New Heroes & Ascended Idunn

[Fire Emblem Fan]

18 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.

 

5 minutes ago, Jotari said:

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.

And they're related to Nino, Lugh, and Raigh, albeit distantly (Nino is Canas's cousin or something like that, if I remember right).

[Acacia Sgt]

7 minutes ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

And they're related to Nino, Lugh, and Raigh, albeit distantly (Nino is Canas's cousin or something like that, if I remember right).

Hugh's cousin, actually. It's implied that Nino is the niece of Canas' wife.

So Lugh and Raigh would be first cousins once removed from Hugh.

[Xenomata]

Huh, I kinda know who these units are because they were among the more interesting reads back when I was... "researching" past FE games (that is reading all the wiki articles I could be bothered to read about them).

• I guess units who have Dragonflowers used on them are considered "rich," even if it's the only gamplay method of replicating the cost of recruiting them. Anyway look at the giant statball! Hugh's defenses are hopefully going to be solid enough to make being a statball be worth something.
  ...ugh, still waiting on Rouse Spd/Res 4 for Laevatein...
• Niime... I can't help but feel she's in a bit of an awkward spot. They'll probably be bringing back the old Veteran BST modifier with her (higher level 1 base stats, but lower growth rates that results in a lower level 40 stat total compared to other units in the same pool, see Jagen and Gunter), but she's probably not going to be affected too badly by that. But having a generic tome that calls upon the Plegian weapons in a weapon pool where every single other unit has a Prf weapon is not good. She's basically the only real wielder of her weapon since all the other units fare better with their Prfs anyway, and the only advantage she gets is the ability to refine her weapon with a stat refine... but maybe being able to pass along ARsolo4 and ARmenace (assuming prior SI) without much else being lost is worth something?
• That's a morningstar mace. Cath is chucking a fucking axe at her enemies.
  Skills are meh. I know it's basically the best assist in the game, but don't we have enough units who can teach Reposition...?
  As for Armorpin Dagger, I feel it's past its prime, if it ever had a prime to begin with. Skills that effect attack priority aren't that common anymore, not on EP units anyway, and especially not among Armor units. Dragonslasher and Caltrop Daggers at least can occasionally target units using Vantage (or in the latter case, Legendary Seliph), but otherwise... well I guess there's a reason this thing is gonna be in the 4* pool. The few Vantage units I have might not have much to worry about...
• Idunn looks very pretty.
  ...her weapon comes loaded with 3 "basic weapon effects," that is to say Slaying, Armor effectiveness, and Svallin Shield. On top of the spectrum +5 and enemy follow-up denial...? That's just mean. I do now have high expectations for the refine regular Idunn will get this year. Not much else to say about her otherwise, she's a Near Save unit and it shows.
• Gonzales isn't getting a Prf weapon... that's just rude.

...well that's my thoughts. Think I'll try to save my orbs for the time being, I seriously need to cut down on how much I spend on this game and summoning for every new unit released is not the way to do that...

[XRay]

Hugh is not very inspiring.

Idunn: Divine Demon seens pretty good. I am a little skeptical of her B slot though.

[Jotari]

12 minutes ago, XRay said:

Hugh is not very inspiring.

That's pretty accurate to his character imo. He comes really late as a tier 1 unit and requires a tonne of gold to even have decent bases. And even if you do invest the cash and time to train him, he'll still probably end up weaker than Lugh who'll be long since promoted with higher weapon ranks.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Jotari

[Etrurian emperor]

Ah finally Niime! Good to see Heroes went with the kinda ''risky'' option of adding a rude elderly lady.

Idunn's forging bond better tie back into her old one with Lugh. It was easily one of the better ones. 

[Othin]

6 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

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).

I guess that's why MTG's new ninja planeswalker is named Kaito.

6 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

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

But on the other hand, his art:

  Hide contents

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

 

Good art, shame about the weapon.

[Interdimensional Observer]

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

That's pretty accurate to his character imo. He comes really late as a tier 1 unit and requires a tonne of gold to even have decent bases. And even if you do invest the cash and time to train him, he'll still probably end up weaker than Lugh who'll be long since promoted with higher weapon ranks.

To go with 20/20 averages (rounding down if decimal > .5) ...

