Special Heroes - Of Lost Kingdoms

[Tybrosion]

2 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Fallen Edelgard still defines the current meta, so even if she were just a blob of sludge instead of an Edelgard, she's basically guaranteed a slot.

Yeah, but on the flip side the fact that she's the latest Edelgard already ensured her a spot even if she was completely irrelevant in the meta.

We got academy Edelgard in the 2020 VG bracket, after all. 

[MagicCanonBalls]

I only like Nailah artwork here, but the units themselves are pretty good combat units. It could also because I have been getting wrecked in Vault of Heaven and AA recently, so I felt the need to get more premium unit. I am really torn between sparking the remix banner for Legendary Lucina and this one for Azura.

I could see Karla with healing special while still dishing out true damage (at least I think it's true damage), like a Lite L!Dimitry set that I have been seeing a lot.

[Medeus]

I like the idea of using Hatari, but this is an easy skip. No one sticks out to me aside from Xane and even then it's not enough to make me pull.

2 hours ago, Sunwoo said:

I legitimately find this banner super not exciting, tbh. We've got ourselves a third Nailah, instead of the nonexistent Volug (is Nailah even that popular to begin with?) and Xane joining Dorothea in the "two seasonal alts before regular version" club, and ... another Azura.

Nailah was 346 on the most recent CYL, so pretty middling. Even of the beasts she's lower then 14 of them, and if you ignore the characters that weren't in the game at the time she's still behind six others, including Ranulf, Caineghis, and Reyson who haven't got alts yet. 

That said, this is a themed banner so it makes sense to have her. My bigger issue is the lack of Volug since he's one of the more popular remaining Laguz and would've fit in perfectly. 

[FailWood]

I know many others gave their grievances about Volug not being here already, but it's truly baffling that he's missing.  Instead we got a 3rd Nailah and another Azura (even though it's been a while since the last one).  At least Deen made it in, so that's another character I can check off my list.

Edited January 15, 2022 by FailWood

[Dylan Corona]

I would have been fine if they did both Nailah and Volug, I mean it makes sense that they would be on it. Hell the a duo unit of them both would have been cool too. But honestly, I've been working on my blue Nailah, so if I end up only pulling two of the new one I'll be okay. Saves me a tiny bit of orbs, if it was Volug I would have had to try to +10 him haha.

[Ice Dragon]

Having now had the time to stew on this banner a bit, I guess I now have some more underwhelming thoughts.

Nailah

The developers really do like their half-assed hybrid builds where they put Spd on the weaker B slot, but not the stronger A slot. If you want her to be a fast attacker, she should have Surge Sparrow instead of Sturdy Surge, and if you want her to be a wall breaker, she should have Windsweep or Lull Atk/Def instead of Lull Spd/Def. Looks like she has the tools to run either build well, but you should pick one or the other and not try to do both at the same time.

Sturdy Surge looks like it'll be a niche skill, like Sturdy Impact, where it'll mostly be used on slower units with guaranteed follow-ups. Giving up the Spd from Surge Sparrow is too much of a cost for faster units if you're looking at a Surge skill. Looks like a good skill for Thorr, though. If only she had this skill instead of getting Atk/Def Push, which can already be gotten from the Legendary/Mythic pool from Bramimond.

Her outfit looks uncannily like Ghislaine's from Mushoku Tensei, but with 10 times more top (i.e. exists) and 10 times less pants (i.e. does not exist).

Karla

Her weapon is a better set of curtains and with her base kit lets her land a 3-cooldown Special on the first hit of every round of combat or an AoE Special on every round of combat if she gets 1 more point of Special charge on turn 1. A 3-cooldown Special hits with additional damage equal to 40% of her Spd, and an AoE Special hits with additional damage equal to 50% of her Spd. Assuming she has the typical ~70 Spd when maxed out, the former will hit for 28 additional damage, and the latter will hit for 35 additional damage, which is kind of ridiculous. Thankfully, she's blue, so Gustav should still be able to tank her.

It's still kind of dumb that 5-stars still don't all come with 5 default skills. She'd've been a good pick for Atk/Spd Ideal.

