New Heroes & Ascended Idunn

[Fire Emblem Fan]

 

Well, we're getting a New Heroes Binding Blade banner, just like I thought and hoped! And Hugh and Niime are being included, yay! But, uh, Ascended Idunn, huh? Did not expect that. Also a little sad that Douglas and Elffin are still absent.
EDIT: It would appear that Gonzalez is the Grand Hero unit. So, we're getting Hugh, Niime, Cath, Gonzalez, and Ascended Idunn.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Fire Emblem Fan

[Sunwoo]

The one bad thing about Ascended Heroes is that we effectively get one less new character.

[King Marth 64]

Neat that Hugh, Niime, and Cath are added in. Plus, what I saw in 2:17 in the trailer that I did spot Gonzalez in that field. I'm do wonder if he's going to be on the next Tempest Trial or he might be on Grand Hero Battle instead?

Edited February 17, 2022 by King Marth 64

[TuxedoBird]

Niime! Yes!!! And Hugh is here as well! I’m willing to wait a little longer for Elffin though I hope he does get in someday.

Honestly the concept of Ascended Idunn being a version of herself post-game starting to heal is really sweet and I love it. If I get these three I will be happy.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

6 minutes ago, King Marth 64 said:

Neat that Hugh, Niime, and Cath are added in. Plus, what I saw in 2:17 in the trailer that I did spot Gonzlez in that field. I'm do wonder if he's going to be on the next Tempest Trial or he might be on Grand Hero Battle instead?

Yeah, Gonzalez will be the Grand Hero unit.

[Othin]

Niime is in! And some other characters, but mostly Niime. Unfortunate that she doesn't get a prf, although this also means we have our first inheritable colorless tome!

And... wait, the GHB is Gonzales? I was hoping he'd get added, but on an actual banner. And that means still no Murdock. Why.

[Sentinel07]

Honestly, I'm really hoping liking how they're handling Ascended Units. Basically giving legendary style alts to characters who aren't Lord's.

A post game Idunn that has begun to heal is a fun idea.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

8 minutes ago, Othin said:

And... wait, the GHB is Gonzales? I was hoping he'd get added, but on an actual banner. And that means still no Murdock. Why.

Murdock has got to be a lock for the next Binding Blade banner, right? For sure? Of course, that won't be for a whole year, but...still! Hopefully, him, Elffin, and Douglas will all get added.

5 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

A post game Idunn that has begun to heal is a fun idea.

I didn't expect it, but honestly, I'm fond of the idea. It's neat.

[EricaofRenais]

I am so disappointed that Elffin is still not added. He is my favorite FE character and I have waited so long.  I am glad for fans of these characters, but right now I need to get over being disappointed for the nth time.  

[Othin]

9 minutes ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Murdock has got to be a lock for the next Binding Blade banner, right? For sure? Of course, that won't be for a whole year, but...still! Hopefully, him, Elffin, and Douglas will all get added.

I didn't expect it, but honestly, I'm fond of the idea. It's neat.

I thought he was a lock for this one! And the last one! I don't even know what to expect anymore.

Looks like the remaining FE6 units that appear as an enemy at some point are, in order of CYL6 score: Zeiss, Murdock, Sin, Jahn, Douglas, and Garret.

[LoneStar]

Ah so this how we end B!Hector's career, by powercreeping him! Not really though.

Niime having an inheritable colorless tome is interesting, do any of the existing colorless tome units want it over their prfs? I do want to +10 Marianne, so I could run a tank build if I ever get a Niime.

Edited February 17, 2022 by LoneStar

[Ice Dragon]

No Murdock again. Disappoint.

Cath coming with a standard-pool version of Sky Maiougi as a 4-star character is nice, even if it's not all that useful and has a really silly-looking sprite that makes it hard to take seriously.

Hugh is just a ball of stats and doesn't really do anything special other than have a lot of stats.

The new Litrvulture weapon series seems pretty good, though I don't think any of the existing colorless tomes actually want to use it over their exclusive weapons. If we get colored version of it, it'll probably be the go-to weapon for slower tome units who can't really make use of Litrfox's Spd boost. It's worth noting that a hypothetical Raudhrvulture+ is stronger than Sophia's Eternal Tome outside of Triangle Adept builds. We really need to get reworks of old refines.

