Sire

Ah. I sadly never got much use out of Maribelle in Awakening so I was not too familiar with her VA, despite some amazing moments with her. I was mostly just comparing VAs to those who were already in Heroes.

My immediate response from the General Topic... * * * * * Now that I cooled down a little bit... Amelia: Has amazing artwork and is voiced by Elise (and Fir). I always made Amelia a Paladin though, but seeing General Amelia is all right as well I suppose. Seth: Has all right artwork (M!Robin's artist) and is voiced by the same guy who does Reinhardt and Legion. I hope Seth is a super top tier character for the VA jokes, as well as his power level in the source title. Not too keen on Seth wielding swords instead of his signature Silver Lance, but this is how it went apparently (I guess Tana took the Blue slot?)... Innes: Voiced by the Smash 4 announcer and drawn by a new artist to FE:Heroes. His skill set is a little underwhelming, but I wonder what he statline will be... Tana: Her artwork is nice but was not what I was expecting. The voice was unexpected as well and I have no idea who the VA is. Her skills though look super amazing, but it is a shame we already have plenty of amazing blue fliers (Cordelia, Summer!Corrin, etc.)

Seth! Tana! Innes! Amelia! SACRED STONES HYPE! Although, Amelia wielding an axe is a little odd, but we have the chain axes, so it's cool. Seth not having a Lance though is a stain on his legend! Where is Seth with his mighty Silver Lance!

My Hero Fest banner? Ryoma, Hector, Azura, Takumi. Waitwhatdoyoumeanthatalreadyexists? Anyways... Red: Katarina (Essentially Tharja but more focused on RES than HP or DEF, Katarina also has some unique skills to pass on to others. There's Rauðrowl+, Swift Sparrow, and Atk Ploy.) Green: Camilla (A decent unit, but comes with amazing skills. Brave Axe+, Draconic Aura, Darting Blow, and Savage Blow. She breaks the rules since she is pullable as a 4-star unit, but I'm sure her popularity can make her an exception to the rule.) Blue: Delthea (A solid unit on her own, she also provides Death Blow and Drive Atk. Probably the best unit "out of the box," vanilla wise.) Gray: Jaffar (He is the Angel of Death and is a solid debuffer + chip unit. He also has Life and Death as well as Threaten SPD to pass on for Skill Inheritance.)

I'm loving the Tempest Trial improvements. The triple point system handles my main problem with the original TT (burnout), and the buffed bonus units also helps a lot. If I manage to do 4k a day due to the point bonuses, I can easily reach 40k (the amount needed for the last seal, everything after that are bonus shards, feathers, and orbs). However, I have a feeling if I don't have any 40% bonus units the next time around, my tune may easily change... Anyways, instead of running my tried and true team of Ephraim, Nino, Ryoma, and (Azama/Olivia), I currently run Celica, Sharena, Delthea, and Clarine for the stat boosts. Both Celica and Delthea (+ATK, -SPD) have vanilla kits because I do not have appropriate SI fodder. Deltha's Miracle has definitely proven useful more than once. The main problem comes with trying to deal with Sonya in the final chapter, but I still manage to pull off a perfect or near perfect score for most of my runs. My Celica can not properly handle Sonya as she cannot double her or even kill her with a Blazing Light proc. So, it is a battle of attrition since Celica is tanky enough to handle hits from a proc'ed Sonya.

Best: Conquest, although it is basically tied with Radiant Dawn. I love both titles - their map design and varied objectives make for some of the best gameplay in the franchise. Worst: I haven't played anything before Blazing Sword (save for the remakes Shadow Dragon and Shadows of Valentia), so I am saying Revelation is the worst. While the "super happy, recruit everyone" route is fine, the gameplay gimmicks in Revelations are so BS that it put me off of finishing the story. I still have yet to get back to playing Revelations and finishing it.

Round 66 [Hero Fest]: Fir, Laslow (+ATK, -HP), 4* Gaius, 4* Athena, 4* Athena (Neutral) Round 67 [Tempest Trials]: Wyrs, Selena, 4* Virion, 4* Azama, 5* Sonya (+DEF, -RES) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * With the new "free summon" in place, I find it beneficial to do full pulls to take advantage of this. So, instead of needing 20 orbs for a full summon, I only need 15. Time will tell if I end up doing this for every banner (for efficiency's sake) or only on banners that interest me (so I can save orbs or focus on another banner). Laslow has an excellent nature, since having extra RES helps him due to this low SPD. Still, a part of me wants to mess around with a +SPD Laslow to make "slow characters" unexpectedly faster. I am still disappointed Liam does not voice him, and the artwork doesn't help that much either... Athena is a new character for me, and getting a Neutral is all right for getting her prepared for an eventual prime variant. Some thing with Sonya, she may not be "optimal," but maybe the extra DEF can help her in some situations. In the long run, I am still waiting for Summer!Corrin to arrive, but talk of a new banner coming soon has me somewhat worried for my Orbs... * * * * * Past Pulls

* * * * * Edit * * * * * Valkyria Revolution really does have the qualities of a Valkyria game - the story, the characters, and the music. A shame the gameplay kills any enthusiasm VC fans may have for the title...

