Ten Most Important 5* Units

[jameslove001]

I know there have been various discussion around this topic, but the appearance of Duma has made me reevaluate certain units. To best frame this question, who are the ten most important units in terms of overall usefulness in the game. This includes completing quests, arena, TT, everything. If you were to encourage beginning players, these would be the units you would tell them to start with early and often. These units do not have to be free to play, but more frequent draws are something to consider.

I think for me I would start with Fjorm, Ike, Veronica, Nino and Reinhart. Beyond that Duma, NYMachiah, Eir, Klein and though I don't have her, Myrrh seems to be an absolute beast. There may be other better units, and I totally get that, but I think that group of ten would get people quite far. Your thoughts? Which ten characters do you being the most effective as a team in the game?

[Ice Dragon]

What's the point of saying "5-star units" when you really just mean units in general? It's typically expected that players are promoting units to 5-star rarity unless they're going for a +10 4-star merge.

 

1. Legendary Azura: Easily the best support unit in the game right now by an enormous margin.
2. Reinhardt: Probably still the easiest nuke to build and use.
3. Brave Veronica: A staple of free-to-play strategies and gives valuable buff and debuff support along with good damage output.
4. Surtr: The absolute best Arena babysitter in the game.
5. Eir: Strong offense and support abilities and good magic bulk.
6. Fjorm: Easy to build ranged tank.
7. Legendary Ike: Used for free-to-play strategies.
8. Alfonse, 9. Sharena, 10. Anna: Guaranteed Arena bonus units.

Runners up:

• Nowi: Very easy to build tank with good availability.
• Legendary Tiki: Easier to build tank with not as good availability.
• Ophelia: Reinhardt with less movement, but more nuke. Needs Special Spiral, but is definitely worth the Levn.
• Aversa: Flying tome user with a strong debuff.

[Jingle Jangle]

My list of units that greatly changed Heroes:

• Reinhart his present in the game changed how maps are designed and how easy it is to build him.
• Veronica: Strong crowd control that can cripple an enemy team without being attacked.
• Takumi: Despite not that impressive these day. When the game launched he was a powerhouse.
• Askr trio: First units in the game, guaranteed arena bonus units, and used for challenge map quests
• og Hector: The combination of distant counter and quick riposte inspire armor units to this day.
• Surtr: First unit in the game to have few soft counters.
• Fjorm: free ranged tank that is used for f2p guides and challenge quests.
• Legendary Ike: same as Fjorm.
• Legendary Azura: Best support unit in the game
• Eir: F2p dagger unit with good team synergy. 

[jameslove001]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

What's the point of saying "5-star units" when you really just mean units in general? It's typically expected that players are promoting units to 5-star rarity unless they're going for a +10 4-star merge.

I think I went with 5* because of a combination a lot of people having to be mindful of feathers, and specific weapon upgrades. Your point is definitely taken, and no one is going to turn down a 4* +10 Reinhart! Also, some 4* +10 units just do not equal up their 5* counterparts. That said, your reframing is probably a much better approach.

[Baldrick]

In addition to what the others have said, Fae is another good budget tank for colour coverage, Ursula and Cecilia are free units that can get the full benefit of Bladetomes without requiring any 5* skills, and Archer Lucina is a very good unit for positioning shenanigans.

[Hero_Lucina]

Hector

 

If y'all could get one

[indigoasis]

If we're talking about strictly 5 Star units (the list is in no particular order):

• Fjorm: Introduced Legendary Heroes to the game, you get a free copy at the start of Book II, and is a consistent bonus unit in Arena alongside the Askr Trio.
• Brave Veronica: An absolute godsend for F2P players and one of the best healers in the game.
• Genny: Introduced Wrathful Staff, and therefore introduced the staff meta before the staff meta was a thing.
• Hector: Set the standard for Armored units until he was powercrept... by himself... twice....
• Amelia: Introduced Armor March. I don't really think that I need to say much more.
• Legendary Azura: Best refresher unit in the game. 
• Brave Celica: Introduced Tier 4 skills to the game, for better or for worse.
• Brave Ike: Introduced Steady Breath, which was one of the best defensive skills in the game for a long time, and still remains really good.
• Tibarn: Introduced Beast Units to the game alongside Nailah, Reyson, Leanne, and Naesala.
• Spring Lucina: Introduced Swift Sparrow, which isn't a rarity at all anymore these days, but still an important skill nonetheless.