Idunn's Wily Stance now patches up the hole in armor builds by making it possible to run both Guard and Dull with a Stance skill instead of a Def skill, which lets you run different stat combinations in the A slot than just Def/Res. However, for Aether Raids, I think it's generally less useful than Crafty Fighter since Guard + Svalinn Shield is a bit more effective than Dull + Svalinn Shield in cases where you need to run Svalinn Shield.

Idunn's weapon is rather plain, though, and blocking follow-ups is generally a bit less useful than damage reduction on Save tanks since it prevents you from charging a stronger Special and is extremely vulnerable to Null Follow-Up, which a lot of fast units are getting. Her color also leaves her vulnerable to Brave Eirika, making her less suitable for Aether Raids than Gustav. Being a dragon also makes her vulnerable to Brave Alm if you can't kill him in a single hit on the counterattack, though at the very least, his Sweep doesn't work on her. Her match-up against Fallen Edelgard depends entirely on her Spd stat, so we'll have to wait and see what her stats are first.

I like the flower wreath referencing her epilogue scene with Fae.

 

Probably just going to spark for Idunn and call it a day for this banner.

[GrandeRampel]

32 minutes ago, EricaofRenais said:

I am so disappointed that Elffin is still not added. He is my favorite FE character and I have waited so long.  I am glad for fans of these characters, but right now I need to get over being disappointed for the nth time.  

I feel you so much, except that for me it's Dorothy I was hoping to see.

There's always 2023 I guess...

 

Anyways all the characters added deserved to get in even sooner than now because FE6 is full of amazing characters. It's just too bad that we lost a slot to Ascended Idunn. I understand that with a banner of Cath, Niime, Hugh and Gonzalez none of them would sell but still.

 The next TT+ story arc can't happen soon enough. I can't wait to get an ascended OC again or perhaps some brand new OCs to sell the banners instead of the stupid main games ascendeds.

[Some Jerk]

Cath, that is not a dagger.

Anyway, nothing terribly interesting on this banner for me. If it weren't for the Ascended Hero, I'd probably have skipped it entirely.

[Tybrosion]

Well, the only character I care about here (Gonzalez, who is also one of the last FE6 character I wanted to seein this game) is the freebie so this banner will be a pass for me. Please let him be as good as Yen'fay or Riev.

So unless Idunn shows up on my free pull or a ticket pull, I'm gonna be 0 for 4 on Ascended Heroes. I certainly tried for Laegjarn, but that stupid banner wouldn't give me any focus units outside of my spark (Volke).

[Use the Falchion]

Niime! She's the only unit here I really care about. Ascended Idunn is interesting, but I think I can see the reasoning behind it. I like how FEH is choosing important but not main characters for Ascended forms. Still, I don't think I'll be spending orbs on this banner. The Valentines Day banner still has more characters I'd like, but it's probably still better for me to save for the summer banners and CYL that use it here. 

And was that Letizia as a Green Mage? We've got our Big Bad everyone. 

 

[Ice Dragon]

The usual translation things:

 

The banner name, "New Heroes & Ascended Idunn", is "新英雄＆開花イドゥン" (shin-eiyū & kaika idun), "New Heroes & Blooming Idunn". As usual, 開花 (kaika), "blooming", is the term used in Japanese to refer to Ascended Heroes.

Hugh's epithet, "Worldly Mage", is "世長けた魔道士" (yo-taketa madōshi), "World-Wise Mage".

Sell-Spell Tome is "雇われ魔道士の書" (yatoware madōshi no sho), "Tome of the Hired Mage".

Spd/Def Ideal is "速さ守備の万全" (hayasa shubi no banzen), "Spd/Def Perfection".

Niime's epithet, "Mountain Hermit", is "山の隠者" (yama no inja), "Mountain Hermit".

Hvitrvulture is "ヒータバルチャー" (hītabaruchā), "Hvitrvulture". Like the other tome color prefixes, "hvitr" is "white" in Old Norse.

