Xenomata

5* +10 is possible, not really sure who to give it to. I've checked my units to see who I used most often despite their low merges, and these are the results... (+[Asset] +[Merges] or -[Flaw]) >Roy (+Atk +2) Slight significance here in that Roy was my first 5*, so it'd be neat to give him the powers he is due, in a way. >Chrom (+Atk -Res) I use him very often in tandem with M!Corrin to receive a massive +23/10/23/10 Combat buffs alone (not counting other units such as my favorite Seth or Titania plus Kaden), and I certainly don't shut up about him when I get a chance to talk about him. My greatest concern with +10ing him is that if I do, he'll begin taking Chill Defs instead of Corrin, who has 34 versus Chrom's 31, and then to reset the balance I'll have to +10 Corrin as well... >Effie (+Atk +2) She's been running this set I came up with a while back, in which she uses a Reprisal Lance+ (Atk), Distant Counter, Special Fighter, and Glimmer to OHKO any enemy who comes her way. She runs it pretty well actually, but she could run it better if she had more Atk... >Reinhardt (+Atk +3) I only mention him because I begrudgingly admit that despite all the powercreep introduced since his time, he is still one of the best Player-Phase units in the game. I do not, however, care much for him despite that, so if +10ing him would be a good option, know that I'd do it begrudgingly. >Frederick (+Atk -Spd) He still runs the Brave Axe+ build I gave him so long ago. I think now that Sturdy Blow SS plus Sturdy Impact is possible for a massive +10/14 Atk/Def boost, giving Freddy the +10 merge is viable and mean. >Beruka (+Def -Spd) My only true concern with using her is that I already have a good number of EP Axes, but Beruka does it differently from them by lowering their Atk and packing Guard, freeing up the B slot for Quick Riposte. She's always been a reliable tank, but that addition of Guard just adds to her reliability. >Boey (+Atk +1) He actually can kill Legendary Alm and take a hit on EP, which really is enough to convince me to consider him. Plus it'd be interesting to have a TA3 unit as a +10... >Since I mentioned Boey, Sophia is on the table as well. Different PrfRaventome refines, but Sophia's mixed bulk means she can take magic attacks a lot better than Boey can. >Nino (+Spd +3) I very much considered her and considered giving her a niche but unique and fun Even Waves build... until I realized I didn't have any Even Spd Wave fodder... so I guess she can just run with a +Atk refine on Iris's Tome... >Klein (+Spd +2) I remember being told that spd stacking Klein was better than using his special refine... well, I can give him Swift Sparrow 3 or sack a Linus for Brazen Atk/Spd, but not much else... Honorable mention to Lissa, Brady, and Mercedes. Lissa I don't use at all, but it'd be nice to +10 her regardless due to my +10ing her future descendants, while the other two are just too new for me to truly consider +10ing (I haven't summoned 4* Mercedes yet) Anyway, any input is appreciated. Note that I can also give them a refine, whether by stone or by dew, though most of the above already have refined weapons.

I know I'm not one to speak on F2P guides (I own every unit in the game up to the Three Houses banner at 5*, most of my 5* +10 units are 5* exclusive, I have spent enough on this game to be called a whale, and I don't even watch PM1 much anymore), and I also know I'm not doing myself any favors by posting this (and if I worded it wrong, I'm not doing anyone else any favors by typing nonsense). I fully expect to wake up to at least 3 responses as to why I'm wrong in fact. I do not, however, intend any insult at all if any is taken. I am harsh and stupid in my words, not in my feelings... well, maybe I'm also stupid in my feelings. But I apologize in advance regardless: I'm not attacking anyone, I'm just posting an opinion on the internet. Now let's all point and laugh at the bad MS Paint sableye because he still doesn't know how to spend his rocks and dews despite having like 15 units still waiting for their promised refine. Don't say anything if you have nothing nice to say... I'd be a very quiet person if I followed that...

With the knowledge that Thrasir is actually another worlds Veronica, Thrasir's 4koma gets a lot more... uh... Kiran will not survive Bruno's "I will die for Lord Chrom" T-shirt covered abs.

Hero Battles... you'll get there. Reinhardt is still one of the best units in the game (*grumble grumble...*), and with the Sturdy Blow SS and if you have it Sturdy Impact, Frederick with a Brave Axe+ and Bonfire/Ignis sounds downright mean (also now that I say that Freddy is now being highly considered to +10). Just a little more work, and eventually the game will have to make bullshit specifically to screw with you. Tactics Drills... I can understand. I still haven't completed the Panne/Yarne skill studies one, the recent ones with the Brave Heroes confuses me, and I think I've only completed two Grandmaster drills myself since they started releasing new ones (past the initial ones I mean).

