ILikeKirbys

Had some good luck with the September quest Orbs. Got Sacred Twin Lord Ephraim (+HP/-SPD, which is nice because it isn't -ATK like I feared when I saw his stats) and another Faye (+SPD/-RES, but I don't care 'cause I already have a better Faye)! Now I just need to train up Ephraim and decide whether to merge the new Faye into my current one (and make her +3) or fodder her for Firesweep+ (but to who?).

@Ice Dragon@Hilda Divine Naga too. In fact, Deirdre and Julia with Divine Naga can probably do it particularly well, since they have solid RES and WTA over Odin.

This is what I'm hoping for at least one of the Robins to get if they get the Levin Sword, personally. Also what I want for Genny if she gets a personal weapon, but that's probably not gonna happen. Not sure how I'd feel about Odin getting that, to be honest. I guess I'd be okay with it, but I'm not sure how much better it would make him. Might come down to what else he can have on his weapon, if that happens. On the Robins, you're probably right that the Robins wouldn't be too good with triple-effectiveness, I'm just wary of giving that much effective damage to anyone. The way you divided them up for dual-effectiveness would interest me though, since M!Robin gets Blue Excalibur with Armorslaying, while F!Robin gets Green Thani (albeit without the RES boost or damage reduction that Thani provides). And I'd still be interested in F!Robin's weapon regardless since it could have SPD Tactic on it, and that skill is still too rare IMO. Regarding Marisa... I could've sworn Shamshir had the Slaying effect on it, but I guess I was just seeing things. Whoops. Though without that, and with the Audhulma-refinement, the DEF +3/5 (either would be fine, in fact I'd probably keep it +3 but that's just personal preference, +5 could work just fine too since that's what Audhulma has and you made a refinement for that which I like) works just fine. And my opinion is unchanged, this would make me go from keeping Marisa around in my barracks because I don't want to toss her to actually using her. Especially with Brazen ATK/SPD, since she could stack it with Brazen ATK/SPD or ATK/DEF (or Brazen SPD/DEF if that ever happens) and be very fast and still decently sturdy (especially if you put a Brazen with DEF in her A Slot, since she'd end up with 40 or 42 DEF (depending on whether you went with +3 or +5 on the weapon) and thus would be quite sturdy and still have a decent amount of HP in the Brazen range since she should (with skill-refinement's +3 HP) have 49 HP, and thus she should hit Brazen range at 40 HP (39.2, which I think gets rounded up to 40)). And I have no idea when Even ATK Wave is gonna happen (I have a strange feeling that the banner starting next week might have it, but it's just a feeling), but IMO it would make that Joshua refinement significantly better because Joshua would be able to have a permanent +6 to his ATK (and be able to give that to his allies too)... though like I said before, the potential to have +9 RES (putting him at 37 RES before other skills are applied, and making him look to me like a rather good candidate for Ploys) would also be rather tempting. Joshua getting a refinement at all would be neat, really. Looking forward to which of my probably-too-damn-many PRF-weapons/refinements you decide to look at, and what you think of them.

So, does this mean we'll be able to get Manuals for the Grand Hero Battle and Tempest Trial+ reward units in lieu of making them available more often? Because I'd like to be able to get some merges for Marisa and Julius. Also it'd be nice to get merges for Alfonse and Anna if they do that (and given that this is a way to give us that without actually having to give us more of the Askrtrio, I see no reason for them not to do this). Wonder if we'll get Combat Manual quests when this feature gets added in...

