Xenomata

Whoops, instead of getting pity broken by Fallen Mareeta and that being the end of the story, I also got +Def -Res Mirabilis. Welp, this has so far gone infinitely better than the Fallen Heroes banner has by this point.

Say'ri: A protective headband. Emmeryn: the halo thing she's always wearing. Mustafa: A GLORIOUS BEARD. Wonder if @Anacybele will appreciate being able to give one of her faves this kind of hair? Anna: Papier mache Bullions. One of these things is not like the others...

Hence Kronya. Her whole thing is having Vantage if the enemy is already weakened, which Clarisse can do 21 AoE damage in one go. Have someone Dance Clarisse away/Have Kronya punch Clarisse away, leave Kronya isolated, and she has almost free reign to any enemies within reach. Hardy Bearing is not that common a seal run outside AoE Special users, though I wouldn't blame people for getting blindsided by units like Festival Micaiah who just have it on their weapons. The whole idea may also be ruined by a Healer, though they also generally are the squishiest of the bunch (especially Troubadours) so Kronya can target them immediately in a pinch. ...Caeda would work to, but only if the enemy is made up entirely of Armors or swords/axes/lances/bows...

I'm not sure I agree. There's only two conditions for Clarisse to maintain her Firesweep effect. Be within 2 spaces of her support ally, and don't fight anyone with a Null C-Disrupt skill or effect (which currently only the skill exists). As long as she meets those conditions, she is allowed to safely debuff the foe by a large amount, and potentially even greatly weaken them if she packs double Savage Blow (21 damage to everyone surrounding the target unit, that's almost half most units HP). And yeah her stats are nowhere near as good as Leila's (31/34 offenses with no asset potential versus 36/41 offenses with asset potential AND a Spd superboon), but as long as she isn't being hit she really can't complain about not being able to kill, cause now the enemy is very much weakened. If the point is to ORKO the foe then yeah she's not exactly in a good position, but really her role is to poison the foe so someone else can sink the dagger (Kronya looks like a pretty good unit right about now), and it's not exactly hard to weaken the enemy and then retreat.

Ah okay, that'd explain it then. Hm... coulda swore she was Book 1...

Wha- okay guess it's a great thing Myrrh got her refine, cause I free summoned her from the Midpoint banner??? Not a good Asset/Flaw, but I already have +Atk so she's now +5 merge. But... I thought new hero banners weren't supposed to have Book 1 units be summonable? Or am I not remembering the list of units not summonable correctly?

~Hm, Draug getting an Atk debuff on his weapon instead of a simple Defense buff means he can take magic on a little better. Not much better, but they could have easily just given him Steady Stance on a weapon. Having the peudo Atk/Def Bond 4 effect is a boon to his defensive ability as well, though he still has some competition in that regard. ~Very simple. Veeeeeeeery simple. And yet still effective... I'm with Anacy on this one, why did Donnel get a 15 might Brave weapon when Freddy got a Hammer with DB3 on it (which isn't even guaranteed Armor death, mind you), yet both have the exact same Atk stat? ~Myrrh's conditions are easier to trigger, and she also disables effects that would try to ignore the disabled follow-up attack. Course she'd still have Null Follow-up to contend with, but she still has a good refine here. ~ @XRay ...isn't this just Leila's dagger on a freebie unit? I really don't think it's that restrictive, you could pair her up with a Guidance Flier and she'd always have her conditions met AND have a wide range of movement. Only thing missing is a decent Atk/Spd stat to take advantage of it.

Hm... duality is quite the concept, isn't it? Fire and Ice, Life and Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Askr and Emblia... but previous foes were conquerors, evildoers who sought the expansions of their kingdoms at the expense of many lives, even their own troops and family. And most importantly, they didn't truly embody an entire concept, they wielded their concept with upmost power. Meanwhile here in Book 4, it's hard not to look at the Sleeping Fairies as anything but the enforcers of their concepts, and yet I get the feeling we'll be expected to put an end to them as well. But... how do you kill nightmares?

Hm... surprisingly decent, if simple, batch of refines. Stalwart Sword: If foe initiates combat, inflicts Atk -6 on foe during combat. If unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Def +5 to unit and neutralizes unit's penalties to Atk/Def during combat. Hewn Lance: Inflicts Spd -5. If unit initiates combat, unit attacks twice. If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Def +4 during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. Great Flame: Grants Atk +3. If unit's Def is greater than or equal to foe's Def +1, foe cannot make a follow-up attack. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res. (Updated description: previously required Def greater than or equal to foe's Def +5) At start of combat, if unit's HP is greater than or equal to 25% and unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res +5 to unit and neutralize effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks during combat. Sniper's Bow: Effective against Flying foes. After combat, if unit attacked, deals 7 damage to target and foes within 2 spaces of target, and inflicts Atk/Spd -7 on them through their next actions. At start of combat, if unit's HP is greater than or equal to 50%, grants Atk/Spd +4 during combat, and if unit is also within 2 spaces of support partner, foe cannot counterattack.