• Hugh: 48 HP / 24 Mag / 20 Skl / 24 Spd / 16 Luck / 16 Def / 15 Res
• Lugh: 39 HP / 23 Mag / 26 Skl / 25 Spd (capped at 20/18) / 18 Luck / 11 Def / 18 Res
• Lilina: 36 HP / 30 Mag (capped at 20/12) / 16 Skl / 20 Spd / 23 Luck / 7 Def / 22 Res

So, paid his full salary, High is actually comparable to Lugh. Less accurate and only slightly slower and less dodgy, but with a touch more concrete physical durability.

-Of course, there is a Secret Shop that sells infinite Seraph Robes in Hugh's joining chapter. Have your thief brought for the chest-loaded chapter steal the Member Card from Hugh, murder him, and send the Member Card carrier with the Silver Card to the Secret Shop. One Seraph Robe will set you back 4000 Gold, and give Lugh just 2 less HP at 20/20 versus a Hugh you spent an additional 6k on.

Hugh really should've come as a low-leveled Sage with solid bases, perhaps with nerfed Mag but high HP & Def upfront for a "tanky" magic user. Considering Cecilia has atrocious bases salvaged only by being on a horse able to sling Aircalibur for chip damage and C Staffs for mobile healing, Binding Blade lacks for a good Anima prepromote. And maybe the game shouldn't sell Seraph Robes.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Interdimensional Observer

[Jotari]

39 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

To go with 20/20 averages (rounding down if decimal > .5) ...

• Hugh: 48 HP / 24 Mag / 20 Skl / 24 Spd / 16 Luck / 16 Def / 15 Res
• Lugh: 39 HP / 23 Mag / 26 Skl / 25 Spd (capped at 20/18) / 18 Luck / 11 Def / 18 Res
• Lilina: 36 HP / 30 Mag (capped at 20/12) / 16 Skl / 20 Spd / 23 Luck / 7 Def / 22 Res

So, paid his full salary, High is actually comparable to Lugh. Less accurate and only slightly slower and less dodgy, but with a touch more concrete physical durability.

-Of course, there is a Secret Shop that sells infinite Seraph Robes in Hugh's joining chapter. Have your thief brought for the chest-loaded chapter steal the Member Card from Hugh, murder him, and send the Member Card carrier with the Silver Card to the Secret Shop. One Seraph Robe will set you back 4000 Gold, and give Lugh just 2 less HP at 20/20 versus a Hugh you spent an additional 6k on.

Not being a prepromote means you also have to organize a guiding ring for him, which are in ridiculous short supply. Taking a look at the wiki, there's a grand total of two before that point. Which means if you're using Lugh and Clarine you have to hold or buy one for Hugh (and also means he's in competition against any of the Dark Mage, Staff users or Lilina you might also want to use). You do get more Guiding Rings later in the game (like a really hilarious one on Brunya, who the hell are you expected to be promoting that late in the game! It's not even worth selling by that point), but it's definitely an investment he could do without needing.

Quote

And maybe the game shouldn't sell Seraph Robes.

It definitely shouldn't, but I love that it does XD

Edited February 17, 2022 by Jotari

[Yexin]

sticking with trash-tier banner names, huh?

anyway, quite pleased to see Hugh and Niime, and also inheritable colorless tomes

i never liked Cath and i definitely won't now, and Idunn... i'm indifferent

Gonzales is cool, although i'd have liked Geese much better

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Ah finally Niime! Good to see Heroes went with the kinda ''risky'' option of adding a rude elderly lady.

Idunn's forging bond better tie back into her old one with Lugh. It was easily one of the better ones. 

Well how risky was it? Let's see who her competitors are from those of the female persuasion.

*Dorothy: the most Plain Jane character in the series. NPC shop keepers look more attractive and playable than this girl. Not that I'm throwing shade her way, looking plain andlike an actual human does give some diversity to a task, but she's probably not front and centre in the line up for selling banners.

*Elen: This one actually is a bit strange that we don't have her yet. Especially since she could have easily fit on this banner as a staff unit. I'm pretty sure when we do get her she'll be a throw away staff unit anyway, especially now that Elimine has taken her S Rank staff (personally I think Yoder would have been the best one to get the uncreatively named Saint's Staff with Elimine getting an upgraded version later).

*Juno: Definitely a potential banner unit, but she's already in the game as a bridal alt.

So, yeah, I'm happy Niime wasn't literally the very last female character added from Blazing Blade, but she almost was. There are only three left (and chances are we'll probably see two of them when Blazing Blade gets another banner a year and a half from now), two if you count Juno as in already.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Jotari

[Etrurian emperor]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

*Dorothy: the most Plain Jane character in the series. NPC shop keepers look more attractive and playable than this girl. Not that I'm throwing shade her way, looking plain andlike an actual human does give some diversity to a task, but she's probably not front and centre in the line up for selling banners.