No Azura? Damn, I was certain she was gonna get a personal weapon this time. As for the actual weapons we're getting: Cherche's Axe... I was expecting her to get Helswath, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume this means we're getting Helswath!Lex for next banner. As for what Cherche herself is getting... I'm gonna guess a 16-MT Slaying Axe+, possibly with Armor-effectiveness too since Nephenee got both of those effects so why not, and for the skill-refine, hoping for Odd/Even ATK Wave 3 (for more power, could be combined with Even/Odd ATK Wave 3 when we get that to stay at +6 all the time), DEF-based follow-up denial (because Cherche has enough DEF that this would probably work pretty decently on her) or Lancebreaker 3 (a nice thing to have sometimes, though probably not as good as the other possibilities I listed). Odin's Grimoire is gonna be Nameless Blade But It's A Tome. I'm calling it now. I highly doubt they'll give him a refineable Bladetome, even if he probably needs it to be on par with literally any other Blue mage who can be handed Blarblade+... though if they did, a refineable Bladetome (with or without the Special Cooldown +1, though I would guess with) with ATK/SPD Link or DEF/RES Link would be a good way to make Odin better. Celica's getting, at minimum, upgraded to ATK/SPD Push 3 on her weapon (current Ragnarok costs 5 HP, ATK/SPD Push costs 1). I'm hoping that Celica gets some sort of HP-Recovery effect on her skill-refinement, be it Renewal 3, Recover Ring, Built-In Daylight, some kind of Lifetaker, or something else that heals Celica so she can either stay in or get back to 100% HP.

Pulled a couple of rounds on Marth's banner. Got about a thousand feathers... And also a +SPD/-RES Lene. I'm happy. Now I gotta hope for a second Lene for my Hinata, but if I don't manage this, at least I've got a Lene. That's already better than I expected.

Finally got a 5-Star on the CYL2 banner. It was Seigbert. +DEF/-ATK Seigbert. Damnit. Broke my pity rate too. Sigh. At least I have ATK Tactic fodder now. Got a +DEF/-ATK Micaiah on her BHB banner too, but that's much better for me since I just wanted a Micaiah and she'll still have alright ATK anyway (and maybe I could toss an Owltome her way and try something stupid with that). Best thing I got off today's pulls besides Micaiah (at long last) is a +SPD/-DEF Nino. She's 4-Star too, so I only need 20k feathers to get myself a +SPD/-DEF +1 Nino, which will probably be pretty good. I've got enough Orbs that I'll be able to get one full session on the Marth banner tomorrow, which is good for me.

Nah, that's just his quadruple-stab-of-death. He does that when he kills people in Fates too. And in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. with the Rapier. I doubt they'll replace the old Braves completely, but hopefully they'll add in the new Braves starting with September's Legendary Banner.

...I'm really hoping regular Marth gets access to this weapon a couple months down the line, because I have no faith in my ability to pull this man (doubt I'll get any 5-Stars this go around, or if I do they'll be Swordhardt instead of Marth or Lene) but I still really want that weapon. Thanks for the info!

So, um, how exactly does Exalted Falchion work? Specifically, what does this mean: "Grants bonus to ATK/SPD/DEF/RES during combat = current bonus on each of unit's stats. Calculates each stat bonus independently." I have no idea what this is, and the closest I can come to picturing how it works is as some kind of refined-Seiglinde-owl-tome-y thing, but I'm sure that's not what it is. Also, gonna pull Red exclusively after the first-session-full-pull, since Red has Marth With The Best Shield Ever (who I want), Swordhardt (who I guess could be merged into my current one if I pull him), and Lene (who I want). Not sure how much I'll sink into this, since I still need to worry about the CYL2 banner until I get someone off of it, but I'll worry about that tomorrow/Tuesday.