Xane

Still the most interesting unit on the banner, at least in terms of skills. Serpentine Staff is a pretty cheap alternative to Fatal Smoke, and he's also the first 4-star unit with Dazzling Staff. Shame you need two copies of him to pass down both skills. May as well grab Def/Res Solo off of him while you're at it, even if it's completely useless for most staff units.

I'm guessing we'll get a non-seasonal version of Serpentine Staff in a year's time or so.

Azura

Easily the best unit on the banner, but hardly interesting. She's what you get if you throw the best parts of Legendary Azura, Duo Sigurd, and Harmonized Dorothea into a blender and let it congeal.

42/18/25 defenses at +0+0 with G Duel Cavalry 4 is complete garbage, so even though she has good offenses, she probably isn't going to be fighting often to the point where I wonder why they even bothered to give her the extra Atk/Spd on her weapon (other than they didn't want to give her another support effect). The extra +9 Atk from her weapon just makes it easier to bait her out, considering her base Atk is already moderately high at 37.

I still don't see the point of Cross Spurs unless the unit already has an effect with the same target area on their weapon.

[Acacia Sgt]

Now I wonder if they will keep doing this for other desert nations.

[Sil/phire]

I like the art on pretty much all of this banner except Xane. Idk, i'm not the most hard to please i guess. Nailah does not look that different from her base alt, but i like this one because it has a regal touch to it, makes me think of it more as if it was an ascended Nailah alt. Karla looks great, real disappointment her kit is so dry, i hope there's at least some crazy builds you can pull off with that weapon. And i'll be honest, i'm loving the new Azura but i'm also hating at the same time, definitely very pretty art though.

but man, the stats burst effects, the cocktail of abilities in every weapon, and the horses running everywhere are so old by now and pretty tiring.

I think the most interesting thing for me in the end is Xane's staff. I like it, and i hope i can get my hands on a few copies of it. Would be fun to throw it together with double savage blow on a Lachesis.

And I just can't help but hate the "cheerleader" status of the secondary units on the harmonized and duo units. If i remember right, Leanne doesn't have an alt yet, where Azura has what, like 5? It's so disappointing when you have a favorite and they keep missing out on getting a proper alt for a theme, relegated instead to being a cheerleader.

[Sunwoo]

I'd be more excited for Harmonic Azura if Leanne were in the lead. Regular Leanne refuses to show up for me, so having at least one version of her would be cool, but the secondary unit of a harmonic/duo pair is barely a unit. Maybe I'm just bitter because Lysithea was the lead in hers and Lute's harmonic when I dislike Lysithea and like Lute (and never got her base form). But at least Lute had an alt before. Also we don't need any more of that Gray Waves shit

Also, why does "desert" count as a seasonal/special banner? What's so special or seasonal about a desert? I basically live in one. It's very meh.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Sunwoo

[Sasori]

Well this is a odd line-up of units. Never thought i'd see Deen on anything. I like that they went towards a different desert theme, but i'm not super interested in most of the units. Nailah is cool, but I also think she looks mostly unchanged. So i'll go for a demote and the odd Nailah pull and leave it at that.

I found it funny that I did't recognise Karla and Xane ar first glace while also needing a second to see that it was Leanne.

[Sunwoo]

2 minutes ago, Sasori said:

I found it funny that I did't recognise Karla and Xane ar first glace while also needing a second to see that it was Leanne.

To be fair, I keep on seeing Olivia even though I know it's Leanne.

[Ice Dragon]

27 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Also, why does "desert" count as a seasonal/special banner? What's so special or seasonal about a desert? I basically live in one. It's very meh.

I think you're too stuck on the name. All they are are characters in non-standard attire linked by some theme with limited availability. That's it. What the banner type is called is unimportant (considering "seasonal" is a fan name and "special" is the localized name and isn't the word used in Japanese, which happens to be the not-the-same-but-just-as-vague "super").

[Sunwoo]

Clearly someone is bad at picking up on facetiousness over the Internet

[Ice Dragon]

13 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Clearly someone is bad at picking up on facetiousness over the Internet

I need to meet my "well ackshually" quota for the day somehow.