Just double checked, Apotheosis Anna, in the Apotheosis DLC at least, is... ~God tier stats (99 Hp, 60 Str, 70 Skl/Spd, 65 Luk, 55 Def/Res) ~Using forged Brave Lance and Spear (+8 might and +20 hit on top of each weapons base stats) ~Has a 65% chance of triggering Aether ~Has Vantage+, Dragonskin, and Counter So yeah it makes sense to give her a metric shitton of Speed and Attack, but... ~Despite sharing the design of the Awakening Spear, it does not have any form of Distant Counter, and does not have any form of second attacks ~She does not seem to have all that high HP, and we currently don't know her defensive ability ~Does not have any form of Vantage ~Has an effect on her weapon that doesn't exist in any form in her original appearance ...is Anna holding back her true power, or does the Castle Apotheosis Outrealm do something to red-headed merchants...?

So... rather than just have a pseudo Fates Conquest banner with, say, Charlotte Benny and Nyx plus Mirabilis, three units who definitely have their fans (I'd pull for Benny), they instead dedicate this banner to Apotheosis Anna, without even giving her most of what makes her so scary, Say'ri, who they couldn't give a proper english voice in time and looks very underwhelming for modern Sword Infantry standards, and Mustafa, who I guarantee no one ever thought had half a chance of being put in Heroes (but tbh I'd be cool with summoning). ...I mean... I guess I'll summon a bit, but... this banner looks pretty bad, not gonna lie.

...siiiiiigh... I been lowkey summoning the past few days hoping to get another Mila (really, why would anyone want -Def on a unit whose exclusive skill RELIES on Defense?), and instead... ~From the Mila banner, I got a copy of Legendary Julia (who I guess is good fodder for... someone... but still don't like getting 5* exclusives that I already +10ed), as well as a copy of Osian. Later I got a copy of Leif, Lif, Leif, and later still another Leif, and ohey is that a leaf oh wait no it's another Leif. Everyone was +Res except the last Leif, who was +Atk. ~At some point I decided screw it, wedding banner, getting Rafiel would be neat. I instead got +Atk -Def Wedding Micaiah. I already had a +Def -Res copy, so obviously I was happy with this impulsive decision. Lesson learned, I'll never look a gift free Mythic in the mouth again, even if their Flaw is real bad. ...still don't have Rafiel...

This is what my Oboro looks like: Ignoring the +10, she takes not that much damage from all close-range foes and is usually able to ORKO them as long as she is enabled her second attack (yes, even some of the strongest Green armors fall to her, but I haven't tested her against LegEdelgarde yet). Because she is +Res and has Warding Breath, she is able to deal with Dragons as well, regardless if they are armored or not. Since a lot of her damage comes from either Armor effectiveness or Ignis, I personally don't think she needs the extra attack, and would rather take +Res. I'd also rather take Warding Breath over Distant Counter, but that's just me wanting to make her an exceptional melee tank over a decent DC tank. DC is still a fine option, but you should be careful if she has to face one of the stronger Ranged units out there since a good amount of her bulk comes from her special refine.

Hm... we are kinda overdue on a Sword Infantry Duo Hero. Kinda surprising we haven't had one yet, considering how much IntSys loves Sword Infantry. I find it hard to imagine most Awakening units with Solo effects, save Panne the wary and Yarne the terrified (I guess it's a Taguel thing?), you know given the whole Power of Bonds thing, but on the other hand- wait... hm... Guardian... will put life on the line to protect his liege and allies... bonds... idea... Grants Atk +3. If ally has HP less than 75%, unit can move to any space adjacent to ally. When unit is within 2 spaces of an ally with HP less than 75%, grants unit Atk/Def +6 and ignores foes bonuses (from skills like Rally, Hone, etc.) during combat. I dunno if Cavalry can inherit Joint Drive Atk, but my Freddy would PROBABLY have Joint Drive Atk/Def, Atk/Def Bond 4, and Lull Atk/Def.

They could always give us a Warriors banner featuring the units in their Promoted armor. While some of them are just in their promoted armor from their original games (Lissa becoming a War Cleric, Corrin as a Hoshido/Nohr Noble, etc.), the prepromotes like Freddy do have completely unique armor. And they already borrowed the design of Frederick's Axe from warriors, so it can't be THAT farfetched. ...certainly better than giving us two Sword Infantry with basically the same weapon... again...