@SilvertheShadow Thoughts on those refinements: Robins: I feel like triple-effectiveness is one effectiveness too many. Maybe dump the Flying effectiveness, or Cavalry (keep Armored though, anti-Armor will be super useful with CYL2 Hector and Ephraim around). Tactic skills for the skill-refinement makes sense since Robin is supposed to be a tactician (tome name aside), and I'd probably go for F!Robin's skill-refine simply because it's SPD Tactic and I want more of that (M!Robin would probably get a DEF-Refine since I have a +DEF one and being able to tank physical better seems like a good thing, but ATK Tactic is a worthwhile skill-refinement as well, I'd just be more interested in running what I always run but with effective damages). Marisa: Two things: 1) By default, it's a Nameless Blade with that weapon's refinement already attached. Pretty sure you need to pick either the Cooldown -1 or the Wo Dao effect for the base weapon, since I doubt they'd powercreep the Nameless Blade so directly like that. 2) DEF +3 probably shouldn't be there, as this is a weapon that can be refined. The stat boosts are generally given to weapons that aren't refineable. Outside of that, I like the Shamshir. It'd justify my hesitation to burn my Marisas (outside of not having anyone who really wants Infantry Pulse and having Athenas to fodder for Wo Dao+), and it looks good! Joshua: Can't have a problem with the RES +5 here since it was already a part of the weapon. I was underwhelmed by giving it Odd ATK Wave at first, but then I remembered that Even ATK Wave is gonna be a thing sooner or later so Joshua can equip that and always have ATK +6 (and give it to his allies) with this refinement. I like it, more than I thought I would have at first (though the ability to have HP +5 and RES +9 would also be tempting... I'm really not sure what I'd do if Audhulma became refineable, to be honest). Corrin: The base effect is just refined Dark Breath with 16 MT, but I kinda like Seal ATK/SPD Smoke 3 so I like the base weapon, and the Owltome effect could be a good effect as well (don't think we've seen that on a melee unit yet, have we?), as it boosts up Corrin's kinda-meh 40/43/47 ATK (also, until writing this, I didn't know Corrin had a superboon in ATK) into a pretty-alright 46/49/53 while also boosting her up to 37/40/43 SPD and DEF, which are both nice to have (24/27/30 RES is less good, but it's probably good enough to let her tank a hit from a magical foe, though I can't see why Corrin would need to tank magic in the first place). I quite like this refinement as well. So, here are a few more of my own personal weapons and refinements: Hinata: Wild Samurai - Hinata's Katana MT 16 | Grants ATK +6 when foe initiates combat. Skill-Refine: When foe initiates combat and uses Sword, Lance, Axe or Dragonstone, damage from first attack is reduced by 30%. Damage reduced (from any source, including other skills) is added to next attack. Resets at end of combat. Explanations: The base effect is actually from Hana's Katana in Fates (where the weapon's MT doubled when the unit was attacked), but I felt it was better suited to Hinata in Heroes (where it becomes just Fierce Stance 3). The skill-refine references Hinata's Triple Threat skill from Fates, which reflected half of the damage Hinata took from Swords, Lances and Axes while at or below half health back onto his foe. Here in Heroes, it's been upgraded to a first-strike Deflect Melee 1 mixed with Ice Mirror's damage-reduced-is-added-to-damage-dealt effect, giving Hinata a little more power against melee foes in addition to increasing his durability against melee enemies (for best results, run with Pavise, Shield Pulse and at least one ally with higher HP and Infantry Pulse, so Hinata reduces that first strike by 80% and 5, and gets to add that damage he didn't take to his counterattack, dealing potentially-massive damage, especially when combined with his built-in Fierce Stance 3 boosting his ATK). If nothing else, Hinata's Katana should make Hinata a bit stronger as an Enemy Phase unit. Hana: Focused Samurai - Hana's Katana MT 16 | Grants ATK +6 when this unit initiates combat. Skill-Refine: When this unit initiates combat and defeats an enemy, inflicts 7 damage on foes within 2 spaces of target, and inflicts ATK -7 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next action. Explanations: The base effect is taken from Hinata's Katana from Fates (where the weapon's MT doubled when the unit initiated combat), but was given to Hana because IMO it works better on her than him in this game. The skill-refine references Hana's Fearsome Blow skill from