Source Title: One Finger Death Punch

Suddenly I thought of having a Fire Emblem: Total War title. I know Hyrule: Total War exists, but having a Fire Emblem version of Total War may be fun. It supposedly works with Warhammer (haven't tried it because of the DLC practices), so why not Fire Emblem? Or maybe even a Stronghold type game, which was a castle simulation franchise. It may be fun managing a kingdom and and estate in the Fire Emblem universe.

For PC, digital. Steam has spoiled me too much and many PC games are just plain digital. This is especially the case once one opens up to other PC gaming markets, such as GoG and HumbleBundle. For home consoles, physical. I like having a library of game cases I can look at and show off. Besides, the games are going to be located near the console anyway. For handheld consoles, a mix but favoring digital. Since I like to carry my handheld (3DS) around with me, I rather have everything just on the DS instead of also needing to carry around all of my game cartridges. The dilemma comes when a game I really like comes out and I want to "collect" the physical version, but I tend to just get the digital since it is easier... (I wish there was a "Get the Physical Version and download the Digital Version for free!" promotion, but I suppose such a system will be abused.)

My main FE Burnout was Fates. Trying to marathon through Conquest, Birthright, and Revelations all in one go (in the same month or so) was a bad idea, not to mention even trying to do "post-game completion files" on all three. While I managed to beat Conquest and Birthright, I never got around to finishing Revelations. The gimmicks killed it for me, and my planned Revelations postgame file did not get the resources I wanted for "My Castle." My Conquest & Birthright post-game files have some progress but are not done the way I would have liked. I said I'll head back to them one day, but I haven't really touched Fates since it released. I have Shadows of Valentia and Heroes as alternatives.

Free Unit: Shanna Round 64 [Nohrian Summer]: Barst, Frederick, Frederick, 4* Clair, 4* Mathilda Round 65 [Nohrian Summer]: Fir, 4* Cecilia, 4* A!Tiki, 4* Gaius, 4* Camilla Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * Still trying for Summer!Corrin, but still nothing on that front. However, I got plenty of good units for Skill Inheritance. The main jackpot here is Camilla for Savage Blow, which I will be putting on my Kagero. (Life and Death, Poison Strike, Savage Blow) Finally, I'll be able to merge my Kageroes without fear of losing the excess SP... Future pulls will likely still be focused on Summer!Corrin until I get her. After that it is likely back to stockpiling, but I may end up changing my orb spending strats. Usually I tend to focus my orbs on a single banner due to the pity rates, but with the free "5 orb summon," it may be beneficial if I do single full pulls from each banner instead. I guess it will come down to if I get my desired character from these "limited time" banners or not... * * * * * Past Pulls

Just cleared Infernal using Horse Emblem (Xander, Camus, Olwen, Jagen). Would've tried using my usual team (Ryoma, Nino, Ephraim, Olivia), but I couldn't figure out a proper strat with them. Team Comp: Xander has Hone Cavalry and is used to take out Cecilia. Olwen takes out the Lance Cav, Red Mage, the Archer, and Lilina (She has Iceberg and Desperation) Camus takes out the Peg Knight (I taught him Vantage, not sure if it was used though.) Jagen is only present for Fortify Cavalry 1. Set up Olwen with buffs and send her to take out the Lance Cav. 2. Use Olwen to finish off the Red Mage from a safe position. Retreat units, leaving Xander out to bait Celicia. Make sure Camus gets both buffs. 3. Use Olwen to kill the Archer. Xander kills Cecilia. Camus moves up to block Lance Peg and Lilina. 4. Use Camus to finish off the Lance Pegasus. Use Olwen to finish off Lilina. Mileage may vary depending on enemy movement, but this is how I won Infernal.

A part of me still wants to see Splatoon's Splatfest system in place for the Voting Gauntlets (where popularity and win percentage are calculated separately and then added together), but Splatoon has pure PvP while this is just "PvE against other player's units." So, I'm not sure how well that will transition into FE: Heroes, especially with the current Flag system. Otherwise, I think I'll be more happy with a static multiplier instead of the "growing multiplier," but I'm mostly indifferent to the Voting Gauntlet save for the feathers. F!Corrin vs F!Robin was all right for the short time it lasted and the Leo memes on Reddit are mildly interesting, but I think I rather have the improved Tempest Trials than the Voting Gauntlet these days.

