Sire

Burnt-out man reporting. I have 12,624 points and am currently ranked at 112,726. If I'm lucky, I may get 5* Tobin, but I may just end up getting the Resistance Seal. I think I pinpointed the main reason why I feel burnt out. Running seven maps in a row is far more draining (than expected) than running five maps in a row. I don't mind running the Chain Challenges of five maps or doing Hard-5 for Tempest Trials in consecutive sessions. Yet, after doing just one run of Lunatic-7, I am not really compelled to do another run. I guess it's a weird psychological thing. Alternatively, Lunatic-7 takes more brain power while I can somewhat mindlessly beat Hard-5 (in which case I am probably just a lazy tactician). The crazy part is I can still beat both with mostly just 2 teams (Bonus Team + Main Team), with the Bonus Team occasionally managing to do a full clear by themselves on Hard-5. If I can beat both modes with the same teams and only have to play just two more maps for Lunatic-7, then why do I feel so drained after Lunatic-7 compared to Hard-5?... I do appreciate the improvements to the Tempest Trials, but I would still love a system where a player can "double the stamina, double the points." Right now I am struggling to spend all of my stamina because once I'm burnt out, I don't particularly want to continue playing Heroes. I have plenty of cases where I don't even bother with the Arena for days at a time and only playing Arena maybe once a week to maintain ranking and obtain rewards.

As I love the Warriors series (mostly from the Samurai Warriors end of the spectrum, although I played Warriors Orochi and Hyrule Warriors) and Fire Emblem, I plan on picking up Fire Emblem Warriors whenever I get around to picking up a Nintendo Switch. The focus titles (Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates) do not bother me because I expected this due to the "Five Sword Hint" on the initial reveal trailer. Sure, I would have loved to see other characters such as Ephraim, Hector, or Micaiah, but I am content with the heroes we are getting from the three titles. If a sequel is ever made, I'm sure I'll be even more excited as the roster is expanded from the three titles while new games are introduced. I am certain, based of of Hyrule Warriors, that FE:Warriors will receive some classic favorites in the form of DLC. This may turn some people off as some may see it as a cash grab, but if the season pass is appropriately priced like in Hyrule Warriors, I would not mind since creating even a single character costs a lot of money*. My only fear is a "Hyrule Warriors Legends" situation, but I don't think that will happen with FE:Warriors since both the Switch and New 3DS versions are being developed at the same time... * See the Skullgirls thing on IndieGoGo. Alternatively, click the spoiler below. * * * * * Walls of Rambles (This was my original post, but it seemingly led nowhere. I kept it here in case anyone was interested.) * * * * *

Man, I get a good pull with Celica and Takumi (as well as Summer!Robin), got excited over the new banners, and then everything went downhill when I started looking into things with more detail. I want to love and continue playing Fire Emblem Heroes, but this new insight has drained all of my hype and enthusiasm for the game.

Slayer Weapons are a straight upgrade to Killer Weapons, period. Both are inheritable, and Slayer Weapons are introduced on a new character. At least the Wo Dao had different functionality, even if it was "better" than vanilla Killer Weapons. From my perspective, this is outright power creep. The increase to 14 MT also calls for viability for Silver Weapons. Their main point was being 15 MT with no modifiers. With "Horseslayers" and "Slayer (Killer ++++)" being 14 MT with effects, there is no reason to run vanilla Silver Weapons any more because the loss of 1 MT is nothing compared to the effects gained. I guess there will be "Gold" weapons next that have 18 MT, making Silver Weapons pointless. I don't mind narrowing the gap between inheritable weapons and exclusive weapons. I don't mind that exclusives are slightly better than their counterparts. My main problem is that this sets a precedent and it ticks me off to no end. Why even build something if something better will come down the line and just replace it? I don't mind the game being balanced over time, but doing so with a brand new item that completely invalidates the previous one is BS. Maybe I have my expectations in the wrong place, I came into FE: Heroes to have fun with my favorite Fire Emblem characters and create fun builds. If I wanted to run a "gear treadmill," I'll play an MMO or something. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the worst developments to Fire Emblem Heroes. If this is the road the game wishes to follow, then I'm likely done. I can not support this method of balancing by introducing something new that invalidates the old. From a balancing perspective, they could have just changed the values in-game (update Killer Weapons with the new Slayer values) with patch notes and the like, but what do I know about Gacha games. Perhaps this is just the norm and I am a madman spouting nonsense that has no business playing these types of titles. /rant