As for units who aren't locked to 5 Stars (the list is again in no particular order):

• Kaze: Attack Smoke 3 at 4 Stars.
• Sothe: Life and Death 3 at 4 Stars.
• Hinata: Fury 3 at 4 Stars.
• Ares: Brazen Atk/Def 3 at 4 Stars.
• Barst/Selena: Reposition at 3 Stars.
• Aversa: A free Flying Red Tome unit with a universal debuff on fer prf tome if her HP is higher than the opponent's.
• Nino: Pretty much the best and cheapest green mage to build.
• Reinhardt: Self-explanatory.
• Olivia: Easy to build refresher.
• Shanna: Desperation at 4 Stars.
• Odin/Palla: Moonbow at 4 Stars.
• Hot Springs Camilla: HONE FLIERS AT 4 STARS, FINALLY.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I think there's two lists for this. One for units can only be summoned at 5-star rarity, and one for units at lower rarities.

The strictly 5-star unit list is, in my opinion, something akin to this:

• Legendary Ike
• Surtr
• Brave Lyn
• Brave Veronica
• Eir
• Fjorm
• Ayra
• Hector
• Alm
• Tibarn

All of these units are either free, or are in the permanent summoning pool. Legendary Ike, Eir, and Fjorm are all free units that offer different strengths and usefulness. Surtr is just a broken that does wonders for things like Arena and Aether Raids. Brave Lyn and Brave Veronica are used heavily in F2P guides, and both have been wonders in defining the meta of the game. Ayra was sort of the introduction to Gen 2 infantry, and is still one of the defining sword units in the game. Hector defined the role of armored units. Alm is arguable the best Falchion-wielder in the game, and great for combating dragons. Tibarn is the first powerhouse beast unit, introducing a new unit type.

For units that are also in the 3/4-star pool, I think the list is something like this:

• Reinhardt
• Nino
• Nowi
• Lilina
• Marth
• Cecilia
• Ares
• Caeda
• Fae
• Reyson

Reinhardt is self-explanatory, he's the original meta-defining unit and he's easy enough to build. Nino is probably the best green mage in the summoning pool not locked at 5-star rarity. Nowi and Fae are both great budget dragon options and both can prove to be powerhouses. Lilina is the definition of a nuke. Marth is arguably the best dragon combatant in the 3/4-star pool. Cecilia is currently the only mounted green mage, and she can serve well as both a -raven tome user or a -blade tome user. Ares is arguably one of the best mounted units in the game period. Caeda is a great flying unit with a great personal weapon and refine. Reyson is a fantastic support/refresher option.

[Hilda]

That depends entirely what you want to tackle on.

1. + 2. + 3. Anna Alfonse Sharena: weekly Arena bonus units, frequently used in GHB quests for additional unit gains, used in AR as a Bonus unit and used in Quests frequently.
4. Legendary Azura? Hands down superb cheerleading unit and help for GHB i guess (although i dont use dancers on GHBs or LHBs)
5. Marth, Great cheerleading unit and support with his refine.
6. Brave Veronica ---> see number 4
7. Eir, for Light bonus on AR also great support unit with her passiv heal and capability to take on dragons, also bonus unit for AR
8. Fjorm, very competent free unit to help clear GHBs, frequent Arena bonus unit
9. I guess the Reinhardt if you need to rely on crutches to help you get clears or do stuff because its too "hard"
10. Surtr ----> see number 9

[Usana]

My first thought that this thread specifically talked about 5* locked units in order to get a look at 'top' orb priorities. But top 10 overall is still a good one. But mine will probably be a 5* list locked since I thought this over before fully reading the thread.