Fates, which harmed enemies close to Hana when she killed someone. Here, it's Savage Blow with ATK Smoke 3 added on, letting Hana damage and nerf other enemies when she initiates and kills someone (though if you run this, you might want to run Hardy Bearing to avoid being Desperation'd to death by any damaged-enough-to-enter-Desperation-range foes who can reach Hana afterward... or just move her out of harm's way). Hana probably doesn't need a personal weapon, but I'd like to think that this one makes her better at doing what she does well already, if nothing else. Tailtiu: Thunder Noble - Thrud's Thoron MT 14 | Adds +10 damage when Special triggers. Skill-Refine: When HP < 75% at start of turn, grants Special Cooldown -1. When HP < 75% during combat, grants +10 damage dealt when Special activates. Explanations: As the original user of Wrath, it's only right that Tailtiu get a weapon that gives her the Wrath skill (for 200 Divine Dew, but still). As for the default skill, the Wo Dao effect is pretty good on its own, but when combined with Wrath's Special acceleration, Tailtiu can drop +20-damage Moonbows/Glimmers on anyone she doubles once her HP gets into Wrath range. If nothing else, the sizable damage boost that Thrud's Thoron can give Tailtiu's Specials should be enough to make her stand out compared to other mages, I think. Sonya: Vengeful Mage - Dark Excalibur [Refine] MT 14 | Adds +10 damage when Special triggers. Skill-Refine: Grants SPD/RES +5 during combat when within 2 spaces of Staff- or Tome-using ally. Explanations: Sonya's getting a refinement here because Thrud's Thoron at base is basically this weapon but refineable. As such, the default effect is the same Wo Dao effect it already has. The skill-refinement is a SPD/RES buff that's active when near a Tome-using ally (for example, Celica, whose route you recruit Sonya in in Gaiden/Echoes) or Staff-using ally (like Genny, with whom Sonya shares her one set of Support conversations in Echoes), making her situationally faster and better at tanking magic. This might not improve Sonya too much, but a refineable Wo Dao tome is certainly a step up from a non-refineable one, if nothing else. Gunter: Inveterate Soldier - Gunter's Axe MT 16 | Grants DEF +7 when foe initiates combat. Skill-Refine: If unit is within 2 spaces of Support partner, grants ATK/SPD +6 to that ally during combat. Explanations: Gunter's Axe is meant to give Gunter a bit more utility, so to start, he gets the Safeguard effect to give him 36/40/43 DEF on Enemy Phase. The Skill-Refine is based on Gunter's Forceful Partner skill from Fates, letting him greatly boost his Support partner's offensive stats when he's close to them (if you give him the Spur ATK or Spur SPD 3 Seal, then the maximum offensive boost that Gunter can give his Support Partner is [+2 from adjacent to Support partner + 6 from Skill-Refine skill + 6 from Hone Cavalry + 4 from Spur ATK 3 or Spur SPD 3 Seal =] +18 in one stat and +14 in the other, assuming Gunter's Support partner is a Cavalry unit). This weapon mostly makes Gunter a better buffmaster, though the Safeguard effect could make running something like Bonfire a reasonable idea for damage-dealing. But mostly, Gunter's Axe is here to give someone else extra high offenses. Jakob: Devoted Servant - Jakob's Tray MT 14 | After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts DEF/RES +7 on target and units within 2 spaces of target through their next action, and grants DEF/RES +7 to unit and allies within 2 spaces of unit for 1 turn. Skill-Refine: If unit is within 2 spaces of Support partner, grants DEF/RES +6 to that ally during combat. Explanations: Jakob's Tray acts as a boosted Rogue's Dagger, letting Jakob inflict the dagger-standard -7 DEF/RES, but also letting him give himself and his allies +7 DEF/RES for 1 turn by attacking. The Skill-Refine is based on Jakob's Evasive Partner skill from Fates, letting him greatly boost his Support partner's defenses when he's close to them (if you give him Spur DEF/RES 2 and the Spur DEF or Spur RES 3 Seal, then the maximum defensive boost that Jakob can give his Support Partner is [+2 from adjacent to Support partner + 6 from Skill-Refine skill + 3 from Spur DEF/RES 2 + 4 from Spur DEF or Spur RES 3 Seal + 7 from Jakob's Tray post-combat buff =] +22 in one stat and +18 in the other, making his Support partner quite a bit tougher to take down.) Jakob's Tray makes Jakob a better supporter by giving him massive defensive buffs that he can give his allies, but he reserves the largest possible buffs for whoever his Support partner is. Please let me know what you think of these!