@Anacybele @daisy jane IMO, I think there should come a point where you can just... you know, do it yourself. I did used to check guides myself, but now I can just do it myself. Is it because I'm using two overpowered mages and the actual best dancer in the game, also Walhart, all +10 except Azura who is +9... yeah it probably is. But it's not like I don't struggle in the meantime. I just don't think I'd be getting the intended experience if I just follow what others are doing, not unless I think about it a little myself. I can think of one of the earlier instances of this in Legendary Tiki abyssal, in which I tried to do the same as PM1, but an enemy unit was behaving differently from what was happening in his video (probably because at the time I didn't have a Neutral Olivia), so for the later half of the battle I had to do things my own way, which eventually I managed to do it. Sure I tried to follow a guide, but I felt more satisfied in the victory because I had to think about the battle myself compared to if I just followed the guide step-by-step (even if it did keep me up til 5am)

I'm now only two units away from having them all*! *Not counting new units starting from the second Three Houses banner. Managed two copies of Olivia, the only Performing Arts unit I didn't have. One is +Def, one is +Spd, and both are -HP. Hold the phone guys, I need to call Sherlock Holmes to find out which of the two is gonna live. I don't even need Olivia aside from the collect-athon thing, but just having her around is nice. Now only two remain... Halloween Henry and Bullcrap Jakob...

Performing Arts... tonight? Shoot, uh... okay. Guess I'll be getting PA!Olivia tonight then.

Hm... regular Nephenee's helmet is very undetailed in her sprite compared to her Soiree alt, which even has the very small grooves on the helmet in it, but in their artwork, which is done by the same person (HACCAN), the helmet is the complete same...

@Tybrosion ooh, very nice very nice! Kinda wish I could pass my own Soiree Nephenee over to you (I'd have been perfectly fine with Neutral myself), but the result, all the same, is splendid nonetheless. Would you rather Berkut rot... in Colorless Hell? Totally didn't respond just to make that joke.

This is it, this is what I've been saving... well not orbs, but I sure have been saving a combat manuel of Nina for this for a while now... a Bow Dancer, and her name is Nephenee... with the orbs I got from the Heroes Path and a few extra... Colorless Snipe, GO! Let's see... trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, BRB orb refill. Trash, trash, MORE ORBS. Trash, tra- CRAP I ENTERED A SESSION WITH LESS THAN ENOUGH ORBS TO SUMMON AT LEAST 2. AND THERE'S TWO COLORLESS ORBS. Uhhhhh... this one? Ah... I remember this feeling, it's the feeling of hopelessness when summoning for a unit I'm sure I won't get, with only meager earnings of orbs to spend, immediately followed by relief, happiness, and hope... ah right, the last time I had this feeling was when I summoned Bride Ninian nearly a year and a half ago! Well, I bowed in and did my dance, there will be no encore now or ever. I don't need the other 3 dancers here, tempting as they may be. I just don't think I need an offensive dancer or Berkut. But Nephenee... she was literally the one I needed. Having that Asset was just a bonus I didn't need, but I welcome it all the same.

Eh, just give her TA3 and WoM, maybe see if I have any Distant Guard fodder else just give her Drive Res. Seals are alright... they aren't exciting, but they're alright I guess. I don't even use Feints all that often, but I certainly appreciate them being in not the valuable B slot...

You do realize I have plans, goals, and such, right? A schedule for growing in strength, a set order of things that I'd like to do things? This just throws a wrench in all of my plans. I didn't account for this. Also, I have every hero in the game at 5* with at least a TA3 weaponbreaker set, no plans for my Heroic Grails, no dire need to upgrade Seal X or Weapon Y. Suddenly I need to summon a hero I don't need, purchase a unit I didn't want, unlock the potential of some throwaway unit (I just gave a merge to Death Knight cause lord knows I can afford it), find someone with some SP and an unlearned skill, find someone to inherit some skill, pick out a seal I didn't need to upgrade, on and on and on so that I don't have to worry about this stupid beginners pseudo-achievement/tutorial garbage and just take my free stuff/heroes. Maybe it's good for you, and great. But it isn't for me, it's just another reason I'm still up at 1 in the morning.

Okay really I know it's not her regular dress, but Rinea's dress looks so much like her regular dress, or at least it looks enough like it that it could be her regular dress. Here, have a look.

Okay now these Heroes Path quests are stepping past a few boundries. Unlock the potential of a hero? Refine a Sacred Seal? Refine a weapon? Sure they give you more than enough resources to do them, but what if I don't WANT to? What if none of my seals are worth upgrading, or I don't wanna waste stones/dews on a weapon upgrade i didn't even want? Ugh... the things I do for an extra merge to a few heroes...

Ah dam, I'm so used to it being Melee and Ranged with buffs I forgot Lucy affected only physical units. ...wait then did Faye just become... a monster?