[Some Jerk]

Oof. I was hoping to skip this banner and let my orbs recover, but I cannot ignore Harmozura. I have yet to get a Cav Dancer, and she has a better kit than Duogurd.

[Etrurian emperor]

What an odd lineup. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason connecting this batch of characters.

I've always liked Nailah but uh....was a third version of her really the best use of FEH's resources? 

[Tybrosion]

Regarding the Tempest Trials, Atk/Spd Form and Chill Spd/Res are the Sacred Seals this time.

Deen's kit
Bone Carver+: Atk/Spd+5 during combat if HP is greater than or equal to 25%, deals 7 damage to target and foes within 2 spaces of foe after combat where unit attacked, [Dagger 7]
Swap
-
-
Spd/Def Snag 3
Odd Spd Wave 3

[Xenomata]

TT seals: So... which of those is supposed to be the rewarding seal?
Coming after Fury, kinda hard to beat... well Desperation I guess...

Deen: That's not too bad an inheritable dagger. Less post-combat damage than Jaffar or Pain+, but the in-combat boost is appreciated, especially when not many common daggers are around that provide such.
Skills... could be better. But couldn't they always.

1 hour ago, Sasori said:

I found it funny that I did't recognise Karla and Xane ar first glace while also needing a second to see that it was Leanne.

Karla I at first thought was Altina (mostly thanks to seeing Nailah first), Xane I wasn't sure about at all, and Leanne I kept double checking to see if she had wings just to make sure. The semi-broken english helped.

[Yexin]

ok, i guessed the one on the right was Karla, now where's my Horny Medal

btw, Nailah again, quite boring
Karla looks really good (also Senri Kita, bonus points), and she's a lance infantry unit: if i were a whale i'd be +10ing her, but i hope i can at least get 1 copy
Xane, now more uninteresting than ever, though i love his artworks
Harmonic Azura + Leanne... no, just no: Leanne should've been the lead unit and nothing can change my mind
Deen has literally zero appeal to me, even before taking into account the fact that he's a dagger cavalry unit

Edited January 15, 2022 by Yexin

[Diovani Bressan]

Nailah is pretty much an Ascended Hero without Floret in this banner.

[Mercakete]

So, here's my reaction before I read anyone else's:

Well. That's disappointing. I mean, I'm glad Hatari gets the spotlight, and Leanne being included is nice since the queen is her sister-in-law, but... Well, I'm sure a lot of people were hopeful for Volug, and instead of getting a version of him, we get our third Nailah. She's cool and all, but come on. There are seriously only 2 known people from the Wolf Tribe, so why is one completely ignored? I feel like Karla and Azura really didn't need to be there. Deen is nice if only because it's about time he turned up in the game (but seriously, why is your eyepatch over your good eye, man?) since Sonia was introduced so long ago, but come on. I can't help but feel like Karla's spot should have had Volug or one of the lions (the other beast tribe royals in an effort to reconnect with their Wolf Tribe brethren) such as Cainhegis or Skrimir instead. Even Miciah would have made more sense, since Volug is her dog ally. That said, I actually would have really liked to see Keaton here, since he's the leader of his own wolf-transforming tribe. And we didn't really need more Azuras. She looks great, but it feels so random. It's like IS couldn't decide if they wanted to focus on the wolves or on singing as a theme. If they were going to go for a Fates-Tellius harmonic unit, why not have Keaton and Nailah, the wolf leaders, instead? I think it would have made for a fun and interesting dynamic. As it stands, everyone on this banner is from all over the place. Nailah and Leanne are from Tellius, Azura's from Fates, Deen's from Shadows of Valentia, Karla is from Elibe, and Xane is from Archanaea. (By the way, Xane is another one I feel whose spot could have gone to someone else.) Speaking of, I wonder how Xane's fans feel about this. He had a seasonal alt before, and now he reappears as another seasonal unit (and, I believe, the demote yet again.) This is just really lacking in theme unification... I want to be excited about it since we get a look into Hatari, but I just can't quite muster it due to the discordance here...