So here's this weird alt that will never happen that I came up with recently: Jaffar - Guardian Angel | Blue Dagger | Armored

@EricaofRenais @Landmaster So it was there last time. Thanks for the info! 4 Orbs total from the friendship charts is good. 18 total over a week is pretty nice too. Although, I find it a bit odd that they're gonna give out Divine Dew for this event, but not Refining Stones.

I was referring to this, quoting the in-game description: "Until 8/31/18 at 2:59 AM (East Coast here), you can earn 2 Orbs the first time you clear a map in Forging Bonds (once per day). In addition, there are other rewards to earn, like accessories, Orbs, Hero Feathers, or Divine Dew, depending on the amount of friendship gained for each event character." Being able to earn Orbs is mentioned separately from the 2-per-day thing, so I'm assuming we're gonna get Orbs somewhere in the friendship-chart for each character (probably near the top, I'm betting). Was that a thing last time, or did we just get various non-Orb rewards? Because I don't recall.

So, I saw that we're gonna be able to get Orbs as rewards for these maps. Orbs outside of the 2-a-day-for-the-first-week. Did we have that last time? Because I don't recall. Also, I can't wait to give Hector his helmet, and also to throw Ephraim's red helmet (I assume that's Ephraim's, anyway) on Legendary Ryoma so he can achieve maximum redness (already gave him Wo Dao+ for the same reason, and for +20-damage Moonbows). Maybe I'll throw Veronica's whatever-that-thing-is on Marth too. This. Especially if it comes with cat ears. I wanna give Lilina cat ears.

Damn, I thought it worked like Blizzard. Guess I misread the description. Thanks. ...I wish it worked like Blizzard. That would be a pretty good effect for a dagger, wouldn't it?

That's actually not bad. I'm definitely surprised that we're getting a Fire Emblem Heroes reference in Smash, but I can't complain. So, Robin Echo Veronica when? Gunnthra is a good start, yeah. The ATK/SPD debuffs might end up occasionally redundant against whoever got Chilling Sealed, but that's not a big deal, and being able to add 16 damage (20 if Gunnthra got the Peshkatz buff) to Gunnthra's attacks via Blizzard is a good thing. You could go with any Dagger-user running The Cleaner+ for the same effect, if you want (not sure why you'd want to do that, but it's an option). As for other good company for Veronica, bring a Dancer. I know that's good advice in general, but with your new Wrazzle Dazzle Peshkatz Staff, you'll want a Dancer even more to take advantage of those buffs to kill people. Also, maybe Eirika could work? I know it's not as good as running her with all Tactics, but being able to give her +8 to every stat if she gets the Peshkatz buff and enters combat while near Veronica seems pretty good regardless... Not sure if you have an Eirika built up tho. EDIT: I second this notion. I need the full version of this in a Tap Battle. Either the next one that comes up, or the one that comes closest to Smash Ultimate's release date.

Celica's B Skill is Double Lion, Alm's Falchion-skill-refinement that gave him essentially a Brave Sword when at full HP in exchange for taking a bit of damage after combat. So yes, Celica's B Skill gives her a Brave effect, though only when she's at full HP.

So, now that I've seen the trailer, here are my thoughts: 1) Veronica has Wrazzledazzle Peshkatz Staff on a horse. That's amazing. And Close Guard too, which is also a nice thing. I want her. 2) Ephraim looks really good, which makes it too bad that I don't really need him at all since I already have Green Armor covered pretty well with LA Hector, TOD Henry and M!Grima. Special Fighter 3 looks sweet tho. 3) I like Celica's Hidari art, but the unit herself, she looked pretty meh in the Feh Channel. And then I saw that she had Double Lion as a skill on top of Death Blow 4, and she became scary. Still not gonna bother with her though, she doesn't interest me. 4) Hector doesn't have Armads, but still looks every bit as brokentastic as I'd hoped, between Slaying Effect & Quick Riposte 5 on Maltet, Ostian Counter and Bold Fighter. I want him. In closing, here's an Oho for the Free Summoning Event, and now I have to decide between Veronica and Hector for that. Not sure how I'm gonna decide that one.

@bottlegnomes If Veronica is the Grand Hero Battle (and I'm kind of expecting that), then I expect that they'll raise her stats up a little and upgrade Elivagar to have a better (and maybe altogether different from its current post-combat Panic application) effect. @Lord-Zero Yeah, that would be pretty funny. Especially if this is the one Hector that doesn't have Armads and he says something along the lines of the second quote there. As for what I expect/hope for: 1) Red Tome Veronica with a Close Counter Tome because I love setting myself up for disappointment 2) Green Axe Ephraim with some sort of Garm. 3) Colorless Dagger Celica with Golden Dagger, possibly with Mila's Turnwheel in some capacity (maybe as a Miracle-type Special that also healed Celica a bit after it triggered?). 4) Blue Lance Hector with Rex Hasta or a made-up lance because they did that with Lucina last time, and the Distant Counter skill because he always has that. 5) Choose Your Legends 1 vs. 2 Voting Gauntlet 6) Veronica: Emblian Princess Grand Hero Battle announcement. 7) Legendary Marth reveal. If I'm right on even two of these I'll be happy. And I probably won't be right on even two of these. But I'll probably still be happy.