I'm not really sure that has to be a problem. Plain is in the eye of the beholder and it can have its charms too. Midoriya from My Hero is plain and the whole internet seems to be in agreement that he's adorable. Same with the main character of that new Encanto film. I think Mozu is also supposed to be plain which never got held against her. Put Dorothy in a good enough artstyle and her looks are probably going to be very well received. 

[Jotari]

15 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I'm not really sure that has to be a problem. Plain is in the eye of the beholder and it can have its charms too. Midoriya from My Hero is plain and the whole internet seems to be in agreement that he's adorable. Same with the main character of that new Encanto film. I think Mozu is also supposed to be plain which never got held against her. Put Dorothy in a good enough artstyle and her looks are probably going to be very well received. 

Well probably better than Niime when it comes to waifu material, but let's put it this way, I'm not surprised Dorothy is one of the last female characters from Binding Blade they're putting into the game.

[Diovani Bressan]

10 hours ago, XRay said:

Idunn: Divine Demon seens pretty good. I am a little skeptical of her B slot though.

It makes sense on her, but I don't remember any unit that would like to have that. I know there are a good amount of these heroes, but none come to mind at the moment.

On Idunn, it's a very good skill. She doesn't want Slick Fighter, because her weapon already get rid of her penalties. She doesn't want Crafty Fighter because she already has the Guard effect on Sturdy Stance 3. You could argue about Special Spiral to charge her special, but then you would miss the guaranteed follow-up (unless you run QR on the seal), but then if you want special charge then just run a Breath seal on her. And Idunn is not famous for her Spd, so i don't think she can use Savvy Fighter. So I think Wily Wonka Fighter is probably one of her best option.

I would argue that, if you want to make her a Far Save unit, by giving her Distant Counter or Distant Stance, then changing Wily to Crafty makes sense.

However... ignoring Fighter skills, she has access to Dragon skills (Ire, Wall and Wrath).

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Diovani Bressan said:

It makes sense on her, but I don't remember any unit that would like to have that. I know there are a good amount of these heroes, but none come to mind at the moment.

On Idunn, it's a very good skill. She doesn't want Slick Fighter, because her weapon already get rid of her penalties. She doesn't want Crafty Fighter because she already has the Guard effect on Sturdy Stance 3. You could argue about Special Spiral to charge her special, but then you would miss the guaranteed follow-up (unless you run QR on the seal), but then if you want special charge then just run a Breath seal on her. And Idunn is not famous for her Spd, so i don't think she can use Savvy Fighter. So I think Wily Wonka Fighter is probably one of her best option.

I would argue that, if you want to make her a Far Save unit, by giving her Distant Counter or Distant Stance, then changing Wily to Crafty makes sense.

However... ignoring Fighter skills, she has access to Dragon skills (Ire, Wall and Wrath).

Hardy Fighter and Dragon Wall would be better options in my opinion. Nullifying buffs on foes is good, but I do not think it is so good that it is worth giving up the B slot for damage reduction. You do need Quick Riposte on the Sacred Seal slot, but it is not like there is anything else better to run besides Mystic Boost and Breaths.

Vengeful Fighter is also an option, but again, I do not think it is good enough to pass up damage reduction.

[Tybrosion]

Last month’s banner: had a Neimi

This month’s banner: has a Niime

You know keeping those names straight has to be hell on anyone with dyslexia.

[Roflolxp54]

Niime: RIP to Philece Sampler (the EN voice actress of Niime while using the alias Robyn Bell). Niime's interesting in that she's the first unit to bring in an inheritable colorless tome weapon and goes to show how far IS seems to be planning in advance with content updates (Sampler passed away on July 2021 so her voice lines had been done over 7 months in advance). And the tome isn't terrible on its own -- Hvitrvulture is like a Desert 2021 inheritable weapon.

This also means that:
Inheritable colorless tome weapons would have the "Hvitr" prefix, so we could see stuff like Hvitrblade or something..
Tome weapons that have the Atk/Res Penalty Doubler effect would have the "vulture" suffix.

Could be interesting to see what colorless tome units are going to be added to the game, especially for those that would be more accessible to F2P players since currently, there is pretty little value for inheritable colorless tome weapons since aside from Niime, every colorless tome unit has a Prf weapon and is either 5* exclusive, seasonal locked, or is locked to a specific gamemode.