In no particular order. Wall of reasoning text in spoilers. TL;DR below spoiler.
 

Spoiler

 

Loki - If you are doing Aether Raids, Thokk is a god send. A tactics Room you can place wherever it is needed and with higher possible HP threasholds. In any mode you are running into highly mobile ranged units this is one unit you would like to have. Does not come with the Dazzling Wrath combo natively. As such getting Dazzling for her is going to be costly. But she can function without it so it doesn't really hurt her selection here much.

Fjorm- Not the best unit around but she is the only recurring Legendary as far as bonus units for Arena go. This make her a prime candidate to be your 'main' water legendary if Arena score is your thing. She fares better in Aether Raids then Arena in my experience though. And her bonus to speed isn't quite as useful as one would think since higher tiers have so many armors(though being fast + having a doubling skill can be a decent way to punch through wary).

Eir- Much the same boat as Fjorm. She is just far to useful if you are invested in Aether Raids. She might dip down a bit as more mythics get released, but for now she is rather high priority. Plus running multiple of her can just be insane. Not only do you score well but your units heal 20 HP per turn. Nailah is VERY hard to bring down with double light blessing plus that recovery every turn.

Brave Lyn- Often used in guides for clearing difficult content and is part of the infamous LynRein combo. Has several options to run with so she isn't even locked into being a one trick pony.

Veronica- Same as Brave Lyn, except she is rather more locked to her role and likely won't venture out much. Still a very valuable addition and can make content much easier to handle.

Myrrh- She is one of the best tanks in the game thanks to how reliably she can deny doubles. A go to unit for me when it comes to solving an annoying map. I don't use her much in Arena anymore though.

Nailah- Great dc unit. Very valuable whenever you find a staff that you want to counter. Like Loki she just makes Raids so much more playable.
 

Non-general 5* locks. You are going to want one legendary of each blessing.

WATER
Azura - Shares with Fjorm. She is a high scoring dancer however and has some rather broken skills. So if you aren't worried about having a high scoring bonus unit frequently, then she can be a better pick than Fjorm for investment.
WIND
I don't want to pick one here. If Hrid had more base speed he could be very valuable for punching through wary/blocking bold. But he is so slow a good number of armors will double him even through his effect or deny him the double even if he neutralizes wary. Lucina is also a solid choice.
EARTH
Tiki - if you can manage armor Tiki can greatly boost your score and is strong all around. Between Robin and Ike I am not sure. Radiant + Breath is rather nifty, but I don't now how well it stands up at the highest arena tiers. I do know that Robin gets more use in general content for me.
FIRE
Marth- Ephraim is strong and unlike Hrid can punch through some Wary thanks to his average speed. However, he doesn't deny doubles and is rather easy to drop by any of the strong green armors that are so common. Marth is strong and unlike Hector you don't have to worry about armor mobility.
ANIMA
Nobody. Sorry but while Duma isn't a pushover he just doesn't feel all that needed in Raids. His reduction is so small I don't see it making a different unless you really whale for it. Not like Eir where a modest investment brings huge benefits.

 

Hmm. . . that is about it for general 5* locked units. For non-locks Aversa is a very strong candidate for Grail investment. As is Loli Azura.  For feather investment Rein is great as are the loli dragons. There is also Eirika who makes a brilliant cheerleader. Seth and Titania are also good cheerleaders. Caeda and Clair are excellent anti-armors, though their lack of a way to reliably break wary means they mostly excel in taking down Bold and Vengeful fighters. Though a breaker can be used to get past a specific type of armor. Surtr being a very common wielder of wary means Axe Breaker Caeda can be quite a useful ally. And many more I am no doubt missing.

Honestly for feather units the list just gets really big which is why I was thinking of 5* locked spending.

 

TL;DR
So I guess my top 10 5*locked are Loki, Fjorm/L!Azura, Eir, Brave Lyn, Veronica, Myrrh, Nailah, L!Wind of your choice, L!Tiki, L!Marth.
Top Grails are Aversa/Loli Azura.
Top Feathers are Reinhardt/Nowi/Fae/Eirika/Seth/Titania/Caeda/Clair/+many more that I have no doubt missed.

