or two, and you need to practice using using your teams a lot. I have been using and practicing with my Kronya team even during Light season.

This is sound advice.

On 4/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, XRay said:

— — — — — — —

For your situation specifically, since you already have BH!Ike at +10+10, I recommend emulating the video I shared a while back where BH!Ike has 3 Peonys and 1 BH!Lucina for support. And also give BH!Ike Close Call and Pulse Smoke. Make sure you keep practicing with the team a lot, and if you do not mind losing a bit of resources on Astra, practice using your Light team during Astra weeks too so you do not get rusty; the extra challenge on Astra weeks would also better prepare you for Light weeks. And once Peony comes around to being a bonus unit, that would be your chance for a Gold Throne during Light season.

I would try to do this as soon as possible since we do not know when the developers might heavily nerf BH!Ike with a unit or skill that completely nullifies percentile damage mitigation.

This is a decent skill setup for now, but it's not quite future proof. I wouldn't build Ike this way, Close Call is rather wasted on B!Ike. There is a far more effective B!Ike setup available which I have posted below.

On 4/22/2020 at 8:41 PM, XRay said:

That is good. You are already a third of the way there for a Gold Throne.

As for a Silver Throne, you do not need a bonus unit for it during Astra Season, not sure about Light Season but I think it is doable without it. You have to figure out for yourself whether the increase in score justifies making the team harder to use. For me personally, lugging around a bonus unit is not worth the increase in score since I cannot guarantee that I will win as often if I bring a bonus unit.

You still want minimal deaths though, although it is much more lenient. You probably still do not want to miss out on more than 2 Aether Structures though, cause that is like 8 deaths. If you are trying to go for Silver Throne on Astra though, I think it is definitely okay to miss like 5 Aether Structures if I did my math right.

Playing without a Bonus unit is just a bad move. It's the same as playing a game with a max score team and then just killing one unit off every match. Instead just play better and actually use bonus units. Most of the time Tactics+Smite is enough, since most maps need you to smite anyway to test traps. Playing without a bonus unit is just shooting yourself in the foot.

On 4/22/2020 at 8:42 PM, Usana said:

I think it has been said before, but the reason for the rapid dropping is that most folks wait until the very end of the season to burn all their aether. So are you are going to see the competitive types gaining something like 600-700 lift on the last day. So you have to have that much padding to stay in. Sadly there is not a lot of data collection from what I have seen. So it is hard to tell you where the cutoff will be for each season. But reddit does have this as an ongoing thing.

Silver throne is top 6k and looking through the comments a lift of 12943 was just within the cutoff at rank 5755 with 20 minutes left. So if you want to avoid dropping out aiming for a final score of at least 12950 lift seems to be a good goal, though it looks like hitting at least Tier 26 would be ideal just to be safe. As for gold throne it is looking like 13400 or so at least gives a chance. Hard to tell due to lack of data and there was no one in that thread that barely squeaked into top 3k. But as you can see the competition is rather fierce for those top 6k ranks. A mere few hundred lift will make or break you. Basically Silver is Tier 26 and Gold is Tier 27 as a kind of a rough estimation.

 

It isn't an easy thing to reach gold and a lot of us just don't bother to try. Silver is a bit more doable, but even there competition is stiff. Hopefully this will give you a target to aim at rather than just kinda aimless and then being disappointed at falling out right at the end. Tier 26 is doable but you can't afford much in the way of mistakes. Particularly if your defense is getting hammered.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12xqvF9-hTz3USIG4Kn6eg7imnEFNptAQmQF2Rd1_Gdc/edit#gid=0

 

Here you go. There was a document that also had Gold & Silver throne benchmarks written next to it but i cannot find it right now. This is however always helpful since you can compare it with your current lift and make an estimated guess as to what the benchmarks will be for silver and gold thrones in the current week.

 

This is also a great tool for people: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aLQfF0grVrmgBuQ5vFh8IKCTfJfP2h7l0qtHuhmwGmU/edit#gid=1118063786

On 4/22/2020 at 8:57 PM, Nym said:

The secret is to have TECH units if you can't make different teamcomps. As strong as Brave Ike and Brave Lucina are, sometimes simply pressing End Turn and enemy phase isn't the best approach.

The problem is that you can't really have a TECH unit in a Ike-Lucina comp (unless it's a Mythic Bonus week). So if you want the bonus points, you might need to make the other  4 team slots as the same team except Lucina is replaced by a TECH unit.