 

Hugh: A standard infantry mage with the "mercenary" mechanic. He does come with Rouse Atk/Spd 4 which is nice but he's not super interesting to me unless there's some powerful build involving Spd/Def Ideal 4.

Cath: Cath brings Atk/Res Bond 3 out of the grail pool and effectively makes Sky Maiougi no longer seasonal locked. Too bad at this point, Sky Maiougi isn't very valuable against the armored units that actually matter (like the armored unit just arriving in this coming update lmao).

Idunn: A Near Save dragon armor built right out of the box -- Idunn got pretty much everything she could want as a Near Save armor: Guard, stat penalty nullification, Svalinn Shield, Dull Close, Dull Ranged, and a guaranteed follow-up attack.

Also seems that since October 2021, every New Heroes banner either comes with a new Ascended Hero or a new Mythic Hero.
Oct. 2021: Ascended Fjorm
Nov. 2021: Ascended Laegjarn
Dec. 2021: Ash
Jan. 2022: Ascended Joshua
Feb. 2022: Ascended Idunn

Gonzalez: He seems to come with the Rein Axe (so an inheritable axe weapon). If it's anything like Louise's Rein Bow, it'd have a suped-up version of Spd/Def Rein as its passive effect so Gonzalez could be decently speedy -- perhaps he'd be like Ninja Shamir except with stat points from Res being pulled to other stats.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Roflolxp54

[Sunwoo]

6 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I'm not really sure that has to be a problem. Plain is in the eye of the beholder and it can have its charms too. Midoriya from My Hero is plain and the whole internet seems to be in agreement that he's adorable. Same with the main character of that new Encanto film. I think Mozu is also supposed to be plain which never got held against her. Put Dorothy in a good enough artstyle and her looks are probably going to be very well received. 

To be fair, Midoriya and Mirabel are the actual protagonists. They are very front-and-center in the story. Dorothy is not. She's not even a minor important character, really. Just another face in the crowd.

[Ice Dragon]

8 hours ago, Jotari said:

*Dorothy: the most Plain Jane character in the series. NPC shop keepers look more attractive and playable than this girl. Not that I'm throwing shade her way, looking plain andlike an actual human does give some diversity to a task, but she's probably not front and centre in the line up for selling banners.

Literally the only thing holding Dorothy back is her tiny eyes, and even then, they look okay in her official art.

Also, she has freckles, which is rare in the series. I hope they actually play up her freckles a bit since they're pretty much absent in her official art.

 

4 hours ago, XRay said:

Hardy Fighter and Dragon Wall would be better options in my opinion. Nullifying buffs on foes is good, but I do not think it is so good that it is worth giving up the B slot for damage reduction. You do need Quick Riposte on the Sacred Seal slot, but it is not like there is anything else better to run besides Mystic Boost and Breaths.

Vengeful Fighter is also an option, but again, I do not think it is good enough to pass up damage reduction.

I'm skeptical about Quick Riposte's utility on Idunn due to its high HP threshold to activate and the lack of percentage damage reduction on her weapon.

Team compositions with heavy Rally usage are still quite common in Aether Raids and are some of the more threatening team compositions. Against an opponent with a +6 Atk bonus, Wily Fighter + Close Def would mitigate 12 damage before percentage damage reduction, which is greater than the equivalent of 40% damage reduction against enemies that deal 30 or less damage per hit before percentage damage reduction.

Wily Fighter + Close Def is effectively +12 Def and a guaranteed follow-up over 25% HP, whereas Dragon Wall + Quick Riposte is 40% damage reduction and a guaranteed follow-up over 70% HP.

[Tybrosion]

Stats and skills [SPOILERS]:

Spoiler

A!Idunn
Super Asset(s): HP, Spd, Res
Super Flaw(s): Atk, Def
*Wily Fighter has the typical inherit restrictions (aka armors only).

Hugh
Super Asset(s): Atk, Def
Super Flaw(s): HP, Spd

Niime
Super Asset(s): HP, Atk
Super Flaw(s): Def, Res

Cath
Super Asset(s): Atk, Spd
Super Flaw(s): HP, Def, Res
*Spd/Res Link 3 is the 4* unlock.