Right when I thought my orbs were safe and maybe I could just spend more idly on the Summer Banner for the exclusives, this comes along... While I would love to collect them all, I'm probably going to focus on the Alm's Army banner for Delthea. Getting Gray and Mathilda would be awesome as well due to their skills. (Now, if I ever get a Lukas, I want to put Ridersbane on him to mimic one of my Echoes runs.) Celica's Army is cool as well with three heroes, but I find Alm's Army to have the better artwork overall. However, I do have two concerns... 1. What the hell are they thinking with Slayer Weapons? They outclass Killer Weapons, period, and both are inheritable! This is an insult to everyone who uses Killer Weapons and to those who inherited Killer Weapons for their effects, because now there is a superior weapon to use that does the same damn thing. Sure, the shiny stuff is on new characters, I get that. But this just pisses me off. I much rather have the Killer Weapons upgraded to match the new numbers instead of having a new weapon outclass it entirely. Next thing that will happen is that there will be an upgraded form of the Armorslayer and maybe even Gem weapons, since the Horseslayer weapons are 10 MT and 14 MT (compared to 8 MT and 12 MT). Hell, why not invalidate Brave Weapons while we are at it with a new and superior version that does more damage or get rid of the SPD penalty! Won't that be fun? I am all for Skill Inheritance and making fun and effective builds. But this development does not make me a happy man because I see the path this can go down... 2. I really need to see Cancel Affinity in action. If it just counters Triangle Adept, I will be scratching my head because unit formations and balanced team composition can counter it due to its drawback (just send in the effective color to handle it). If it also affects the Weapon Triangle in general though, I call BS. I don't mind seeing "Reaver" weapons or skills, but typically that reverses the entire triangle (so there is still balance) instead of just negating the poor matchup. As for Reinhardt, I tend use Fury Nino (+SPD, -RES) to handle him. She can't handle +ATK, Deathblow 3, and Honed Cavalry Reinhardt without a +4 RES Buff (lives with 1 HP), and if the Reinhardt is merged, Nino dies. Actually, I may want to give Nino that +3 HP seal instead of the +1 ATK one now...

Round 56 [Tempest Trials]: Palla, Gwendolyn, 4* Raigh, 5* Celica (+RES, -ATK), 5* Takumi (+SPD, -DEF) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * We make this post to bring breaking news! Sire has pulled two desired characters in the form of Celica and Takumi! I decided to pull on Tempest Trials to try and get a 40% point unit (mostly trying for Alm to make him into a Falchion Healer), but to my surprise Celica showed up instead! To further add to this pull, Takumi comes out of nowhere to grace me with his help. Granted, Celica is -ATK and Takumi does not like -DEF, but favoritism will win the day with these two. I am keeping them around to merge with their eventual "prime counterpart," even if their skills may be useful on other characters. I already have my +ATK, -RES Palla, so further Pallas are not that useful to me. Raigh is useful for Rauðrwolf+ I suppose, but I have no real interest in his character. Gwendolyn though, I may end up actually using her due to her VA. I have no real desire to use her due to her character or art, but the VA and being a "Blue Sheena" may change my mind. As for further orb expenditures, I thought I was safe. Then the new banners were announced, but such talk is better suited for that particular topic. The short story is, my orbs are never safe... * * * * * Past Pulls

Huh. I understand the points now, but trying to look at it from that perspective (for me at least) is difficult because nothing here bothers me. Anyways, sorry for bringing up the subject. I just wanted to figure out what was going on. Must be my psychology degree manifesting itself.

I hope you are not taking this topic too seriously. I think of this "top 5 most wanted demotions" to be more of a wishlist and a vent for certain characters. Like with XRay, I do not see much of a difference with the 4th paragraph. I think the whole "personal vs global" thing is reading far too much into the text, but that may just be me and my lack of social skills at work. (100% Introvert, INTJ Personality, Woo!...) As for the demotions, I think the general consensus is that the playerbase knows no one is going to get demoted any time soon. However, I do disagree on it being unfair with "release focus" suddenly being available at a 3-star pull for certain characters. Yes, the character becomes widespread, but it will take considerable investment (leveling up the character, feathers, and badges) to make it into a 5* character. So, those who pay or get lucky get the character "exclusively" for a limited time, and get a 5* version immediately. Those who do not pull said heroes have the chance to get the characters as part of a lower star pool when the banner expires. That aside, I do not see release characters actually being demoted down to 3 stars because that will likely be a poor business decision (why pay for a 5* character on a release banner when I know I can pull a 3* version later down the line?) Characters drive sales far more than star ratings or natures. It frustrates me that I still have plenty of 5* exclusive characters that I would like, but this is a gacha game and is something one has to deal with. I had hopes for Season Two in the past, but at this point I am not holding my breath to a new massive expansion to the character pool (especially 3* characters) or characters being shuffled around in terms of rarity.