Tech units, as you call them, are indeed important. To be fair though, Lucina is herself a Tech unit. I refer to units as Carries and Supports, since that's what it boils down to. M!Corrin, B!Lucina, Mathilda, Aversa etc are support units and units like B!Ike, Kronya, L!Leif etc are carry units. 

The problem with B!Ike is also that people are building their defense with him in mind, and thus with other Axe infantries as wel since they usually use big nukes with (usually) weapon triangle to do this. Some common B!Ike checks are: Eliwood, Lysithea, Ophelia, Bramimond, Palla, Kagero, Thrasir and there are many more. 

 

On 4/22/2020 at 8:57 PM, Nym said:

Also, I notice a few issues with your current Brave Ike, you can take them in consideration:

Special Spiral: Special Spiral is a dead B skill on a Ike-Lucina combo. The whole point is to have him get his Aether on every single engage. If you cannot give him Close Call or Null-C Disrupt, at least sacrifice a spare Morgan and give him Dull Range or Dull Close from Cormag.

Infantry Pulse: Another dead C skill on this teamcomp since it doesn't affect him and he doesn't need it anyway. The problem is if I remember correctly, you both have a 10+ Kaze and Summer Flora right? Attack Smoke would work wonder on him so try to summon another Kaze if you can.

Bad boon: This is probably the least problematic issue but the boon isn't necessery, he already has damage reduction anyway. +Attack or +Speed would be better.

Your Brave Lucina's build: This might be another issue, can you tell me what are her skills?

Keep Quick Riposte on his seal, it's perfect for him.

 

I agree that Special Spiral is a really bad skill for B!Ike in AR. Dull Ranged, Wrath, Close call and Null C are all decent, but there is one skill that is so much better than all others, since it is a timeless skill as well. And that is Null follow up. More and more guaranteed follow up skills and follow up denial skill are being introduced. As powercreep forces more and more min maxed stat lines, units that dump speed will get follow up effects. And this skill is the best for it. Speed stacked B!Ike with Null follow up is the most reliable B!Ike. Because that is better than a damage reduction of 40 and 80 %? Just one hit that has damage reduction of 40%.

For the same reason Quick riposte is a terrible skill on B!Ike. Most units on AR D have impact skills (Eliwood, Tibarn, any decent mage etc etc) which nullifies the skill in its entirety. QR is wasted on him. Currently, Swift Stance is the best skill for B!Ike, though kestrel stance might be better once it becomes a seal. 

B!Ike with the following skill set is what I recommend, paired with double Peony/Peony+Eir. Lucina or Corrin with double drive speed is mandatory.

Urvan (Skl)

Repo/Draw Back

Aether/Noontime/Sol (Depending on the support)

Distant Counter

Null Follow up

Pulse Smoke

Swift Stance 

 

This allows him, with a +Spd boon, to reliably outspeed and thus cancel Bramimon's weapon, Thrasir's Killing intent and forces pretty much a single, instead of double, attack from most enemies.

 

On 4/22/2020 at 9:14 PM, Anacybele said:

I see. Avoiding deaths and getting the Aether structures are the biggest issues for me though, I think. I'm not a highly skilled player, and most of the time, people put their Aether structures in the very back of their maps where they're harder to get to. I don't know why, it isn't like that does anything for them.

Putting Aether in the back is actually not quite that good for a defense map in most cases. The best maps have the aether either in front, to stall for turn on engages(like Ip teams) or have them in a place that seems easy to get, but is a bait that gets units killed. (Restore rally traps.) The back should be reserved for buildings that actually help you on your defense map, such as shrines, schools and the like.

On 4/22/2020 at 9:14 PM, Anacybele said:

Yeah, and I've tried to do something similar to that myself to get my score as high as possible, but I can't seem to do it right or something.

I've been trying to use +10 Hawkeye as a sort of budget Brave Ike, but he's not quite as effective, of course. But he has been able to tank a lot of blue units as well as some green. I also use Christmas Sothis because she's also very mixed tanky and comes with DC. Then I stick Altina and Naga in there, though lately I've sometimes been leaving Naga out in favor of a refresher. And the last unit is a bonus unit.

I don't really get many defensive results with my Dark defense team. That one loses a lot. But really, I'm just trying to minimize the amount of lift can lose, not get a lot of wins. My Anima team does pretty decently though.

