Special Heroes - Dark Desert Rituals

[Tybrosion]

Well, this is quite the odd duck of a banner but that isn't a bad thing. Also, I guess Harmonics are just going to be pretty much impossible to guess if they're going with out of nowhere pairings like Dorothea and Lene (the latter not being a popular character at all).

I'll do my usual pulling for the 4* focus, but I don't think I'll want to invest in this banner past that.

1 hour ago, Mercakete said:

They could have put Henry, Aversa, or Gangrel in and it would have made much more sense, but I can't believe they neglected Robin, Morgan and VALIDAR for this theme.

I'm sorry, but IS snubbing Validar of all characters should not be a surprise in any way. Awakening barely gets anything these days as is, so there was zero chance they were going to throw a bone to the game's second least popular character especially as a seasonal.

[Xenomata]

Why are people so disappointed that the Plegia banner only has one plegian? Look at the plegian in question, she looks practically the same as her normal variant outside of some extra florishes. I don't particularly care about this banner outside of Raphael (which really why do I care more about the 4* unit than the 5* premium units, that's not a good thing), but I would care even less if it was all Plegians.

And what I'm most peeved about? I'm starting to feel like we're getting too many damn dancers in the game. They could have done something truly magnificently dark with the harmonic unit, something to really upset the balance of hope and despair, and what do we get? Yet another dancer, flying dancer at that cause why the hell not. Let's also give them a harmonic skill that also serves as a refresh!

Man, I made myself upset at this banner, and it has Raphael on it...

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I never expected Katarina and Kris to be the highlight of a banner for me, but here we are. I'm happy Raphael is at least in the game now, though, even if I'm very confused as to his placement here.

[TheNiddo]

13 minutes ago, Seazas said:

So again, outside of hate... Kris is a nobody, therefore not a good decision to pair with. At best it should be Robin paired with Tharja or Chrom or something else.

Its a Harmonic Duo, can't be in the same game. And it needs to be a Harmonic Duo for a set of games they haven't made a pair for yet. 

And ultimately it's impossible for Kris to be a nobody. He was the first playable Avatar, that automatically makes him more important than like.... 99% of the the 600+ Fire Emblem characters that exist. Certainly more of a somebody than Lene which an even smaller part of the fanbase knows about. 

[Mercakete]

8 minutes ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I'm happy Raphael is at least in the game now, though, even if I'm very confused as to his placement here.

Ikr? Rafiel being in the game is nice, but...with his reasoning, pretty much any seasonal banner would have worked (since, you know, food. Though, a picnic banner would have been better for him, I think, if we're going with "because food.") I may not have played much in my Golden Deer route yet, but there doesn't seem to be anything remotely cultist about him. Of course, that may have been the point (a sort of "ironic character") but...

@TheNiddo

Just here to correct that "first avatar" bit. Mark from FE7 was, actually, not Kris (though the customization was much more limited.)

Edited January 17 by Mercakete

[TheNiddo]

6 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Ikr? Rafiel being in the game is nice, but...with his reasoning, pretty much any seasonal banner would have worked (since, you know, food. Though, a picnic banner would have been better for him, I think, if we're going with "because food.") I may not have played much in my Golden Deer route yet, but there doesn't seem to be anything remotely cultist about him. Of course, that may have been the point (a sort of "ironic character") but...

@TheNiddo

Just here to correct that "first avatar" bit. Mark from FE7 was, actually, not Kris (though the customization was much more limited.)

That's why I said first playable Avatar. 

[Mercakete]

6 minutes ago, TheNiddo said:

That's why I said first playable Avatar. 

Ah, as in able to enter combat? Then yeah; you're right. However, it's not like Mark wasn't technically playable, depending on how you define that. You still had control over Mark, at least somewhat. You just couldn't field him/her (at least, I was never able to. That said, I haven't quite finished that game. I'm only like...2 chapters away or something, though.)