This was easy for me using outfitted versions of Ephraim, Nino, Ryoma, and Azama. I did have to change strats for the Elibe Magic Girls, using Olivia and Kagero instead of Nino and Azama, but otherwise everything went smoothly. I guess I got extremely lucky with my main comp, since it mostly counters all of the enemy comps in this challenge. The Hoshidian Royals gave some trouble because WoM Hinoka, but I was able to work around that with some clever positioning.

Forum Hiccup, double post this is.

Man, now I have God Eater calling me back. I still need to finish God Eater 2 Rage Burst storyline...

Before Tempest Trials started I cleared out 1-2 Normal, then transitioned over to Hard so I could earn feathers more effectively. On Hard difficulty, I have the main story cleared save for the last one (Chapters 9 & 10), but I have not started on the Paralogues yet. As for Lunatic, while I would like the Orbs, I don't think I have enough teams suitable for Chain Challenge. Alternatively, I could just manage with what I have, but Tempest Trials is currently going on and that is where a good amount of my stamina goes...

Not biased on Skill Inheritance at all... While I would love some characters to be demoted for the sake of Skill Inheritance, I can see the appeal of leaving some characters at 5* status. One reason is that it is easier to merge units who come innately as a 5* because feathers do not need to be used, only orbs. I have a spare Cain, Chrom, and Kagero who are waiting to be merged. What I would like to see is a banner where everyone is a 3-star character and there is an equal chance of pulling any character. Probably won't ever happen or actually help the chances of getting a 5* exclusive because I fail at math, but it may be a fun concept. * * * * * 1. Jaffar - Life and Death inheritable at 4* please. I know he is supposed to be the "Angel of Death," has a special dagger, and is the only 5* exclusive dagger user (sans Summer!Frederick), but having Life and Death easier to inherit would be amazing. I could have suggested Minerva, but she is likely to have her Ward Fliers inheritable at 4*, like all the other skills. 2. Leo - Quick Riposte at 4* status. Klein and Subaki are already lower star characters, leaving only Leo to pass in Quick Riposte. 3. Hinoka - Hone Fliers at 4* status. I also just noticed that Hinoka is a 5-star exclusive character while Camilla can be pulled as a 4-star unit... 4. Ninian - Fortify Dragons at 4* status. Also provides room for a different dancer at the lower star levels besides Olivia. 5. Genny - Wrathful Staff at 4* status, because combat healers can be useful. - - - - - HM. Takumi - While Close Counter can become a thing at 4* (looks at the effectiveness shields or the number of "distant counter weapons" for examples), I think giving him Threaten SPD is a better choice even if it is already inheritable by Selena and Navarre. Takumi makes HM because Leo got demoted and it makes sense to also demote the other brother, but there is the argument Takumi has more story relevance and should remain a 5* unit (see Fates:Conquest). HM. Karel - The Sword Demon is outclassed among his other 5-star sword users. Demoting him gives the basic Wo Dao as an inheritable option, as well as either Defiant Attack or Desperation. HM. Faye - While nobility vs the peasantry may be a theme in Valentia, plot importance versus extras is important in Heroes. Faye is definitely not plot important and can even be left at Ram Village, so she does not deserve 5-star status. She can give her basic Firesweep Bow and Bow EXP to others. HM. Elise - Sakura is a 4-5* character. Might as well make Elise one too. Besides, it'll help me get an Elise! Merging one will take effort though... HM. Katarina - Look, I know "Kris and company" hijacked New Mystery or something, but why is Katrina 5-star exclusives when the Hero-King himself (Marth) is pullable at 4-5* status? She has new skills to pass on to other characters which is useful (probably Atk Ploy since Swift Sparrow will remain "rare").