Cath's epithet, "Master Thief", is "怪盗" (kaitō), "Phantom Thief". If you see something translated as "phantom thief" anywhere, ten times out of ten, it's "怪盗" (kaitō).

Armorpin Dagger is "鎧殺の暗器" (gaisatsu no anki), "Armor-Slaying Dagger". This weapon's name follows the same pattern as the other generic versions of the Festival in Hoshido inheritable daggers. Compare with Dragonslasher being "竜殺の暗器" (ryūsatsu no anki), "Dragon-Slaying Dagger", and Caltrop Dagger being "騎殺の暗器" (kisatsu no anki), "Knight-Slaying Dagger". As usual, "暗器" (anki) translates literally as "concealed weapon", but is the name of the dagger weapon type in Heroes, so I'm translating it as "dagger" here.

Idunn's epithet, "Divine Demon", is "神と魔の間に" (kami to ma no aida ni), "In the Space Between Gods and Demons".

Dew Dragonstone is "芽生えし心の竜石" (mebaeshi kokoro no ryūseki), "Dragonstone of the Budding Heart".

Wily Fighter is "正面隊形・敵方" (shōmen taikei: tekigata), "Direct Formation: Enemy". As usual, "隊形" (taikei), "battle formation", is the Japanese name for the Fighter skill series. "正面" (shōmen) here means "direct" or "to face head-on". Interestingly, this skill is part of a two-skill sub-series whose first skill was released over a year ago as Slick Fighter. The "敵方" (tekigata), "enemy side", descriptor indicates that Wily Fighter nullifies the opponent's bonuses. Slick Fighter is "正面隊形・自己" (shōmen taikei: jiko), "Direct Formation: Self", with the descriptor "自己" (jiko), "oneself", indicating that it nullifies one's own penalties.

Gonzalez's epithet, "Kindly Bandit", is "心やさしき山賊" (kokoro-yasashiki sanzoku), "Kindhearted Bandit".

[Tybrosion]

Well unfortunately, Gonzalez seems to have Rein Axe+ and not a Prf weapon.

But on the other hand, his art:

Spoiler

It should be obvious who the artist is (hint: they're the same one who drew Gonzalez for Cipher).

 

15 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

And was that Letizia as a Green Mage? We've got our Big Bad everyone. 

I know this was probably said as a joke, but...

Helbindi, Thrasir, Triandra and Otter Boy all send you their regards anyways.

[Alexmender]

Post game healing Idunn is such an awesome concept! I know some people are still waiting for the whole roster of FE to get into Heroes, but I really like the concept of Ascendant Heroes considering what they pulled in this banner and the previous one (although I'm kinda eh on A!Joshua's art). Gonzalez is also a pretty cool unit, although there's too many axe infantries at this point so he's mostly going to be in my barracks doing nothing forever. 

Anyways, let's check these guys as units: 

• Hugh is a stat ball. The condition to get him +7 to all stats is trivial unless one is broke on Infantry flowers due to making a Gen 1 merge project. Bonus Doubler for even more stats is cool, too. And that's about it. Just like any other stat ball type of unit, Hugh is on a timer and he'll become useless until/if he gets a refine (I wonder if the game will last long enough to reach Hugh's refine). 
• Niime is the token fodder 5*, although she's unique in that she brings the first inheritable colorless tome. It's a pretty cool one with the penalty doubler effect, but considering all the other colorless tomes have pretty strong Prfs, I don't see this being that big of a deal. Maybe for the Summoner and a future colorless tome demote or GHB/TT+ unit. 
• Cath is whatever. More Reposition for the common pool, I guess. 
• A!Idunn is excellent. She's B!Hector tier but with a focus on Near Save rather than Far Save. They share a ton of effects on their Prfs, after all. Slaying, Svallin Shield, in-combat debuffs, penalty neutralization and follow-up denial. The difference between Dew Dragonstone and Maltet lies in that the former gives the Armorslayer effect while the latter gives a guaranteed follow-up. That's kind of a big deal because the follow-up is what allows B!Hector to run Hardy Fighter builds while running any seal he wishes, while Idunn would end up needing Quick Riposte to fullfill the same role. Being blue also means A!Idunn is in direct competition with P!Surtr, but I think they are around the same level so no issues there. 