[Humanoid]

So a standard 3/3% banner with no other incentive to summoning at all? I was hoping we'd moved on past that, but nope, guess this year will be just like the last.

[Use the Falchion]

1 hour ago, LoneStar said:

I think it's better when the banners are a little more creative than just using all obvious choices

There's a fine line between creative and being disingenuous and IMO, this trends towards the latter, as it doesn't feel like a good representation of "Plegian" or even "Dark Mage." You want someone from Three Houses that fits the whole Plegian Dark Mage aesthetic? Why not choose Hubert, or Linhardt, or any other character that's popular to put in the Dark Mage class?  And Dorothea and Lene? I don't have a giant problem with the concept, but again, this banner does NOT suit them. This would have been a great time to do an Azura/Tharja banner and reference FE Warriors, giving the spin-off some modicum of acknowledgement, and then give the spotlight to someone like Aversa, who doesn't have an Alt but can still sell the fanservice.* (It also: Gives players a refresher, keeps the whole Plegian theme going, and gives a character already known for their wardrobes another cool wardrobe to wear.) 

I'm not saying this banner is bad. Heck, I want three of the four units. But I am saying it doesn't feel like a good representative of what the banner should be. Again, I'm willing to ride this out for a year and see if it's annual or not in order to take back my statement. But this is how I feel until that time. 

 

*Here's to hoping that someday the Cipher OCs will make it into Heroes...

[Mercakete]

7 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

There's a fine line between creative and being disingenuous and IMO, this trends towards the latter, as it doesn't feel like a good representation of "Plegian" or even "Dark Mage." You want someone from Three Houses that fits the whole Plegian Dark Mage aesthetic? Why not choose Hubert, or Linhardt, or any other character that's popular to put in the Dark Mage class?  And Dorothea and Lene? I don't have a giant problem with the concept, but again, this banner does NOT suit them. This would have been a great time to do an Azura/Tharja banner and reference FE Warriors, giving the spin-off some modicum of acknowledgement, and then give the spotlight to someone like Aversa, who doesn't have an Alt but can still sell the fanservice.* (It also: Gives players a refresher, keeps the whole Plegian theme going, and gives a character already known for their wardrobes another cool wardrobe to wear.) 

I'm not saying this banner is bad. Heck, I want three of the four units. But I am saying it doesn't feel like a good representative of what the banner should be. Again, I'm willing to ride this out for a year and see if it's annual or not in order to take back my statement. But this is how I feel until that time. 

It totally agree, here, except for the Warriors bit, but that's only because I haven't played enough of it (only at a friend's house; I don't own the game) to speak from experience on that bit. Also the fanservice, but that's personal taste.

[Gustavo Ramirez Mella]

There We Are Desert Costume Hero.

& Never Happen To 5 Stars Free Summon.

Also Have Weekly Content Such a Weekly Revival, Weekly Hero With Skills & Weekly Grand Hero Battle.

[XRay]

45 minutes ago, TheNiddo said:

Despite what some circles like to believe, Kris isn't the most hated unit ever. Kris' banner sold not great but not bottom of the barrel as seen here: https://imgur.com/a/uDE4mzD. Very large portion of the fanbase that has no clue who Kris is because they're casual fans and never bothered to emulate Heroes of Light and Shadow and have only played Awakening/Fates/3H/Echoes, and thus they don't hate Kris. Its fairly reasonable to assume that an Avatar + Avatar pairing would be enough to offset some of the older fans who don't like Kris, particularly since technically Kris and Robin are from the same content and they could have some very interesting conversations about how things changed.

While some data is better than no data, it is not a good idea to draw conclusions based on poor quality data. Due to the lack of actual financial numbers, the data that was presented is totally unreliable for comparing the financial performance between different FEH Foci. The data only tells us how well Fire Emblem Heroes ranked compared to other gacha games, not how well each FEH Foci did compared to each other.