Well, since there are some "freebie orbs" in this topic, I'll share mine. I got a free Desperation Fodder 3* Shanna! Thing is, I don't think anyone in my party really needs Desperation aside from Anna (Life & Death + Desperation + Nóatún). I really, really need Renewal fodder, I never pulled a Fae even though I been playing since release.

I haven't been active in this topic, but I decided on Robin over Corrin since I never got Summer!Corrin. As for the current matchup, it looks pretty interesting! This is the first time I've been active in a Voting Gauntlet since Chrom vs Ephraim back in the day. I also still have 800 flags left to use, so I am more than happy to show my support to Summer!Robin. While I think F!Corrin is the likely winner, I think it would be cool if F!Robin won. Either way, I like both, so I am likely to remain on the girls side for the finals.

If it is purely ground only, I would think Sully and Virion. However, I think Sully is unlikely, but I've been wrong before. Personally I'm wondering if it will be a Shadow Dragon cast with Caeda (Pegasus Knight) and either Gordin or Jeorge. Camilla and Takumi also work. Now, if it ends up being Cherche and Virion, I'll be a happy man. I like Cherche too much, and Virion is pretty cool too.

Round 57 [Nohrian Summer]: Draug, Wrys, Matthew, Barte, 4* Kagero Round 58 [Nohrian Summer]: F!Corrin, Gwendolyn, Matthew, 4* Eliwood, 4* Niles Round 59 [Nohrian Summer]: ???, Cherche, Beruka, Frederick, 4* Nowi Round 60 [Nohrian Summer]: Niles, Odin, Sazio, 4* Cherche, 4* Matthew Round 61 [Nohrian Summer]: Hana, Olivia, M!Robin, 4* Klein, 4* Mathilda (Neutral) Round 62 [Nohrian Summer]: Olivia, Serra, Gunter, 4* Boey, 5* Summer!Leo (+SPD, -DEF) Round 63 [Nohrian Summer]: Wrys, Azama, Nino, 4* Chrom (+ATK, -RES), 5* Summer!Xander (+DEF, -ATK) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * All the orbs were stockpiled after I pulled Summer!F!Robin on Ylissean Summer, save for one miracle pull I did on the Tempest Trials banner where I got a Celica and Takumi. Celica is doing well despite her natures, but Takumi was fed to my normal F!Robin for Close Counter. I have Jeorge as my main archer at the moment, making Takumi somewhat redundant. Anyways, apparently I was wrong with my prediction of "Voting Gauntlet" banners (I was thinking there would be "Summer Girls" and "Summer Boys" banners), so I just pulled from Nohrian Summer in an attempt to get Summer!F!Corrin on my team. I got lots of fodder, a neutral Mathilda, and an optimized Chrom. What I did not expect is an optimized Summer!Leo and getting a Summer!Xander, as I was not really focused on getting either of them. While I like Leo, he was my least priority in this banner. Xander was a bonus (2nd place) if I ever got him. As for future pulls for the month of August, I'll likely continue to be focused on the Summer banner since they have limited release units. If/When I obtain a Summer!Corrin, I may stop to stockpile on Orbs for future banners. While Hero Fest seems tempting, I much prefered the characters from the first Hero Fest compared to the "hinted heroes" for the 2nd one. Then there is the Sacred Stones banner that may be coming, so there is that to consider... * * * * * Past Pulls

I suppose saying it is inspired by Fire Emblem and Advance Wars is more of a way to connect with Nintendo audiences. As far as I am concerned, it is Nintendo XCOM, with Mario and Rabbids characters. Due to the XCOM similarity alone I am somewhat interested in the title, but I rather pick up XCOM 2 for the PC I own than this game for a Switch I do not have...

Well, I'm a little surprised with the F!Robin reveal as it likely means she has an actual place in the story instead of being a plain costume. Cordelia was expected, and I believe fliers will be rounded out by Caeda (Swords, reference to the original Fire Emblem instead of the Shadow Dragon remake with the Wing Spear), and Camilla (Axes, with maybe some magic thrown in). I am a little surprised at how many Awakening reps are being presented, unless they plan on showcasing each game one at a time instead of broadening the spotlight. With the previous Awakening reveal, one would think they may try showing off Fates or Shadow Dragon for variety. Either way, I look forward to the full details from Famitsu, perhaps there are other surprises in store besides F!Robin and Cordelia. The usual speculation and list stuff is below...