Thing is, this would only help me on Light weeks since that's where I use Brave Ike. My troubles are much more often in Astra weeks.

You can read through the last 40 pages here, there is still plenty of solid advice you haven't used.

 

On 4/22/2020 at 9:42 PM, Nym said:

One week ago, I noticed my astra galeforce team sucked really badly. And it's not just because Galeforce is really hard to use, but the units weren't as good as the Light team one on an already very difficult season.

You know what I did? I swapped their blessings.

They still aren't as good but trust me, both Eir and Peony's presence are enough to make a difference.

If your Hawkeye can't compete in Astra, swap him to Light and make TECH units around him. He will appreciate a dancer and TECH units more than Brave Ike and Lucina, plus Altina will increase Ike's attack.

Especially if you give Double Drive attack to Lucina.

Hawkeye has high res, and low def. So Astra favours him. Same for B!Ike and Eir, the 5 res can make quite a difference for regular tank Ike and peony is mandatory for Spd stacked Ike.

 

On 4/22/2020 at 10:02 PM, Anacybele said:

I guess that's true. But even so, it still makes it really hard for me to get all the ones I encounter.

That's kinda what I've had no choice but to do lately as I search for answers to Astra weeks, yeah...

That's an idea, but if it doesn't work, I just wasted some blessings. I don't like that risk when blessings are fairly limited.

I haven't found any to be reliable enough though. NY Alfonse is great and I have him with +Atk, but he's also part of my Light squad along with Brave Ike. Together they wreck nearly every team that doesn't use multiple dancers or flier balls.

If flier balls trouble you, build a CC vantage archer. That means you remove one of the team comps you struggle with.  There are many great archers to use. 

Jeorge is still my recommendation because of DMG reduction and ranged killing. So he can also work as a tank.

 

 

On 4/23/2020 at 9:21 PM, Rinco said:

Neither Alm nor Celica can recieve blessings, so they won't contribute to lift loss mitigation, which is what I'm going for.

Iago is there to provide Panic support while also having the Guard status to inflict in some turns. That can impose some limitations to attack, which help when the aim is to kill only 1 or 2 units and the rest doesn't matter. Swapping Iago would also hinder the IP stacking. I can swap positions between Iago and Ophelia to have her in a safer spot.

 

@Landmaster oh, didn't check out really. I'll see which one does better damage.

Could you post the team's skills here? I haven't been able to muster the effort to view the video after all these quotes, so I'll get to that later if they are displayed there.

 

 

On 4/24/2020 at 4:03 PM, Rinco said:

Put the team for a trial run for the rest of this season. Got matched 1 time over the night and things went well. I changed the setup based on one I saw in a video by Akariss.

I could use Lif instead of Duma as second mythic, but mine has bad IVs. If I can get a merge, maybe that will be better. 

So, here's the replay for the first defense:

 

As said I'll come back to this. Looks promising though.

[Anacybele]

32 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

We score consistently high because we have multiple teams that fulfil certain roles. i have a team that uses Tanks to just end turn, a Galeforce team that rushes the enemy turn 2 or 6, depending on bolt towers and breaking structures. I have a CC Vantage unit (Jeorge in my case) that is able to take down flier balls, tank entire mage comps and i also have my Mythics built in such a way that they provide support. I have an Eir that has a Link and double tactics with smite for buffs if I can avoid Panic status. I have another Eir with Fury and Disarm trap to reliably get into WoM range after two combats. This means I can easily Galeforce, give buffs when I need them and fury also helps soak chills from shrines and skills. Same goes for astra, all units have a role to perform, they are not just deadweights that destroy blocks here and there. And every team has a specific role so that I can combat different defense teams. Also, knowledge of the A.I. is pretty much required, but I won't bother you with that since you've refused that the last 40 pages already.

I see. I do still need to complete my Galeforce team. It's kinda close though. I've got a near +10 Cordelia and I also have a 5 star Cherche whom I gave Galeforce to. I've got Brave Roy as well. But no fourth unit yet. I'm considering Elincia since I want to keep merging her up.

As for knowledge of the A.I. it's just really hard stuff for me to grasp. Believe me, I really do try to learn it.

34 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

You can't stop it from happening since it is based on all other players. People that play for score play mostly one match a day and try to keep their lift after a match at 180 or lower. This means they always receive max Aether the next day (70) and they stay as low ranked as possible. This lets them stay between people that coast around the lower echelons like T22 or T23 and thus raises the probablility that they match up with easier defense matches and get attacked by people that cant fight their well built defenses. This also lets them rematch people later in the week if they lose a match and gives them a chance of an easy match later in the week. Then, on the last day they blow all their remaining Aether and gain a huge boost in lift score.