For example, it is totally possible for a FEH Foci to rank poorly to do much better financially than a Foci that ranked well. The following is not real data, I am just pulling numbers out of my ass to illustrate the point:
Week 1; Focus A
FEH revenue: $2 million
FEH rank: 20
Week 2; Focus B
FEH revenue: $1 million
FEH rank: 10
During week 1, if lots of gacha games are having a sale or some kind of event (e.g.: Christmas, Golden Week), other games performing well is going to push FEH down the rankings, despite FEH also doing well. During week 2, despite FEH ranking higher, FEH also did horribly, and it is only ranking higher because other gacha games do not have a lot of stuff going on.

Since we do not know how well the Focus Heroes, Light and Shadow actually sold, that Focus could have totally bombed and it is ranked relatively well due to nothing else happening for other gachas at the time; or that Focus could have totally raked in massive amounts cash and it is just that all other gachas at the time are also really well, which would push FEH further down the rankings.

[Use the Falchion]

28 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Warriors bit, but that's only because I haven't played enough of it (only at a friend's house; I don't own the game) to speak from experience on that bit.

I actually haven't played Warriors either, but I've watched almost all of the support conversations. I found them to be pretty interesting for the most part, and amusing when not the first. Tharja's friendships with dancers is something that always struck me as unique - she has special dialogue with Olivia during the beach DLC in Awakening and a support with her in Warriors, along with a support with Azura (a character who you wouldn't think would fit being Tharja's friend, but totally would). A banner with Tharja/Dorothea would be a nice way to keep that trend going, while Tharja/Azura would be a nice call-back to that support and the game it's from. This is also why I'd like to see a Chrom/Xander and Camilla/Emmeryn dialogue someday. (Although if Chrom was going to have a Harmonic banner with anyone, I'd rather it be Seliph, as I think it would be fun for the younger man.) 

 

32 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Also the fanservice, but that's personal taste.

Fair enough! 

[redlight]

Male Kris is the TT unit... Foddering him is easy then. Only thing he has going for him is being voiced by the VA of Giorno.

Would've really liked Clarisse or female Kris as the TT reward, but alas. It is what it is.

I have nothing against the idea of the banner, but they could've added more canonical dark mages to it.

[Tybrosion]

1 hour ago, TheNiddo said:

And ultimately it's impossible for Kris to be a nobody. He was the first playable Avatar, that automatically makes him more important than like.... 99% of the the 600+ Fire Emblem characters that exist. Certainly more of a somebody than Lene which an even smaller part of the fanbase knows about. 

Yeah, M!Kris has a total of 5,721 CYL votes (culminating with him placing 98th in CYL4).

Lene.....only has 610 votes total and her highest placement was 435th in CYL3. Yet, she’s here anyways while Seliph, Leif and Julia (among others) have no seasonal appearances.

[SoulWeaver]

Screw off IS, I don't WANT Green Tharja, I already have Rhajat and if I wasn't going to use her before I'm definitely using her now out of spite for you.

That said, congrats to all of you with something to appreciate here.

[Sunwoo]

16 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

Yeah, M!Kris has a total of 5,721 CYL votes (culminating with him placing 98th in CYL4).

Lene.....only has 610 votes total and her highest placement was 435th in CYL3. Yet, she’s here anyways while Seliph, Leif and Julia (among others) have no seasonal appearances.

Lene may only have 610 votes total, but she has something that Seliph and Leif will never have, and that's all that matters to the devs.

Julia, while being more popular, is dressed more conservatively. Lene is someone they can just ... you know, have flaunt her stuff. This Harmonic's art makes me almost as uncomfortable as Duo Byleth's did.

[kradeelav]

Heh, called both Tharja and Raphael.  :D  Jesus, he's a shredded beefcake here, and I'm happy for the Raphael stans that they don't have to wait for *any* rep.