Round 53 [Ylissean Summer]: Setsuna, 4* Seliph, 4* M!Corrin (+HP, -ATK...), 4* Cordelia (+RES, -ATK...), 4* Lilina (+ATK, -DEF) Round 54 [Ylissean Summer]: Florina, Draug, Setsuna, 4* Raigh, 4* Barst? Round 55 [Ylissean Summer]: Subaki, Stahl, Hinata, 4* Adult!Tiki, 5* Summer!Robin (+DEF, -SPD) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character)Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * * * * * * So, this "Rezzy Curse" thing... Why must it affect me so? This is the first time I pulled a Cordelia and Male!Corrin, and they are -ATK. I'll probably end up training them anyway to eventually feed SP into their eventual "prime" versions, but it would be nice to get the primes first and the merging fodder later. There's only so many feathers to go around in a reasonable timeframe, you know? Anyways, Pull 53 gave me an optimized Lilina and granted me M!Corrin and Cordelia, described above. Thing is, I am not really attached to Lilina or her "single nuke" potential, preferring my Nino to serve that role with two large hits instead of one slightly bigger one. As for M!Corrin, I always wanted to try out a Life and Death + Desperation build on him to represent his time in Hoshido and to serve as a counterpart to Hana. Cordelia will likely end up doing the same thing. A shame it is not a Bride!Cordelia, I like Cordelia as a character and as a unit, but I am not really a fan of her art despite the artist's "okay" style for other characters such as F!Robin. I think it may be the attack pose that throws me off... Round 54 does not have much, but it may had a 4* Barst that I used for Skill Inheritance. I started being lazy with recording my pulls since most of mine tend to be nothing of note. But Round 55, we got Summer!Robin! Sure, she is +DEF, -SPD which makes her essentially a neutral Selena but with ATK instead of SPD, but I don't mind. Of course, I would have prefered either +ATT or +SPD with a -HP bane, but this is how it goes and I'll figure something out. Otherwise, we finally got a Hinata for Skill Inheritance (whose Fury will likely end up on Tharja since she already has Desperation), and Adult!Tiki for Defiant Attack (going on Xander with his Vantage). Stahl is Swap fodder while Subaki is Subaki. As for pulling further on the Summer Banner, I am unsure. I got Summer!Robin which was my main goal, but she is unoptimized and I would not mind having Summer!Tiki and Summer!Frederick for their skills. I could use Alm, Faye, Boey, or Mae from the Tempest Trials banner, if only to get more bonus points and a new character to play with. I also would not mind pulling on the Hone ATK banner to see if I can get merges for my Nino, but that is somewhat of a lower priority compared to new units. For now, I'll likely stockpile on orbs and play the waiting game. I may spend on the Tempest Banner or go back to Summer if nothing else of interest pops up. * * * * * Past Pulls

Nino needs the Attack +1 seal for this map, so I can't take it off of her. However, giving Nino her Hone Atk skill works. This hasn't crossed my mind since I have Breath of Life on her. In addition, I gave my "SI" Azama Spur Attack 3 to help out (he has Rehabilitate). Everything proceeds smoothly. Ephraim 1-rounds Alm, Olivia dances Ephraim to attack Celica. Nino finishes off Celica and blocks the Axe Pegasus from hitting Ephraim while Azama heals Nino and acts as a wall due to his high DEF. The Axe Peg attacks Azama, he survives, and Nino finishes the match. Thanks for the help! Sometimes the most obvious solution is the one we are blind to...

Finally got around to attempting Infernal... (Ephraim, Nino, 4* Olivia, 4* Azama) I used the "throw Nino at everything" strat, using her to bait the Green Mage on the first turn. She later then kills off the Blue Mage and spends most of the time walling off the Green Mage. Ephraim handles the Lance cavalier as well as Alm and Celica. Azama and Olivia provide their healing and dancing support. One less stamina bar later, and I can clear everyone on the map save for the Green Axe Pegasus who swoops in and kills Ephraim. I am forced to leave Ephraim in the open as I had to use him to kill Alm and Celica in the same turn, but here's the thing... I may have been able to accomplish the map if Ephraim could get a clean kill on Alm. Currently Ephraim with Swordbreaker leaves Alm at 1 HP, forcing me to use my Azama to attack Alm instead of healing up Ephraim. If my Azama had a free move, maybe with some clever positioning I may yet claim victory on this map. Maybe... * * * * * I would try Horse Emblem, but I only have Olwen instead of Reinhardt (and she really needs Life and Death for her damage output) and I do not have Camus as a 5-star character yet. I currently only have Xander (with Hone Cavalry and Vantage), Cain, and a 4* Jagen available for use. My +ATT, -DEF Cecilia needs training to become a 4* 40, and I do not have any good Triangle Adept or Quick Riposte fodder.