On the other side of things, it's interesting how the characters' mesh carry the same patterns as Nailah's tattoos. Leanne and Azura look great (though I'm having a hard time telling which one is speaking when, and it feels like the singing was taken a little too far, with a note or two being sung during the attacks.) Nailah being an infantry unit with canto is interesting (though I hate fighting Yuri, at least this version of Nailah is seasonal.) I don't think I have any Nailahs in my barracks, but I don't feel super compelled to get this one. I may pick up Azura and Leanne if I go for anyone, but this is looking like perhaps the first new seasonal banner I'll skip in...as long as I can remember. Deen's free, so I'm happy about that. He's the only one I'm really all too drawn toward here. Nailah's VA did a great job from what sound clips are in the trailer, though. She's so cool.

Okay, now time to read and see if I forgot to say anything here.

[LoneStar]

16 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Deen is nice if only because it's about time he turned up in the game (but seriously, why is your eyepatch over your good eye, man?)

It's not completely over his eye but it's pretty close, really taking that Nailah cosplay to the next level. When I saw him I realized how he shares similar traits to her having purple hair and dark skin.

[Mercakete]

7 minutes ago, LoneStar said:

It's not completely over his eye but it's pretty close, really taking that Nailah cosplay to the next level. When I saw him I realized how he shares similar traits to her having purple hair and dark skin.

It's only not quite over the eye because of motion, I think, but that wasn't really my point anyway. Eyepatches go over your bad eye, not your good eye. Visibility is tough enough as it is.

[Ice Dragon]

Deen's weapon is pretty good. Inheritable weapons that boost Atk/Spd are rather hard to come by in general, so getting another one is pretty nice.

It feels a bit strange to have Atk/Spd Form be the low-tier Sacred Seal reward and Chill Spd/Res to be the high-tier reward, but this is our first dual-stat Chill, so I guess it kind of makes sense, even if dual-stat Chill skills aren't all that amazing.

The bonus heroes list having three beasts on it is just begging me to use double Ash + Fallen Edelgard again. I had a lot of fun with that combination on the last Tempest Trials.

 

As for all the comments about Volug... what exactly would a "Volug in Hatari attire" be other than Volug in his usual attire? It makes sense to give Nailah a queen outfit, and Tharja has re-class and promoted designs to work off of for last year's banner, but there's not much they could do with the combination of Volug and this theme to make this be an actual alt and not just normal Volug. This is the one banner I would least expect to see Volug on.

Sure, the pirate banners include a lot of characters that are actual pirates, but actual pirates (that aren't of the Pirate class) in the original games don't wear real-life stereotypical pirate outfits, so there's at least a way to make them fit the theme in an outfit distinct from their original outfit.

 

Added Bone Carver to the translation notes:

8 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Bone Carver is "骨の暗器" (hone no anki), "Bone Dagger". Again, translating "暗器" (anki), "concealed weapon", as "dagger" because it's the name of the weapon type. The weapon's design is a mambele, like the Shuriken Cleaver, but this time it's used as a thrown weapon like a real-life mambele.

 

3 hours ago, Yexin said:

Harmonic Azura + Leanne... no, just no: Leanne should've been the lead unit and nothing can change my mind

But then she wouldn't have had Gray Waves. They're pretty stubborn, and Duo and Harmonized Heroes only get exclusive skills from the lead unit.

 

2 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

This is just really lacking in theme unification...

The Plegia banner also only had one Plegian on it, who was also the basis of the outfit theme, and the rest of the banner free unit similarly only had one source game repeat (Dorothea and Raphael, though you also get Katarina and Kris if you include the free unit). The entire point is to have characters from other worlds wearing clothing based on the theme nation, and not to have characters from that nation wearing their own clothes. Characters wearing their own clothes is just normal banner material.

[Yexin]

21 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

iBut then she wouldn't have had Gray Waves. They're pretty stubborn, and Duo and Harmonized Heroes only get exclusive skills from the lead unit.

i mean you're right, but that's just a name
they could've called that skill, i don't know, "Galdr of Vigor/Bliss/Rebirth" and give it the same effect of Gray Waves or something extremely similar

honestly, the fact that Galdrar still haven't been represented in FEH makes me feel sick