Ohhh, I see. I think I better understand this now. Thanks.

34 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Putting Aether in the back is actually not quite that good for a defense map in most cases. The best maps have the aether either in front, to stall for turn on engages(like Ip teams) or have them in a place that seems easy to get, but is a bait that gets units killed. (Restore rally traps.) The back should be reserved for buildings that actually help you on your defense map, such as shrines, schools and the like.

Yeah, this is what I figured, honestly.

35 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

You can read through the last 40 pages here, there is still plenty of solid advice you haven't used.

Mostly because I didn't have the proper resources though.

35 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Hawkeye has high res, and low def. So Astra favours him. Same for B!Ike and Eir, the 5 res can make quite a difference for regular tank Ike and peony is mandatory for Spd stacked Ike.

Yeah, this is why I gave Hawkeye Astra. Though I've stopped using Naga much lately because I do better when I've got a refresher on the team and I don't have room for one if I'm running Hawkeye, Christmas Sothis, Altina, Naga, and a bonus unit. Unless the bonus unit is a refresher. Maybe that was still a bad idea though.

37 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

If flier balls trouble you, build a CC vantage archer. That means you remove one of the team comps you struggle with.  There are many great archers to use. 

Jeorge is still my recommendation because of DMG reduction and ranged killing. So he can also work as a tank.

This is a good idea! Though I'd have to get Close Counter fodder, it's very rare. Currently I do have a Christmas Tharja to do something with, but I was considering giving CC to female Robin since she has a respectable Def stat at +10. But I like having Triangle Adept on her too, so I've also been kind waiting for that to become a seal. Maybe by the time it is a seal, I'll have gotten more CC fodder.

Jeorge is great, yeah, I can definitely try him out. My only +10 archer right now is Klein anyway who wouldn't be suitable for this role. his defenses aren't great and his prf is a strong brave bow, making him player phase anyway.

Good video too!

[XRay]

21 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Also, 3 Mythics is absolutely a bad recommendation unless you want to score as a whale. The only point at where 3 mythics is better for scoring is if you have 2 +10 mythics already. At +0, 2 Mythics, 1 Bonus(With appropriate blessing) and 2 blessed units scores the same as 3 Mythics, a bonus and a blessed unit.

3 Mythics provides a lot of stats to super tanks that is not as dependent on positioning unlike regular buffers. 3 Mythics is not suitable for every team, which is why I mentioned 2 or 3.

26 minutes ago, Vicious Sal said:

Also, 3 Mythics is absolutely a bad recommendation unless you want to score as a whale. The only point at where 3 mythics is better for scoring is if you have 2 +10 mythics already. At +0, 2 Mythics, 1 Bonus(With appropriate blessing) and 2 blessed units scores the same as 3 Mythics, a bonus and a blessed unit.

Lugging around a bonus unit is not worth the hassle if all the player wants is just resources. I still manage to be in Tier 24 without a bonus unit and I lost a match after using up all my Ladders (O). If the player wants to rank competitively though, then the bonus unit is crucial for getting Thrones. If Thrones are not the goal, there is no need to make Aether Raids more annoying than it is by lugging around a bonus unit.

With how many players dislike doing Aether Raids and many skipping it altogether, issues with motivation and burnout are bigger problems than not playing well. Once players are used to Aether Raids, they can experiment and decide for themselves whether incorporating a bonus unit is worth the extra effort.

[Rinco]

@Vicious Sal skills are shown in the video!

I will probably take out all the assists aside from Iago's and Silvia's.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Rinco

[Zeo]

So... I was thinking about doing an actual defense team for dark season and I kinda want to do an armor core (stacking Wary Fighter + Ward Armor still a thing?) but I lack OP armor dragons so I'm kinda at a loss, is it possible for me to make one?

This is what I have for armors.