Gonzalez
Super Asset(s): HP, Atk
Super Flaw(s): none
Skill kit is: Rein Axe+, -, Dragon Fang, Atk/Spd Push 3, -, Threat. Atk/Spd 2 [4* unlock].

 

[FailWood]

Glad to see Gonzalez, Hugh, and Niime.  But it's odd that they picked Cath over Elphin or Douglas.  I guess being the only playable female GBA thief is more important then being plot important (Elphin) or a general whose comparable allies left him behind (Douglas).

[Tybrosion]

13 minutes ago, FailWood said:

But it's odd that they picked Cath over Elphin or Douglas.  I guess being the only playable female GBA thief is more important then being plot important (Elphin) or a general whose comparable allies left him behind (Douglas).

Cath got 195th in CYL5 (using 5 since this lineup was definitely decided on well before CYL6) while Elffin and Douglas were 347th and 463rd respectively. And even though Cath dropped off in CYL6 (315th) she still placed above Elffin and Douglas there too (who both placed in about the same spots as CYL5, 357th for Elffin and 461st for Douglas).

Plot and/or lore relevance can only take you so far when you don't have popularity (this certainly applies to Douglas more so than Elffin). 

[Some Jerk]

Spoiler

Cath ties with the highest base Spd yet seen in the game with her superboon. Only Freyja(s) beats her in raw Spd due to having an extra set of Dragonflowers.

This is a demote.

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Some Jerk

[Ice Dragon]

I'm glad to see that Idunn has trainee stats and put all of those extra points into Spd. That was the one thing that worried me about her potential stat spread, as her ability to naturally double Fallen Edelgard is pivotal to her two other versions' success. Nothing else to say. She looks pretty solid, though I'm still skeptical about how well she performs in Aether Raids compared to Gustav, who has a better color and built-in damage reduction. I'm definitely going to snipe blue on this banner and use my spark on her to get as many copies of her as possible with as few orbs as possible (priority is still on the Hero Fest and Valentine banners), and I'll wait until she returns on a 3-unit banner to pull for more copies or hope that she shows up on a Legendary/Mythic Hero banner sharing the same color as the new unit.

Hugh doesn't have the best base stats among red tome infantry, but makes up for it by having massive stat boosts from his weapon in exchange for no non-stat effects. The biggest problem with him is the fact that Distant Def 4 is standard on ranged Far Save units and Lull skills are not uncommon in the high Arena, which can block the Bonus Doubler effect on his weapon that gives him his stat advantage over other red tomes. Compared to Nyx with maximum Dragonflowers on both, Hugh has +2/+8 offenses when Bonus Doubler is active, but that drops to -4/+2 if his Atk and Spd bonuses get nullified. Nyx is probably still a bit more reliable than him due to Ginnungagaps's non-stat effect.

I do like that his stats seem to reflect his stat spread in Binding Blade, though.

Niime surprisingly comes with a not-awful Spd stat in exchange for Ashera, Yune, and Legendary Micaiah's level of garbage physical bulk. She's basically Legendary Micaiah with a Plegian weapon, which isn't a bad thing, but it also isn't terribly noteworthy.

Cath's stat spread is legit good for a demote. With an unrefined Vicious Dagger+ equipped, she hits the same Spd stat as Ascended Joshua with his exclusive weapons. With Vicious Dagger+ [Spd], she ties Leila and Legault for the fastest dagger unit and beats both Yuri and Volke in Spd if all of them have maximum Dragonflowers. She does lose out in Atk against all of them, but it's by no more than 5 points, which is perfectly workable. It's honestly kind of funny that she basically just powercrept Rennac, who has similar +1/-1 offenses compared to her, even if it's just because she has easier access to merges and a Spd Asset. And now I need a second Rennac to give her his weapon since I just pulled a copy of him from the Hero Fest.

Since Gonzalez isn't obtainable yet:

Spoiler

Gonzalez is okay. He's basically Charlotte, but drops his Spd for more Def and Res. He'll hit really hard with a Brave Axe or Ninja Masakari, having 5 more Atk than Ninja Hana at the cost of 6 Spd, which isn't too bad of a trade-off.

Kind of funny because his Rein Axe might be the new best weapon for Ninja Hana. I'm not yet 100% sure if gaining 5 Spd is entirely worth losing Deck Swabber's Lull effect for Atk and Def, but it probably is.

 

[Etrurian emperor]

''Heeee loooo my naaaaame is Cath! And IIIIIII have come to Aaaaaaskr'' 

That's already one of the better voice lines in the game.