I'm gonna skip the banner if only because I have like 4 or 5 Near Save tanks (tons of Dedue pity breakers+Lucina+Gustav), but I'll still try to get A!Idunn with the tickets because none of the others interest me. 

[Sunwoo]

Gonzalez joins Mordecai and the picnic heroes in the "has regular animals in their neutral art" club. No, Yune is not a regular bird and doesn't count.

It's nice that we're getting inheritable colorless tomes ... I think? Would any current colorless tome user even want to switch out their prf? Seems like Niime just got fucked over in the weapons department unfairly, tbh.

[Jotari]

Niime at last! Though I really have to ask at this point, why in the world are they point blank refusing to put Apocalypse in the game (under that title, since obviously Braimmond is using Apocalypse). Is there any potential users left in? I think Peres is the only dark magic using Elibe unit left (though not literally as there's the guy in the Sacae gaiden and the guy whi killed Hector's brother, but like none of those characters are ever getting in)! I guess in like fifteen years from now Niime could get Apocalypse as a refine.

Are ascended units like the standard now? Are we to expect one on every new banner? Because there are certainly some titles that need to slow down their rate of new units lest they exhaust their cast entirely, but consequently there are titles that absolutely don't have to do that because they still have dozens of units not featured.

And Gonzales as a GHB right? I feel I'd rather him be in the common summoning pool to increase the number of green orbs that spawn. Though from the perspective of getting as many units into the game, he does make sense as a playable hero that could logically be a GHB (not that that hasn't ever stopped them in the past). Still, I would have preferred Murdock. Hope he's good when we do eventually get him.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Jotari

[Sil/phire]

It's been a while since i have found a New Heroes Banner i am genuinely interested. I like this one. Idunn has always been an interesting character to me even though i don't know anything about her, but i feel there is probably some very good story behind her character. I have always liked her based design. Up to this point, i have never had an armor character i have really wanted to invest in except for may be V!Lucina, but Idunn is definitely an armor i will be investing in.

I also don't know anyone else in this banner, but i find i really like everyone in this batch, including granny. It just seems like a fun batch of characters. I really hope luck helps me bring them home.

cheers everyone.

[Ice Dragon]

6 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Though I really have to ask at this point, why in the world are they point blank refusing to put Apocalypse in the game (under that title, since obviously Braimmond is using Apocalypse).

They clearly don't want to properly implement Apocalypse's animation.

[Mercakete]

I've never even played or watched FE6 and I like most of the people on this banner just based off of their intros here. Well, I think Niime and Hugh are awesome based on their intros here. Surprised the one with waifu potential is the demote. Also, I do enjoy my dragon tanks, so at least for gameplay reasons, this new ascended is really appealing. I also like that nice touch of the fruit basket she's carrying. Bit of a hidden joke, there.

But wow, I didn't realize the new chapter was coming so soon! Looks like we'll get to fight Latizia (I hope I'm spelling that right.) So far, I think she's pretty okay as a villain, and I really like her design. I hope we see some nice ploys out of her, given her reputation.

[Jotari]

11 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

I've never even played or watched FE6 and I like most of the people on this banner just based off of their intros here. Well, I think Niime and Hugh are awesome based on their intros here. Surprised the one with waifu potential is the demote. Also, I do enjoy my dragon tanks, so at least for gameplay reasons, this new ascended is really appealing. I also like that nice touch of the fruit basket she's carrying. Bit of a hidden joke, there.

But wow, I didn't realize the new chapter was coming so soon! Looks like we'll get to fight Latizia (I hope I'm spelling that right.) So far, I think she's pretty okay as a villain, and I really like her design. I hope we see some nice ploys out of her, given her reputation.

If you like Hugh and Niime, then you might like to know they're related. Niime is Hugh's grandmother. And Canas from Blazing Blade is her son.