"Defining" or "Memorable" moment...? Has to go to my entire ordeal with Witchy Nowi... Summoning her was an ordeal. I didn't have any finances to spend on the game at the time, so I basically had to pray I could summon Nowi, which didn't work out so well. (I got pitybroken by Alm, and this was BEFORE he was even any good...) Come the last days of the original Trick or Defeat! banner, and I basically gave up, I wasn't summoning Nowi. AND THEN I SUMMONED NOWI. +Def -Spd was bad, but I wasn't into good or bad units then. Come to use her over the next few months, and she would appear again in the original Legendary F!Grima banner. I actually DID have some finances to spend at the time, so I went ahead and tried to get her. Came out of that banner with two separate Nowis, one who was eh but def better than the original, and the other +Atk -Res. I don't remember if the update to merged units (that removed the Flaw on a unit with at least 1 merge) was out at the time, but Nowi was blessed all the same. Year later I had enough to be able to go for not just her, but also the Henry and Jakob that I didn't have at the time. I could probably dig up the post from the summoning topic, but in brief Nowi was one of the last times I spent money on this game for the purpose of +10 merging a unit (nowadays I spend in the hopes of getting new units and then +10ing someone anyway) I decided to go back and dig up this lame and convoluted story I posted in the "How many 5 star units do you have?" thread, because I may say a lot of things about the units I have, but I certainly never did anything quite like this for anyone even once I began +10ing units. Also cause lol the things I do sometimes... If that ain't memorable, then by god I don't know what is. You don't 5* +10 merge 60 units without forgetting a few tales over time, but you certainly remember the big ones...

This was the first time Laevatein was used in an Abyssal Hero Battle! So fresh after being +10ed to! Cordelia needed to inherit Life and Death 3, since her usual skill Atk/Spd Push 4 did not work after that first battle with the Heavy Spear Flier, and she needed to drop her also usual Mystic Boost for Escape Route. Laevatein is borrowing the Darting Stance 3 SS. Azura usually has B Duel Flying, but she needed Iotes Shield to dissuade the Firesweep Bow Flier from attacking her. For no color balance, 3 overpowered Blue units trumped everything Mila had to throw at me. Cordelia with her Brave + Heavy + Galeforce combo shredded every low-Defense unit who basically happened to exist next to anyone, herself included, while Julia was able to handle the low-Res units (and also that Axe Cav). Azura singing whoever as needed, and Laevatein... er... she tanked the Red Fafnir and Green Mage? ...man, compared to Spring Palla last month, Laevatein's Abyssal debut was underwhelming...

My luck with colorless units this year... First Brammimond appears as my free summon in their banner, Wedding Micaiah appeared relatively easily (with a bit of prodding, but hey I didn't even get pity broken by Rafiel), Bernadetta was summoned after so much pain... Well, now Mila appeared as my free summon. +HP -Def isn't that great an asset/flaw for her in particular of course... but no one ever said anything about having a good natured free summon.

Welp... the "Almost +10 merge but not quite" club has unfortunately evicted its long-standing president, to be immediately replaced by now-Resplendent Lyn. It's almost like veteran status means nothing...

...this game sucks. I decided to go for Bernadetta or Kiria, whoever appeared first. Seems innocent, right? I got Kiria... +Spd -Atk... AFTER SO MANY FREAKING PULLS. How many? I dunno, but I can tell you that I got Lene, Midori, Adrift Camilla, Lyn, and Laevatein in the meantime! And you know what that means? Laevatein at least? THAT MEANS I HAVE TO MAKE A VISIT TO THE 5* +10 THREAD NOW. All for a bad Kiria... ...except I had 18 orbs left while typing the above and decided fuck it I'm about done with this game, and then 4 summons later Bernie +HP -Res appeared. ...this game is a freaking tease. I am so glad I'm not anticipating any particular units anytime soon... pretty sure FEH alone took up most of my June gaming budget...

Okay on one hand good eye, on another dammit my analyzing was rended pointless. I guess she is the sister of Duma, so they'd wind up pretty similar in the end, but still... dang. I don't think there'll be a single unit who will be able to resist the effects of Mila's Turnwheel (who cares anyway).

Holy crap the artist is Yamada Akihiro. That has me more shocked than anything. He's the artist of Jagen, Gunter, Ogma, Zephiel, and Bantu, aka all the veterans plus Ogma and Zephiel. Er... right, Mila herself looks pretty good. For anyone curious, Neutral Fallen Berkut should only have 51 Atk in the brief bit of combat we got, and since he was hit by Sabotage Atk his attack should have been shot down to 44. As such, on EP Mila should have had 44 Def at least. Not to mention she has at least 34 Res since Duma was hit by Sabotage Atk.

Yeesh, sorry bout that... Probably won't happen again for a long time, my units don't change that often (well... save for weapon refinery updates, but enough of that...)

You know... he is an assassin, but he really doesn't strike me as an assassin... Maniac Axe? Masked Axe? Axe of the Legion? @DefyingFates What's even weirder is that Myrrh isn't an underrated unit whatsoever. I mean yeah stronger and stronger Green Dragons are released every few banners, but Myrrh herself is still a potent dragon if and only because she shuts down follow-up attacks so easily (mine at +4 with +Atk and FortDef/Res3 has 44, which is still higher than most units), and her weapon still has the Adaptive damage flag all Breaths have (unlike old unforged Breaths). I still see legit frightening Myrrhs in the arena sometimes. Probably some form of conditional Distant Counter? Maybe providing some form of Def Wave or Joint Hone Def, so she can get her Def up higher without outside support?

Interesting... Clarisse's Bow is being turned into Sniper's Bow... Gives me some hope for a cool Legion refine at least.