Okay Heroes Path ticks me off a bit. Not because it's bad, it's free stuff and heroes for doing mundane tasks. But the tasks themselves are so mundane that I can't actually do them right now. Collect a Gift from the Present list? Summon a Hero? I know there'll be a new banner soon, but I'm not wasting 5 orbs just to do this stuff, and I certainly can't force Feh to give me a present... it also felt slightly depressing getting a glorified achievement for editing my team...

Wow... holy shit... okay uh... >Mah boi got PP Special Fighter not even as a refine effect, it's just the effect of a forged weapon at all. Shoot. The refine is... kinda underwhelming considering it just looks like what will eventually become Steady Impact, but he still gets a Tier 4 skill as a refine effect AS WELL AS Special Fighter. Man... ...oh I guess Eliwood got this same effect to, but it's not like he can use it all that well... >Lucy came out good as well... dragon effectiveness, and granting Physical Breath... >Brave Ike just got a lot more annoying to kill. I can see his refine being dreadful for anyone not paying close enough attention and chucking out any random Red Mage only to find they can't kill Ike because first attack is weakened, second attack is useless. >Simple refine is simple. Not bad necessarily, just simple.

Heh heh, someone's gotten really good at making in-game screenshots with their own models. Look at the authenticity of that Sans! ...wait what do you mean that's an actual Mii Gunner costume? With a remix of Megalovania? WAIT MY MONEY-

Generally my favorite type of unit, or at least the one I use the most, are Enemy Phase tanks specializing heavily in one form of bulk. The best example of this I can give is my use of +Atk -Res Chrom, who when next to his good pal M!Corrin gets +23/10/23/10 Combat Buffs total, as well as my building of 3 separate EP Infantry Lance units to +10, all typically supported by one of a few supportive defensive units I own such as the combo of Kaden + Seth Tactics play, or New Year Corrin and triple stacked Spur Def/Res. Close follow-up, which honestly I think is a sign of influence from you yourself @XRay, is player phase ranged nukes. This is all inclusive, so Bladetomes, Firesweep, Special Spiral, Desperation 4, you name it and at least one of my most used units runs it. Honorable mention to healers. If I was a unit in FEH, I'd be a healer, or at least an off-healer with some sort of racist Mend or maybe uber BoL. Oh, and dancers are neat to, if not nearly required for having an easy time nowadays... Do you have a passion for dancing IRL or something?

Oh right my opinions... >To be quite frank, what's the point of Ishtar? Not in a "why does she exist, there are many units who do what she does better" way, but she is a combat unit, but also a Dancer? Just the fact that she's a dancer means she will be weaker than any other unit in the same role, but don't give her a Brave weapon to make up the difference, cause that just means she'll be unique in the role from then on. She'll be good if her stats are min-maxed to hell and back... >If this were a normal unit banner, I could see Berkut being the dropped unit with B Dual Infantry being the dropped skill. Just... nothing about him screams "amazing". And why does the first Infantry Lance we get in a long time have to be a Dancer? >Her being a Bow Dancer already makes her a valuable unit, but otherwise Nephenee's kinda... okay-ish I guess? >I have the sour feeling that they're gonna give Reinhardt as much Attack as they legally can... I mean, they were just one step short of giving him Death Blow 4, but instead opted to introduce Joint Hone Atk with him. Why wouldn't they make him the strongest Flying Green Mage they can? >We know nothing about Rinea right now. I think her weapon is a fan, and her outfit almost looks like her normal outfit enough that I thought it was her normal outfit, but otherwise what we know is that there's gonna be another TT.

Oh wow, that score is remarkably close for a VG final round. Usually the difference is astronomically large.

I'm not advocating against Rein or anything. Hell, if/when they make a Thracia remake, I'd be down for Rein to be recruitable and give a chance to deepen him, or even just a few extra chances to learn his preferred type of light reading. But the fact is, most people didn't know who he was until he combined magic, death blow, and Dire Thunder with good Atk and cav movement.

From my point of view (don't take it as fact), Rein isn't popular because he's a good character (IMO he's just a slightly more developed Camus in an age of characters not having much characterization) or because he was memorable in any way (admittedly I don't really know how popular he was before Heroes, but as a character in a Japanese FE game that's already most of his potential audience being limited) or because he's a good unit (he was an NPC boss, which now that I think about it a few people were saying that Rinea didn't deserve more than this alt because she was an NPC). It was because "lol Dire Death Blow Thunder gamez cheeze" in this game specifically. Entire units had to be built because this guy (and Brave Lyn) were so common in Arena.

Hey I actually remembered to use my flags this time! I still have 350 left and can't use anymore due to lack of ballots, but I'd rather have 350 left over than 2,000+ because I was working during the final hour, or fell asleep during the final hour, or because I was making dinner during the final hour, etc etc. These are actual reasons I forgot to use my flags before the final hour.

Should... someone make a separate banner announcement thread? I don't trust myself to do it... where's @Coolmanio when you need him/her/it/thou higher being?