Overall don't quite like this banner as much as I thought I would (Rather would love @Mercakete's character idea especially with Ly again as usual, and there's a part of me that feels like timeskip!Hubert would've been amazing here). Can't complain though, as it'll allow me to keep hoarding orbs and grind out another TT.

 

[Sasori]

This is a odd banner for a month like January, but the female side I really like this banner. Katarina and Tharja have some good art on them and I'll never say no to another Dorothea. Is this the first time the duo hero consits of two normal characters rather then two main characters?

The male side is less impressive. Rapheal is cool, but armours are never on my wish list.  Mkris is Mkris so he's also not on my wish list.

Mostly going to save my orbs, but mind spend some to go after Dorothea.

[Tybrosion]

18 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Lene may only have 610 votes total, but she has something that Seliph and Leif will never have, and that's all that matters to the devs.

Normally this where I’d try to make a rebuttal.....but I can’t in this instance because what you said is oh so painfully true.

Oh well, the boys always have their Legendaries to fall back on.

[redlight]

I understand why he'd have Chill Atk because of his weapon, but damn. Spd/Def 2 on Kris. Skills on 4* and TT units still kinda suck. At least seasonals give us good inheritable weapons. When they aren't beast units that are mediocre.

Male Kris skills

Spoiler

 

Edited January 17 by redlight

[Book Bro]

Should've just straight up called this "sex sells, the banner". Plegian festival my ass, lol. Half of the characters don't even know why they're here.

Also hate how sexed up they made Dorothea. She's classier than this ffs.

[Zan Partizanne]

Regardless I don't understand the banner's theme as the unit's selection at all, Dorothea just looks disgusting. She did not deserve treated that dirty. Furthermore I have no clue why she got a second alt before the release of her original version. I will take the orbs for the CYL rerun next month and go for Katarina since I either like her, or can use attack / speed solo for units like Mareeta, Larcei or Sirius.

[Kaden]

3 hours ago, redlight said:

Male Kris is the TT unit... Foddering him is easy then. Only thing he has going for him is being voiced by the VA of Giorno.

And being an axe cavalry. Here's hoping he isn't the fourth axe cavalry after Frederick, Gunter, and Walhart to have the same high attack and high defense, but low speed and resistance stat spread. "Oh, but he has Spd/Def 2 as his A passive." Quan has Steady Posture and he's not exactly the fastest of units either. They also slapped Brash Assault on Altena and made it look like Seal Somethings X/Y on Miranda and Thea the greatest thing ever since Defiant Res on Virion what with it being their 5* locked skills.

On the bright side, the Plegian weapons look fun. I could see them doubling down on CYL Micaiah's Light of Dawn with a similar effect. It would be pretty mean if its base effect were upgraded to not only boost her stats based on her foe's stat penalties, but also further debuff them. Poor F!Corrin and Saizo, though. I would very much like to see this effect in future weapon updates or on future prf weapons for new units even if it would make the Plegian banner not so special.

Edited January 17 by Kaden

[Mercakete]

1 hour ago, kradeelav said:

Overall don't quite like this banner as much as I thought I would (Rather would love @Mercakete's character idea especially with Ly again as usual, and there's a part of me that feels like timeskip!Hubert would've been amazing here). Can't complain though, as it'll allow me to keep hoarding orbs and grind out another TT.

Thank you! ^_^ Yeah, I'm a lore person myself, so having a Fallen Valentines sort of banner focusing on Robin's family in the Ruin Timeline would have made my heart sing. Getting to explore that side of things more would have been excellent since we don't get to see much of it (the most we got were a couple cutscenes in the main game and Future Past, and those hardly showed the baddies' side at all. I want something from their PoV!) Besides, we have plenty of the Robins being all "I am a tactitian" and "I am Chrom's best friend," all to the point where it's easy to forget his/her origins and the fact that they are actually Plegian. "Showcase another side already! You have the depth, so access it!" is kind of how I feel, but I'm worried that since this banner is here, we won't get another opportunity for it.