[XRay]

On 2/8/2019 at 10:09 PM, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I think there's two lists for this. One for units can only be summoned at 5-star rarity, and one for units at lower rarities.

I like that idea. Since new players can reroll, I think it is important to separate the list into two so new players can take advantage of that. I think I might separate into 3 lists with 5 units each, with the third list for free units.

I am going to make my 5* list more inclusive so players can take advantage of Special Heroes and Legendary Heroes Foci. I will also group an entire class of units together if a lot of the units are interchangeable.

1. VS!Azura: She is the best support unit.
2. Flying Colorless Archers and Mages: Flying Firesweep and Brave archers and Blade mages are all very powerful nukes, and they compliment VS!Azura.
3. Ophelia: With Blazing Wind-Special Spiral, she is the delete button for foes.
4. Surtr: He makes walling viable. That is impressive.
5. Loli Armor Dragons: There is nothing that 180 BST and Fighter skills cannot handle.

It is really hard to limit the 5* list to just five units, so here is a rather long honorable mentions list :

Spoiler

Dancers/Singers: Might not be VS!Azura levels of broken, but still really good.

TLB!Mia/HS!Sakura: Flying healers are great for offense and support.

Counter-Vantage Units: Laevatein is its finest example and cutest paragon. High Atk Blade mages, high Atk Pain healers, Ares, and WOT!Reinhardt all fall under this category too.

Dragons: All dragons are great with Enemy Phase builds, and a handful can also do Player Phase very well.

Celica/Lewyn/Ishtar: While not as bat shit crazy as Ophelia, the nuking power of these mages is still bonkers, with Celica being the most broken.

GA!Lucina: Future Vision is broken despite being on a colored bow.

AOTB!Veronica: Debuffs are amazing.

Eir: She is great for Aether Raids scoring and long distance healing.

Valor Units: Makes grinding for SP so much easier.

Here is my 3* and 4* list.

1. Olivia/Silvia/Reyson: Dancers/Singers are great.
2. Reinhardt: Easy to build and use, and very effective too.
3. Blade mages: Nino, Tharja, and Tailtiu are the best, but M!Morgan, Soren, and Mae also make good Blade mages too. Blade tomes can also salvage units like Odin, Merric, and Raigh.
4. Nowi/Fae: Dragons are good. Being lolis makes them even better.
5. M!Corrin: Indispensable for buffing up a single unit to carry the team. He is my MVP in Aether Raids.

Honorable Mentions:

Spoiler

Raven mages: Boey, Merric, M!Robin, Odin, Sophia, and Henry are super useful for Arena Assault as they can shut down 2 colors.

Est: Surtr slayer, and she can accomplish that as a blue unit!

Cordelia: Flexible and powerful. She can use Firesweep-Hit and Run, Slaying-Galeforce, or quad-Brave sets.

Ares: In my opinion, Distant Counter-Vantage is his best set.

Lilina: She is a really powerful one shot nuke.

Here is my free unit list:

1. Sharena: With the proliferation of VS!Azura in Aether Raids, buff nullification is the most valuable tanking skill in that mode in my opinion, above Guard and Wary Fighter.
2. A!Azura: Dancers/Singers are always good.
3. Aversa: Flying mage!
4. AOTB!Veronica/BH!Lyn: Great for following guides.
5. Eir: Great for Aether Raids scoring and long distance healing.

Honorable Mentions:

Spoiler

Alfonse/Anna/Fjorm: They are Arena Bonus units.

Ursula/GD!Titania: They are great with Blade tomes and have easy access to buffs.

Xander/Camus: Easy to use and have easy access to buffs.

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by XRay

[SuperTroll Maxim Lapierre]

Legendary Hector is my shoutout. Armor, helped me clear Robin's GHB, Lyn's Legendary, Tiki's, and Duma's with a -atk, +res nature.

Brave Veronica is basically a no-brainer as she assisted Legendary in my clears.