Awakening: Cherche, Virion, F!Morgan, Cordelia, Walhart -- HM: Gregor, Kellam, Adult!Tiki Fates: Arthur, Benny, Kagero, Oboro, Flora -- HM: Rinkah, Fuga, Felicia, Jakob Archanea: Camus, Linde, Caeda, Julian, Lena -- HM: Minerva, Michalis Wishlist: Erika, Ephraim, Celica, Micaiah, Hector -- HM: Nolan, Duessel, Lyn, Alm, Lukas, Berkut, Lyon

Besides the Awakening Trio who have the benefit of representing either Awakening or Fates, I doubt the second generation of Awakening will appear in the base game. I would love to see Owain/Odin present because of all the heroes and his over the top personality while I want to see Severa/Selena as a Bow Knight to fulfill the "Bow Cavalry" niche. Inigo/Laslow is more or less stuck to Swords, and since Heroes did not reprise his original VA, I'm a little less enthusiastic about him making it in compared to the other two. Otherwise, I would love to see Cynthia and F!Morgan. Cynthia is so positive and upbeat and I love F!Morgan to bits. As for the second generation of Fates, they practically do not exist to me. Their overall personalities and the whole "Outrealm" thing made me dislike them as a whole. Then again, I never really got the chance to fully experience them since I never fully finished Fates, but still.

Do you have a source for this? I've speculated on fliers but was not sure if any were actually going to be in. For Caeda, I actually think she will wield Swords like in her Heroes incarnation (and her original debut title instead of the remake Shadow Dragon) because Lances are covered by Hinoka and Axes by Camilla. There may be a chance for Aversa to serve as a "magic flier" which may be interesting. Of course, nothing is confirmed and this is but speculation. * * * * * As for the trailer, it's nice to see Robin be a "pure magic-user" and having confirmation on War Cleric Lissa. Seeing Frederick was a nice surprise and I dearly hope that the "pick a god and pray" line is included somewhere here since it was not included in Heroes. Lucina being in as also nice, but I do miss Laura Bailey voicing her. Alexis Tipton did all right with Spring Lucina and Palla in Echoes, but it is simply not the same... I guess I'll wait for GameXplain's analysis machine to pick up every single detail, but what I saw was mostly just character introductions. Since Masked Marth is around I was expecting to see some Risen, but didn't see any in the trailer. More Unit Speculation

Well, this is going to suck. I do not have any of the 40% bonus units (Alm, Faye, Mae, Boey). I do have Clair that I field with my makeshift Flier Emblem team, but Sharena is my best bet here for the 20% bonus. I suppose I'll be keeping the same "multi-team" strat, but not getting that extra 20% does neuter my enthusiasm a bit. Seeing Tobin as the reward is a surprise, but I guess we can never count Tobin out. I guess he will be representing the Villager class from Echoes, and if he gets a "proper version," he may be represented as an archer there. I look forward to seeing his stats and weapon because I like Tobin as a character. In terms of maps, anyone else looking forward to Boats? Boat maps, ahoy! Nuibaba's Manor may be troublesome in terms of speed clears, but Novis Cemetery may cause problems for Cavalry teams (not a problem for me though! :D). I also wonder what theme they will use for the finale of this Tempest Trial. Lord of a Dead Empire (Rudolf's)? Praise This Despair (Berkut Finale)? Twilight of the Gods (Final Map Theme)? The Saint and the Sacrifice (if we are fighting a brainwashed Celica)? There are plenty of excellent songs from Shadows of Valentia to use... Lastly, I'm really hoping for a Rudolf and Berkut GHB to keep with the Echoes theme, if just to hear their music play. Having them as playable characters will also be a lot of fun, Berkut's VA is amazing and I wish he was playable in Shadows of Valentia.

I haven't been taking this gauntlet too seriously (was on Team Clarine, now on Team Elise), but the "growing multiplier" is a bit BS. I understand the desire for more closer matchups, but I rather have the previous "x3 only" or "no multiplier at all" than the current iteration. Not only that, but I find that having multipliers play a part in cumulative scores screws over people who can not or do not check their phones constantly throughout the day. This is especially the case if a multiplier happens when one is asleep or at work. Honestly, these would be my suggestions. 1. If keeping multipliers, the extra points are not counted in terms of Cumulative scores. I would count out Army Ranking as well, but I suppose there should be some incentive to be "lucky" if a multiplier comes around. 2. If keeping multipliers, keep it a consistent x3 for scoring. Try lowering the threshold from 10% to 7%, or even 5% so the multiplier can kick in more often for the losing side. 3. Change the points system to be similar to Splatoon Splatfests, which was another form of a popularity contest. For the formula used... Thing is, this will practically revamp Voting Gauntlets entirely and the usage of Flags will likely need to be revised or removed. However, since this is an overhaul, I doubt such a thing will actually happen.

Photobucket recently changed their policies. I used to use Photobucket myself a long time ago, but got tired of dealing with their redesigns to their UI. Nowadays I use Imgur to upload photos and share them across the internet (my signature is hosted from Imgur). It is extremely easy to upload and share photos to message boards and I see a decent amount of other people use it as well.