@bottlegnomes Nice analysis. Couple things though: One, I feel like Eliwood would run -DEF over -RES, and with that he could probably run SPD Ploy to somewhat compensate for his lower SPD, which is something that neither Seigbert nor Brave Roy can really do (maybe Roy could, but Seigbert peaks at 19 RES so he definitely can't unless he's up against a team of Dancing Xanders or Virions or Ardens or something). Two, if Eliwood is running the skill-refinement (I assume he is in your calculations), he would have 42 HP rather than 39, and 36 RES instead of 33. Still, you've convinced me that Eliwood didn't really need dragon-effectiveness with this Durandal. The other effects are enough to make him a solid swordcav in his own right, especially since he's a lot more readily available than Seigbert or Brave Roy.

@bottlegnomes Durandal getting Dragon-effectiveness is mostly there because I couldn't come up with a better base effect for it than Death Blow 3, so I figured it would need something extra, and also because Eliwood's RES could make him a good choice for Dragon combat so why not give him that extra edge against them? Glad you like it outside of that though, I was worried about it not being good enough compared to Blazing Durandal. And yeah, Berserk Armads is crazy. It's why the only Hector I haven't used for Distant Counter is my Love Abounds Hector (that and he's +ATK/-SPD). I like the idea of Special Cooldown -1 on that Armads refinement... But I feel like it could be a bit too good when combined with QR3 and the Breath effect, and I'd like to avoid that sort of thing if I can (not that Hector is a stranger to having weapons with great effects, but still). I would guess that they're afraid of giving out brave tomes ever since Reinhardt. Also, just realized that I never did a Seliph refinement, even though I did his sister: Seliph - Scion of Light Tyrfing [Refine] | MT 16 | When HP < 80% at start of combat, grants DEF/RES +7 during combat. Skill-Refinement: If unit's DEF > foe's DEF+1, foe cannot perform a follow-up attack. Seliph's Tyrfing makes him a bit sturdier once his HP dips by giving him Brazen DEF/RES 3 on his weapon (which, much like Alfonse's new Folkvangr, can be combined with Brazens in the A Slot), and gives him optional DEF-based follow-up denial similar to Brynhildr's skill-refinement, allowing him to more safely battle low-DEF foes who would otherwise double and murder him (though if they carry Swordbreaker or Bold Fighter, Seliph can still get wrecked since his SPD sucks), an effect that starts off pretty alright since Seliph has decent DEF, but can make Seliph very difficult to double once he enters Brazen range thanks to Brazen DEF/RES 3 on his weapon boosting him up to 33/37/40 (and if you add in Brazen ATK/DEF 3, Seliph can hit 40/44/47 DEF). If nothing else, Seliph's Tyrfing should make him a decent mixed tank that gets sturdier once his HP takes a hit (and thanks to Seliph's naturally high HP, he'll still have plenty to work with once he hits Brazen range).