• Valentine Ike
• Halloween Hector
• Arden
• Black Knight
• Zelgius
• Winter Nino
• Halloween Ilyana
• Winter Robin
• Brave Hector
• Valentine Lyn
• Effie
• Picnic Lukas
• OG Hector
• Valentine Hector
• Brave Ephraim
• Halloween Henry
• Surtr
• Amelia
• Winter Jaffar
• Winter Lissa
• Picnic Felicia
• Halloween Dorcas
• Winter Eirika
• Halloween Jakob
• Winter Cecillia

Brammimond is my only dark mythic so he'd be off to the side giving everyone HP+5/ATK+3 but I was thinking stacking Ward Armor and maybe Wary Fighter for everyone except Winter Eirika and giving her her base kit with a couple of armors that share ATK so everyone can get +7 ATK/+5 DEF & RES. Then give her QP so she can proc Heavenly Light on the first turn and have a healing station right next to the team. Maybe Surtr in front with Brave Hector to his side and V!Ike to his other with like Halloween Ilyana behind the unit on the left and Eirika behind Surtr.

Just spitballing currently. I don't really know how to make defense teams. Never learned.

[Landmaster]

1 hour ago, Zeo said:

So... I was thinking about doing an actual defense team for dark season and I kinda want to do an armor core (stacking Wary Fighter + Ward Armor still a thing?) but I lack OP armor dragons so I'm kinda at a loss, is it possible for me to make one?

This is what I have for armors.

• Valentine Ike
• Halloween Hector
• Arden
• Black Knight
• Zelgius
• Winter Nino
• Halloween Ilyana
• Winter Robin
• Brave Hector
• Valentine Lyn
• Effie
• Picnic Lukas
• OG Hector
• Valentine Hector
• Brave Ephraim
• Halloween Henry
• Surtr
• Amelia
• Winter Jaffar
• Winter Lissa
• Picnic Felicia
• Halloween Dorcas
• Winter Eirika
• Halloween Jakob
• Winter Cecillia

Brammimond is my only dark mythic so he'd be off to the side giving everyone HP+5/ATK+3 but I was thinking stacking Ward Armor and maybe Wary Fighter for everyone except Winter Eirika and giving her her base kit with a couple of armors that share ATK so everyone can get +7 ATK/+5 DEF & RES. Then give her QP so she can proc Heavenly Light on the first turn and have a healing station right next to the team. Maybe Surtr in front with Brave Hector to his side and V!Ike to his other with like Halloween Ilyana behind the unit on the left and Eirika behind Surtr.

Just spitballing currently. I don't really know how to make defense teams. Never learned.

Armor Balls aren't very good in AR, they're kinda free wins to be honest~ Only your Brammi is really gonna be posing a threat to anyone who fights you and once he's gone, all anyone has to do is just snipe down all your other units. In fact, every single unit is boxed in here so this is really just serving a free win on a platter

You need some big brained, high IQ Armor builds for these to work. Like It's Curtains+ Ignis Brave Hector with Grandscratcher Eirika or something like that. I'd much rather suggest you to use an IP team since those are usually the hardest to straight up tank.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Zeo said:

So... I was thinking about doing an actual defense team for dark season and I kinda want to do an armor core (stacking Wary Fighter + Ward Armor still a thing?) but I lack OP armor dragons so I'm kinda at a loss, is it possible for me to make one?

I personally do not recommend stalling armor teams. It needs a lot of merges and Flowers to be effective, since often times players can just overwhelm an armor team with Firesweepers and one shot nukes. Even with merges and Flowers, players can still overwhelm stall teams due to how powerful certain nukes are. It is also better if the team has 2 Dumas, since Duma is an armor unit who can contribute towards Ward Armor stacking.

For the best stall maps, you want the armor team to ideally be sitting in a corner that has obstructive terrain that limits mobility. The following is just a sample. I think there might be more effective setups out there, but this is the best I can think of off the top of my head.

I am not sure if it is a good idea to put the real Bolt Trap into the map at all, since players can then utilize Wings of Mercy, so I maybe it is okay to leave it out? Alternatively, you can put it somewhere far away so players have to waste time hunting it down if they want to use abuse the damage.

Now that I look at the setup again, you probably want the armor unit not covered by the Healing Tower (D) to be Duma. Duma does not get stat increase, so he does not have as much defensive value as a Blessed unit, so it is probably better switch spots between DW!F!Tiki (I only have one Duma, so she represents a second Duma) and the top right most Draug.

Edited May 3, 2020 by XRay

[Rinco]

I'm so dumb. For some reason I thought today was the last day of the AR season and spent all my aether AND ignored the pots since 40 aether wouldn't give me an extra match. Then I realized there's still tomorrow and those 40 aether would give me more matches.

I'm really stupid.