Yeah, Mist is pretty much always gonna suck unless she gets, I dunno, an Owl-staff or something (and even then she probably would just be alright). I don't think they'd go for Elena's Staff as a regular thing though. Maybe put a Guard-type Special Charge -1 during combat kind of debuff on people (in fact I'd quite like that), but not outright preventing Special charging altogether (at least that's how I read the effect, could be wrong on this). You're in the clear on making a not-underpowered weapon there. And I look forward to seeing those! And seeing where you take Azura and the Robins in particular, since I'd like to compare them to what I did with those three. I think I understand you, but IMO, staves so far have only gotten Wrathful Staff 3 or Dazzling Staff 3 for refinements because we don't have personal staff weapons that can be refined at the moment, so in the event that we do get personal staves that can be refined, I think they'd get a third option beyond Wrathful/Dazzling (making that third refinement something that would be better than having Wrathful and/or Dazzling on the weapon is a problem I have trouble with, though). Also, since CYL2 is coming, and with it a new Armads (probably), here's a possible refinement for the only Armads without a prefix, as well as something for Eliwood because he's gonna feel left out if Lyn and Hector get refinements and he doesn't: Hector - General of Ostia Armads [Refine] | MT 16 | This unit performs a follow-up attack when attacked with HP > 70%. Skill-Refinement: Grants Special Charge +1 during combat initiated by foe. Hector's original Armads gets a refinement to compete with the other versions of Armads, and it's coming prepared with Quick Riposte 3 by default and the ability to be refined to have Empty Breath on it, strengthening the Omnibreaker build while also letting Hector run Distant Counter/Bold Fighter/Special-Charge-+1-When-Attacked/Quick Riposte fairly well since he'll have the latter two skills on his weapon. Nothing overly flashy, but it's a definite upgrade over normal Armads, and might maybe be worth using over Berserk and Thunder Armads. Eliwood - Knight of Lycia Durandal [Refine] | MT 16 | Effective vs. Dragonstones. Grants ATK +6 when this unit initiates combat. Skill-Refine: Grants SPD/RES +4 when this unit initiates combat. Eliwood gets quite the upgrade for Durandal, starting with Dragon-effectiveness because Durandal had that in FE6/7 and upgrading to Death Blow 3, giving him a bit more power than he had before. The skill-refinement gives Eliwood additional stats when he initiates combat by tossing Swift Strike 2 onto his weapon as well, putting him at a minimum of +6 ATK/+4 SPD/+0 DEF/+4 RES when he initiates combat, making him pretty decent for killing Dragons if nothing else. He would still require a decent amount of investment to make him great (I would recommend Iceberg/Glacies, Swift Sparrow 2, Desperation, SPD Ploy, and either the DEF Ploy or Heavy Blade Sacred Seal to maximize Eliwood's damage while taking advantage of his good RES), and maybe it isn't better than Blazing Durandal, but it's certainly an upgrade over the regular version.

I never forgot! It's what I guessed he could have when I was building potential CYL2s in the Create-A-Hero thread a while back because I figured they wouldn't make four versions of Armads. Thinking about it now, I think they'll probably give him Armads #4 anyway because I think they just really like the idea of Hector only using Armads for some reason. Garm seems a safe bet for Ephraim. I'm kinda hoping it ends up as an 11-MT Brave Axe with no SPD penalty (to reference the +5 SPD Garm had in Sacred Stones), just because it would be neat (well, it would be neat if he had an adequate SPD stat that could be buffed to a place that would let him quad, which I'm not sure would happen), but I don't expect anything like that. I bet on Golden Dagger for Celica too, probably Infantry. Ragnarok Omega is also a possibility, but I'd like to see Golden Dagger instead. Veronica I'm betting will end up with a tome come on Close Counter weapon come on Close Counter weapon I know it won't happen but just let me keep believing until my hopes are dashed once again, but Seigfried and possibly a Xander-cosplay would be cute, and I'm a sucker for cute shit so I'd like to see that. She could really get anything though, since they can just make something up to justify whatever they give her.

Nah, we're gonna get an Armads hairpin, I'm calling it now. Along with Veronica's crown. As for how they could justify the CYL2 units showing up in-story, I have a couple of possibilities that are stupid: 1) Loki summons the CYL2 Heroes because she can do that, and that's all the justification you get. 2) The Askrans run into the CYL2 Heroes and fight them, and they're here because Veronica summoned them to help her escape from Muspell before she suffers Death By Surtr and attacked you either because the Askrans got in the way of Veronica's escape unintentionally and they're removing you from the path just to be safe or because you're the Askrans and thus still Veronica's enemies even if you aren't Muspell. After beating everyone up, the Askrans temporarily form a truce with Veronica to deal with Muspell. Also, random thought: Is it bad that I half-expect CYL2 Hector to be a Blue Tome Armor using Armads to lightning people from afar and have Close Counter as his A Skill?